Here are four photos of us on our horseback riding trip in Nicaragua last Sunday (just got them from Blue, since Internet has been spotty the past several days):
The beach was wide open and wonderful the day we were riding. The horse I was riding (“Give me the fastest horse…”) is the one Blue normally rides and she doesn’t normally ride on the beach (she takes pictures of others while she is there). So her horse was not used to riding on the beach and apparently had never ridden in the water. Look closely at the photo above and you can see how she is pulling right. She eventually got used to the water, but it was a bit of a struggle at first to keep her riding parallel with the waves.
This is my favorite photo of the entire trip. Maybe one of my favorite all-time photos. It shows how happy Krissie was in riding on the beach. Krissie said that this was a life changing experience for her. What a joy!
Krissie likes this photo the best and she wants to get it framed when we get home. She says I look like a real cowboy. I want the one of her above framed. And she wants a horse.
We were riding along the edge of the water on the beach in water up to about 6-8”. It was the most fun ride of my life and I had a horse when I was in high school (no beaches near us, though). The best shore excursion ever.
Back to San Diego. We arrived before dawn. I took too many pics again today, so some will have to be downsized/compressed to get the blog entry under 5M. Here are a few pics as we came into the port:
You can see downtown as well as the USS Midway (with the blue and red lights to the right) and the Holland America Oosterdam (cruise ship to the left).
Closer up view of the USS Midway as the sun is providing more light.
So this tug is named the Pacific Queen. We are on the Pacific Princess. Hi Mommy.
Hi Sonia, here are the songs that the choir sang on Thursday evening: The Rose; Can’t Help Falling In Love; You’re Just In Love; True Love; All That Jazz; Somewhere Out There; Do Re Mi; Somewhere (West Side Story); then the encore was Around The World.
We got a nice view of our ship from the aft (rear) as we walked down the pier in San Diego.
The pic above was the best out of about 20 that I took of the bird of paradise that we saw on our walk.
We came back to the ship for lunch and this seagull was on the back railing waiting for food leave behinds.
I love this pic. The seagull is looking longingly at all the jets on the flight deck of the USS Midway and wishing “Someday I will be able to fly like one of those…”
The USS Midway is docked two piers over from our ship. It was in active service from 1945-2004, when it was decommissioned and turned into a museum.
View of the bridge of the USS Midway.
View of San Diego Harbor.
This guy was balancing really big rocks on top of very tiny ones along the waterfront.
Note that the rock he was balancing in the last pic is now in place on its own.
A guy had some parrots that were rescues that he had on display.
He put the yellow one on Krissie shoulder. I think it was pretty interested in the shiny earrings she was wearing.
These two bunnies were just hopping around on their own, I think they were someone’s pet, but they just seemed to be wandering.
There was a blimp overhead, although not sure why, maybe just for the advertising to all of the people walking the waterfront?
Well, you know how much I love ducks. I took about 40 pics of these ducks in a little pond near the waterfront.
I like how the female is looking down at the males in this one and the colors of the water below the males.
Another duck pic. Did I mention that I love ducks?
Krissie took this pic. She wants to enter it into the next photo contest, but the category is “People, Family and Friends” so I guess it doesn’t qualify.
This big sea lion was laying out at the end of the pier when suddenly another one popped out of the water to join him.
Our view during sailaway. That’s the Star of India with the sails, one of the world’s largest sailing ships still in use (I think).
This couple was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary tonight in the dining room.
The entertainment this evening was Glenn Smith, pianist and vocalist.
Tomorrow is day one of five days at sea before we arrive in Honolulu on Friday.
Too bad you can't enter Krissie's riding photo in a contest! It is incredible, and what a look of fun on her face for sure. That hand up in the air is priceless. The pictures of you, Brian, are "real cowboy" quality for sure.
ReplyDeleteLoved the duck photos. At first I thought they were sitting on turtles. :-)
My favorite memory of San Diego last fall was of the Coast Guard Hovercraft that put on quite a show for us, and of course the Navy men jumping out of the helicopters to "save" the dummies thrown into the water for training.
Patti
Brian, were the ducks sitting on REAL turtle shells? LOVED the pictures on the horses, too: we can see your thrill of the ride!
ReplyDeleteSusie & Alan
I like the star of india boat shot. Lovely sweet yellow/orange parrot. Fascinating about that man able to balance rocks. Incredible skill. Nice horse shots!
ReplyDeleteFor interest: - Regarding the 'party' when crossing the equator... French ships began that tradition in the 16th century. At first rites were performed when ships passed safety around a major cape (for the first time) but as time went on this rite was extended to sailors who passed the equator for the first time. "Even though during these days, paganism had given way to Christianity, sailors still remained a superstitious bunch & would do anything to appease the treacherous seas. Eager to please the ancient GOD OF THE SEA King] NEPTUNE, the humiliation, and fines paid were a small price to pay to get Neptune’s blessing. The English eventually followed in the practice in the next century. In Cook’s day, the ship the 'pollywogs' were hoisted over the seas by the mainyard and were dunked into the ocean water 30-40 feet below them. The original equator crossing ceremony was a serious event, but today, it's another excuse to celebrate sailing the seas. Nowadays, a liberal dousing with saltwater usually substitutes the dunking and the forfeiture of pay is usually making a tithe to Neptune with a tossing into the sea of a coin from the sailor’s last port of call. Many will post a letter to King Neptune, ie placing a note recording the equatorial crossing position of your vessel with the names of the crew on board in a bottle, and setting it adrift. Most cruising boats today substitute the after-indoctrination party’s bottles of rum with a toast of champagne… some of which is tossed into the sea for the merriment of Neptune!
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