Journal

OK - by popular request, as well as for my own memories which I want to record and save, here's my account of the long-awaited cruise!  For those who weren't around last year, this cruise started out to be a fund-raiser for the NFA, but they didn't get enough registrations to make it happen, so that part was canceled. At that point, Basket and Bear and Jon and I decided, together and separately, to go anyway, as we had already put down our deposits, started making plans, and getting excited - that was in late November - early December 2008.

So - after nearly a year of anticipation, the big day arrived. We were scheduled to fly out of Richmond VA at 5:30 p.m., traveling to LAX by way of Atlanta (always a YIKES!). The trouble started almost immediately. Even before we left for the airport, we found our flight was delayed - at that point they said one hour so no problem making our connecting flight in Atlanta, as we had a three-hour layover with the original schedule. I called my friend who was taking us to the airport and asked her to come an hour later.

So - again - we set off for the airport, said our goodbyes to my friend, and went to check in. Yet another delay - this time for 30 more minutes - and now they were saying due to weather conditions in Atlanta. This is not sounding good but we're staying positive. We checked in and went to the gate, where almost immediately there was an announcement made that there was not a firm time for our flight, due to limited visibility in Atlanta. They said they would call us up "by destination" to tell us what our options were because for each destination it would be different, due to different time frames for connecting flights. When we got our turn, they told us we could either stay in Richmond (no way Jose' - no pun intended) or fly to Atlanta and spend the night there, as there was no way we were going to make our connection. We agreed to that plan and finally got on board about 8:00 p.m. At that point, it was within the realm of possible that we might still make our flight, but alas, people are stupid - one of those things you can count on like death and taxes LOL  We got to Atlanta around 9:15 p.m., and our connecting flight was still on the ground at that point. The flight attendant asked that those who didn't have a quick connection to make please stay in their seats and let those who were trying to catch a flight deplane first. Yeah right. People are stupid - and selfish - and at that point probably tired and frustrated as we were and it was every man and woman for him/herself. It took us about 20 minutes to deplane, and by the time we got to the gate, our flight was gone. 

So - next - 30 minutes in line at Customer Service with a large group of angry people who had also missed their respective connection. Most were grumbling quietly but there was one young woman who was screaming and hysterical and demanding of an exhausted looking agent WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO FUCKING DO!!!! Um...parents with little kids in line...NICE <sigh> It was an inconvenience for everybody there but not life or death - many people have slept in airports and lived to tell about it :)

It took three agents to deal with her when they could have been helping the people in the very long line, but at least it was a distraction. Someone standing in the middle of the airport screaming and cursing at the top of their lungs isn't all that entertaining but it was better than just standing there looking at each other.  When we finally got up to the desk they booked us on a 10:15 a.m. flight for Saturday morning and gave us a $100 hotel voucher which they said "could be used for any local hotel" and a couple of $10 food vouchers good at airport restaurants. We decided to save those for morning and set off to find a shuttle and a hotel. We got a reservation at a Holiday Inn Express - they're usually pretty dependable - not fancy or nice but kind of like McDonalds - you always know what you're going to get. Except - they refused to honor the hotel voucher and we were too fucking tired (OK no little kids here LOL) to argue.

We got a cab in the morning and got food with the vouchers (which worked great unlike the hotel voucher) and our new flight was on time as the weather of the night before had completely cleared up - bright and sunny now!  The flight was four hours - not that bad for coast-to-coast, and we got into LA with no hassles, got our luggage, and went looking for a place to sit down and call our hotel, where the instructions had said "call for free shuttle service." Yeah - right. It was around noon LA time and we were informed, rudely, that the shuttle service didn't start until 3:00 p.m.  WTF?  We got a cab and comforted ourselves that at least we had been assured by American Express (we made our reservation through them) that our registration was "confirmed for late arrival."

