Kim called me after she read your posting, Brooke, to reassure her that you were kidding. I did figure that you were since it was so extreme! Although I'm sure you would like to do a few of those things!!! I guess I'm not as gullable or gullible as some of my progeny!!!

Well, Dad and I just got up on Saturday morning. He is getting frustrated with his laptop since it won't hook up with Tom for the webcam. We need to go to a Stake Humanitarian Day today at 9 so I have a little time to write about our trip.

Well, our trip....We left on Friday, Feb 25 and flew to Miami. We didn't get in until about 11 pm. We had a great suite in the hotel...kind of a waste for just midnight to 9 am but it was all that was left in the hotel when we made the reservations. We wanted to stay in that one because Ginger and John and family were staying there. We had breakfast with them and then went in a van with a trailer behind with our luggage with their group. There were about 16 of us. Our van crunched together with all the other vans and trailers and buses by the dock. It is really quite a sight. There were at least 4 large cruise ships loading up. This happens at least every Saturday..not sure about the other days of the week...The ships come in in the morning, unload, and then load in the afternoon and leave. They never stay overnight in a port because of the port costs. It means a lot of traffic on the dock.

When we got on, we gathered at the back of the boat by the pizza place since we couldn't get into our rooms until 1:30..they are madly trying to clean them from the last group. John's kids had surprised him by inviting a large group of his family...sisters, cousins etc. This was a total surprise so it was fun to observe. Most of them are from Minnesota. When we finally got into our room it was great...a king bed...couch...nice size bathroom and a deck on the side. Very, very nice! It took until evening to get our luggage which was a bit inconvenient, especially since some new pants that I had purchased for the trip ripped as we were getting our luggage out of the van. Fortunately, my top covered the rip but it still made it uncomfortable (as an aside, I was able to return them). We had our first dinner that night in the dining room. They assign you a table...the group was all together in four tables. Each night they have the same set-up although on two nights you have to dress formally. They do have another buffet option upstairs but the food is much better in the dining room. They have the full silverware lineup, 2 knives, 2 spoons to the right, 3 forks to the left and 2 spoons and a fork on top. There is a full menu every night, starter (appetizer), salad, main dish, and dessert. You can get as many of each as you want...but there are limits to the human body!!! One night, Dad asked the waiter to pick dessert for him...and he brought him all four desserts!!!! The food and service was very good!

We did some exploring of the ship. It had three pools and four hot tubs on the level our room was on. It also had a multitude of deck chairs on different levels. That level also had the buffet dining area, a 24 hour pizza place and unlimited ice cream cones, a grill...and two bars (not that we frequented those) We spent a lot of time on the ship on that deck sitting with family and just visiting. Above that deck they had a great gymnasium where I'm proud to say that I exercised at least four times during the week. They also had a spa there but we passed on the massages. It would have been nice but Dad found a Blue Angels watch in the gift shop that was a great deal...but took the money that we might have spent on massages!!!! More lasting satisfaction! He volunteered to work an additional Monday to pay for it!! They also have a large theatre where they have shows every night. They had an amazing Magic Show that left Dad and I scratching our heads. We bought a CD for David showing the tricks since he is into magic tricks. They also have a casino, gift shops and many, many bars everywhere. There was an internet cafe but it didn't work for most of the time on the ship.

On Tuesday, we came into San Juan, those are the pictures coming around by the fort. We docked at about 5 pm and pulled out by midnight so it was pretty short. We went off the boat with Ginger and John who have limited stamina for walking. After walking toward town, we left them on a bench and went to look for the shopping area. Dad was looking for a new bathing suit (which by the way we never found...until we got home). We were specifically looking for Del Sol. When we walked into the store, this clean cut guy says to us..."How was Utah?" We were a bit confused but finally figured out he had noticed my garment line underneath my white shirt. A bit disconcerting. Anyway, this guy was a student at BYU down there doing an internship with his wife and working in this store. I didn't know that the store is run out of Utah. They have shirts that are black and white but turn into colors when you go out in the sun.

Most of the other stores were closed...the activity in town was primarily the bar scene so we went back and picked up Ginger and John and went back onto the ship...

I need to stop here to get ready for the Humanitarian activity....I'll write about the rest of the trip later today or tomorrow.

Mom