Planes, Trains and Ships

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🇺🇸 Tyler, United States
Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Day 3 Sea Day
July 19, Gulf of Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F
Ellen and I woke up to watch the sun rise. We sat up on deck 24, then walked to explore more of this big ship. We found the putt putt area and these private cabanas. I laid down and fell asleep. Glenn met up with me.

Glenn and I had bfast in the main dining room.

We attended a church service. Black ladies from a church in Richardson Texas had a short 3 day retreat. Their music was lively and energetic. Glenn was the only man in the room.

11:00am and it was time for my nap. I slept til 1pm in time to go to the main theatre and watch the World Cup game. I decided to pull for espana. Lizzie was with us.

There was a Vietnamese family sitting in front of us that ordered pizza, popcorn and smoothies. They were kind to give us popcorn and a smoothie.

I left at the end of regulation play. Time to get ready for dinner. I took Lizzy back with me.

We had a delightful dinner. The kids were a little bit tired.

We ALL went to the final show. This time we sat in the balcony. Good show.

The kids enjoyed looking for “ducks” around the ship. It was kinda a contest to see where they would discover them. The washy washy guy handed Amanda a duck and the people down the hall gave the girls a duck. Even the lady sitting next to Amanda in the balcony handed her a tiny tiny duck. And at the end of the show Amanda dropped it over the ledge. I’m not sure if Amanda snd Emily found the little duck.

Had all our luggage out the door by 10pm.

Summary had a great cruise! The kids loved hunting for ducks, the older kids enjoyed the water slides and the double A’s made friends in the Kids Club plus Ellen and Luke loved the cruise experience.

Now when I tell the grandkids that Grammie and Granddad are going on a cruise they can identify with some of the things we do and like.Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Day 2 Cozumel, Mexico
July 18 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F
Glenn and I got up early for our 7am arrival into Cozumel. Ellen joined us later with Lucy.

We all ate breakfast in the windjammer.

The older kids had signed up for laser tag at 9am. We kept the double As until we all walked across the street and over to Mega (Wal-mart).

I bought some snacks to give the workers. Also it was getting hot. Reminded me like the old Bolivia days.

We brought David, Lizzy, Annie and Amanda back to the boat with us. Had pizza. Then time for a nap. Amanda was out before I could say anything.Read more
TravelerWhat good memories
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Day 1 Sea Day
July 17, Gulf of Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F
Glenn and I went up to the main dining room for bfast on deck 3. French toast for me and veggie omelet for Glenn.

We had the steward clean our room and then by 10am, I was taking my morning nap. 2 hours.

We connected up with Ellen and family. And watched them ice skate.

In the afternoon, we found the sky bar that gives you a good overlook of the pool. The gkids enjoyed swimming and the water slides.

We got dressed for dinner. Nice meal. My favorites: wedge salads, French onion soup (hot) and salmon plus crème brûlée for dessert.

We went to evening show, then took family photos.Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Day 1 of the Cruise
July 16 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F
We left the hotel on the shuttle service to the port around noon.

Check in was a breeze. Kids were super excited to see the Mariner of the Sea.

We watched the pilot boat. Then a quick change for dinner. Everyone dressed up,

I challenged Ellen that if she ate escargot that I would give her $50.00. She actually enjoyed it.

The kids went rock climbing. Day 1 is in the books!Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Travel Day to Galveston
July 15 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F
We had nice drive down to Galveston via Houston.

We drove with Lucy, Elizabeth and Amanda. One stop at Flying J and then on to Sherrie and Steves’ place.

We arrived just in time for the semi-final game between Argentina and England. We felt really bad for Steve since England was winning all the game until the very last and Argentina pulled it out.

Argentina wins 2-1. Next game will be Sunday.

We then drove to Galveston and checked into our hotel. This hotel provides free shuttle service to the port for tomorrow and we’ll just park our car here for the 4 days.

The kids are getting excited about the upcoming cruise. We hav3 2 rooms between the 10 bodies sleeping overnight. After sandwiches we all settled into our bed. Dad and I in 1 bed and then the Double A’s and Lucy in the 2nd bed. It’s working out. Amanda did have a crying “I want Mommmmie” spell, but I think she didn’t have a nap and it was just so tired.Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Shopping, chalk, Splash pool, Cow Day
July 11 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F
We had 3 fun filled packed days. Shopping at TJ Maxx, playing in the splash pool, going to church, getting the girls hair trimmed, and making costumes for the Cow Appreciation Day at Chic-fil-A.

We baked cookies and had pizza. Emily was a big help. We watched some Ryan Trahan stuff and enjoyed walking around the block each night. I rolled the girl’s hair up and we watched the World Cup games. So lots going on. We went to Green Acres church, stopped off at Dollar and played with the toys that the girls are so familiar with.

