Crash Landing

Last year I woke up to 2016 with my 90 year old Alzheimer neighbor sitting in my living room.  I was hoping for less excitement for New Years 2017 with some Patriots and sitting in the sun getting caught up on my reading.  I woke up to 2017 feeling pretty good and Karen and I enjoyed a breakfast up on the deck.   Unfortunately I had a bad migraine attack and spent the rest of the day unable to participate in the fun and games.  The rest of the gang seemed to be able to enjoy all the amenenties of the ship and it was a nice day for outdoor activities.  Again nobody took any photos of the fun - so will fill in the gap with this shot of our towel animal wearing the new years hat in our room where I spent the entire day 😷 Unfortunately these type of major migraine attacks where my body goes into complete shut down and reboot mode happens about 3 times per year.  I think my body is sending me a message.

The next morning we disembarked and headed back up to Houston for our flight.  It is a rare Olen trip without a stop to sample the local donut culture.  After eating non-stop for 5 days - there was not much enthusiam for this stop but did not stop me from powering down a couple donuts at Shipley Donuts

Given the variability of the timing of getting off the ship - I did not want to lock us into too much for the day of our departure with a early evening flight.  I wanted to hit the Space Center in Houston but for some reason just assumed it was in downtown Houston (incorrect !).  There was tepid interest n going anyway so nobody was really disappointed that we had driven by it.  There was not much going on in downtown Houston due to it being a holiday - so we hit the movies (Star Wars - Rogue 1 and then the airport for our flight home.  My sister was great enough to pick us up at the airport for the ride back home.

Overall another great trip with great memories.  Hope we can do it again soon.

Top 10 Cruise Memories

10. BT - my favorite comedian.
9.  Getting pulled over by the Mexican Police
8.  Seuss on the Loose
7.  Dad's boat shoes
6.  New Years Eve Ice Cream Incident

5.  Limelight loving but bad Karaoke people (Brandon !)

4.  Kelsey always finding the ice cream cone dispenser empty

3.  The incredibly good Filipino rock band

2.  Jumping in the Pool at Midnight

1. Our cruise director Lee !

Ever Spent Time in a Mexican Prison ?

Much like my plan for the Progresso stop - my plan for our Cozumel stop was met with a healthy dose of skeptisim and trepidation by my better half.  The plan was to rent a jeep and tour the island.  Sure I had read some stories online of people getting in minor fender benders and spending the better part of a week in a Mexican prison but you only live once ! 

Karen's mood did not improve when we departed the ship and she asked how we were suppose to get the jeep and I told her that I was suppose to meet a guy in a yellow shirt in front of a 7-11.  Everything turned out fine - with the exception of not being able to get a Jeep Wrangler due to the fact that we came in a day later than anticipated.  So we had to settle for a Jeep Patriot.  

The island of Cozumel is pretty easy to navigate as there is a road that runs along the outer edge away from town.  The guy at the rental car agency told us to stay right at the fork to follow the road along the coast.  Unfortunately at some point I missed a sign that would have put us back on the main road. So for a long stretch I was traveling on a road reserved for mopeds and bikes.  This was made clear to me by an short tempered member of the Mexican constabulary that pulled me over.  Luckily beyond giving me a hard time for not speaking their native tongue he did not relieve me of all my cash or throw me in jail.  

So we headed out on our way and stopped at some nice vista points along the way.  

We then stopped at nice spot for lunch and some beach time.  We got a great table right at the beach. 

Kelsey was very annoyed that we came ashore to Cozumel and she was the only one that brought a bathing suit.  If I had remembered I would have gone in with here but frankly not a huge fan of salt water - so was not all that disappointed that I missed the experience.  

After dropping Mom back off at the ship (she had enough of navigating Mexican streets) - the rest of us headed back into town to shop and explore.  We had limited time but were able to drop some money on a ring (Kelsey) and cuban cigar (Jake).  Cozumel gets a ton of tourists - so the downtown is packed with semi-authentic shops and American stuff (Starbucks).  

We returned the car without issue and walked back to the ship to get ready for the New Years Festivities.  One of the disappointments of the ship was the inability to take much advantage of the basketball court.  For some reason it closed at 5pm and overtime we checked it out it was mobbed with kids.  There was a nice mini golf course but that also closed at 5pm - so it was difficult to find the time to use it...

We started out New Years Eve off with another nice dinner and some additional props.

They did a nice job of having a balloon drop at 11pm and then a nice celebration with band and DJ that culminated at midnight on the deck. Both of the boys ended up jumping in the pool at the stroke of midnight with some other kids.  

Mayan's and Massages

Due to the late departure they had to switch our to planned stops.  So our first stop was Progresso - a smaller town in Mexico that does not get the same level of cruise line traffic as some of the other more popular spots.

This stop was an opportunity to check out some of the Mayan ruins that are a bit inland from this stop.  When I told Karen that she had the opportunity to sit in a bus for close to 2 hours to check out some old ruins - she gave me the familiar 'are you crazy' look that I get for the majority of my ideas. Luckily (for me) my oldest inherited a gene that steers him towards a desire to see unique sites.  So Jake and I were off to the ruins and Brett, Kelsey and Karen were off to a resort to sit on the beach and relax.

When I went to finally book the trip to Chichen Itza the excursion through the cruise line was booked - so I booked through an independent tour operator.  The risk of going with an independent agency is that the cruise line will not wait if you are late in returning.  After we got the ship the tour operator had a bus that picked a bunch of folks that had booked various tours and brought us to their main center in 'downtown Progresso'.  The tour operation center was chaotic scene of people hawking tours and merchandise and it was very unclear when and where our tour would depart.  Finally somebody shepherd us and one other poor family over to a large van for our trip out to Chichen Itza.  Our tour guide was a cross between a  Mexican Danny Devito and Peter Falk and the whole trip went pretty smooth.

