Friday, March 21, 2014

Friday, March 21, through Wednesday, April 16, 2014: Back To The Desert (again):

 

The major project for me on Friday morning was emptying suitcases and putting things back where they belong.  Becky's major project was to return to the pickleball court.


Saturday was our day to watch a weird movie from the Red box---Killing Your Darlings.  It was primarily about the Beat Poet Allan Ginsburg.  It starred Daniel Radcliffe of the Harry Potter movies.  While it was odd and disturbing, we stuck with it to the end to see what happened---and decided it wasn’t worth it.  The rest of the weekend was very low key, walking the dogs, shopping, etc.  Monday morning, Luis from McMahons RV actually showed up as promised and installed the replacement leg of our hydraulic stabilizer system.  Thank you, Luis.  It took more than three months to get this done.  I remain convinced that McMahons is completely inept.


Wednesday, Becky went to The Elephant Bar for lunch with a bunch of women from the RV park, followed by a shopping tour of several stores.  Meanwhile, I went to the doctor (Michael Sanford) for a periodic consultation regarding my prostate situation.  Nothing new to report, but I'm scheduled for another Lupron shot next Wednesday.  

Thursday, we all went to Pasadena to visit Becky's Dad.  That included Ramsey and Kelsey. 


Becky's Dad is still under 24-hour home care, and sleeps most of the time.  After an hour or so, Becky and I left and headed for a lunch of Thai food at the President Thai restaurant in Pasadena.  Delicious, and large enough that half of it also became our dinner.  Naturally, I had cashew chicken and Becky had shrimp pad Thai.


I had rented The Wolf Of Wall Street at the redbox on Thursday but we decided to wait until Friday to watch it.  While I'm not a big fan of basketball, Thursday night I bothered to watch UCLA lose to Florida in the Round-of-Sixteen in the NCAA tournament.  Not a big surprise.

The wind here in the desert has been pretty wild for the past few days.  It periodically rocks our rig, makes the trees wave, and wiggles our satellite dish, all resulting in irritating tiny gaps in reception.  It also blows a lot of sand around.  It should die down by the end of Friday.  We'll see.

Friday night we finally watched The Wolf Of Wall Street.  It has been well-received by the public, according to the sources Becky consults.  We enjoyed it immensely. We also made a Costco run on Friday, where I picked up another aloha shirt.  I’ve grown used to wearing them since the beginning of our trip to Hawaii. 


Petco had a shot clinic on Saturday (the 29th), and we took Ramsey and Kelsey there for rattlesnake shots.  We got there early but the line was already long.  The dog owners were nice and the wait wasn’t unpleasant.  Because Ramsey doesn’t like shots, reacting rather frighteningly, Becky gave him a sedative to calm him down.  The last time she did this, he didn’t spring back fully for almost a day, so Becky reduced the dosage.  It wasn’t clear whether it was effective this time. 


The clinic people were very helpful, advising that dogs can sometimes “override” a sedative if they are sufficiently motivated so it didn’t really matter whether the sedative had taken effect.  We said we’d better wait until a better time for the shot, but they insisted that they could handle it.  They took Ramsey to a bathroom and shut the door on his leash very near his head---and quickly administered the shot in a hind leg.  I’m not sure Ramsey even knew it had happened.  Success!

To celebrate we had a late lunch/early dinner at Sam’s Sushi with Laura Welch, a fellow RVer at the park.  Becky had just met her recently.  She’s a fun lady.   

         
Sunday was the day for another sandstorm in the desert.  We lay low most of the day, sometimes cleaning up a little of the sand that somehow got into our rig.



On Monday the sand storm that raged on Sunday died down a little.  We had lunch with Chuck Conway at the Elephant Bar.  As usual, the food was excellent (I had a lettuce wrap with chicken) and Chuck was delightful.  He’s a very interesting chap and we always look forward to spending time with him. 


After lunch, we picked up the recent Hunger Games movie at the redbox.  Becky had seen the first one and liked it.  I had not seen it and wasn’t particularly interested in this new one---especially after I fell asleep after just a few minutes.

Monday was also the day Laurie Irwin, a friend of ours in the RV world, began her stint as a Ranger here at the park.

 
Tuesday, we took the dogs to the Freedom Park dog run for a few minutes, then drove to Cahuilla County Park which Becky had seen once and thought it was quite interesting.  Indeed it is.  There is a reservoir there that is very large, plus RV sites, a large swimming pool, lots of green space, and other typical park facilities. 



