December 1 - December 14, 2019

	Tuesday December 4, 2019 We flew to Aukland, New Zealand... Then on to a cruise ship.... It is an adventure but first I want to say, I had a great IPA on the ship, Dogfish Head 90. This has been stressful for me and even my wife. I could go into more detail compared to about the days in Auckland but they pale in comparison to today........... We had an excursion off the ship today. It should be easy, but it was not.... We started today at 8:30 as usual, it was hurry up and wait, long lines. We heard it could rain, but it was warm, dry not Wisconsin in the summer. I said so what, I went in loose shorts like I was in the other day and the same kind of shirt that does not need ironing. Pat carried an umbrella. On the way back after several hours on a bus, cramped on my knees, it started raining, not hard. We had to "tender", That means the ship is off the shore and we had to hop on a boat to get to our excursion. It is an adventure for all of us because it is hard to get onto the boat because of the large waves, In the morning it was not too bad but when we came back there was a very long line. Pat was mad at me because I asked what is going on!! I was told the waves were too high for safety (PG&E again?) so we stood out in this long line in light rain for 30 minutes in this long line............then,  20 minutes or so later it started raining more,  still light at first but then the wind came up  and the rain came in hard!!!! and Pat's Umbrella flew away!! I was getting soaked but it was still somewhat warm. .................Then It started to pour even harder and everything on everyone was soaked around us........still in this long line out in the open....waiting to get onto this tender boat ............it was hard to stand up with all the wind and rain....we survived eventually and got back at 2:30 in time for the 2nd quarter of the Seattle game and i took a warm shower.........and now I am having this nice Dogfish beer............toasty Tomorrow is another excursion, I hope to survive Wednesday December 5, 2019 Update for today, Wednesday one day ahead of you. Pat has decided no more excursions for me. The bottom line is I threw out my back three days ago in Auckland..........It may have been the high tub I had to step into to take a shower OR maybe my deep knee bends to get ready for walking? You are all young but it sucks being old!!! Yesterday was tough as I said but today was more since I had to walk up and down with no place to sit for over an hour, well over a mile. I know all you could have had no trouble but with my bad back it was not fun. Pat has cancelled all my new excursions so I will mellow out on the ship. I am not happy because do I really only think about food and wine.........yes The food has been GREAT so I will survive and tomorrow I am going to a wine tasting and I am having my toe nails done at 8am Oh it took a while but I found more Dogfish. Thursday December 6, 2019 Day 6, I guess 6 more, I guess. We just got back from a great show of dancing people. We were on the third row so real exciting. It is 21 hours later than at home so in 2 hours it will be Friday here. On the way to the show, I asked for a Beverly hills Ice tea, but they did not know what it was so I had to ask for an extra shot of Tequila..... They gave me a Long Island Ice tea........A Long Island iced tea is a type of alcoholic mixed drink typically made with vodka, tequila, light rum, triple sec, gin, and a splash of cola, which gives the drink the same amber hue as its namesake. A popular version mixes equal parts vodka, gin, rum, triple sec, with ​1 1/2 parts sour mix and a splash of cola. I think they forgot the Tequila. It got me through the show..nice dinner before Pat is going off on an excursion tomorrow, I am staying on the ship. Today I went to a tasting of 12 wines and I was out of there in 30 minutes. I liked the Syrah from Australia which surprised me and a chardonnay from Chile. My back is no better............tomorrow is another day
	Dave For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com
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