Spring 2015 cruise

March 15, morning

The trip down was pretty uneventful. I had packed early and ignored my suitcase (as well as the cat carrier) for several days before I left, because if I waited to pack right before I went (as I usually do) Nell wouldn't let me near her that morning. So I fed her and everything was normal . . . until I grabbed her and put her in the carrier, where she meowed piteously. I called a cab and got her and my luggage to the vet, where I made sure she was put into her kennel and was all set before I left. They gave her an upper kennel, where she immediately jumped on the “sleeping” shelf and started watching everything. I'm glad, because she always feels more secure when she's high up.

I then walked to the rental place (not far) and picked up the little black Ford Focus I had rented. And as soon as I got in the car the rain started—great timing, since although I have an umbrella rain while walking would have been a pain. I wound up going back to the condo because of my OCD, to check that I had turned everything off and it turns out I hadn't—I had forgotten to unplug the cat water fountain. I don't think it would have run out of water, but that wouldn't have been good. And then on the road.

It rained for much of the first couple of hours, and looked like it was going to rain for longer than that. But there were no accidents, even when the traffic was heavier on I-10 and I-75. I stopped in Blountstown to use the restroom and buy breakfast, at Ocala for restroom and gas, and the Fort Drum rest area for restroom and lunch/dinner, and made it to the Motel 6 in Pompano Beach in about nine hours (which is what I figured).

The Motel 6 room was a bit worn but not bad; it was of the new style with no carpet, which I liked (although the floor could have used a good mopping). It was a bit noisy, and the neighborhood was not particularly good (I went to the McDonalds down the road for breakfast and there was a small gauntlet of homeless-looking people who were hanging out by the main door—I went in through the not-main door). But the car was unharmed, and I continued on . . . in more rain. And darkness. And I got lost a little before I made my way to I-95 (I decided not to take the Turnpike any farther, because it was damn expensive).

Drivers in South Florida drive like they are insane. Fast and zipping here and there and tailgaiting. I stayed on 95 until the very end, which means I've now driven the entire length of that interstate from Maine to Florida (just not in one trip). The car dropoff was in a mall and didn't open until 8am; the company wanted to charge me for an extra hour since I had picked the car up at 7:35am, but the agent waived that fee for me—nice guy!

I then walked across the street to the MetroRail station (I had picked that car dropoff very carefully!). Miami metrorail is very much like the New York subway, but above ground and thus with a much better view. From a downtown station I caught a bus to Miami Beach, which was nice because I could see the cruise ships leaving yesterday lined up at the port: a MSC, a Celebrity, two Carnival, and a Norwegian.

I got off the bus a few blocks from the hostel and walked along Washington Street, which is full of little shops (lots of tattoo places) and stores and restaurants. The hostel is an old hotel; my room is on the first floor, with an attached bath. I share it with two girls from Asia and another woman who snores like a freight train—yay I remembered my earplugs! I couldn't check in right away, so I sat in the lobby and checked my classes and did some other work. Then I dropped my luggage off in the room and took off for the beach.

I didn't actually go on the beach; the appeal of South Beach for me is the park next to the beach, where I sat in the shade, enjoyed the warm air and the breeze, and watched people. Lots of people. In various stages of undress. I think I've seen more body art here than I have in quite a while, including several guys with what looks like brands on their arms and chests. I've heard of those, but damn. I was hungry and walked to Washington Street, where I got a Cuban sandwich and chips and a Pepsi from a little carry-out place—quite tasty.

I realized after an hour or so, when the shade started getting iffy, that I should probably get out of the sun for a while before I fry; I have no base tan, since I spent all last summer in Panama City inside hiding from the sun. So I went back to the hostel and sat in the shade by the pool and read my book.

Around 3pm I headed out, since I wanted to get to South Point to watch the cruise ships leave. I waited for a bus for a while but one never came, so I walked (on the shady side of the street) to the park, where I sat (in the shade) until the Norwegian ship went by so I could wave (it's big!). Then I walked back to the park, buying a bunch of sushi at Walgreens on the way (it only occurred to me after I purchased it that if I got sick from the sushi (which was all cooked, by the way) the ship would think I had norovirus and not let me leave my cabin—so far, so good), where I ate it at the park and watched people some more. I also watched a drone that someone was zipping around; the best part was when a very tall man leaped up and almost grabbed it, which would have served it right.

