Sunday December 31, 2006
New Years Eve
We all sleep in...I was awake at 8 so I turned on Sunday Morning on CBS one of my favorite shows. After we get up and make the beds, Paul makes us breakfast of french toast and sausage. He adds vanilla and cinnamon(just like I showed him how...) so the french toast was quite tasty. We clean up the rig while grandpa goes to sit outside with Uncle Ben. The sun is shining and there is a beautiful blue sky. Perfect weather. It is supposed to be in the mid-70's.
I get dressed and we head out to check out some of the RV resorts in the area. First stop was Victoria Palms. It is really a beautiful park. There are lots of small park models and single wides in the first section of the park. As we meander thru, we find the seasonal sites for RVs. They are ok, a bit close together for my taste. We go into the next section which has double wides and larger single wides. We stopped at a few new units that have been placed throughout the area. Then we spot a for sale by owner sign with a open house sign. OK, we decide to look. It is a very nice wider single wide with two bedrooms and two baths. The couple that owns it is building a house in Edinburg. He is quite a handyman and had done a ton of updating on the unit. They also had just put on a screened in porch and a "Texas" room. Very nice. New linoleum floors, custom kitchen cabinets(wood not laminate), and ceiling fans in each room including the screen porch. Grandpa was sold. He was ready to get out his checkbook. Good thing Paul has hidden it! We talked to the owners for a while and they told us about all the updates that they had done including all new piping and new airconditioner. Looks like a great deal. Lot rent is $350 but that includes cable TV and internet (thats over $150 we spend right there!)
We say our goodbyes and go on to the next park, Alamo Palms which is a sister park to Victoria. It is a much much older park, and the units are a bit on the shabby side. The landscaping is not nearly as nice and it just looks old and worn. We don't stay long. We stop for a quick burger as it is now almost 1:30. We head over to Mercedes to see Llano Grande which is a golf resort. We are surely not impressed when we first arrive...like the previous place the first section is old and the units small and close together. The landscaping is ok, but non-descript. These lots and units are owner owned where at Victoria, the owner owns the mobile but rents the lot. We go into the newer sections and are quite impressed. Nice large lots, lots of fruit and palm trees. We look at several set-up new units. They are beautiful. The lots in the new section are $35,000, a bit steep. The models are very pricey...$99,000 to $104,000. For a manufactured home. Nope. Not for me. They were beautiful tthough, and one can pretend right?
Back at the rig Paul and grandpa go to happy hour while I lay down for a while. Paul woke me up for dinner and Uncle Ben is joining us. He is still uncomfortable with the brace he has to wear. We had manicotti with the leftover sauce from the other night. Not bad, but not a bell ringer either. After dinner Ben went home and we settled in to watch the Bears last game before the playoffs. We should have skipped it. Da' Bears suck the big one tonight that's for sure. Of course, with the announcers it should be called "The Bret Farve Salute Show" for chrissakes. I can't believe how bad the Bears are and the playoffs are here. *Sigh*.
Well, it is almost ten and I am trying to decide if I am going to even try to ring in the New Year. We didn't even have a cocktail! Well, the boys did earlier and I think Paulie is nursing a Bloody Mary. It is beautiful sleeping weather here at night...in the fifties and sixties. Perfect.
Happy New Year to everyone...
hugs
Dee
The Aluminum Asylum
Our home on wheels
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Saturday December 30, 2006
We are up and about by 8 and Paul takes grandpa to the shower house to take a shower. After walking Pepi and bringing grandpa back to the rig, we decide to go to the flea market and then the farmer's market. Paul is driving as usual and I figure he knows where he is going. Wrong. We are in Mercedes before he realizes we are not anywhere near the place we were heading. We turn around and backtrack finally finding the place. What a bunch of junk we saw! It is one of the biggest in the area and very very busy. Wow. Socks, T-shirts, shoes, tools, kettlekorn. You name it, somebody had it. While we are walking around, Paul gets a call on his cell from our friend Arnie McMillan. He invites us to drive over to Brownsville and then go to the Island for shrimp. Ok! We won't turn down shrimp! I want to change clothes so we leave the flea market and stop by the fruit and veggie stand. Paul and I pick out some tomatoes, onions and some green peppers. Back at the rig, I make the boys a beef sandwich and have some cottage cheese and saltines for lunch. We change clothes and head out to Brownsville. Traffic is very heavy and it takes about an hour to get to their place. Barb is in the shower so we visit with Arnie out on the deck of his home over looking the resacas that wind thru the resort. It is a very nice place and I like the area. Barb is ready so we take off for South Padre Island. It is nothing like I imagined it would be. I was expecting more of a Florida type atmosphere. There were tons of condos and beautiful homes...a huge county campground and a KOA right on the water. Very different...not as nicely "green and flowering" as Florida. Well, that shows how much I know about Texas! Arnie drives us around showing us the Island. We decide to eat so we go to a favorite place of the locals, Dirty Al's. Just a shack really with a huge bar but a nice view of the water. I ordered boiled shrimp, Paul got fried, grandpa got a combo fried oysters and flounder and Barb and Arnie shared fried shrimp and oysters. It was very very good. The service was a bit slow, but the food was great. After we finished, we piled back into the car and did some more sightseeing, going almost to the end of the Island I guess. Arnie drove us back to his place in Brownsville and we visited for awhile. They have a lovely double wide in a beautiful Resort (I was corrected after I called it a mobile home park, lol!). They gave us a tour of the park, and showed us what was for sale. We may come back and take a closer look later in our stay here.
The ride home was quick and once back at the rig, we just watched a bit of TV. Paul took the dog for a walk, and I talked to Zack on the phone. He is going to a New Year's party in Edwardsville. Then he will go back to Rochester for his appointment with Terri the PA next week. We don't know what we will be doing for New Year's eve...there is a dinner dance here at the park, but we are not sure. Da Bears will be on Sunday night football....hmmm...Bears or dance? Guess what Paulie is gonna choose?
I want to find some shorter curtains to hang in the front of the rig...the ones I have are way too long and I have no desire to shorten them. I don't have a sewing machine so...buying new ones is a better alternative.
I can't believe we have been traveling for 5 weeks. Life is good....
hugs
Dee
Friday December 29, 2006
Not much going on here in the Rio Valley Estates...we were up around 8 and had some coffee and bagels for breakfast. Surprisingly, grandpa is better this morning...he is even walking better on that bad toe. His face looks horrible. It's gonna take a while for the shiner to go away. After visiting with Ben for a while, we take off. Ben is off to see the doctor...they finally called about the MRI on his knee. We decide take a ride around Westlaco. We did have to go back to Walmart to order grandpa's glasses, and I needed to pick up some stuff we forgot yesterday. We had also purchased a water filter for the hose leading into the rig which leaked. After Walmart we tooled around for a while, just checking out where things are. We decided to stop for lunch and wanted some tacos...we pull into a taco place and go in. The menus are all in Spanish. Hmmmm, I order the special taco plate which has 4 tacos and some sides...what they are I haven't a clue. We are going to share the meal between the three of us. The waitress brings us three cups of frijoles...what we think is bean soup. We all dig in and wow, were we surprised! A bit of a kick in that there soup! She also sets down some tortilla chips, a very thin salsa and a bowl of lime wedges. Lime wedges? We ask the waitress what the limes are for and she tells us for the chips! Hmmm, ok. Then she brings out the tacos...just sliced skirt steak on wilty taco shells and a huge baked potato with butter, sour cream and cheese. Not your Taco Bell takeout tacos to be sure. They were very tasty and the potato was really good. After lunch we did some more sightseeing and wound up back at the rig. I needed a nap in the worstest way so I laid down. Paul woke me up about six. Uncle Ben will be joining us for pasta. He is now in a brace on his bad leg from ankle to thigh...his knee was broken and it took two weeks after the MRI to get the results. Poor guy. The pasta was good and we enjoyed the food and the company. After dinner, Ben went back home and Paul got the laundry started in at the park laundrymat. He came back and picked me up and we folded clothes together while talking to friends on the phone. After finishing the laundry we head back to the rig and put everything away. By this time its bedtime so another day in the life of RV'ers has come to an end. Don't know whats on tap for tomorrow.
later
dee
Heading South to the Boarder...
We left the Hitching Post right around nine. Grandpa and I talked about sitting shotgun. I quite frankly told him that if we go to Mexico, there is no way I am going to sit by myself in the back of the rig the entire trip. We tried to put one of our new folding chairs in between the two front seats but it was too big. If I have to BUY a comfy chair that fits in that space I will do so. For now, grandpa has agreed to share the shotgun and co-pilot seat. As we make our way south, he says I can sit up front. Grandpa is having a stomach problem so he has planted himself in the bathroom. Sure hope he has good balance...doing anything in the bathroom while cruising down the road at 65 is a challenge. We see diesel fuel for $2.25 and make a beeline to get it. Wow, that's the lowest we have seen for at least a year or more.
Grandpa lays down on the couch and we proceed south to Brownsville. At Brownsville, we catch Hwy 83 and are close to our destination. I was hoping to get in some driving today, but the wind is blowing so incredibly hard, I pass. It is all Paul can do to keep it on the road. There are wind advisory's as the Valley is getting the tail end of the huge storm that is pounding Colorado.