It’s very nice, although the wind had come up again and there were only a handful of people there.  The ranger at the gate didn’t even bother charging us the $8.00 entry fee due to the weather.  Afterwards, we picked up American Hustle at the redbox on the way out of the Stater Bros. market and proceeded to watch it.  We had seen it before, but it was fun to watch it again.



Wednesday was a day for me to visit my desert urologist, Michael Sanford, for my periodic shot of Lupron.  The next one is due in early August, which I will take care of with my Flagstaff doctor, Nathan Benson, when we are in Williams, Arizona.  Wednesday night, we watched two movies:  Frozen and 20 Feet From Stardom.  I don’t care for animated films, so I didn’t watch Frozen for more than a few minutes.  Becky watched it all the way through and said it wasn’t as good as the hype around it.  She did like the music soundtrack.



The other film was a fascinating documentary about backup singers.

I spent much of Thursday (April 3) undergoing a Nuclear Stress Test at the Eisenhower hospital.  My heart doctor, Michael Bagheri, ordered it to determine whether I had any blockages in my system.  I found out Friday that I don't.

Friday was another day for us to visit Becky's dad in Pasadena.  He was awake a lot more this time.  On the way back, we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the Panda Express in Beaumont.  As usual, it was delicious.




The highlight of Saturday was a Costco run after taking the dogs to Freedom Park for a nice walk.  At Costco we picked up the usual array of goodies, plus a new set of prescription sunglasses for me. 




We then took Ramsey and Kelsey to the vet to get weighed.  Both of them have lost about a pound on Becky's diet for them.

Sunday evening, we met Don and Elaine LaMarr at their La Quinta (second) home for cocktails, then dinner at El Ranchito Restaurant in LQ.  Don and Elaine are former LA Junior Chamber buddies of Becky's, and live in La Canada.  Don recently retired and the two of them travel a bit now.  They are nice people and it was fun seeing them again.






On Monday, Becky watched a couple of movies from the redbox, neither of which interested me and I don't remember their names.  Tuesday I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Robert Czako, my primary doctor in the desert.  He was not happy with our intention to leave the area on Thursday, and convinced us to stay a little longer---to take some more tests.  He administered two regarding my heart and was pleasantly surprised with the results.  It is possible that the diagnosed problem may not really exist.  More tests are necessary, and, among other things, I am now wearing a heart monitor 24 hours a day for a week. 



On the way home, we stopped at Bristol Farms for some take-home sushi.  Yum!

Wednesday, the LaMarrs stopped by to see our rig.  They are leaving on Friday to head back to La Canada.


The big local news on Thursday was the closing of the McMahons RV store next to our RV park.  Mysterious!  We heard from a reliable source on Friday that it had been bought by Camping World, and it is believed that the store will reopen in a few days.  We'll see..

Friday morning I had a CAT scan of my lungs since Dr. Czako was not convinced they had completely healed from my pneumonia bout.  I will find out the results in a few days, I guess.  The test itself was a non-event.

Friday also involved another Costco run, plus a sushi lunch at Sam's Sushi, a favorite of ours.  The Baked Lobster Roll at Sam's Sushi is a real keeper!



We also picked up two DVDs at the redbox.  The first one was Anchorman 2, which I watched against my better instincts.  It was awful!.  Will Farrell may be a comic genius to some people, but I don't get him.                 
   


The second one was August: Osage County with Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, etc.  It was depressing, but very well done. 

Saturday and Sunday, the wind came up again---this time dumping lots of sand everywhere, including all over our rig again.  On Sunday, we just went shopping at our favorites:  Costco and Wal-Mart.  Saturday night we hit the redbox again and watched Hometown, starring Jason Statham (who is pretty good), James Franco (who is pretty bad), and Winona Ryder (who is apparently back from her cinematic exile, though obviously not yet finished with acting school). 


The movie was another generic shoot/blow-em-up, but was actually entertaining.  Sunday night we watched another redbox film: The Past.  It won a Golden Globe as Best Foreign Film this year, and for unexplained reasons was actually rejected for nomination for an Oscar.  In any event, it was excellent---notwithstanding the subtitles which normally bother me a lot. 


A couple of weeks ago, Becky bought me a motion monitor called Fitbit in an attempt to  see if I could get a bit more, well, fit.  After a shaky start, I finally hit a groove, and am now walking at least 2.5 miles a day.  (She won't let me back in the house after dinner unless the 2.5 miles have been verified.)  Of course, I feel better for the effort.


