Day 1 & 2 of Cruise Trip

Day 1

Well we had a crazy time going to California the day before the ship left port. We drove there from Arizona and the weather was insane. The sky was weird looking with strange cloud formations all around us. Also we had rain coming at us sideways with winds like crazy. Mom was taking pictures of all the different cloud formations and she has the photos so I can't post it on here yet. Mom's friend back in Payson, Az where she lives called and reported that they had 5 inches of snow. Good thing we left when we did.

We had a wonderful dinner at a micro-brewery by the university in Los Angeles with my grandmother. Was nice to catch up with her and have a nice meal. We called it an early night because we were exhausted from the long crazy drive.

My brother, his girlfriend, and her daughter were driving down from San Francisco area that evening and were planning to stay the night with us at grandma's house. Instead they had to stop on the northern side of the grapevine, I-5, because of snow and ice on the road. They got lucky and found a really nice hotel to stay at and early the next morning left to go directly to the ships port.

Day 2

We ran around trying to repack the stuff, hide the alcohol, and get everything cleaned up at grandmas place. We both ate a lite breakfast because we didn’t have much time before the driver arrived to pick us up. We took a shuttle service, a very nice Lincoln town car, to the ship dock the next morning so we would not have to worry about parking. We both agreed that is the way to go from now on if we ever do a cruise again. Comfy and relaxing. We froze our butts off waiting for my brother to meet up with us. It was cold and windy and we didn’t exactly pack warm clothes. I was expecting to wear shorts and dresses and instead needed pants and sweatshirts.

Getting on the boat was a crazy. It was a huge mass of people and my mom and brother kept yelling at me not to touch any luggage because of my weight lifting restrictions. Hard to feel ok and be treated like an invalid. I hated just standing there while they lugged around the carryon suitcases. After we got on we decided to get something to eat. Big mistake as everyone on the ship had the same idea. The buffet area was packed and noisy. We both looked at each other and said no way are we eating here. Mom and I decided to wander and found a restaurant called Blue Lagoon that was open and only had a couple of people there. Guess nobody had found it yet.

I was wonderful as we sat eating good food and sitting by the window looking out at the view as the ship left the docks. Leaving the dock was rocky because of the winds from the storms around us but I didn’t have a problem because I don't get seasick. I was still pinching myself that I was actually on a cruise ship. Crazy what life throws at you.

We wandered around the ship while checking out stuff and later on met my brother’s family for dinner. We didn’t realize that everybody would dine at the same time and the dining room was pretty busy. On this cruise line they have freestyle dining so you can go at anytime. Instead of a set dining hour and table you can go whenever they are open and eat. That was a good and bad thing that we discovered during the cruise. The food was pretty good and the dessert delicious. I am a sugaraholic so dessert is my favorite part of the meal.

Later that evening the last of our suitcases arrived and I dove for mine because it had the alcohol hidden in it. Much to our happiness it was not confiscated. Rum Runner packs lived up to their promise. Mom and I danced a victory dance and it was a crazy dance when you mix a rocking boat, alcohol consumption, and happiness that we were on a cruise together.

The day ended with a relaxing time in the spinnaker club with music from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Before we knew it we were both yawning and willing to call it a night.

Heading for new places to be discovered.