We pull into Rio Valley Estates at 11:45. Uncle Ben is waiting for us. Paul unhooks the car and eases into lot #15, our home for the next month or more. Nice little park. I barely got the slides out getting set up when I hear Paul yell for me to get a towel and washcloth. Grandpa fell down in the street. Apparently the wind blew off his hat and he tried to run after it. He fell face first onto the ashphalt and messed up his face. really really bad. It looks as if someone had beat the crap outta him. There are pictures below. Uncle Ben advises to call an ambulence as the wait at the hospital emergency room would be all day. They arrive and proceed to clean up the old guy. He doesn't need stitches but boy is his face a mess. He also hurt his knee and shoulders with scrapes and we think his big toe is broken. It is huge and purple/black. We get him back into the rig after the medic leave and put ice and wet clothes on his face. It is now almost two and we haven't had lunch so Paulie spreads out the leftover shrimp, and some cheese and crackers. Uncle Ben looks great...he has lost about 50 pounds and seems to walk better. He is waiting on some test results from an MRI on his knee and tells us it is giving him some trouble. Paul and I finally give grandpa a vicodin and lay him down. He is out quickly. We make our way to the office to pay and sign in. There are about 15 mobile homes for sale so I check out the listings on the office wall. Two folks from Minnisota arrive and we chat for awhile. Very nice folks, fulltimers who rest up here in the RGV for about two months each winter. Paul and I go back to check on grandpa. Still out like a light. We get back in the car and head to Walmart to get some groceries and supplies. We take grandpa's glasses which have been mangled in the fall to see if we can get replacments. At Walmart I stop in to have a nail color change while Paul deals with the eye glasses. Afterwards, we shop and can't decide what to make for dinner. Paul and I are sure that grandpa won't be able to eat much...he also has a swollen lip...so we decide on pasta with meat sauce which we know he will eat as it is soft. Back at the rig, he is awake but can't walk. I hate to say this but I am really not looking forward to this...even he admits he is a baby when he hurts or is sick. I just know this is gonna drag out forever. *sigh*. Uncle Ben comes over and invites me and Paul to "happy hour"...a group gets together each day with cocktails and visit for a while. We had a nice time. After it gets dark we go back to the rig and we have a beef sandwich. Grandpa won't eat anything, so we make him drink lots of water. We are watching to see if he needs to go to the hospital...you never know at 90 what he could have hurt for gosh sakes.
I give grandpa another vicodin so he will sleep. Paul and I hit the sack early as we are both tired and just a bit overwhelmed by the events of the day. No rest for the wicked as they say. I think I am going to like it here. We are sleeping with the windows open. The wind is still howling but we don't care. We have no real plans for tomorrow and will see how grandpa feels. Maybe Ben can babysit him if Paul and I go out.
Thursday December 28th.
Heading South to the Boarder...
We left the Hitching Post right around nine. Grandpa and I talked about sitting shotgun. I quite frankly told him that if we go to Mexico, there is no way I am going to sit by myself in the back of the rig the entrie trip. We tried to put one of our new folding chairs in between the two front seats but it was too big. If I have to BUY a comfy chair that fits in that space I will do so. For now, grandpa has agreed to share the shotgun and co-pilot seat. As we make our way south, he says I can sit up front. Grandpa is having a stomach problem so he has planted himself in the bathroom. Sure hope he has good balance...doing anything in the bathroom while cruising down the road at 65 is a challenge. We see diesel fuel for $2.25 and make a beeline to get it. Wow, that's the lowest we have seen for at least a year or more.
Grandpa lays down on the couch and we proceed south to Brownsville. At Brownsville, we catch Hwy 83 and are close to our destination. I was hoping to get in some driving today, but the wind is blowing so incredibly hard, I pass. It is all Paul can do to keep it on the road. There are wind advisory's as the Valley is getting the tail end of the huge storm that is pounding Colorado.
We pull into Rio Valley Estates at 11:45. Uncle Ben is waiting for us. Paul unhooks the car and eases into lot #15, our home for the next month or more. Nice little park. I barely got the slides out getting set up when I hear Paul yell for me to get a towel and washcloth. Grandpa fell down in the street. Apparently the wind blew off his hat and he tried to run after it. He fell face first onto the ashphalt and messed up his face. really really bad. It looks as if someone had beat the crap outta him. There are pictures below. Uncle Ben advises to call an ambulence as the wait at the hospital emergency room would be all day. They arrive and proceed to clean up the old guy. He doesn't need stitches but boy is his face a mess. He also hurt his knee and shoulders with scrapes and we think his big toe is broken. It is huge and purple/black. We get him back into the rig after the medic leave and put ice and wet clothes on his face. It is now almost two and we haven't had lunch so Paulie spreads out the leftover shrimp, and some cheese and crackers. Uncle Ben looks great...he has lost about 50 pounds and seems to walk better. He is waiting on some test results from an MRI on his knee and tells us it is giving him some trouble. Paul and I finally give grandpa a vicodin and lay him down. He is out quickly. We make our way to the office to pay and sign in. There are about 15 mobile homes for sale so I check out the listings on the office wall. Two folks from Minnisota arrive and we chat for awhile. Very nice folks, fulltimers who rest up here in the RGV for about two months each winter. Paul and I go back to check on grandpa. Still out like a light. We get back in the car and head to Walmart to get some groceries and supplies. We take grandpa's glasses which have been mangled in the fall to see if we can get replacments. At Walmart I stop in to have a nail color change while Paul deals with the eye glasses. Afterwards, we shop and can't decide what to make for dinner. Paul and I are sure that grandpa won't be able to eat much...he also has a swollen lip...so we decide on pasta with meat sauce which we know he will eat as it is soft. Back at the rig, he is awake but can't walk. I hate to say this but I am really not looking forward to this...even he admits he is a baby when he hurts or is sick. I just know this is gonna drag out forever. *sigh*. Uncle Ben comes over and invites me and Paul to "happy hour"...a group gets together each day with cocktails and visit for a while. We had a nice time. After it gets dark we go back to the rig and we have a beef sandwich. Grandpa won't eat anything, so we make him drink lots of water. We are watching to see if he needs to go to the hospital...you never know at 90 what he could have hurt for gosh sakes.
I give grandpa another vicodin so he will sleep. Paul and I hit the sack early as we are both tired and just a bit overwhelmed by the events of the day. No rest for the wicked as they say. I think I am going to like it here. We are sleeping with the windows open. The wind is still howling but we don't care. We have no real plans for tomorrow and will see how grandpa feels. Maybe Ben can babysit him if Paul and I go out.
later
dee
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday December 27, 2006
We are up at 7, and break camp. We stop at the local doc who had treated grandpa and pickup his blood test results for his PSA test. We are on Hwy 59 and heading to Kingswood which is a suburb of Houston. The doc that will give grandpa his shot is here so we need to stop for that. We get to Kingswood about 10 and it takes about an hour for the doc to review the test results and administer the shot. Before we set off again, we have a quick lunch. We get back on 59 and brace for the trip thru Houston. Surprisingly we have no problems and breeze thru town. We will stay on Hwy 59 for quite a while and then catch Hwy 77. The sun is shining and the temp is in the high sixties. Nice.
We stopped for lunch. Had a bit of a snit...who me? A snit? I wanted to stop for lunch. OK...they want to eat in the rig. Heck...I have been a nice girl and have quietly sat in the back this entire trip. I am getting bored back here. You really can't SEE anything from the side windows and I get a crick in my neck cranning it to see out the front window. Grrrr.
We stop in a small town, name escapes me, but I remember the High School team names...Bulldogs. We park by the McDonalds, and Paul walks over to a Mexican resturant to see what the buffet has on it. Grandpa mumbles something about not being hungry, can't eat, we will be eating Mexican "down there". Hmmm. Why does this honk me off? Don't know, just did. There is another Texmex place across the street along with a BBQ place. Paul reports that he couldn't determine what was on the buffet...ok, let's forget that one...I vote BBQ. Paul says he doesn't care. Grandpa says whatever youse decide.... OK, BBQ it is. I decided...for everyone. We go in, and at the counter we review the menu. I order a BBQ brisket sandwich with beans and a diet coke. Paul and I can share. Grandpa acts like he can't read the menu so Paul reads it to him. My snit begins....finally he orders a BBQ wrap. A BBQ WRAP?!?!?! WTF? They have ribs, chicken, beef, pork and a bunch of other stuff and he orders a wrap? The little girl behind the counter goes to check if they have tortillas. Of course...they don't. He starts to whine about not being hungry, he doesn't like this kinda food, blah blah blah. So, me now in full snit, tell the girl to pack up my BBQ beef TO GO and mutter something under my breath like "I am gonna take this old fart DOWN..." which makes the girls behind the counter crack up. I tell Paul "pay her..." grab my bag and head out the door, leaving the two of them in my dust. I cross the street to get back to the rig. Grandpa must just KNOW by now that I am pissed. Paul hands him the keys and walks over to McDonalds. French Fries....he wanted french fries...fine, just SAY all you want is fries...this whiny old man shit just irritates the crap outta me! Back in the rig I eat my half of the sandwich all the while exclaiming how marvelous it is...it is so tender and moist, so tasty, so flavorful. Paul just glares at me. Go ahead, foolish man...say something....NOT! I stew in the back seat the rest of the way.
