The value of Friends and Blogs...

This was a post from my friend last May...on Thursday her sharing this story saved our sweet Tucker!  So thank you Lola and Sue, Lola's legacy is a good one.

(click here for the rest of the story)
"For the Love of Lola...........

Today it has been one month since Lola died. Today it is time to share her story, this story for me is a story of healing. I share it because I would never want anyone to experience it. This story is about the awful outcome of rat poison."

Lola

 Tucker

Tucker & Maddie

So share those important stories with those you love!!!

Call to prayer in Kusadasi, Turkey

Fontana di Trevi, Rome

I've discovered...

That one of the things I love about Woody is that he is always smiling with a 'thumbs up' to life...no matter the circumstances! I'm gonna work on that for me, too :-)

Woody's Postcard #14 & #15...ahhhh...

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POST #14
TUESDAY (10/5): Today is the sad day – time to get off the boat. I’m glad to go home, but I really had lots of fun, good food, and adventure. Gramma and Grampa took me to the lounge for suite passengers to wait our turn to disembark. It stopped raining and there was a taxi right out front so getting to the train termeni was easy. We rode the express train to Roma. It was very comfortable and fast (150 mph!). We saw lots of countryside, even Florence (Firenza) and Bologna. It looks a lot like the Napa Valley, but green. The train traveled thru many very long tunnels, so I slept a little, too. We took a taxi to our hotel near the airport. We had a nice pizza and salad dinner and early bed. Tomorrow will be a very long travel day!
POST #15
WEDNESDAY (10/6): 6:00am – wake up; 11:20am flight leaves Rome; 6:05pm EDT leave Charlotte; 8:30 pm PDT arrive in SFO; 11:56pm arrive home! (total hours since waking up … 28 hours! Could have been even longer since Gramma got stopped at security in Roma when they thought she was smuggling Greek artifacts out of the country…turned out to just be Grampa and a small bronze Spartan helmet souvenir. That got an eye-roll from the customs agent :-) I napped and read the kindle with Grampa to pass the time. Turns out, it was Grampa’s idea (not Goy’s) to have me come along. It’s been very fun and I hope Goy didn’t miss me tooooo much! Stay tuned for my next adventure…wherever that may be.

Woody's Postcard #13

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MONDAY (10/3): My, oh my, oh my! Today was the MOST spectacular sail-in. I got to be out on the balcony with Grampa and Gramma (I sat on Grampa’s lap like Goy and Lukas!) We sailed right into Venice! Everyone was outside and they were playing Pavaratti and Bochelli over the speakers. They issued us water taxi shuttle tickets we could use for 2 days while in Venice. We had a quick sandwich and took the taxi to San Marcos Square. We met the nicest people on the taxi that gave us a good tip about seeing the most of Venice in a short time. They were right. We got a street map from a hotel and zig-zagged our way over the Rialto Bridge and all thru the Rialto artist section of the city. We saw all the gondolas and many magnificent buildings and statues. We strolled down the avenue with all the designer shops…Fendi, Prada, Dolci & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Armani (we just looked in the windows – 5500 euros for a purse just slightly out of Gramma’s price range!). We were enjoying just being “in” it and not on a tour. We got back on the water taxi right as the rain began falling. Back on board we went and bought pictures and had an early dinner so we could go enjoy the Venice Chamber Orchestra who came on board for a performance of Vivaldi WOW! We had a couple of places on the ship we hadn’t seen so we walked completely around the ship and up on the skywalk. Our luggage went in the hall at 10pm and we’ll get it tomorrow after we leave the ship for the train to Rome. We even get to travel thru Florence. I’m having such a good time and everyone that sees me smiles and is very happy that I get such a great vacation!

Woody's Postcard #12

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SUNDAY (10/2): Today we were in Split, Croatia. It got its name when the Roman Empire was split into East and West. It was a nice little stop. The castle and kingdom have been turned into shops and the church still holds mass. Grampa and Gramma took me to the beach…such as it was…it had cement walls and ladders like a pool to get in and out. We thought about going to some waterfalls, but they were over 2 hours away from port. We met some nice people from Montreal, Canada. They really liked me and took my picture to send to their 15 year old daughter – she’s a big fan! We went back to the ship for another very relaxing afternoon. I especially like the chocolate covered strawberries they bring to our room every afternoon. The sail away was very pleasant. I forgot to tell you that when we sailed away from Mykonos there was a pod of dolphins jumping and playing beside the ship – very cool! Hard to believe the cruise is almost over. Tomorrow is Venice and the next day back to Rome. We’ve had a wonderful time!

Woody's Postcard #11

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SATURDAY (10/2): Today we were in Corfu. We took the local bus into town and saw the castle of King George and St. Michael. We saw the old fortress and new fortress (still very old!) It is a very clean city and you can see all the Venetian influence. (they’ve had a lot of “owners”) We bought koum quat candy…mmmm… Grampa and Gramma finally took me to the ship’s pool for an afternoon of swimming, reading and relaxing. Gramma is enjoying the kindle Grampa got her. I was very tired from all my adventures so I took a nap while they went to the Captain’s reception and dinner for another formal night. They went to another musical production called British Invasion with music like the Beatles and Rolling Stones and other British artists. Pretty good show. See you tomorrow in Split, Croatia. Night!

