Amanda brought Benjamin over today to play with Jack (Tuesday is Ben and Jack day in the Engler and Parks households).
I spied them in the backyard, so I grabbed the camera for a few quick shots:


The place to learn about the Engler family
Amanda brought Benjamin over today to play with Jack (Tuesday is Ben and Jack day in the Engler and Parks households).
I spied them in the backyard, so I grabbed the camera for a few quick shots:
I’ve been taking lots of photos lately. Here are a few:
This morning came early. Christine woke up around 4:00 a.m., then fell back asleep. I woke up around 5:00 and couldn’t fall back to sleep. So I got up and walked around the boat, waiting for them to finish docking.
By 6:30 a.m. they were done docking, and they were letting people off the boat, based on what floor people were staying on… so Christine got up and we started packing.
We were done packing and out the door by 7:30 or so, and we made it through Customs by 8:15. By 9:00, we were in our car, on the road headed for Austin.
We meant to stop by and see Raymond and pick up a rocking chair for Elise from him, but Loop 610 was under construction, and they’d closed the exits to I-10, so, when we found ourselves on 290, we just hightailed it to Austin.
We did make a pit stop in Cypress to buy some new windshield wipers for the Honda… the old ones sucked, and I could barely see through the rain coming down.
We got to Austin around 12:30 p.m., hugged Mary and Frank before they left, and put Jack down for a nap. We both swear that Jack has grown a few inches, and is acting much older after being away from him for a week.
We’re both exhausted, and are suffering from a mild case of land-sickness. That is, our inner-ears still think we’re on a boat that’s rocking back and forth, but our feet tell us that we’re in our house, and it’s not rocking back and forth. Think reverse sea-sickness.
We’re going to watch the Olympics again tonight, and pass out from shear exhaustion early.
Here’s a quick round up of the last few photos I’m posting from our trip:
| On Wednesday night, Christine and I ate dinner and then headed to the Talent show, which started at 10:00 p.m. Dinner was great, as usual. I had Schnitzel and Beef Wellington as my main course. Between dinner and the talent show, we went up to the top deck to tour a little at night, and we had fun taking photos of us fighting the wind at the back of the ship. The talent show was fantastic. Six fellow cruise guests were brave enough to get up on stage and share their talent with us. There was a girl that played piano from New York, a lady that sang a wonderful song about San Francisco, and a guy that did a great piece from Fiddler on the Roof. Then an old guy got up on stage with his little bity trumpet and did a wonderful rendition of Hello Dolly in the spirit of Louis Armstrong. After the guests performed, the crew of the Elation got up on stage to do a skit called “If I Were Not Upon the Sea” which was basically each crew member personifying a job they would have if they didn’t work on the cruise ship, while singing and acting out their jobs “in the round”. It was quite funny. We stayed up until midnight, which was our latest night on the cruise. On Thursday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to Cozumel. We weren’t docked at a port, as the piers in Cozumel were all destroyed this year by the hurricanes. We had to take a little tender boat ashore. On the way to shore, I snapped a photo of what remains of one of the main piers… pretty crazy that a hurricane could really destroy that much steel and concrete: Once ashore, we shopped a little (and met a parrot and a donkey waiting to have their picture taken), and we bought Jack a little mexican ybarra shirt which we think will be really cute once we get him dressed in it. We also picked up a few charms for free… the stores were giving them away as enticements to get us to buy something. After shopping we headed out for Paradise beach, by way of Downtown Cozumel… we needed to find an ATM, and there’s only one or two on the island. Here’s a map of the island, in case you’re curious. Paradise beach is about half way between Puerta Maya (were our cruise ships docked) and Punta Sur, on the west side of the island. Cozumel is north of Puerta Maya. Paradise beach was fun… beautiful crushed shell beach, with lots of chairs and umbrellas. We paid for a couple of chairs and an umbrella after finding all of the free ones were taken, and we sat down to enjoy the sun. I walked back out to the road to take a photo of a sunflower I’d spotted on the way in… then grabbed a few beers before sitting down to read. We read for a few hours, and then I bought lunch. There was a $40 minimum if you used a credit card. That’s a lot of beer in Mexico my friends. Needless to say, when we got back to the boat, I was pretty worthless, and went to bed early. But, on the way back to the boat, we picked up a hand-made recorder for Jack, and then got in line with our good friends from the cruise (we found some people we didn’t know near the front of the tender line, and they let us cut in line with them). Last night we took it easy and watched the end of the women’s ice skating at the Olympics… This morning we got up to enjoy our last day on the cruise, as tomorrow morning we sail into Galveston. We laid out today from about 9:30 until noon, but not until both of us had lathered up in plenty of SPF 30 sun block. We were dying hot at noon, so we found some shade and read inside, in the air conditioning for another 30 minutes. Then we headed to lunch outside, where we watched the cruise line’s version of “Survivor at Sea”. What makes these people get up and compete in these games astounds me, but they’re always funny. After Survivor, we headed in to watch “The Newlywed Game”. Three couples competed. Once couple had been married 50 years, one 25 years, and one 5 days. Needless to say some of the answers were hilarious… and after 50 years, that one couple wasn’t ashamed of much… Hilarious. We stuck around and palyed BINGO again. $60 down, nothing to show for it… but we do get to keep the BINGO cards! WOOHOO! (That last woohoo is heing yelling in my best Erin Taylor immitation voice.) It’s about 4:45 p.m. on Friday afternoon as I type this, and we’re about to get ready for dinner, and we’re planning on spending some time outside enjoying the sunset before we head into Galveston tomorrow. Fun times folks. We’re really enjoying this cruise, and vow to do it again something in the next 20 years. Something else I should point out. The staff that makes up our rooms always puts a little towel animal in our room, and it’s pretty cute.The Cruise – Talent Show night, Cozumel and a day at sea
We’re going to go lay out in the sun today, and try to even out our sunburns, so we don’t look stupid when we get back on shore.
