Chillin'

It's really cold here at the Concondo, and windy. And no, I didn't fall off the boat.  I've just been busy since our return last Saturday.  Now that the boat has finally stopped rocking I have a little calm before the storm.  We expect relatives from 3 states to arrive in town on Wednesday for Thanksgiving:  Big City Girl from NYC, Uncle Alan from Wichita, and nephew Dylan (now a college student) from Amherst, Mass.  Mr. Gadget has offered to assist me in the holiday preparations.  He will scrub the toilets and make the giblet gravy.  The gravy isn't that big of a deal.  He's the only one who eats giblets.  But his offer to take on that scrubbing business makes him a definite keeper.

After we got home last weekend I had only one week to finish and organize my Christmas crafts for the old hotel holiday sale.  They had to be delivered yesterday.  I worked on needle-felted Santas and snowmen on the ship....and ended up selling 4 to fellow passengers.  Oh, sorry.  I think I already mentioned my peddling activity in a previous post.

In addition to the ornaments, I finished a felted Santa...which I also took to the hotel.

I made many new friends in the knitting group that was held each sea-day morning on the ship.  I'll tell you more about the cruise later.  Right now I have to finish my grocery list....and wait for my brain to rejoin my body.  It still thinks it's south of the equator.

Peddling as fast as I can

On our stateroom TV there is a channel devoted to info about our voyage.  This includes outside temperatures, sea temps, state of the sea, miles traveled since leaving L.A. and miles left to go.  In the beginning it was interesting and informative, and now it's just downright depressing. 

Something surprising has happened.  My knitting-group friends have been watching me work on the needle-felted ornaments and several have asked to buy one.  I sold one yesterday and am now pushing to get two more done.  I suppose it's inappropriate to do this on a cruise ship--what with all the expensive junk, I mean trinkets, they sell in the shops.  So I'm keeping it low-key and transacting business in a whisper. 

How do people occupy themselves on a ship for 8 sea days you might be asking?  Many read.  Some knit or stitch.  There are a few who play cards.  Others make round trips to the buffet.  Sudoku (is that how you spell it?) is very popular, although I can't imagine why.  But then, I'm not a math person.  And don't forget the ones who take long naps.  There's no way NOT to take a nap on a rocking ship.  Mr. Gadget and I should have lots of sleep in the bank by the time we get home.

So the countdown now says we have 1,000 miles to go.  The weather is getting cooler and people are leaving their pool loungers for the warmer areas inside.  One of my favorite activites toward the end of a cruise is something called the Scrapheap Challenge.  Passengers, usually men, spend time during the trip building little boats out of recycled objects. Then, at a specified time, they put them in the pool.  The boats must all carry cargo of some kind and they have to float across the length of the pool. Some of these crafts are quite ornate.  Some of the boat builders take this challenge very seriously and are extremely disappointed if they lose.  They're almost as bad as the trivia players. And don't even get me started on the Bingo women.

I'll write More later.  It's bedtime.  All this relaxing is exhausting.

Heading back to housework

We left Papeete 2 days ago and are now heading back to L.A.  Once the cruise is completed we will have sailed just under 10,000 miles.  We've been very lucky with good weather and smooth seas most of the way, although today we're rolling around. We're old seasoned sailors by now though so the movement isn't bothering us.

There are lots of activities planned each sea day, but Mr. Gadget and I only partake of a few.  He goes to an occasional lecture, and I go to the knitting group.  He exercises and I don't....well, except for my fingers.  I'm saving that up till I get back.  That and the diet.  28 days at sea wreaks havoc on anything resembling a food plan.

There are lots of interesting passengers onboard. With 3,000 passengers there's bound to be a few memorable ones.  Our favorites are the twins--sisters who are traveling together with their respective husbands.  They're senior citizens, both on the chubby side, and they have matching everything....including hair styles, although calling them hair styles is a stretch. Picture platinum blonde with some of it hanging part way down their backs and the rest piled up on top of their heads in a big pouffy bouffant arrangement....with bling attached. They always wear black, with lots of lace, and even more bling.  Neither needed to pack a Halloween costume.  They just went to the party as themselves.  Around the ship they're known as "The Girls."

