Ed's Birthday Cruise

Our first stop was in Cedar City

to visit Shirley and her kids: Amy Jayne, Keenan and Nellie.

When we got there, 

Nellie was playing the piano while the residents ate their lunch.

Nice visit;

Nice way to start a trip.

Keenan has been reading Shirley's journal with her

to help her remember her past.

She says it's as hard to come back

as it was to leave.

As we left,

she wished Ed a Happy Birthday.

Solar panels across the desert in California.

Ed’s 44^th Birthday!

He’s a year older than Daddy was when he died. Yeah.

Here at last. Ed didn’t know if he could wait but he did.

Hairy-scary 60 mile drive to ship terminal – took nearly two hours.

Parking lot was full.

(Last time we were here, we weren’t even this early

and we took the first parking space.

Brent and I ran all over the place waiting to check in.

This time, everyone is already checking in and we had to park on the 2^nd tier.)

We weren’t supposed to check in until 2:30.

Nobody was supposed to check in before 1.

By 11 everyone was checking in.

Pretty streamlined but still it’s an ordeal.

Then after we finally got to our room,

I had to go all the way back to get DeRay’s cell phone from the car.

While I was gone, DeRay played Whirly Word.

Safety Drill. One of Ed’s favorite parts.
DeRay about passed out – 
standing out in the sun while they counted everyone before the life vest demonstrations. 

Note the bridge to the tent and the parking garage on the left.

Queen Mary in background.

Long Beach

Ed & I watched cast off – late.
Watched out our window – fog.
Not to worry, our captain is capable. Ed has complete trust.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ED! He says he hasn’t had a good day.
They brought him a piece of cake for his birthday.
"Please don't sing!"
There were quite a few birthdays and each time they sang,
he put his hands over his ears and grimaced. 

People, people everywhere.
Are we as weird as all these people?
Yes. Big groups; little groups; families; multi-families.
Crowds in all the serenity hut pods, lounge chairs, hammocks; crowds everywhere.
A day at sea.
Thomas Wolfe says you can’t go home again – 
We have decided you can’t go on a cruise again.
Ghosts from cruises past haunt us.
Where are the educational lectures?
The movies? The Book Clubs? Tai Chi on the top deck?
Crafts? Sushi?
Tours of the bridge;
Tea with the Captain.
Gigantic fresh flower bouquets?
Chocolate on the pillows each night?
Observation deck? Crow's Nest?
The photography and computer classes? Digital workshops?
The Adagios Quartets? The music? The information?
We used to talk to the help,
find out about their homelands and their families,
their troubles, and joke with them.
Where’s the excitement; the exceptional food?
There used to be ginger and treats after dinner.
Dinner was at least four courses:
1) Starter; 2) Appetizer; 3) Main course; 4) Dessert. Coffee or tea.
So many classes, lectures, history, arts and crafts, demonstrations.
You couldn’t make it to all you wanted to.
Ed liked cruises because he “learned so much.”
We saw a couple of comedians but they catered to the children.
One was so doused he started repeating himself so he quit.
Why aren’t I doing two miles around the deck?
3½ times around = 1 mile.
Don’t feel like it.

Serenity Deck for adults only.

The schools are out in Arizona this week. There are 2500 people – 
I’m sure 2,499 of them are children. 

Cabo San Lucas
Sunrise 6:31 AM; Sunset 6:30 PM

I took a tender into town.
Saw a dolphin and pelican.
Walked around – bought nothing even from our favorite store – 
had a drink of cold water I carried and came on back.
I wish Ed would go in with me.
He’d enjoy the ride.
The tenders are operated by Cabo
and are not the life boats from the ship so they are open air.
It’s a lovely ride in.
This is when I miss Amy and Brent – my beachcomber companions.

The Carnival Miracle from the Cabo Tender

“I don’t want it to end,”
Ed said when we lamented it was only the second day.
DeRay and Ed were having this little exchange over “We just ate.”
DeRay is looking at the #8 Tender
 so he implies when Ed said we just “ate” he meant “Nbr 8 tender.”
“Not e-i-g-h-t,” Ed explains, “I mean a-t-e.” 

Ed & I did the weight room for ½ hour as usual.
10 min bike 10 min elliptical 10 min treadmill.
Then we walked out on 10 deck to cool off.

