Home Again And It’s My Birthday!!

We’re home and I’m ready to go cruise again. We had the BEST time with Neal and Jenny! I boarded the ship on Saturday and didn't get off in any ports. I only left the ship when they made me leave the next Saturday to go home! It was wonderful. I'm happy to reposrt that neither of us had any sort of seasickness at all. And it was a very "rock and rolling" ship. Even with how big it is, there were lots of people seasick and we only had 1 and a half days of sunshine. Did that matter to us? Nope. Not at all. We met so many great people and just enjoyed the sea life and the rocking boat. We got very good at doing what is called the Cruise Waltze as we walked around. We were lurching every which way and grabbing each other to get our balance again.  :-) I'll have to tell the story of our trip in a couple of posts because otherwise there are way too many photos. 

We drove from Omaha, NE to Ennis, TX the first day. Ennis is just south of Dallas. It was a long day, but it meant we arrived in Galveston in the early afternoon on Friday. That gave us time to explore the island a bit. Lots of people had decorated for Mardi Gras already which is to begin tomorrow, Feb. 2. The decorations were so bright and festive with the purples, greens and gold.  Neal and Jenny had a really long day of traveling Friday. They left Spokane at 5:30 a.m. and didn't arrive in Galveston until after 10:00 that night. Their plane left Spokane late because of de-icing over and over, but it really didn't matter because their flight was delayed 5 hours in Salt Lake City. They were exhausted when they finally arrived. This is why you plan to arrive for the cruise the day before you sail.

This was our first glimpse of the Gulf of Mexico as we drove into Galveston. It may be cloudy, but it was a wonderful sight. When we left Omaha it was -20F with a -42F wind chill. I looked at the temperature when I took this photo and it was 61F. I cannot tell you how wonderful that felt. It did get chillier over the next few days before our cruise, down to the 40's F, but I wore a sweater and flip-flops the entire time. It was like summer to us after -40! People did look at me strangely though. Most had winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves on. 

The Pleasure Pier in Galveston. This was really neat. The rides stuck out into the Gulf on the pier. I think it might be a little scary on that Ferris Wheel out over the water, not to mention the roller coaster, don't you?

The Carousel is the first ride that you see when you walk onto the pier.

But Bubba Gump's is the first building on the pier. We ate there twice. Once the first night we arrived and had some very delicious clam chowder. Then we took Neal and Jenny there for Neals birthday lunch on Saturday just before we boarded the ship.

Bubba Gumps is named after the movie "Forrest Gump" and there is lots of memorabilia around from the movie. I like this sign that you put out for your server. If everything is okay it says this. If you need your server, you flip it over and it says, "Stop Forrest Stop".  It's really a fun restaurant. We ate at the one in Lahaina on Maui years ago. It's so sad that it was burned to the ground in the fire last year.

This was the view from our hotel the first night in Galveston. Palm trees and water. It can't be beat (unless the electric poles were hidden!)  :-) We were just happy to be in the warmth of the 40's and 50's.

The next day we changed our hotel to one right next to the dock. It is less than half a block from where we boarded the ship. It was so convenient. We were even able to leave our car there while we were gone and then just walk off the ship, get into our car and start driving. Next post I'll show you pictures of the cruise itself and tell you how wonderful it was. We are looking at maybe a trans-atlantic cruise in the next year or two because the port it ends up in is in Southhampton, England, just a little over an hour from Alex and our DIL's house. That is a 15 day cruise and I think we would love it. It only costs a little bit more than the 7 day one and I can only imagine how hard it would be to get off the ship after two weeks! Dennis had to pry me off this time. :-)

I did finish a pair of socks while driving and started a new pair. I've barely got the first cuff done though on the new pair. I didn't pick up my knitting once while on board. We were just too busy.

This is Opal yarn "Cat's and Dogs". It didn't have a color name. I bought the yarn last January when I was in London for a month with the kids. I ordered it from Germany and had it the next day! Maybe next time we go I'll do the same thing because the cost is very reasonable when I get it there.  As you can see, I made them fraternal twins instead of identical. 

I had almost all of the 48 squares done before we left. I think I made four or five after we got home late Tuesday. Then last night I began joining them. I tried to duplicate the new Red Heart continuous granny yarn colors with worsted weight yarn from my stash. Of course it's not continuous and I'm joining it with Hobby Lobby's "Ivory" yarn in worsted. It will be 6 squares by 48 squares and will be donated to a nearby nursing home for a wheelchair blanket.

Yesterday was spent getting things done at home like laundry, checking on Mom, picking up mail at the post office and all of the things you do when you get back from a trip.

Today, Mom woke up with a swollen leg and a rash around her ankle so that merited a couple of trips there to check on her. We also had to meet with our insurance agent because my medical insurance was messed up and I was scheduled to do a download on my pacemaker today. Thank goodness, our agent was able to call them while we were there and "hopefully" straighten the mess out. Although it still doesn't recognize my primary care doctor which is NOT a good thing. Then we had a Costco trip and finally, Dennis took me to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I had a GREAT steak and salad. 

We both managed to gain weight on the cruise so we're back to the basics with eating for awhile. Me, much, much more than Dennis. I "only" have "eight Zoey's or so" to lose! I sure hope I can do it because I know I'll feel better all over. 

I'll be back soon with another installment and some pictures of the actual cruise. If you aren't interested, just feel free to skip these posts. I missed you all and will be trying to catch up on your posts, although after missing two whole weeks, I may just start fresh from here!

Blessings and love,

Betsy