Since this is such a long cruise, the majority of the passengers are like us--retired. There are many who use walkers, scooters, and canes.  There are some who probably shouldn't have embarked on this cruise, but maybe Tahiti was on their bucket lists.  Rumor has it that 2 people have broken their hips while onboard, and now that the sea is rolling there may  be more before we get back on land next Saturday.

And speaking of bucket lists, I heard a good one the other day.  It's another kind of list.  You replace the "b" with another letter in the alphabet and it then becomes a list of stuff you'll never do again before you die.  I have two things on mine:  eating liver and parallel parking.

So I guess I should see if this post will publish before the ship lurches and I fall over on the delete key.

Bora Bora and beyond

The internet connection took a short vacation over the last few days and I haven't been able to update the blog.  But here  I am with a few quiet minutes to myself while Mr. Gadget is at the gym.  I'm enjoying a peanut butter cookie and a scone (without cream and jelly) and exercising my fingers.

Today we arrived at Bora Bora--a beautiful island in the Tahiti island collection.  It's surrounded by a coral reef which creates a beautiful lagoon--in which we are anchored.  We got off the ship this morning and walked around the small town near the tender (lifeboats that are lowered to take passengers to and fro) pier.  It's hot today--around 90--so Mr. G and I didn't spend too much time on shore.  Neither of us are fans of hot weather, so we've been mostly enjoying the wonderful views (and napping) from the lounge chairs.  We had scheduled an excursion, but cancelled because we were disappointed in our two excursions in the Samoas.  The description of this one--and also the one tomorrow in Moorea--was similar to the previous poor-yet-expensive ones.  There was one highlight of our tour in Apia, W. Samoa and that was a stop at the former home of Robert Louis Stevenson.  He moved from Scotland to Samoa late in his life because he suffered from tuberculosis.  He lived there for 4 years before his death and he's buried on a hill overlooking the ocean behind the property.

Something I found interesting is that people in Samoa have burial plots in their yards for family members who've passed on.  Some are in the side yards and some right in the front of the house.  Some were simply concrete slabs while others appeared to be marble with ornate decorations.

Pago Pago, American Samoa was rather disappointing but this was mainly because we were on a noisy old bus and our guide didn't provide any commentary to speak of.  We will be pointing this out to Princess Cruises in our customer service satisfaction survey.  Many others were disappointed too.
We had two more sea days between The Samoas and Bora Bora.  Tonight we'll sail to Moorea, and late tomorrow we'll head for Papeete on the island of Tahiti.  After that, it's all downhill.  We'll spend 8 days sailing back to Los Angeles.

A couple more things to report:  A folksinger came aboard a few nights ago and is doing several shows.  He sings many of John Denver's songs and as many of you know I'm a big fan.  I hope I can stay awake till 10 for his show tonight.  He also brought his wife along and she has given two programs on palm reading.  I attended both and found them interesting.  I learned that I'm creative, have a good sense of humor, need my space, and that I don't let money slip through my fingers.  Are you the same way?  Hold your hands up in front of you with your fingers close together and palms facing toward you.  Can you see light coming through?  If you see just a little light then you're like me and you're good with money.  If you see lots of light, then you best stay out of the casino.

I expect the internet to be more reliable after we leave Tahiti, so I'll try to post more often on the last 8 sea days.  Now I'm going out on the balcony to gaze across the lagoon at those expensive hotel rooms up on stilts with the thatched roofs.  You know, the ones you always see in travel agent ads.  I wonder if those folks are having more fun that we are?  I wonder what happens when they call for room service?  Does a rowboat appear? Gotta go get the binocs.