Yesterday we left Yellowstone and drove to Torrington, WY where we stayed at the Tea Kettle Bed & Breakfast. Posted here is a picture of Calvin and Isabel's Tea Kettle B&B. We joined them and another couple for home made ice cream, a beautiful sunset and an evening of chat. We've always found B&Bs to provide a better experience than sterile hotels. But we have to admit, this was an extra special stay, sitting at the table sharing together as if we were long-time acquaintances. Today we were sent on our way with a hearty, delicious breakfast and the feeling we'd just made 4 new friends!

I'm also posting a picture of one of many rock formations we saw around the Dubois, WY area.

Next came a time for childhood memories. We traveled to Shelton, NE where the Platte Valley Academy use to stand. When I was in 1st and 2nd grade my mother worked at this academy run by the Seventh Day Adventists. It was a boarding school for kids in 8-12th grade. Unfortunately, just 90 days ago all buildings but the elementary school were torn down. The elementary school still standing (not for long) is not the little one room school house I attended. I was told that the Bascom family (who owned the farm attached to the academy) and the Lake family (Mr. Lake was my first grade teacher and Mrs. Lake taught me to iron and make cookies) are still in the area.

More pictures today: This time from pictures taken along Lewis Lake leaving the Yellow Stone National Park. The sights of both the Tetons and and Rocky Mountain Range (seen to the east of Jackson, WY are breath taking from just about any view point.

Today we traveled from Jackson, WY to Torrington, WY where we are staying at the Tea Kettle Ranch Bed & Breakfast, about 13 miles north or Torrington high on a Plateau.

News seems terrible as usual for the last year, so I thought I'd share a few more Yellowstone pictures to show the beauty of our national park. The first is the Turquoise Excelsior Pool and the second is the Paint Pot.

Today we visited Yellowstone. It was the first day of 2010 that the south entrance was open. First Old Faithful just letting off steam. Next, Old Faithful releasing built up water and steam and finally a big buffalo.


Trying to describe the geysers, hot pools, mud pools and steam vents is next to impossible. It's simply one of those things you have to see for yourself. We really benefited by using the Naturalist from Spring Creek to give us a deluxe guided tour as we were able to see many things in an 8 hour period and somewhat understand what we were seeing.








Right now Old Faithful is going off about every 1 hour 20 minutes but this changes a bit day to day, week to week.
























No, we didn't get to close. I've learned that Buffalo are one of most dangerous animals and humans need to stay their distance. These were laying by the side of the road so I opened up the door and took a quick snap.

We arrived at Spring Creek Ranch in Jackson Hole (also known as Jackson Hole), WY on May 9th. We are staying at Spring Creek Ranch, a resort on the side of the hill facing the Teton Mountains. There's a long winding road up the hill that most would never want to make in the winter. The hillside includes homes and another hotel.

Today we set out on our own to explore a bit of Jackson Hole (including seeing the site of Gerry Spence's law office). We had a nice breakfast at the Bunnery. We've chosen a good (though very cool) time to be in Jackson Hole as the locals tell us it fills up fast starting Memorial Day weekend.

We drove out highway 26 to look for Buffalo and Elk and had little trouble finding them. Though we were disappointed not to see the Big Horn Sheep. It's a great time to see the Buffalo as they are moving from one area to another with their new calves in tow.

Temperature varies during the day and evening with the lows in the low 40s and the highs in the 50s but with a strong, cold north wind. We also saw one lone antelope apparently lost from the herd.

WE have a nice little cabin with a king bed, fireplace (and wood cut and stacked) and bath. We also have a nice deck but haven't been able to spend too much time on it due to the strong and cold north wind.

On May 8, 2010 we set out for Yellowstone National Park from Kansas City. Our first overnight stay was at The Balcony House Bed & Breakfast in Imperial, NE. Owners Linda and Jim welcomed us with chocolate cookies and sodas or coffee. Each room is impeccably decorated in a different theme. We choose the Prairie Lakes room decorated in blues. Each room has a little balcony sitting room with the bedroom. Some are larger and contain a whirlpool bath and even a fireplace. The prices are extremely reasonable. If you pass near Imperial, NE, take a side trip to stay at The Balcony House. You won't be disappointed.

