All Things EARTH... part 2

[awhfy]

Sally, glad you’re doing better. Having a light turkey day will also help your recovery, just relax & enjoy your family. If someone offers to help...let them. 
 

Laurie, cute picture. Sarasota is a small but really nice airport. Siesta Key is a beautiful beach. 
 

Anita & pacruise. Enjoy your college kids. Melody

[pacruise804]

Sally and Melody, hope you are both feeling better.  Steroids mostly just make me gain weight 😡but I know they can be really awful for some (although when you need them, you need them).

 

Love everyone's pets.  We don't have any, but I do enjoy other's animals 😄 

 

Anita, your cruise sounds great.  My sister is in food service so we usually don't see her at the holiday itself and she really enjoys the quiet of the day with no stress and not having to please anyone 🙂 

 

Laurie, cute picture.  Enjoy this next phase in your life.  Decorating night sounds like fun 🙂 

 

My trip doesn't look too bad - we should be in the 50's during the day and above freezing in the evenings.

 

Happy Thanksgiving all!

[Sailor_Sally]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone ! Our weather is perfect . Warm but low humidity . Today is a little chilly mid 70's but really warming up tomorrow to low 80's . We are going on a five day cruise in January just for a quick trip .

[Anita Latte]

16 minutes ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone ! Our weather is perfect . Warm but low humidity . Today is a little chilly mid 70's but really warming up tomorrow to low 80's . We are going on a five day cruise in January just for a quick trip .

 

Yes, the weather is so nice! We went to an outdoor concert last night in Tampa and it was a bit chilly! DH actually had to wear a sweatshirt LOL.

 

What cruise are you taking?

[Sailor_Sally]

Carnival Paradise to Grand Camyan and Cozumel . We got a great deal on it $750 for both of us in an ocean view . We have been on it before . It is a fun getaway . No plans for the port stops since we have been there a ton of times.

[Sailor_Sally]

8 hours ago, awhfy said:

Laurie, cute picture. Sarasota is a small but really nice airport. Siesta Key is a beautiful beach. 
 

 

I love Sarasota airport . No stress , no lines . I fly out of there when ever I can and now they have added a bunch of regional airlines .We live about 15 minutes from that airport .

[Anita Latte]

Isn't nice to live so close to a port? I'm so excited that we are finally going to be feeling that on Friday. Last time I lived this close to the port was our first family cruise out of Galveston in 2012 when we lived in Houston. 

[Anita Latte]

Woot woot!! Just came to the realization that there is a PLAYMAKER's on Mariner!!! This is a sports bar that is only on two ships right now...I think. Anyway...as you can imagine...50 screens for watching your family teams!

 

So now...I know that we will be hitting up Playmakers on Sunday night hoping hoping hoping that our Texans will prevail on SNF!! So add that to my itinerary.

[MJC]

16 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

I love Sarasota airport . No stress , no lines . I fly out of there when ever I can and now they have added a bunch of regional airlines .We live about 15 minutes from that airport .

I agree with Sally about SRQ. We love that we can just walk out the door to our rental car across the street, no shuttle bus.

 

Do leave extra time for high season traffic. It can take an hour to get off Siesta Key when the beach starts to empty at the end of the day. Even the shopping areas that have sprung up inland along I-75 can be very congested at that time of year. It is a lovely city with lots to explore.

[Anita Latte]

Beware...feeling like rambling on a bit...

 

So thinking about this 3-nighter...I just read someone call a cruise like this a "shortie!" LOL...I like it...so thinking about this shortie...I'm trying to think about what I will really need for the weekend. I tend to think things out by writing...so, everyone gets to read my process...LOL.

 

Friday is Black Friday and we are talking about hitting up a store or two to get some very specific deals in the morning before heading to the port. It's been chilly in the mornings here...it's only 63 outside right now and that is much warmer than it was so whatever I wear needs to include a hoodie or over layer of some sort. And that will be what I wear to board the ship too...and do whatever we are going to do once on board. We really want to hit the ground running and in vacation mode, especially since we will really only be on the ship for less than 72 hours...(isn't that crazy?)

