I repurposed some old hardware to help my systems run a bit better. I had been running pfSense on a single network interface, and I’m currently in the process of replacing a failing hard drive in another machine. I should be able to regain stability soon. However, it looks like I may need to find new hardware, as things seem to be degrading faster than I can fix them.
Running behind in posting will try to catch up soon. This ship is truly the destination. Today was the first day we left the ship to go to the beach. Home tomorrow.
Made it to Miami without any major issues despite the shutdown. Stayed at the Pullman. Not a bad motel but not memorable either. Boarding the boat was uneventful. So far I’m pretty happy with Virgin Cruise line. More to follow in the coming days….
We will be trying out Virgin America Cruise line later next month on a short cruise. It will be interesting as the food and entertainment get great reviews. Looking forward to trying them out
It will be good to be home. I always enjoy cruising but my clothes are fitting a bit tight. A constant diet of high carb food and beer is taking its toll. Hopefully we will not encounter trouble getting home due to the shutdown. Oh well time to pack up…
Today we took a trip to a botanical garden on Kuai that several movies were filmed on. Scenes from the original Jurassic Park and one of the Captain Jack Sparrow movies were filmed there. It was an interesting visit. An opportunity to see typical house plants in the wild…
Below are some pictures from the park….
We booked an excursion that seemed innocent enough—just some sightseeing and wildlife watching. I didn’t look too closely at the details, though. When we got to the dock, we were presented with a ride on a Zodiac. Sixteen people in a rubber raft—what could possibly go wrong?
I spent most of the time hanging on for dear life. A rubber raft on the open ocean is something I never need to experience again. That said, we did spot a few whales, so it wasn’t a total loss.
I’m pretty sore today. I’ll try to go back and post some pictures. I didn’t take any myself, but I think Sue snapped a few.
We have been to the Island of Oahu before so there was no compelling reason to do much there. We did go to lunch at Dukes on Waikiki Beach. Had some Mahi Mahi fish and chips. Also a couple of glasses of the local beer. A perfect afternoon.
We spent the day driving around Maui. I think it would have been better to have spent out time on a beach. Below are a few pictures taken from a botanical garden we stopped at.
Finally the unofficial state bird of Hawaii. They are everywhere.
Well we made it. The island of Hawaii is a bit less populated than most of the other islands. Didn’t feel overwhelmed by throngs of tourists. We went to the Volcanic National park. No employees due to the shutdown but we got to see some things. Glad to do something other than milling around the ship all day..
