Cruzin' With the Girls

On August 26, 2012, two cousins (one from each side of my family) and my sister-in-law (who happens to be Kay's best friends from high school) left for Galveston, Texas to spend the night before boarding the Celebrity Triumph the next day. We ate at Guido's Restaurant and all had delicious seafood. Here is a picture of the Galveston seawall.

Then, on Monday morning the 27th, we piled into the shuttle to take us to the pier. After waiting in line for check-in, we had our picture taken as a group. As you can see, I never leave home without a computer in case I get the urge to write. They do have internet, but it's $29.95 for 45 minutes. Rather high.


Anna Muriel, Cheryl, Linda and Kay

 On board, we headed for our cabins. We'd opted for balcony rooms and had the partition between ours opened so we could visit back and forth in our pajamas. We'd intended to spend more time outside but it was too humid and hot.

The sea was a little choppy as a result of Isaac, but Kay is the only one who got seasick but only for a short while. We all staggered as we walked but fit right in with everyone else.

First full day was at sea we checked out the on board shops, hit the casino, and did pretty much nothing. Our first stop was in Progresso. Everyone but me took the Salsa and Salsa tour. They had a good time, learned how to make authentic salsa  and danced. It was so hot, two of them, along with another participant jumped into the pool fully clothed. I'm sure if I'd gone along I'd have been right in there with them.

Day three was a stop in Cozumel. My sister-in-law swam with the dolphins and then met the shopping group. The two you see in the pool had a wonderful time at the stores and came back with a bag full of goodies, mostly jewelry and rather tanked on margaritas. They had a wonderful time and were braver than Kay and I. She'd survived the heat the day before and said, "No more." I'd done the shopping thing before and wasn't interested in spending my money in the jewelry shops.

From the balcony at night. Isn't it beautiful!

Larry and I had taken this same cruise is November of 2009 and I don't think it was near as hot. We could sit on the balcony and enjoy the waves, but on this trip it was so humid out it was stifling. In 2009 we'd visited a Tequila factory, toured the old market and the first church on the island, toured Mayan ruins, had lunch at a ranch and were later treated to a horse show. Now, I can't remember what we saw at which port and unfortunately I didn't label my pictures, but you can look back to my 2009 posts where I blogged not only about this cruise but the one we took to New England and Canada.

Here we are the last night of the cruise. As always, our waiters were loads of fun and made sure we had everything we wanted to eat. The food was delicious! They also entertained us each night with singing and dancing.

We four girls had a wonderful time together and I think it was the first of many trips to come. Several other cousins have mentioned their interest so hopefully our group will grow.

Thank you for reading my musings today.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

So Much to Do, So Little Time

That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. Actually, I have plenty of time but often don't want to spend it on some of those mundane things... like income taxes. Yikes, it's due October 15th, for late filing that is. And somehow, a few years ago, this job became mine. Probably because of my writing expenses.

I've been busy judging a contest, editing my upcoming release, A Stolen Chance, to be released by The Wild Rose Press sometime in 2013, and working on my latest venture, Birdie's Nest. I started chapter seventeen last night and have about 50,000 words. It's another time travel and I'm having loads of fun researching 1890s Waco, Texas and life in general in the nineteenth century.

Next week I'm taking a break. Two cousins, my sister-in-law, and I are going on a Western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston. I plan to sit on the balcony, watch the waves, and maybe write a little. Oops, I forgot spending time in the casino playing the slots.

The picture to the right was taken from our balcony on our last Caribbean cruise. We were aft so the view was quite different. Though we enjoyed the location, we did receive some soot on the rails from the smokestack.

We have cabins side-by-side so we hope to get the balconies opened up to where we can visit back and forth and all sit outside together. It will be fun to laugh and tell tall tales of our growing up years in the 1950s and 1960s.

Oh, I forgot to mention I'll be people watching. It's always fun to see a person who'd be an interesting character in my next book. I hope you'll join me the first week of September when I'll have pictures and share our adventures.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

Cruising New England and Canada

We spent a miserable night in Austin. It was humid and we couldn’t get the ac in the hotel to keep us cool. We finally asked for a fan and had the thermostat set on 67. Neither of us slept very well and were up at 3:00 hoping the hotel van driver would arrive on time so we could get the airport in time for our 5:45 am flight.

We arrived in NY at 11:45 and arrived at Carnival’s place of departure around 1:00. We got into our cabin at 3:00. The boat left the dock at 5:00. It was interesting to sail past The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Unfortunately I forgot to bring the USB cord that connects my camera to my computer so I can’t load any pictures until we get home.

Last night we slept like a log. The sway of the ship rocked us to sleep. As I sit here typing I’m swaying side to side. Thank goodness neither one of us are prone to sea sickness. Tomorrow we’ll be in St. John’s.

Today I lost a little money playing slots in the casino but had a great time. There was a jewelry and purse sale but I didn’t need either. Larry spent most of the day on our balcony reading on his Palm and grooving on the waves. It is cool enough for a jacket now.

This may be my only post this week as though the ship has wireless, it cost $24.00 an hour. Can you believe it? I don’t even know who won the Golden Heart’s and Rita’s. I’m going to bite the bullet right now and spend an hour catching up.

Hope your week is great!

Linda