Monday, August 12, through Saturday August 31, 2013: The Baltic Adventure:

On Monday morning, I arranged with the RV park to let us leave our rig on its current site---plugged in so the refrigerator would work while we are gone.  That required special dispensation from the manager, which Becky had obtained in April.  Becky plans ahead!  We then left the park, headed for lunch at the Wences Bistro, which is our favorite Mexican/Chinese/Italian/American restaurant in Acton.

After that we checked in at the DoubleTree Hotel at the airport.  At 6:00, we headed (with Barbara Coad) to the Buckelews for dinner.  That was fitting since our cruise will be on the Emerald Princess and Alan is the President of the Princess Cruise Line.



The dinner at the Buckelews was great. Their daughter Erin joined us. We hadn’t seen her in years.



Alan had some nice tales of his attending the naming of the Royal Princess cruise ship in England a few weeks ago.   First, he acknowledged that Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, was very tall.  Second, that she was as utterly charming as she appears.  

Third, that she was quite poised for her age and the brevity of her “career” as a royal.  We ended up back at the DoubleTree at 9:00 PM, and quickly hit the sack.

We were due at the airport no later than 6:00 Tuesday morning.  We set the alarm for 4:45 AM and also arranged for a wakeup call for the same time.  We didn’t need either one since Becky was up at 3:45.  We caught the 5:30 shuttle to the airport and I was amazed at how many people had already arrived ahead of us.  The airport was packed at that ridiculous hour.  But we made it through all the lines with time to spare.  Our plane, a Boeing 757, left the gate on time (7:15) and we landed at Washington-Dulles on time (3:30 PM) and then switched to an SAS Airbus 340 flight that left a half-hour late (5:45) but nevertheless landed in Copenhagen on time (6:30 AM) after an uneventful flight. 

The only negative was our flight attendant (nee stewardess) who seemed to have never learned how to smile.  Our luggage took an inordinate amount of time to arrive at the carousel, but finally showed up . Becky and Barbara then grabbed a taxi and went through downtown Copenhagen---at rush hour---to store our large bags at the hotel we will stay in at the end of the week,

while Judy and I took all of our carry-on bags (specially packed for an excursion to Berlin) through security.  We looked like the Clampetts from The Beverly Hillbillies.  Trying to manage the five bags was quite a fun event for Judy and me, and for the zillions of people in line behind us.  One of Judy’s bags had to go through the x-ray machine numerous times.  Every time, the Danish equivalent of the TSA found something she should not have sent through.  The agent was laughing openly.  While we waited for Becky and Barbara to return, Judy and I cooled our heels over too costly coffee at the Joe & The Juice place at the airport. 

We all then boarded an Air Berlin flight, a Boeing 737, at 11:00 AM with our small bags and landed in Berlin an hour later at Teleg, the in-town airport.  Whew!!!  Three flights---back-to-back-to-back.  We took a cab to the Berlin apartment we had rented for the next four days. The apartment is in what used to be East Berlin, in a nice but unpretentious-looking building.  

We arrived at 12:30, a half hour before the manager was scheduled to meet us.  We went down the street to a neighborhood hotel/coffee house/restaurant (“Honigmond“) and had a nice, reasonably priced buffet lunch.  We then met the manager who let us into the apartment.  It is absolutely gorgeous; completely redone and modernized just a couple of years ago.  

After settling in and planning the next few days’ activities, we made dinner of cheese, salami, salad, and chocolate (and wine, of course) at the apartment, and then crashed.  It had been a complicated, but productive 31 hours since we woke up in the DoubleTree.

Thursday morning we headed on foot for the seat of the German legislature (the Bundestag).  It was billed as a “short stroll” to the Reichstag (the building in which the Bundestag sits).  It turned out to be a 45-minute forced march, led by Becky.  We arrived 15 minutes early for our required appointment, then headed inside for a brief introduction and an almost two-hour guided tour of the building.

The building was nearly destroyed by a fire in the '30s, thought to have been started by Hitler's supporters as a means of cementing his power by crippling the legislature.  It is located in what was West Berlin, with the rear line of the building about three feet from the Wall.  After the war, the government of the Republic of Germany was relocated to Bonn because all of Berlin was in East Germany, even though West Berlin was considered as part of West Germany (thank you, clever politicians) and the building was essentially unused. 