We stop for the night in a little town called Sinton at an RV park called the hitching post. Grandpa is just exhausted(!) and lays down as soon as we get set up. Paulie and I sit in our new folding chairs out in the warm sun and soak up the sun and the breeze. I tell Paul that IF we go to Mexico...I WILL NOT SIT IN THE BACK ALL THE TIME! Just then grandpa shows up with Pepi. Before I go any further, I should tell you that since Pepi has come home from the vet where he was boarded, the old man has talked to the mutt as if they were lovers...baby talk, coocooing over this dog. I have said something several times about it and have been ignored. Nothing grates on my nerves more than this high pitch voice he has talking baby talk to a freakin' dog. I am NOT making this up. He is walking a fine line here. I vote to stop at a gas station and forget him. JUST KIDDING!!!! But he is getting on my nerves with this baby talk to the dog crap.
We decide to take a ride and see the town. Not much here. Not even a Walmart. We get some ice and head back to the rig and I make dinner...leftover ham, pineapple sauce, corn on the cob and cornmuffins. I made the corn muffins wrong and they stuck in the new silicone pan (nothing sticks to silicone, what the heck did I do?). We watched a bit of tv and turned in early.
We should be at our destination in Westlaco by lunch tomorrow.
hugs
dee
Tuesday December 26, 2006
Paul and grandpa are up and on the road to Houston with Zack by 7 am. I sleep in. I am really tired. After all the excitment of the cruise, getting reset-up and our parties, I am pooped. OK, so I am a wuss.
Paul and grandpa are back by 11:30. We sit outside and talk to our neighbor, Don. He is the President of the Escapee's Mexican Connection Chapter 8. He is telling us about the February caravan to central Mexico. It looks like a lot of fun and since the caravan is manned by volunteers, the cost is very reasonable...$30 per person and then the camping fees. Of course, this doesn't include meals or insurance or anything. Still seems like a good deal. We will talk about it I guess.
A very quiet day. We will be breaking camp in the morning and heading south. Paul and grandpa go to play poker and I start the stowaway process...
We have a quiet night and hit the sack.
Later
dee
OK, here is the rest of the story from Christmas
Christmas Day
Paul and I have to go help to decorate our dinner table at 10 a.m. We are both up and showered and out the door by then. We have our dinner service and help get the table decor set up. There are about 17 tables of 10 to 14 seats so there will be quite a crowd for dinner. The Escapees club will provide the ham and turkey with gravy. Each table decides what they want to serve for dinner and then assign folks to bring these items. From what I can tell based on the table decorations, some of these folks go all out. I suppose that it is because as full timers, the Escapees that will share a Christmas dinner together become like family. I always tried to make Christmas and Christmas dinner special for my family and I think we have a lot of great memories of Christmases past to remember.
After we were done decorating we were off to pick up Zack. Since we are not bringing really anything to the dinner, I asked if anyone would like pineapple sauce for the ham. Everyone said go ahead, so I will need to get the stuff for that. We stop at the CVS, the only store open in town to pick up more cough and decongestant stuff for snotty Zack and to see if they have the stuff to make the pineapple sauce. Well, they had the pineapple...I need corn starch and corn syrup (one of our table mates, Louise offered to let me borrow some from her if I didn't find what I need...hmmm, hello Louise?) We pick up Zack and head back to the rig to make Christmas morning breakfast. By the time we get home it is like 11:45 and by the time Paul makes our eggs, ham and muffins it is almost noon. Not too good for breakfast, and our dinner is at 2. Not a problem...we have stuff from last night(boiled gulf shrimp, cheese and crackers, bread and dill dip) that we can nosh on later tonight if we get hungry. After breakfast, I make the pineapple sauce. We had stopped by Louise and Bill's rig and picked up the syrup and starch. She was laughing and said she didn't know how OLD they were, and wished me luck. Funny that when you cook at home, you have most everything you need...on the road you have to plan for heaven's sake. No way would I have corn syrup and corn starch in the rig for any reason. Thank goodness for people who travel full time...they have everything.
We all get dressed and head over to the activity center around 1:45. The place is hopping. You should see the food that is being brought in...coolers, crockpots, chafing dishes, casseroles and baskets...it is amazing. The smells are incredible. Our table mates arrive and we proceed to set up the goodies...Paul pours the wine and then the entire group pauses for a moment of silent prayer. Our table host Steve, heads up to the kitchen to get our ham and we dig in. One thing I will say...it was great. Company was great and we all had a good time. The ham was a spiral cut and to me tasted a bit salty. The ham we have at home is better I think!
We all stuff ourselves...well, not really. The Ziaja's were still full from breakfast so we didn't eat too much. After dinner we cleaned up our table, said our goodbyes and headed back to the rig. It seemed that everyone had a great time and enjoyed the dinner. There were about 200 people there I think.
We had talked about going to see Night at the Museum at the show earlier. Zack was itching to get out so we went to the single screen theater in Livingstone. We did get popcorn and a drink...popcorn was really good...hot and fresh. The movie was only so-so. It is geared to kids actually, but Zack and I laughed our butts off. Paul fell asleep...so what is new?
After the movie, the rain had finally stopped and we headed back to Rainbow's End. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean with Zack for awhile. He is very anxious to get outta Dodge. I understand. I am very happy that he was here with us. Sometimes he is gonna hafta make a sacrifice now and then right? We don't know what is in store for next Christmas, so spending time with this grandpa and us is important for all of us. I am not going to take the drive to Houston tomorrow to drop Zack off at the airport. We say our goodbyes and I am sad to see him leave. He is chomping at the bit. I will miss him. Nothing was clearer than this...he is grown up and has a life of his own and we will be lucky to spend time with him whenever we can. Our little boy chattering with excitement about Santa's arrival....taking pictures in front of the tree, leaving cookies and milk for Santa...just memories now, but oh so sweet. Our first Christmas in the rig. It was unremarkable and quiet . But we are together. Zack and grandpa celebrated with us. No gifts, a tiny little tree on the table; no cookies, no fruitcake or candy. Just us remembering Christmases past and looking forward to Christmases in the future.
Merry Christmas
Dee
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Sunday December 24
Christmas Eve...
We are up and around about 9. By the time we are dressed and out the door its after 10. We call Zack to wake his butt up and we will go for breakfest. We go to Charlies Family Resturant. I have eggs, grits and biscuits. Zack has biscuits and gravy and some eggs and bacon. Grandpa orders a egg sandwich. Egg sandwich. How weird is that? Paulie gets his omelete and we have a nice meal.
We hit the H.E.B. store first for groceries and stuff for the Christmas party tonight and the dinner tomorrow. I am bringing cheese and crackers and a bread dill dip bowl. Paul had picked up wine at Walmart when he stopped there last night. We get a ham for later in the week. We make a second stop at another grocery store as H.E.B. doesn't have dill dip or the right bread. I walk over to the dollar store, hoping to find a sugar and creamer to put on the dinner table tomorrow. I come up empty. Back at the rig, we sit around for a while til the Vespers service at 5:30. It is a very simple candle light service where all we did was sing Christmas songs after someone read the Christmas story. It was very nice. I sat next to a blind woman who had the biggest yellow lab guide dog I have ever seen. We talked with some folks for a while and then headed back to get the appetizers ready for the party at 7. It was a very nice party, lots of nice finger foods and the line dancing ladies did a couple of Christmas song line dances. Santa arrived to give everyone a candy cane. Then for the participants in the gift exchange got in a huge circle and passed gifts right and left while a poem was read about the Wright family. We did this one year at our Cenois club and it was hilarious. Watching these folks goof up handing things to the left and then to the right when they heard the words right and left was hysterical. Of course, thru out this whole eveing...my son was just chomping at the bit. I don't think watching old people is his bag, LOL!
After the party we go back to the rig, watch a bit of TV(nothing on..what gives? Where is Scrooge...? No Its a Wonderful Life???) Paul takes Zack back to the motel and grandpa and I hit the sack.
Merry Christmas!
later...
dee
Saturday Dec 23
Houston
We arrived in Houston about 3 am according to Zack who was still out and about I guess. Eye witness. We got up around 7 and were down in the dining room about 8. Zack joined us for the first time for breakfest. 7 days at sea and he makes one breakfest. I can't wait to see this bill. We may have made a fatal mistake giving a 21 year old a key that buys booze. Hmmmm. We shall see....
We get back to the room and wait til the green bagtag is called. They called us about 9:20 and we were off the ship in about 10 minutes. We find our luggage very quickly and grab the porter to helps us transport it to the car. We are in the car, on the highway by 9:45. Unbelieveable. No hunting for bags, waiting in line for customs (we breeze right thru...me on my scooter, grandpa being wheeled in a chair by a steward.)
Well, off to Livingston to get the rig and set it up. Zack is just a tiny bit tired so we will drop him off at the motel and then go set up. We stopped at the CVS and got more cold rememdies. Zack and I are suffering with the whole head cold thing...cough, fever, running eyes etc., etc. Grandpa slept all the way home from Houston to Livingston. We also stopped and got some Subways for lunch. Zack heads off to his room. Back at Rainbow's End, we get the rig from storage, get our new site and proceed to get our home on wheels back up and running. We are in a section called
"the hill". Grandpa and Paul have lunch outside, I try to muddle thru my email while noshing. I still can't believe its a day before Christmas (actually the day before Christmas eve...). Paulie and I rush around to get the laundry together and Paulie takes a run over to the laundry building. He comes back and picks me up for the announcements at 4. We find out that we are assigned table ten and that the only things we need to bring to the Christmas dinner is cream and sugar! I suggest we get some wine and maybe an appetizer. Steve, table ten ring leader or as he is referred to "host" of table ten nixes the appetizer as they think there is enough stuff on the list already. Alrighty then. Paul and I fold clothes and finish up the laundry. We call Zack and wake him up. There is a POKER game this evening and the boys will all be playing. Paul goes to get Zack and then he picks up grandpa and off they go. I put stuff away, straighen up the rig and watch a bit of TV. The three big losers come back about 9:45 and they are off again to take Zack back to the motel. Paul will stop at Wally world for some cream and stuff for breakfest. I hit the sack. I am still sicky from this damm cold!
later...
dee
Friday....December 22 2006
I am really wicked sick with this cold. After breakfest, I go up to the cabin and lay down.
