Jan 8th, 2020 Cruise Day 5 of 128

Today was our first opportunity to get off the ship and explore a new country.  We were in Dominica for the day.  We grabbed a quick breakfast at the buffet and had to be in the man theater by 8:15am.  We took a tour all around the island. We learned about its history, culture, industry, agriculture and language.  The highlights of today were the Trafalgar Falls, the Emerald Pool, the Botanical Gardens and lots of very narrow and very windy roads.  Mom and the girls squealed more than once at how close the cars were that were coming the opposite direction, as we were driving on the “wrong side” of the road.  Megan journaled throughout the day as the really great guide talked all about what we were seeing.  We walked about 10,000 steps and Megan and I logged 25 stories on our step counter as well.  Mom and Valerie watched as Megan and I hiked down to the Emerald Pool and Megan even went swimming in it and under a waterfall.  What a wonderful opportunity for her.  I so enjoyed watching her.  We were back on the ship in time to have lunch after dodging all the ladies at the ship port trying to get me to allow them to braid the girl’s hair.  Sometimes a “no, thank you” just gets lost in the translation (not really, they spoke English too).  We finally got a chance to go swimming. We were pretty much the only people at the pool.  It was so relaxing.  I got chance to soak in the hot tub as well.  I laid back and felt as if I was finally truly on vacation.  The other two teenagers came down to the pool later in the afternoon and I watch the four kids all play together really well.  It was really nice to see them all getting along. We went to the buffet to dinner and again ran into the boys and Geoffrey, the Club HAL director, so we got a big table and all sat down to eat dinner together.  Geoffrey is a big hot sauce connoisseur too so we whipped out our hot sauce bottles and sampled sauces from around the world.  I had Cholula, HoHo hot sauce, that I got from my friend at Morro Bay House of Jerky, and of course Caycuos Hot Sauce with me. His were all from Jamaica as that is where he is from.  His were definitely hotter, but Cayucos hot sauce is still the best in my book.  I only brought two bottles so I am using it sparingly.  Lastly, mom and I went to the evening show, which was a very talented musician who played eight different instruments, very well.  We are chilling in the room, enjoying some decaf coffee as the girls are off at Club HAL.  

O.K. I owe you a phone call story.  I’ll keep it short…kind of. When Don was placed on hospice, Kaiser sent a social worker to discuss end of life issues with us, funeral planning, counseling needs, etc. By the time he was done visiting with us, he took the time to thank us.  He thanked us for impacting his life.  He said that he was there to comfort and assist us, but seeing our love for each other and how positive Don was about his faith comforting him in his time of death, we actually counseled him and impacted his life in that short time we spent with him.  He even came to Don’s funeral and again told me how much we blessed him and how rare it was in his career to have been touched that way.  So fast-forward to our second night here on the ship.  We have been telling people how Don made this trip possible for us and I get a phone call.  Now I am in airplane mode so I have no idea how the call even came through, but it was Paul, the social worker.  Now, it’s been almost four years since Don’s passing, but he is getting ready to retire and to this day he is still touched by the time we all spent together and he wanted to tell me how much that time with Don and I had blessed him and helped him through the last four years of his career.  I truly believe it was a sign from Don telling us how happy he was that we were taking this trip together, that we still live our life giving thanks to him daily, and that our love for one another was an amazing thing that never died, it just changed when he left this earth and went to heaven.  So hug tight the one you love tonight and think of him for us.  Love and Hugs from all of us to all of you!!  Debra