CRUISIN' 2015

On May 13, 2015, Mr. W and I will be married 40 years.  Did I just say 40 years? How did that happen? I couldn’t possibly be old enough to be married 40 years! My, how time flies.

So, in honor of our 40 years together, we decided to take a cruise.  It seems this has become our tradition to do this every 5 years since our 30^th anniversary.  Even though I’ve always lived in H-town, I have never sailed out of Galveston.  I have always found better deals at other ports even with the air fare added on.  However, this year, Royal Caribbean had a deal leaving out of Galveston.  So, I signed us up.  I’m warning you right now that this post will be heavy with pictures.

We sailed on Navigator of the Seas.  This ship was refurbished in 2010 and was very nice.  We reserved cruise parking with Discount Parking in Galveston.  While we were in transit to the dock, the heavens opened up with pouring rain.  The driver of our shuttle bus stopped in the middle of the lot, got our luggage out and told us to grab our luggage and get out.  In the middle of a downpour?  Really?  I guess the word “Discount” should have been a clue.  So, we grab our luggage and start running.  By the time we reach the terminal, we are soaked.  My hair is dripping, our clothes all the way through are wet, our shoes are spitting water every time we take a step. Fortunately, when we opened our luggage, we only had a few damp things.  Some people we met opened their luggage and everything in their luggage was soaked.

We did a balcony room which is always nice. 

The room was decorated because I bought the "Anniversary Package" and that was part of it.

Our room steward was Tony.  Tony is from the Phillipines.  In two weeks, Tony was going on a 9 week vacation and returning to the Phillipines to see his wife after being on the ship for 7 months.  They don’t have any children, but he was hoping that his wife would get pregnant while he was home.  His wife is a teacher in the Phillipines. 

 

 

Tony, like most of the stewards, was a master at towel art.  I’m like a big kid and love these! I’m always excited to see new creations in our room.

 

The ship had a theater where there was a variety of entertainment.  There were the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers who did 2 shows. One was Ballroom Fever and the other was a Tribute to Broadway.

There was an accapella group, Re-Voiced.  They did one show.  I was hoping that they would be as good as the group “Six” in Branson, but they weren’t.

There were 2 comedians who were really funny and nowhere near politically correct and that was really kind of refreshing. Last but not least was a guy, Joel Mason, who did a tribute to Elton John.  Sadly, I forgot my camera that night.  He was really, really good AND funny.  He played the piano just like Elton and he wore some crazy outfits, including the glasses, just like Elton. What a photo opportunity I missed!

This ship also had an ice rink.  There were 4 performances by ice dancers/skaters.  It was free but you had to have a ticket so that everyone didn’t show up for the same performance.  This was really good.  Just imagine trying to do jumps while the ship is rocking.  Puts a whole new perspective on that doesn’t it?

 

A cruise would not be a cruise if there wasn’t food.  Do not go on a cruise trying to diet! There is food everywhere and someone is always trying to feed you.  Our waiters in the evening were Ahmet, head waiter, from Turkey and Sergio, assistant waiter, from the Dominican Republic.  These guys were great.  Every evening there are 5 entrees that are only on the menu for that particular night and about 4 entrees that are there every night.  After about day 2, Ahmet knew exactly what to recommend for each person.  He was really good at cuing in on what you liked.  Your water glass/wine glass was never empty.  Your silverware was always turned the right way for each course.  Your napkin was put in your lap.  If you ever felt like royalty, this is it.

Sergio

Ahmet

Of course there is always something going on at all hours on the ship.  I played Bingo one day. There is a casino onboard.  You know I made all the special sale events at the shops on the Promenade. J There is karaoke and dance parties. Mr. W and I spent quite a bit of time sitting by one of the pools.  One day while we were sitting by the pool, they started line dancing lessons.  I had to participate.  The ship puts together a DVD, Your Cruise in Review, so there is a cameraman that shows up at different events and tapes people doing the event.  Their media people take cuts from all of his tapes and compiles the DVD.  He was at our line dancing and I actually ended up on the DVD.  A star is born……....

Notice anyone you know...Like on the back row in a turquoise shirt with a sun visor and shades???

There were also events that happened most nights on the Promenade.  The first night was the circus parade.  It was great and very colorful.  There weren’t many kids on the cruise, but the ones that were there were totally fascinated by the circus parade.

 

There was also a disco night.  Now who wouldn’t love a 70’s party?  The Royal Caribbean version of the Village People showed up.  Every popular disco song of that era was sung and danced to.  The crowd consisted mostly of people of the generation that knew all those songs and we were singing right along.  The Village People got down in the crowd and interacted with everyone.  I ended up doing the “booty bump” with the construction worker.  We were laughing like crazy.  In fact, Mr. W was laughing and forgot to turn on the camera and take a picture.  I’m pretty sure that I’m thankful for that.

The Disco Divas

Sing along - Y-M-C-A

The construction worker that I did the booty bump with.  Fortunately he had pulled his pants up before that happened!

Anyway, great ship and great cruise.  There will be a separate blog post about the excursions I took at each port of call.  Stay tuned.  There’s more to come.