That's what I did...all day....sleep.
The show this evening is the last of the singer/dancer extravaganzas. Can't miss this. It was a really good show and the troupe sang songs related to water....Navy songs, Broadway songs, etc. The skinny Romanians again did their thing and the acrobat from down under did some interesting moves using a curtain. I guess you hadda be there, lol!
We couldn't get reservations for Trattoria. That is the bad part of the "freestyle" crusing concept. You either have to wait forever to eat at the popular times or should I say normal dining hours. We ended up eating too late at night. We did see all the first shows but who wants to eat at 9:30 every night? I am not sure if I like this concept.
We had to have our bags outside the door by 2 a.m. No problem. We made sure Zack was aware of this. Grandpa headed back to his room to pack. Zack and Paul went off to the goodbye party. I wandered around the ship for awhile and then decided to get a cup of coffee at the sports bar. No Mexican coffee for me today...not with taking all that cold stuff...
The sports bar staff was preparing the late night buffet. I decided to stick around and see what they were serving. Hotdogs, hamburgers, finger sandwiches, salad bar. No dessert. Crap. I could have used something chocolate. I opted for a plate of fries. They tasted blah. It was the darn cold tampering with my taste buds.
Back at the room, I packed up all my stuff and Paulies stuff. We didn't buy anything anywhere so we didn't have any problems of how to get stuff in our bags. We had one full suitcase of dirty clothes. Zack and grandpa had already done their packing and their bags were already gone. Paul showed up and we got them out into the hallway. Gosh, this week went fast. Too fast. Of course, having a cold for two days sucked.
We are expected to dock in Houston about 8 a.m. We have green bag tags for our deck so we are not going to be called right away. I guess we will get off around ten and get back to the rig about noon. We won't be able to pick up the furkids as the vet is closed for the holiday.
later.
dee
Thursday December 21
At sea...
I wake up with a freaking cold. Crap. I guess I will stick near the room today. I do join grandpa and Paulie for breakfest, had some oatmeal and lots of orange juice. Back at the room I pop a couple of Dayquils. Lord, those pills are horse pill size! The sun is shinning and Paul, me and grandpa go up to 12 to get some sun. Maybe that will help me feel better. It is too hot up there for me and grandpa. We see Zack and he sits with us for awhile. They are still serving omelets and waffles down at the pool area so he heads down to get a waffle. We all sit and talk for awhile. Zack goes off on his own, and grandpa decides to go back to the room and prepare his mental state for the Texas hold'em tournment this afternoon. He is convinced he is gonna win this one intead of coming in third...
Paul and I go down to lay out in the sun on deck 8. We are in the rear (aft) and it is just beautiful. We all watch the dolphins jumping out of the water playing. They are such fun creatures to watch. After a while, the sun decides to go behind the clouds. Before we know it, it is lunch time. Paul and I go back to the Four Seasons for lunch. We are seated next to some folks we had talked to during our flotation device practice session on Saturday. They are very large folks, from Oklahoma. He eats two entree's. In addition to appetizer, and soup. They also have dessert. I had a really good skirt steak with mango salsa. Oh, I do love the flavor of skirt steak! After lunch, I retreat back to the cabin and down a couple more Dayquil horse pills. I laid down for a while and promptly fell asleep. About 5 Paul comes in to check on me and we both shower and get changed for dinner. Grandpa got bounced in the Texas hold'em first round. Awwww.... I am feeling like the last rose of summer. There are two shows...first the magician guy and later the comedian does a late act. The magic guy is really good and very funny...I ususally skip magic acts. Zack was the last audience member to get up on stage with him and practically stole the show. I guess I gave birth to a natural comedian/dancer/karaoke singer. Zack again took off after the show and the three of us went to dinner. We went back to Terraces and had a nice dinner. By the time we had finished our entree' I was really sneezing and feeling lousy. I really wanted to see the late show, but there was no way I was gonna make it. I headed back to the room, and downed some Nyquil. Ugh. Nothing worse than the onset of a cold.
later
dee
Wednesday continued....
After showering and dressing for dinner, we joined grandpa and Zack in the Showroom Lounge. The singers and dancers did a country kinda show. It was good. After the show, Zack took off for parts unknown(well, I know he is somewhere they service booze....) and the three of us went off for dinner. I mentioned earlier that we had a early dinner/very late lunch after getting back from Belize City and our Zoological adventures. We went to the Four Seasons to have a late dinner. Grandpa was fine until we finished our first course. He suddenly started gagging on something and thank god they have big napkins as he barfed into his and Paul's. OK...my dinner's done thank you very much. We left quickly to get him back to his room without more barfing. Ick. He had eaten one of Paul's brussel sprouts (see what happens when you eat that kinda stuff???) and the outter leaf had lodged in his throat which he couldn't get loose. Ick. I'm gonna lose MY dinner if I keep writing. Ick. Ick. Ick.
Paul set out to find Zack after getting the old guy settled and of course, I get ready for bed. I am not feeling all to great myself. Prolly cause I barf just HEARING someone gag.
Tomorrow and Friday are at sea...
later
dee
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
OK....I am finally back...I had to HAND WRITE my blog on paper for gosh sakes. It was almost as bad as if I had to chisel it out in stone, LOL!
Merry Christmas...I finally am able to type up my notes from the cruise...make sure you scroll down all the way to Dec 14th where the last entry was made before I became truly wireless....I will not get pictures uploaded until tonight and will post the addy when they are done.
Right now we are in Livingston Texas at Rainbow's End once again. We are not sure when we will head south to Westlaco. It is a beautiful day here in east Texas. The rain and cold are gone...
Enjoy and check back later for the rest of the story...
hugs
dee
Wed December 20, 2006
Belize City, Belize
We had breakfast with grandpa and another passenger Mark from LA about 9 a.m. After breakfast, grandpa said he wanted to go to his cabin and rest, and Paul and I decide to go into Belize City. I am taking my scooter this time…forget walking. I even called to make sure I could take the scooter on the tender…we are docked quite a ways out since the coral reefs here prevent ships from entering the port. I told Paul we could do a tour anyways…they can just put the scooter in the back of the van. That is if we go on a professional tour in a van and not a bus. On the tender going into the city, we are given some shore excursion info by one of the crew members. Paul and I decide that we would like to do the city tour and the Zoo tour. The guy promises us the scooter would not be a problem it would fit into the back of the van. Don’t worry…be happy. We arrive at the pier and follow our crew member through the market area. He has told me that we are the only two from the tender that want to go on a tour so it will be in a smaller vehicle…but that the scooter was still no problemo. OK. We follow this kid thru the mall, up the back alley and into the street. Me tooling in my scooter, Paulie bringing up the rear. We turn into another street and there is a little Datsun car and a driver. We are introduced to Yolanda, our tour operator. Yolanda is the tender crew member’s mother. OK, I get it…this guy is using the tour company name to get dumb ass foreigners like us to go on private tours with this mother! It seems ok, and she speaks good English. Several young men materialize out of nowhere and help to get the scooter into the trunk. OK. We get in the car and Yolanda takes us through the city. What a poor place this is. We get on a two lane highway supposedly to the Zoo first. It seems as if we are driving forever! I have no clue where the hell we are going, and Paul is merrily chatting with Yolanda. It is surreal.
The drive continues…finally I see a sign, Guatemala 100 KM. GUATEMALA! Crap. I have this overwhelming feeling that we are being kidnapped. I imagine us getting our throats cut and our bodies stripped of vital organs. Our organ-less, lifeless bodies will be dumped in the jungles of Guatemala only to be eaten by crocodiles and insects. Zack will never be able to collect the insurance money because there are no bodies and the local corrupt officials will not issue death certificates…no certificates, no benefits. This is how I think. Finally, a sign that says Zoo! We are there! We are not being kidnapped.
Once at the zoo, Paul puts my scooter together and off we go. We are in the only zoo in Belize. We have to pay 8 bucks per person to get in. Only Belize natives get in free. OK. We pay the money and see quite a few tourists. This must be a good zoo. Oh. My. It is a jungle. We see toucans, pumas, otters and even white tail deer. A beautiful ocelot paces in her cage. Parrots and parakeets are everywhere. Crocodiles and wild snapping turtles share a lagoon. As I tool around on my scooter I am amazed to think I am in Central America, touring a poor little zoo that was built by hand by the natives. Each rock along the path was placed by hand. The animal habitats made by natives. Nothing like what I had imagined…remember I am a Chicago girl...a zoo in my head is Brookfield, yanno? Suddenly, my legs are itching. I look down and I am covered in some type of gnat insect. When I brush them away, they leave a drop of blood. OH MY GOD! Blood suckers. The area they bite turns pink with a hot red center and itches like crazy. I am doomed. Deadly Tsi files... my dad told me all about them once. I won’t make it thru the night. Then my heart stops, I have been bitten by a mosquito! Damm the Tsi flies…this is serious! I could get all kinds of deadly diseases from a misquito bite! Remember bird flu? I tell Paul I am getting the hell outta this jungle paradise. I must have 150 bites on my legs. I look like I have pink pooka dot stockings on my legs. Oh gosh. We get a coke and a bag of popcorn at the little shop and once again we are heading down the highway, Yolanda putting the pedal to the medal. I can’t imagine blowing a tire. They will never find all our pieces. Hear that Yolanda?