I eventually walked back to the hostel, where I realized that despite my care I was indeed sunburned. My face isn't bad (I brought my straw hat that I bought at the Calgary Stampede), but my shoulders/upper arms and cleavage are still toasty the next day. I guess I'll wear a cover-up today, but I don't plan on being in the sun for any length of time again until Jamaica, which is a few days from now.

I went to sleep at a decent time, but couldn't fall asleep. I don't think it was the roommate snoring, although I am very glad that I brought the earplugs. I think it was just the small kind of stuffy room and that I was on the upper bunk, which is always “exciting”. The bunk was sturdy, but the ladder had tiny little rungs and hurt like hell to use.

I woke up at 7:30am and I'm in the lobby of the hostel, finishing work (no more checking classes until next Monday!) and writing this. I'm going to head to the port soon, so I can get there early before the sun gets too bad. I'm sure I'll update this tonight!



Much later Monday

I loaded up my pack on my back and headed out to the bus stop after I finished writing the above. It was already warm, but not too bad. I caught a bus and took it across the causeway to downtown Miami. The roads were open where the electric car road-race was yesterday, but the crash barriers (which are chain-link fence with slanted tops, like you'd see outside of a prison) were still up. Luckily they stopped right at the entrance to the road to the port, so I didn't have to go too far out of my way. After a few wrong turns, I headed up the road to the port.

The port is on a small island, and the bridge went up for a bit. I wasn't too impressed, since the Hathaway bridge connecting Panama City Beach to Panama City is much longer and more impressive, but given I was wearing a 35-pound pack on my back and hiking along in Teva flip-flops, it was quite a ways. I brought water and took my time and passed several people going in the opposite direction; some seemed to be coming from the ship, while others seemed to be on a morning jog.

Of course, the terminal that my ship was at was ALLL the way at the end, so once I got across the bridge I had to bushwack a bit to the sidewalks along the terminal (passing on the way a tennis court and volleyball court, apparently for sailors on a break as those were behind a store and chapel for sailors as well). There was a Celebrity ship, a Disney ship, and a Carnival ship that I passed to get to mine (plus a Royal Caribbean on the opposite side of the island). One terminal was empty, which was nice because I not only was able to walk in the shade without having to dodge people, but there was a pop machine! I hadn't eaten breakfast (I don't know why not), and I had a headache (which has come and gone today—I think I'm dehydrated and hot and hope to feel better tomorrow after drinking a ton of water and turning up the A/C), so the Coke was very welcome!

When I got to the terminal I had only a short wait to get through the metal detectors. At that point I was told that I couldn't bring my bottle of water on board since I had opened it, and I was told to drink it or throw it out. Well, I wanted the bottle (I like refilling it and having it in my room), so I chugged a good pint or so of water with no problems (I told you I was a bit dehydrated). The security guy seemed impressed that I had done that pretty much without breathing, and I made it through security no problem (although I did use the restroom before getting in the check-in line!).

Once I was checked in, I went to the waiting room with everyone else. It turns out the ship was about an hour behind schedule getting ready (we also left about an hour late, which may or may not be related), so we waited for quite a while. I had my book and my phone and was sitting down in air conditioning, so I was happy (if a bit hungry). Not everyone else was, but since I'd just walked about two miles, I was just glad to be sitting down!

Once we got on board I checked to see if the rooms were open; they weren't. So I did what most experienced cruisers do: I went instantly to the buffet. I found a small table by a window, dropped off my bag (it got its own chair) and my hat and went to eat. Which I did, a lot. And I drank some more water too. Then I went outside and sat in the shade and started sorting things and reading, until I heard the rooms were ready.