Tuesday was a busy day.  First, we were visited by Sundance Custom RV, a mobile service I had called  last week to service our air conditioners.  We had not had them serviced in the three years since we bought the rig, and it was time to deal with that issue.  In the past week, with the intense heat (a few days near or over 100 degrees), one of the units had started throwing its circuit breaker every half hour or so.  That's a bad sign. 


Keith from Sundance discovered that, somewhere along the line someone (quite probably one of the rig-wash people who use high pressure hoses) had bent the cooling fins and the blower motor blades, making the unit work very hard and cause the amperage drawn to rise to the point where the breaker would throw.  He fixed that problem and performed regular maintenance on the two units.  He also suggested we might look at them more often.  Good point.



Tuesday was also my last (I hope) visit with Dr. Czako for the season.  He looked at all of the latest test results and pronounced me fit to leave the desert on Thursday.  Finally!  That's the good news.  I celebrated by making a chopped olive sandwich for lunch.  It is one of my favorites and I have not had one for many years.

 
The bad news is that on Tuesday the bed cover on our truck broke and is now jammed in what is, thankfully, a position that is open enough that we can hook up the trailer.  After a very long phone call to the factory and visits to two dealers, including one on Wednesday morning, the advice is that we need to junk the old bed cover and order a new one.  Since we are leaving on Thursday (tomorrow) that means we will need to wait until we get to Nevada to complete the  transition.  And, of course, there is not a dealer where we are going (Pahrump) which will require us to go to Las Vegas for the installation.  That's OK. 

After shopping a bit  (two new sport shirts for me, for starters), and a delicious lunch at the Elephant Bar, 


we spent the rest of Wednesday just getting ready to leave the desert after what was supposed to be two and a half months but turned out to be more than four months.  Of course, I didn't realize that "getting ready to leave" would include a last minute decision by Becky to wash the rig.  We finished that at 6:00.   

      





Thursday, March 13, 2014

Wednesday, March 5, through Thursday, March 20, 2014: The Hawaii Adventure:


There was no rush Wednesday morning since we couldn’t check in at the ship until 12:30, so Becky worked out and I slept in.  (Being forced to rest is soooo tiresome.)  We finally headed for the Worldwide Cruise Terminal in San Pedro a little after 11:00, knowing we would be quite early.  By pre-arrangement, they were set to take me around in a wheelchair---just in case my body hadn’t recovered enough to let me operate on my own.  Even though I felt pretty well, I decided to let the situation play out.  Wow! If you can abide sitting in a wheelchair while appearing to the world to be able-bodied, that’s the way to go. 


I didn’t have to stand in any lines, we wheeled right up to the security gate, had a quick pat down while seated, and immediately stopped at a special check-in desk where there was no waiting.  When it was time to board, I was wheeled past a line of people and taken directly to our cabin.  Nice deal.  Becky had also arranged for a scooter on board---again just in case I needed it.  The thing was waiting for us when we got to the cabin.  It was a little large, and getting it into the cabin was quite a challenge.  Since I was feeling fine, we decided to just park it in the corner and not use it unless things change dramatically.  We call it our giant paperweight.


We had a nice (late) lunch of fennel salad and a chicken and pineapple sandwich at the International Café on Deck 5 in the Atrium area.  I had to have a ceremonial Mai Tai (actually, two of them) since we would be heading for Hawaii in an hour or so.  Delightful.  We then settled in and, after a quick tour of the ship, relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

 
We had dinner in the Capri dining Room.  We both had prime rib.  Nice.  We then went up to the Horizon Court to pick up small desserts, which we took to our cabin and washed down with a nice Zinfandel.  Thursday morning, we had a light breakfast at the Horizon Court, then Becky headed off for the gym while I got back into reading the tons of material I brought with me.  I also did a few crossword puzzles.  We went to the Portofino restaurant for lunch at 1:00, having one very talkative tablemate and five sphinxes.  I had mussels and a small Cobb salad.  Both were very tasty.  Dinner was a nice cioppino in the Capri dining room again, with some interesting tablemates, one pair of which, from Las Vegas, had been full-time RVers for 13 years, getting off the road 17 years ago.

Friday morning involved a light breakfast, a spinning class for Becky, and morning trivia for the two of us. 


