Snowmobiling in Yellowstone February 2013

Rich, Mitch, and Cara took a snowmobiling trip through Yellowstone Park this weekend.  They spent Saturday night in West Yellowstone and headed into the park from there Sunday morning.  They spent the day making the loop through the park, stopping at Old Faithful Lodge for lunch and to watch the geyser blow.  The weather was great, and they saw lots of buffalo, elk, and two bald eagles sitting on a branch together.  They are solitary birds, so to see them together was rare.  They are talking about making it an annual adventure, so if anyone is interested, let us know!

Blake and Robin in Mexico February 2013

I attached a picture from a bar/restaurant we went into, they had all sorts of plates from the US but this was the first one I saw. We had another great time, stayed in the historic old town/ romantic zone district, walked all over the place, there are great restaurants, coffee shops and palapa bars everywhere.

 

Lots of baby boomers down there, they were the vast majority, well that and dogs. I bet 2 of every 10 people had a dog on a leash.

 

This part of town also borders the gay friendly neighborhood just to the South, so we saw lots of "fellas" too, but nothing that bothered us other than a huge overuse of Speedo's :)

 

We stayed in an older hotel on the beach, it's older but well kept and clean. It had a beautiful lobby and pool area along with plenty of security. There's not much for the security guys to do because the area's pretty darn safe, lots of 'tourist police' around the beaches and busy sidewalks in the area to keep the riff-raff out. So their security guards wear many, many hats. For instance one showed us rooms we could choose from. I saw him another day guiding a scared lost child to his parents, they mainly do stuff like that. That particular guy is the hotel managers husband.

 

The room we stayed in was a bit dated but the maid kept it spotless. Couldn't beat the location, everything was just steps away from the hotel, lots of people and things going on. Certainly not quiet like the bigger resorts, that's an entirely different vacation.

 

We could have paid more and went all-inclusive at this hotel but wanted to eat out instead, I don't think in the end it cost us anymore and we had some great food and the best tacos ever. Beer was cheap enough, the most it costs in the nicer restaurants is $2.50 to $3 a bottle, we even found a nice place on the beach that sold ice cold beers for a buck and you were free to use their palapas, tables and lounge chairs on the beach. They had $1 margaritas too.

 

Breakfast at most restaurants was around $5 each but they'd nail you on juice. Lunches were cheap too, around the same price maybe a buck or two more. Or you can get tacos from the taco stand guy for a buck a piece, you just keep asking for more until you can't eat anymore, they're little tacos, then his wife takes your money :)

 

Dinner prices were reasonable too, depending on where you ate it could cost $10 to $15 each or more if you went to the fancy, wait in line, type restaurants. Those places prices were more in line with what we pay in the US.

Cruise Nightmare

I have often joked that there are worse things than being stranded on a cruise ship.  In my fantasy there are plenty of drinks and lots of food, and it's sort of just some extra sea days--which are my favorites.  But this Carnival Triumph fiasco has me rethinking my fantasy.  No air, no drinks except warm bottled water, onion or ketchup sandwiches, and only a few working bathrooms would possibly put me off cruising forever.  Worse still, why couldn't they take them off a few at a time on smaller boats or helicopters?  In this day and age there are plenty of alternatives to people sitting on sewer-soaked carpets.  Ridiculous!!!!  I am more than willing to cruise again, but I doubt it will be on Carnival.  I have to think it could have been handled so much better. Shame on them.

Some of Jared's photos!

                                       

Jared's Off!

He's off to the inauguration!  Sing pretty, and try not to become too enamored of the political life!

The Skabelund December 2012 Cruise!

We got a Promenade room this time.  We overlooked the promenade.  We wondered if it might be a little noisy, but it was just fine.  There was only one parade this cruise.  They have teamed up with DreamWorks, so it was Madagascar characters.  I think I liked the other ones better.  We watched it from our room so my pictures aren't great.  Several times during the cruise certain characters would be available at certain places so the kids could go meet them and do photos and such.  Might be fun if you had little kids.

 

The entertainment was great this time around.  Maybe it's just cuz I'm comparing to the Carnival cruise in Nov.  It was so much better than that.  The first production number was called "In The Air".  It was acrobatic like Cirque Du Soleil with music too.  I enjoyed it, but Marty thought it was boring.  One night they had a group that looked and sounded like the Beatles.  They were absolutely amazing!!!  Called the Beatle Maniacs I think.  If you ever get the chance, go see them.  It was really fun.  The last night was Saturday Night Fever The Musical.   Apparently the movie was made into a musical and has been on Broadway and such.  People had been talking about it from day one so we were really excited to see it.  It was BORING!  We all wanted to leave (like lots of other people did) but couldn't bring ourselves to be that rude.  I think they did a good job with it, but I didn't like it as a musical and didn't care for the arrangements of the music.  Also, there were several songs that weren't even in the movie.  Anyway....

 

We spent one day in Haiti.  None of us wanted to hang on the beach or get in the water, so we just shopped a little and walked a LOT!  Marty's knee bothers him, so all the walking and ship stairs was hard on him.  Not to mention that two days before the cruise he woke up with a killer backache.  Ended up making two visits to the chiropractor before we left.  It's still bothering him, but he's treating it with therapy and heat and such.

 

We spent a day in Falmouth, Jamaica.  It's a fairly new port for RCCL I think.  There were tons of stores right off the ship.  Everything there is brand new.  We opted not to do any excursions.  Just shopped and enjoyed the empty ship.  

 

So there were several major changes this time around.  One thing was the Bingo.  The first 2-3 days there was only one game per day.  Not one session, but ONE GAME.  That seemed a little strange.  We only did bingo for the Win A Cruise session.  We didn't even get close on the cruise bingo, but Marty won a game in that session.  Sadly, he had to split it with another winner, but it was still almost $150.  

 

There are now electronic screens by all the staircases.  They are touchscreens.  You can look up certain venues on the ship and it will give you directions of how to get there from where you are.  It also has the cruise compass on it so you can always know what is going on.  Can't remember what else is on it, but they were handy.

 

They have completely changed their menus and food.  There was NO escargots this time.  Every night there is a different theme to the dinner menu.  One night was saffron, one night jasmine, etc.  The food was still very good, but I thought there were better menu choices before.  I still think that the choices were much better than the selections on Carnival though.  

 

I remember thinking on the Feb. cruise that it was almost boring cuz everything was exactly the same as my past cruises and it had been several years since I'd cruised.  Now they made changes and I kept thinking that I wished things were like the old days.  I guess there is just no pleasing me.  At any rate, we had a nice, relaxing time.  Marty got a nap every day, so I think he felt right at home!  I'd go hang out on deck or in the movie theater while he slept.  Mostly with Matt and Liz. 

Sharmi and Shelley Go Cruisin'

Our cruise took us out of L.A. to Catalina, CA and Ensenada, Mexico with a day at sea thrown in.  It was a celebration of Mary Beth's 40th birthday, and she took with her Darcee (Libby and Blake that's Darcee Baldry from Alkali), me, Tina, Karen, Brandy (Darcee's cousin), and Shelley.  The only person missing was Mom!  We had a great, relaxing time.  

We did some 70's dance moves.  The instructor was amazed at how quickly we caught on!  That's Shelley, me, MB behind me, some dude, and Darcee!  Darcee really had the moves!

On the final night we broke out the mustaches!  

Shelley looked like Sonny Bono!

I look like Hitler, though it was a Charlie Chaplin 'stache.  

Mitch and Cara are quite sure it was the perfect mustache for me!