Home Sweet Home

Well, we are back and what a blast the past week has been! We kept calling it our "adventure" because if it could go wrong it did. Took us over 3 hours to get from the airport to our hotel in NJ because the hotel didn't have car service... they sent a town car (for 6 people) so we had to hitch a ride with another hotel's van. The driver didn't understand a lick of English so he and my dad almost had a row after we reached HIS hotel. We finally talked to the Manager and he personally took us to our hotel.

Now let me tell you about our hotel - it was nice, but the location was in the WORST part of Newark. We had to walk 4 blocks or so to get to a diner then walk back. Thank heavens it wasn't dark!

We had to take a cab to the NJ train to go into New York. Once we got there we had a ball. The kids were mesmerized by the size of the place and Carl even enjoyed himself. We went to the top of the Empire State Building and walked from 7th and 32nd to Times Square and then to 56th (I think) -- we went to FAO and Central Park. Then back to the train station. All in all we spent at good eight hours in NY. I LOVED IT!

Me, Bug, SweetTea and J-man on top of the Empire State Building.

Then the cruise - what fun. The food was a disappointment this time; it felt like I was in high school again and eating cafeteria food. The ship, though, was huge and beautiful. We had a balcony but it was so cold we couldn't use it until the day we docked back in New York. The kids never got to go down the huge slide - they swam in the hot tubs! I don't think the temperature ever got above 60 degrees. I was SO tired of being cold!

The Halifax Town Clock - taken at the top of the Citadel.

When in Halifax, Alberto decided to come in the same day we did. It was cold and rainy the entire day, but that city is still absolutely beautiful. Carl and I are going to try and go back some other time and later in the summer. It is a gorgeous costal city and has a lot of history. On the way out of Halifax, Alberto remained with us and gave us 17 foot swells to deal with! It was like riding a roller coaster until 2 a.m. No one got sick - thank heavens - we just rode it out.

We saw whales and dolphins on the way back. Now that is an experience I won't forget soon. They were probably a mile or so away from the ship and we could still see their tails - I cannot imagine just how large they were up close!

At one point the captain made an announcement about passing people in a row boat. It seems these guys left New York two weeks ago to row to England... we passed them and passengers thought we were not stopping to help someone in distress. That wasn't the case - obviously - but after seeing those whales I think I would be in distress if one of those suckers came up next to me and I was in nothing but a ROW BOAT! Those guys are nuts!

Anyway - it is good to be home. We are about to go meet my dad to pick up Dozer and Grimmy (the boys). I've missed them so much and I know they are ready to be home as well. I'll post more pictures later; we took, like, 100 of them! I'll pick out some of the best and put them on here.