After the German reunification in 1991, the exterior of the building was restored and the interior of the building was completely redone, under the supervision of an English (!!!) architect.  It is magnificent.  One interior detail remained, however.  When the Russians entered the building at the time they captured Berlin, the soldiers wrote a number of things on the walls in celebration.  After removing the insulting remarks, essentially only the names of the individual soldiers remained.  These were preserved, in place, in a section of the interior.  Some exterior elements were also added, but they do not detract from the original look of the building.

Factoid:  When the city was split, all the subway stations in East Berlin were closed (and heavily guarded) so people could not escape to the West side through the subway tunnels.   

After the tour, we walked a block or so past the Brandenburg Gate to the Lebensart Café/Conditorei.  I had the traditional German lunch of Spaghetti Bolognese.  It was very tasty.  We then hopped on a double-decker sightseeing bus and spent the next two plus hours touring the Berlin highlights.  The traffic was unbearable, to some extent because of all the construction.  There are some very interesting old and new buildings, including some rather outré designs.  Except for historical purposes, the distinction between East and West Berlin has all but disappeared, though it’s interesting that all of the buildings in what was East Berlin have been either built or completely remodeled since German reunification because, apparently, the old buildings were so drab---customary in Communist countries.

As an international capital city with four million inhabitants, a complicated history, and a lot of visitors, Berlin is crowded and bustling, but nonetheless fascinating.  We then strolled back the two or so miles to our apartment and had another (mostly) cheese, etc., dinner. Becky and Barbara went to the main train station (the Hauptbahnhof) to get our tickets for a trip to Dresden on Friday.

Dresden is three hours away.  Before we left, we met Maja Freitag at the Hauptbahnhof. She is a young (29) Berliner who worked at the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon with Becky in 2007.  Becky contacted her through facebook, and Maja joined us for the Dresden trip.  It was great seeing her and, by the way, having a German-speaker with us didn‘t hurt.

It took two subway rides and two train rides to get there.  But it was worth it.  August is a big month for Europeans to take vacations, and I think they were all in Dresden on Friday.  The city is great fun and has some wonderful buildings, which have been rebuilt following the devastating bombing the allies wrought on the city in 1945.  It seemed that everywhere there was a street fair going on.  We stopped at the historic Grand Hotel for a glass (or two) of Paulaner’s beer. Delicious.

We got home at 9:00 PM, exhausted.

Saturday was a shopping day for the ladies, while I relaxed.  It turned out that the restaurant at the Honigmond is rated very high by the local version of Yelp, so we returned there for a delicious dinner.  I had meat balls in a cream sauce.  Very different.   

Sunday morning, we vacated the apartment and headed for the airport (Teleg, again) to head back to Copenhagen on Air Berlin again.  We zipped through security in about 30 seconds and soon enough boarded the plane for the 40-minute flight.  We landed and piled into a large taxi for the ride to our hotel, The Adina, on the waterfront.  There was an Iron Man event going on in town and everywhere the taxi driver wanted to go was blocked for the route of the participants. 

As a result, we saw a lot more of Copenhagen than I had expected.  The architecture, old and new, is quite striking.  I thought it was beautiful.  The floors throughout the airport are even made of teak.  Very Danish.  Very pretty.  We finally reached The Adina, a new, beautiful place.  It‘s only a half-mile from the famous Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, so we just had to head over there.  It‘s in the middle of a huge park.  Unfortunately, part of the Iron Man course went through the park, and our way to the statue was blocked.  We decided to try again on Monday morning. 

Sunday night there was an informal pre-sail event in the lobby for the 20 or so cruise people who were staying in our hotel.  It was BYOB and we had a good time meeting some of the folks.  That night, our dinner was rolls and cheese from a local market.  We ended up leaving a pile of crumbs on our carpet.  Oops. 

Monday morning, the 19^th,  we headed for the Little Mermaid.  This time we were successful. 

I then returned to the hotel while the ladies tried to hop on a tour bus for a city tour.  They decided they didn’t have enough time, and returned without having gone anywhere.  We headed for the ship just before noon, and were on board within a few minutes.  Our cabin (we splurged for a mini-suite) is beautiful. 

A bottle of chilled champagne and a handful of chocolate-covered strawberries were waiting for us.  We are just one cabin away from Barbara and Judy.  Judy’s older sister, Patti, who joined us in Copenhagen, is on the deck just below us.  

We received a special dispensation from the usual service charge to have dinner Monday night in Sabatini’s, one of the “special” restaurants on the ship.  (There is a standard charge of $25.00 per person at the special restaurants.)  We all had lobster, of course.  Everything was delicious.

