La Quinta, California: Dave and I were polite upon our re-entry to our home from our Caribbean cruise. We quarantined for four days (with the only exception of having our grocery order delivered to the back of our car) just in case we had contracted anything nasty on the cruise/flight. Happy to report, we did not - nor did our family - (wear a mask!) so we have ventured out a bit... and by a bit, I mean, we are golfing and exercising and doing our usual stuff.
I wrote earlier that I was going to give a trip report of the cruise, but it was just a fine cruise. Princess is not my first choice of a cruise line, but we have sailed on Princess more than any other line. (Most of the popular cruise lines are all owned by one company.) This cruise was great for us as the itinerary and time worked-out perfectly with the grandchildren's school break (#1 decision on booking this cruise), and though Leo and Lucile decided they would NEVER go to the Kid's Club onboard, they were the perfect ages to be in the same-age group in the kid's club, and did go there nearly-daily - if only to play the Madden football game (Leo) or connect with other tweens.
The food was very decent. Dave and I had fruit and coffee delivered to our stateroom each morning (included, but he tipped). We rarely went to the 24/7/365 buffet. It was easy for us all to show up to one of the three dining rooms and be immediately seated at a table for six. Service was always good and friendly. Our cruise package included all our drinks (15 drinks per day, including bottled water, soda, juice, wine, beer and cocktails), and dinners at the fancy up-charge steakhouse, seafood, and Italian restaurant on board. I'm thinking if you only have one or two cocktails in an evening - do the math - it may be cheaper to just pay as you go? The drinks package is the reason for the popular t-shirt: BLAME IT ON THE DRINKS PACKAGE.
The grandchildren loved all the entertainment featured on the ship. The shows. The contests. The comedians. The games. They plotted-out our daily activities by reading the Princess Patter schedule delivered to each stateroom in the evening. I never left my cabin without a pen so Leo and Lucile would mark down which events we would attend throughout the day and evening.
In retrospect, this was a great cruise and cruise line to choose if you are three-generations with no school in early January. The weather was magnificent. Our cabins were very nice. (Lisa and Lenny had a queen bed and the kids had bunks - plus a balcony. We had a queen bed with a balcony and a nice sitting area/desk.)
In the back to reality part of this program: I am sorry to report that much of the news from our old home town (Portland, Oregon) has been most dismal. Friends have had trees fall onto their cars, trees fall INTO their homes, pipes freeze, power lost, and all other sorts of weather-related calamities. Freezing rain. Schools closed. Feeling freezing cold here with our temperatures only rising to the low 70s. I will stop my complaining... but will keep my heat pumps pumping.
The most exciting thing that happened here this week is we harvested the oranges from our tree. Lucile counted 54 oranges on the tree weeks ago (and she named them all). Dave and I have been harvesting one orange each week, waiting until they seemed perfect. We may have missed the peak harvest date while we were on the cruise, but we picked 47 oranges and I have shipped them all off to friends and family, leaving a few for us, and a few to juice (mimosas!). Last year the 8 oranges we harvested were luscious and had few seeds. This year, with so many more oranges, the fruit is sweet and juicy, but are filled with SO MANY seeds. No idea. Nature.
We are obviously not farmers.
We have lemons nearly year-round.
We had a nice brunch at Shield's Date Gardens with long-time readers - Jaime and David. Always nice to catch-up with our OSU friends (and I mean our Oklahoma State University friends, not the other OSU). Thank you, Jaime and David for our fun afternoon together.
The Family of Friends are gathering this week in the Coachella to celebrate Woody's 70th. There will be many meals, and many wonderful memories made as we join together for this momentous occasion.
Until my next update, I remain, your agricultural correspondent.
Can’t wait to get there and thaw out!
Just arrived in Maui from Phoenix!
Left our lemons aging to become LIMONCELLO while we’re gone!
We’ll do our best to make
MAUI STRONG
ALOHA
MARY T with a Y too