We stopped at Old Belize City which is a neat tourist area with a beautiful beach, a great looking bar/restaurant and beautiful boats at anchor. We take a few pictures and then its back to Belize City for our city part of the tour. My gosh, I have never seen such poverty. This makes Cancun look like a model community. Such a pitiful place this is. Yolanda proceeds to take us past the US embassy, a private college, some Catholic schools, the Prime Ministers house, the court buildings and some huge banks. You know…the offshore Belize banks where millionaires stash their money so they don’t have to pay taxes? Finally we are back where we started. We weren’t murdered for our vital organs after all. Paul pays Yolanda and we are off to the dock to catch our tender back to the ship. We didn’t have any lunch (and I wouldn’t have eaten anything here anyways) so we went up to the pizza buffet. They had a meat sauce for pasta that was out of this world good. So much for dinner!
Later…
dee
Tuesday December 19, 2006
Cozumel, Mexico
Grandpa met us for breakfast in the Four Seasons. We decide to go into Cozumel and look for a tour like the one the boys took yesterday in Progresso. Both guys convince me I cannot do a tour on a bus and take my scooter. I guess I will not take my scooter into Cozumel. The walk from the ship to the end of the pier almost did me in. I hate that I cannot walk at all anymore. I am just too young for this. My hip is ok, but the knees are bothering me. I think once I am back home, I will go see Dr. Borowicki and have some X-rays done. I think my walking gait has changed since the hip and it is affecting my knees. This really sucks. I need pain meds, NOW. I will eventually run out of the stash of pain pills I have. I can’t take vicodin forever…We stop at a little shop that is selling soft drinks and water. After we get the water and I take the meds, we continue to walk to find a tour place. Paul thinks that he may have paid $21 for that bottle of water…he had two new twenties and thought he had given one to the clerk for the water…but now all he has is $19.00. Good grief. If I confessed that, I‘d never hear the end of it….from Paul or grandpa. He was so concerned about making both me and grandpa sit down to rest, he wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing. I know he means well and wants to look out for us, but sometimes his controlling goes over the top…but will he admit it? Oh pishaw.
We are approached by a guy selling vacation packages. Promises us free lunch and a tour of the Island for only 20 bucks for the three of us. Wow, a challenge for Paulie! He loves dicking with salesmen. Mexico is no exception right? OK. Off we go in a taxi to a beautiful new resort in Cozumel. The International something or other. We do the obligatory questions and answers, and tour the suites. Very nice. Very VERY nice. No lunch just yet. We go to the sales office where our rep, Margarita gives us level one sales pitch. Nope. Not interested. Tina arrives to give us sales pitch….level two. She is a cute little Brit and orders diet coke for me and a coke for Paul, with water for grandpa. Paul sips his drink and announces this is rum and coke. Ok. Grandpa grabs it and is happy. The waiter brings another drink. Same thing…rum and coke. Hmmmm. Something’s fishy here. Gosh, maybe they will slip us a roofie and we will buy the whole place? This time Tina instructs the waiter NO BOOZE! He brings Paul a plain coke.
After about 15 minutes of hard sell, Paulie says not interested. This brings on Jorge, pressure sales pitch level three. Hmmmm. They said no pressure. Sure. He only lasts five minutes with Paulie before he gets really peeved. They don’t know Paulie. He is a master at this sales game. They are pikers next to him. OK, here comes STEVE… the big gun from Las Vegas, the ultimate closer… you can tell by his air of bravado and swagger….he gives us the fourth level sales pitch…he’s got the best offer all afternoon. An offer I just can't understand how he can even make. Its plain stupid...or he thinks we are....Paul says….NOT INTERESTED and says this is the last time. The guy tries again…nada. He has met his match in this polish prince. The guy makes some crack about coming back to the resort for $3000 bucks per week the next time we are in Cozumel…I tell him nicely…”Not in THIS lifetime”. The original sales rep comes back to escort us back to the taxi area. Still no lunch. And we won’t be getting any lunch either…that’s for folks who have bought into this scheme….a 30 year commitment to vacation all over the world at certain luxury resorts, or cruise all over the world for a mere $75,000. Easy payments with only 11.99% interest. Yeah, right. We do however get our tour of the island. A very nice taxi guy gives us the costal tour, stopping at a few local spots for pictures. I am starving at this point and will be having the shakes soon if I don’t eat now. We stop at a little roadside cantina and Paulie and I split a club sandwich. We all have the local brew, Sol beer. Grandpa won’t eat…hmmmm. Two rum and cokes, now a beer? Ok.
We finally arrive back at the pier and make the long walk back to the ship. I am pooped so I go up to the cabin to take a nap. Later, we dressed and went to meet grandpa and Zack for the show. It was a country themed song and dance show, nicely done again. After the show, we went to the Terraces for dinner…Zack had other plans so he took off. We had the most wonderful prime rib with a delicious rosemary glaze. Oh my. After dinner, Paul and grandpa went off the casino and as my usual habit I went back to the cabin, took my meds and drifted off into never never land. That’s my life…one party after another.
Later
dee
Monday Dec 18th
…somewhere in the Yucatan…oh yeah, Progresso….
It is soooooo foggy you can’t see your hands in front of your face. We are up and out by 8 am…this time we get grandpa outta bed and make sure he has breakfast with us. Old fart. The party boy is passed out on his bed. Why am I not surprised? Grandpa seems to be ok after his bouts last night and no more worse for wear. We head down to the Four Seasons for breakfast off the menu. Yummmm, eggs benedict! Paul and grandpa got omelets while I scarfed down just one egg benedict…why waste food and why be sick? I also had fresh fruit which was really not in season and tasteless IMNSHO.
After breakfast we head back to wake up the party boy. He won another dance contest last night. The life of the party so I am told. Everyone knows his name as they see him on the TV all the time…the video of the previous evening’s activities is shown on the in-room TV’s. One of these nights I am going to have to stay up and catch his act, yanno?
We decide to go into Progresso. I am going to use my scooter. I have yet to use it for more than a few minutes or so and I still am not 100% in control of the thing. Of course, I have not one but THREE critics telling me how to drive the damm thing. Shut up everyone! It is 85 and hot in town. We proceed to go to the little shopping area. I was thinking it would be like Costa Maya with the beaches and shops all along the waterfront. Wrong. A couple of shops and a bar…not much to see or do. You hafta take a bus into town and I am on the scooter…not gonna work. So. I head back to the ship and the boys decide to check out Progresso. They wind up doing a city tour that was very entertaining and informative. They all had a great time. Of course, the cheapskates won’t buy lunch, they come back to the ship to eat lunch at 3:30.
The ship was deserted as everyone was ashore in Progresso. I go to the cabin, and put on my swimsuit and cover-up, thinking I will buy some sun screen and sit up on deck 12. I stopped off at the library to browse for a book. Up on the uppermost deck, I get myself settled into a deck chair and start the baking process. Oops, I forgot the sunblock. It is so hot, I don’t stay out there very long. I meander into the sports bar and get some fruit, again it was terrible. Just not ripe. I go to deck nine and check out tonight’s dinner menus. I stop at the coffee bar and get myself a Mexican coffee(Kahlua, express and cream). Oh. So. Good. After drinking this, I need to take a nap! I head back to the cabin to nap. Paul got back to the cabin about 3:30. I went with him and grandpa up to 11 so they could eat. Somewhere they had lost Zack when getting back on the ship. Prolly went to get a beer. The big Texas hold'em tournament is today at 4:30, once we sail out from Progresso. All three of the Ziaja’s will be playing in this…hey only 60 bucks each entry. And they all scolded me because they said I didn’t need that $2.00 hat in Progresso! Pffft!
While the guys played poker, I went to a shopping seminar about Cozumel. Diamonds International. I need say no more. After the seminar, I walked over to the casino and both Paul and Zack had been bounced from the tourney. Grandpa was still in. I tell Paul to let me know what’s going on so we can make plans for dinner. I headed up to the room to shower and take my afternoon siesta. It is about 5 p.m. I really didn’t sleep at all. By now it is 7 pm and I am getting just a little bit pissy. No one is around. I get dressed for dinner, leave a nasty note for Paul and go down to the coffee bar. It is formal night(if you care to participate this being a free style cruise) and all these folks have lined up for photos before they have dinner. Finally about 7:45 Paul shows up in the coffee bar. He is so very surprised I am not in a happy mood. But, But, But…grandpa came in THIRD in the Texas tournament! Like I know this!?! Did anyone call the room…did anyone come up and tell me this? NO. Paul had put our name in for dinner and Zack and grandpa appeared. Paul went up to change, and by the time he got back, two of Zack’s new friends, Paul and Cindy had arrived. They joined us for dinner. Steak was on the menu, so that’s what we all ordered, except for Cindy having chicken. I actually experimented with the appetizers. Lamb sausage with grilled peppers and feta cheese rolled up in spinach leaves was the appetizer. I followed up with a vinaigrette salad of pita, peppers, onions and cucumbers. Oh my goodness, it was soooooo good. I donated most of my steak to Zack who had not eaten all day or so he said.
