20041218-cruise-friends-memories Part 2

[justmestace]

My darling husband Jay was still standing outside the van.
He had his passport in hand. He closed it. He put it in his back pocket. He buttoned the button on his back pocket. He checked his gorgeous reflection in the side-view mirror.
We are sitting there, quietly saying "Come on, Jay. Let's go"
"Get in the van, Jay" "Hurry, Jay" until it became more like this:
"GET IN THIS BLANKETY BLANK VAN NOW....OR WE WILL LEAVE YOU THE HECK HERE!"
He hops in, turns to look at us and says "What's the problem?"
No one in the van spoke after that for at least another half hour or more. One of the gals was crying.
Even Mr. Marine Corps Jay didn't say anymore.
Then I remembered the "Click". I said that I thought we were going to be shot when I heard the click. Our friend Anita began to giggle. We asked her what the devil was funny about what had just happened.
The "click" that I had heard was Anita TAKING A PICTURE OF THE GUY IN THE VAN TAKING THE BEER!!!
They could have killed us over that! We wanted to kill 'Nita over that!
But to this day, I'm glad she did it. I now have a picture of a Guatemalan bandit's butt.

 

[justmestace]

And the Tikal Ruins were beyond astounding.

When we went through the border back in to Belize, they sprayed the under side of the van for bugs. I thought that was the funniest doggone thing. As if the bugs can't just fly over the border all by themselves!

The next installment should be about the canoe trip down the river in Belize. Poisonous snakes, a hunter with a poison-dart blow gun, women washing clothes on rocks, and one canoe tip-over.

I guess it's no wonder the other wives don't go anymore.

Or maybe they just don't like me.......

 

[justmestace]

Maybe I shouldn't have had that nap. I could stay up all night telling stories, and reach 8000 all by myself. The nice part about writing my stories, is that if no one cares or they get bored, I won't ever know it!

Before our plane could land on Ambergris Cay, they had to have someone chase the goats and chickens off the runway.

We also had crates of live chickens in the row across from us. I think we were in First Class. Our two seats were directly behind the pilots, and I could see them pointing at something in the ocean below us, and looking excited and confused.
I was just hoping it wasn't part of our landing gear.

Oh well......fun it has been....but I guess I'll go to bed and try to sleep.

WONDERFUL TUESDAY MORNING TO ALL OF THE EAST COAST CRUISERS!! AND THE REST OF US TOO!!

Good night!

Stacey

 

[WDWLVR]

Good Morning Cruisers!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Stacey - great story. I would have been scared to death

Tinksdad - nice web site for the dives. Would you like me to link it to our main cruise page and put it in the next newsletter? I think others would like to see it.

Well off to read the boards and then back to work!

 

[gail1771]

Good Morning everyone. Happy Tuesday.

Stacey, WOW what a story. DH and I both would of been so scared. I think I would of pased out.

When we were in Curacao 2 years ago we were with another couple and decided to do our own thing off the boat. Well we went on a joy ride for over 1.5 hours till we got to the beach which was 15 minutes away. The driver took us in the mountains there( or what you call mountains) and picked up two men and than took us all over the island and finally droped us off a ways from the beach. I have no idea why they did this. We thought we had taken a cab-guess not. Eventhough it said cab on the car. We were all so nervous. It was so scary. All I kept thinking was about Emily and Ethan at home. Ethan just was 14 months old and they were with the in laws. I could not wait to get out of that car. Stacey, Your story was unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!


Today is the denist for root canal again. This time I hope it will finally be finished.

Have a great day everyone. TTYL-Gail

 

[tinksdad]

Originally posted by WDWLVR
Good Morning Cruisers!
...snip..
Tinksdad - nice web site for the dives. Would you like me to link it to our main cruise page and put it in the next newsletter? I think others would like to see it.

That would be Great , in fact I had in mind to ask you to do that exact thing. Your just on the ball!

 

[DVC4US]

I'm back, I'm back, I'm back. Finally!!! Now all I have to do is catch up on all the pages I have not read. It looks like it is going to be quite a few. We got home from Destin on Sunday and this is the first time I have had the chance to get on the computer. We leave again on Thursday to go back to Vegas to visit Mom for a little while and then we will be back home on the 16th.

Mom got out of the hospital on the 27th of July and is doing pretty good, just really tired all the time. I keep telling her she is recovering from 2 major surgeries and has laid in a hospital bed for over a month so it is going to take time to return to normal. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers and I will try to get caught up on the boards today. At least in Vegas I will have Mom's computer to stay caught up.

Everyone have a great day.