Our team, including a couple from England, tied for first with 17 out of 21, but lost the tie-breaker question to another team.  The question was how many muscles a cat has in each ear, with the winner being the team with the closest guess.  The answer was 32.  One team got it exactly.  Wow!  Lunch was at the Horizon Court buffet, which today supposedly featured Asian food.  Nothing there looked familiar, but it was OK.  After lunch, Becky and I played two games of Rummikub.  We each won one.  Then it was nap time for me.

There is a “sport court” on this ship, which Becky discovered hosts paddle tennis each afternoon.  Becky played on Friday for the second day in a row.  She’s never played the game before, and is enjoying it immensely.

 
Friday evening was the time for “dress up” for dinner and the Captain’s Champagne Reception for the passengers.  We sat for dinner by ourselves at 6:00 in the Capri restaurant again (overcooked and only OK beef tenderloins for both of us) and we decided that we could pass on the reception (it started at 7:30)  without regret.  We’ve been on enough cruises that we know we can miss some of the goodies and still enjoy the cruise immensely.


Saturday morning we watched Definitely Maybe, on our cabin TV.  It starred Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weitz, and Kevin Kline.  Cute movie.  We then played trivia again, this time by ourselves, and didn’t do so well---getting only 13 out of 20.  I then finished Last Man Standing, by David Baldacci, a novel I’ve been reading for a week or so, while Becky worked out.  After a Latin-style lunch in the Horizon Court (the centerpiece was a tasty Brazilian feijoada)


we went to the main theater to watch About Time, starring Rachel McAdams and a bunch of Brits we’ve never heard of.  It was an absolutely delightful film---cute, funny, sad, sexy, quirky, and extremely entertaining.  Saturday night we had dinner (primarily club sandwiches washed down with a nice Malbec) via room service in our cabin.

Sunday morning after breakfast we played trivia again, this time joining with a couple from Montreal.  We were miserable---getting only 5 out of 20.  Arrrgh! 



After losing badly at trivia, we watched Letters To Juliet with Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave on our cabin TV.  It was a typical romance film, but kind of fun because most of it took place in Tuscany.  I’ve started reading an autobiography by Charles Grodin, How I Became Whoever It Is I Am.  It’s entertaining, even though he shows he’s very much in love with himself.  (He keeps reminding us how much he cares for his fellow man.)

Sunday afternoon we went to the Princess Theater to watch The Book Thief, with Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson, and an unknown girl who was terrific.  It was an odd, bittersweet, but very engaging film about an average German family during WWII, essentially just trying to survive while not precisely following the Nazi rules.  It was fascinating.  Sunday night we ate at the Horizon Court buffet, primarily blackened chicken, and returned to our cabin to relax.


Monday morning we landed at Hilo.  After breakfast we went ashore to join an all-day bus tour of Hilo and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  Our driver/guide was Jane, who was terrific.  We’ve been to Hilo before but only very briefly, and we’ve been to the national park and seen a lot of the Kilauea volcano area, but Becky needed to get her national park passport stamped there.  The tour of Hilo was very interesting and we’re very glad we went on that particular tour.  The only downer was that it rained off and on all day---sometimes very hard---but it didn’t really matter. 


For dinner we went to the Portofino Restaurant, one deck up from our usual place, the Capri Restaurant.  I had a wonderful piece of salmon.  Tuesday morning we landed at Lahaina, Maui.  Or, rather, we dropped an anchor outside the harbor and took a tender into the town, where we met our tour for the day---primarily a trip to Haleakala National Park.  Again, we’ve been there before but Becky needed her passport stamped. 


This time our driver/guide was Henry, who was also terrific.  It’s been several years since we had been to the crater, and it was nice to actually see it again and take the nice ride up the mountain.  The weather was fabulous all day and from the top we could see all the way to the big island---seeing the tops of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, more than 100 miles away.  As part of the tour, we had a surprisingly nice lunch at Casanova, an Italian restaurant in Makawao. 



When we returned to Lahaina, we stopped first at the Pioneer Inn.  Thirty-seven years ago, the first time I was in Lahaina, we discovered a drink called Harpoon at the Pioneer.  We got the recipe and the Harpoon became a favorite of ours for several years.  I ordered one at the Pioneer on Tuesday and the bartender said he had never heard of it.  Quite a disappointment!  We then walked along Front Street for a few blocks, had an adult beverage (my first mai tai actually in Hawaii this time) at Kimo’s,


and then took the tender back to the ship.  Becky immediately went aft and watched whales cavort for an hour.  We weighed anchor and left the harbor just before 6:00 PM, seeing a few more whales on the way out of the harbor.  We had initially thought we would have a room service dinner again, but Becky noticed on her way back from her solo whale watching that they were serving barbecued beef ribs at the grill next to the main pool.  So that’s what we had for dinner.