A few more pics:

Looking down at the Promenade from our level.

Me and Mr. W on our first formal night.

A QUIET MARCH

I'm sure you noticed that I haven't been posting anything lately.  Well, I haven't had much to post about because our life has been pretty non-eventful (always a good thing) for the month of March and some of April.  Believe me when I say, things are fixin' (a Texan word) to pick up drastically!

Just to kind of give you an overview, we just went on a week long cruise which I will blog about starting tomorrow.  I am leaving tomorrow to head out on about a 3 month trip.  I am going to Tucson, Sedona, the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Vegas, southern Utah (Brice, Arches, Canyonlands, north rim of the Grand Canyon, Moab), Durango, Santa Fe, Gallup, Trinidad, Colorado Spring, and Estes Park.  I should be back in Texas right after the 4th of July.

Before I get into all of that, let me just tell you about my March.  I spent the whole month of March at our place on Lake Livingston.  We affectionately call it "the lake" and all of our family and close friends know exactly what we are talking about.  The name of the place is really Marina Village and it is a beautiful park.  We call it "The Best Kept Secret on Lake Livingston".  Mainly, because it is.  If you are ever in the area, have a RV, and want to check it out, get in touch with me and I will arrange for you to stay for a free 3 day/2 night stay. You can post a comment on this blog and I will give you my direct contact info.

Anyway, March is really good fishing season on Lake Livingston.  We have had a lot of rain this March and the lakes and rivers in this area of Texas are way up.  So, the fish aren't hanging out in their normal hang outs but they are there.

Son and family came up for a long weekend during March and spent some time with us.  We had a great time with them and the grandkids.  Boy-child loves to fish.  Son really wanted him to play baseball, but it just wasn't in the cards.  Boy-child loves to hunt, fish, and play golf.  So, when he got to the lake, he was about to bug his dad and Pops to death to take him fishing!

Boy-child getting his fishing pole ready.

Son and Boy-child about to head out to the boat.

They fished everyday, most of the time twice a day, and caught enough fish to have a fish fry before they left to go home.  Mr. W will only fish for white bass, black bass, and crappie.  Actually, March is white bass "season".  Every fish they caught was white bass.  There are a lot of catfish-ermen on Lake Livingston and at Marina Village.  They were putting out trot lines and catching 30 lb. catfish everyday too.  Needless to say, I wasn't the only one cooking fish. 

There are a lot of great families that are here.  One thing nice is that the kids get to know other kids and each time they come, there is usually someone they know to hang out with and have fun.  It kind of reminds me of a time when you could let your kids take off on their bicycles and do things with other kids/families without worrying.  Geez, how did we get to where we are now with not being able to trust anyone?  It really is sad that there are so many "sick" people out there.

Squeaky with a friend she met last summer.

Girl-child enjoying some candy.

One thing about it, it is so relaxing and a great place for kids.  When you say "Marina Village" around Girl-child, her response is always "Ah, paradise!"  Pretty much sums it up.

GUEST BLOGGER - LUCY'S SPRING BREAK

Hi everyone!

I'm Lucy. I'm a dog.

This is me.

My humans went to see my Aunt Daughter and her family for spring break and they left me with Mimi and Pops (better known to all of you as well, Mimi and Mr. W).  Who knew that I would have such a great time! So, I asked Mimi if I could do a post in her blog about my spring break so my humans can see what I did while they were gone.

First of all, I had never stayed in Mimi's 5W.  But, she parks her 5W in the neatest places.  We started out at Stephen F. Austin State Park in Sealy, TX.  Everywhere you went, there was yard! What dog could ask for more?  There was grass to roll in, squirrels to chase, and other dogs to bark at. Ahhh, paradise.........

The 5W

See what I mean?  What dog wouldn't love this?

Stephen F. Austin State Park (SFASP) has a loop of 30 sites that have full hook-ups.  One of the few state parks in Texas that has full hook-ups.  It also has a loop of water/electricity sites, a loop with water only for tent campers who don't care if they don't have electricity, many shelters, and an area with a building big enough for groups to meet and/or eat.  So, in a place where there are many humans, there are also other dogs. I made a good friend while there. 

My new friend Shadow

SFASP has many trails but unfortunately most were closed while I was there because it kept raining, and raining, and raining.  But, you can only stay inside for so long and then you gotta get out and stretch your legs.  Know what I mean?  However, the rain can wreak havoc on a girl's hair.

Time for a walk

Where are my rubber boots when I need them?

See what I mean about a girl's hair?

SFASP has a golf course and a driving range.  Mr. W was happy about that but with all the rain, he didn't get to enjoy it like he wanted.  The park has streams and creeks running through it.  It also has an amphitheater where the ranger gives talks and presentations during the summer.

One of the streams

Dang it! I forgot my clubs at home.

Hey! I'm here for the presentation.  Where is everyone?

If you just want to come for the day and have a picnic, there is also a really big picnic area.  For the kids, there are several playground areas too.  All in all, a nice park. 

Now I know why the kids love to swing!

I thought we were having a picnic.  Where's the food?

