CA Sunshine

Some California sunshine finally came out today. We explored two lagoons (Buena Vista and San Elijo). I took a picture of these two goons at one of the lagoons. Yes, Charlottesville friends, the goon on the left is none other than Sr's buddy Mike, who drove all the way from Seattle to visit with us and some other friends in the area. We also made a stop at the beach in Encinitas on the way back. Both kids got good and wet and sandy. Much too cold to swim, but we saw surfers in wet suits.

Pacific Sunset

The first of many, but probably one of only a few that will include a beach. Taken a couple of blocks from where we are staying in Carlsbad.

Wet Legos

Day two in San Diego, we are checking Legoland off Jr's bucket list. Yes, nearly-10-year olds have those, too. My sister and her family joined us from Seattle, so my niece (she's 7) is along for the fun, too. It is raining, but last I checked none of us were made of sugar. Glad we are getting to see my West Coast family before boarding the ship on Wednesday.

California is the place to be

Smooth flights, luggage all arrived. We are on the way to Carlsbad for a couple of days until the MV Explorer comes in to San Diego on January 2.

Pinch me

We are on our way! As we were boarding the plane in Charlottesville this morning, Sr leaned over and asked, "is this real?" while Jr said the plane looked too small to be safe. Here's the boys waiting at Dulles. Despite the forecast, there has been no snow and things are on time so far. Next up, the flight to San Diego.

Christmas Pack-age

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We spent ours packing.  That's 5 duffels, under 50 pounds each, for 3 people. Yes, there will be shopping along the way!

Poetic Farewells

Today is my last full day in the office before we sail, and my colleagues wrote me this farewell poem! There are rumors I got a little teary when they presented it this morning, but I am vehemently denying them. In case you can't read the words, it says:

The Seafarer's Farewell

The family is gathered and packed
The ship's about to sail
You know what they say about not looking back
And think of all the tales!

New lands beckon with smells and sights to see
But students need their information tools
Because just like fish in the sea
Your students are still stuck in schools!

We hate to see you go
But don't worry about us
Since we've got our ducks in a row
We promise not to cause a fuss!

Bon Voyage & Have Fun!

I promise to take a picture of this creation hanging on my cabin wall and post it to the blog soon after we board. And dear colleagues, before you know it I'll be back in down the hall from all of you, with a few tales to tell.

Dirham, Rand, Lemongrass, and Librarians

What do these things have in common? They all made an appearance at lunch today! Jane, the fearless librarian from the Fall 12 SAS voyage has just returned to Charlottesville, so Matt (Summer 13 librarian, see previous post) and I had lunch with her.

Jane had lots of great things to pass on, from unused currency for South Africa and Morocco, to a reportedly magic seasickness band, to advice on running a ship-shape library. All was conveyed over a yummy Thai lunch on the UVA Corner.

I didn't think to take a picture of the three of us, I am going to have to get better about capturing blog-worthy moments if you folks are going to keep reading.

Two and half weeks to go, and the list is definitely shrinking!

Packing day

Today was book packing day! Olivia (our Spring 2013 Assistant Librarian), Matt (the Summer 2013 Librarian), Mary (the permanent SAS Librarian and coordinator) and I packed 19 boxes of reserve books, travel guides, DVDs, nautical charts, and other library goodies today. Mary and I will unpack and shelve them all on January 2 when I meet her on the ship in San Diego.

Here we are happily packing:

And here we are with all 19 boxes:

Behind the camera, in her usual role of making everything run smoothly and seem magically organized, is the intrepid Mary, who is off to the ship in two days for her own voyage.