The Elation

Boy, it seems like this week has gone fast. We took a 7-part trip this week with the middle part being the biggest (and the reason for all the others). But, before I go into that I feel I need to make a disclaimer. All of these things I tell about are not to brag. This is simply a way to report what is happening in our lives. We feel so blessed to know the Lord is leading and maybe rewarding. Sometimes we do a lot and sometimes it's not very different from the usual hum-drum. The travel is fun for us -- well for me anyway. Joyce just kind of tolerates some of it. Throughout our lives together we never traveled very much. I went to the Holy Land once years and years ago. We made a couple of trips to the midwest and went to seminary in Kentucky. But other than a few things like that, we stayed pretty much at home. As time went on our grandkids lived in LA so that became the destination of choice. Others were taking vacations in Hawaii or traveling to England or visiting missionaries in Africa. We vacationed on the Oregon coast. So now we have the opportunity to do some traveling and we are enjoying it. So this is simply a report and our thanks to God for his blessings.

So what about this 7-legged trip? Last Monday Jana took us to the Greyhound bus terminal. We caught a bus for San Diego; took a taxi to the cruise ship terminal and boarded the Carnival Elation for a five day cruise. What a blast! Of course, Joyce wasn't so sure. She doesn't like boats and tends to get sea sick but she is a trooper and went along with it. So, what do I think of cruising? Not too bad! Not too bad, at all. On the negative side (I'll tell that first so we can end on the positive) -- if you like to gamble, the casino is always open. If you like to drink, there are multiple bars and at least one is always open. If you like to dance and party, something is going on every evening. And if you like to eat, there is food everywhere all the time. Actually that one is a positive because the food was really good. In our dining room on formal night we had lobster and shrimp. Other nights, steak, salmon, chicken, etc. A buffet was open most of the time, ice cream and pizza all the time. Delicious. Too delicious. We won't talk about the pounds I gained.

Our boat only visited two ports: Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. Of course we had been to Ensenada many times with the church work team but never from this point of view. Cabo was new to us. We did not do any of the special shore trips but we did walk into town and bought some tee shirts. There was lots of time for relaxing, reading, sitting in the sun (if you could find a spot out of the wind) or enjoying the hot tub -- which was really a warm tub. The evening revue shows were really good. We went el cheapo and asked for an inside cabin. What we got was an outside cabin with two port holes for windows -- not the larger window of a regular outside cabin. However it was in the bow so we felt more ship movement. The first night was rough and Joyce got sick. I survived but just barely. After that she did okay. She wore the patch and we bought her the bracelets -- all this helped.

The ship returned to San Diego Saturday. Another taxi ride, bus ride, and Jana ride. Those are the 7 legs of our trip. Would we cruise again? Yes, but not for awhile. Joyce even says she would go again. Next time we would try another cruise line just to see the differences even though we have no complaints with Carnival. Even going el cheapo, it all adds up to costing money. The whole experience -- basic cruise, tips, stuff we bought, bus, taxi, etc totaled about $1,000. I know that isn't too bad compared to some cruises that are longer but it is still big money to us. And we could easily have doubled that if we bought a lot of drinks, gambled, played bingo, or spent a lot in the shops.

And so it goes. Our world floats sometimes. In fact, it feels like we are still floating. The older I get the longer it takes to get my land legs back. So float along with us. This week we head to Desert Hot Springs. Stay tuned.

This is the Elation tied up to the pier in Ensenada. If you are able, can you see the row of little port holes that run to the rear of the ship starting between the words Carnival and Elation. They are in sets of two. Our cabin was the fourth set toward the back, just before the big windows.