Happy hour approaches

Mr. Gadget and I will be sailing off into the sunset Saturday on a Princess cruise to the Mexican Riviera. This is a trip we've taken before, but this time our good friends from Connecticut, who are winging their way west as I type, will join us. They've never cruised before, but I'm sure they'll catch on quickly. One of the first orders of business on a ship is the lifeboat drill. This happens after boarding but before the ship sets sail, which means that most folks have had a little bon voyage cocktail, so it's always an interesting photo op. Everyone must put on their life vest and show up at their muster station to listen to instructions on what to do in an emergency. The ship's staff has no mercy for those who plead, "But I've done this before!"

We will spend two days at sea before making stops at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. I love the sea days. There's no place to go, no errands, no housework, and no dishes to do. We aren't usually ones for lots of excursions, since most of them have a shopping stop that's much too long and much too touristy, and we aren't big shoppers. But Mr. Gadget thought it might be fun to tour a tequila factory, so that's what we have on our agenda in Puerto Vallarta. I've heard there's tasting involved, and I'm sure there's a nice gift shop on the premises. Let's just hope we can find the bus back to the ship.....

Mr. G. was quite amused when I told him I'd blogged about his playgroup at the gym. And since he went again this morning, he informed me there were a couple of new characters I might want to add. There was Mr. Exercise Lite--the guy who wears expensive workout clothes, stomps out a cigarette on his way in, spends a couple of minutes on a few machines, then lights up as he goes out the door. And there's the head roller. This is the man who walks a long time on the treadmill all the while rolling his neck around. So far, the German yoga lady has been a no-show. He says even though she's quite elderly, she is able to contort herself into all sorts of weird poses--the strangest one being an apostrophe.

I'll be taking a blog break for a week or so. Cruise lines give their frequent cruisers free internet, but we aren't there yet. I may have some pictures when I get back, but I'll be sure to delete all of the life vest/tequila ones. So in the words of Arnold, who I understand is coming back for an encore performance here in California, "Hasta la vista, baby!"