Our stop in Kailua Bay for a one day visit to the Big Island of Hawaii gave us the opportunity to take an excursion to the Punalu’u Black Sand Beach as well as Volcano House, Nāhuku Lava Tube, and Kīlauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park!
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States
Hawaiian Monarchy
On our first day in Hawaii we did a tour highlighting the Hawaiian monarchy and the New England missionaries that fostered the melding of Hawaiian and European cultures. It was a great way to celebrate our first visit to the 50th State and our 50th State to visit.
San Francisco Walkabout
Each of our trips to San Francisco have featured a walkabout and this one’s no exception. This time it featured a fabulous meal at Scoma’s.
Alcatraz Island
Back in 1973 we promised ourselves we’d visit Alcatraz someday. This is the day. We toured the buildings, read the interpretive signs, listened to the audio commentary, and came away with a deeper understanding of what this place represents with hope mixed in with the grim and gritty.
Sausalito
Especially with a family member living here for more than a decade, we’ve made a few trips to the San Francisco Bay Area, but this delightful trip was our first experience in Sausalito and it was delightful.
A Meeting of the Queens
Our stop at Long Beach, California aboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 was a historic meeting of two iconic ocean liners. Queen Mary who served from 1936 to 1967 and her namesake, the only ocean liner still in service. We topped that off with a visit to the original Queen Mary, now a floating museum and hotel.
USS Iowa BB-61
While berthed at San Pedro in the Port of Los Angeles we had the opportunity to visit the USS Iowa BB-61 for a self guided tour.
Boarding Queen Mary at Red Hook
A continuing theme of our preparations and transportation to the Port of New York at Red Hook Brooklyn has been snow, snow, and more snow but nonetheless less the journey has gone smoothly and by
Lake Effect Snow, It’s Time to Go!
As we prepare to leave tomorrow for our around the world adventure we’re still not caught up on the blogs from the last big adventure.
Overnight in Manhattan
With a hotel stay just around the corner from the east end of Wall Street we had an ideal location to visit an Aussie Pub, walk the waterfront, explore Wall Street for a bit before ferrying over to the Brooklyn Cruise terminal for embarkation aboard Queen Mary 2 bound for Southampton.
Planning a trip? Dreaming of travel? Perhaps some of our adventures could inspire yours! Over the last several years we’ve had the distinct pleasure of many cross country journeys traveling though the Lower 48 in tents and our various teardrop campers as well as an amazing Alaska adventure that did not involve a camper.
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Dakar, Senegal: A Wolof Village & The Pink Lake
Queen Mary 2’s arrival in the Port of Dakar, Senegal was heralded in the local press and greeted with ceremony. Our own excursion took us on a coach journey through the streets of the capital city to visit a Wolof village and the shore of Lake Retba, the salty lake famed for an intense pink color.
Desert Safari: Meet Namibia’s Hidden Creatures
Today’s safari adventure transported us out into the Dorob National Park to have up close encounters with little creatures that are well adapted to the extreme heat and lack of water in the Namib Desert.
Cape Town: African Wildlife Adventures
With a UNESCO World Heritage Site, two national parks, dozens of museums, and hundreds of tours offered in the Cape Town area there is more than plenty to do. For our two day visit we opted to concentrate on African wildlife visiting the Aquila Private Game Reserve and the Boulders Beach Penguin Colony for a wonderful chance to these fabulous animals in their own habitat.