LeiLani

 

[Dancind]

Welcome back, Leilani! You will have to tell us about Destin when you get a chance. We are in a trip report mode this week! I think everyone should post their most outrageous experience on a trip. I haven't had any experiences that have come close to Stacey's or Gail's, but I may have something mild. Oh yeah, the GF story (short version).

Any divers (snorkelers too) wanting an excursion with fewer people and possibly cheaper than those offered through the ship, should check out Tinksdad website. Scroll up to one of his posts, and click on the link or the "www" button on the bottom. He didn't pay me to do this.

Stacey, so all they took was the beer? They didn't ask for money or anything? That's the bizarre part!

 

[justmestace]

Good Morning!

Off to school for registration...yippee!!!

Diana, nope, they didn't ask for money, which we thought was pretty weird too. Maybe there's nowhere in the middle of the jungle for them to spend it! I don't know, and I wasn't going to ask them. LOL

LeiLani!!! Good to "see" you!! At least we have saved you some money. You won't need to buy a book to read for a while!!

Off and running.

Talk to you all later!

Stacey

 

[seaulater]

Morning all!

Love the story Stacey-glad you got a picture for your posterity so they can talk about it when you are long gone-"Look at what my great great grandma did---" It will definitely be a topic of discussion!

Okay, I am trying to figure out how I am going to get to WDW before December. I have a business trip Oct. 28-31 in Atlanta. Maybe I could fly over to MCO on Sun. morning the 31st and do the WDW Halloween party. But dang, how could I have fun without my daughter? Hm...maybe I could drag her along to business meeting (have her stay at her aunt's in Atlanta) and then we hop over to WDW for the day and fly home Monday. There is no school on the 28th and 29th, so she would only miss one day. Good thought.

Or...I just got an email about a User's meeting for our accounting software which is sometime in November in Orlando. I have emailed Fundware (our accounting software co.) and asked them for the dates so I can figure something out.

I do have a Delta buy one get one free, so the DD could go for free (well, whatever that means).

I am just so jealous of all you guys and all your trips to WDW without me! Anyone going to WDW in October or November?

Linda

 

[tkd lisa]

Hi everyone! Did you miss me? It's been a hectic long weekend.

Right after I posted on the thread Friday morning, my phone rang. The kids started singing the theme song for our local amusement park, and of course, I couldn't let them go without me could I? DH had taken the day off, and they decided that's what they wanted to do. So it was off to King's Dominion. I got the tickets at our rec office, and met DH and the kids. Of course, DH brought me two pair of shorts and a set of sandals, just like I asked. Except the shorts he picked up were the ones the kids had outgrown! He actually tried to cover that up by saying that since I've lost so much weight, he thought that they should fit me! (They were size 8 girls and size 6 boys, so I DON'T THINK SO!) It was a fun time anyway, and thank goodness I was wearing capris to work that day, instead of a dress! We stayed until nearly 10, and the park is 2 + hours away, so it was a late night (sorry I didn't make it to chat!)

Saturday was pretty much spent recovering and doing housework. Sunday, DD and I sang at both church services, DS and I took a friend of his bowling (since the pool was rained out), then I took both kids to see a musical our local parks and rec put on. They did "Honk", which is the story of the Ugly Duckling. It was very cute. But speaking of migraines, one started building up while we were bowling, and it was just awful during the musical. I ended up staying home yesterday and finally got rid of it about noon.

This morning, I took DD to meet the bus for Wyld Life Camp (it's the Junior High version of Young Life). Thankfully, the rain stopped about the time we got there, since loading 109 kids in the pouring rain would NOT have been fun! She comes back late Saturday.

Gail, the Girl Scout camp DD went to for theater was Potomac Woods. It's in Leesville, which is just west of DC (pretty near Tina in fact!). It's not an entire theater camp, they just offered the theater badge last year. I don't know if they do it every year, since I wasn't looking for it this year. She also did the horse camp, and I'm pretty sure they do that every year, since I've seen it on the list every year she's been eligible. For the money, the scout camps really do offer a wide variety of options.

Oh, by the way, I think I called 8000. I'll try to keep watching to be sure I get it!

And Stace, what a story! I just can't imagine!

Leilani, welcome back and I'm glad you're Mom's recovering.

Finally, can you spare a prayer for my FIL. They're fiddling with his heart medication, since the levels are out of whack, and he's feeling pretty lousy. MIL said that if they can't get things straightened out, they won't take the trip. She's pretty worried, because he's convinced that he's not going to make it, which just makes the symptoms (shortness of breath and chest pain) worse.

That's about it here. Have a great day everyone!

 

[WDWLVR]

Lisa - sounds like you had a fun weekend! You didn't miss much in chat at all.

8000 is yours. Just keep an eye on the thread to make sure a doesn't get it!

