Cannes (France) and Monte Carlo (Monaco) ~ Day 8

 Our final port of call was Cannes, France just a short train ride from Monaco.

6:25 AM view of Cannes from our balcony. Cannes does not have a harbor to support a cruise ship so we anchored off-shore and tendered to the pier.

in Cannes at 7:17 AM

dragging the beach sand

the morning sunrise added some intense color to this building

sunrise among the sailboats anchored in the harbor

We arrived in Monaco about 9:00 AM. The first order of business was to get a geocache. There was one at this little church next to the train station. Another new country for geocaching #22.

OFD wanted to see the Palace at Monte Carlo and the grave of Princess Grace Kelly. The Palace was on a hill overlooking the city.

We joined her for several uphill streets and then decided NO. Again, we had a train time table we had to adhere to in Monte Carlo. She made it to the Palace. We explored the main street.

the city was rather quiet during our morning visit

I had been wondering how Europe would report the results of the US election. This was one from a news stand in Monte Carlo.

another Monaco magazine

this one was in Cannes

Monte Carlo is also known for the Grand Prix. Some trophies were on display at the office of the Grand Prix. We did not walk to the Monte Carlo Casino either.

We made it back to Cannes with 20 minutes to spare before the last tender boat was to leave the harbor; we and about 1000 other folks from the cruise ship.

We got to see how the tender boats are lowered and raised (ropes) from the cruise ship. The larger red and white boat was a boat from the Cannes harbor that helped ferry cruisers back to the ship. 

Cannes was our last port of call before arriving back in Barcelona the next morning. We spent two days before and after the cruise in Barcelona. I will have a few more blog posts about our time in Spain.

Our First AZ Geo Adventure

Once we got settled, the first appointments out of the way, and the fridge and cupboards stocked, Hubby began planning our first geo adventure.

We left at 6:30 AM for the two hour drive to the first geocache. Only one little area of slow traffic for an accident. Not bad for a Thursday morning drive in rush hour traffic and full moon.

After a stop for fuel, breakfast and our last flushing potty break until the end of the day, we were off to find shotgun shell geocaches in the desert.

not a lot of vegetation in places

Terry taking his turn collecting and replacing shotgun shells

very brown as there has been very little rain

but it is in the forecast for this week

saguaros growing on the sides of this hill,

very few saguaros on the low land

the dust kept in the valley by the mountain ridge

we need rain

a saguaro with many short arms

and its neighbor hugging itself after loosing its top

this was the best road once we got off the pavement

It was the roads that made it an adventure! There were clouds of blue smoke above the Edge every now and then as the driver was certain she would not make it through the sandy wash, or over the rocky road, or through the volcanic rock fields, or through the drop offs into and out of the washes...but she did! No one had to push or get out and walk, but they may have wanted to at times...

Jane taking her turn at collecting and replacing geocaches

more bushes and shrubs to scratch the Edge

near the end of the adventure

next time we take the jeep or a truck!

a four-wheel drive is much more appropriate

Hubby had it washed and cleaned the next day and reported there were no AZ stripes (bush and shrub scratches) on my new car! 

one of three power plants in the area

second of three power plants along the PAVED road

the last stop of the day for dinner

we had stopped here last spring after completing the 

shotgun shell geo series north of interstate

we completed the yellow lines

the green lines are the ones we have left and that isn't all of them!

198 geocaches found and signed and replaced

4 tired, relieved but emotionally drained geocachers

Our Winter Migration

Our plan was to leave SD for AZ on Sunday about noon, the day following Miss W's concert. several texts and two phone calls changed those plans very quickly. On Saturday afternoon OFD shared she had emergency eye surgery for a torn and detached retina. We quickly finished our packing and last minute must dos Saturday evening with plans to be in Minneapolis by 11 AM Sunday to meet with the surgeon and take OFD home from the surgical center.

heading east into the Sunday morning sunrise

We spent Sunday afternoon at the surgery center as she needed another surgical procedure before the surgeon would release her. We took her to her apartment, made certain she had some easy to fix food when she was ready, plenty of water, and knew the time table for her eye drops. We came back on Monday morning and took her to her follow-up appointment. The surgeon was pleased with how everything looked. He suggested she take 3 days from work, but said 5 might be better. She got everything arranged and once we knew that time and rest would be best, we left for AZ. 

Now that may sound rather cruel or tough love, but remember, she couldn't see and wasn't to tire the eye that was working. So leaving her alone and allowing her to sleep as much as she needed was the best medicine. That and the eye drops. We checked in with her several times a day. We had a Thursday 8:00 AM appointment in AZ that would have been VERY hard to reschedule, so we boogied south.

Tuesday's sunset west of Amarillo TX

headed to Albuquerque for the night

Wednesday morning in New Mexico

at least it wasn't the ice of last year's trip through NM

about to leave NM for...

AZ 

this section of NM/AZ border never gets old

Snowflake to Show Low to Globe

some deciduous trees

a little more colored leaves

getting closer to the Salt River Canyon

like a mini-Grand Canyon

so awesome for the passenger

not so much for the driver

We don't usually take that route, but I am glad we did as there was a major accident south of Payson that closed that highway for a number of hours. Once you are on that road, there is no option but to wait for it to open. We encountered very little traffic.

arrival time and temp on Wednesday

and our first AZ sunset on Thursday evening

Ahhh. It is good to be here.

P.S. OFD's eye is healing well. She went back to work after the week off, but was very happy when the weekend arrived and she did not have to drive home from work in the dark. Surgery on the other eye in a couple of weeks for the same issue, just not as severe, so laser surgery should do the trick.