 

Friday NIGHT, 7:15 PM is our FlowRider lesson..so dinner presents an interesting dilemma. The lesson is one hour long and then I have seen how there is "Surfing under the Stars" from 9-10 PM. I can imagine having a break between the lesson and then maybe wanting to just give it all a go some more. Food will be odd...and I'm thinking that we might just want to plan on doing the buffet for dinner so that we don't have to bother with dress codes, etc. They recommend that women wear shirts...I'm not sure why women are singled out...but anyway, I have a short sleeved rash guard that I will take for sure.

 

SO, Friday..."travel" outfit. Swimwear.

 

Saturday...going to be doing some walking. It's 1.3 km from the cruise port to the distillery. So less than a mile...and then back. So not too much walking. Footwear is the big question. Should I have a more walking friendly shoe than my Birks? Hm. Should my outfit be my typical activewear? The high is supposed to be 78...low of mid/low 70s. All aboard is 9 PM...

 

I don't think we'll be on shore for all of that though. Definitely will be eating dinner on board...so the big question...will we eat in the MDR? Let's say yes.

 

So, Saturday...touring outfit. MDR outfit.

 

Sunday...CocoCay beach day!! No need for anything more than swimwear and possible additional coverup if I want to take off my rash guard. I'll be bringing my long sleeved one for the beach...which begs the question...so I need to bring both the long sleeved one and the short sleeved one? Hm.

 

Not sure if dinner will be MDR or not...but definitely we'll be "going out" Sunday night to Playmakers to watch the night game. I wish I had some Texans gear to wear...I'd bring it and wear that...but I don't...what I had I cut up to include in a tee shirt quilt.

 

So Sunday...Beach wear. MDR?/Playmakers outfit.

 

Ok...time to look some clothes!

[MJC]

Women have lost their tops on flow riders, hence the shirt. Tips from my former wakeboarding days: keep your weight on your back foot and don't look down, look out. We tend to go where our eyes are looking, and your head weighs about ten pounds, so it can throw your weight forward. Bend at the knees and hips to lower your center of gravity, but try to keep your back straight. 🙂 One of my big regrets is that I never got to try surfing before my knees were shot. It looks like so much fun!

 

I look forward to hearing about your shortie. That water slide looks like fun too!

 

Our trip to Patagonia is just about a year away, so I have been doing so much research ahead of when we will book our FF miles airfare, which opens in January 2020. For international flights, I would normally book us out of JFK, but in this instance we connect through Atlanta for the long-haul portion, and it requires fewer miles to fly from LaGuardia than from Kennedy. It's always weird to fly from LGA to someplace far away. They usually have to look up the airline code where we're going because they don't know what code to put on our luggage.

 

I eventually figured out the snag I was bumping up against over and over while I was checking out our options. The first flight of our return is a domestic airport to domestic airport regional flight that isn't a Delta partner, so it wouldn't show up on their website. It just was telling me there were no seats available from Buenos Aires (I was mock booking for October to see what the schedules were like). It turns out we'll just have to buy that Aerolineas Argentinas ticket ourselves, but it's only $200, like flying from here to Detroit. Then when we land we have to get from there to the international airport 30 miles away for our Delta flight, but I believe they run a bus for that like they do here between LGA and JFK. We are flying from NY into Chile and departing from Argentina, so the multi-city thing was problematic as well. The time spent is worth it though for the free airfare. And every time we pay for something on AmEx we get closer to business class. I don't even buy a latte without putting it on my card. 🙂 There is an additional fee option if we are only a couple thousand miles short, so we're keeping that in our back pocket. Plus I think DH has some miles in his Delta account from business travel earlier this year. Hmm, have to check that out.

 

Anita, short trips are fun because there is so little to pack. For me it is always the non-clothes that take up all the room on a trip like that. I need so much more stuff than when I was young... the special sunscreen, vitamins, wrist brace, compression socks. Not to mention the tech, I need my phone, and my Nook, and my tablet, and my mp3. It goes on and on.

[Anita Latte]

The debate is still out on whether or not I will try to stand up on the board. 🤔 DH definitely will...he snowboarded...and liked it. He and I took our first and only snowboarding lesson together. I HATED it...and he LOVED it. I hated it for the reasons he loved it...my feet were stuck on a board and they couldn't move independently of one another. For me that was an awful restriction, but for him, it was wonderful stability.

