22 April 2024 Getting settled back home

 We slept in late, enjoying our own bed! David got the truck batteries connected back up and it started on the first try! Then we worked on unpacking, doing laundry, making a grocery run, etc. We were so happy to be home doing normal things again!

21 April 2024 Los Angeles, CA to Houston, TX

 Surprisingly, we did not have to work our way through a picket line to checkout in the morning. Apparently, they were sleeping in. But when we got in the line for the shuttle to the airport we were surrounded by a large Japanese tour group. Somehow, we managed to squeeze all that group of Japanese tourists (another group came out as we were loading) and a few more of us. We had to stand, and there was some pushing and shoving, but at least we were on our way. Our flight was leaving out of the international terminal according to the AA app on our phones. Unfortunately, due to construction, the shuttle could not drop us off at Terminal B, so we got off at terminal 3 and dragged/pushed our bags to terminal B. Once there, we looked at the assignment board and realized that we had to go to terminal 4 to check in for our flight! So we dragged/pushed our bags another ½ mile to terminal 4 to check in. We were amazed when we did not have to pay any overweight charges (one of our bags weighed in at 62lbs, the rest at or below 50lbs)! Then we had to walk all the way back to Terminal B to board our flight. David hates flying from LAX!! Once on board we settled in for our first class ride to DFW. We had a short connection in Fort Worth, but made it with time to spare. Back in Houston, Cynthia and Felix met us at the airport and picked us up. We stopped on the way back to the Wanderer for some much needed Mexican food! Then they took us home! Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home! Cynthia and Felix had visited the Wanderer earlier in the day and left us some much needed supplies (coffee, wine, bread, cheese, lunch meat, bacon, eggs, flowers, etc) to get us through the first few hours home. Thank-you Cynthia and Felix!! David got the air conditioners started and connected the water back up and we were in business! Sleeping in our bed felt soooo goooddd!!

Home Sweet Home!

20 April 2024 Port of Los Angeles, CA

 We were up early so we could vacate our cabin on time. We were in disembarkation group Green 2 since we did not have to go to the airport to make flights. We went down to the main dining room and got some breakfast while we waited for our group to be called. The shipped docked on time at the cruise ship terminal in the port of Los Angeles at 8am. Since we had gone through Immigration Control at the first port in Hawaii, we did not have to do that again. When our group was called about 08:30, we checked out of the ship one last time with our cruise cards and headed into the terminal. We were guided to where our luggage had been placed and found everything in order. We were surprised to find out we did not have to go through customs at all. No declaration forms, no lines, no inquisition, just grab our bags and head for the taxi line. (Sidebar: While waiting for our taxi, we watched as people we got acquainted with during our trip found their ways out of the terminal as well. One couple, probably in their late 70s, we liked to watch on our trip loved to dance.  She was tiny and petite, with a short, sassy hair cut, while her husband was nice looking with white hair and trimmed mustache.  Every day they would go to the Horizons Lounge for Happy Hour and whirl on the dance floor to the sounds of the ship’s band. She was always dressed to the nines, wearing beautiful short batwing dresses or sheaths with matching shoes, jewelry and purses. They were a very smart looking couple.  They pulled up behind us in line to wait for transportation. It should have been no surprise they had an attendant pushing a huge baggage truck loaded with 15 bags!!! Of course they had a ton of luggage, it only made sense! We couldn’t imagine where they even stored those bags during the cruise. Hilarious!) We took a taxi ($60) to the Sheraton Four Points by LAX airport. As we rolled into the lobby, we were met by a loud group of people walking in a picket line yelling in Spanish in front of the checkout counters. David looked it over and pushed his way up to the counter and checked us in (to heck with the strikers). Surprisingly, they had a room ready for use given it was only 10am. David noticed the hotel restaurant seemed to be closed and asked what the status was. They were unsure, but it seemed the restaurant was closed due to the strike. Then we pushed our way through the chanters to the elevators. It seems they were part of the house keeping staff and were picketing for better benefits. We got to our room and were surprised by the layout. There was a lot of unused space, the furniture was old and the bathroom was worn. Definitely not Marriott’s best property. With the restaurant closed in the hotel, we had to walk 4 blocks to the restaurants in the adjacent Marriott property. There were a few homeless and drug users wandering around and sleeping (passed out?) on the sidewalks we had to keep an eye out for. Definitely not somewhere we will ever stay again. Otherwise, we are anxious to get home.

Ships Navigation Map

Goodbye Regatta

14-19 April 2024 At Sea from Lihue, Kaua’i, Hawaii, to Los Angeles, CA

 We pulled out of Port in the morning with rain and fog. Once out of the harbor the waves picked up. We had 12-15 foot waves, 45-55MPH winds, rain and fog all day the 14^th and 15^th. The spray from the ship breaking the waves was soaking our veranda. The sun broke out for a few hours and the winds and waves were reduced on the 16^th before clouds and rain moved back in during the evening. We finished the shell necklace Monday in the native crafts class and have our final class on native weaving today. Leslie did great at the weaving but David’s looks a little rough. The remainder of the sea voyage (17^th – 19^th) were cloudy with occasional glimpses of sun but the temperatures were in the sixties, so the pool crowd thinned considerably. The seas were calmer with wave heights of only 3-5 feet. We spent the days reading in the cabin, or in the library, going to social events with some of the folks we had met on board and looking forward to disembarking. We did manage to spend more time on our veranda than we had been since the temperatures, winds, and waves were more comfortable. Leslie ran loads of laundry since she did not want us putting stinky clothes in our suit cases. On the 19^th we packed our bags, except for what we would need for the next morning. David was surprised that everything squeezed into our four bags, but they were bursting at the seams. Later that night we put our bags out in the hall to be taken below decks for off loading in the morning. We made it a point to provide extra tips to the crew that had been so kind and helpful during our stay (they all get an automatic tip that we had to pay in advance). We said good bye to friends we had made during the voyage, disappointed that they did not seem interested in exchanging information to stay in touch. On one hand we were looking forward to getting off the boat after 42 days, on the other we were sad to say good bye to so many crew and guests we had become attached too. 

Heavy Seas the 14th and 15th