Day 16 - Jackson Square

Yesterday we wandered about the French Quarter in New Orleans and had a lovely dinner before heading back to the ship. Getting into the port was easy, however, getting into the wharf was an adventure. Having the cell phone with me made it seem like I was doing something. In the end, although the port agent was working on it, the woman at the gate took pity on us and let us in.

Today we went back into the French Quarter for more sightseeing and a jazz brunch at the Court of the Two Sisters (a restaurant we’ve been to during previous visits to New Orleans. The picture today is from Jackson Square – one of the places we were today. Tonight we’ve come back to the ship for dinner as our shore leave call was for 7pm (although I think since they’re still loading it may be longer). We’re glad we took time to visit the city both days as the residents are welcoming (from the first few stevedores that welcomed us and directed us to the gate) and the parts of the city we visited are still lovely. It is sad though to see stores, bars and restaurants far less busy than we remember.

At the last minute I checked wireless access today and found that I actually have it here from the ship. If we’re in port for a while after dinner tonight I plan to log on, update today’s information, check mail, and perhaps check the weather forecast in Camden, NJ – our next port of call.

Day 15 - Sunrise over the Mississippi

This morning we sailed up the Mississippi delta into New Orleans. Since I was up to see part of it today’s picture is of the sunrise over the delta. It’s just after 10am and I hear that we should be cleared to leave in about half an hour. So it’s likely we’ll pack up our tourist stuff (camera, map, and currency) and head into the city. The one thing that will be tough to decide is what clothing to wear in today. Up on the pilot deck it was biting cold this morning although it’s warming up. I suspect it’s going to turn out to be a beautiful afternoon.

Day 14 - At Sea

I learned an important lesson today – download the pictures from the camera every night. This morning, while taking pictures, the camera wouldn’t recognise that there were pictures on the card so I had to format it. Yesterday’s picture was uploaded at the seaman’s mission, however, I’d taken some interesting pictures of a ship loading beside us that are now lost.

Anyway, as you can tell by today’s picture we’re at sea. The ship runs well, with little movement. Of course the sea is calm as we’re currently in the Gulf of Mexico between Houston and New Orleans. At noon our position was 28°19’8”N by 93°04’1”W. I’ve started putting these coordinates into a mapping program, so occasionally the daily picture will be a map of the route. We should be in New Orleans for a few days, starting tomorrow, so I’ll likely do some uploads at that point as well.

Day 13 - Last day in Houston.jpg

Well, it's official - the captain told us today that we need to be back on board before 5pm as we sail at 6pm. The weather in Houston is beautiful today so we've walked back to the Seaman's Center again so I can update one more time. Next stop - New Orleans.

Day 12 - Bound for China

Well, I don’t know what today’s picture is, however, I know it’s bound for China. More loading went on today – a few containers, and lots of boxes, steel pipe and a few pieces of unidentified equipment. The Captain tells us that we should be sailing tomorrow, maybe the afternoon. I know we’re hoping it’s in daylight as there will be more for us to see. Then it’s a short run to New Orleans where we should be for a couple of days. I think we’re both looking forward to the ship actually moving!

Day 11 - Sunset at Port of Houston

Today we took a 15-minute walk back from the International Seaman’s Mission. Of course we took almost a 2-hour walk to get to it! The port here has both an upper and lower road system. After following the sign that pointed left from our ship we walked 15 or 20 minutes (the distance someone told us it was). Deciding at that point that perhaps we were walking slower – we kept walking. Eventually (perhaps 45 minutes) we decided that we were not going to find it and turned around. When we were almost back to the ship we decided to try a group of buildings on the upper road. They still weren’t the right ones, however, someone did point us in the right direction – back where we came from but on the upper road.

Anyway, it did give me a chance to upload the pictures from the last few days. We also saw a lot of other ships loading and unloading. The port is very busy with trucks moving in and out constantly. Tonight I passed the camera over to my mother and today’s shot is one of the sunset over the channel. If we’re still here Sunday (not sure yet) I’ll probably go back to update again before we leave.

Day 10 - Home Away From Home

Even with rainy weather we still spent a lot of time on the upper deck watching the cargo operations today. Heavy rain has slowed everything down so we will likely be in Houston a few more days. Tomorrow we’re going to take a walk down the wharf and visit the seaman’s mission. I should be able to upload the pictures and text from the last few days.