 

We sailed at 6:00 PM, heading for Oslo.  It’s a very short trip (220 Nautical miles or 253 Land miles) from Copenhagen to Oslo by ship, and the ship went painfully slowly, arriving at 10:00 o’clock Tuesday morning.   I had a great massage at 8:00 AM, then walked into town to take a quick look. 

It’s only a few blocks from the ship to the City Hall (where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded; the rest are awarded in Stockholm).  I then returned to the ship and had a quick lunch with Becky and Barbara, who then went back into town for a spell.   

At 3:15, the five of us headed for the Icebar, a 20-minute walk from the dock into the center of town.  The Icebar is an odd, but fun experience.  There are four of them---Oslo, Stockholm, London, and the original one in an unpronounceable place 125 miles North of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.  They take ice from the frozen Torne River in Sweden every year, cut it into huge blocks (1.7 tons each), transfer it in smaller blocks to the Icebar venues, and use it to build a room that becomes the bar.  The first Icebar, the one above the Arctic Circle, actually includes a 38-room hotel made of ice on the premises.  The walls are made solely of ice, the seats are made solely of ice, and the “glasses” are made solely of ice. 

The temperature inside the Icebar is a constant 23 degrees (Fahrenheit).  Each room lasts about nine months, then is rebuilt for the following season.  When you enter, you are fitted with a large parka with attached gloves (and heavy boots if you are a sissy).  The bartender makes you a drink, and you spend up to 40 minutes enjoying a rare experience.  You are then invited out, and the next bunch of folks comes in.  It’s strange, but fun.  I am amazed there isn’t one in Beverly Hills.   

 

We had dinner Tuesday night in the Da Vinci Room, our now-regular dining room, and we sat at our permanent table by a window.  Very nice.  This time, only four of us had the same entrée, a delicious shrimp concoction, while Patti had a quiche of some description.   After dinner, we stood on our balcony and watched the nearby shoreline pass by while the sun slowly set.  Very special.  

Wednesday morning, the 21^st, we docked at one of the cargo terminals in Aarhus (pronounced “Our-Hoos”), Denmark, about noon, and, after a quick lunch on board, shuttled our way into town.  Aarhus is the second-largest city in Denmark, at a population of 280,000, and is a major port and business center.  It was a 234 Nautical (or 269 Land) mile trip.  The port is being expanded substantially, and we had to walk through an area with a lot of construction going on to make our way from the shuttle stop.  My main stop in town was the local cathedral, the tallest church in Denmark.   According to Barbara, it is Evangelical Lutheran, but its construction was started 900 years ago as Roman Catholic.  Whatever the actuality, it is magnificent, with, no surprise, a giant organ at one end and an ornate altar at the other---with a few side altars scattered about. 

When we and a zillion other tourists entered, the organist was playing Pomp and Circumstance.  Quite impressive.  By then I was burned out and headed back to the ship, while Becky forged on, looking for a department store, at least.  She bought me a nice, new sweatshirt to replace one I have had for a while that is a mass of unattractive pilling.  She has hated it for quite some time and was planning on a celebration to retire it---except that the new sweatshirt turned out to be far too small and will have to be donated to someone else.  The old one survives!

Dinner on Wednesday featured a wonderful appetizer of Penne Arrabiata prepared by Vitor, the Maitre d’ in our dining room.  Yum.  Most of us then had Cioppino, which was delicious.  We then picked up the new watch Becky bought for me this morning on the ship, but which had to have the band adjusted.  It’s a Citizen Eco-Drive, which operates solely on power generated by exposure to light.  It doesn’t use batteries.  It’s very nice.  Thank you, Becky. 

Thursday morning we docked at Warnemunde, in what was East Germany, after a 163 Nautical (or 187 Land) mile trip. 

We immediately disembarked for a marathon excursion to three places---the village of Warnemunde, the city of Rostok, and the city of Schwerin.  We met Petra, the tour guide, right on the dock.  She led us on a walk to the center of Warnemunde.  It‘s a former fishing village that has become a tourist destination. 

Cute, historic houses and any number of small shops abound in this small village.  It is actually part of the city of Rostok (in the same way Hollywood is actually part of the City of Los Angeles).  After walking through the picturesque parts of Warnemunde, we hopped on the train for a 20-minute ride and then caught a streetcar for a two-minute ride, to the center of Rostok.  It’s apparently considered to be a big city although Petra said that calling it "big" was an exaggeration.  But, it is interesting.  It was severely bombed during WWII because it was a manufacturing and shipping center, and, after surviving 45 years of a subsequent communist regime, is now a completely rebuilt commercial center with its historic architecture restored and a vibrant tourist trade.  It’s really quite pretty. 

