our cruise {I know, I know…it’s about time}

I think I have had this started about 5 times now and always get interrupted…let’s see how this attempt goes.

{warning: if I actually get through it and don’t get sidetracked again, this will be long}

On Saturday (25^th) we got up bright and early to head to Lafayette to meet Mom. Ate lunch and then went printer shopping with Mom. After, she headed off with Jacey and we headed home. Took us literally FOREVER it seemed to get home, It was raining really hard and there were accidents all over. Outside of Baton Rouge, we were going no more than 10mph for at least 45 minutes…oy. Finally got home and then had to pack since we had been crazy busy the entire week. I was really stressed that we were going to forget something important, but luckily in the end we had everything we needed plus more.

Sunday (26^th), we slept in a bit, packed up the truck and headed out. Took us about 8 hours to reach Orlando where we proceeded to search out the hotel where our reservations were. Finally found it and the sinking feeling began. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere but we were so tired we were just going to deal. Get checked in and go to unload the truck…open the hotel room door only to find it was/had been very lived in. Definitely freaked me out to think I was walking in on someone. Called the front desk and they gave us another room. Go over there and there is a roach crawling up the wall….oh no, I was NOT having any part of that. Went and complained and they refunded our money…called a few more hotels listed on the GPS and ended up staying at the Best Western Oceanfront in Cocoa Beach. MUCH better.

Monday (27^th), we got checked out of the hotel and headed over to Ron Jon’s to kill some time. Went from there to the Royal Caribbean cruise terminal and got checked in. After we boarded the boat, we went and found our stateroom and then grabbed a late lunch. After, it was time for the bon voyage party up on the top deck. That night, the seas started to get rough and I felt horrible. I took some Dramamine and laid down after dinner for a short nap. Come time for the concert, I was feeling a bit better so we headed down to see Chris Cagle. He was feeling crappy too and still put on an AWESOME show, even with having to run off stage twice to get sick. During the show though, the seas got worse and by the time it was over, I felt like I was dying. I never imagined seasickness would be an issue, I practically grew up on the water but, I guess I was wrong. It was so bad that I sent Bryan down to find me something else since the Dramamine was doing nothing. He came back with some acupressure bands and I don’t know if it was that or falling asleep but something finally helped. I swore though, at that point, that I was NEVER getting on a cruise ship again…LOL!

Tuesday (28^th), the seas are calm….AWESOME! We arrived at Coco Cay and headed over to the island. Spent the day, relaxing in the sun and reading…I was really enjoying that. We were going to go snorkeling but the water was freezing, so we rented a paddleboat instead. Definitely got my workout in that day! Headed back to the boat late afternoon, took showers and crashed. We didn’t wake up until after midnight, so we ordered room service, watched Walk the Line and went back to sleep.

Wednesday (1^st), we arrived in Nassau, Bahamas. Headed into town, to do a bit of shopping; we hit a few of the stores in the shopping district and the straw market which was really cool. We headed back towards the ship to meet up with our tour group and set off. We explored Paradise Island, went to the Atlantis Hotel & Resort, Fort Wincastle and another fort that I did not catch the name of. Afterwards, he dropped us back at the boat and we just messed around killing time while waiting on our tender over to Paradise Island for the Kenny Chesney concert. Big Kenny and Dierks Bentley opened for Kenny Chesney that night. We all agreed though, that Big Kenny DOES NOT need to perform without Rich (Big & Rich)…he was horrible alone!! Dierks put on a good show though. Then KC came out and out on a great show as well. The best part though was that Uncle Kracker came out on stage while he was singing When the Sun Goes Down. That was pretty cool…I really like Uncle Kracker and didn’t even realize he was included in the price.

Thursday (2^nd), was our day on ship. We slept in and just took the day at a virtual snails pace. Bryan did the rock climbing wall, we went and wasted a bit of money in the casino and then kicked back on the promenade deck and read. That night, we saw two shows, Nashville Hitmaker’s (James Slater {wrote In My Daughter’s Eyes for Martina McBride as well as many other including some Tim McGraw songs}, Dallas Davidson {wrote Honky Tonk Badonkadonk}, Luke Bryan, Justin Levenson {Shania Twain’s percussionist} & Redneck Rockstars (Chad & Dtox)) which was a compilation of new recording stars and Grammy winning song writers and then Little Big Town. Both put on great shows although I would have to say the Nashville Hitmaker’s put on the best show of the whole cruise, it was just a lot of fun.

Friday (3^rd), the day to disembark; we slept in a bit and then got dressed and headed off the boat. Made it through customs, got our baggage and headed home. I think that is the only thing I would have done different with this whole cruise experience…I would have gotten a room in Cape Canaveral that night. The trip home was rough; we were tired from the cruise, so split shift driving and LOTS of caffeine finally got us home.

Since we have been back, it has been run here and run there. Getting the last of the paperwork finished to register Jacey in Saint Mary’s for next year, switching my plates from Texas to Florida since personalized plates here are less than half what they are in Texas, mailing packages, changing the oil in the truck, checking the brakes on the car, registering Jacey for t-ball and did I mention LAUNDRY!! You would have thoughts we packed our entire closet…oh wait, didn’t we?!?!

Anway, here is a rough idea of what my new plates are going to look like and a pic from the cruise.