I Had Good Intentions

Let's all just face facts now, I am a terrible travel blogger. Here we are three days into the trip and this is my first post. Fortunately, you are not relying on me for food or medical care or anything of a survival nature. I would promise to try and be better for the rest of the trip, but I don't think I should lie to you right off the bat. So....we'll see what the future brings.

Here's a quick wrap-up of the past few days: We had uneventful flights to LA, a bit of a kerfuffle with transportation from LAX to the port, and a restful night's sleep at the port hotel. Uber was a huge fail at LAX, our fallback plan of a walk-up Super Shuttle was not available either and even if it had been, would have cost $70, so we took a taxi to San Pedro for $75 including tip.

Our hotel was a bit hit and miss. They upgraded us to a corner suite, but half the lights and one of the two telephones did not work. Had a large living area with uncomfortable, old sofas. Had a sliding door to a nice patio overlooking the pool, but the door was so hard to move on the track we gave up after two inches and just locked it. We've decided to change to the other port hotel for our next trip out of here, as our friends who booked there had a great experience.

The good news is that all of our traveling companions made it to the port, we boarded about the same time and connected up with each other, and we were correctly assigned together at the same table for dinner on the cruise. And the best part is that everyone enjoys each other and this is a great mix of people.

Today is our first full day at sea, with three more before we arrive in Hilo, Hawaii on Friday. The weather has been overcast since leaving LA, but the temperatures are in the low 70's. We have a slight sea swell, which is noticable and makes for some wobbly walking, but nobody seems to be having any real difficulty, and it did make for a really nice rocking cradle effect last night. Today has brought a full list of onboard activities ranging from volcano science lectures, journal arts and craft project, culinary show, three kinds of trivia, movies on deck, bowling in the lobby, wine tasting, shopping and other assorted keep-you-from-boredom events.

Tom is down at the military meet and greet as I type, and I am sitting on the balcony just enjoying the sounds of the ship cutting through the water and the ocean breeze. I could sit out here and do absolutely nothing but lull myself into a zen zone for hours. And I might just do that.