So close and yet so far ...

I was awake at 6:00am ... my body is still on Eastern Daylight Time. I have only had 4 hours of sleep but I couldn't get back to sleep. It's our daughter's 37th birthday today. We were supposed to be joining the celebration this evening but we weren't sure we would make it in time ... or ... have the energy. I hope the family has a fun time!!

Well ... the old girl (and she is a 1999!) wouldn't start. We had to call a tow truck to give us a boost. I was watching through the window and was so darn grateful to see exhaust starting to flow from her back end in the chill of the morning! Woohoo! It cost us an extra $60 ... but ... it got us up and running. Unfortunately ... his card machine was not working. Fortunately, I had my trusty $100 bill that I keep stashed for emergency! This little habit of mine has come in handy over the years.

At any rate ... we were headed out of Calgary by 10:30am! And ... the good news is that we are HOME!

We were reflecting upon our trip enroute to home and recognized that we did not hold as much enthusiasm for it as we did for prior trips like South East Asia and Africa. We pondered whether it was because we didn't feel like we enjoyed as many experiences ... or ... was it that we didn't have enough energy to enjoy all the experiences that were before us during these travels. We just don't have the stamina we used to have anymore.
There were many 'things to do' on the ship that we never got around to doing. For example, we never made it to the night club. It opened around 9:00pm and we were typically in bed by then. We never took in all the port talks and/or evening entertainment ... who knows why?? We didn't get down to the Nordic Spa either. We totally missed the 'snow room'. We could have used the spa services ... but aside from my 'best ever' massage, we didn't utilize it. We never had 'high tea' in the Wintergarden. It was so darn cold in there! I imagine it is nice for those who want to escape the heat ... but ... it was too chilly for me to do anything but wander through it. We never engaged in many of the activities offered in the Explorers Lounge either.

I am not sure what on earth we were doing ... but ... there were definitely lots of options that we never even tried! So, I am not sure if we would do it differently next time or not. At this point in time, I think we would be far more inclined to do another river cruise rather than an ocean cruise. But ... I've learned to never say never!!

For now though ... we are grateful for this trip in many, many ways ... and also ... really happy to be back at home!

P.S. I woke up this morning (Feb 25th) ... three days after our flight home from Toronto was cancelled on the 22nd to an alert that the flight they had rescheduled to fly out TODAY at 2:45pm has also been delayed by almost 3 hours!! Good grief. I can only imagine how frustrated I would be feeling if ee weren't already home. Makes me even more grateful we are not at the mercy of the airlines anymore. Czytaj więcej