This morning (written on Wednesday, 2/22), our boat docked at Puerto Progresso, Mexico.
Christine and I went ashore around 10:00 a.m. after eating breakfast at the breakfast buffet. After we disembarked the boat, we took a bus into Progresso (the boat docked forever and away from the town… about 10 minutes by bus).
We got off the bus, and Christine called home on our cell phone, to check on things. Home is fine… as is Jack and the Grandparents. I toured the market while Christine was on the phone, and I saw the meat market… ugh. Lots of really fresh fish out under the hot sun covered in flys. I guess the flys keep the fish clean?
We then got on a tour bus headed for Merida, the capital city of the Yucatan state. Merida is about 4 hours from Playa del Carmen, 4.5 hours from Cozumel, and 1000 miles from Mexico City (or so our tour guide told us).
We drove the 20 miles to Merida, and got out at a monument to the Yucatan Mayans, that told the story of the city and state. It was interesting, and I took a few pictures there. Miss Yucatan 2003, 2004, and 2005 were at the monument to take some photos while we were there. I should have taken a few photos of them… heh… but I didn’t. Gosh.
Today was the first day of Carnival, so there were lots of preparations for Carnival in the two cities we visited. And lots of kids going to see the festival.
We got to the city center in Merida, deboarded the bus, and went to the main cathedral. Got some good shots in there. It was interesting to me that Jesus wasn’t nearly as beat up in this church as he was in Guanajuato… I guess life’s a little easier in Merida than it was in Guanajuato.
We then went over to the State Government offices to use the restroom before heading off on our own.
The town square was beatiful… and there were lots of folks just hanging out passing the time talking. I think they were waiting on the parade that kicks off Carnival:
We walked down a few streets to find something to eat. We found a pretty decent place to eat, and had a plate of Nachos Especiale (Nachos with beef and Guacamole – good stuff). Fancy… I know!
Then we shopped for 15 – 20 minutes before heading back to the boat. I bought a bottle of Jim Bean for $10 before we got on the boat… it’s rediculous how much a drink on the boat is. Seriously. I think each drink is at least $5… that’s rediculous…
We then trecked back to the boat, tired and still sunburned… and probably a little redder than when we got off the boat. Merida was fun, and it’s interesting to me how these Mexicans have learned how to get money out of us tourists. On both bus rides to and from Merida, we were offered beer… at $1 a piece… which is cheaper than on the boat, but I guarantee the markup us about 75 percent… considering we’re stuck on the damn bus and it’s 95°F outside… who’s not going to buy a beer or two?
Anyways…
We got on the boat, and headed to our room to take a nap. We ended up watching the movie “Fantastic Four” while our boat headed out to sea. If you haven’t seen it yet, you aren’t missing much.
Tonight is “Guest Talent Show” night, and we’re looking forward to seeing some of the other guests on the boat make fun of themselves. Tomorrow: Cozumel.
Tuesday night was formal night, so Christine and I got dressed up. We looked pretty spiffy. I was wearing a swell tie and suit combination, with french cuffs and silver cuff links. Christine wore a sleek black top and skirt combination, with pearls.
We tried to tone down our lobster burns a little with bronzer. It worked for her, but I looked like a cross between Poe (the red teletubbie for those of you without kids) and David Hasselhoff… but more like Poe.
The Captain of the ship, Giuseppe Denado, and his gang of mobsters, I mean the ships’ officers, were hosting a cocktail hour, complete with dancing and live music before dinner. Drinks and appetizers were free, so Christine and I were there. We sat down, and five minutes later we were up and headed back to the room. Poor Christine wasn’t feeling well.
Dinner was to be served at 8:00, so I waited until 8:15 to get changed into more comfortable clothes. We were all dressed up with no place to go.
Christine started feeling better around 9:00, so we laid in bed and watched the Olympics again.
Wednesday morning, I woke up at 6:45 a.m., thanks to the sounds of our ship coming into port. We were arriving at Puerto Progresso, Mexico. Since I was wide away, with no real hope of falling back to sleep, I grabbed the camera and headed top-side. I was hoping to grab a few good photos of the sun rise, or of the port, or something… and maybe have a good cup of coffee before waking Christine up.
I took the photos, and got the coffee, but I forgot to change my film speed after the sun came up. Gotta remember that next time.