HAAAAAA!!!!!!  We got to the hotel and the desk clerk at first couldn't find the reservation at all, and then found it and informed us that since we didn't show up the night before, our reservation had been cancelled, and there was now nothing available except a smoking room - I have asthma so again, no way Jose' and now the pun is intended. We're not stupid or inexperienced travelers - we called AMEX from Atlanta and told them what was happening and were assured that we needed to do nothing further - it was confirmed and guaranteed. So now we've got this rude bitch informing us that our "guaranteed" reservation was canceled, and she has no no-smoking rooms available, as they are all reserved for guests with "guaranteed" reservations!!! We tried to explain to her what was going on with Amex and our reservation, but all she would say was "call them and have them call me and I'll explain to them." At that point I went all Kathy Bates on her and said "OH I'm going to call them all right, but THEY will be explaining to YOU!"

To make a long story short, while we were standing outside calling Amex, she made a call and a maid came scurrying down, and they had a hasty conversation in Spanish. Too bad Jon spent a lot of time with Rosetta Stone before the trip - she was telling the maid to make sure there was a non-smoking room made up LOL  That was our first clue that we were making headway with her - she was absolutely adament that there was no way in hell we were getting a non-smoking room :)  Amex listened to Jon and then put him on hold, and the phone behind the desk started ringing. I could hear her saying to them pretty much the same thing she had said to me about our no-show and the "policy" of cancellation and how she had guests with "guaranteed reservations" who she had to give the non-smoking rooms to. 

Meanwhile, Amex came back on with Jon and told him to hold, that they were going to cancel our reservation, take back the money from Friday night for the guarantee that wasn't, and put us somewhere else. They were still on the phone with the desk clerk at this point but I interrupted her to tell her MY problem was solved and they were going to take the hotel's money back. Funny...about that time a guy who appeared to be either a manager or owner showed up and THEY had a conversation in Spanish. Gotta love Rosetta Stone :)  Don't know what he said to her - I could only hear her end telling him of all the conversations and what was happening now. We were still on hold, and she came out and told us that she had FOUND a non-smoking room!  It's a miracle! We were halfway expecting to hear banging as they tacked a N/S sign on a room upstairs LOL

Finally got checked in and by this time we're exhausted so decided to bag the LA plans to take a tour bus and see a few sights. We just ordered a movie and got something to eat and stayed in our hard-won room until morning.

That was when things started to get better. We were standing outside dialing a cab company when a cab pulled in and let out a passenger right in front of us! Jon asked him if he was available to take us to the Carnival Cruise Lines pier in Long Beach, they agreed on a price, and off we went. This guy was so cool when we asked him to make a detour to Starbucks, he turned off the meter and went in with us!  We got to the pier around noon, were immediately greeted by a porter who took our bags and directed us to the check in area, and from there it all ran like clockwork. You go through a line where a group of people are doing a "pre-check" where they look at your travel documents (both cruise reservation and passport), issue your room keys, and assign you a "zone." You to to wait in the area where you "zone" sign is located, and they call zones by number and you are escorted with your zone group to the next phase, where you go through security, and then board the ship. This went so smoothly, and by comparison to the two days before, it went so quickly, that all of a sudden we were on the ramp and I was saying OMG OMG OMG we're here!!!!!

We had nothing at this point but our carry-ons and my purse, so were free to explore the ship, but the rooms weren't ready until 2:00 p.m. We entertained ourselves by poking around to see where things were, and on a ship that holds 3500 passengers and 1200 crew members, there's a lot to explore!

Quick segue - see Basket's journal for their harrowing journey which culminated with our rushing to the Customer Service desk on the ship to tell them there were two booked passengers at the check-in area and no one to check them in and the door was locked! About that time they called the entire ship for a mandatory safety check and we had to go to an area where, if they ship was sinking, we would gather to be boarded on the lifeboats (yeah like that's going to happen). So I was standing there crammed up against a wall with a lot of sweaty tired people who just wanted to find their rooms, in a panic wondering if Basket and Bear had actually made it onto the ship!

