2026

My Wish List for 2026 #cruising #restless #travel #music #writing

January 4, 2026

We found ourselves hanging out at Port Canaveral again today. We love watching the cruise ships. That’s how we found ourselves cruising on Utopia of the Seas last summer. That was a 3-day test cruise for Royal Caribbean (did not expect to like this cruise line) – we thought we’d be 1 and done. Instead, it instigated a 7-day cruise on Star of the Seas, my 25th cruise.

And once onboard Star of the Seas, not only did we have a blast with the nightlife – a Jazz Supper Club, Disco Night, 80s night, a romantic dinner at Chops Grille, and an evening at Lou’s Jazz Club, but we went on a sunset catamaran sail out of St. Thomas. Simply fabulous! So then we booked the brand new not yet sailing Legend of the Seas.

I’m been feeling so restless since then. I’m dying to get back out to sea. We have plans for a March cruise on Sun Princess and are double-booked next December on the newest Royal Caribbean ship, Legend of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale, but also Discovery Princess from L.A. We can’t be in both places at the same time so we’ll see which cruise wins.

Sounds fabulous right? But in the meantime, how do I stay landlocked in my house? I realized watching “Gone With the Wynns” on youtube and their latest boating lifestyle, that I really need to hit the road. Live in an RV, live on a boat. I need to be more mobile. Land or sea, it doesn’t matter. I just can’t stay home like this. I never really could. Isn’t it time for the next leg of “The Journey“? I may continue that story this year.

So to tide me over, I put together this video paired with 3 of my favorite songs I wrote in 2025. You might have heard them before. 😀

Elvis, Tom Jones, and my BFFs

June 24, 2011

Happy birthday, Elvis! In honor of the day, I posted this short on YouTube from “Vegas Nights” on the Carnival Mardi Gras. I’m also going to highlight an excerpt from “Elvis, Tom Jones, and my BFFs.”

Carol’s parents drove their Buick Riviera through the desert from southern California to Las Vegas every August and would stay at the Tropicana. And when Carol reached a certain age – 13 or 14 – she was allowed to invite a friend along. The first friend to go was our friend, Beverly. And I still remember my excitement over the postcard they sent me with a picture of the Folies Bergere.

Carol invited me to go to Vegas with her the next year to see Elvis at the International, but I had to turn her down because my family moved to Oregon. But Beverly got to take my place and I eventually saw Elvis in Portland. And, later, as an adult, I stayed at the Tropicana several times and saw the Folies Bergere several times as well.

I also saw Tom Jones a couple of times, too. Anyway, here’s the Tom Jones story Beverly shared with me.

I think it was at the Desert Inn and we saw it two years in a row.  It was Pizazz.  It was like a Broadway review.  Lots of dancing and singing.  I don’t remember it being a story, more like different acts somehow put together.  Probably a typical Las Vegas show at that time, very flashy.  We always sat in a booth (Carol’s Dad tipped big) and of course those were in the back.  Tom Jones was in the booth next to us. Carol says she doesn’t remember much but she does remember putting a hole in her dress with her thumb trying to rearrange herself to get a better look at Tom.  She remembers her dress was the one she wore to the Willard graduation.

Oh, Carol, I can just see you doing that right now. I so remember us squealing over Tom Jones when he first came out. And how my mother, more of an Elvis fan, said, “He walks like a horse.” lol!

Her comment didn’t stop us from thinking he was pretty exciting.