May 31, 2025

8 SEA DAY CROSSING TO HAWAII - 5/24 to 6/1/25

SEA DAYS pass by oh so quickly!! It is amazing to me how fast the days fly! There are never enough hours to do all the activities I strive to do in a day. Typically, I am up by 8 am, dressed and at breakfast by 9 and then attempting to be on pickleball court by 930 or 10 - I can easily play pickleball till noon - it's more popular now and with just one court I typically have to wait 1-2 games in between matches I play in. Love the group and camaraderie of players. Then I may do a little bit of emails or work and then get to lunch by 1- 130 to 2. Then the afternoon flys by with port talks or guest speakers and I try to get some more work or admin in and then I am off to gym by 430 -5 to get an hour workout in of cardio and weights, then a quick shower and clean up for dinner. Dinner is very sociable from 6:30pm  to 8:30pm  most night and sometimes is with a large group for a birthday celebration. It was Gary's 53rd Birthday on Tuesday! After dinner we usually have a choice of a speaker, music entertainment and maybe dancing or a game night. This will typically take me to 11 pm and then I wind down in my room, before bed. Then the whole process starts over again.

I always have a long TO DO LIST!   Right now I was desperate to catch up on my blog; read all about Japan and do research to figure out how I want to spend my days there ( we need to book some hotels, train tickets and hard to get excursions); do the same for Hawaii; contact my friends in Honolulu, San Francisco and Seattle that I want to hook up with and visit when I am in their towns in a few days/ weeks; get some health items scheduled for San Diego; order and buy some much needed new items ( smaller bathing suits and underwear) to be delivered to friends in USA ports; and get some good work outs in at the gym and pickleball court. Next I want to work on getting dive certified for all the great water ports we have coming up. I really thought I iwould have so many more hours in the day since I don't have to cook, clean, do laundry, drive or do any household chores. But it is amazing, when you add in the social elements to my day - how much time gets eaten up. A big change is having conversations with others, at my 3 meals a day. This easily adds 2 to 3 hours to my meal times daily. I also love how regular I am now with my exercise. I struggled to get this consistently accomplished prior to being here. Now I really miss it if I can't get it worked into my day. I have one more sea day to go. I have a manicure and pedicure scheduled for the late afternoon. I am happy to be caught up on blog for now! Aloha from Hawaii coming soon!

SHIP SHENANIGANS - CLUE PARTY

By Pat Patrick • September 16, 2026
It's never a dull Sea Day on the Odyssey! We have such creative residents, that are always coming up with new ideas to entertain ourselves and have a good time. This plot was the calculating of Eddie and Michelle - a Game of Clue! The rules were simple - find the party venue at 8:30 pm, come dressed as a character, weapon or room from the game and solve the mystery of who stole the Ship's bell.

TERRACOTTA ARMY - XI'AN, CHINA

By Pat Patrick • September 16, 2026
In March of 1974, some local farmers outside Xi'An, China are digging a well and accidentally hit one of the great archaeological sites in the World! They were paid one day's wages for the find, roughly 4 USD! The Terracotta Army was dubbed the 8th Wonder of the World by France's President in 1980 when he came to visit and wanted to meet the farmers, the oldest was then, 89 years old.

XI'AN, CHINA - WALLED CITY

By Pat Patrick • September 15, 2026
Xi'An, China has been on my must do list , for awhile. The story of the Terracotta Army has fascinated me, since I first heard it. What I didn't know too much about, was the actual City of Xi'An and the walled inner City that remains today. It was built from 1370 to 1378 during the Ming dynasty on top of the older Tang dynasty foundations. There are 9 miles of City walls, they are 39' high, 45' to 50' wide at the top and 55' to 60' at the base. There are four main gate towers and the only draw bridge restored is at the South Gate. There are 98 ramparts, watchtowers, battlements and a wide surrounding moat. It one of the oldest and best preserved fortifications in China .