I'm in a studio room, which are specially made for single occupancy. They have their own hallway and their own locked lounge, with 24/7 coffee and tea and cold water available, along with cookies (I don't know if those are 24/7, yet). There's also a bartender for Happy Hour. The rooms are indeed tiny, but plenty of room for one person. Most of the room is made up of the bed, which is supposedly a double but more like a queen (I'm pretty sure it's two of the single beds put together). There's a very narrow walkway on one side of the bed with two closets with sliding doors (no room for them to open like regular doors) and a very small desk between them under the TV; the other side of the bed is flush with the hallway wall. The sink is on the other side of the middle closet, opposite the door, with the shower in its own cubicle next to that. Opposite the shower is the toilet, in an opaque cubicle, with a door to the next room between it and the shower. And that's the room. Since I only plan to be here to sleep and shower and update this journal, it's plenty. The one thing that worries me is that the hallway is on the other side of the wall next to the bed, and I'm afraid it's going to be loud (normally the bed is opposite the hallway, not running along it). I still have my earplugs though!

After a quick sponge-bath (I was hot and sweaty and rather disgusting) I wandered the ship before going to the lifeboat drill. After the drill (which involved neither lifejackets or even lining up outside), I went up to the tip-top of the ship to watch us leave.

The Epic is probably the ugliest ship I've been on. It's not streamlined or anything; it looks a lot like a shoebox plopped on top of the bottom half of a boat. I still don't know how these things don't tip over, but they don't. I sat on a padded double-bed type thing looking through an opening in the glass windshield, watching the tugs and the traffic on the causeway and what-all else.

We were the third to leave, late as I said. The Carnival ship went first (it was the same boat that broke down—I think in the Gulf? Or off Mexico (it was the Splendor)—and floated for a while with no power or anything), then the Disney boat. The Disney boat has a horn that plays “When you wish upon a star”, which I didn't know about. They played that, and then that boat and ours decided to do a little re-enactment of the end of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”: after “When you wish upon a star” our boat did three very long very loud horn blasts, then the Disney ship did three shorter blasts, then we did one long and one short, then the Disney did a short and a little bleep. I have no idea why; I've never been on a ship that did that before when leaving, but I did find it amusing.

We crept down the waterway at about the same speed as the traffic on the causeway (slow), and I got a very good look at a lot of very expensive boats at the Miami Beach Marina, which should be called the Miami Beach MegaYacht Marina. I also got a good view of the spot where I watched the boats yesterday from shore, but from a very different angle.

After that, I went exploring a bit more. I found some possible places to hang out outside but not in the sun, near the climbing wall. I wanted to sit in the shade and read, but every time I found a shady lounger, the workers were getting ready to stack them up for the night. So I eventually went to the buffet and had dinner. I wasn't very hungry, so I just had some seafood paella along with some more water. I went to see if my room was done and found that the steward was working on it right then, so I went back to the lounge and had some decaf tea, then up to the buffet for a piece of cake while I watched the sun set. After that I went back to the room, which was finished, ate one of the pieces of chocolate the steward left and then took a very long lukewarm shower which was absolutely wonderful. I feel so much better now, it's amazing. I still have a bit of a headache, but I'm hoping that sleep and water will take care of it. I finally figured out how to turn off all the lights (this place has about four places where lights turn on and off), and after I finish this I'll probably watch a bit of TV (not many channels available, but I don't need to watch TV anyway) and go to bed. It's early, but it's also been a very long day.



March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day! It's probably not a surprise that a lot of people are wearing green today (including me), but perhaps a bit surprising that it doesn't seem like there's any more drunk people around than usual. Then again, it's early.

I've been doing my usual thing during sea days: sleeping, sitting in the shade and reading, and eating. I'm on my fourth book since Friday, and my third on the ship. Luckily the Studio lounge has a small library, and I also brought my Nook reader for when I run out of paper books.

I've also been going to the art auctions. I'm not exactly sure why, since I don't plan on buying anything (and I couldn't afford anything even if I wanted to, pretty much) and much of the art is rather ugly to me. I do find auctions a bit entertaining, the auctions are in the middle of the afternoon when it's rather too hot to be outside, and I now have two small art prints that I got for attending. I also “won” a larger piece of art during a raffle (they raffle lots of stuff off to increase attendance) but I declined to claim it, because it was rather ugly and they were going to charge me $35 to ship it home. No thanks.