After walking through the interesting parts of Rostok, we took another train for an hour to Schwerin.  It, too, has been rebuilt from the damage of WWII and the subsequent communist regime, is vibrant, architecturally retro, and a busy tourist destination.  The pace of our tour was a little intimidating, and at one point, even Petra got confused and referred to Schwerin as Rostock.  Of course, it was yours truly who had the chutzpah to correct her.  

We all had lunch in Schwerin,which was pretty good.  After lunch, we walked to the Schloss Schwerin, the former palace of the archdukes which, like the many other European palaces of former monarchies, has now been converted to a museum and some government offices.  As is common with European palaces, it has existed for several hundred years but has been renovated or destroyed and rebuilt in the same place several times in that period.  It’s an impressive property, on an island, with gorgeous grounds; and it is currently undergoing another renovation. 

We then walked back to the train station and took two trains back to Warnemunde.  Altogether it was a ten-hour tour involving a lot of walking.  But it was a very worthwhile adventure.  We were so exhausted we blew off dinner, as such, and survived on the hors d’oeuvres that arrive every afternoon in our cabin.   

Friday was a day at sea, so we relaxed.  At one point in the early afternoon, we ventured up to the top deck and what is called The Sanctuary.  It’s an out-of-the-way place with wind shields and special lounges and stewards running around and a special fee for entering.  Normally, we would not go there, but Jose, the overall Maitre d‘, set us up for a freebie today.  We were there only a short time because it was very cold.  So much for the good life. 

 

Before dinner, Becky and I met eight other passengers at the wine bar for a “Stammtisch” event.  The word is German and refers to a communal table.  We were served a little of each of three California wines---Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  With each wine we were served an hors d’oeuvre that was selected to “pair” with the wine.  It was all very highbrow, and intimidating, but turned out to be a lot of fun.  A surprising number of guests asked us about the particulars of our mobile lifestyle. 

We then proceeded to dinner, which was nice.  I had a couple of disappointing (not very tender) Beef Tenderloin medallions, while Becky had lamb accompanied by what seemed like a quart of mint jelly.  Dessert was Bananas Foster.  Delicious.  We then proceeded to one of the showrooms for a game based on Jeopardy.  Barbara, Judy, Becky, and I did not do very well as a team, but it was a lot of fun.   By then it was 9:00 PM and time for bed.

We docked at Tallinn, the Estonian capital, at 7:30 AM on Saturday.  The trip involved 540 Nautical (or 621 Land) miles.  We all headed off the ship as soon as they let us.  I didn’t feel like walking the whole town like the ladies wanted, so I hopped on the first tour bus for a one-hour quickie look (and then a restful day back on the ship). 

It’s an interesting city in some ways.  Estonia has survived invasions by any number of countries, and is still standing.  Its last bit of independence was won in 1990 after 50 years of an involuntary membership in the Soviet Union. 

The architecture is very mixed, none of it particularly interesting.  But it has some nice parks and some brand new shopping areas.  The ladies found the latter very interesting.   Becky and I hit the hors d’oeuvres that were delivered to our room and simply passed on having actual dinner.  A little later we sneaked up to the top deck and picked up some pizza to go with a bottle of "Isosceles," a Justin wine we had brought from home.  Delicious.  The unusual wine glasses we used were ones that accompanied our dinner on the SAS flight.  Somehow they ended up in Becky's bag.    

 

Sunday was the day to arrive at St. Petersburg for two days of sightseeing.  The distance to St. Petersburg was 152 Nautical (or 175 Land) miles.  It took quite a while for everyone to gather together and to get the tour groups sent on their way.   After all, more than 3,000 people got off our ship at one time.  And we weren’t the only cruise ship in the port.  There were at least four more, including another Princess ship and the Queen Elizabeth.  

We had a great tour.  Our guide, Dmitri, was excellent.  We saw churches, fortresses, spires, and a whole slew of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.  This city has uniformly gorgeous architecture---at least in the central part of the city.  There is opulence everywhere, all of it dating back to the czars.  There is red granite all over the place---sidewalks, seawalls, bricks, etc. 

The highlight of the tour was the Hermitage Museum, of course, which was initially the Winter Palace of Peter The Great.  It is just breathtaking.  We also took a cruise around town on the canals and the Neva River.  What a place.  We had lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant, which seemed odd, being in Russia, and it was only OK. 