Woody's Postcard #10

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FRIDAY (10/1): Another opportunity to relax and take it easy today after yesterday’s very busy day in Athens. We had a late breakfast and went into the port of Katakolon, just outside Olympia. We decided that we had seen lots of ruins and piles of rocks so we didn’t take the drive out to where they light the Olympic flame. We met a nice Greek family in an art gallery and learned a little about the people. We did a little shopping, had lunch on the waterfront (Gramma even ate grilled octopus) and then had a nice relaxing afternoon on the boat reading and resting. The sunset was amazing tonight – might be sailing into a little weather. Gramma and Grampa saw a ventriloquist that was on Britain’s Got Talent TV Show. He was really funny! Tomorrow is Corfu an island of about 30,000 people.

Woody's Postcard #9

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THURSDAY (9/30): Today we had breakfast on the balcony again so we could get to our tour bus. We did an “Athens on Your Own” where they bussed us from the port at Piraeus to the Melina Mercouri Statue across from Hadrian’s Gate and The Temple of Olympian Zeus. We drove past the parliament and saw the Greek guards in their colorful uniforms. We also saw the Athens Academy. We walked up to the Acropolis (a long walk then up 80 very slippery marble steps). We saw the Parthenon! We also saw the Stoa of Attalus Museum and Blacksmith Temple from the Acropolis. Afterwards we went thru the New Acropolis Museum. It was very interesting. Then we had lunch at a very nice sidewalk café. We walked over to the Hadrian’s Gate and the Temple of Zeus. Then Grampa took us to the Old Olympic Stadium that was built in the 1890’s for the first modern day Olympics. I took the GOLD MEDAL for vacationing!!! Grandma got the silver and Grampa got the bronze. He needs to work on his relaxing! Grampa walked all the way to the top by the Olympic rings. We took the bus back to the ship and rested for a short time before dinner and a comedy show. I had a great day, but I did miss my new friend, Bahar!

Woody's Postcard #8

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WEDNESDAY (9/29): Today was Mykonos. It’s a good thing, because we were ready for a quiet day. We didn’t even leave the boat until after lunch. We walked around the port area and visited with some other passengers. We had some business to take care of and some laundry to do. Grampa was in the laundromat for 2 hours! (some very cranky people in there!) Gramma worked on paperwork and we found someone at the front desk to help scan for us. (Gramma wants a wand-scanner next time!) Tomorrow is Athens and it will be a very busy day, so we’re going to sleep early!

Woody's Postcard #7

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TUESDAY (9/28): Grampa & Gramma thought today they would just get off the ship and find their own way around. Then they found out that Ephesus is 15 miles from port and that the taxi drivers don’t speak English. So Grampa raced down to the excursion office and got tickets to a tour. He called Gramma and said be ready in 5 minutes! She hadn’t even brushed her teeth yet! But I’m really glad because we went on the best tour and I met my new girlfriend, Bahar (our tour guide). I wanted her to come home with us! We went first to the Basilica of St. John and then to the tomb where he is buried. We went to the house where the Virgin Mary lived out her life after Jesus was crucified. It was amazingly peaceful there, even with thousands of visitors. We finished the tour at the ancient city of Ephesus. It is an amazing place. The ruins date from 400 to 300 B.C. We saw where John and Paul preached to the Ephesians. We walked the whole thing. It was a big city that used to be a port city. Now the ocean is 3 to 4 miles away. We found out that in the public bathrooms the slaves were sent in first to warm the marble seats and there was an orchestra playing to drown out the sounds! Guess our jobs aren’t so bad after all

Woody's Postcard #6

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MONDAY (9/27): This morning we woke up in Rhodes, Greece. It’s fun to wake up in a different place each morning! We had breakfast delivered to our balcony because we had to leave for another early excursion. Today we took a bus to Lindos on another part of the island. We walked up 246 (more or less) steps to the top of the Acropolis that St. John built to protect the island from the Turks many centuries ago. We stopped at a family pottery studio and watched a demonstration of them making pottery. They use many symbols in their work. We bought a plate with an olive tree on it that symbolized ‘The Tree of Life’. (sound familiar?) We got back to the ship for lunch and then walked into the walled city at Rhodes. We went all thru the castle after walking up Street of the Knights. These were the Knights of St.John. Back on the ship for a short rest on the balcony while we sailed away. Gramma & Grampa went to a different restaurant on the ship called Sabatini’s . It was a 17 course Italian dinner – wow! Tomorrow…Ephesus  (I’m having lots of fun, but I miss Goy and Marion and Lukas and Kaylee…and even Buzz, too!)

Woody's Postcard #4 and #5

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SATURDAY: I was really bored this morning because they slept in! Then we went for sushi & hamburgers, cribbage on deck (gramma won), and bingo. They went to the gym and spa and met some nice people after dinner. Tonight was formal night so I had dinner in the cabin again. Grampa took Gramma dancing. I hope I get to go out and play some more tomorrow.

POST #5
SUNDAY: We woke up in Santorini, Greece. Gramma & Grampa had a hiking adventure planned. I’m glad I got to ride in her bag again. We took a tender to the active volcano Nea Kameni and hiked to the top. It was lots of fun, but lots of uphill. After that Grampa jumped in the ocean by the hot springs. When we got back to the ship we had lunch and took another tender to the main island and the village of Thira. We decided that the cable cars smelled better than the donkeys, so that’s how we got from the ocean to the village at the top of the cliff. We had greek salad and spicy meatballs…yummm. We did lots of walking and taking pictures. It is beautiful. It was a little overcast, but before we sailed it cleared up and the water was spectacularly blue. As we sailed away Gramma & Grampa went to the gym and spa again…but not me  They went to dinner and watched a “mentalist” perform magic before going to bed. Gramma is frustrated because the internet isn’t working properly and keeps locking up when she tries to send my messages. That’s OK, she won’t give up!