Friday April 17, 2015 El Paso, Texas

I had an alarm set for 5 and we were on the road east by 5:30.   The sun was coming up in Gerri's face as she drove.

This Ocotillo was near Rick and Rosie's house

We stopped for fuel and a breakfast sandwich and later at the Texas Canyon rest area.  During the drive we saw Ocotillos in full leaf and fiery bloom in the deserts around Tucson and fewer towards the New Mexico state line. The best ones were in the median so we couldn't stop.  The ones in the rest areas seemed dry and faded out.  At Texas Canyon I tried to find a cache that I didn't find there when we came through in December.  The operative words there are, "tried to find." It will have to wait for another trip east.

We arrived in El Paso at about 2:45 and we went directly to our friends, Rick and Rosie's, house. We met them on our South Pacific cruise last year.  They are prolific catchers.  

After visiting for a while they took us to caches around their home.  They were easy finds, because Rick had placed most of them and had found the rest.

At around 4 we went to our motel.  Rick and Rosie came by shortly and we went to a nearby restaurant and had an excellent Mexican meal at Los Bandidos de Carlos & Mickey's.  When they dropped us off at the motel, I found another cache in the nearby bushes that Rick had placed when he knew we were coming for a visit.

Because of PC this statue is now called the
Equestrian, It was a Conquistador
but they have been determined to have
been cruel to natives in the area.
There is a cache under one of the rocks.

Gerri was in bed by nine, we lost an hour to time zone changes.  I spent some time on the computer logging the 15 geocaches we found today.  I also logged several travel bugs that I either picked up or discovered.  

Tomorrow we will do some more caches with Rick and Rosie. 

Thursday April 16. 2015 Phoenix, AZ

 I had an alarm set for 6:30 so that we have time to get ready and be at the Vista Theater in time for our disembarkation at 8:15.   At about 5:20 there was a medical alert broadcast over the ship's PA system.  We had barely fallen asleep again when the alert was rebroadcast.  At that point we were awake for the morning.  We were in port and alongside the pier.  We got dressed and ready to travel. We went to the Vista Theater and had coffee and rolls.  At a little after 8 they called our disembarkation group and we headed for the ramp down to the pier where our luggage was located .

We went through the lines back and forth toward the Customs and Immigration check point.  we saw Ron, Bill and Elaine behind us in line.  There had been some SNAFU and they left the ship later than we did and should have been 30 minutes ahead of us according to the schedule.  The customs check point was just a table, no booths or computers.  We went through very quickly.

We got out luggage and went outside to the pick up area.  I stayed with the bags while Gerri got the car.  After loading the car we were out and on the road by 9 AM.  There were several turns and other roads but we eventually got on I-10 going east.  While still on CA-91 we called our friend Tim in Scottsdale and set up a meeting for dinner.  We made a stop for fuel just after crossing in to Arizona. We checked into our motel at 3:30.

At 4:30 we met Tim and Beth Burton at a PF Chang's in Scottsdale.  We had met Tim and Beth on our cruise to Sidney several years ago.  We have kept in touch but this was the first time we had seen them in almost two years.  We  visited for quite a while and had a delicious meal.

We got back to the motel at 9:30.  After getting ready for bed we read for a while and called it a night.  It had been a long day.  Tomorrow we have reservations in El Paso.  We will meet some other cruising and caching friends there before heading to San Antonio.

This was a great trip and it was fun being on the ship with Bill and Elaine.  But, like our last cruise we learned a few things. On the last cruise we learned never to travel to the port on the same day the cruise starts, that we don't every want an inside cabin again and not to sign up for anytime dining. This cruise we learned that eating at the early seating disrupts the day.  If it is a shore day dinner is right after you return to the ship.  Early dining also interferes with other things we like to do, and causes us to miss some of them while rushing around.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 At Sea

Our last day at sea, we are scheduled to arrive in Los Angles tomorrow.

Gerri packed up one suitcase before we went for lunch in the International Café. While packing Gerri found two travel bugs in the pockets of a pair of shorts I hadn’t worn.  I had gotten them from another cacher in San Jose Del Cabo last month.  One of the TBs was new and the paper work to launch it was destroyed in the wash..  I’ll have to contact geocaching.com to find out how to register it and send it on its way. 

After lunch Gerri went to the last Art auction.  I sat in Vines for a while playing solo Words With Friends, I won three games.  Gerri won some art at the auction.

We visited with Bill and Elaine before dinner in the Wheelhouse.  It turned out that the four of us were the only ones that came to dinner tonight.  After dinner we caught the performance by the Oro Blanco Trio and stayed for an hour of Jere Ring’s show before going to our room.  We said goodnight and goodbye to Bill and Elaine at about 9:30.  They are getting off the ship earlier than we are and heading for Hermosa Beach, CA. 