Finally - got a text that they were on and so exhausted that they were going to their room to have room service and go to bed. After the two previous days, that suited us just fine so we agreed to meet for breakfast the next morning.

OK I'm going to leave you hanging here - it's getting late and there is so much more to tell that I will keep adding to this until I get through it all. Today was my first day back at work and between payroll for 75 people and an unexpected termination (ya know I fire people for a living, right? LOL) it was really hectic and I'm tired.

THE CRUISE

We met Basket and Bear for breakfast Monday morning. I am happy to report that our Basketmoon is as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside. There is a certain glow some people have, having little to do with the physical and everything to do with the spiritua. It creates a visible "light" I can't explain. Basket is one of those people - it feels good just to be in her space.

This was one of those "first time" meetings where it felt like we'd known each other forever. We've been talking here for a long time, but that doesn't always translate into a comfortable face-to-face relationship, as some of you might know from having, at some point, met someone who you've known on-line, and finding in person they're not really who you imagined them to be. No so with Basket - what you see is what you get - and what you "see" here is exactly who she is - which is awesome.

We found, right from the start, that we were on the same page in what we wanted and needed from the trip - we wanted to spend a lot of time together, but we also wanted to have a lot of down time which was separate. What that translated to was usually that we had meals together and went off on our own in between, which worked well for everyone. It gave those of us who needed more rest a change to do that, and it just worked.

Monday was a day at sea, so we had meals together, and Jon and I explored the ship some, napped, sat on our balcony (LOVE the balcony!) and read - so peaceful with the beautiful water and the clear skys, and the almost total quiet! Dinner was "cruise formal" that night, so we dressed up and had a wonderful dinner with Basket, Bear, and the other couple assigned to our table, David and Patricia, who had also signed up for the NFA cruise and then decided to come even though the NFA part was canceled. I have to say we all clean up pretty good - it might have been one of those times when others watching us would say "well you don't LOOK sick!" Basket has put up some pictures and I will also when I get a chance to sort through mine.

I have to say at this point that meals were WONDERFUL. There are a couple of restaurants on the ship where you can pay extra and get a "special" meal, but I don't know why anyone would want to do that when the dining room is lovely, the service impeccable, and the food choices are widely varied, delicious, and presented beautifully. There is another area where they serve cafeteria style, and many days we took advantage of the flexibility to go whenever we chose rather than the planned meal times in the dining room. The food there was less spectacular, but still a good variety of tasty choices, and all included in the price of the cruise. I confess that having ice cream available 24 hours a day may not be an ideal situation for me and probably is a big reason why I gained five pounds on the cruise LOL Or maybe it was the "Chocolate Melting Cake" which Basket also really enjoyed - a warm chocolate cake in a bowl with a melted center, topped with vanilla ice cream - heavenly!

Tuesday was also a day at sea, and pretty much the same as Monday - quiet, relaxing, and peaceful.  I think Tuesday was when we worked out in the fitness area and tried one of the several hot tubs - we only did both of those things once because it just didn't work out to do more - so many other things to do and see that we never got back after the two days at sea.

Wednesday...I'll leave that for later as it was our first port and a lot to say. Check back for another updated later.

OK Wednesday. We ate breakfast and set off for our tour in Puerto Vallarta.  Freaky leaving the ship and finding armed soldiers on the pier. A whole different way of life and a bit disconcerting to know that they NEED to be there to keep us safe. It's not terrorists they're worried about down there - they have much meaner people in their own country. I think they'd find they had less of that if the citizens were armed and every criminal had to worry about falling victim to "sudden perforation syndrome" if they crossed the wrong law-abiding citizen :) Then we got our first taste of "Mexican time" when the tour guide informed us that yes they said 10:30 a.m. was when the bus would leave, but they "might leave sooner." A very "flexible" interpretation of time, which is great if you're being casual, but not as great if you're depending on a bus or taxi to get you where you're going. But...we learned quicky to stay close to our ride so we didn't get left behind!

