One More Day

Every year we take our cruise, we always extend it one more day so that we can get organized from the week of vacation and get everything ready for the rest of the week. So we extend that vacation just one more day to recover from all the relaxation.

It's time to put the cruise behind me and stick it into our bank of memories.

Tomorrow it will be time to return to work, I've been off a total of 10 days now and it's just time to get ready to head back to the office to see what it is that I have missed. It has been a nice little break, now it's time to start planning fall festivities.

Have yourselves a great day.

Back in Baltimore and Debarkation

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Well today is the day that we say goodbye to the big red fin that we have come to love so much. It's a day for us to debark off the ship and get in Pearl and jump on the interstate and head back to the Mountains of West Virginia. This concludes mine and Michelle's fifth cruise giving us 35 days sailed at sea so far.

By the time this posts we will be back in the Bay and I will have cell phone reception for the first time since last Sunday evening. Hopefully you have enjoyed the pictures that we have shared on Facebook with everyone and enjoyed our vacation with us.

Take Me Home Country Roads.

A Return Home Day at Sea

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Well today is what I usually call the most boring day of the trip. This is after you have already hit your three Ports of Call and are on your way back to Baltimore. We'll be coming at the Atlantic Coast hugging the shelf on this return trip. Today is a day of sales on the ship. It's almost comical to watch these ladies fight for these trinkets. Today is also the Groove for St, Jude day, were they will be selling these T-shirts and all the proceeds will go to St Judes Hospital.

We will be listening to our cruise director all day telling us about tomorrows debarkation and we will get one final song and dance from our dinner waitstaff. I can't say enough about these people, they are what makes the cruise so much fun.

This is our last full day on the boat, I'll be sunning, relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow.

Freeport

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Today Michelle and I will be visiting our third and final port of call, Freeport the Bahamas. This year we will definately stop by the shops right outside of the port. We always go there and buy a new hand made Christmas ornament every year to add to our Christmas Tree. This wonderful woman here with my wife is the woman we buy our ornament from every year.

We are going to switch it up a little in Freeport this year. In years passed we have traveled to Port Lucia, spent time around the local shops shopping and this year we are are going to do a little catamaran snorkeling in Freeport for the first time. This will be the first excursion that we will have went on other than the Faster to the Fun we purchase every year for priority boarding and tendering.

Hope it'll be a great day, I'm excited about exploring new waters to snorkel for the first time.

Half Moon Cay

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Today we will once again be snorkeling, but today it will be at our second port of call Half Moon Cay, which is Carnival's private island that they own. We'll have to tender on and off of the island, as the waters are too shallow to stick a pier, but I'm hearing that may be in the future plans. I have to say of anyplace on this earth that I have ever been, that Half Moon Cay is my favorite. Michelle and I both love it here. We will be treated to a nice luncheon on the island prepared by our wonderful culinary staff and I'm sure there will be a photo op or two today.

I'll be snorkeling in the Caribbean today at my favorite spot, today is not going to suck...lol

Grand Turk

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Today Michelle and I land in our first port of call, Grand Turk. This is a place where there is a Margaritaville on the Island, but Michelle and I will go and visit Topher today and maybe even get our pictures taken with him once again.

One thing Michelle and I love to do is Snorkel and this year is going to be no different than before when we stopped here. The water is absolutely crystal clear and beautiful, snorkeling in these waters is almost surreal.

That'll be our day.

Second Day at Sea

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

The image you see was from last years cruise, but this is what I will be waking up to every morning this week, hopefully it will be a little bit less cloudy.

We are once again at seas in transit to our destination. Today will be a fun day on the ship as they will probably do the Hasbro Game Show or the Couples Test on the stage today. There will be no shortness of any activities as we start to prepare for tomorrow and our first port of call.

Enjoy yourselves today, I will be.

First Day at Sea

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

You can follow us on either the Front Web Cam, the Aft Webcam or just simply be tracking our location.

Well we are well underway on our way to Grand Turk, but it will take us a couple of days to get there. We'll be entering the deepest part of the ocean today for our trip today and tomorrow as we leave the continental shelf. We'll be in waters that range from 20,000 ft to 25,000 feet as make our way to Grand Turk.

