It looks more like Christmas inside the rig.....
Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas filled with love, laughter, hope and joy....
December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas from San Felipe
It looks more like Christmas inside the rig.....
Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas filled with love, laughter, hope and joy....
It looks more like Christmas inside the rig.....
Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas filled with love, laughter, hope and joy....
December 21, 2009
December 18th was another ‘sea day’, our last one. It was quite a bit cooler so sitting on the pool deck wasn’t as comfortable as the 11 days prior. Michel and I had an inside day - did a little reading, went to the casino (our first time there all trip) and Michel won $120.00 playing 3 card poker. I just blew $20.00 in one of the slots and called it enough.
December 19th we were back in Las Angeles. Could hardly believe it was over. Had such a wonderful time. Really love cruising!! We spent the night at an RV park in Indio, CA.
Today we crossed the US/Mexican border and journeyed again to San Felipe. We have a nice spot right on the ocean and we’ll settle in for a two month stay.
I'm having trouble uploading pictures, so I'll get them done as I can.
December 19th we were back in Las Angeles. Could hardly believe it was over. Had such a wonderful time. Really love cruising!! We spent the night at an RV park in Indio, CA.
Today we crossed the US/Mexican border and journeyed again to San Felipe. We have a nice spot right on the ocean and we’ll settle in for a two month stay.
I'm having trouble uploading pictures, so I'll get them done as I can.
December 17, 2009
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico
I can’t say enough good things about Cabo. It is a beautiful little city, with many beautiful bays and beaches. Michel was there in the 80’s when there was nothing there, and many people we talked to said he’d be disappointed because it was so commercial now…. But we were both impressed. It has been built up a lot since then b
ut without the many hi rises you see along the coast lines these days. We firstly took a little 45 minute excursion in a glass-bottom boat (sounds exotic but it wasn’t) to see the famous arches formed into the rocks, and the sea lions. When we returned we walked along the malecon and did a little souvenier shopping and stopped for a couple cervezas along the way - 6 cervezas with chips and salsa and guacamole for $10.00 US - sounds like a good deal to me!!
I can’t say enough good things about Cabo. It is a beautiful little city, with many beautiful bays and beaches. Michel was there in the 80’s when there was nothing there, and many people we talked to said he’d be disappointed because it was so commercial now…. But we were both impressed. It has been built up a lot since then b
ut without the many hi rises you see along the coast lines these days. We firstly took a little 45 minute excursion in a glass-bottom boat (sounds exotic but it wasn’t) to see the famous arches formed into the rocks, and the sea lions. When we returned we walked along the malecon and did a little souvenier shopping and stopped for a couple cervezas along the way - 6 cervezas with chips and salsa and guacamole for $10.00 US - sounds like a good deal to me!! 
December 16, 2009
Se
a Day -
There was plenty to do onboard for those
sea days. There 
were always activities planned if you were into that - and a huge casino, 13 restaurants, 10 bars and lounges, a spa and fitness center, sports court, 2 swimming pools and a k
ids pool, 6 hot 
tubs, movie theatre, internet café, as well as a teen club and planet kids ….as I said “ If you are bored it’s your own fault….” This ship can hold 2,240 guests (and apparently they were full) as well as 1,084 crew members.
The sit down dinner in the fancy dining room is where we would meet at the end of each day. A couple of those evenings, our new friends Mike and Donna joined us. Then we would go to the Stardust Theatre for the evening show, which was almost always a Vegas style show.
Pictures of the couples all dressed up and looking dapper, Michel and I even had our picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus, who were passengers on the cruise as well.
a Day -There was plenty to do onboard for those
sea days. There 
were always activities planned if you were into that - and a huge casino, 13 restaurants, 10 bars and lounges, a spa and fitness center, sports court, 2 swimming pools and a k
ids pool, 6 hot 
tubs, movie theatre, internet café, as well as a teen club and planet kids ….as I said “ If you are bored it’s your own fault….” This ship can hold 2,240 guests (and apparently they were full) as well as 1,084 crew members.The sit down dinner in the fancy dining room is where we would meet at the end of each day. A couple of those evenings, our new friends Mike and Donna joined us. Then we would go to the Stardust Theatre for the evening show, which was almost always a Vegas style show.
Pictures of the couples all dressed up and looking dapper, Michel and I even had our picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus, who were passengers on the cruise as well.
December 15, 2009
Acupulco, Mexico
A very beautiful place as we were coming into the dock but - what a busy place! The traffic is horrendous! We took a tour of the city with a taxi company and he took us to most of the tourist
attractions. We saw the Las Flamingo, which was made famous by John Wayne; and he took us up to some look out points that give you a spectacular view of the city.
A very beautiful place as we were coming into the dock but - what a busy place! The traffic is horrendous! We took a tour of the city with a taxi company and he took us to most of the tourist
attractions. We saw the Las Flamingo, which was made famous by John Wayne; and he took us up to some look out points that give you a spectacular view of the city. Lastly he took us to see the cliff divers. This was quite a display…. We were too far away, unfortunately, to get any real good pictures, but the view was great. If you enlarge the picture you will see one of the divers before he hit’s the water.
