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Spring 2025 Trip
  • Mark E
  • Janine Westlund
  • Mark E
  • Janine Westlund

Spring 2025 Trip

LA, Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand Read more
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  • Spring 2025 Trip
    It's fun to see the original dress from the portrait on display in front of it.Had electric lights before the white houseHow's that for a formal table setting?This is the crest that is on all formal dishware.It's funny: the camera picks up mirror scratches that the eye doesn't see until it's ~2ft away.We were told 95% of the hardware is original & restored. This is a door hinge ...Throne Room: used for coronation & funerals.The King's bedroom.Minton majolica Prometheus vase. Gruesome story behind the vase design; apparently only 4 or 5 exist1Installed in 1881 b/f even the White House was wired for telephones.Modern toilet & shower of the time.Items from King Kalākaua's days as a freemason.

    Iolani Palace, pt 1.

    April 19, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Built in 1882 by King Kalākaua, Iolani Palace was the home of Hawaiʻi's last reigning monarchs and served as the official royal residence. The monarchy was overthrown in 1893, the palace was used for various governmental purposes for ~70 years & fell into disrepair, it was fully restored to its original grandeur & opened to the public in 1978.

    It is the only royal palace on US soil.    Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Queensland Kauri: up to 150ft, tree resin used in varnishes, road markings, printing ink...useful!
    Traveler's Tree: per legend, named for water stored at leaf bases for thirsty travelers to tap into.Kapok Tree: seed pods release cottony floss once used to stuff pillows & life-preservers.Tropical Almond: hard, durable wood, great shade tree.Double Coconut: rare, endangered palm bears the world's largest & heaviest seed (up to 50lbs!)Palmyra Palm: has 800 uses (per Indian song): edible seeds, sap for sugar, fiber for weaving, etc.Loulu Palm: only palms native to Hawai'i. 24 species, but endangered for lots of reasons.Sausage Tree: African tree w/ long 'fruits' weighing up to 20lbs; eaten by giraffes & baboons.Cannonball Tree: fruits are foul-smelling & weigh several lbs. Member of the Brazil-Nut family.Staple crop for early Hawaiians. Thought to be the oldest domesticated crop in the world.Macadamia Nut: Hawai'i's top agriculture crop. Low tree yields make this nut expensive.the nut.Breadfruit: supposed to taste & cook like a sweet potato. I beg to differ.Candlenut: many uses: tattoo/cloth dye, medicine, seeds for leisure. Hawai'i's State Tree.the nut.Black Pepper: world's most popular spice; native to South India.The sneezing offender.Baobab: some over 2,000 yrs old (this one: planted 1940). Fleshy trunk is a natural water reservoir.Duom Palm: mature seeds carved like vegetable ivory; leaves for weaving. This one: largest in US.Chicle Tree: latex used for chewing gum; fruit for syrup/juice/wine/vinegar. This one-largest in US.

    Foster Botanical Garden

    April 19, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    One of Honolulu's 5 Botanical Gardens. If you just walked through it, you'd be done in ~30 minutes. But we decided to take the visitor guide and treat the visit like a scavenger hunt. That made it more fun b/c we had to really look for the tree tags.Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Last morning in Honolulu: Happy Easter!
    Our sailing vessel for the next few hours.The swimming crowd through which we will navigate out to open waters.The floor of the catamaran.Leaving shore they sounded the conch shell horn to alert surfers/swimmers we were leaving the beachGetting on earlier we obtained comfortable settingEarly on, the guys hung out with the captain who was also the local owner/operatorOur captain brought along his first mate & son: Woody III.The First Mate was a little bored & took a nap.As the day progressed, J9 chatted with the owner and one of the crew.Young Woody found a more comfortable nap areaPost-nap, he kept a close watch as Navigator.Best place to enjoy the beach is from the waterDiamond headSurfers waiting for 'the wave'.Hard to believe, but we didn't run over any surfersVictor helped blow the shell to clear surfers on our return to the beach

