Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Denver, Colorado USA

We’ve spent the last few days getting back into the groove, trying to reconnect household systems and unpack. It doesn’t seem we were gone for six months! And we still feel like we’re swaying on the ship, don’t have our land legs yet! Skin is back to the Colorado parched condition and we’re slathering on lotion and coconut oil, eye drops and lip balm. We have a new respect for humidity and water.

Water covers most of this globe. Duh, but as we bobbed along for days and saw nothing but sea outside our widow, I had a feeling of smallness. In fact we were just a minuscule dot on a beautiful blue orb. I have such appreciation for the seaman who guide these giagantic vessels around the immense oceans. I sort of have a crush on Captain Carl! He gave us lots of updated information every day about our position, the weather conditions, and star gazing. I admire the crew and all involved in keeping these floating structures going. We saw the huge cargo container ships passing by and taking up space at ports and realize how critically instrumental shipping is to the global economy. So keeping shipping lanes and canals open and safe is critical! And cruise ships, giant and small like Azamara’s, have a massive impact on tourism — the economic life blood for so many countries.

As Americans, we have very definite perspectives and an attitude. We felt being American was a blessing and something to be admired at most of the places we visited. The American dollar was accepted almost everywhere, and the almighty credit card is the universal currency. We tried to avoid political discussions with our fellow shipmates, and we remotely followed some of the political developments and world events on our cabin video screen and daily newspaper. Now we’re being doused with pre-election advertising and it is only going to get more tiresome in the weeks ahead. Guess we should have left the television reboot 📺 on hold until after November! Yet, we know the most precious aspect of being an American is voting and citizens must treasure and protect that right. In so many countries we visited, free and honest voting is not a given. God Bless America!

One of the sweetest things about coming home is seeing our dearest friends after so long. Having missed out on some high school graduations and birthday parties, we’re eagerly reuniting with friends and family. We treasure our fun shipmates who shared the incredible world voyage, still our long time buddies make us feel like we are truly home. We just got a 19 minute video created for the World Voyagers and the images and memories brought smiles and fresh tears. I’m not exactly sad, but feeling emotional at the culmination of such a special event in our lives, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Are there other world voyages in our future, probably not, but there is more exploration ahead as long as we’re able to lug a suitcase up a gangplank!