October 27, 2017... Wonder EBPC!

[franandaj]

OK, the "A" is from Living with the Land?

 

[bobbiwoz]

OK, the "A" is from Living with the Land?

I think you are right! Great!

 

[karmacats]

i'm going to try to post my guess in whitish font below. you'll have to highlight over it to see it. i'm doing that because i know lynn in real life so i didn't know if i was excluded. plus, then more people can guess! the background on this post is a weird color, though, so it might be visible.

and i have no idea if my guess is right.

"The Land" sign in epcot?

 

[dizzi]

No Robin you are not excluded. You can play for sure.

Franandaj. You have 4 points plus 1 point for your Land Picture. !!

Don't forget you can post a pic if you have one or get one anytime.

Let me know.

Thanks for playing keep your eye out for B#1.

 

[franandaj]

Don't forget you can post a pic if you have one or get one anytime.

So I'm still a bit confused, do we post a picture of the current letter? And Does it have to be from the four parks in Florida? Or if I "happened" to find a good "A" while out at a little park in California is that valid to post?

 

[bobbiwoz]

https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/directions.htm

http://islandpackers.com/services-view/channel-islands-wildlife-cruise/


That's the website I use. Actually I now understand the boat. There is a 3 hour non landing boat ride, I'm psyched!

Well, I have looked at the October schedule for wild life excursions and none are at a convenient day before our departure. We only want to spend at most 4 nights in CA before the cruise. There's a wild life tour 6 nights before the cruise or the day of our PC cruise, so wild life boat excursion is out! If I can get something in the DVC timeshare a DL, perhaps we can spend 2 nights at DL before the cruise.

 

[sunshine1259]

So I'm still a bit confused, do we post a picture of the current letter? And Does it have to be from the four parks in Florida? Or if I "happened" to find a good "A" while out at a little park in California is that valid to post?

I believe you post a picture of the attraction that has that letter. So, if you have a picture of "The Land" you would add your picture of The Land. So, if today the B is of the Boardwalk, you can post your picture of the Boarwalk. Hope that helps. Looking forward to the letter B.

 

[sunshine1259]

Oh, that's too bad. Maybe you will get a chance next time you visit California.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Oh, that's too bad. Maybe you will get a chance next time you visit California.

I agree, but going to the Ventura Visitors Center is something I want to do. When we are close to San Diego, we will also visit the Cabrillo National Monument.

 

[dizzi]

Yes you post one of your pictures of "the land"

 

[franandaj]

Got it!

 

[mndisfam]

Good morning and hello!

Late joining. We are celebrating becoming empty nesters and our 30th Annivesary on this cruise. We sailed on the EBPC in 2008, and it was amazing.

I am Kathleen, and my husband is Mark. We live in the Twin Cities. We are DVCers. I will get caught up on this thread. I look forward to meeting all of you online and on board!

 

[dizzi]

Got it!

Franandaj awesome pic!!!!! Add another point for you.

 

[dizzi]

Hi mndisfam.

We were supposed to be empty nester this year. But it didn't work out.

We are celebrating anyway.

Welcome.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Good morning and hello!

Late joining. We are celebrating becoming empty nesters and our 30th Annivesary on this cruise. We sailed on the EBPC in 2008, and it was amazing.

I am Kathleen, and my husband is Mark. We live in the Twin Cities. We are DVCers. I will get caught up on this thread. I look forward to meeting all of you online and on board!

DVC members & empty nesters here!

Well, we are in the process of moving to Cape May NJ from Dayton Ohio. We have agreed to adopt a 5 year old hound name Gus as soon as we move inMarch!

 

[mndisfam]

Gus looks darling! I am going to go back and catch up with everything.

This will be a great cruise. A lot of sea days. Even though I read as much as I could about the Panama Canal, nothing could prepare us for it.

One of the crazy things we remember about that day was how exhausting it was. We didn't do ANYTHING that day, but by 9 that night we were so tired.

Feeling the boat lift in the looks was amazing. Seeing the Canal so close, and being able to touch someone on the grass.

I will never forget how it was once we got into the jungle, and the air was so humid we needed our inhalers.

The biggest shock, though, was in the morning before we entered the Canal. We hadn't been at sea and hadn't seen other ships. That morning though, there were so many ships waiting to go into the Canal the ocean looked like a giant parking lot as far as we could see.

 

[mndisfam]

I would like to visit the Channel Island NP Visitors Center in Ventura during our stay in California before the cruise. Does anyone know how long we should plan to stay. I enjoy going to NPs, would 1/2 a day, 3-4 hours be enough time?

Has anyone been?

We actually used to live very close to it and went there quite often. It might not be what you are expecting though.

The Visitors Center is a nice, but very small, typical National Park center. You could see all of it in about an hour. It's in the Fishermans Village, which has a New England theme. Kind of out of place!

The Village is fine - your typical tourist place. Nothing special. The harbor is located kind of inland, so don't expect great beach views.

I loved the Channel Islands when we lived there, and we went to a few. But they are hard places to get to. You have to book tours quite a bit in advance, and the Islands themselves are rugged and very isolated. I loved Anacapa and Santa Cruz.

 

[dizzi]

B#1

 

[dizzi]

Mndisfam

Thanks for sharing your stories of PC. Makes me even more excited !!!!

 

[mndisfam]

Cartegena -

Last night I was looking at some pictures of Cartegena from our 2008 trip.

It brought back to me what an amazing city that was. EL Popo Monastery on the top of the hill was old, interesting, and had fantastic views of Cartegena. You were able to see the harbor, and understand why it was so important in the 1500, 1600s. Like all old Catholic places it was fairly creepy - body part "icons" and a place where the Spaniards threw slaves and non believers down a cliff. The Naval Museum had small models of the battles fought there - my son was 13 and he loved it. The fort was huge - we were very impressed with its size. We have been to quite a few, and this was the biggest we had ever seen.

Old Town Cartegena was unbelievable. It is very well preserved, the buildings are painted vibrant colors, and the sea walls were still intact. The final stop, the Cathedral was very moving. ST Peter Clavers remains are shown there. He was sainted for helping the slaves, and the stories of what happened to those people was heart breaking and brutal.

I can't wait to go back. BUT - having said that, it might not be for everyone. The vendors were intense - they would NOT back off anywhere. Worse, far worse, that Paris
and Rome "gypsies." Fort San Felipe had crooked uneven paths, and some of the passages weren't lit. The air was really hard to breath in the interior. There was a big religious element to it

But we were there in August. We NEVER felt unsafe on our guided tour.

But, we didn't take our 10 year old daughter. She hates the heat, dark places, pushy vendors and is not fond of churches. Our 13 year old son, tho, agreed it was the best city we ever visited, and we have never forgotten it.

I am not trying to dissuade anyone from going. But it was a "tough" tour - in a luxurious, fascinating way!