week in review

The cruise was awesome. Let's sum it up, list-style.

The Good:

1. Well, this list will be too long. EVERYTHING was awesome. Great ship, great food, awesome weather. Our room was fabulous-- with a huge window, on a nice high deck-- we couldn't have asked for a better room (in our price range, ha). This cruise rocked extra hard because the demographics were ideal-- there were hardly any kids-- just as I'd hoped!! Our last cruise was in July (2007) and there were tons of families and kids cruising. This cruise was right at the beginning of the school year and we only saw like 5 kids the whole week! I love kids and all, but I don't like them splashing me in the pool or making the line for the water slide too long. :) There also weren't many teenagers, for probably the same reason, and that suits me just fine too-- I don't need a bunch of obnoxious skinny 16 year olds to annoy me/make me feel fat! Give me a good ol' ship full of late 20s couples like us, couples all in their 30s-50s, and old people...perfect!!

My view for most of the trip. Bliss.

The ship had a mini golf course on the top deck!! We played almost every day. If I suck at mini golf normally, which I do, then you should SEE me on a rocking ship with 30mph wind! Woo!! My average score (on a 9 hole course) was about 10 over. :) But I did get one hole-in-one!

Wasn't this supposed to be in a list-style? I've digressed. Let's see.

2. Those prescription anti-nausea ear patch things. Best thing ever. Instead of debilitating nausea/seasickness, I was only constantly thirsty (and thus constantly peeing) and had dry eyes/blurry vision. That let me enjoy a whole lot more of the cruise. Wanna see some more pictures of me enjoying the cruise? Okay. :)

My view from my chair in Cozumel. :)

Eating in Cozumel

3. Mexico. Our days in Mexico were great. In both places we just took cabs over to the beaches and chilled, layed out, and browsed the shops. Great weather, beautiful beaches, and my Spanish gets better by the day.

View of Calica from the ship:

4. Gambling. I don't have a picture of this one (well, I do on my phone, but I have no idea how to get a phone picture onto the computer). There was a nice casino on the ship, and a little-known fact about me is that I love a little gambling. Slot machines and video poker only. I just love it. But I'm a very disciplined gambler- I have a set amount that I am willing and prepared to lose, and when it's gone I'm done. I think that for the whole week I spent about $7. I won probably that much back, but then spent all that, too, so there wasn't really any net profit. :) But $7 entertained me for almost an hour a day...so I was happy. For comparisons sake, a drink on the ship (your average fruity beverage) will run you $8. So I got way more for my money.

5. Everything on the ship was great. Food, service...loved it. Unfortunately, there were a few low points to the trip.

The Bad:

1. I was sicky sick the day we went to Calica. This sickness is the double-bad kind...the kind that informs you that you are once again not pregnant...and then adds insult to injury by making you feel like death the whole day. Ugh. So our day in Calica consisted of us getting off the ship, catching a taxi to Playa del Carmen, staying there for about 15 minutes, catching another cab back to the ship, and sleeping/moaning/popping Tylenol the rest of the day. Poor Matt.

2. The trip back. Oh Lordy. Since this blog is already too long and my laptop battery is low and I need to cook dinner, I'll sum it up by saying: Random things stopped working (speedometer...then the check engine light came on...then the Drive indicator was flashing...then we had no acceleration at very low speeds). We found a Sears auto center open in Montgomery, guy checked it out, said it looked like some electrical sensors were going bad, that's a dealership thing, we should be fine getting back to Athens just take it easy. 20 or 30 miles of taking it easy later the radio/tachometer randomly stop and start...stop and start...then the AC goes out...then anything else that requires electricity, including EVERYTHING. We coast to the shoulder of I-85 in Auburn, Alabama, on GAMEDAY. Yiipppppeeeee. We get towed, and have to CALL A TAXI to take Matt and I with the towtruck, since they wouldn't let us ride IN the towtruck. $26.75 to go 5 miles. This was THRILLING, and I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. We get towed to the Auburn Honda dealership, which is closed (the shop part is...not the showroom). We decide we'll have to leave the car there until they open on Monday, since it would cost $700 to tow it back to Athens. We call Matt's parents who are generous and kind enough to come pick us up. Then we wait 4 hours, loitering in the Honda parking lot, the Mexican restaurant across the street, and an Advance Auto parts. Matt's parents come, we try various things to "fix" the car, nothing works, we leave Auburn at 10:30pm and arrive in Athens/Statham around 2am.

Now we are waiting to hear what is wrong with the car, decide whether we can afford to fix it or if we should call it quits on this car and find something else (this car has been a money pit in the year we've owned it...2000 Honda Civic, who woulda thought?) ...and naturally, go back to Auburn to finish up the whole business. *sigh*

So the vacay was great, but the return trip not so much. We're stressed and need another vacation.

But isn't that just how life is. I think I'll go look at my beach pictures some more and cuddle with my puppy. That will make everything better. :)