This week back home, mostly


We got off the ship last Thursday, then headed for San Diego to visit family and meet a new addition, our three month old grand-nephew. While we were there we visited Presidio Park. It is the location of the first permanent settlement in California, a fortified city, built in 1769. The park also has the…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip


Disclaimer: Tricia just reminded me that today is Sunday, not Tuesday. I do lose track of time, so I am just early this week. Remind yourself why you started sketching in the first place. Most of us travelsketchers never set out to have our work hanging in the Louvre. We found it intriguing, maybe we…

Going where its warm


Jimmy Buffet has a line in a song about watching a hockey game when it is 20F outside, he says, “I want to go where it’s warm!” Well, it is in the 20’s in Portland at the moment, but now we ARE “where it’s warm!” We are on the Norwegian Joy about 50 miles south…

Sketching in Lisbon and Beyond


Lisbon easily ranks high in the list of places I have traveled. We arrived five days before our Norwegian Cruise was to depart to give us time to explore, so glad we did. When Tricia (Travels Through My Lens) and I were first together 35 years ago we talked about places we would like to…

Cruise Ship Food – a Bellcurve


Cruise ship overeating is legendary, even Rick Steves suggests using the stairs as much as possible to burn off the calories, but what is the food really like? In general, on land or on the sea, a restaurant’s food quality fits a perfect bell curve – the more people they try to serve and/or the…