Day 6: July 1, 2019, July 1st
Brief recap
By the strangest string of events, we went from the Altadena golf course, directly into planning and departure mode.
It turns out that my dad and his wife were scheduled to depart Tuesday night for Papeete, but on Monday had a personal crisis that was too expensive and complicated to leave in anyone’s my hands. He decided to cancel the very last trip of his life to take care of things.
Then, as he was canceling, he asked if he could give the trip to us! The tour company is wonderful and very sympathetic of his advanced age and priorities and said yes. So Dad called us and after I stuttered around and gasped for air, I said yes. I had to act very quickly to secure airline tickets, confirm with the tour company, send passport information, pay, pay, pay (because even though the trip was a gift, there were other charges) and start packing.
I notified students and saw two more on an emergency basis, shopped at 10 pm atTarget, and kissed the kids goodbye! (Found out Monday at 10 am, left the house Tuesday at 1 pm!)
We are on a ship in the middle of the South Pacific. We’ve been at sea since leaving Tahiti last Wednesday… only a brief anchorage at Pitcairn Island, nothing ashore. We’re chasing the next Total Eclipse of the Sun which will occur tomorrow morning at around 10 am local time. Unfortunately, we’ve been under a thick cloud cover since leaving Tahiti, but fortunately are on board with a physicist, astronomer, weather people, and an anthropologist, all of whom have one goal— to get this ship into the zone of totality.
And here we are, amidst it all! Not what we planned, but pretty amazing.
I’ve made a putter out of an umbrella and a bar of soap, am using a coaster as my cup, and the balls that I smuggled into my luggage— of course!
Going a bit stir-crazy but am finding that shuffleboard has some of the same moves!
Contest in two hours. Must practice!