 

[Dancind]

Lisa, I'll remember your FIL in my prayers. Oh my, he needs an attitude adjustment, though! Hope he decides to be a fighter soon. We have a nephew in the hospital. He was on his bike Saturday night, and got hit by a truck that ran a stop sign and then left the scene. The driver was drunk, but they got them. DN is doing pretty well considering, but may lose a kidney. There's quite a DUI problem in NM. If you live here, odds are good it will touch your family at some point. Another good reason to move!

Bought the new DVD today of 13 Going on 30. For our trip, don't you know, taking the laptop. We saw it at the theater the night before DD's 13th birthday, cute movie.

Linda, Oct/Nov is a great time to go! The Food & Wine Festival is definately on my Wish list, but DD only gets two days for Fall break, hardly worth the air fare. Not sure the kids would be all that thrilled with F&W anyway, but I'm sure they would like Mickey's Halloween party! You might want to check the dates for that.

 

[tkd lisa]

Diana, how horrible about your nephew! I'll keep him in my prayers as well. I had a cousin who was hit by a drunk driver about 15 years ago. My cousin was on his bike as well. The combination of bike and car/truck just isn't a good one. I think that guy had 2 or 3 convictions before the accident. It's absolutely awful!

Mary, I agree about FIL's attitude. My MIL is just beside herself. That reminds me, I need to call and check in before I leave work. I tried earlier and got no answer.

Bye all. Lisa

 

[seaulater]

Diana-I lived in Farmington, New Mexico back in the early 80's. Worked at the hospital in admissions. We saw so many come in from accidents with drunk drivers since we were very close to the reservation. It was so sad. It broke my heart everytime I had a family in admitting that had been in an accident like that.

Glad to not work in that field anymore, it could be so depressing!

Linda

 

[justmestace]

T.O.P. !!!

The hasn't left yet!!

Back later, have some work to do...just popping in!

 

[paulcrsb]

Stacey - Nice story! I don't think I'll leave even leave my stateroom now!

Paul

 

[justmestace]

Nah...you can't let one little incident like staring down the wrong end of a machine gun keep you from having fun!

 

[justmestace]

Gail, I was going to tell you that my parents had a similar cab ride in California once. The driver took them all over kingdom come before finally taking them to their hotel. They were plenty worried, too.
We were in Curacao for 12 days in December 2000. If you were on a cruise ship, you were only about 10-15 minutes by car from one of the best beach locations. Your driver must have been out to make some good money. It's an almost straight shot along the coast from the cruise terminal to Lion's Dive, which has a great aquarium, cafe, a semi-submersed sub so that you can see underwater w/o getting wet, a dive shop, and an enclosed snorkeling area with tons of fish. Nearby are sea turtles in a separate area, and shark in another enclosed area. And if you're adventurous, you can go out and snorkel in the open ocean.
I will give the driver this much, if you were headed to any other beach beside the one I mentioned, it is a long, convoluted drive. There are actually very few "beaches". Curacao is a desert island, not at all tropical, and most entries into the ocean are pretty rocky.
There's really only two ways to get to where most of the "beaches" are. And both of them go all the way around the island from the cruise terminal. It's just the weird way they laid out their roads. And the people there drive like maniacs.
Can't tell you how may wrecks we saw. I am almost always the driver...but after two days I told Jay to drive. I was not going out there with those people on the roads again!

 

[justmestace]

Well, I am now totally packed and ready to go. Only two more sleeps!
Who's going to be in charge of the "Good Morning"?? Mary seems to do the best at getting it done when I'm gone. Are you up for it, Mary??
Decided not to take the new lap top. You still have to pay to get the cable to connect, and that seems silly for just a couple of days. Megan plans on going to the business center to e-mail, so I may go with her and check in from there.
I had planned on just doing laundry tomorrow and little else. At least , that was the plan. DH has a pile of invoices for me to write up and mail out. I guess it pays for the cruises. And it is my job, I suppose.
And just why, exactly, doesn't money grow on trees?
Then again, I have absolutely no green thumb, so I guess it's just as well.

Lisa...what a weekend! Where do you get the energy?? I will most assuredly keep your FIL in my thoughts and prayers, and Diana, your nephew, too. I don't see how drivers can be so careless. Our friend Phil was hit two years ago, and the driver never caught. It was a hard phone call to his parents, as they lost their only daughter while she was riding her bike, and was struck by a car.

Off for a while....have a great evening. Mom says they are getting awful storms in Omaha. Everyone else doing okay out there?

Better start building that Ark!!!

Stacey

P.S. I bought "13 Going On 30" today too. One of my friends kept pestering me to see it, and after going to three stores, I finally found it! Figured it would give Megan and I something to watch on the plane.