Back in our room we finished packing the bags that the porters are taking off the ship and set them in the hall way before retiring.  We will still have one small suit case and a couple of cloth bags to carry off tomorrow. 

We are scheduled to get off the ship at 8:10.  As soon as we get through customs and load the car we will head out on our road trip to Mississippi.  We hope to make it to Phoenix by night tomorrow.

Tuesday April 14, 2015 At Sea

This was our first full day at sea on the way back to Los Angeles.  We didn’t order breakfast in the room today.

I had put in a Shout Out for a meeting of Geocachers after we left San Pedro.  I had hoped the cruise staff would arrange the place and time during our day at sea before arriving in Cabo San Lucas.  But that didn’t happen and the meeting was set during our first day at sea after leaving Puerto Vallarta, at 11am in the Wheelhouse.  Of course this was after it was too late to coordinate hunts with other cachers aboard.  We had a total of 8 cachers and 3 people there to find out what it was about.  Of course four of us were; Gerri, me, Bill and Elaine.  There was a couple from the United Kingdom and a couple from Arizona.  The curious couple was from Pahrump, NV and I didn’t catch the name of the lady that came in later.  We all introduced ourselves and told a little about our experiences.  We exchanged a few travel bugs and took some time to explain geocaching to the three that had come to get information.  We visited and told stories for about an hour.  I know that there was at least one more couple of cachers aboard because they had signed the log of a cache in Puerto Vallarta.

After the meet and greet Gerri and I had lunch in the Crown Grill.  It was Pub grub day, so we had Fish and Chips.  After lunch we went to the Explorer’s Lounge for the Art Auction.  Gerri stayed for the entire auction, I went back to the room and took a short nap before meeting Bill and Elaine in the Wheelhouse.  Shelly and William were also there.

Tonight was formal night, so it was back to the room for a suit.  We met for dinner, tonight Escargot was an appetizer and the most popular entrée was the Lobster and Prawns. Beef Wellington was also on the menu which we tried a little of each. 

After dinner we went to the Promenade Lounge for Jere Ring’s show.  Being early we got good seats.  After the performance we went to the Skywalker on the 18^th floor. A DJ plays there every night but we had never been there on this cruise.  We didn’t realize how much the ship was rocking until we got to that high point.  Bill and Elaine danced a few times and we watched others dance for about an hour.  We then went back to our rooms.  We read for a short time before calling it a night.

Tomorrow we arrive in Los Angeles and are scheduled to disembark at 8:15.

Monday April 13, 2015 Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Our last port of call for this cruise.  Our plan was to meet Bill and Elaine after breakfast and go ashore.  We had breakfast in the dining room and then met the Cavagnaro’s on deck 5. 

We went ashore without any plans other than finding a nearby geocache that I hadn’t found when we were here on a cruise a couple of years ago.  We read the hint and a few previous logs and followed the GPS to the area.  The cache was hidden in Bougainville bushes.  The clue was that it was in the middle of the bushes.  We looked behind leaves and branches, being careful of the thorns.  We looked for a while and a vendor from a nearby shop came and pointed out the area of the bushes the cache was hidden in and indicated the approximate size of the container.  We looked more and didn’t find it.  The vendor came back and found the container for us.  It was a couple of feet from where he had first indicated.  That isn’t surprising because many cachers don’t always but the containers back exactly where they found them.  Over a period of time they migrate and often end up a good distance from where the owner placed them.

The symbol of Puerto Vallarta

We walked back to where the taxi’s and tour vehicles were and engaged a driver with a van to take us on a short tour of the area.  Puerto Vallarta is a large city.  The driver first took us  to a famous church in the older section of town.  The church tower is topped by a replica of the  Queen of Spain’s crown.  From there we walked down to the waterfront Malecon.  This area has remodeled since we were here in the 90’s.  Like La Paz they have put in statuary along the walk.  Puerto Vallarta has eliminated cars along most of the Malecon.  We took a few pictures, including a statue that is the location of a virtual cache.  After about 20 minutes we met our driver back near a seahorse statue that is the symbol or logo of Puerto Vallarta.

Along the Malecon

Steep, nah!

The driver showed us some old residential areas with narrow cobblestone streets .  We stopped for shopping at a silver shop and a shop that sold tablecloths.  Puerto Vallarta was originally settled as a shipping point for silver mined in the nearby mountains.  We then drove by a house that was bought by Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor in the 50’s while they were filming Night of the Iguana.  We toured a very exclusive area in the hills south of town that had great views.  Returning to the ship we drove through shopping areas frequented mostly by locals. 