December 14, 2009
Huatulco, Mexico
This is a beautiful place, with soft white sand and turquoise water. Sunshine is expected here at least 330 days a year with the average temperature of 88F.
Today we didn’t go on any tours. We enjoyed the day on the beach, drank a few cervezas, and the only shopping we did was when the locals came around. While there a man came by with his pet iguana “Paco”, and was selling the opportunity to take photos with Paco. So Michel held the iguana and I took a few pictures.
Today we didn’t go on any tours. We enjoyed the day on the beach, drank a few cervezas, and the only shopping we did was when the locals came around. While there a man came by with his pet iguana “Paco”, and was selling the opportunity to take photos with Paco. So Michel held the iguana and I took a few pictures.
We met a wonderful couple from Anaheim, CA whom we 
spent some time with - Mike and Donna.
spent some time with - Mike and Donna.December 12, 2009
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
This was the most fun day I think I’ve ever had. We did a very unique canopy tour over 11 waterfalls! It is the only Canopy tour in Costa Rica that really crosses over waterfalls. We did 25 zip lines, and 2 rappels. It was amazing. I still can’t believe I really did it!. If you want to check it out the website is www.adventureparkcostarica.com
These ar
e pictures of me zipping (and repelling) through 
the trees. Michel had the camera, so unfortunately there are none of him…
When the day was done, they served us a nice lunch. So here is a picture of us eating (again)!!
This was the most fun day I think I’ve ever had. We did a very unique canopy tour over 11 waterfalls! It is the only Canopy tour in Costa Rica that really crosses over waterfalls. We did 25 zip lines, and 2 rappels. It was amazing. I still can’t believe I really did it!. If you want to check it out the website is www.adventureparkcostarica.com
These ar
e pictures of me zipping (and repelling) through the trees. Michel had the camera, so unfortunately there are none of him… Here is a picture of Rich and Michel under one of the waterfalls. This was a 'rest' stop so many went swimming.
When the day was done, they served us a nice lunch. So here is a picture of us eating (again)!!
December 10, 2009
The Panama Canal 
The Panama Canal is quite spectacular and there is so much I could say about it. It was so interesting to watch the boats coming into the canal being lifted up and lowered back down again. It is something that you have to experience, words cannot describe it. We approached the first set of locks around 6:30 a.m. There are three sets of locks on each side of the lake (Lake Gatun). The first three raised the boat a total of 26 meters, the last three at the far end of the lake lowered it back down to sea level. It took our ship till 4:00 p.m. to clear their way through the Canal. There are about 9,000 employees, and the canal operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
December 9, 2009
First port of call - Cartagena, Columbia.We took a tour of the city with a small group of people from our ship. Pictured in the background of this shot is the fortress of San Felipe, which towers over all of the many forts at 135 feet above sea level.
Cartagena’s main commodity is emeralds, but don’t forget the coffee, after all this is home for Juan Valdez.
This is a really neat shopping mall (strip mall we'd call it) which used to be soldiers' bunkers from the old fort.
Cute coblestone town, with narrow streets that reminded Michel of New Orleans.December 6, 2009
We boarded our boat today - The Norweigan Star - enroute through the Panama Canal. Here we are when we first arrived aboard. You can see the Miami Skyline in the background.
Here is a picture of the pool deck, where we spent our 'sea days'.
We met up with friends Ron and Ann, and spent our first day on the deck with a bucket of beer.....(in this picture: (l to r) Tina, Myself, Ann, Ron, Michel, Rich) 
This is a snap shot of our first dinner aboard. The Versaille Restaurant was so elegant.... reminded me of the Titanic!!. The food was great - a la carte and lots of it!!!December 4, 2009
This is the first leg of our trip. Our overnight stay in Las Angeles. Here we are when we first got to our room - had to toast to our adventure......(timed picture)
We arrived early in the day so we had time to take a drive to Santa Monica and visit the pier. Tomorrow we fly to Miami.
December 1, 2009
We will be leaving on Friday, with friends Rich and Tina, for our cruise.We will spend the night in Los Angeles then on Saturday morning we will catch a plane from Los Angeles to Miami where we will meet up with friends Ron and Ann. One night in Miami, then a quick shuttle to the docks where we will go aboard the Norweigan Star to begin our 13 night excursion through the Panama Canal, and 5 ports of call (Columbia, Costa Rica, Huatulco, Acupulco, Cabo St.Lucas) bringing us back to Los Angeles. We are so looking forward to this!!! We are not bringing the computer so there won't be any updates until we return on December 19th....but I will take a lot of pictures and hopefully be able to share some of them.
November 29, 2009
We went with friends Chris and Mike to the College of the Desert street market this morning. As we were driving there it started to rain. That is something you don't see very often in the desert ....rain !! - - It rained for about and hour and a half, just enough for the vendors to start to pack up. They must have been afraid they'd melt...... We did shop though - at the vendors that were open for business. Afterward we went for lunch to Babe's - a great bbq place - then later in the evening we got together to play some pool. We had a great little 'tournament'..... 
In this picture l to r: Michel, Don, Julie, Chris, Mike, Laura, Tom.
In this picture l to r: Michel, Don, Julie, Chris, Mike, Laura, Tom.
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