After dinner, we parted…our guests to shower and get ready for the late night activities, which was a sock hop, me to the cabin to go to bed and only God knows where Paul and the old fart would be. I was kinda bummed out…I would have gone to the sock hop to see the dance contest, but I can only do so much.
Later…..
Sunday December 17, 2006
At Sea
Paul rolled in at 3 am. Foolish man. He just thinks he’s 21 again. Like Zack. We are awakened by the poor little steward at nine am. He stammers out that we need to put out the do not disturb sign. Poor kid. Paul goes out in the hall and puts the sign in Zack’s door. We figure that grandpa was out til 2 or 3 so he may need some sleep…who knows when Zack rolled in. Paul and I get dressed and head out to find some breakfast. This NCL cruise is called freestyle cruising…you don’t have set times to eat like for dinner the first seating is usually around 6 and second at 8. This means you get a reservation for when you want to eat. Also, there are two specialty places…one Italian and one French which has a $15 surcharge (can you guess which one I won’t be eating at?). On 11 there is the Trattoria which is the Italian place which has continental breakfast only. There is a waffle station and an omelet station out on deck 11, and in the pizza/pasta buffet they have fresh fruit, salad, cheese and stuff like oatmeal, eggs, grits, etc. The sports bar has a breakfast buffet also, and the Four Seasons has the traditional sit down off the menu breakfast. We settle into a table at the Trattoria with some fruit and juice. Paul goes off to find me some oatmeal and then he gets an omelet. After we finish, we start to explore the rest of the ship. At around 10:45 we head back to the cabin only to find a very upset grandpa. He is all pissed off cause “there was no breakfast anywhere, anywhere on this ship, I’ve been on every deck of this boat”. Baloney. If he had been on 9 he’d have seen the main dining room open. If he was on 11 he’d have seen the waffle guy and the omelet guy and the line into the Pizza buffet. If he had gone up to 12 he would have found the sports bar breakfast buffet. He claims he was looking all over the ship for us since 9:30 and he could not only not find us but he was terribly upset he didn’t get breakfast. Hmmmm….I think he is mixed up or has his times goofed up. Sometimes I wonder about his mental clarity. I should be so sharp at 90. But it’s not all the time…he has his moments where he looks totally confused. Like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights.
Zack joined us and we headed up to the deck 12. The sun was shinning, it was warm and everyone was out and about. They were setting up the lunch BBQ so Zack and grandpa could get some lunch soon. We found some lounge chairs, grabbing the last 4 on the entire deck. Soon we see folks carrying plates of food so Zack and the old man go searching for lunch. The Caribbean band is playing a jaunty tune and the sun was hot…there was a nice fresh breeze off the gulf which kept everyone nice and comfortable. Now THIS is a vacation. I doze off in my deck chair, like a big ‘ol dog laying in the sun…suddenly, some fool is kicking my chair. It is the only old fool I know, back with his food and for some reason he can’t sit down without kicking the shit outta my chair. I guess he just didn’t realize what he was doing(ok, so he’s now a doddering old fool, lol). He finally sits down and begins to eat. He doesn’t like this…the steak is too tough the ribs inedible…blah blah blah... Meanwhile Zack has scarfed down a huge plate and is heading back in line for more. Zack says his steak was perfect so I don’t know why grandpa’s is so tough. Maybe it’s the choppers. No, I think somebody has a HANGOVER! Yep,the old fart has one hell of a hangover. After about an hour, I can feel my skin starting to burn so I decide to go back to the cabin and put on my swim suit and get the sun block. I didn’t bring sun block. OK, so I won’t sit in the sun too long. On my way back to the deck, I stopped and got some French fries from the pizza bar. Oh they are so delish. Paul and I share a plate of fries for lunch. Some healthy stuff eh? After a while, the sun is getting to me, and my skin is starting to tingle…enough sun for moi. Just as I am readying to leave, they announce an ice sculpting demo so I wander over to where Paul and Zack are sitting at the pool bar…and we watch the demo. I don’t see the fish he carved but everyone clapped when he was done, so who am I to criticize? I get my stuff and go back to the room. I leave Paul and Zack to take care of ol’ cranky man.
Our dinner reservations are for 8 at the Italian place Trattoria. We plan on going to the 6:45 show which is a singing and dancing show. We all meet up in the show lounge. We are being entertained by a Canadian torch singer until showtime. It is a cabaret style show that showcases the singers, two guys, two gals (typical cruise ship entertainment) the dancers and this troupe features a couple from like Transylvania or Romania or some such place that do ballet. She is so thin you can almost see the veins in her body, ick. The show was ok, and both grandpa and Zack had to pop the eyes back into their heads.
After the show we went to dinner. It was excellent. Service was a bit slow, but the food was superb. Paul thought he was going to share my veal parm, he he he, I ate it all! Grandpa was still as cranky as all get out so he just left after the main course. Me and the boys had dessert. After dinner we sat in the lounge and listened to the duo from Russia perform in the piano bar. She had a nice voice. Finally, I went up to our cabin while Paul went to check on grandpa. He reports to me that grandpa is sick with the squirts and upchucking. Great. Paul puts him to bed and then heads out to find Zack the party boy. Once again I take my meds and hit the sack early. I can’t really “do” the nightlife anymore.
Later…
dee
Saturday December 16, 2006
The ship
Paul was up, showered and out to the free breakfast b7 7:30. Fool made so much noise he woke me up several times. He, grandpa and Zack ate breakfast buffet. I was just getting up when Paul came in with some breakfast for me…a cherry Danish, a sausage patty on toast and some coffee. I ate a little bit and then showered. By the time I got dressed it was only ten am and we still have time to kill before boarding time. We loaded the car and headed towards Kemel which is a little town on the gulf that has an old fashioned board walk with amusement rides, carnival games and a ton of neat shops and restaurants. We walked around for a while; saw some local school kids singing Christmas carols in reindeer hats. By the time we had walked the entire boardwalk, my legs were achy and I was getting just a bit cranky. Finally we loaded up the car once more and headed to the pier. It was literally jumping at the pier…buses, cars; taxi’s all trying to get folks unloaded at the entrance. We pulled up and unloaded the car and Paul set up the scooter for me. Thank goodness for my scooter. Paul takes the car to park it while we wait near the entry way. At the entrance to the parking lot, the Polish prince observes that it is gonna cost him 50 bucks to park the car for the week. He says to the attendant, that other cruise lines we have traveled with provided free parking for the handicapped. (I don’t have a clue WHAT those other lines are, yanno?) The gal sees the handicapped hanger in the window and says’ “Are you a veteran?” Paulie says yep, look at my plates….they are Purple Heart plates. She gives him a free pass ticket and Paulie just saves himself 50 bucks. Jeesh. Shister. We meet up and a NCL rep is there to meet us…we were allowed to move past the crowd and get special services to help us. We had our pictures taken for ID, then we went thru security quite quickly. It is nice to get ahead of the long lines, but I would much much rather be able to stand and walk and be in line than have to use a scooter because I CAN’T walk or I am in terrible pain. The cruise porter had given us some new tags for our luggage as we didn’t get any in the cruise packet. The ramp to the ship is huge, I guess for the ease of boarding the handicapped. The Norwegian Dream is the smallest ship I have been on. I think. We get to the room…right off the hall directly across from the elevators. Great. No hiking to the room. The rooms are small but clean and nicely decorated. We don’t have a fridge, darn. I wanted to keep some water in there for the evenings. We get rid of our bags and the four of us take a tour…we first go up to the 11th floor as it is the top floor this elevator goes to. We are on the pool deck where there is a buffet set up with Pizza, Pasta and burgers…nice salad bar too. We grab a bite to eat and then head back to the room. We pick up our flotation devices and head down to deck 7 for the 3:30 emergency drill. We are muster station M with a trillion other folks. We hear from the crew that we won’t start the damm drill until 4…grrrr…why do I havfta stand in this huge crowd of people with this stupid life jacket on for another half hour! The ship is supposed to SAIL at 4. Are they holding the boat for somebody? Nope. Waiting for fuel. Guess we can’t sail if we have no fuel. Finally the crew lines everyone up…we are seven deep from the front to the very back and guess where I am? Yep very back row, my butt plastered to the ship wall. I never was claustrophobic until this very moment. My face was in Zack’s armpit (I wonder if he put deodorant on, it didn’t seem that he did….). FINALLY drill is over and off we go to dump the floatation devices and head to the sail away party. Decks 11 and 12 were JAMMED. There are tons of kids…cripes if I wanted to be on a cruise with kids I would have gone Disney for heaven’s sakes. Ugh. Lots of kids and teens. Why aren’t these children in school for cripes sakes. There is a whole WEEK before Christmas…what ever happened to mid year exams and stuff like that? Do these kids MISS this stuff or are they out on vacation already. Who cares, all I know is there are too many freaking kids for ME. Of course, the congo line is starting and our little wallflower Zack jumps right in. The noise and the crowd is a bit much for me at this time of day, so I head back to our cabin to take a shower and do my nails. Paul gets back to the room around 6 and tells me Zack won the first dance contest with some girl who asked him to dance. Then he proceeds to tell me that they have been eating all afternoon as the sail away party was a BBQ. Great. No dinner for me I guess. I can wait until after the show. The show lounge is having a kinda preview of the entertainment. The show was very good, a very funny magician (and you all know how I hate magic acts) and a comedian I know I have seen before as he looks familiar. After the show Paul and I head up to 12 to the sports bar where there is a buffet. We had missed the main dinner which really honked me off. I love to have dinner on the cruise…the best meal of the day….appetizer, salad, soup, main entry, dessert and yes, an after dinner drink. Darn it anyways.
