Won't ya let me take you on a sea cruise?
We are back on dry land, after a wonderful family vacation. As children get older, it becomes a rare occurrence when you can spend several days with your family and have some fun and relaxation. It is quite possible that this was the last time we could do this as the boys will no doubt have commitments, work, school, girls, whatever, maybe even just don't want to hang out with their wonderful, fun parents....
Actually, I think they really do enjoy our company, at least sometimes.
Its a bit of a weird time however. For the first time in my life, I have joined the ranks of the unemployed due to a workforce reduction (one of many) at my long term employer. Actually I went through a similiar experience many years ago, but I was much younger and the impact did not carry the same weight. I'm not going to dwell on that, but actually I am a bit excited about the prospect of new challenges and opportunities.
Last year Darlene and I went on a cruise, my first, her second. We had a great time, with a lot of friends. Darlene has wanted to take the boys on a cruise for years and as we finished up the HOHS cruise, it seemed like the time was right, as the boys are getting to the point where they may not be able to or want to take a family vacation.
So, we booked a big, bad cruise, Royal Caribbean - 7 night Eastern Caribbean, on the Freedom of the Seas. This is the second largest cruise ship currently sailing and the same one we were on. We booked out of Florida, as departing out of Texas during Spring Break has a premium. Florida, meaning we had to get to the port.....
No problem, its only 1200 freaking miles to the port. Can you imagine, me, a Bluenoser, growing up with salt air in my nose, has to drive 1200 miles to get to the ocean....
20 odd hours and we get to the east coast of Florida, time to kill (sleep...) we take Ryan to Cape Canaveral for the NASA tour and eventually get to port to board the ship.
All on board and fancy drinks in hand, relaxation station as we float on... Stay tuned for the next installment...