Wednesday morning we docked at the harbor at Nawiliwili (near Lihue) on the island of Kauai.  After a quick breakfast, I struggled successfully to finish Charles Grodin’s book.  He loves himself so much, it was hard to read---but I’m stubborn.  Becky headed out for a long walk, and I stayed back since my legs were tired from yesterday’s adventures.  After a while I felt guilty and decided to at least take the shuttle into the nearby shopping mall.  From there I walked to the Marriott Hotel (long ago, the Kauai Surf) where I walked the grounds then up to the lobby and down through the parking lot back to the mall. 


It was farther than I had expected.  After I returned to the ship I started another book, The Takeover, by Stephen W. Frey, an author with whom I’m not familiar.  At about 2:00, Becky returned from her hike, including a stop at Hilo Hatties for the purchase of a cute shirt, and we had had bratwurst and sauerkraut for lunch.  Becky then headed out for another walk, while I returned to my book.  After sailing out of Nawiliwili Harbor, we picked up dinner consisting primarily of pork sandwiches at the International Café on board,


and returned to our cabin to watch Philomena on our TV.  If you ignore the negative comments about Ronald Reagan, the entire Republican Party, and the Catholic Church, it was a well-done but only somewhat interesting movie.  One thing I’m wondering about---There were at least two prominent movies this award season that dealt with AIDS.  Since (I believe) AIDS stopped being a major scourge in the U.S. quite some years ago, why is it suddenly such a hot topic in Hollywood?  One answer suggested by Matthew McConaughey in his acceptance speech on winning the Oscar for his starring role in Dallas Buyers Club, is that it often takes such a long time to go from concept to theaters that otherwise newsworthy movies are often not very timely.



Thursday morning we docked at Honolulu.  We had arranged for breakfast in our cabin, consisting primarily of yummy Egg McMuffin look-alikes. 


After breakfast, Becky headed out for her first long hike of the day, while I read.  For lunch we took a taxi to the Outrigger Canoe Club at the far end of Waikiki Beach.  It’s a private club to which we got entry through a reciprocal arrangement with the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles.   The OCC is apparently famous for having been a hangout for Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) in Magnum, P.I.  (I never saw the show.)  I had a Mahi Sandwich.  Delicious!  And a couple of mai tais.  Yummy! 


Thursday night’s dinner in the Terrace Court was German in style.  I didn’t recognize any of it, and it all tasted like mystery meat.  Not yummy!  We were already asleep when we left Honolulu at 11:00 PM.  Friday morning we played Trivia again.  This time, playing by ourselves again, we got 12 (out of 20) correct, but still lost big.  The people who scored our card even missed one of the ones we got correct.  The nerve of them!  Friday afternoon we played Rummikub again, this time in our cabin, while we watched 27 Dresses.  If you need an explanation for the apparent death of Katherine Heigl’s career, just watch a couple of her movies.  Painful.  As is customary, Becky won both Rummikub games. 


For dinner we splurged on calories and fat by having pizza in our cabin.  How tasty!  That meant we skipped a dress-up night and the accompanying lobster.   


I finished reading The Takeover just after midnight Friday night.  Good read.  Saturday morning before breakfast we watched Quartet on our cabin TV.  We’d seen it before, and it was delightful again.  Before lunch we saw 12 Years As A Slave in the ship’s theater.  It was interesting and engaging, and some of its cruelty was very hard to watch, but neither of us thought it deserved the Oscar for Best Picture. 


We overate at lunch (Asian, again, but delicious this time.)  We’ll probably skip a formal dinner tonight as the result.  After lunch, Becky beat me at three straight games of Rummikub, the last of which I would have won but I didn’t see the winning play.  I picked up a new book, Rearview Mirror, an expose of the FBI, CIA, etc., written by someone named William Turner, with a foreword by Oliver Stone.  The book promises to be quite anti-government, but it might be interesting.
Sunday we had another losing shot at trivia in the morning,


followed by another losing day for me at Rummikub---although I did finally win one game from Becky.  We had lunch in the Crown Grill.  Today’s theme was pub food and I had fish & chips, naturally, washed down with a nice Bass Ale.  Very tasty. 