Imperial is a small quiet town with one evening sit down restaurant (Jack's steak house) and a couple of fast food places including Subway and Pizza Hut. The town is so peaceful most people don't lock their doors.

We then set across country toward highway 80, passing Cheyenne and Laraine. We'd planned a more scenic route but became concerned about possible snow. Tonight we are staying in Rock Springs, WY; it's a fairly new town apparently with every low budget hotel you've ever heard of. We choose Hometown Suites. Tomorrow we hit the lower Titon Valley, at Spring Creek Ranch. They've arranged several tours for us including a guided trip into Yellowstone. After that, we finish Yellowstone on our own and decide whether to take the scenic or fast route home.

We've returned and should be producing daily blogs again soon. Holland America's MS Maasdam continued to display the problems of an aging ship that should no longer be in service in the fleet of a 5 star cruise company. During our return, we were quite comfortable in the suite we were upgraded to because of our first 14 days of trouble. However, other cabins continued to flood, public restrooms continued to be out of service and the MS Maasdam continued to list to port frequently for hours after leaving port. We saw numerous places in the public areas with wet carpets where there were either leaks or a lot of passengers with bladder problems. During rough weather the ship creaked and groaned as if it were about to break apart.

The ports themselves were very nice for the most part. There were a few where we were out in the boon docks, about 30 minutes away from much of anything. We rented cabs or took ship tours and still managed to find great places to visit.

The ship's crew worked hard as usual for Holland America but we've noticed their enrichment and entertainment programs along with the food, have really suffered. It's a shame because the crew bears the brunt in lost tips and frustrated passengers and Holland America loses its standing as one of the premier cruise companies.

I have not abandoned this blog, but have abandoned the news since we only get CNN, the telethon for Haiti, while traveling.

We spent a day and a half rocking and rolling to San Diego with gale force winds. Arrived in San Diego on January 22 to a mix of rain and sunshine. Spent a few hours with family and had a very nice day. Holland American decided we'd put up with enough in the first 14 days and moved us to a suite. We are very comfortable now but see a lot of signs of continued problems with flooding in rooms. San Diego embarkation appeared to be disastrous with many angry passengers boarding, upset with the long delays in a very cold and damp warehouse. This appears to be more the fault of the port than HAL. We also have heard several people reading the crew the riot act due to the conditions of their rooms.

Now we are back at sea, rocking and rolling but at least it's growing warmer and we have sunshine. Puerto Vallerta tomorrow.

First and foremost, if you have already booked a cruise on this particular ship - cancel! Next, any cruise you consider booking, know that the Maasdam should have been sold for scrap metal at least a year ago. Here's our story to date.

Boarded Holland America's Maasdam in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on January 8, 2010. We immediately noticed that our assigned veranda suite (don't let the name fool you, it should be called hole in the wall with a deck) was warm and we seemed unable to cool it down even with adjusting the thermostat to the lowest setting. After two days of attempting to cool the room, we called maintenance. They came, admitted that no air was coming from the air conditioning vent but said they could do nothing. The following day, we escalated the problem to "guest services". They provided us with a fan and said they'd look into the problem and what they could do for us. We were later informed there were no open rooms on the ship and even when numerous passengers disembark in San Diego, all rooms have been resold. The temperature has been measured in the room at various times with a reading of 67 degrees at the air condition vent (where the HAL staff like to measure) and yet at the level of the bed and/or chair the temperature is 80 degrees with no ventilation. After pursuing this issue and proving our point over several days, we decided not to allow this to ruin our vacation and suffer through having to use a large fan in a very cramped room. Note that never did HAL admit there was really a problem, each time we talked with someone they went as far as to suggest that we required an unusually cool room or left a door open. Yet through the days as we walked down the hall, we saw at least 4 other staterooms on our deck where engineering was working on air conditioning vents. In addition, at our first port the ship was held up for over an hour while HAL waited for a "refrigeration engineer" to get from the airport to the ship. Yet somehow, HAL wants to accept that the heat in our stateroom is our own fault?