In the sports bar, there was a little gal making fresh Caesar salad. Wow. I took some halibut off the buffet. Ick it was as dry as cardboard. Not too impressed so far with the food from NCL. The hotdog I had earlier was only so so but the French fries were really good! The Caesar salad was WONDERFUL, best I have had in a long time (maybe since the last cruise?). I sure hope it gets better, but then again, this is ONLY a three star ship right, LOL!
Paul went to find Zack and grandpa. No one had seen the old man for a while. Not good…a missing grandpa. Our bags had arrived at the cabins so I unpacked while Paul went grandpa hunting. I decided that I would turn in for the night, but Paul said he was meeting Zack up on 12 in the disco. Have fun.
Later
dee
Friday, December 15, 2006
Off to Houston….We were up and around by 7 am. We completed all of our breaking camp tasks and packed up the stuff we would need on the cruise. Paul drove the rig to the storage area, with me and grandpa following up with the toad. We were out of the park around 9 am. We stopped at Randies Donuts for coffee and something to hold off the hunger pains. Next stop was the vet to drop off the fur kids. We were on Hwy 59 headed to Houston by 9:30. We rolled into town about 11 but it took forever to find the hotel in Baytown.
I gotta tell ‘ya, to me Houston is kinda dreary looking. Especially so when the sun is missing. Oil storage containers as far as the eye can see…refineries and chemical plants everywhere and the sky is totally filled with electrical towers and thousands of miles of electric lines. Pretty fugly if you ask me. Along the highway, the typical big box stores and restaurants as far as one can see. All the same everywhere you go…the same franchise places that have overtaken the country. We finally got to Baytown and promptly got lost again. A GPS in definitely in our immediate future. After finally finding the damm place, we got a room (it was too early for check in time after all…) we dumped some of our gear to make room in the car for Zack and his stuff. We got back in the car, pulled out the mapquest directions for Hobby airport and took off to pick up Zack. About ten minutes later, Zack is on the phone, his plane has landed on time and he is on his way to the baggage pickup. I instruct him to get his stuff and just step outside the lower level at arrivals and we would just pick him up there. We find him right away, and we get him and his stuff loaded. After a bit of discussion, we decide that we have a free afternoon so we decide to go to Galveston and have lunch on the waterfront. We find Hwy 45 and off we go the island. Just as we hit Galveston, the fog has rolled in again. We do find the beachfront, but all that is visible is a few whitecaps coming in. By this time we are all starving and start to look for a place to eat. We find a gourmet burger place right on the waterfront that looks like it is a kewl place and tromped on in. Paul and I split a burger, grandpa had sausage and shrimp gumbo and Zack had a huge cheeseburger. The hand made onion rings are superb, but even ½ of the hamburger is way too much for me. I sure hope this lasts on the ship…I hope I don’t eat too much.
After we had eaten and sat around and kinda rested, we drove along the waterfront hoping the fog would lift a bit. Unfortunately, it just got worse so we decided to head back to the mainland and the hotel. Like any tourist area there are a lot of places for rent. Too bad we couldn’t see the water and the beautiful resorts that are here…it looks like a great place to vacation. We needed to get some last minute stuff from WalMart so we stopped at the one right on the island. While Zack and I waited in the car, we witnessed the police bust two apparent shoplifters in the parking lot. I see white guys running past the car with GUNS…oh sh*t! They may have also been doing drugs because they started tearing into the couple’s van. Such excitement! We took route 146 back traveling along the gulf coast which was a lot better than the highway back towards Houston. Traffic heading out of town was horrible, but we had no real problems getting back to the hotel. Back at the hotel, we got the other room and settled in. Zack immediately feel asleep…he had been up since 5 getting to St. Louis for his flight. I read the paper, Paulie did a dry run to the cruise dock and did some pre-trip stuff with the car and the suitcases. It is amazing what we have to get into this little car…my scooter, all of our suitcases and carry on stuff plus the camera and video stuff. Hmmm…hope it all fits! Paul came back bearing pizza and beer so we had some and then we all decided to get to bed. We don’t have to board the ship until 1 so we have the whole morning to kill. I think the guys will go have breakfast here at the hotel as it is FREE but I don’t need to eat all that junk stuff. I will sleep in I hope.
later....
dee
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Thursday December 14, 2006
Ok, you know its coming. A spout off. All the stuff I have put up with over the last three weeks or so is just brimming and I am gonna explode. All the stupid little irritants that I just let go over the course of a day are screaming to be addressed. The load of grey beard hairs I find in the sink each and every morning...constantly having to deal with flatulance, from not one but two males...., bags of cough drops laying around, medicine bottles everywhere, and jackets that never get hung up...shoes...slippers (who wears slippers? Guess).The list goes on and on. I suppose the weather has had a lot to do with it. Since the sun has arrived with some warmer temperatures we are not in the rig as much, so I don't see the clutter so it obviously doesn't bother me. Why do I get irrated when I see bags of cough drops laying around? Because instead of one or two bags, there are TEN. Its like the store will never GET cough drops again, so they had to buy everyone the store had. This rig is just too small to let clutter get out of control so everything has to have a place and be IN it's place after it's been used. *sigh* Thats all I am gonna say. Things may get written that can't be erased and then I will be in the dog house, again. I surely do things that irritate them. Well, I can't imagine anything off the top of my head. Someone hasn't taken a shower in over a week. This same someone spent an hour putting his pills in the travel bag then had to take them all out this morning to take the damm things. This someone can't understand why we don't have luggage tags for the suitcases...because we didn't GET any NCL tags from the cruise line OK? We will get them when we arrive at the dock OK? Drop it already. OK 'nough said.
We will clean the rig this afternoon, double check out luggage for the cruise and dump the food that is leftover. I hate coming home to a dirty house and its the same with my house on wheels. I am excited about the cruise...looking forward to Paul and I having some alone time as grandpa and Zack will be bunking together. Paul is doing laundry, and once everything is in the dryer, I will go back with him and help fold the clean clothes. The guys will prolly play poker again tonight so I guess I will go with and watch tv at the care center...at least they have cable and I may be able to catch up on my soaps on Soapnet.
Later
dee
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Wednesday December 13, 2006
Grandpa had a doc's appointment to have his blood drawn, so we were up and showering earlier than normal. We are expecting another beautiful day here in Livingston Texas.
By the time grandpa was done at the doc's it was lunch time. We headed off to find the dentist's office. Paul had made an appointment with a local dentist...he broke a molar chewing on ice last night. Foolish man. The number two tooth breaker is chewing ice...the number one for breaking teeth is eating popcorn...yep, that buttery delicious treat eaten in the darkness of the movie theater is responsible for the most broken teeth according to the ADA. It's those unseen maryjanes that get ya. There you are enjoying that fake butter covered delight and you crunch down on an unpopped kernal. So....there's at least $900 for for the fix, usually a crown to fix the tooth and maybe even a root canal thrown in for spite. I keep telling Paulie to wait until we get to the Rio Grande Valley, he can go down to Mexico and have it done really cheap. I wonder why he just ignores me sometimes....think he's afraid to see a Mexican dentist?
We stopped for lunch at Whataburger...everyone on the Grads list I belong to (the gastric bypass grads list) rave about this place. Well...I for one remain in the dark as to the appeal. Ick. I'd rather eat cottage cheese and saltines. We did have a chance to talk to some other SKiPs who happened to be eating lunch there, and even our neighbors (Gibby and his wife) showed up. They have been getting stuff done to become Texans and had to have both their 5th wheel and truck inspected before getting plates and such. I can't wait until it's our turn to do this! I am still having issues with becoming a resident of Texas...I just get sick and tired of Texans acting like the world revolves around this state. Hmmm, better change my attitude or I'll get my butt kicked by some old Texas mamasita who has an attitude about beautiful blondes....heh, heh, heh.
After lunch Paulie takes grandpa and me back to the rig and off he goes to the dentist and to take back the Radio Shack thingy we purchased to fine tune the satellite signal. No need for that now. It is warm and not a cloud in the sky this afternoon. The breeze is still cool, but wow, it's beautiful for December.
I fall asleep in the chair and wake up with a crick in my neck. Grandpa is off walking the dog so I go lay down in the rig. The crick turns into a headache so before I laid down I took some tylenol.
Paul gets back from the SKiPs announcements and we start making dinner. We will be getting rid of what's left in the fridge tomorrow as the rig will be in storage for a whole week without eletricity. One of the ladies I met this afternoon, Roma, offered some freezer space as they have a home here in Rainbow's End. I would have hate to throw out the two pounds of butter we had salvaged from the freezer at home. I hate wasting good food stuff. We cleaned out the garage fridge and the freezer and turned them both off. When Zack gets home after Christmas he can dump the rest of the fridge in our kitchen and turn it off also. No use trying to salvage anything since we don't have a clue how long the electric was off. If we don't get home until March most of the stuff we did manage to keep will be out of date anyways.
Tomorrow, Paulie and I will do laundry, and clean the rig really well. We need to find a room for Zack...gee, even in this little town it will run $67 a night. Well, we just have to bite the bullet...he doesn't fit in our rig's shower and he will need to bathe.