I did go into one of the pools, which here on the Epic are less pools and more oversized hot tubs that aren't hot. Much of the time they are stuffed full of people, and thus aren't particularly appetizing. Add to that the fact that they are all in the full blazing sun and I'm still a bit red from Saturday and I don't think I'll be going in again. They do have water slides, including a smaller version of the Toilet Bowl from Great Wolf, so I may go on that at some point.

The room turned out to be very nice. It can be noisy, when people are loud in the hallway, but I've been able to sleep just fine. I'm also enjoying having the lounge nearby, not just for the library but for the tea available 24/7, as well as cold filtered water (I've been filling my water bottle, although I'm not supposed to). There are also cookies in the afternoons and evenings and breakfast food (including cereal and muffins and croissants) in the morning.

The food has been good in the buffet (I don't do sit-down restaurants) but the hamburgers and hot dogs are really really good. And of course the soft-serve ice cream is also a hit—it's better than the couple of other desserts that I've had.

I've seen a couple of shows; the Second City comedy/improv was fun, but I left the Legends in Concert after the Jimmy Buffett guy (who didn't have enough of a low range to really do “Come Monday” justice), because I had no interest in seeing a facsimile of Adele or Aretha Franklin.

I sang karaoke last night and was a hit and it went well; this evening I sang again but I couldn't hear myself on the song and the key was bad for me. Oh well. I guess I won't sing that again. I do wish they had more speakers so we could hear ourselves better; it's hard to sing when my voice covers up the backing music.

Jamaica tomorrow!



March 19 morning

Note: Watching “The Help” while on a cruise ship filled with (mostly) white people being waited on hand-and-foot by non-white people gives a whole new spin to the movie.

At any rate, I set an alarm so I could wake up early enough to get out of the ship with the first wave (I still got plenty of sleep, since I don't do much in the evenings other than maybe sing).

Jamaica, like Roatan, is hilly. I like this, as both Cozumel and Grand Cayman are low and scrubby and I like hills. There is only room for two cruise ships in Ocho Rios, unlike pretty much everywhere else we're going. Hills, green everywhere, warm air, cool breezes, just great.

I got off the ship to go to my Blue Hole expedition, and had a bit of trouble finding my bus. Once I asked the nice Jamaica Tourist Board lady, she led me to the group to wait, and the bus came soon afterward. I got a single seat near the front, and when the bus was full (after lots of yelling by the driver at various other workers in Jamaican patois, which while theoretically based on English is impossible to interpret). The bus took us to a field where we all got off then got on other buses according to where we were going. Except our bus was shanghaied to the other cruise ship terminal to pick up people there, whereupon we went back to the field while they were sorted out. Then it was finally time to head out.

Jamaican roads are very narrow and people drive like maniacs. They make Miami drivers look like the old Canadian snowbirds who drive very slowly while in Panama City. Lots of horn honking, lots of driving in the other lane (what makes it more fun is of course that Jamaicans drive on the left—a vestige of British rule), lots of missing accidents by inches. Not to mention the one-lane rutted dirt road up to the Blue Hole itself.

We got off the bus in a small dirt parking lot and headed down a hill following our guide; then it got interesting. The guide had said that flip-flops weren't appropriate for the tour, and he was completely correct, as much of the tour was either wading through running water or jumping off into the deep pools. I wasn't very fond of much of the walking, since without good depth perception I'm never quite sure how far away things are. This made jumping off the cliffs a bit disconcerting at first; the first jump was maybe 8 feet, but it looked like forever. Luckily I got over it by the last jump, which was probably 25 feet or so.