Today on board I had a nice surprise – a bottle of champagne and a birthday cake and card from the captain and crew. It was a good end to the day that included some after dinner conversation with the captain, his wife, the chief engineer and a fellow passenger.

Day 9 - Unloading in Houston

We spent the day today watching the cargo operations and walking circles on the upper pilot deck. After pacing it out we decided that 17 laps equalled a kilometre. It can make you a little dizzy so I think we’re both looking forward to walking the main deck when at sea. While in port the main deck is off limits, for safety reasons. The pilot deck offers a great view of the unloading and loading of cargo. The work goes on late into the night – possibly even all night. Today they are still unloading. We watched this piece of equipment, assuming it was to be loaded. It turned out that it had been unloaded and was just waiting to be hauled away.

Day 8 - Port of Houston

Well, we’re finally aboard. It couldn’t have been a smoother transition. We made a quick trip to the port this morning and dropped off the luggage. The crew swiftly hauled it up to the cabin (yikes – that’s a gangway and 5 flights of stairs with some very heavy bags). We dropped the car off at the parking place and grabbed a cab back to the port. The cabin is wonderful with lots of storage for all the luggage. We’re unpacked with room to spare. The crew is friendly, the captain very outgoing, although tonight I think we’re a little tired from all the unpacking so we’re both just resting in the cabin. I took a few shots of the ship and the docks, so I chose one of them for today.

Day 7 - Galveston Island

This should be our last full day on dry land so we visited the beach! Galveston is so close to where we are in Houston and it’s a beautiful spot. The north end of the beach is built up with the typical holiday places (hotels, restaurant, shops). This picture is from near the south end of the island, where on a day like today it’s almost deserted. Of course this is winter for Houston – it may be mobbed during the summer.

This is likely the last daily update, at least with any specific frequency. We should be boarding the Rickmers Antwerp tomorrow and after that the updates will likely have to be done from internet cafes when I find them. I’ll still be picking a picture each day, just not uploading them one at a time. Hope everyone had a good new year and the best for the coming one.

Day 6 - Houston Ship Channel

We had a wonderful time sightseeing today. Since the weather was nice we went back to the Kemah Boardwalk. We also took some time to go up the coast to see where the ship will come through the Houston ship channel. The picture here is one of the Fred Hartman Bridge, which I believe we’ll be sailing through in a few days. We also managed to procure a fine bottle of champagne ($5) so we’ll be prepared to ring in the New Year.

Day 5 - Kemah Boardwalk

Houston seems to be the city of the u-turn. Last night when I mapped a route to a nearby restaurant I thought the software was pushing it when it included a u-turn in the route. However, after having to make a u-turn to start-off and seeing that it’s commonplace I decided that maybe the software was right. Today was still fairly cloudy after last night’s storm although the weather has started to clear. We drove out to the coast to a place called the Kemah Boardwalk. It’s a collection of restaurants, shops, rides and (of course) the boardwalk. As the weather was still cloudy we didn’t spend much time there. The forecast appears nicer for tomorrow so I think we might go back.

Day 4 - Bodacious BBQ

Today’s travelling was pretty much a whole day of rain. Sometimes it was light rain, sometimes it was driving rain, it just rained all day. During lunch the rain was pouring off the roof of Bodacious Barbecue, however, it let up for a few minutes so I took a quick snap. The lunch was good although until we try more Texas BBQ we won't know if there is better. Tonight in Houston it’s extremely stormy with a few tornado warnings. Coming back from dinner we realised that there’s a power outage just past the hotel for quite a distance. Called the port agent earlier and found out that the ship isn’t due in until late afternoon on the 1st, which means we’ll likely board on the morning of the 2nd. So for the next few days we’ll explore Houston, or rest up from all the driving.

Day 3 - Cracker Barrel

Today was a long drive with few stops, but I did manage to find something to snap a picture of. This is the front porch of a restaurant chain called Cracker Barrel. They bill themselves as half store / half restaurant. Up until today we've pretty much had most of our meals in them as the selection is wide and the quality and service are consistently good.

Anyway – we’re in Texas now (just over the Arkansas border) in a town called Texarkana. The weather is…. warmer, saw 62F on a sign sometime today. We should be in Houston tomorrow with no problems.