The only downside was that due to the late departure - we were a bit rushed and we were pretty tight for time on the return but got back to the ship with about 15 minutes to spare !  We actually had more time because we saw an official tour bus pull in about 30 minutes later.

While we were hurling through the Yucatan Peninsula in a van - the other group was sitting on the beach getting massages, Henna tattoos and sampling some adult beverages.  Although they each have a device with a built-in camera - nobody seemed to bother to take any pictures of their adventures. So you will just have to use your imagination of Bretto getting a massage on the beach.

Open Seas

After another solid Embassy Suites breakfast we hit the road towards Galveston for our 1pm embarkment appointment onto our cruise ship.  On the road we started to get messages alerting us that due to fog in Galveston our ship has not been able to get into the port and our boarding would be delayed.   It became a bit confusing as we rolled into Galveston to sunny skies but it gave us sometime to walk through Galveston and experience the town.

We ended up boarding the ship (Carnival Valor) a few hours later than planned but everything was pretty smooth getting on the ship.  The original departure time from Galveston was 4pm but due to the delayed entry and the fact that the fog had rolled back in - we did not end up steaming out of Galveston until 4am.  

Our first day at sea allowed us to explore all the things on the ship.  It was a bit overcast most of the day - so it was not a good day to sit out and soak up the rays.  So we focused on the three B's of causing, Buffets, Bingo and Bathrobes.  Our Cruise Director was a young chap from England named Lee and Karen enjoyed entertaining us by imitating Lee with her British accent.  

One of the concerns going into the cruise was the reputation of Carnival attracting a 'less refined' crowd.  We were pleasantly surprised that our shipmates were fun loving group of 'normal' folk.  We played a round of Bingo and came close to winging the final hand.  It was fun outside of the caller (Z from the Entertainment Squad) insisting on using the same group of catch phrases after each number was called ("show me the money !").  One of the great things about he cruise is the ability to dine together and have a nice meal without having to worry about the bill.  It also allows the kids to try different things that they may not try.  Jake was especially adventurous by selecting entrees such as duck.

We convinced Kelsey and Brett to check out the teen club (02) on the ship.  They did not interact much with the other teens but enjoyed soaking in the mayhem. We capped off the first evening at sea watching a Dive-In movie up on the deck (Star Trek).

Austin Powered

We had let the kids sleep in a bit and then hit the road towards Austin.  Traffic was heavy heading from Houston to Austin.  There is a massive rest stop chain in TX called Buc-ee's .  The kids were a bit disoriented by the vast collection of beef jerky and hunting gear.   We also stopped at WhatABurger - a TX based burger chain.  I had not visited a WhataBurger since my first year in AZ (1987) and with any luck it will be another 30 years before I have to eat there again....

We rolled into my brother's place in Austin mid-afternoon and enjoyed hanging out with the cousins. They enjoyed showing off their Christmas gifts and Sam seemed especially smitten with his cousin Kelsey.   We had given the boys boomerangs as gifts and Jeff spent the better part of the afternoon retrieving them from the trees and neighbors yard.

In the evening we headed down for some BBQ before heading to downtown Austin to our hotel.

If you have a larger family - the best deal in town is generally to stay at an Embassy Suites.  You get suite with two television and can generally sleep 5-6 reasonably comfortably. However the best part of the deal is their breakfast buffet is free and excellent.  Saves us probably $60 day in food costs.

Our Austin hotel was located in downtown on Lake Austin near the Congress Street bridge.  Jake, Karen and I decided to take advantage of a nice morning to do some kayaking on the lake.  

We then met the TX Olen clan for a 'hike' up Mt Bonnell - which has nice views of the Lake and some spectacular homes. 

We then proceeded to tour the State Capital and learn a bit about TX history.  Here Bretto is studying the TX districts to determine where he should move to have the best chance of winning a seat.  

After a tour through the University - we hit a local pizza joint for dinner. 

After a tearful farewell with the cousins - we headed over to watch the might Longhorns lose a basketball game to the Kent State Golden Flashes. 

Christmas Travel

Dec 25 2016

We get some strange looks when mentioning that we are travelling on Christmas day.  This is the second time we have done this in the past few years and it actually works out pretty well.   When kids reach the teen years - the kids roll out of bed at 10am and the excitement of Christmas wears off by noon.   It adds some additional energy to the holiday and the airport crowds are generally pretty light.

Fortunate to be able to experience raising by both and girls.  Wonder if you can guess which suitcase belongs to Brett and which belongs to Kelsey ?

Anybody who has flown Southwest airlines knows about the joys of their open seating process.  You are generally given a boarding order based upon when you check in for your flight.  As I checked in approximately 16 milliseconds after it was available - I was in pretty good shape.  However they have a policy of allowing families traveling with 'small children' to board after their priority boarding.  On our flight that turned out to be about 70% of the plane.  We also had a emotional support dog on the plane.  Not quite as good as the emotional support duck that was on another flight.

It was otherwise a smooth flight and travel into Houston and we picked up our minivan and hit the road.  One of the downsides of traveling on Christmas is the limited options for food.  The only thing we found open on the way to our hotel outside Houston was Jack in the Box drive thru.  I had not been to a JITB in many years and couple probably wait a few more decades before returning.

We settled into our two bedroom suite and looked forward to our travel to Austin the next day.