At any rate, we walked up this narrow dirt path or through the water, then jumped into various pools on our way down. It was beautiful and I enjoyed it quite a bit (after I got over worrying about the climb—luckily I had worn my Five-finger “toe shoes” which were perfect for this), until we got to the last pool. This was rigged up with a rope swing, and I forgot that my left shoulder is getting gimpy until I started the swing. It felt like my arm was being removed, and the rope kind of slithered through my hands and into the water I went. I didn't hit anything, but I probably wouldn't have felt it if I had. Once I got to the surface, I tucked my left arm against my side and sidestroked to the side, where I waited until my arm stopped hurting. Since I'm a bullhead, I then climbed up to the highest jump and leapt off, since I'd be damned if my last experience here was going to be that rope “swing”. Getting to the jump required climbing through a little cave, but I was reassured at that point that my arm was still working. (It's the next morning and it's not hurting or stiff, but I suspect I just accelerated the time when this one, like my other arm, gets the rotator cuff surgery).

The trip back was even longer. First there was the waiting at the parking lot while the beer supply was replenished, then a utility truck blocked the one-lane road for a while, then we had to go and drop off the people who were doing the tubing, then we had to drop off the people who were doing the plantation (they actually decided not to go, but that took some negotiation presumably about money) and only then did we get back toward the ship. I was actually getting a little nauseated from the diesel fumes and the bouncing jouncing roads, but I will say that we got a good look at Jamaica. A bar on every corner (literally), marijuana sellers on every other corner, goats and dogs and concrete houses in various states of disrepair. I kind of like it.

After we got dropped off at the tourist trap (I had tipped the guy who guided us through the falls, but I didn't tip the other guide and driver—I know it's island time, but I'd rather not have been driven all over hell when I could have been doing something else) I checked out the selection. Not much that I might like, but I did buy a shot glass for Sandy (she collects them). I also bought a Pepsi (real sugar!) and drank it in the shade while watching the jerk chicken guy and the ice cold jelly coconut guy try to sell their wares. Then, while walking to the ship, I spotted the beach at Margaritaville, so I took a quick dip in the ocean. It's amazing to me how cool the water is here. I'm used to Florida where the waters get up toward 90 degrees when it's consistently hot out, but here I guess the water is deep enough that it stays cool. That, and it's warmer in Miami than it is here today.

I got back on the ship, took a quick shower and changed, and then headed out with my phone to find some free Wifi. I finally wound up back at Margaritaville, which was full of people drinking (and not a few smoking marijuana—hey, it's Jamaica, mon!). I checked my email, sent a quick note to Mom and Dad, and then just wandered around a bit and watched people. Including three drunk guys who wanted to buy the safari helmet off a police woman, and when she wouldn't sell convinced her to let them wear it in a picture. She did get the helmet back, thankfully.

When I got back on the ship I ate a very late lunch, then sat in the shade to watch the Running of the Tourists. This is something that you won't read about in the guidebooks, where those in the know watch for the people who are so late that they run to make sure the ship doesn't leave without them. It's more fun when the runners are drunk. Today we had three runners, none of which seemed too drunk, but were met with the traditional call of “Run, Forrest, run!” 20 years after “Forrest Gump” came out, and people are still yelling that.

I watched us sail out of port, and then watched the island go by and the sunset. While I was watching the sunset I noticed three dolphins leaping out of the water headed for the ship to ride in the bow wave. They were silhouetted against the bright water and it was something I've not seem before. I think they were common dolphins (I got a closer look at one later) but it was wonderful to watch. A good goodbye to Jamaica.



March 20

Yesterday I got to Georgetown, Grand Cayman, on the first tender (there's no dock). By the time we left, there were five ships there: two Royal Caribbean, one Carnival, and one I never got the name of, so it was crowded. I had nothing planned other than to walk to snorkel, so I headed out fast (there were the usual people waiting to take pictures of unsuspecting tourists as they exit—someone dressed in what looked like a really uncomfortable dolphin costume scared the hell out of a little kid by jumping at him out of nowhere) and headed left this time. Before I'd gone to Eden Rock, which was to the right of the pier, but I wanted to try something new.