Liz Taylor's house on the left with a bridge
to Richard Burton's house

We got back to the ship at about 2:30.  We went to the Lido deck and had hotdogs around the pool.  It was hot and the time we finished we were very hot and returned to our room to cool off. We met Ron and Bobbette and the Cavagnaro’s at the Wheelhouse and visited until time to clean up for dinner.  Bobbette and Ron didn’t come to dinner as Bobbette wasn’t feeling well.

The site of a virtual cache

After dinner we went to the Princess Theater for a comedy show by Al Katz.  After that we went back to our room.  Gerri read for a while and fell to sleep.  I was up for a while longer before calling it a night.

Tomorrow is the first day at sea returning to Los Angeles and is a formal night.

Sunday April 11, 2015 At Sea

Looking forward from our balcony

For some reason we were up late reading last night and slept in this morning.  We had coffee in our room and then later went to lunch in the Horizon Court.  We had tacos.

After lunch we went to the art auction.  I was very tired and went to our room to take a nap before the auction was over.

Rolando the magic waiter

We met Bill and Elaine in the Wheelhouse, we met William and Shelly, the fourth couple at our table, there and visited for a while before returning to the room and getting ready for dinner.  Everyone was at the table and our waiter showed us another trick.  He cut a banana without cutting the peel.

At 8:15 we participated in a Body Parts Trivia game.  Cryptic descriptions were given and we had to name the body part described.  For example; “A place of worship:” the answer was Temple.  We got 16 of 20.  Trivia was followed by the Liar’s Club.  A panel of cruise staff members were given a word and then defined it.  Two were lying.  We guessed who the liar was twice.

I returned to the room and Gerri went to see the end of Jere Ring’s performance.  We called it a night at 12:30.

Saturday April 11, 2015 Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Saturday April 11, 2015 Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico

The Golden Princess

We were anchored in the bay off Loreto at about 7..  We slept in and didn’t rush because our scheduled activity didn’t meet on the pier until 12:20.  We order our coffee and a breakfast of egg, cheese and bacon muffins in our room.  We met Bill and Elaine at the Bernini dining room .  We have to tender into the city and there was a short wait before we boarded.

We met our tour coordinator on the dock, we were early.  It was a short ride to the Hotel Oasis which was hosting the clambake and Mexican Fiesta.  There was a lot of confusion with the taxis, Bill walked and the rest of us rode in what appeared to be the tour coordinator’s Suburban.  We were seated with another couple who were from the St. George area.  There are several people from the same community who were brought by bus to San Pedro as an organized activity from that community.

Lining up the clams in the hole

The clam bake started with the clams being buried in gravel, covered with a certain brush and lighted.  They cooked for 40 minutes.  The clams were very large 3-4 inches across and were called chocolate clams because of the color of the shell. The method of cooking was a regional tradition.  

All lined up to cook

We're cooking now

While the clams were cooking we were entertained by a dance group from the local high school.  Along with the clams there was a full buffet style Mexican meal.  The clams themselves were served at the tables with tortillas and a mustard sauce.  The meat was large and most of them were tender, all were very tasty.  We had all we wanted to eat.  The meal was served outside but there was a pleasant breeze off the ocean. 

We got a taxi back to the pier.  Again there was confusion with the taxi.  The trip to and from the clam bake was supposed to be part of the package.  Apparently we choose the wrong company for the return trip and ended up paying $5.  The tender ride back to the ship was the most comfortable we have experienced. They didn’t make us wait until the boat was full and the breeze held the temperature down.

Back aboard the Golden Princess we sat in the Wheelhouse and visited with two other couples, one from Vancouver and the other from Victoria.  After that Gerri and I returned to our state room and cleaned up and read.  Since we had eaten so much in the afternoon we decided not to go to dinner.  We did venture out at 7:15 to the Princess Theater for a comedy magician show at 7:45show. The performer, Jean Boucher, had appeared before but we didn’t see the show.  We were nearly half an hour early and the theater was nearly full.  We took that as a good sign.  Usually second appearances aren’t as well attended.  After the show we knew why so many people had come back.  The show  was very entertaining.

After the show we went to the Promenade Lounge and watched a performance by a Mariachi trio, Oro Blanco.  Of course they sang in Spanish.  It was easy listening and were probably mostly love songs.  That act was followed by Jere Ring at the piano.  His following is increasing and seating was at a premium.

We got back to our stateroom at about 10:30 and read until 11:30 before retiring.

Tomorrow is a day at sea.  Today was a very pleasant day in an attractive small city.  Loreto was the first capitol of California,  The site of the first mission in California and the site of the first paved road in California.  That include our present state of California.  We spent a night here going in both directions when we drove to Cabo San Lucas in 2004.  During those visits we didn’t venture far from our hotel.  This would be a nice place for a week or so to visit.