Back home in the USA

Did you miss me? I left Singapore on June 17 for my very long trip to the other side of the world. Pictures below are inside the Singapore airport. - an actual huge waterfall and fresh flowers everwhere. My trip went from Singapore to San Francisco to Houston to Charlotte NC and finally on to New Bern NC with layovers at each stop. I have finally learned that to endure these very long trips, Business Class makes it almost tolerable. United did have the lay-down beds with a pillow and a blanket so it was much much nicer than even Premium Economy. Once I finally arrived in New Bern, I still had an hour drive to get to Morehead City. My neighbor and friend, Joyce, picked me up and we stopped half way to Morehead for my first taste of good Mexican Food in almost 2 years. My request of course! and the margarita was awesome. I was home again.

I spent 12 busy days with my friends and doctors. My social calendar was full of lunches, dinners, and moving from one house to another so that I could spend quality time with Joyce, Wendi, and Carol. A special thanks to all 3 for their hospitality. But the very best time was a Surprise dinner party I arranged for 8 of us. There is a restaurant outside of Beaufort in an area called Down East. The restaurant, Wild Will's, opened right before I left in 2024 and several of us had wanted to go there but we never seemed to find the time. The road to the restaurant is dark and winding and it takes an hour to get there. And "most" of my girlfriends are of the age where we don't drive dark roads after dark very much and certainly not after a glass of wine or two. So, Wendi and I hatched a plan and we hired a Limo to take us to dinner, wait for us, and then drive that treacherous road back to Beaufort. The ride to Wild Will's was filled with bottles of Prosecco, laughter, dancing, and music from the 60's & 70's. I'm sure our driver was smiling the whole way. The dinner was spectacular and we almost closed down the place (you have to understand that the owners know it is a long drive back to town, so they close at 9:00pm). We were all especially glad that we weren't driving because there was a heavy rainstorm the entire way home - lightening, thunder and bad visibility. And, it was all over by the time we got back to our cars and made it home. Great memories. Thank you ladies.

I also got to see the newly upgraded Maritime Museum in Beaufort and the new Gallants Channel Boating Education Center. After my many years of being a volunteer and a member of the Friends of the Museum Board, it was fantastic to see the facility coming to fruition. It is beautiful. Catching up with Brent and Kelli in their new home was wonderful and I got Shrimp & Grits that I had been wanting. Then there was the evening I spent at the Morehead Beaufort Yacht Club. The members there became my first friends when I arrived there in 2009 to sell Cloud 9. It truly was a coming home feeling.

In between seeing all my doctors (I have to say I got excellent reports), I saw more friends, went to more favorite restaurants, and even went to the Hot Dog and Apple Event at GOP headquarters. Oh, and I almost forgot, I had a tooth pulled. It is always interesting to get your teeth cleaned in foreign countries, but thankfully my Beaufort dentist noticed a tooth that would soon be giving me bad trouble and probably in some small burg in a distant land. Better to pull it now and prevent it becoming a crisis situation. Thank you Dr. P.

Time to hit the road again. A quick 2 day stop in Florida to see friends and catch up. Had a scrumptious lunch at the Palm Beach Yacht Club where we ran into a a lovely lady that both

Sheila and I knew/knew of in Dallas. Nancy Brinker was the Founder of the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation way back in 1995 when I was diagnosed. She went on to become the US Ambassador to Hungary and is evidently now living in Palm Beach. She is still a beautiful and gracias southern lady.

And finally on to my other home - Kay & her husband Wil's home in Cypress Texas (just a little bit north of Houston). There I began my Texas feeding frenzie. I do love Tex-Mex better than anything. I got to Cypress just before July 4th so we attended a huge Community gathering and gorgeous fireworks. It was nice to be in the USA for our 250th anniversary. I'm truly Proud to be an American. I don't know where the time went while I was there but there was shopping, visiting with friends, attending a Republican monthly meeting, making jewelry with Kay and drinking wine in the evening with Wil. Poor Kay really can't drink much wine so I get her share. Wil and I always have a great time solving the woes of the world while watching Kay enjoy working in her garden backyard.

I did have to laugh or groan as I began packing for my return to the Odyssey. As always happens when an Odyssey resident returns home, their friends ask "can you bring me just one little thing back please?". One of my friends got carried away. However, he did say IF another bag was required and IF so, he would pay for the bag and the extra airline fee. YEP, that was going to happen. So Kay & I went to Goodwill and found a big suitcase for $10.78 and I headed back to Singapore with 3 huge suitcases and a carry-on.

This time my flight had fewer stops and was amazing. I flew on Qatar Airlines in Business Class. I left Houston and flew straight to Doha, Qatar (the capital of Qatar). Then had a 4 hour layover and flew on to Singapore. I was a little concerned about all the goings on in the Middle East but I was assured that everything would be just fine. And it was. The airport in Qatar is beautiful. The airline has a private club for the First Class passengers and a separate club for the Business Class passengers. I don't know what the 1st Class club was like but the Business Class was amazing. Free buffet food, free cocktails, free WIFI and charging stations, comfortable recliner chairs, and a receptionist who comes and tells you when it is time to head to the gate. The plane was equally amazing. Each BC seat has it own cubicle with a sliding door. You get lounging pajamas, slippers, a mattress topper, pillow & an oh-so-soft blanket. I slept really good. Especially after the really good Port wine after dinner.

Back to reality and home on the Odyssey in Singapore. I think my body finally said it was time to slow down and rest. So I did. It was 2 days before I even unpacked. There was a lot I had planned to see and do in Singapore but I just couldn't get motivated. I was just enjoying my cabin at home. There are some changes in itinerary and timing mostly due to the fuel shortage issues, but we will figure it out. For now we have departed Singapore and are heading to Viet Nam (three different stops here) and then on to Hong Kong for a couple of days. After our extended stay in Singapore, we threw ourselves a Sail Away party on the pool deck. So long Singapore until next time.

Have a great August y'all.