So I schlepped along the road with my gear, passed up the first snorkel site (it's a sunken ship) to get to Cheeseburger Reef, which is just behind the Burger King. No, really, it is, and it's called that. I'm not sure which came first, though. Just past the Burger King was a little cove with a diving shop/restaurant (the Lobster Pot) and a bit of beach. I had thought about trying to get into the water before the Burger King, but this was much easier and more public and I didn't have to climb down a wooden pallet doubling as a ladder. There were even stairs!

I left my stuff on the beach next to the retaining wall and waded into the cool water. It got deep pretty fast (it turns out the diving shop holds scuba lessons right there, because it's deep enough to submerge easily while still being safe) and I put on my fins and swam out. The reef itself isn't marked, but I headed out toward some likely-looking buoys, and made sure I stayed out of the boat channel nearby, as well as away from the helicopter landing pad for the tourist place next to the BK.

It was probably out as far as Eden Rock, but it extended much farther. There was quite a nice bit of coral, both soft fan coral and hard brain and branch coral, and a lot of fish. I spent most of the next two hours or so alternately swimming, looking around to make sure I wasn't going to get run over by a boat (the buoys were for boats to tie up to), and just floating vertically with my head out of the water like a seal. I like just floating a lot, enjoying the water and watching what was going on around me. Probably the most fun to watch were the Duck Boats that used the boat ramp on the other side of the dive shop. They didn't look particularly seaworthy, even by Duck Boat standards; in fact, I was fairly sure one stalled out for a while. They also went quite far out, much farther out than I did, close to where the cruise ships were anchored (seriously, everything here happens in a relatively-small area). I was the first to get to the reef, and only saw a couple of other snorkelers (including one pair that passed me and I didn't see them return—I hope they are OK).

After about two and a half hours I started to get cold, and a giant stinking diesel boat showed up and began disgorging snorkelers near where I was floating, and I decided that was a sign. Those snorkelers got about 20 minutes, maybe, of snorkeling; I wonder how much money they paid for that?

When I returned to the beach I decided to try to use the facilities at the dive shop to rinse off, which worked fine until I went down a short flight of steps and slipped at the bottom, falling flat on my ass and my back. Yeah, real subtle, Lisa. Probably was karma. Everyone was concerned and kept asking me if I hit my head; no, actually I didn't, as I apparently tucked my chin to my chest when I fell (I'm a damn good lander-from-a-fall, if such a thing exists). I then rinsed off, returned to my clothing, put them on, and came back to the Dive Shop to thank them by buying a soda . . . but they didn't have Pepsi, so I didn't. Again, probably bad karma. I did buy a Pepsi at a little shop down the road, which appeared to be a local store (none of the prices were in US dollars).

After that, I hit the tourist traps. Most places here were way too ritzy to be true tourist traps; apparently the Caribbean is where everyone goes to buy their really expensive (and often really damn ugly) jewelry. Many of them give away cheap earrings or pendants to get people in the door, so I collected as many of those as I could while checking out the real tourist traps. I had bought an absolutely wonderful coin purse here a few trips back, but they apparently don't make them anymore, which is unfortunate particularly since I don't like the newer versions. The free gift scam actually did get me to buy something; at one place I had asked if some gems were amber, the salesperson said no and showed me a cheap but pretty pair of amber earrings, which I bought. They'll go nicely with the amber necklaces I have.

I headed back to the ship at that point, to try to avoid the rush and because I was hot and hungry and had run out of tourist traps and free trinket coupons. Once back at the ship I showered and changed and ate lunch and then went back to the padded shaded seats I had sat in before to read and relax.

Once we left, I tried to watch the ocean but there is no real good way to do that on this ship; even on the upper open decks, the railings are glass to above my head with a couple of horizontal gaps for the breeze to come though, and the glass is dirty with salt and suck so visibility isn't that good. But I did watch as much as possible (including one big patch of seaweed (sargassum?) that was so large it actually calmed the waves around it), watched the sunset, then headed off to a show.