DeRay is hooked on Whirly Word. I thought I brought the iPad for me.

He played until 2:30 AM one night - 'er morning.

The beds were actually very good.

There was just enough motion of the ship

that in my sleep each night it felt like the cats

were jumping up on our bed,

making us feel at home.

Three weeks later,

DeRay still feels the motion of the ship in his sleep.

Deck 11

Amy and I went down the slide

when she went to Acapulco on Carnival with us.

Washing the ship.

Puerto Vallarta.

Sunrise 6:09 AM; Sunset 6:11 PM  

The first time DeRay and Eddy have been off the ship

since we embarked on Saturday.

I found the beach Brent found when we were here about eight years ago.

He had the taxi driver drop him off in town

where he explored all afternoon

then walked the three miles back to the ship along the beach.

We had been there several times and never even knew it was there.

You just walk through the shops to the back

and there is a beautiful pristine beach.

This time it was all fenced off and I feared they had blocked the access.
IMPORTANT:
Safety first! The U.S. Embassy in Mexico has issued
safety advisories due to increased crime in the area of Puerto Vallarta.
Visitors are advised to exercise caution, particularly at night and in the early morning.
We encourage you to remain in the main tourist areas
or consider participating in an organized tour,
avoid carrying large amounts of cash or jewelry
and generally be aware of your surrounding.

I just walked across the street in front of the shops,

down a shaded sidewalk.

The steps had a rope railing so it was much more accessible than before.

There were enough people there that I felt safe.

I actually went twice since we were in Puerto Vallarta from 9 AM to 9 PM. 

We bought a poncho for Karlton for his birthday.

"How much?" "$40."

"$40???? My grandson isn't worth $40!"
They don't plan on you paying what they ask.
They just throw out a wild number.

Then DeRay had to have one because he is always freezing.

 “How much for the fat guy out there?”

"$20."

Go figure.
He wanted to put a poncho on Eddy for the picture.
He also wanted to give Eddy a little gift.
(And Trump wants to build a wall to keep
the likes of him out?
Can you imagine Trump,
out of the goodness of his heart,
giving Eddy an little piece of folk art?)
He chose a porcupine;
I chose a donkey because it seemed more Mexican.

Maybe they have porcupines in Mexico
but I've never seen one.
Of course, I've never seen a donkey either.
I have a vivid image on an older woman
dressed all in white standing up in a little cart
pulled by a donkey in Cairo at 1 AM
as our bus drove us from the airport
to our hotel by the pyramids.
They were clipping along
and her long hair was flying in the breeze. 
***

December 2010

In Puerto Vallarta,14-year-old Jonathan 
honed his bargaining skills.

At the top of a plaza overlooking the ocean and harbor

Jonathan shows us a glass turtle he bought for $20.

“Too much.”

“He wanted $30.”

“Don’t pay over $3.”

We took it back and got Jonathan’s money back;

He bought gifts for himself, his sisters, and mom

with the $20 he saved and in Cabo

he bought a glass turtle for $3.  No bargaining.

He has operated two side-by-side shops for 25 years here.

We've probably talked to him before.

(I wanted a picture of his pony tail.)

This picture is for Carol and Verla.

The Norweigian Jewel docked in the same bay.

One of the bottom windows is ours. All ours.
We've rarely had a window.
When Amy went with us,
we had a balcony - free upgrade.
She slept on the balcony every night
and then was upset when the whistle woke
her up as we left a port.

A Mexican dog guarding.
The Xoloitzxuintli is considered a natural treasure in Mexico
and is a traditional favorite in the World's Ugliest Dog Contest.

  Touching the Mighty Pacific Ocean.

Carnival Miracle

Like Amy, I like gnarly trees.

Ed and I went to Deck 10 to watch the sunset and say good bye to Puerto Vallarta.

Always makes us feel at home.

