Prelude
After spending 6 years floating around in the Pacific Ocean, I had no particular interest in floating around in the ocean again to remind myself of how much I enjoyed it the first time, or to rekindle old memories or something.....so imagine my surprise when I was informed we were going on a cruise, and I was invited to come along. The thrill factor wasn't real high.
The upside to this was Christmas would be warm, a lot less stressful and if I had to get on a ship again, it wouldn't be for an extended stay in an engine room plus it would probably earn me a few brownie points.
Some Choice, Aye?
The downside would undoubtedly be the initial preparation for an extended stay away from home, especially when it involves transporting three canine companions to temporary accommodations at a doggie hotel.
The Dogs
Getting three dogs anywhere all by yourself is always a challenge. Thank god for rental cars. Utter the words 'Want to go for a ride?" and all hell breaks loose. TC is thrilled to go anywhere, runs around the car several times, pees on two of the tires and jumps in the back seat. And then jumps in the front seat. And the jumps in the back seat. Rufus thinks he is going to the hair dressers but is too short to get into the car so he starts jumping up and down, yapping to get in. Lily runs around the car excited and whining at the same time because she really wants to go somewhere but just knows something bad is going to happen if she gets in (Catahoulas have reallllly long memories).
I have to kick TC out of the driver's seat and this sets off another round of musical chairs with TC ending up on the passenger side floor, Rufus on the passenger side seat and Lily with the back seat all to herself. Lily's suspicions that something bad is going to happen are now reinforced because she is now by herself and she lets out a long, high pitched yelp.
TC, who is sitting on the floor and can't see much because he is sitting on the floor, whips his head around towards the direction of the whine and sends a nice long string of drool across Rufus and the passenger side window.
This is going to be fun.
The drive itself is actually relatively uneventful. I am met out front by the owner of "Cold Nose Kennels" and he seems like a nice enough guy. The two big dogs are far more interested in the noise coming from the other residents than the person holding the leashes, which reminds me I should have brought pinch collars along. Catahoulas can easily double as sled dogs.
I forgot to bring a leash for Rufus so in the process of dealing with the other dogs, Rufus slipped out and disappeared. A minute or two later the cacophony from the other hotel residents was raising to a fever pitch The kennel owner looked at me and said he thought we either found the dog or there was a coyote or skunk passing through the kennel.
What was Rufus doing?
He was running from kennel to kennel, pausing for a moment or two in front of each and jacking up the residents. When we finally caught up with him, he was standing in front of one kennel utterly fascinated with discovering a dog shorter than he was. I grabbed the little $&^#, deposited him in with TC and Lily and made a few choice comments about the general wisdom or lack thereof in owning cairn terriers. The kennel owner looked kind of amused and said the demonstration he just witnessed perhaps explained why he couldn't recall ever boarding a cairn terrier, and he had been running the business for many years.
I took that as my cue to vacate the premises lest he change his mind about boarding the little &^%&* or charging me extra for the privilege.
The Drive to San Pedro
It is impossible to ever set a real departure time so after hearing "I'll be ready in half an hour" three or four times, I am resigned to the fact that this is going to be a long, late trip. I try to do the bulk of driving in daylight because my low-light vision is crap anymore and driving into LA at night is not going to be fun. It has been over ten years since I've driven to Los Angeles and I doubt traffic has improved.
The Drive to south on 395 to Mono Lake is uneventful. You never know this time of year. Not much snow . Yet.
Top off the gas in Bishop, we stop at Schatts Bakkery and Burger King for some road food and get back on the road.
Around Lone Pine I note with some dismay that the sun is already at its zenith and there is still a lot of driving to do.
It suddenly dawns on me that there are two kids sitting in the back seat who are perfectly capable of driving and I inquire as to if either has done much driving down south. Jeff has, and I hand him the keys.
We not only make it into LA safely, but also manage to shave an hour off on our expected arrival time.
Thanks, Jeff.
The Next Day, Prior to Departure
Ever had the feeling you are being watched?
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The next morning we walked around the corner to the local liquor store to pick up some Thereflu, Mucinex and other sundry items.
Standing at the stoplight, we had the feeling we were being followed. It took a minute to locate the source of the unease. It was directly overhead. This thing followed our every move and it was fast. Its speed and the noise it made reminded me of something out of the first "Terminator" movie.
It looked kind of like a camera but it appeared to have lights in the center, instead of a camera lens. I did some asking around and found that it is actually a light source with a motion detector and the intention is to provide light for those withdrawing cash from a nearby ATM. at night. Apparently the area is not safe after 9:00 pm and this is part of the answer. It must have cost a fortune.
The speed and flexibility of movement it displayed was startling.
We decided to spend a little time walking along the pier.Lots of cargo ships in San Pedro.
Now this is an interesting way to celebrate Christmas!
Herons and Ice Plants. Two things you don't see together in Nevada. This guy let me get quite close.
A nice head shot.
Boarding the Ship
Boarding the ship was easy
Not a lot of room in these hallways. Consider the size and quantity of luggage you bring along.
The room was standard mid-sized, with a view.
Tip #1. Pack Light.
I pitied the poor souls in rooms smaller this this hauling in six and eight bags of luggage - you see them at airports too, can't go anywhere without packing the entire house into suitcases. They were walking and breathing luggage the entire trip. There were some rather heated moments a few doors down with people trying to go somewhere and having to contend with vast quantities of luggage to get there. Trips to the bathroom and tripping over luggage in the middle of the night would not be fun either.
Tip #2. BYOB or other favorite beverages.
There are dire warnings about what happens if you are caught bringing booze on the ship. Ignore them. Just don't advertise the fact. The worst they will do is confiscate it and return it when you leave. You can buy full liter bottles of hard liquor on board at very reasonable prices but you cannot buy a bottle of wine unless you buy a "Wine Package", which you get doled out one bottle at a time at twice the price during dinner. You cannot buy beer either unless you buy it from a bar or lounge.
And by the way, a 15% gratuity is added to every drink or beer you buy. You can of course add more if you wish.
Food, and as much of it as you want is free (relatively speaking). Liquids cost.
All liquids with the exception of Coffee, Tea, Iced Tea Lemonade and water cost $$. You cannot get a soft drink without buying a "Soft Drink Package". A soft drink package is about $5.00 a day and they provide you a soft drink plastic glass which a waiter will fill up for you.
You cannot go to a soda fountain and do this yourself.
I do not like this very much - You control the food and We control the liquids.
An hour prior to getting underway everyone is out taking photos.
The sun is setting quickly. A good time to try out the new camera. This one is a Canon 870 IS. Impressive shots from this camera.
San Pedro Harbor
A nice sunset, courtesy of Jeff.
The bridge at night.
Tip #3 - Lunch and Dinner - Sign Up Early
If you like to eat a formal dinner at a normal time, specify this at the outset or you will be eating late every night.
Lunch and Dinner are served two ways. One is in a formalized setting where you are waited on and the other is the informal buffet style.
Dinner in the formalized setting is served at two times - around 5:30 and a late one around 8:30.
Because we did not sign up for the earlier dinner immediately, we got stuck with the late dinner.
I think we did two formal dinners. It just wasn't worth the wait.
The food wasn't significantly different from the buffet style on the other end of the ship and the choices were quite limited.
I also am not really a fan of food which looks like this anyway. This was green herb encrusted fish in some kind of butter sauce.
The chef seemed to be quite big on primary colors.
Chefs aren't the only ones who can get creative.
Also for the privilege of eating this, don't forget there are suggested guidelines for the expected tips, I mean gratuities, for your head waiter and assistant head waiter.
After dinner, there are many ways to burn off some of those extra calories.