Tonight will be the first Formal Night of the cruise, this is when we get all dressed up to eat lobster and take pictures. The picture that you see here is me and my lovely wife last year on the first formal night.

Time to go soak up the sun.

12 Years

Today marks a very significant day for me, it was 12 years ago today that I first typed my first post into this blog. It was a day that I just wanted to try something, I saw this new thing called blogger and thought that I would give it the old college try and see how that worked out for me.

12 years later, I'm still here, well actually I'm about to get on a cruise ship and enjoy myself, but this blog is still here.

I guess you could say that I will be on vacation from blogging this week.

Thank you all for reading my thoughts, ramblings, redundancy and my idiocricy through the years and allowing me to share 12 years of my life with you.

Embarkation Day

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

Well today is Embarkation Day, this is when all of the people who are on my ship right now get off and we get to get on the ship. This is the day we go through customs and sit and wait. We'll get on the ship around 1:30 and about 4:00 we'll have the required safety briefing that you have to sit through before you go out in the Ocean. It's just the standard requirement you do before every cruise.

It's going to be a day of waiting, but this is where the fun begins.

Tonight we will have our first dinner on the ship and we will get to meet the other couple with whom we will be dining throughout the cruise. We have been blessed to have dined with some great couples on each cruise, each of which we have remained in contact with.

Bon Voyage

Travel Day and Start of Vacation

As Michelle and I embark upon our fifth Cruise and enjoy our vacation, I will also be taking a little break as a blogger and writing some pre-written canned blogs. You can check more of what we are into on mine or Michelle's Facebook Page.

Today Michelle and I will jump on the interstate and spend this evening in Baltimore Maryland. We will be staying at the same hotel we stayed at the first year, as the one we have had booked the last three is completely booked up and unavailable.

We are probably not going to run down to the Inner Harbor this year, we've seen it enough times that the excitement is gone. Guy Fieri has a Kitchen and Bar that we have reservations at Saturday Night. Caesars has a casino next door to our hotel, when we stayed there a few years ago it was an empty lot.

Wish us Luck.

Big Ole Hairy Start if Vacation Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend, and a Big Ole Hairy Friday and the start of this Bloggers yearly vacation.

The next ten days worth of blogs that you will read were all pre-written a few weeks ago and each will be generic but will coordinate with our trip to the Caribbean. I may write a live blog tomorrow or Sunday Morning, depending on how I feel and that will be it until we return.

A lot of events going on around Morgantown this evening. In High School Football all three area teams are at home this weekend. Morgantown hosts Parkersburg South, University hosts Brooke and Clay Battelle hosts Valley Wetzel.

If you are a music fan, the brown lot near the law school is the place to be this evening. Brad Paisley is in town to give a free concert this evening and send Michelle and I off on our vacation.

Have yourselves a great day, I'm ready to get this party started.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

I'm going to change my photo flashback Thursday a little bit this week. Every year we go on a cruise people ask to see a tour of the boat so they know what we are experiencing.

Last year I did a tour of the Pride when we were in Freeport, enjoy the ship we are going to be on next week.

Short blog, have a great day.

Hump Day

I'm ready for the weekend already like no other week during this year, we just need to get up and over this noon time hump and start working towards my vacation.

I'm loving this time of the year, mainly because not only are Michelle and I going on vacation, I also take my yearly break as a blogger. With all of next weeks blogs already written and a special Photo Flashback coming up tomorrow that has already been written, I'll have one more blog that I need to write before we leave and that will be the Big Ole Hairy Friday Blog.

Tomorrows blog will be a 50 minute tour of the Carnival Pride that I did last year while we were in Freeport. The ship was pretty much empty so I took the opportunity to do a first hand tour of the Pride deck by deck for everyone to see. No background music as I will be narrating the video telling you what you see and even telling you how Carnival got to be known as the "Fun Ship". Be sure to tune in tomorrow.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well our three day Memorial Day Holiday Weekend is done, now it's time to head back to the office for a few days.