Next to our table was a fellow eating alone,
obviously listening to our conversation.
We were talking about burial plots and cremation
and all sorts of appetizing subjects.
“I want to be cremated,” DeRay says,
"with my ashes in a pinebox.
I only want one pall bearer
and I want them to be buried with me."
The guy at the next table interrupts solemnly:
“I wouldn’t be your pall bearer.”
We hardly had laughed the whole trip, even at the comedians,
but we laughed so heartily and long at that.
DeRay ran into him in the restroom;
he confirmed that he still didn’t want to be a pall bearer,
then as he passed our table at breakfast
he wondered if we still needed a pall bearer.
We meant to get his phone number but we never saw him again.

Eddy was on one today.
He rarely talks but he kept up a constant chatter this morning.
“I’m winning, Mr. Ruin Everything.” (getting ready to shower).
“We haven’t got all day.”
“Wouldn’t want to put you out.”
I said something about the long line for breakfast.
“We don’t need two complainers. We’ve already got one.”
“I hope you’re not goofing off.”
“21.0 knots – my favorite speed.”
“Puerto Vallarta, my favorite port!”
“You’re not a kid anymore.” (When DeRay was watching cartoons.)
“You should enjoy every minute we’re here.”
“He who cares least wins.”
“Somebody sure grunts – grunt – grunt – grunt- grunt. That’s what you’re good at.” “Somebody’s got knobby knees.”
“Well, somebody’s got to feed the fish.”
“I can’t believe we’re on my favorite ocean.”
“I sure love this current that we’re going against.
You can see these currents because they are always moving.”
DeRay said something about currents you eat,
“No. No. I’m talking about ocean currents.”
“Where’s the sun, that we’re orbiting?”
I said something about Dad crushing me.
“That’s what husbands do,” he affirmed.
DeRay’s shoes squeak when he walks.
“I can’t believe we’re living with a mouse.”
“I love ‘sea day’.”
“Is that A-B-C?”
“S-e-a,” he clarifies.
“We’re going to Long Beach, our final destination.” 
“I love formal night. I’ll take it over packing any day.”
“You know why I like formal night? Because it’s so formal-ie.”

“Thank you for bringing me. The comedian told us to thank our parents.”

This was Sammy's first week back on the ship

after being home for three months.

He's putting two sons through college.

Been here for 17 years.

He doesn't go home - India - again

for 8 months.

I though, "You know, that's not so different

than my dad out with the sheep for

days, weeks or months

leaving Mama home alone with the kids."

Eddy loves the debarkation assembly.

Meeting the Captain.

Carnival is a ship for children?

Nude statues and pictures everywhere.

Of course, for the Panama Canal Cruise
we had live models.
No need for statues or pictures.

Glass elevator from deck 1 to 10.

  

Out of the room by 8:30,
exactly when we had to be out of the room.
We walked ¾ the length of the ship and took the elevator to Deck 3,
even though they had only called Decks 6 and 7 (we were Deck 1).
We didn’t go to the back of the line;
we joined in and walked steadily and slowly for a little over an hour.
We walked back down to the center of the ship; out,
and back towards the front to walk the bridge,
probably the length of a football field,
to the tent for customs.
It was 9 AM when Ed and I walked off the ship.
We did get a break in customs.
Instead of making us walk through the back and forth lines,
she sent us directly across to the front of the line to the customs officials.
Then we went down and walked across the big tent
where most everyone had their luggage
but we were pulling ours.
Then we walked across the pavilion to cross the street
to catch the elevator to walk to our car.
By the time I got everything situated,
DeRay got off the elevator
and I only pulled his luggage to the car.
It may have been a 2 mile walk from our room to the car.
It sure felt like it.
It was way too much for DeRay.
It took Ed and me from 8:30 and 9:35.

Looking towards Long Beach from the bridge.

This is out 11^th cruise.
Did it take us that long to discover the purpose of cruises?
It’s not to gain knowledge or even experience;
it’s not to meet new people and make new friends;
it’s not to bond with those you already know;
it’s not to be entertained;
it’s not to see new places, study new cultures;
it’s not to exercise, play games, visit, swim, hot tub;
watch the sunsets, currents, dolphins or whales.
Or even to have chocolates on your pillow each night.
The purpose of a cruise,
when you sum it all up,
is to slow us down; help us be still; let go;
calm down with no responsibilities;
to restore, reset, rebirth.
To feel the warmth of the sun on sandy beaches.
So that we are ready to assume the routine responsibilities
of cooking and cleaning that are the true sources
of happiness and contentment.