Back Home Again

Well we arrived safely home and so did all the luggage that accompanied us. (even if the brand new bag we got from the ship got torn up a bit-damn...) We are still awaiting one suitcase from FedEx - tracking says it will arrive today...  I have unpacked half the stuff along with the 5 boxes we mailed from Hawaii.  Am taking a break but will probably unpack more here in a bit.
If you remember, I mentioned I fell on the ship a week ago - although my knee still hurts it is better - it appears that I also battered an ankle and messed up my back-or should I say re-messed it up...  I feel a bit better today, but if I sit too long, I get really stiff.  It is HELL getting old...  
Thanks to Todd for picking us up at the airport - the house was still standing and it is GREAT to get kisses from my dogs...  Looking forward to kisses from Jess too, but won't see him till next week...
I hope you enjoyed reading about our Grand Adventure - we will do another somewhere again, most likely in 2012...  Brian and I want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.  This is my Christmas card this year, as I will be lucky to get a tree up...hehe
In the next day or two I will try to post a few more photos and that will be it...  Happy Blogging GB

back in the USA

We are back in the lower 48 - we arrived in San Diego on Th.  In rereading blogs I noticed I did not mention Hawaii. I have not been to Hawaii since Jess was a baby...  I had a great time shopping with friends.  We went to a muumuu factory and had a blast.  I bought 2 dresses and 3 shirts for B.  Shopped around the mall a bit but it was "Black Friday" so too crowded for me.  I rode the city bus back to the ship and unloaded my packages in my room.  Then went out to the Aloha Tower shops and strolled around.  Called Jess and it was a pleasure to talk to him for awhile...  Bought a beautiful opal bracelet and headed back to the ship.  There was luau by the pool so met up with B and friends and enjoyed a great dinner and we sailed away for the last time...

I did win the ladies golf event so I am the champion of the Amsterdam Open!  I also opted to play in the last poker tourney and came in 3rd - shudda won it but made a play from the small blind after the button folded (with only 3 players left) and the bb had Jacks...  Oh well it was fun and I won more money playing the cash game...

San Diego has been fun too - I have not been here either since Jess was 6...  We rode the trolley downtown and had Chinese food for dinner-yum.  Yesterday I got a manicure, and my hair done while B got a massage...  I think he might of got the better end of the deal...lol!  We met with friends for dinner (sdjen) and had great BBQ.  We parked nearby and rode in a Cinderella carriage to meet them at the eatery.  Today we are meeting up with some of B's George friends...  We may go to a casino this evening or tomorrow.  My knee is much better from the fall but the whole body is still sore-i think I need a massage...  I will write one more blog once we are home in La Vernia - you might check the other blogs as I have added photos to a couple of them... happy reading...

ship at Aloha Tower in Hawaii

2 pigs at the luau        

Knot Over!

Well our Grand Voyage is coming to an end.  We are less than 1000 nautical miles from San Diego...  It has been an amazing journey and we are sad that it is almost over...  but it will be nice to see old friends, our dogs and our son in a couple of days.  We will stay in San Diego for a week then home to Texas.
Unfortunately we have had crummy weather this last couple of sea days.  Gloomy, gray and a bit of rain.  Up until then I have managed to walk my mile daily, but...  the first sea day leaving Hawaii coming out the Lido, I slipped, fell and wrenched my knee...  It is MUCH better (I do miss Dr. JoJo tho)even tho I have other aches and pains too from the fall, so no mile walking for me...  I did manage to qualify for the Amsterdam Open golf tourney despite my injury and am the Ladies Champion!  Yea!! Our trivia team continues to do well even if we don't win every day.  We will have 2 more trivia games today and that will be it...<sniff>
All 7 suitcases are just about packed-I have to finish up with the last minute things...  Brian has been on a roll in the casino and has won a bit at the slots.I have not won much at poker but been having a blast with my 'game genie" buddies, Joe & Ryan, playing Fun 21...  today is the last poker tourney and I am not sure I will play, maybe...  Well we will see ya'll soon- I am not sure I am ready to enter the real world again, especially at Christmas time...  I will miss my bed being turned down at night, knowing friends are just upstairs along with the casino, having my own seaview walking track and chocolates on my pillow...  hope this finds you well...  hugs GB
PS: I do have some photos which I will add once we are in San Diego - the ships internet is tooooo slow to handle pics...

Western Samoa & beyond

Greetings & Happy Thanksgiving - 

We left Samoa about 5 days ago and have been enjoying our sea days-more about that later...