 

I want to take the lesson so that I can figure out if I want to stand up or not. And to be told how to do it right so that I don't inadvertently hurt myself. We'll see how it goes. I've read how there are some people that take a lesson with every sailing they do. The instructors meet you where you are and if you have skills, then they will start to teach you how to do tricks, etc. I have 3 cruises booked that have Flowriders...this one, Feb 2020, and now the April 2021 TA. Thinking that it will be a nice motivation to improve some leg strength and get better and better at the Flowrider. 

 

I just discovered the Amazing Race on Prime...so I've been binge watching it...and I can't help it Margaret...OMG...your travel plans sound like the show. For this leg of the race, the contestants will have to get from Argentina to NYC. The only flights out of Argentina are on a regional airline and they will have to find transportation between the domestic airport and the international one...LOL And I can picture the map with the multi-city legs of the trip...

 

100% on the non-clothing items taking up all the room... With the shortie...I think I will end up taking less "stuff" though. Being realistic about the days...and keeping in mind Fort Walton Beach...don't think that I'll be doing much reading or anything like that. So all that entertainment stuff that I would normally bring...thinking that will be drastically, drastically reduced. Keep in mind that we have no travel to the port...other than an under one hour drive...so no need to worry about things like compression socks and  other travel day related items.

 

Also thinking about just NOT CARING too much on this weekend. 😁 I tried on a few of my dresses. My new one that I just got and shared a while back...I think I grabbed the wrong size from the dressing room 😞 It's tight across the back at the bust line. Not comfortable. I have ONE dress that I feel happy in...so...bringing one dress! LOL.

 

And then I think I will round out my cruise wardrobe with active wear. Active wear. Touring the distillery in my active wear. Active wear. Drinking a beer flight in my active wear. Active Wear. Cheering for the Texans in my active wear. Active wear. 😂

 

And ditto on the AMEX...I even stopped using my Target Debit card because I cared more about getting miles than saving 5%...especially with DS in London.

Edited November 26, 2019 by Anita Latte

[awhfy]

Well we just shoveled out another 8” of snow, our daughter in the north end of town has 19”. Fifth major storm since early October. I cannot wait for our b2b cruise in February. I’m glad we’re only traveling 5 miles for Thanksgiving & that our grands arrived home ahead of the storm. 
 

if you’re using AMEX look at their benefits this week on cruises. It’s something like pay $100 get $500. Of course I can’t find the article now. 

[Sailor_Sally]

6 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

.

 

And then I think I will round out my cruise wardrobe with active wear. Active wear. Touring the distillery in my active wear. Active wear. Drinking a beer flight in my active wear. Active Wear. Cheering for the Texans in my active wear. Active wear. 😂

 

.

I always pack an active wear outfit on all my trips . They are so versatile .

[laurspag]

Anita, ditto what Margaret said about losing tops on the Flowrider.  And bottoms.  My husband and I have never tried it, but we love to watch and it is common to see the force of the water causing wardrobe malfunctions, you might say.  I've seen people hurt too, so pay it's good to pay attention to how they instruct you to react when you fall off.

 

Since I am going on a short little trip in March, I may try the carryon only thing.  My husband will have his own.  He will be the one that packs the excess, guaranteed!  But since I've never done only a carryon, I feel I need to brush up on the liquids and all that.  I never worry about the sizes now because I don't put that stuff in my carryon, it goes in the luggage I check in.  So, if I'm not checking in luggage, I need to be sure I don't goof up.  

 

Pretty much, whatever I wear flying down, I will wear flying back.  We are traveling in March, so that means jeans, something long sleeved, and a coat.  To keep it easy, we may leave the coat in the car.  We will avoid boots and go with sneakers if we can.

 

So I am thinking a few pairs of shorts, a few tops, maybe something to change into for dinner such as casual, lightweight dress.  I have a sleeveless denim shift dress, for example.  I think a swimsuit would normally make the trip, but we are staying wih/at my SIL and I don't think there is a pool at her place.

 

When we go to Boston, we travel fairly light.  The main thing is what the temps are expected to be.  In May, you can have some cool weather still so we will have to decide when we are ready to pack.  Hopefully, cooler weather isn't an issue when we go to spring training in Fort Myers in March.