It’s been a fast week with the 3 girls. I loved every minute of it!Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
National French Fries Day
July 10 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F
.We took on the ultimate challenge today: seeing how many places would give us free French fries for National French Fry Day! Our first stop was Whataburger to kick things off. As we drove to the next spot, Emily carefully handed fries one by one to the Double A’s in the back. By the time we arrived at our next destination, Emily’s bag was completely empty!

We learned a few things along the way, too. At Chick-fil-A, we found out you have to play a game to get the free fries, while Sonic and Slim Chickens didn't offer a free fry deal at all. Our final stop was McDonald's, and we brought those fries right back home to enjoy.

Between our French fry runs, we had a busy but fun day at home. We caught some of the World Cup and hopped on two Zoom calls. During one of them, the Double A’s sat right on Granddad’s lap, completely mesmerized, staring straight into the computer screen. The girls played so nicely with their toys, and Amanda managed a great two-hour nap while Annie rested quietly in her bed.

Later in the day, Glenn showed our RV to a man who had driven all the way from Kilgore. He really liked it, but his offer was way lower than our asking price—so we shall see! Emily was a huge help, braving the heat outside with Granddad to show the RV.

Emily also helped me whip up a delicious lunch of hotdogs and two boxes of macaroni and cheese, which gave us the perfect easy leftovers for supper. Granddad cut up a fresh watermelon into nice, thick chunks so the girls could easily hold onto the rind. Surprisingly, we discovered that Emily doesn’t actually like watermelon. How can that be?

To wind down, we all walked around the block before heading toward bedtime. Emily got in plenty of game time, playing two rounds of Rummikub with me and another two with Glenn.

We ended the evening watching "Vivian Tries" and some flight attendant videos on YouTube. All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing, and fun-filled National French Fry Day!Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Visiting Aunt Sherrie
July 9 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 97 °F
We had a relaxing morning. Cereal. We bodied the Brookshire’s Wildlife Museum. Nicely done. And it was free.

As we drove to Dallas we decided to go to Live Field observation area to watch the planes land and take off. Fun. It was HOT outside.

Then we met up with Aunt Sherrie to pick up a cross necklace that Sherrie had Elmer, the jewelry man create from mom’s old rings. One gold necklace for Sherrie and one silver necklace for me.

We watched the World Cup at Chili’s. Girls were really good as they colored on their placemats.

We stopped at Buc-ees on the return and Brookshire’s for Senior discount day.Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Arriving into Mineola
July 8 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F
An uneventful train ride. It was hard to sleep. I guess I slept several hours. Glenn was on a standby ticket that left Guatemala and arrived in Dallas with a connection to Tyler. He picked up the RAV 4 where I parked on Sunday morning.

We were glad to see Glenn. While driving back home, we got a message that a lady was interested in our RV. She is very interested. But needs to wait til her husband can see it.

We all took a nap. 4 hours. Amanda is in her bed in the corner of the kitchen. Emily and Annie are sleeping on the couch bed.

After a good nap, we took 2 vehicles to get gas and then to Brahms for ice-cream cone.

We all took showers and I rolled up the girls hair, even Emily.

We watched 2 episodes of itchy Boots. Then bed time. Full day.Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Train thru St Louis
July 7 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F
This morning, Ellen and I walked around the community pond. I mentioned to Ellen that Amanda could come and I really wanted Elizabeth to take the train with me. I mentioned that it only depended if there were seats available also.

I then watched “The Sheep Detective”.

Then there was a switch up in the vehicles as David wanted to drive along and say goodbye to everyone and Emily made a last minute decision to come on the train with me. We took their new van, Big Birtha.

We left for the train station in Bloomington about 20 minutes later than I wanted, however we made it to the train station in plenty of time.

We stopped in St. Louis at 7:40-8:10pm saw the beautiful “white rainbow” as Annie called it.

Next stop Texas!Read more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Cruise reveal
July 6 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 73 °F
After 2 soccer games and before everyone went to bed, Ellen and I revealed that that we would be taking a Caribbean cruise in 2 weeks. They were super excited!

Royal Caribbean cruise July 16-20.

Ellen and I had designed cards depicking something they would like - such as laser tag, rock climbing, free ice cream. It was all so random.

We then watched 2 YouTube videos of the Royal Caribbean mariners of the SeaRead more
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Planes, Trains and Ships Traveler
Flying to DFW ORD and BMI
July 5 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 75 °F
2:45am alarm is just not healthy.

I got to the airport. Parked the RAV4. Glenn has the 2nd key so can drive the RAV4 when he arrives on Wednesday morning and pick me and Annie at the train station.

First class again to Chicago. Breakfast was just pretzel. That’s not right.

Next stop- Chicago for a long layover then Bloomington.

I got upgraded to first classRead more
TravelerEach have a set of keys, smart. DFW-ORD only pretzels in 1st? Don't they know who you are?
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Trip start
July 5, 2026