Papa Spud's Adventures
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Sailing Home for Christmas
Kirk standing on the flight deck during their transit through the Suez Canal
The ship turned the watch over to the replacement carrier and after a job well done, are headed home. Below is a view of soldiers guardimg the shores of the canal. 
Hurry Home!
Music Video CodesMyspace Music
Labels: Almost home
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Where in the World is Waldo???
Where is Waldo?? or Kirk??
Let's see ... sand, sand, and ...
more sand!
The sun setting on the ...SAND!
Wow look! Camels in the sand.
Kirk on a camel in the sand. (it looks like Blair behind you on the camel , but it's not)
Kirk eating food, in a tent, in the sand.
An "after dinner" smoke on a couch, in the tent, in the sand.
This is about all the information that we had until after the ship left port. Guess Kirk forgot to tell us that minor detail.
Anyway, the case was solved when Nellysa finally e-mailed him and asked where he was. He was in Jebal-Ali (in the United Arab Emirates, in the Persian Gulf, in the sand)!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Cannes, France
CANNES, FRANCE (the real story...)
I have already been to Cannes back in '96. There wasn't a lot to do back then but wander around town and ride the train to Nice to hang out at the beach.
This time I decided to take a tour that was offered to the Verdon Canyon, otherwise known as the Grand Canyon of Europe. It was an interesting ride up into the Alps. First real mountains I've seen in a couple of years so I enjoyed that part of it. Lots of straight up and down cliffs and switchback roads. Interesting ride if you enjoy being terrified. Imagine if you will a full sized bus traveling a road that is supposed to support two way traffic, but if anything bigger than a bicycle is coming the other way, somebody has to literally be hanging off the edge of the road. I of course have a window seat in the bus on the side closest to the ½ mile straight down drop off. Oh did I mention that they don't believe in guard rails. My hands and forearms are still sore from gripping the stupid arm rest for about 4 hours of this nightmare. It was a beautiful ride though. 
Also visited a little village stuck up between two cliffs. Started by a group of Monks in the 12 century with their monastery up in the top of the valley. Pretty cool picture too I think. The monastery is still there and the monks make enough to survive by crafting pottery to sell to anybody willing to pay way to much for the privilege of having a souvenir.
At it's deepest the canyon was literally ½ mile straight down with a river (mostly dried up at this time of year) in the bottom. Verdon apparently means "green", and if you can see the attached pictures, you can see that it is accurately named. We visited a lake that feeds the rivers...also a pretty amazing green color.
On the way back from the tour, I was getting kind of thirsty. The bus driver had been selling bottled water on the trip to try to pocket a little extra change, so I asked my buddy (sitting in the aisle seat to buy me a bottle of water. He talked to the driver, and brought me back a can of something called Limonaide. Said the bus driver told him it was good. All I cared about was that it was cold, so I popped the top and took a big mouthful. Turns out Limonaide is a type of beer with a little bit of lemon in it. All I know is that after 40 years, I got my first taste of beer ever (I know most of you don't believe that but it's true). Made me sick. But the best part is that the buddy who bought me a beer is my church Group Leader on the ship. Basic equivelant of the Bishop. He thought it was just plain ol' lemonaide too. I guess when he asks me to pass the sacrament Sunday I have to tell him I'm not worthy or something.
Of course, maybe neither of us can pass or take the sacrament after this trip anyway. We wandered up the beach front a couple of times. That's really about all there is to do. The European culture is a little different than ours. Most of the time it's not that noticeable. I took a picture of me with some beach in the background. It was just to get an idea of what the area was like. After further review, it's kind of like a "where's Waldo" picture, but the object isn't to find Waldo, it's to see how many half naked ladies you can see in the background behind Waldo. Nothing too graphic, just sorta odd if your not a local. New Cruise - New Look
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Thursday, November 09, 2006
Portugal
Welcome to Lisbon, Portugal
Belem Tower 
Neat picture of Kirk with ship in background
City of Lisbon
Entrance to Castle
Cannon in the castle
Portugal and Lisbon flags fly from castle towers
monastery in Lisbon
Thursday, October 05, 2006
That's Entertainment!
(excerpts from a couple of Kirk's letters...)
The ship is having a steel deck picnic and beer day in the afternoon and a swim call in the morning. They are going to let people jump off the elevator.
First, it is about 25 feet to the water and somebody is going to get hurt.
Second, in the plan it calls for three armed shark patrols in boats around the swim area. Third, it's about two miles straight down before you reach the bottom - if the sharks don't get you first.
Fourth, ....oh hell, just re-read the second concern.
The safety guys (our church group leader) says the "acceptable" risk is that 3 to 5 people will have to be helped by the rescue swimmers to keep them from drowning. I may go up and take a picture of people being stupid if I wake up in time.
The ship is having a steel deck picnic and beer day in the afternoon and a swim call in the morning. They are going to let people jump off the elevator.
First, it is about 25 feet to the water and somebody is going to get hurt.
Second, in the plan it calls for three armed shark patrols in boats around the swim area. Third, it's about two miles straight down before you reach the bottom - if the sharks don't get you first.
Fourth, ....oh hell, just re-read the second concern.
The safety guys (our church group leader) says the "acceptable" risk is that 3 to 5 people will have to be helped by the rescue swimmers to keep them from drowning. I may go up and take a picture of people being stupid if I wake up in time.
Had a quiet day today. I watched a bunch of idiots jump off the ship. Of the 2500 or so that jumped, almost 500 had to be helped to keep them from drowning. No, that wasn't a misprint; I said 500. After that was the steel deck picnic and a concert by a British Band called The International Playboys. A bunch of guys singing rock and country tunes with a heavy British accent. They were entertaining, but I don't think we are too choosy about our entertainment after 5 months. I ate a hotdog and a burger and had a few bottles of water. I guess the ship went through about 10,000 cans of beer. 
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
"Here Kitty, Kitty..."
White Tigers in Singapore
In the wild, Bengal White Tigers are found exclusively within South Asia, notably in India. Although Bengal tigers make up 60% of the world's wild tiger population, individuals with white coats are indeed very rare. Only one White Tiger exists out of every 10,000 normal orangecolored tigers.
In the wild, Bengal White Tigers are found exclusively within South Asia, notably in India. Although Bengal tigers make up 60% of the world's wild tiger population, individuals with white coats are indeed very rare. Only one White Tiger exists out of every 10,000 normal orangecolored tigers.
White Tigers are often mistaken for albinos, which are completely white with pink eyes. The unusual white coloration is a result of gene mutation - a permanent change in the gene controlling the coat coloration. This change can be passed on from one generation to another. The mutated gene is a recessive gene, meaning two such genes are needed to produce the white coloration. Both white and normal orangcolored cubs can be found in a litter.The majestic tigers are a symbol of strength and power to many. Yet today, their survival hangs in the balance. Of the eight tiger subspecies, three are now extinct and the remaining five are critically endangered.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Golden Statue
Two more pictures taken in Malaysia. These are the stairs that Kirk talked about in his other post. Notice the bus (looks like a Bee).
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Crete
Seudo Bay, Crete
Kirk went on a bus tour in Crete. He has been there on a previous deployment and was looking forward to the tour again (minus the rain & cold). It ended up being an 8 hour bus ride minus the tour because everything was closed.
This is Kirk standing in the parking lot of one of the tours. Woo Hoo! That is goat dung in the background. Kirk said that the water is really that blue and prettier than it shows in the pictures.
The countryside along the narrow road the bus went on.
Surrender
"I surrender"
This guy didn't surrender!
Pictures from a museum in Croatia (I think)