* It has been 19,273 days since I first set foot on this planet, now using my math and my new and improved 905 days calendar, which I should trademark™, that makes me just 21 years old.

* 4,496 day ago I fulfilled a lifetime dream and graduated from West Virginia University, my hometown University and Alma Mater. Now we are starting to get close to the best part of having the students here, Football Season.

* 3,097 days ago I was fortunate enough to take a very special lady out for a night on the town, we did Pizza and a movie that was horrible and that was the start of the rest of my life.

* 2,321 days ago I proposed marriage to Michelle, I had made her wait until a certain number of days, but she knew it was coming and said yes.

* 1,858 days ago in front of our closest friends and family at the Marilla Center, Michelle and I exchanged our marital vows and became husband and wife. It was the most special day of my life and the one that I hold dearest to my heart.

* I have around 5,564 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there depending on how I feel.

* We are 2,202 days away from the Backyard Brawl being renewed when WVU and Pitt will once again take the field and the Mountaineers will once again whip that pathetic ACC rear end into the ground. Panther meat for sale the next day.

* There are 334 days to go until Michelle and my sixth Wedding Anniversary.

* My nephew Calvin and his GF Jeanetta will be getting married in 291 days from now. They have their wedding website up and running and are doing all kinds of planning.

* My favorite season of the year is Spring, which were are just a mere 195 days away from =)

* Phil the Groundhog takes center stage in 149 more days where he will predict our next 6 weeks worth of weather. Phil is my buddy and once again will not disappoint me, I have faith.,

* My Goodbye 2016 blog where I relive everything that was posted in my blog over the last year will appear here in just 117 more days.

* I still haven't seen WalMart put up Christmas stuff just yet, but it's getting closer as there are only 110 more days to go until Christmas. I say give it until next weekend and we'll start seeing it.

* The next anniversary of my 21st Birthday will be in just another 86 more days.

* We tried to make it to the Springs Festival last year but the weather was not cooperative, we'll try it again in 32 more days. It's a great place to go and see if you have never been there.

* Our fifth Sea Cruise will take place in 5 more days when we set sail out of Baltimore once again. Everything is already booked, paid for including out hotel room and we're just counting the days down until we head east. Here is the AFT Deck cam of what is going on right now.

* This is my 4,588th blog that I have written for George's Journal. I'm going on 12 years as a blogger while I am on my cruise. What a way to celebrate anniversaries of blogging.

* The Hall Family Tree is still up and running with 370 members in the database and that will continue to grow this fall. I've added the DNA .GED file, so we'll see if that generates any information which it hasn't yet.

* There will be another free concert this week,  Brad Paisley in the brown lot by the Law School on September 9th.

* I still think down the road I would like to assemble a few people for a team to take on the Morgantown Escape Room. The cost is $25 per person and to have an intuitive mind that can help with the solution. I'm starting to ask around and getting a pretty good response for that. I'm thinking sometime after our cruise.

* We have actually started organizing for packing for our cruise, I'm starting to anticipate it now.

* I have all of my blogs for vacation written and ready to go, it's time for a blogger vacation as well as my normal vacation.

* Our kickball game for this weekend was rescheduled, there just was not enough response for the game so we are going to try to reschedule it at a later date.

* Yesterday for the first time, I became officially bald as I shaved the remaining hairs from my head. Smooth as a baby's butt.

* Hi ho hi ho

Labor Day

Well last Monday I declared when I take over the world there will be no more Mondays. World domination complete, everyone can take the day off today and most of you can even get paid for it. We shall call in Labor Day.

Happy Labor Day everyone, go ahead and stretch that weekend out one more day, you have earned it. Even though it is the unofficial end of Summer, we still have almost three weeks left, it's a time that indicates the end of the summer. The kids are back in school and College Football season has began.

No plans for us today, then again we really didn't get into a whole lot yesterday as we did a little bit of running around preparing for the end of this week when we head off to Baltimore to catch the Carnival Pride once again and head the the Caribbean. So this time next week I will be out in the Atlantic Ocean looking at some beautiful blue water.

