11/26/14 - Since I have returned from the trip, I have just been doing daily things around the RV.  We did set up an appt to take the RV back to Tampa for repair before we start out for the west coast.  We will stay in a cabin at the same RV campground which is great because we can then just take things across the little gravel driveway insteading of having to pack things.  We are planning for a week without the RV and plan to make that trip on 12/8.

On 11/27/14 - We are traveling to Phoenix to help an aunt and uncle celebrate a 60th wedding anniversary and also celebrating Thanksgiving with their family.  Therefore, I will not be blogging until we return on 12/3.

11/25/14 - Early on 11/19, Deborah and I met Mike and DaNita in the hotel restaurant for a good breakfast before heading to the airport.  We had about an hour delay out of Ushuaia but did not matter since we had quite the layover in Buenos Aires.  Deborah was able to get on the internet so we were able to contact family and let them know we are OK.  We later learned that we were delayed almost two hours and that interfered with Deborah's Miami schedule.  She was very proactived and soon had confirmed seats on two different flights.  We finally left Buenos Aires around 1:00am.
Deborah and I split up so she should try to make her 9:30am flight.  Well, I met her in baggage and that give us little hope.  She was suppose to meet an American representative but that did not happen so she missed the flight.  In the meantime, I had to wait to put my luggage in until a little after 10:00am.  I had just put my luggage in when Deborah found me at the counter and informed me that she missed her flight and would not leave until 2:00pm.  So we went for some lunch, wasted time and she finally boarded at 1:30pm and then I took off for my gate since I was not leaving until 3:35pm.

My aunt picked me up and we are homeward bound.  What a wonderful vacation and I made so many unbelievable memories.  Deborah, thanks so much for going with me.  It was wonderful.

11/25/14 - On 11/18 we disembarked around 9:30am and we were able to walk to our hotel but we could not check in until 12:00pm.  There was 6 of us so we had very nice post cruise conversations.  We checked in and then we went out of coffee and lunch. We caught up with 4 other people at the cafe so that was also a nice time.  In the afternoon, Deborah and I went on a train ride up into the mountains in a national park in Ushuaia.  It was beautiful.

                                                       A water fall

                                               Our steam locomotive

11/25/14 - In the evening of 11/15, we started our sail through the Drake Passage.  The weather was not favorable and we were getting prepared for some rough sailing.  Late that evening, drawers were flying open, all things from bathroom shelf was on the floor, all things on coffee table was on the floor.  It was very noisy most of the night and at times you almost fell out of bed!  On 11/16, I would estimate that about a third of the passengers were suffering from sea sickness.  The dining room was almost empty for lunch and dinner.  Those that did try to eat, ate very little and off to their cabins.  During that time there were barf bags about every 2 feet on all the rails in the hallways and staircases.  The elevator was closed.

On 11/17, toward the evening, we finally got ourselves into the Beagle Channel and things got much better.  Later that evening, our ship and another ship leaving for Antarctic had a rendezvous in the Beagle Channel since a staff member from the expedition team on our ship was scheduled on the other ship.  It was very intesting since they use the zodiac to move on the open water.

                                              Taken at 11:00pm on 11/17/14

11/25/14 - On 11/15/14 - we sailed to a bay that was full of ice bergs and penguins and plans were that you could either decide on a landing or you could take a zodiac cruise.  The sun was shining so I decided to put on my other coat on and walk the deck of the ship because I really needed to get some excerise since I was mostly getting all dressed up until I could hardly move so most of my exercise was getting dressed!!  I walked awhile, then had hot chocolate and then walked awhile again.  It actually was a good feeling.  I was able to take some pictures and enjoy penguins on ice bergs.

                                                It is mating season!!

A huge Iceberg with most under water

11/23/14 - On my last post I got the dates wrong so now this info hopefully is more correct.  We boarded the ship around 4:00pm on 11/8.  We had our first dinner and then an orientation regarding what things to expect.  We would be sailing the Drake passage for the next two days.  The passage is rather rough sailing and soon a lot of passengers started getting sick.  For me it really was not too bad.  So actually instead of our first landing on 11/9 our first landing was on 11/10.

On 11/11, 11/12 we would sail around a lot of island and make two landings a day.  Most of the time, we would see lots and lots of penguins.  One day we saw two weddell seals and even saw a baby seal. It took me about 1/2 hour each time to get all of myself dressed for the landings!!

On 11/13, we did two landings and then they decided it would be the night of our camping on the ice!!  We were scheduled to camp in tents or a type of out door bag and the wind was calm so off we went about 9:45pm and set sail in a zodiac to land.  We were scheduled to stay there until 6:00am and then they would come after us.  But about two hours into our night the wind kicked up and we had terrible wind.  I thought for sure our tent was going to blow away but it didn't.  Because of blowing snow, our team leader got us up and going at 4:30am instead.  I was never so glad to be back on the ship in my whole life but I did survived!!