After lunch we watched Dallas Buyers Club in the Princess Theater.  It was good but not great.  A little depressing.  Because of the hearty lunch, we ducked a full dinner again and just had a hamburger and onion rings from the Trident Grill.  We watched 50 First Dates on the cabin TV, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.  I’ve seen it a number of times.  It’s a nice movie. 

Monday morning on St. Patrick’s Day was laundry time for Becky.  She’s so organized.  After breakfast I succumbed to the siren song of the casino on board, and headed for the blackjack table.  With a stake of $100 designated for entertainment, I first was down $95, then rebounded and ended up plus $65. 



I’d like to say it was the result of smart play, but that doesn’t explain the $95.  We then tried to spend the winnings but couldn’t find anything appropriate.  Amazing!
We played Rummikub before lunch, and I won the second game---with a move that Becky claimed was illegal.   After lunch we found some people who were Rummikub players---who confirmed that Becky was correct.  So my big win was nullified. 
Monday night was the final dress-up night, and we did just that so we could score a “surf & turf” consisting of lobster and beef wellington in the Capri Restaurant. 



It was tasty but not especially so.  We sat at a table for six, the other couples being from Korea (via Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they have lived for the past 51 years) and Arizona.  The Arizona people are dedicated cruisers---having a total of 171 cruises since 2006, just on Princess.  Previously, they had cruised on three other lines on which they had achieved the highest “loyalty recognition” status.  Needless to say, they are quite used to being treated like royalty, and are quite proud to explain how they like to complain when not so treated.  At the end of this cruise, they are going to visit a nephew in Torrance for the day, then get right back on the ship to repeat the Hawaii trip. 


After Becky hit the spinning class Tuesday morning, we watched Jack Reacher on our cabin TV.  It was better than I expected.  (I’m not a big Tom Cruise fan.)  We then had lunch in the Terrace Court.  It was billed as a sushi fest, but it was almost entirely mysterious rolls we didn’t recognize. 


In frustration, Becky insisted on buying a new watch---another Citizen Eco-Drive.  Then, out of guilt, she made me buy one, as well.  It is nice, I must admit. And they’re rather inexpensive on board.  Then we played Rummikub for a while.  I actually won two out of three games, legally.  In late afternoon, we watched Undertaking Betty, a delightfully funny British comedy, with Brenda Blythen, Alfred Molina, Christopher Walken, and Naomi Watts.  Tuesday night we again dodged a real restaurant and took dinner (mostly beef ribs) from the Horizon Court to our cabin---so we could watch the endless coverage of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.  “Coverage” suggests that there was any news involved---which there wasn’t of course.

Wednesday morning we docked at Ensenada about 8:00 AM.  I slept very poorly Tuesday night for no apparent reason, so I relaxed in the cabin while Becky went ashore at 10:30. 



I went ashore at noon, after turning in the Turner book---having abandoned it after only 33 pages.  As I had thought, it was essentially a debunking of everything good you have ever heard about our government.  I was last in Ensenada 25 years ago, and the town seems to have at least entered the 20th century.  The cruise ship dock area is very nice.  After touching a lamppost in town I turned around, got back on the ship, and hit the bar for a very delicious margarita.  Becky then returned from town and we had another one. 


After Becky beat me two-out-of-three in Rummikub, we went back to the Capri Restaurant for our final cruise dinner.  I had threatened all during the cruise to order fettuccini alfredo (also known as heart-attack-on-a-plate) which is on the menu every night.  I know it’s not good for you, but I remembered that I used to enjoy it many years ago.  So, I ordered it as an appetizer, planning on just having a few bites.  So much for good intentions.  I had a tough New York steak for my entrée and a delicious apple-something for dessert.
Thursday morning after a quick breakfast we headed for our designated disembarkation lounge. 


I figured I would have to lug my carry-on bag quite a distance getting off the ship and through immigration, customs, etc., so I opted for accepting being an invalid again.  Using a wheelchair was just as good getting off the ship as it was getting on the ship.  I zipped past all kinds of lines again.  Yippee!  We headed for Pasadena to see Becky’s dad (who was asleep the entire time we were there) then drove to Acton to pick up the dogs (who were very glad to see us) then drove to the RV park in Palm Desert. 



Altogether, it was more than 225 miles, and we arrived at 4:00 PM.  We decided to take the rig out of storage and check into the park.  We found a nice spot that was, however, very difficult to squeeze into (requiring the advice/help from five neighbors) and, after setting up enough to test the satellite dish, we had to move the rig a few feet to avoid interference from one of the zillion palm trees in the park.  Thus ended The Hawaii Adventure.