We returned to our ship a little later than we had expected, and ran into serious traffic just entering the dock area.  Then we had to wait in a huge line just to get back on the ship.  It should not have been a surprise, since everybody came home at the same time. 

The four of us had dinner reservations in the Crown Grill at 6:30.  I changed them to 7:00 because we were all running so late. 

We had a wonderful dinner of Filets and New York steaks.   We also had a free bottle of wine on Princess and somehow the $25.00 per person cover charge got waived.  We didn’t ask how or why.  It is interesting to be this far North;  it’s now 9:30 PM and the sun has not yet gone down.  Altogether, it has  been a great day.  

Monday morning, we met Dmitri again, this time at 8:00 AM, and started our second day of touring.  Dmitri is an interesting young man.  A native of St. Petersburg, he's on the last leg of his journey to a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, having spent time at New York University in New York, and at the Microsoft campus in Seattle.  He speaks better English than at least 40% of the residents of Los Angeles.    

We saw more palaces, but no churches this time.  We took a hydrofoil to Peterhov, the location of one of the summer palaces of Peter the Great.  It’s on a peninsula, and took a half hour on the boat.  (It takes an hour by bus.)   The star of the setting there is not the palace building, but the grounds---featuring fantastic fountains and gardens.  St. Petersburg will be the site of the G-20 Summit next week, and they are currently setting up viewing stands facing these fountains---in front of the palace.  We were not told what the event would be. 

We then went from there to a wonderful Russian lunch (the first time I have ever had borscht---really delicious) followed by a stop at the Catherine Palace in Pushkin, halfway back to St. Petersburg by bus.  The Catherine Palace is not named for Catherine the Great, but for Catherine I, the first wife of Peter The Great.  But CTG used it as her summer palace.  It is astonishingly beautiful.  The copious quantities of gold leaf adorning many of the rooms are staggering.  

The Amber Room is supposed to be the highlight.  I think it is ugly, but most people oohed and aahed over it.  The palace was pretty messed up by the Germans during WWII, and was completely restored---but the restoration was not finished until the late ‘50s.  Once again, the crowds were pretty obnoxious, but I survived.  It’s easy to speculate that, if nothing else, the opulence of the czars’ palaces in St. Petersburg would stir anyone to revolution.    

We then headed back to the ship, this time encountering the same traffic into the dock but enduring no line at all getting back on board.  

We had dinner in the Michelangelo Dining room with a family from New York (Brooklyn, to be exact) who are Russian by birth.  Mark had been communicating with Barbara about setting up a private tour in Stockholm.  The dinner was arranged to discuss his plans.  He’s an overly dramatic fellow; his wife, Anna, is still very Russian; and Ilana, their 16-year old daughter, seems very impressed with herself for no apparent reason.  I decided I won‘t be joining the tour.  Otherwise, it was a nice dinner.  I had Veal Scaloppini.  It was OK.  

 

We docked at Finland’s capital, Helsinki, at 7:00 AM on Tuesday, after traveling 146 Nautical (or 168 Land) miles.  We had breakfast, then took the shuttle into town---about 2 miles from the port.  We strolled down the Esplanade past a couple of monuments into the city center, walked through the open market area, and spent some time in the City Hall (because of its free Wi-Fi).  I then headed back to the ship while the ladies shopped.  Helsinki is much like any other European capital city on a waterfront. 

The old buildings are beautiful; some of the new ones are, as well, but some not particularly so, and there is a lot of construction---in the city and at the harbor, and the streets are narrow and seem to go in all directions at once.  Finland has 5½ million residents, 600,000 of whom live in Helsinki.   

We spent only a small amount of time in town because we had a tour of the ship’s bridge set for 2:30.  Very interesting.  The officer who showed us the bridge was a young Italian girl who, in my opinion, had way too much facial jewelry---including a tongue stud.  Am I the only one who thinks that stuff is very unprofessional?  

 

At 4:00, Barbara, Judy, Patti, and I joined the crowd in The Wheelhouse Bar to play the ship’s Trivia game.  We won!!!  Barbara was on fire.  We only missed one question out of 20.  (What is a group of monkeys called?  A Band.  No one got it right.)  For the effort, the four of us each won a small combination carabiner/key chain with Princess Cruises stamped on it, worth about 10 cents.  Yippee!!!  

Tonight we dressed up to attend the Chef’s Dinner at 7:00 o’clock, an invitation-only (and not free) special event where the chef walked us through the kitchen (we wore white chef‘s coats for effect), followed by some special hors d’oeuvres while still in the kitchen, then sat with him at a table in the dining room for a special meal, all with various wines along the way. 