Day 2 - Wal-Mart

After the pictures of the luggage yesterday I thought I’d show you our first stop after checking out of the motel. Yes, sure enough, we stopped to buy a few things. In our defence they were very little things, items that can be slipped into bags – not ones that require buying another suitcase or anything. The weather was nicer today and we’ve made good progress, ahead of schedule actually. So we’ll drive a little further tomorrow and we’ll be in Houston on Friday. That will give us a day extra in Houston to look around a bit.

Day 1 - Just a little luggage

Well, after months of planning we're finally on our way. I didn't have the camera with me as we crossed over the bridge at Windsor - so today's picture will be luggage (ie. the few bags we've taken). As I look at the truck I think we've perhaps over done it, but what's done is done. I asked my mother today if she finally feels like she's on vacation and the answer was 'once we've crossed the border'. So, it is officially the start of the vacation since we're in Dayton, OH. I'm now about to find out how well (or poorly) the wireless connection on the laptop works.

Ports - Dec 22

Well, I'm packed (my mother is close) at least 3 days before I have to be. The port list was updated again today (although it's been changed so many times since I made a list in November). This is likely the last update before we leave Canada. I'm convinced we're both taking way too much stuff but what's done is done. The next update will likely be on the road somewhere in the US (mainly to get used to updating on the road).

My Cubicle

It's only been my 'home' for the last year but strangely I'll miss it. It wasn't an easy decision to make. I know when I told my boss I was leaving there was some surprise. Of course there was surprise - how many people quit a good job to take off on a freighter for four months? I've been with this company (Dana) for almost 4 years, but only at this plant for a year. I had planned to stay longer, however, as they say timing is everything. For those that don't know, I chose to join my mother after she had decided to go. For myself I feel that it's now or never. If I don't do it now somehow I don't think I'll ever do it.

That's one great thing about this spot - the fact that there's a window just behind me. Okay, it looks out over the parking lot, a gas station, an empty field and a highway. It's still nice to be able to see what it's like out every now and then. And no, the space isn't always that tidy. We had visitors to the plant last week so I tidied up a bit. Now I'm in the cleaning up mode for leaving (which will be Dec. 7th).

Ports

Since it's now out at work I've started talking about the upcoming trip. I've been generally listing off where I'll be going to people and thought I should put up a general list. Now, since I first booked the trip the sailing date has been:

mid-Dec, early Jan, Dec. 28th, Dec 25th....

Well, you get the point. I was even a little excited that we might be in New Orleans for New Years - wouldn't that be a great city to be in for that night? I see by today's update however that the dates have changed again, so it looks like Houston for New Years. That's okay, since perhaps I can celebrate my birthday (Jan 4th) in New Orleans instead.

Getting help at the desk

Just a sample to see how easy (or hard) it will be to update things on the road. I was originally using Zoto to do this, however, with blogger beta I thought (for now) I'd try a posting from here instead of from Zoto. I might use Flickr instead for a while. The idea is to try and do a visual record of the trip. I won't be able to update every day but the plan is to write something every day and add a picture of the day to each post. I'm going to add a couple of links to other Rickmers' passengers blogs. As I was preparing to go I found them very interesting to read.

This is a picture of my help that I get when working at the desk. This was actually taken back at the end of September. The help I still get. Since that time I've moved the printer up to a shelf above the desk as Shadow (the kitten) likes to try and stop the printer when it's going. Looking at the stack of CDs this was while I was converting everything I have to MP3s so I can take them with me. Okay that was my CDs, my mother's CDs, and at one point I even plugged the turntable into the computer and converted some old records to MP3s. I might as well post a picture of the other kitten (Gus). Although at this stage they were both 6 months and they are both pretty big to call kittens.

That was just one more thing to deal with - finding someone to house sit for us while away. I hadn't even considered going away when I got the kittens in the summer. I wouldn't want them to simply be fed by someone coming in once a day. We lucked out and two of our neighbours' daughters will live in the house while we're away. As they're both past the high school age I'd guess that they're probably looking forward to living on their own (even if it is next door). I couldn't find a picture of Gus on his own, but that's him on the top step.

Preparation seems to go from being simpler than I thought to more complicated. The simple things were the shots, and the visa applications. The complicated things are like what you actually take when you're going to be away for four months. It's not like if you forget something you can nip 'round to the corner store.

I told my boss last week and so far he's pretty good with it. It's not like this is something an employee comes to a boss with every day. One of my coworkers kind of nailed it the other day - that I was jumping ship to jump on a ship. I'll miss the place, however, I don't think I'll ever regret going on this trip. Even now, almost 2 months to go and I really just can't wait.