On November 3 we left Miami for Southhampton.  Right behind us,  Hurricane Raphael , was heading straight for Cayman Islands, where we were yesterday.  What a difference a few days can make. On November 5 there was another hurricane, named Donald Trump, who, defying any logic and all odds, got re-elected president of the USA.  My sleep pattern began to change, for I worried about the future of democracy in the U.S.  I was so perplexed at how far off I was towards understanding our nation, that, save for my exposition on the future of the country  the next day, for the rest of the trip pretty much avoided politics in my postings.  Today, I still seem to have lost interest in our future, for all seems lost.  Reminds me of Ray Bradbury's  A Sound of Thunder , where a time traveler returns home to find everything changed.  He would have expected Kamala Harris to prevail over Donald Trump, but the opposite happened because he stepped on a but...

We spent 36 days on the Norwegian Encore: Launched in November of 2019, but suspended less than a year later because of the pandemic. Cost:  $1 billion. Maximum speed of 25 knots. 4000 passengers and 2100 crew. Godmother:  Kelly Clarkson. First stop, San Francisco: Next stops were Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo.  Very hot outside.  View from our veranda docked in Puerto Vallarta.  Remember the TV series  Love Boat ?  Came here now and then. The movie,  10 , was partly filmed in Manzanillo.  Next, Acapulco.  View from our lanai.  Kind of looks like Waikiki from a distance. From Mexico to Guatemala.  On the Encore is The Cavern Club, a smaller entertainment room which looks like where The Beatles began in Liverpool.  We saw them in the main theater and here a few times. This room is also where karaoke sessions were nightly held. The Social Club served as our disco room. Guatemala to Costa Rica.  Didn't g...