 

I love sports, so a sports bar on a cruise ship sounds wonderful.  Schooners and a few other places have TVs, and they are always on sports but there are usually just one TV,  so you don't really get to see much.  I do recall one trip when we were are one of the bars and they had college football on.  Syracuse was losing badly, so it was hard to watch!  

 

 

[awhfy]

I was a skier & a water skier & wake boarder & now a paddleboarder. I’ve not tried snowboarding (my youngest granddaughter has been boarding since she was 2...zero fear). Everything Margaret said is exactly right on. Look out not down & Soft knees are key, don’t lock them (that’s how you get hurt).

after all this white stuff we’re really thinking fondly about FL. 
 

Laurie, pack a swimsuit...always 

 

Margaret, looking forward to your Pategonia trip!

 

I just heard back from Celebrity on our complaint on the Adventure to Hana (Maui) shore excursion fiasco. They have refunded our entire fee from the excursion & an extra $100 OBC each for our problems, they have also dropped the excursion providers from their preferred list, guess the disgusting pictures really helped!   We were able to put the extra $500 OBC onto our existing March 2021 Touch Canal cruise out of Tampa, that makes $1200 OBC...never had so much!  Specialty dining, maybe...new watch for Les, most likely.  I seldom complain but that was over the top awful, I didn’t expect anything & was very pleasantly surprised. 

Everyone have a great turkey day. Our son has told us that we aren’t to drive (he wants to play with his new Jeep) so he’s picking us up & bringing us home from our daughter’s house Thursday. Ooh, I can have 2 glasses of wine!!!  Yes, more snow expected for Thanksgiving 🙄. Melody 

[MJC]

I second Melody on always packing a swimsuit, especially for Florida.

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Safe travels if you are going elsewhere.

[Sailor_Sally]

Laurie, Bring a sweater March can still be chilly . It is usually not sleeveless weather yet unless it is the end of March. I agree about the bathing suit . All the condos have pools.

I am doing pre thanksgiving prep today just slowly .

[Sailor_Sally]

Had A great visit with my daughter, son in law and grandsons !

[awhfy]

20 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Had A great visit with my daughter, son in law and grandsons !

Great picture Sally!

[awhfy]

Today is our actual 50th anniversary. Our AF grandson surprised us with a visit ❤️, using his precious vacation to visit us ❤️❤️  Melody

[MJC]

Sally, what a lovely picture of you and your family. Love your hair color and your glasses! Your daughter has such a wonderful smile, she looks like someone who would be friendly and fun to talk to.

 

Happy Anniversary Melody! How nice to have your grandson visit, and flowers are always a treat. 🤩

 

We spent turkey day with DH's family on Long island. They keep kosher, so turkey but no pie. I really needed pie! Here was my sporty new hat:

 

 

In one of those "well that's not how I thought my Wednesday would go" stories... I finally had a consultation with a surgeon to remove a benign cyst from my head. My dermatologist thought it was a lipoma (just fat) and would be an easy fix, but it was not. It was another kind, and since I had had melanoma before, the surgeon wanted it out without too much delay, just to be on the safe side. I said I couldn't do January because my husband was having hip surgery, and probably couldn't come back until March. They said how about 2:00 today? Which I did.

 

Now I can't exercise for three weeks, can't color my hair for five weeks, can't lift anything or bend down until a week after the staples come out. I wore a hat yesterday but I have this stupid compression bandage that wraps around my head and is giving me a rash. I get to take that off tomorrow and wash my hair! Yippee! And today I get some pie. :)  And I"ll be able to swim in time for pool party Christmas at my sister's.

 

So, what I had is a pilar cyst. It was the color of an egg (really like the tips of your fingernails, because it is keratin), smaller than a ping pong ball but not by much. We named it Stella.

 

[Sailor_Sally]

Thank you Margaret ! Bummer on the head cyst ! We had a great visit and today I shopped online and chilled out .

[purduemom1]

Wow Margaret, hoping you are feeling ok. Not coloring my hair would be a big deal for me. On second thought, all of the restrictions would be difficult. Bet that pie tasted really good!

 

Comgrats  Melody and Les. Wishing you many more happy years.

 

Sally, great family picture! I too like your glasses.

Sharon

[awhfy]

Margaret!  Ouch. Good that you had that done sooner rather than later!  Not coloring your hair will likely be the worst part, who knows, you might like what grows in. Pie is a great idea!

 

Melody