We chose the "Tequila Factory Tour" partly because it sounded interesting (we both like to see how things are made) and partly because we wanted to spend the time with Basket and Bear at our first port of call. The tour guide obviously enjoys his work, and gave us a lot of history, both "hard" and trivia, on our way to the first of two tequila "factories." We learned a lot of interesting things that my awful recall won't bring up right now, but Jon is sitting here with me and said it's really important that people know that "tequila blanca" is basically Mexican moonshine LOL Other fascinating facts - if you need salt and lime, it's not good tequila. If you get a hangover, it's not good tequila. Remember all that stuff we know about toxins? Well they're in the cheap tequila and that's what makes you feel like sh** the next day. If it's Jose' Cuervo, it's not good tequila. Basket swears she'll never drink Cuervo again - they took home a nice selection of really excellent tequila - SALUD!

It's not my drink of choice so we didn't taste or buy, but we enjoyed the program and watching all the other tourists chugging sample after sample, shouting "Salud!" We were "taught" that if you don't have enough tequila, you say "más tequila!" and your host will refill your glass. :)  We had some "authentic" Mexican food (tacos) that was just ordinary, but good fuel for the rest of the trip, and then back into town with a few shopping stops. There are some stores that are "preferred" by the cruise line (not sure what the deal is but I'm sure there's money involved), but Jon and I (and I believe Basket as well) preferred the smaller local shops to the glitzy Diamonds International (BOY are those guys HARD SELL!!) and other more modern stores. We were looking for crafts and "deals" with the exception of my desire to have another Hard Rock shirt to add to my collection. 

Back to the ship - dinner on the Lido deck, cafeteria style - and off to take a break in our respective rooms. Basket and Bear were in for the night, but we went back out after dinner because I wanted to go to Hard Rock, and we got to see the very diverse blend of old and new that is Puerta Vallarta. You go a couple of blocks and you're in a section dating back maybe hundreds of years, and another few blocks and you're into an area that, if you don't look closely, you could easily mistake for any small-to-medium city in the US, as the buildings are modern, the streets are wide, the cars are recent models, and the people are dressed pretty much like anybody you'd see on the street here.

I was gratified to find that since I last bought a Hard Rock shirt, they have greatly expanded their line and their designs. I was able to get a beautiful shirt in Puerta Vallarta, and another in Cabo San Lucas, totally different and both gorgeious - not the traditional "t-shirt" at all.

Back to the ship - movies in the room and a late-night snack (damn that 24-hour ice cream!!!). We were tired, but not sleepy (a pretty "normal" condition for me), as it was a fun but physically taxing day - lots of time on our feet, which is never good for me. I can walk for miles but you make me stand in one place and I turn into one big muscle spasm in about 15 minutes. So - an easy-going evening. The ship sailed around 9:00 p.m., saying a regretful goodbye to beautiful Puerta Vallarta, and overnight we made the trip up the coast to Mazatlan, arriving in the early morning. I'll save that story for tomorrow.

OK a few days delay here as I've been busy with other things - we're back in the "real world" and things just have a way of taking over. But I promised more so here comes Thursday!

Mazatlan - it wasn't less beautiful or interesting than Puerta Vallarta, but it was definitely different. Mazatlan started life as a fishing village, and that culture continues today.  Basket and Bear had their own separate activities planned for this day - Bear went fishing and Basket went shopping. We had pre-planned a "Sierra Madre" tour - a bus trip into the Sierra Madre mountains outside of Mazatlan, and the trip started early so we ate a quick breakfast and disembarked, meeting Basket and Bear on the ramp by coincidence, so we had a chance to wave at each other before we went our separate ways.

The bus tour began uneventfully, with our first stop being a brickyard where they still make bricks in the traditional way, by hand, from native clay. It was mildly interesting, but the kid with the pet chicken was far more interesting than the lecture about brick-making. I kept watching these two children, one about five and the other I would judge to be no more than two, possibly younger, with this damned chicken on a string!