    Waikiki Combo - Sail

    April 20, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 75 °F

    3rd & final day in Honululu, we all decided to go on a 3.5hr catamaran tour that included snorkeling with turtles and a nice sail along the coast. The owner (Woody Brown, Jr) was the captain, boat owner and the son of Woody Brown: American surfer & the man who invented the original catarmaran design. According to his son, Woody Sr just gave the design to the makers of Hobie Cat. "Dad didn't want any money for it," Woody, Jr told us.
    Hmmm...I wonder if he ever regretted that move. 🤔    Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip

    Dolphins visit

    April 23, 2025, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    A school of dolphins approached the ship from both sides and enjoyed surfing the ships waves. It amazing how small they look from the 9th floor pool deck.

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Contestant #1 -- 1st test: 'floatation'
    Contestant #2 (by far the youngest participants on board!!)Contestant #3, judges in the backgroundContestant #4 - this ship builder made balloons during the whole cruiseThe next test was the 'sea trials' (aka: the swimming pool 🤣)All boats passed their sea trials; next step: the voteThe (clear) winner! Look closely: the ship's deck even had a pool!The upper deck could be folded back to reveal a lower deck/beverage hold!

    Ship-building contest

    April 24, 2025, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌬 52 °F

    Similar to our ship-building efforts on Oceania a few months ago, Holland held the same competition.
    This time we just observed. 😄

  • Spring 2025 Trip

    Orange party

    April 24, 2025, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    The orange party was hosted by our favorite house band. They all had SO much energy!!

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Octopus or spider ?
    All the officers on the boatMy 11am bridge class.

    Last Day at Sea

    April 25, 2025, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F

    Last day at sea, and the 'pool zoo' comes alive! (see video)
    At 1 pm, had a virtual presentation of all the ship's services, afterward all the officers were present on stage. Followed by my 11am bridge class, which taught me yet again: the more you learn, the less you know :(Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    North America's narrowest commercial street: 3ft wide entryway to the shops

    Chinatown: Fan Tan Alley

    April 26, 2025 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Interesting history: Named after the Chinese gambling game Fan-Tan, the alley was originally well known for opium factories that produced opium until it was made illegal in 1908. The alley became known for gambling and got its Fan Tan name from the card game of the same name during the 1910s. The area fell into disrepair over the years but was revitalized in the 70s & 80s and is now a tourist destination.
    So here we are.    Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    View from the ship looking north towards Seattle
    View south3x view from the ship of the residential coast -- pretty nice homes!Our new 'home' in SeattleOur roof top view -- darned cloudy Seattle weather. 🫤2Our cruise ship is to the right of the more clearly visible ship there WAY in the distance

    Cruise ends in Seattle

    April 27, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    Time to disembark our floating home. 😞 For the next few days, we'll explore Seattle. 😊

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    PPFC is known for how its success is driven through their employees' workplace enjoyment.And this is why....Neon signs are iconic symbols of PPM.Not inexpensive, but not small either.The floral offerings in the Market were just stunning.The beginning & store entrance wait line for coffee in the city that created the pricey cup.From here there's a line INSIDE the store.

    Pike Place Market

    April 27, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 52 °F

    Founded in 1907, the Market is one of the oldest and largest continuously operating public markets in the United States. It's alive w/ color, smells and sounds that make the experience a bit surreal in a fun way.Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Where stores were underground, these lights installed above (@ sidewalk level) helped illuminate.This blgd is apparently home to the 'Klondike Gold Rush National Park'.Picture of water cannons clearing the mountain to make way for the rebuilding of Seattle.Picture of how much of the hill was removed to raise the streetsFun pic of the underground network.Memorial to fallen firefighters.From a time long, long, long ago. 🤭Some of the remaining adverts from long ago are still visible & (I think) interesting.Pioneer Building, completed 1892.At the end of the day, a haircut was in order.Neat, traditional barber shop.

    Beneath the Streets Underground History

    April 28, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    This was a fun little tour of some Seattle history & how the street levels changed over the years.

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