A mere 24 hours later we returned from an outing in Costa Rica to discover that both our bathtub and sink were clogged and would not drain water. We called and were told they would send a plumber. Two hours later, no plumber but our carpet was sopped with water running under the bed. We had to remove our luggage from under the bed to the only available seating save one chair. We now have a rather large dehumidifier that puts out tremendous heat, some other type of industrial fan that is suppose to dry the carpet, a large fan to cool the air because the air conditioning doesn't work and our luggage up on the sofa. There conditions seem much more bothersome to us than to the HAL staff.

Yesterday evening I explained my allergies to mold, that I'm asthmatic, and my concern that our carpet would result in mold in the cabin. So suddenly HAL had another empty cabin (one they denied existed when we encountered the air conditioning problems) . However when we went to view the cabin, the engineer dropped by to "fix the bathtub". We asked what was wrong with the tub and were quickly told by the guest services representative that the re was nothing wrong. However, we discovered the engineer in the bath, attempting to cover the growing mold with caulking. I find this extremely troubling. Not only have we suffered through substandard conditions but now HAL actually is attempting to cover up that which could cause serious medical problems for me. In addition, the air conditioning worked no better in the "new" cabin than our assigned cabin. Finally, HAL's solution was to put us on deck 4 with no window or balcony in a room with a fan where the air conditioning also didn't work but the engine noise is very prominent.

Side notes: in addition to the above problems, we also encountered a casino pit boss that simply would not keep his hands off me, from petting my hair to picking up my sandal, to grabbing my hands and "admiring" my nail polish. On the third day we finally talked to his boss and told him to tell the pit boss to keep his hands off me - which he as done. The food on the ship has been very poor. Most pasta dishes are totally loaded with garlic, this from a person who actually likes garlic in reasonable amounts. The lobster served one night was mushy and uneatable; many passengers turned back this meal. Steaks usually have to be sent back due to being way over cooked regardless of the order for medium rare. My husband made a spa appointment for a hair cut and was left waiting for 25 minutes without any explanation.

Worst of all is that typical behavior seen through the cruise ship industry today, denial. Denial of the absolute obvious. When cabins up and down the hall receive visits from the engineering staff in attempts to adjust air conditioning, it's stupid and foolhardy to deny an air conditioning problem. When water sogs the carpet, it's an insult to suggest the passenger is getting everything they paid for and should be content. Something simply must happen in this industry where they come to the realization that denying the obvious simply makes passengers more angry and discontented. It's impossible to make passengers oblivious to air conditioning problems and a worn out ship. Stop trying to deny and work on at least pacifying the passenger. Better yet, realize when your ship is tired and worn out.

David Brooks, writing for the New York Times, pens an editorial basically telling Americans they should understand that even with all our technology, Homeland Security can't always protect us. He goes on to tell us to lay off Janet Napolitano because after all, even technology can fail to put the pieces together.

What Brooks glosses right over is that while it is true that technology can fail, that wasn't the case in the Northwest Flight on Christmas Day. What failed was the CIA paying attention to information given them by Abdulmutallab's father. What failed was Janet Napolitano then telling American "the system worked". What failed was that Americans are being told that Napolitano will review the system that she reviewed a mere 6 months ago. What failed was the system that checks passports which was averted in the case of Abdulmutallab. What failed was the political correctness that doesn't call for additional inspection based on profiling. What continues to fail is the suggestion that all airline passengers should have additional restrictions and invasion of privacy because the CIA failed to act on information, passport procedures were skipped and profiling was not done on a flight that had been predicted by the FBI to be targeted for terrorism.

Brook also ignores that Americans are angry with Napolitano because she tried to tell us terrorism wasn't well and alive in the US and even went so far as to rename terrorism as "man caused disasters". Remember too that Napolitano insinuated in a report that veterans and conservatives were terrorists. Sorry to say it, but the head of Homeland Security is a moron.