The older child kept trying to get the younger child to hold the chicken, which the younger child seemed to be doing only reluctantly. It took a few more minutes of watching to realize that he was trying to get his younger brother "posed" with the chicken - didn't figure that out until some of the tourists started taking pictures and handing them money. Part of what held my interest was the contrast between these children and their culture, and American children and our culture, in terms of sanitation. The younger child was in diapers and didn't seem to talk much, so I'm betting he wouldn't get it if Mom said "wash your hands after you play with the chicken!" I'm having visions of Salmonella or Bird Flu while these kids are raking in the dollars with this chicken LOL I'm going to find the pictures of the "chicken boy" that we took and upload at least one tonight so you can see. 

Back on the bus, we encountered the "Ugly American" in the guise of the people in the seat ahead of ours. The woman immediately started pointing out the window at the brickyard workers and saying "Just look - they're not even working - they're taking a smoke break!" and other not-so-nice things that insinuated that the Mexican brickyard workers were just lazy and didn't really do any work between tourist visits. This woman had something nasty to say at every stop we made after that, and I tried to keep away from her when we were off the bus so her shitty attitude and obnoxious "superiority" didn't ruin my enjoyment of the trip.

Next stop, the tiny village of Malpica, one of the original Spanish villages, where we got to see a man making and decorating tiles by hand, and had the opportunity to purchase tiles (we didn't, but found some similar in Cabo that we liked better and did get a few). There was also a small bakery where we were hoping to learn a bit about the baked goods and cooking, but basically were told "this is an oven and there's the bread you can buy" :)  We were hungry by then and got a couple of pieces of bread of different kinds, which WERE very good. Like all bakeries I've ever been in, it would have been very hard to get out without buying anything as the scents wafting through the air were heavenly.

Next, the slightly larger town of Concordia, founded in 1565. A still-traditional Mexican village, with paved, well-maintained but narrow streets and few cars in evidence, but a lot of bicycles and scooters. It was a bit like a return to the 50s, as there were mothers sitting on park benches with children eating ice cream cones, and no one seemed to be in a hurry to get anywhere.  The main industry in Concordia is furniture-making, and on the way out of town the driver pointed out the window at some stores with the beautiful hand-made furniture of the region - it would have been nice if we could have stopped, but he said the stores don't export, so there was no point (in his mind) as we wouldn't be spending any money :)  This was a very different attitude from the Puerta Vallarta tour, where the driver and guide seemed to genuinely enjoy their work, and educating us about their country and their home.

 I'm going to upload a picture of San Sebastian Church, which also dates back to the 1500s. We didn't go inside, as our stop in Concordia was only about 10 minutes and we had to be concerned about being left there, as this driver and tour guide were moving fast!

Next, a pottery store up the road from Concordia, where a lot of people got out and looked around, but I took the opportunity to just chill out, as they left the bus running and it was very hot that day. The last village was going to be a longer stop, including lunch, and I decided to save my energy for that one in the hope that we would actually have an opportunity to walk around a bit.

That last village was definitely a treat - off the main road at least a mile, on a winding dirt road that you wouldn't look at and expect to find anything worthwhile. Left to my own devices I would have driven right past it and missed the best part of this day!  This was Copala, a well-preserved and very small village where the streets are made of cobblestone, the "main" street was very narrow (I'll upload a photo) and the buildings were very much in the Spanish tradition. I'm not sure how old this village is, but it's beautiful and I woud have been happy to spend the entire day there!

We had a chance to walk about Copala extensively - end-to-end it's only about 1/2 mile - and went into a photography shop where the owner is a retired American who visited four years ago, fell in love with Copala, went home, packed up, and returned to live there. He sells his photographs of the area for the benefit of the villagers, and seemed genuinely to love the town and it's people. We purchased two of his photographs printed on canvas, and they will provide wonderful memories of the beauty and serenity of Copala when we hang them.