I saw a stage hypnotist that night. Normally I enjoy these shows, but this one made me uncomfortable. It wasn't the hypnotist, as she was very kind and nice (I may be going to a weight loss seminar she's holding tomorrow), but there were a lot of kids sniggering and giggling, and it made me feel really bad for the people up there. Granted, they volunteered, but still. I think it's because I know I'd be really uncomfortable with that; I don't mind people laughing at me as long as I'm in on the joke. Interestingly enough, if the people being hypnotized are college kids, I have no problems with it whatsoever. I suspect that says something about me . . . .

This morning we docked last at Cozumel. I slept in (all the way to 7:30!) and took my time to eat breakfast and get ready. I was going to snorkel, but I decided last night that I wasn't really interested in doing so (I guess I'd done enough in Jamaica and Grand Cayman), so I went tourist trapping again. Even more coupons, even more stores, but much less highbrow. Cozumel, like Jamaica, is full of people trying to get you to go into their stores and buy their stuff. It's very much a gauntlet that one runs to see the junk that is being sold. I was looking for a little cat statue that I had seen on my last trip so I hit every store (after buying a Pepsi at the first store, of course!) looking for it. I didn't find it (apparently that got discontinued too), but I did get a whole lot of trinkets. Lots of cheap earrings, a couple of pendants, and a very cheap necklace that's too short for my thick neck.

So I walked the whole gauntlet to the end, then turned around and came back. I stopped partway along at a bar called the Thirsty Cougar, where I bought some guacamole and a Coke and used their Wifi to check e-mail and such. I also sat at a few places and watched the tourists run the gauntlet, which can be amusing. I did wind up buying some stuff: a silver ring (I don't wear rings much, but this was cheap and it's very sparkly and looks nice against my tan), and a different little cat statue that I liked, plus another Pepsi for the walk back to the bus on Sunday (at least it will be early and cooler for this walk).

At this point I was tired of being nice to people trying to sell me something so I went back to the ship and grabbed my book (I finished the fourth one today and am already a quarter way through the fifth) and went to some shaded lounges where I could see the pier, to read and relax and rest my feet. No real running of the tourists today, I suspect mostly because one of the cruise excursions came in at the last minute so people who were also late didn't bother running.

I'm going to see Blue Man Group tonight at 9pm; I hope I can stay awake!



March 27

I've actually been home for a few days, but I need to update this before I forget!

I did stay awake through the Blue Man Group, but I don't quite see the appeal. Maybe I needed to be drunk, or less tired, or something.

The next day was the last sea day, and I spent it much the same way as I spent other sea days: in the shaded padded chairs, reading and looking at the ocean. I did sit out in the sun for a bit with my bathing suit on, to get a bit more sun, but it was hot and I got bored. I also decided to try out the water slides. The mini-toilet bowl slide was fun, but the pitch-black-on-the-inside slide was a bust, as I very nearly got stuck inside of it—I literally had to push myself along with my arms for a while. Um, no thanks.

I also went to the last art auction. I mean, I really don't know why I go, but it's kind of fun to see the (in my opinion) ugly stuff that people pay big money for. That, and I've usually been reading for several hours at that point and I need a break. I actually won another raffle, which I again didn't claim because it was ugly. Why can't they give away attractive stuff? Probably too expensive. Over the three days there were definitely things I would have liked, but they were always too expensive for me. So much for fine art; I'll stick to art posters, I think.

That night I packed up, which required putting the bag on my bed as there is literally no other place to put it in that little room. That said, it's a great deal, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I slept well, but I woke up early. This was actually nice, because I wanted to see how the ship docked in Miami. So by the time I was dressed and up on the highest deck, we were headed down the channel. It was dark, and cool, and quiet, and the lights were lovely. We went past the dock, and then did a pirouette in a “turning basin” just barely longer than we were. For being a big ship, these things are pretty damn nimble. I also decided to drink my Pepsi while watching this, both to wake up and to celebrate our return (although I would have been happy to have kept going—I seriously need to book a repositioning cruise at some point, or maybe a back-to-back cruise).

I then went and ate breakfast and left with the first wave of walk-offs. I got asked by two different officials whether I had all my luggage; I think I was the only person who wasn't dragging a wheeled suitcase of some kind (I didn't blow their mind by telling them that if I hadn't brought my snorkel equipment, I could have packed everything in a daypack!). And then I walked back toward the bridge.

