Third Times The Charm

 It was a interesting last day at sea. It was November 11, so of course there were bugles blown, flags unfurled, and poppies displayed to celebrate Remembrance day on the 11 day of the 11^th month at the 11^th hour. The announcements were actually before 11 o clock, but no one seemed to pay that any mind, and with two time changes, and one more tonight, no one knows what time it is anyway.  

Flanders Field?

After all the formalities El Capitan came on the ships PA to explain that we have yet another medivac, that’s 3 for me on this voyage. One on the Queen, and two on this ship. Capitan explained that rather than do a at sea helicopter, extraction, he would speed up the ship to the maximum speed and we would arrive at Port Everglades around midnight. The patient would then be taken off the ship, but the rest of us would have to wait to disembark until morning.

And that is exactly what we did,. We raced across the Atlantic, on water  that flattened out, and at 21 knots  the Majestic Sky Princess became one lean, mean, cruising machine.

In port when I wake up to double check the time, I’m thinking that I might have enough towels and sheets to improvise a rope, and escape by going over the side. But we are docked on starboard, and On second thought escaping would mean I would miss breakfast so maybe I will just wait until morning.

Just Water On My Side Of The Ship

I could have done a walk off, but since my traveling compadre had a flight to catch and a ship transfer to the airport, I waited with her and some other friends, down in the elite lounge until purple 1 & 2 were called.

We marched down the gangway into the massive terminal building where the bags had been arraigned according to our color tags. The bags were easy to spot, and soon we were in the queue waiting to be inspected by customs. 

The very nice customs man took our pictures, inspected our passports, and sent us on our way to the goodbyes, as I proceeded to the taxis and my compadre to the airport bus.

After going no faster than 21 knots for days, the cab seemed to be traveling at supersonic speeds, and maybe we were. We arrived at the storage, and my driver had a nifty little devise to jump start the van. He attached it and my machine roared to life.

The latest hurricane Nicole missed Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and made landfall at Vero Beach to the north, and that is where traveling north on 95,  is where I first started to see the after affects of Nicole. The ditches along the highway on either side were filled with water, so the highway could have been flooded. The motor company outpost at Daytona Beach lost the bar from its bar and shield sign.

Lots of highway billboards had their messages ripped to shreds, and in the southbound lanes  I counted 80-line, loop, and bucket trucks, some with dual blinky lights that were  blinking, and some with lights but were not  blinking .  The mother load of electrical fixer upper equipment was just north of Daytona Beach, and there must have been a couple hundred utility trucks, piles of poles, and miles of wire, all staged and ready to go, so maybe all the lights are back on?

It Has A Flashing Light

Finally turning off  I95 280 miles north of Fort Lauderdale I’m thinking that I have been too Great Britain , France, Spain, Portugal, and not once did I ever see a sign or store like what I spotted   along highway 40.

We Are Open. Walk In's Welcome

Only in Amerika