On 11/14/14 - we finally landed on the actually continent of Antarctic and most of the passengers were so excited because it was their 7th continent!!  They took a picture of Deborah and I holding an Antarctica flag but for some reason my camera was in video mode so I am unable to attach it.

11/23/14 - On 11/9/14- we did our first landing and I got my first all cold weather gear on to take a ride on a zodiac and enjoy some penguins.  I was so bundled up that I could hardly move so did very little walking and the penguins would just come right up to you and stare at you as long as you stayed still.  Alot of the passengers would take hikes but I stayed close and watched penguins.

                                             All bundled up

                                             The Ginstrap penguins

11/23/14 - not sure what I am doing but trying to get a picture added:

                                                    The Ship to Antarctic

Thanks goodness, I finally got one picture done.  We are sitting in Ushuaia before departure

11/22/14 - I don't even know where to start but here we go. Of course, I won't remember alot of things since I did not keep daily notes but will confirm the highlights of the trip. 11/4/14 - Aunt Esther took me to the airport and I left from Tampa, Florida and arrived in Miami, Florida to join my niece Deborah for a 17 day trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ushuaia, Argentina and on to Antarctica. We then checked in for our flight to Buenos Aires. We arrived at 4:40am on 11/5/14. 11/5/14 - It took us a minute to figure out how to get to the hotel. We finally got on a bus that promised to get us there. Sure enough. They were very kind and we were able to check in early. We were on the 9th floor looking out over a major street and park. It was beautiful. We then started to explore the city via foot or subway. We saw lots of parks and a really old cemetery where Eva Peron was buried. There were military colonels, government personnel and various wealthy families buried there as well. We toured a catheral which was right in middle of town. We talked to the pink house which is actually like out white house. I did alot of walking that day because at times our subway map would takes us one way and we learned that there was a dead end!! 11/6/14 - We decided to take a fast ferry to Uruguay for a few hours. We landed and walked a very old, old town that still had stones for streets. We had a little lunch and returned to Buenos Aires. As were getting our tickets and passing through immagration, we soon learned we did not have the proper document with us to re-entry Argentina but with some discussion, we were able to pull the document off the computer so finally back on the ferry without any extra fees. That evening we went to a tango show at Cafe Tortino which was absolutely great. 11/7/14 - In the morning, we got a private car that took us to the airport and we are on our way to Ushuaia (city known as the end of the world). When we arrived, we were transported to the hotel by the cruise line and then checked in. We soon learned that some other individuals were at the same hotel that would be on the cruise. When we got to the room, it had a strong perfume type of scent so Deborah opened the window to get some fresh air. We then went to dinner with a group of 8 of us and that started our friendships for the next 11 days. 11/8/14 - We explored parts of Ushuaia with some other friends and then off to the ship for boarding at 4:00pm. The ship is very small and that made it very interesting because we were able to get acquainted with a lot of people. There were 108 passengers on board and I forgot how many crew members but I think around 70. More later.

11/3/14 - This will be my last blog until sometime after 11/20 when I returned from a cruise to Antarctica. My niece Deborah and I will be traveling tomorrow morning to Miami, Florida, then to Buenos Aires, Argentina for 2 1/2 days then off to Ushuaia, Argentina to pick up a 11 day cruise to the tip of Antarctica. I am sure that I will have a lot to blog after that time.

11/1/14 - On 10/30 - we unhooked everything and went next door to a mechanic who informed me that he would put the RV on a computer diagnostic machine to see if he could repair it. Well, we did some driving around town since we thought we might need a motel room. We then spent most of the time in the recreation room waiting for news. We soon learned that it is computer issue and they would not be able to repair. We got her back, re-parked but just did electricity since we had an appointment at 8:00am at Kenworth's. 10/31 -We drove to Kenworth and a technician came out with his computer and said there definitely was a problem but not sure what so we needed to do a ticket and he would need to run some diagnostic testing. We went back to the office to learn that they were so busy because of the end of the month that they could not even start on it until Monday (11/3) so he made some calls and the garage in Tampa told us to drive right over and they would be able to check it out. I prayed all the way and got there at 9:35am. So now we are in Tampa, Florida. We later went out for lunch and they spent the rest of the day in their lounge which was equipped with water, TV, sectional couch and plugs to plug in all of electrical stuff. Around 4:00pm we were told there is definitely a problem but of course it would take another couple of days to finish the computer diagnostic tesing and more if they had to order the part!! So it was determined that we would just try to stumble along and get to Bradenton. We left Kenworth's around 4:30pm and drove about 10 miles to a Walmart that we shared with 3 other RV's for the night. 11/1 - We left this morning and it was very very windy so could only drive about 55 miles per hour but the RV did fine and we finally got to Bradenton. It took a long time to level the RV since everything here is sand so finally found some rocks to put under the boards to see if we could get it stabled. FINALLY!! We got checked in, showered and lunch. Plans are now to make an appointment with the Tampa garage so they can keep it for a week and fix me but will do that after I return from the Antarctic trip.