So, that's what I did on spring break.  If you ever get the chance to visit Stephen F. Austin State Park in Sealy, TX, come on by.  You will be glad you did!

Love,
Lucy

FOLLOW UP ON BROKEN SPRING HANGER

A, s you remember, we have had 2 spring hangers break on the 5W.  This last time, we were in Schulenburg, TX when this happened and I can't say enough nice things about the people in Schulenburg. But, Lippert (the manufacturer of the spring hangers) asked us to send the broken spring hanger back to them so it could be tested.  Also, even though they told us to get a hotel room and get a mobile welder to fix it and they would pay everything, they told us after it was done that they wouldn't pay for anything until we sent it back and if it tested faulty.  Remember, we were ONE month out of factory warranty.

OK.  Now that we have reviewed everything, let's move on.

So, I shipped the part back to the address they gave me.  It came back as "refused".  So, I called them, checked the address, and sent it again.  Came back again.  This time I called and I wasn't so nice.  They gave me a different address and I mailed it again.  This time they got it.  They tested it and sure enough, the metal was faulty.  They then agreed to pay for everything that happened in Schulenburg.  However, at this point, I told them that I thought they should replace the 4 remaining spring hangers before they broke and we were once again stuck on the side of the road somewhere.  Lippert agreed and asked us to get an estimate of the cost to replace the spring hangers from a dealer and send it to them.  We contacted Cliff Jones RV in Sealy, TX since they had been semi involved in this from the beginning. 

Roy, the service manager at Cliff Jones, sent in the estimate.  Lippert was agreeable with the estimate and agreed to provide all the parts to correct the problem.  As most everyone knows, the weather around the US has been crazy.  So, the parts were suppose to be shipped one week, but because of inclement weather, did not get shipped until the following week.  Also, once the parts were shipped, they got stuck in Illinois and then in Kentucky because of all the snow.  But, finally, the parts arrived and the 5W went in for repairs.  Cliff Jones RV had told us that they would do their best to do the work in 1 day and they did.  Mr. W took the 5W in at 8:30 when they opened and they were finished around 4:00 that afternoon.

I want to say that I appreciate Lippert being a stand up company and standing behind their products and their name.  I was very put out with them when all of this happened but for them to admit that the metal was faulty and then agree to replace the remaining 4 at no cost to us was EXCELLENT customer service.  I for one will be singing their praises to everyone I meet.  Good job Lippert.

So, that's the follow up to the spring hanger saga and Lippert really did come through.

BACK AT WORK............TEMPORARILY!

Back in November maybe?, I did something really dumb.  I know you all find that hard to believe, right? :) I agreed to work for my "old" Boss for a week! What in the world was I thinking?????

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of really good friends at that office and I love getting together with as many of them as I can from time to time.  Usually it is a lunch for someone's birthday or a dinner just to catch up.  But, at the last birthday lunch, my Boss' new administrative assistant asked me if I would work in her spot for a week. 

If you remember, I worked in education.  Every now and then the school districts in H-town will have different spring breaks.  There are probably at least 15 districts in the city limits and immediately outside the city limits.  When this happens, about half of the districts will have one certain week in March as spring break and the other half will have the following week in March as spring break.  This is one of those years.  So, J's (Boss' admin. asst.) children go to a school district that has the earlier week off for spring break and they had planned a trip for that week.  Since the district that she (and I use to) works for isn't off for spring break until the later week, Boss would be in the office with no administrative assistant.  That is never a good thing.  Come on, admit it.  We all know who really runs the office and it isn't the boss!  They can never be left alone!

Anyway, I said yes.  I'm thinking, "This will be great! I'll get to see my friends and we can catch up.  I'll be using my office skills.  I'll be interacting with more people than just Mr. W.  I'll get to wear REAL clothes and shoes for a few days."  You get the idea.  Well guess what?  I forgot that you have to get up at 5:00 a.m. and immediately get your shower and get dressed and put on make-up and do your hair and get your lunch and do stop and go in HORRIBLE traffic for an hour.  You can't get up leisurely and sit around and drink coffee and then shower and dress when you feel like it.  Also, there have been MANY changes.  Responsibilities have changed so figuring out who someone needs to contact is a crap shoot.  Softwear has been updated several times and most things don't work the same or look the same.  And, people want you to do stuff when THEY want it done! Like on a time schedule! Can you imagine?  :)

To top this off, 2 of the Executive Directors that worked for Boss when I was there have lost their admin asst.  She took another job.  So, they called me about 2 weeks ago and asked if I would come in this week and work for them.  Now we are talking 2 weeks in a row in the office.  Oh boy! Right?  Remember all those things I forgot about doing that go along with work?  I'm getting to experience those things for 2 weeks. See what I mean.  What was I thinking????  I just had one of the directors ask me if I would be available to sub after spring break.  He did look a little funny when I said, "Get thee behind me Satan!"

All of this blog has pretty much been tongue-n-cheek but this just reminded me that I am glad that I am retired.  It is nice to visit, but I'm glad it's not permanent.  Gotta go.  Someone wants me to do something. Geez!