Western Samoa appeared to be a beautiful island however we arrived in their rainy season so it rained from the time we got there till just about when we left.... but like B says, "only 1 rainy port out of 24 ain't bad"...  We have had really nice weather so tolerating Samoan climate was tolerable.  We docked about 4 miles from the town but you could see it from the ship as it was like a peninsula. B & I grabbed a cab and went into the downtown area-shopping of course.  Things were pretty expensive as far as dry goods went - I did buy a dragon t-shirt and paid $12 for it which seemed high after my $3 Cambodian shirt...lol!  We were getting drenched so after touring the market, we grabbed a cab and headed back to the ship.  There was also a market set up at port so I checked out stuff there.  B gave me Samoan money and told me I had to spend it - geewhiz...let me see what I can do...lol!  Bought some little gifts for friends-maybe even one of my readers here...hehe

The weather the last 5 days has not been terribly sunny but I have heard it is better than half the US.  I have been trying to get a bit of sun so I look like I have been on a cruise...  B is winning a bit in the casino on the slots and I chopped a poker tourney the other day...  I have also been playing this crazy BlackJack Fun 21 game with these 2 crazy boys-we applaud loudly when we get bj and pairs and they do a "game genie" dance before every cut after the shuffle.  I think I am probably down money-wise, but we have so much fun I don't mind.  I will miss them when the trip is over...  My trivia team is doing well and we got a PERFECT 16-all the answers right yesterday!!!! Ii would like to do this one more time before we are done...

Tonight we are having Thanksgiving with a large group of friends-10 and we will enjoy, laugh, drink and eat lots of turkey.  I will try not to think about next Thursday and NOT being aboard ship anymore... <sniff>  And ALL the packing that has to be done before then...lol!  Before then, we arrive in Hawaii tomorrow and I am shopping (of course) while B is going zip tripping...  If I find an internet I will post some photos, so check back later...

Hope you all had a great turkey day - be seeing some of you  real soon...

Fiji

Bula Bula - that is hello and good-bye in Fiji...  Two days ago we were in New Caledonia which was a new island/country for us.  We rode the hop-on/hop-off bus, but we never hopped off...lol!  The island was pretty and the beaches looked ok but we just toured it then checked out the shops...  Oh, did I mention this was a French territory?  So although the people were nice enough the place was outrageously expensive!  They wanted over $40 for cotton mumus and almost $15 for a small round of brie cheese!  And butter was almost $7/lb.  The best "souvenir" was a loaf of french bread ($1.10) and we took it to dinner that night... lol!  Our trivia team has been doing a bit better lately and we actually won yesterday...  We got 14 out of 16 correct!  It was formal night last night - I had plans for wearing tropical tourquiose, but the weather was crummy so no sunning was possible...  We wore lime green instead:

I won a bit in the casino yesterday and so did B...  I was playing blackjack and got a pair of eights which I split.  I got another eight, split and then another eight!!  The dealer busted so I won all four hands!!!  $80!
Today we are in Fiji and we have been here before...  It is a busy city of Suva much like any city except the clerks wear floral prints and strange attire... 

  Fiji is much cheaper than the French island as the exchange rate is $1=1.75...  The people are friendly but a bit pushy in the markets - the won't let you look without following you around...  In the regular stores too but you can politely ask them to go away and they will...  Tommorow we cross the equator again so we have the same day twice...  We will get a change to do Saturday all over again - our own private Ground Hog Day...lol  So we will be in Somoa in two days...see you then

Sydney - No Worries...

G'Day again from Sydney.  We are thoroughly enjoying our stay down-under.  Went to the Star Casino and played a bit of poker.  Minimum buy-in was $80 and I played $1-$2 but I only won one hand...  This casino charges $5/person/hour to play poker and they deal the cards from a shoe...  All the players are called runners & if you win a pot you are not allowed to tip the dealer...  The most amazing thing was I sat down at the table and checked out the players and one guy looked really familiar.  Turns out he was on a poker cruise with me last year and lives in Sydney - talk about small world...
We ate dinner last night on shore at a German bier-garten and had a very enjoyable time.  One of our waiters looked a lot like Fargo from the sci-fi show Eureka...lol!  We were pretty tired after dinner so went back to the room, read some and off to beddy-bye land...
Woke up early (for me: 845am) and went to breakfast for only the second time on this cruise....lol!  After our meal we hooked up with some friends and told them about the great market we were heading to.  Brian ended up "leading" the tour with 3 other couples to Paddy Market...  I bought all kinds of goodies/xmas gifts and had a great time spending money....lol!  As this computer does not have a card reader you will have to wait for photos on our next stop.  Hope this finds you all well - oh and PTL! Jess finally wrote!  LOL!!!  hugs to all

Short: Brisbane

G'day Mates

Picking up where we left off, the ship had a great poolside BBQ the night we were in Cairns.  We ate grilled lambchops, ribs, drunk chickens and whole pig.  It was delicious...  We went to the night market and explored a bit.  It was fun but not a great market... 

The next day was a sea day and I was VERY lazy:  slept till 1130am, went to trivia; slept out by the pool went to 3pm trivia; played a bit of poker, walked a mile and napped before dinner...guess I was tired...  We are working so hard on our vacation...LOL!  Like Jess' sign says, "it's great to do nothing, then rest afterwards..."

Today we are in Brisbane strolling the shops promenade, using the internet with plans to take the ferry later for a bite to eat on the South Bank, then back to play at the Treasury Casino.  We have spent several days before in Brisbane and we like this city.  There is an animal sanctuary nearby where we held a koala and fed the roos on our last trip.  We leave late tonight and have a day at sea before arriving in Sydney...  Will touch base again there...