Tonopah

Happy birthday Mr. HH. I hope the rain holds off.

A dark suit will work as well on formal evenings and may be less expensive than a tux and still useful. Enjoy your crossing!

So sorry it caught up to you. I feel for you completely.

@techteach The food was good, the company amazing, and dessert (sticky toffee pudding by an actual Yorkshireman) fantastic. After dinner there was a guy playing guitar on the plaza so Mister and I danced a bit before thunder and lightning and rain put a damper on things. Thanks for asking!

I can smell and taste! YAY! I’m still coughing but the worst of the covid seems over. I’m finally feeling well enough to go back to dance. It is hot and humid here, but that’s normal in our part of the world. Doesn’t make it easier to deal with, though. Today is our 34th(!) anniversary. Big plans include going out to dinner. Glad you all are doing well, despite the heat. Thanks for keeping me company while I’ve been under the weather.

We use a travel agent and it is great. They deal with the cruise line. None of that being on hold for hours, no surprises. We are savvy and could book on our own, but we just don’t want the hassle. Our TA is great.

Yes, we are aware, but we chose convenience over cost. Surprisingly it wasn’t as expensive as we were expecting.

We were on a Royal Caribbean cruise. We danced every night, but most of the venues have tiny dance floors. Not even big enough for 5 or 6 couples. The only larger floor (in the “Star Lounge”) mostly had participation games, not dancing. One night was Latin night in the star lounge and there was Latin dancing which we enjoyed. The tiny floors were disappointing but we made the most of it. We ballroom dance and always choose Cunard for that. There are special private tours a couple of times a year that cross on the Queen Mary 2. Probably fun for the dancers who pay for the privilege, but irritating for those of us banned from the biggest dance floor afloat for two hours every evening.

That looks fascinating!

Isn’t the QM2 on the world cruise from January to…whenever?

Um… Is it published? Can I find it somewhere? Honestly, I’d love to read it. ETA: Or I could pick it up on the QM2 library…

Many upper class people in the 50s-60s had a “mid Atlantic” accent that sounded sort of English. Mister and I lived in England for several years when our kids were little. We still use a lot of English terms (ie. we take out the “rubbish” and use a “wheelie bin”) and our youngest (now 40!) slips into a Peterborough Cambs accent when he’s around British people. I don’t know what it is like now, but when we lived there, accents changed every 20 miles or so.

We’re scheduled for a test walking distance from our hotel in London. I think it’s called Private Harley Street Clinic. It was easy to schedule online. We’re paying for the convenience, but worth it for us.

I LOVE it! But mister said, and I quote, “Oh, HELL no!” I should tell you he has chronic tinnitus so anything like this is very uncomfortable for him. It isn’t too loud to me.

I will be sad not to see new photos every day. Maybe you can still contribute occasionally? Your pictures helped get me through the deepest pandemic, thinking of being away. Thanks so much.

Nope. It’s entirely true but I will not share pics of the kids.

No one would’ve thought that after the first 10 seconds…or brought the kids?

Nah. They all have the kids in them. I guess I could blur their faces, but really it’s just a tongue-in-cheek poke at the audacious couple. You gotta have some chutzpah to crash a wedding on a cruise ship with your kids.

They’re GREAT cruise pics. That’ll be $200, but it comes with this collectible cardboard frame!

Tropicasual, which I guess is a thing…

The couple still need a battery-powered corkscrew and a towel warmer, so…

Hmm…100 people spread out through the room? A lot of us didn’t know each other, and people came from all over the country so only the wedding party knew everyone. Just thought it was so funny that a family would crash a wedding on a cruise ship. Such a random thing. ”We could go up on deck and hit the pool?” “Nah, lets take the kids and crash a wedding.”

I mean, how sorry is it that you are on a CRUISE SHIP and you crash a wedding for food and drink? Didn’t even bring a present!

Our niece got married on Freedom of the Seas on June 17th. The event was held in the Star Lounge. Photos came back this week and a family of wedding crashers were caught on “film”. Parents with KIDS. Really? You crash a wedding, add to the bar bill, eat the newlyweds’ food? I mean, what are you teaching your kids? So rude. We have the evidence. 👮‍♀️

It is 95 degrees F here with 70% humidity. We are dreaming of Northern Europe. We went out today and bought new luggage for our big holiday. It was expensive but necessary. Our cases were so old the plastic handles were breaking down into sticky goo. It will be easy now to pack for Luggage Forward and just take carry ons for our few days in England. Can you tell I’m ready to go even though our trip is 3 months away?