We did this two years ago on another cruise, and it was very nice.  Tonight’s was just as good.  Just as an example, the hors d’oeuvres involved lobster, tuna tartar, fontina quiche, caviar, and escargots.  A wonderful experience.  We waddled back to our stateroom, carrying a Princess souvenir recipe book each couple received from the chef.  

Stockholm was our final port before returning to Copenhagen where we started.  We arrived at about 9:00 in the morning on Wednesday.   The trip involved 186 Nautical (or 214 Land) miles.  I was toured out, so I hung out in our cabin while everyone else went to town.  At 11:00 o’clock, I finally got dressed, and went ashore---for a short time. 

I came back for lunch (pizza), then met Becky and Barbara for a drink at the wine bar, where they had sushi for lunch.  Our ship left the harbor at 2:45, heading for Copenhagen---719 Nautical (or 827 Land) miles away.  We left 15 minutes late because there were 10 passengers who had not returned to the ship on time.  Mere seconds after they arrived, we pulled away from the dock, and sailed through the Sweden Archipelago of more than 2,000 islands toward the Baltic Sea.  Quite pretty scenery.  

 

At 4:30, we headed for the Club Fusion bar for Wednesday's Trivia contest.  We did not win---because we misunderstood one question.  Drat! 

Tonight neither Becky nor I could decide between Lobster and Beef Wellington for our entrée, so we each had both.  Disgusting.  But wonderful, of course.  We also had two bottles of wine at the table, "courtesy of Mr. Buckelew,” according to Jose, the Maitre d’.  Thank you, Alan.  Barbara‘s birthday is September 3, but, since we will be off the ship then, she decided to celebrate it tonight.  We suffered through the usual singing of the song by the servers and nearby guests.  But it was fun. 

 

Thursday morning we had breakfast at Sabatini’s, then played (not so well) Trivia, packed our bags, and went to lunch.  We had dinner in our usual restaurant Thursday night, then hit the sack---knowing that Friday would be a looooong day.

We woke at 5:00 AM on Friday, having already docked at Copenhagen (the total cruise involved 2,360 Nautical or 2,716 Land miles), watched The O'Reilly Factor on the cabin TV, then finished packing and headed for breakfast at 7:00.  We said goodbye to our cabin, since we would not be returning.  We waited in the Club Fusion lounge until 8:30, when they called our disembarkation number (Navy 5), then hopped on the bus for the airport.  The airport was a mess---a huge number of travelers and a few very unhelpful SAS staff. 

We were misdirected at least twice to the check-in area.  We finally settled in for the three-hour wait to take off, that turned out to be a four-hour wait.  The plane, another Airbus 340, made up the lost hour during the uneventful nine-hour flight to San Francisco.  They ran out of the little white wine bottles in our area, so the helpful steward borrowed some from the regular bottles in the business class cabin and brought it to us in a big plastic cup. That was nice.  I basically listened to classical music all the way, with my eyes covered but sleeping very little.

We arrived at San Francisco, sat at the gate with every passenger standing in the aisle for 15 minutes before they opened the door, went through Immigration and Customs in a flash, then rechecked our luggage for the flight to Los Angeles, and settled in for another three-hour wait to take off. 

But that turned into another four-hour wait.  We arrived at LAX at 9:00 PM and got our luggage immediately.  (Since we had checked in so early in San Francisco our luggage came out first.)  Because of the Friday night/Labor Day weekend traffic at LAX, we then had to wait an hour for the shuttle to take us back to the DoubleTree where we had left our truck.  We then drove to The Jonathan Club in downtown LA to spend the night, arriving at 11:00.  Becky then walked to the nearest 7-11 and got us some dinner.  When we arrived at the club, it had been 27 hours since waking up Friday morning, yet we were so wired we could hardly go to sleep. 

We slept in Saturday morning, left the club just before 11:00 AM, stopped at the Staples store in Santa Clarita to buy a new laptop computer for me since my old one died during the trip (we left the new computer at the store to have Staples load all of the data from my old one), picked up Ramsey in Agua Dulce, and finally settled in at the RV park.  We tried to get back into our normal routine, but as soon as we arrived at the RV park, we realized that the electrical situation had deteriorated in our absence, and, as the temperature hung in the mid 90s, we could not run even one air conditioner.  Welcome home!  The Baltic Adventure was officially and mentally behind us.

We had take out dinner from Panda Express, took Ramsey for a short walk, watched a little TV, and crashed.  That was our normal routine.  We were back home.