I marched past all the people waiting for ground transportation, and then realized that the Pepsi was fighting back. So I went to the Carnival terminal (two Carnival ships were there that morning as well) and used their restroom, and then continued the march. It was still cool, and the sun was behind clouds, so the walk was much nicer.

When I got to Biscayne Boulevard I sat at the bench at the bus stop and waited. And waited. According to the website, the bus I needed should come every 15 minutes. After half an hour, I began to get worried, as the only bus that was passing me didn't go to Miami Beach. Eventually a bus that did go over the causeway stopped and I got on, although this bus required my getting off and walking a fair distance to the car rental place, instead of being dropped off a block away. Oh well, all in a day's walk. But now I know not to rely on Miami buses!

Once I got to the rental place, I got the car no problem. I'm glad I had a reservation, as there was a group of people waiting for a car, as there were none available. I got into the car, which was a cute little Mazda 2, and drove out of the garage (which took forever).

Once I got out on the roads, I noticed there was a thumping noise every time the wheel rotated. I thought it might be the road, as there was construction going on there, but the thumping continued over the causeway and onto the highway. This worried me, because when my own Mazda made a sound like that, it meant I had a really bad tire, and when the Subaru sounded like that, the CV joint was broken. I don't need to be driving 600 miles with either of those conditions.

In a rare flash of common sense, I decided to stop a bit up the road at the Ft. Lauderdale airport to get a new car; I figured a huge international airport would most likely have spare cars. I pulled in the car return and explained what was going on, and they gave me a nice little Ford Fiesta, no problem. This car drove like a dream, as my other Ford Fiesta rentals had (if I buy a car again, I need to consider that one), and I got most of the rest of the way home no problem. There was quite a bit of traffic, but the traffic never slowed down or stopped, so no problems.

Until I got just to the west of Tallahassee. Traffic stopped dead. The more adventurous of those among us escaped by going the wrong way up an on-ramp that we had just passed; I wasn't quite brave enough to do that (which probably would have saved me some time, as that was an alternate route home). It took about a half hour to go six miles to the next exit, which was the one I planned to take. I never passed anything that would explain the backup; I'm wondering if it was due to a really heavy rain shower that had passed over the highway just before.

I ran into another of those rain showers a bit later. It rained really, really hard, and I was considering pulling over (although quite frankly there weren't many places I could have pulled over on that part of the road—very rural through a forest) when it began to lighten. That happened once more before I reached Blountstown, but after that other than a bit of drizzle, the rain stopped.

I got home just fine, and the next morning went to pick up Nell. She seemed very glad to see me; she was meowing like crazy, although it might also have been that she was afraid we were going someplace other than home. I let her out at home, made sure she had water, then went to return the car. I was in a hurry, because I wanted to catch the trolley back to the condo so I could ride my scooter to work. Except I found that when I tried to pump up my front scooter tired that the pump was broken and caused the tired to deflate pretty much entirely. So I had to stop at WalMart and get a new pump before I got Nell.

I returned the car and called my cab company for a ride home, because I thought I had missed the trolley, but they didn't have anything available for an hour. I wondered if maybe I hadn't missed the trolley after all, and then of course the trolley drove past at that moment. No more trolley for another hour, and no cab either (I called another place, and they were also busy). I began to walk home, but soon realized (in another rare surge of common sense) that it was just about as far to walk to work as it was to walk home (about three miles). And since my scooter tire might have had a puncture or something, I figured I'd just walk to work and take the trolley home. I didn't need anything I had left at home, and I had on pretty comfortable walking shoes (heck, most of my shoes are that way), so I walked to work.

Luckily it was mostly cloudy and there was a nice breeze, although it turns out there was a swarm of bees at the top of the bridge and I had to hop the safety barrier and walk in the break-down lane for a bit to avoid being stung. And I was a bit sweaty at work, and tired as well, but rode the trolley home no problem, did laundry, found the scooter tire was fine and the new pump worked like a charm, and here we are!

It's nice to be home, but I can't wait to go again!