We also met another American ex-pat who we didn't like as much. He was actively soliciting everyone who came buy with one of those smarmy "come on - it's for the children!" lines, and seemed offended that we weren't interested in his offerings. I MIGHT have actually taken a look but he started selling God along with his wares, and that's a cue for me to hit the door because I tend to offend people who try to sell me religion, or sell me something else through religion. No need to be offensive - just walk away - which is what we did.

If there was a place to stay, I would go back to Copola and stay for days just to be in the midst of the peace, quiet, and centuries-old architecture. A small, simple village that time has seemingly forgotten. But...that would require me to "unplug" which I have found I am constitutionally incapable of doing LOL  You take me away from my email for more than 24 hours and I start to stress big time, so no peaceful Mexican mountain villages in my future I dont think.

This visit ended with lunch at a local restaurant where the food was just "ok" except for the Banana Coconut Cream Pie, a specialty of the house, which was AMAZING - Jon can't have sugar (gastric bypass) so I ate his too!

Now comes the trip back - which should have been simply a time to pull out my iPhone and read one of the books I stored for the trip. Yeah - right. Not long after we got back on the main road back to Mazatlan, I realized that we were kind of "lurching" around the curves and looked up from my reading to see that we were going VERY fast on the two-lane winding mountain highway (where one side of the road tended to be straight down a mountainside - YIKES!) I kept watching right up until the point when the driver passed a tractor-trailer on a double line on a two-lane bridge with oncoming traffic - that was when I looked at Jon and said "If we survive this, it will make GREAT stories!" Seriously - survival wasn't a sure thing at that point - our bus driver was either drunk, or crazy, or crazy drunk. We were VERY happy to see Mazatlan and flat land again.

Stopped at a couple of in-town shopping venues, which were very tourist driven, so much so that they could be seen closing for the day as our bus pulled away. Nothing really special there - sometimes I expected to turn over the items and read "made in China" because so much of it was very "ordinary" and I suspect not handmade at all. So other than the photographs on canvas, no souveniers of this trip. Basket had a very different experience but she was not on a bus tour - she was in the heart of town where I wish we had gone LOL

Back to the ship - on the way we wound through the town and saw some beautiful houses, but with a bit of a twist - the beautiful houses with nice cars in the driveway all had high chain-link fences and razor wire around them. Double YIKES! Now I understand why we were escorted in and out of port by gunboats! Unlike Puerta Vallarta, not so unhappy to say goodbye to Mazatlan!

I really will try to do another day tomorrow - Cabo San Lucas, while our stay was VERY brief, had a whole different atmosphere from the other two ports, and it's own unique story and pictures!

This is a lesson I learned a long time ago, but need to have reinforced from time to time. Thought it might help someone else to change their thinking as well.

Cause for Celebration
Honoring Everyday Life

We all know someone who keeps plastic covers on his or her couch in order to protect it. The irony is that many of these people may live their lives without ever having actually made contact with their own furniture! This is a poignant and somewhat humorous example of the human tendency to try to save things for special occasions, as if everyday life weren’t special enough to warrant the use of nice things. Many of us have had the experience of never wearing a particular piece of clothing in order to keep it nice, only to have it go out of style in the meanwhile.

It’s interesting to think of what it would mean to us if we let ourselves wear our nicest clothes and eat off the good china on a daily basis. We might be sending ourselves the message that every day we are alive is a special day and a cause for celebration, and that we are worth it. There is something uplifting about treating ourselves to the finest of what we have. It is as if we rise to the occasion when we wear our best clothes and set the table beautifully, as if for a very special guest. We are more mindful of where we place things, what we are eating, and who is with us. Using the good china, eating in the dining room, and taking the plastic off the sofa might be an invitation to be more conscious of the beauty and grace inherent in our everyday lives.

If there are things you’ve stashed away for a special occasion—a bottle of special wine, a gorgeous pair of shoes, an antique lace tablecloth—consider taking them out of their hiding places and putting them to use tonight, just because you are alive now to enjoy them, and that’s a great cause for a celebration.