Well, the tv reception still sucks where we are so TV tonight will be terrible. Not much but reruns on now anyways so we won't miss too much. I finally pulled out my knitting...I have two pairs of socks and a baby hat on the needles, not to mention the purple sweater I had started over the summer for Red Hats. I don't know why but its been quite a while since I got involved in anything harder than a dishcloth.
Later
dee
Tuesday continued...
Grandpa and I went to have lunch around noon. Paulie was serving up the Spanish rice. There seemed to be a nice crowd for the meal. The casserole was ok, the salad was good, the rice so-s0 and the dessert was ick. After lunch we went back to the rig, pulled out some chairs and sat in the sunshine. It was warm and beautiful. Finally folks were emerging from their homes on wheels to greet the sun and catch up on chores. It has been raining for a few days and quite nasty so this is a great relief. About ten til one we headed back to see if Paul was done with his serving chores, but he was still working so grandpa and I went to see the grammer school kids at the activity center without him. The kids would be singing for us and showing us their parade "floats". I didn't hear if these were special ed kids when they were announced, but they were anxious to get started. They sang about 10 Christmas carols and then each child talked about the parade "float" they had made and then walked it in front of the audience. Here are a few
pictures....
The kids were really sweet...there was a red-neck float...a singing Mr. & Mrs. Claus, some singing teddy bears and one kid did the baby Jesus in the manger. Very nice kids and great ideas for third graders I thought.
We went back to the rig, and Paulie was on the phone with Dish...more aggravation it seems.
I sat outside with the guys for a while, but a headache was coming on so I went and laid down. I hated to do that as it was such a great day. Paul and grandpa were off to play poker, and I stayed with the furkids and watched White Christmas with Bing and Danny Kaye. Gotta get in the Christmas spirit somehow!
later.
dee
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Tuesday December 12, 2006
Paul is heading over to the clubhouse to help serve lunch. Enchillada casserole. Then the kids from the grammer school will be over to show us their Christmas Parade floats. Should be fun. I forgot to take the stupid camera last night, so I will take it with me today and get some pix of Rainbow's end and the kids.
I will catch up with y'all later...see what being in Texas does to ya?
later
dee
Monday continued... December 11, 2006
Paul and I ventured out into the monsoons to get a bag of flour. I am going to make Scottish shortbread cookies...flour, sugar and butter. I have three pounds of butter that we took from the house...it will just go to waste when we have to store the RV during the cruise. I will use one pound for the cookies and then I will most likely give the other two to out neighbors before we leave for Houston on Friday. We stopped at CVS and I found a nice small Christmas tree for the rig. You should have heard Paul the Scrooge bitch about how much it cost...$10. Jeesh. We also stopped at the post office to check to see the the part for the scooter is there. It arrived at Tom's house the day we left New Orleans. Yep, Tom being a good guy sent it priority mail and it was there. Back at the rig, I made the cookies and Paulie fixed the scooter. Yeah, I will have my scooter so I won't miss out on any shore trips that require a lot of walking. I am very happy. We willl just have left over pasta for supper. We need to get the fridge empty before Friday.
Then after dinner we were off to dessert and coffee, to be followed by a Christmas concert at the activity center. A very nice crowd showed up and there were plenty of goodies to go with coffee. I didn't have anything...I was still stuffed from dinner and I don't need the extra calories. Plus, I don't need to have a dumping episode. At seven, the Livingston Community Orchestra began a wonderfully entertaining concert. They played for almost an hour and did a variety of Christmas arrangements. They were certainly a lot better than we had anticipated as Livingston is quite a small town. Looking at the program and seeing all the names listed, we could see that a lot of folks were from the surrounding areas and there were several who drove over an hour from Houston. They were quite good. The SKiPs collected $400 in contributions to thank them which they can use for music and instruments.
After the concert, we took grandpa back to the rig and then headed to the club house to go watch the Bears. Since we learned that our satellite is a no-go, we had to find a place to watch the game. They have cable and two tv's. By the time we got there, the Rams had scored a TD but blew the extra point. The Bears defense looked pretty lame. There were three other gentlement watching...none of us have a dish. Two guys left fairly early and it was just me, Paulie and another very interesting gentleman who was also born in St. Louis and then moved to Chicago. Poor guy...should have kept up his Cardinal fan status...like me he is a lost Cubbie soul, destined to have his heart broken very stinking year. *Sigh*.
Well, the real Rex Grossman showed up and the Bears had quite an offense going. The defense didn't have a stellar effort but were good enough to win the game. Devon Hester(strange name for a football player, no? ) is such fun to watch. He is absolutely amazing...so fast. Two kickoff returns and 14 points...it doesn't get better than that!
later...
dee
Monday, December 11, 2006
Monday December 11, 2006
Well, today I have had an epiphany…Saturday afternoon, we went to the Downtown Hometown Christmas in Livingston. This appears to be a very, very poor kinda town. The band was playing Christmas carols and someone was singing way off key. The craft booths were pitiful…at least compared to the stuff we saw at the Muskegon Celebration. There seemed to be only one crafter with any talent at all….she made wreaths and they were quite attractive. I wouldn’t pay $40 bucks for one, but then again I am pretty cheap. After visiting the booths, we were off to find a restaurant and have an early dinner/late lunch. I was thinking a hot bowl of soup would be good. While out, we decided to find the Vet place where the furkids will be boarded and look for a place to eat. We found the Vet but there didn’t seem to be anywhere to eat out there that appealed to grandpa. Don’t get me started. So I suggested the Texas Pepper, advertised as a “family” restaurant…figured we could get soup, salad and maybe a blt or something simple. Well, it turns out it has highly priced Tex-Mex dishes…a few steaks and of course the ever present chicken fried steak. Paul and I split a burger and fries, grandpa ordered a burger and onion rings. The hamburger was just so-so and the fries and onion rings were cooked along with the burritos, charos and taco chips…ick. They tasted like greasy tortilla chips. Like I said, …ICK.
Today, we are kept in by torrential rains. This weather has sucked since we got here last week. At least it is gonna be warm today. I volunteered to make cookies for the Livingston Municipal Band concert here tonight. Paul and I will drop off the plate then go over to the clubhouse and watch the Bears on the big screen. Today we stopped at a local dish network place and it has been determined we will NEVER get in the satellite service…the box and the dish itself are incompatible. Crap. I get so irritated with this stuff. Everyone in the park has a dish and we are the only ones who can’t get it to work. Grrr…
Well, grandpa is still sleeping….he did go out with Paul for a ride this afternoon, but he has only been awake for perhaps 4 hours at the most in the last three days. He does have a doctor appointment to have his psa checked on Thursday so maybe the doctor can tell us if there is something wrong with him or he’s turned into Rumplestilsken.
Let’s hope the real Rex Grossman shows up for the Bears game tonight. All over the Houston paper was the story of Vince somebody who was a local kid a star at Texas, the Texans football team passed him over in the draft and he went to New Orleans and is now according to these people, the second coming of Christ….I am NOT making this up. Apparently he will lead NO to the next 10 superbowls he is so wonderful. Yeah. Right.
Whatever…
Later
Dee
Sunday December 10, 2006
We all slept late and then just sat in our jammies while we read the paper.
We went to the show and saw Deck the Halls with Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. It was really bad. Thank goodness we paid matinee prices. Grandpa slept through the whole movie. Then back at the rig, he fell asleep on the couch. Paul made pork steaks on the grill, some Mexican corn casserole and bbq beans. Very good dinner, Paul. After dinner, grandpa lay down again and slept. All evening. On the couch. Finally at 10:30 we woke him up, and made up the bed so he could GO to bed. Our TV reception is still sucky. We can't get more than one station and that is a religious one. Argh. Such a pain in the butt.
later
Dee
Saturday December 9, 2006
I am having a fibrofog moment...I don't remember what we did Saturday during the day, LOL!
Saturday night Paul and grandpa went to play poker. Since we are still having such a terrible time getting the satellite dish to work at all, I stopped by the clubhouse here at Rainbow's End and picked up a video from the library. I watched the good version of Scrooge...the Alistar Sim version and a movie I had always wanted to rent, Beloved with Oprah Winfrey. Well, Beloved ran 172 minutes and was still on when they boys got home from poker. It was the strangest movie I have ever seen. The boys made a stink about having to watch the end. That's just tough. They can sit and watch the end...I am going to see this to the end. Boy, it really is a strange one. I looked it up on the internet just so I could understand what I had just seen. Thank goodness for the internet and study guides on line, lol!
We think we may go to the movies tomorrow.
later
dee
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Friday December 8, 2006
Today was not a good day for the Ziaja marriage. I had purchased a large tin Texas star for my secret pal and we were trying hard to get it packed and mailed. We needed a box about 30" X30"...not too difficult a task. Wrong. We dumpster dived, checked every store we could think of to buy one and wound up at the UPS store. They wanted 11 bucks for a box and packing. Right. Then it would have been THIRTY bucks to ship. I don't think so. Paul and I had words about the stupid thing and he wound up taking it back to where we bought it. I was really pissed. We got a small star from one of the local stores that also had the word Texas on it...and I bought a skein of sock yarn for her. Big deal. I didn't even wrap it as I was so mad at Paul I wouldn't stop anywhere to get paper and tape. Back at the rig, grandpa was asleep in the lounge chair. I laid on the sofa and we watched TV until dinner time. We had left overs. Just like being at home, LOL! At four, Paul and I went to the announcements. Not a lot going on...it's been cold and dreary here.
Perhaps we will have a more exciting day tomorrow?
hugs
dee