Have yourselves a great day today and enjoy it to the absolute fullest, you have earned this day off. Signed the guy who just took over the world bwa ha ha ha ha.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again on a quiet Sunday Morning, I'm the first to recover from getting knocked out by that dreaded Sandman last night and I am up watching Not Another Teen Movie on HBO and trying to wake up.

The WVU Mountaineers opened there 2016 season in positive fashion, beating the Missouri Tigers 26-11 in front of 60,125 fans yesterday at Milan Puskar Stadium at Mountaineer Field. I was hearing a lot of hype from SEC Commentators about Missouri pulling the upset and WVU just being a bottom feeder, but the score was closer than the game as Missouri's touchdown came late in the game. The Mountaineers are at home again next week against Youngstown State.

Well due to a lack of responses our family kickball game that was scheduled for this afternoon has been postponed. We'll try again at a later date, I know I have been battling the flu this past week and with our cruise coming up this weekend I want to be as healthy as possible.

Typical Sunday planned for us, nothing new or exciting. We will once again get to use the new Bill Stewart Exit after grocery shopping this morning to do the rest of our errands. We drove on it Friday evening just to do it as we have watched this whole exit develop over the last couple of years.

Have yourselves a great day and enjoy your Sunday knowing that tomorrow is a Holiday.

It's Gameday

Here I sit yet one again in a quiet household, this is the quiet before the start of the storm that is known as college football. I'm up collecting my thoughts for the day and have no idea what is on the TV behind me.

Today is the start of the College Football Season here in Morgantown. The West Virginia Mountaineers kick off their season today against the Missouri Tigers here at Milan Puskar Stadium.

The Sea of RV's is already here and I'm sure that there will be people walking around soon with the "I Need Tickets" signs trying to buy up all the extra tickets to resell them later this morning. The Pride of West Virginia is probably starting to assemble at the stadium for their pre-game rehearsal before coming back in their uniforms. Tailgates and traffic will be main thing we see this morning, all coming into town and preparing for today's noon time game.

I am ready for the start of college football.

Go Mountaineers.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend, and a Big Ole Hairy Friday and a THREE DAY HOLIDAY WEEKEND!!!!!!

I have to say that it is the end of an era here in Morgantown. Every Friday I post a Big Ole Hairy Friday Blog, I borrowed the phrase from the Eric and Kevin show here in Morgantown years ago and have just adopted it as my own. Wednesday evening I and other WVAQ listeners got some bad news. The Kevin Connolly Show has been canceled abruptly and will not return. Morgantown lost of piece of itself, Kevin has been the voice of many of our mornings for 18 years and now the show is gone like a puff of smoke. To Kevin I have to say thank you, you have given this city so many memories and were a part of our routine in the morning for so long. Good Luck in stealing second base and finishing law school, this town will always remember what you have accomplished first with Eric and later with Sarah and Adam. If you have extra time you have a spot on the old farts softball league team.

WVAQ will have a new morning show in a few weeks, hosted by Jack Logar, but they will never replace the remnants of EMRN.

With that being said there is High School Football on tap for tonight. Clay Battelle hosts Beallsville Ohio, Morgantown travels to Brooke and University High travels to Parkersburg South this evening.

It's a three day holiday weekend here, get out and enjoy yourselves.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to reflect on days gone by that I have captured in pictures. Little lost moments in time that we are allowed to relive once again because someone had a camera handy and captured the moment. I like to select one of those lost moments in time and write a little something about it, briefly reliving a time and maybe stirring a few memories of some of my readers of yesteryear. Sometimes these are really easy pictures to find, it just jumps out at you saying pick me pick me. Sometimes it seems like you have looked at all the pictures over and over and it's hard to make a decision. One thing that always stands true though is that I always enjoy myself looking through the pictures and in this case a video.

No specific picture this week, but I did come across this video that I did at the beginning of the year reliving 2015 through mine and Michelle's eyes or how it was seen with our video camera. It was nice for me to look back at our year last year, everything from Niagara Falls to Christmas. I had a lot of fun doing this video last year and will probably do another one just like it for 2016 at the end of the year.

Enjoy our 2015.

Hi ho hi ho