My Fabulous Cruise Vacation 2013

I just had the most amazing time on my cruise!  Thanks to Janie for organizing and coordinating everything and thanks to Sara, my caregiver; she made the trip so much easier for Janie.  We drove my Van to Galveston, TX so we could take my Hoyer lift along.  In Galveston we met up with Ken, Nelly, Chris and Samantha, and my fabulous friends from California, Sue, Kathi and Sharon.  We were able to preregister online so when we got to the ship there was not much of a hassle to get on board.  I wanted to keep my Hoyer lift with me because I knew they would lose it. They would not let me keep it with me and of course when they delivered our luggage to the room they did not bring my lift. Janie called our cabin boy and he said he would find it and bring it right away.  Janie described to him what it looked like but it was not there by 7 PM so she called him again.  It had my name and address and my luggage sticker on it.  He called back from the luggage room and, with Janie describing it again, he eventually found it… What a relief!

Every day on the cruise was wonderful.  It was so nice to be with Ken and Nelly and Chris and Samantha every day. Their cabin was just down the hall from mine.  I really enjoyed having dinner with them every night in the ship’s dining room. We would go to the evening show each night and then go to dinner together.  They really enjoyed the cruise too. 

On the days that we were cruising, Kathi, Sue, Sharon, Janie and I would meet and spend the afternoons playing Mexican Train or Mah-jongg or cards.  I am so glad they were able to go on the trip too! It was great to see them every day and spend time together. We had too many laughs to even try to describe.  Ask us about the Listerine!!

One of my highlights of the trip was being able to get in the hot tub. I have a small portable sling that makes it easy to lift me from my wheelchair. The cruise line had a lift near the hot tub with a small seat on it; then four young men who were the deck boys transferred me to the seat on the lift; then the hydraulic lift raised me up and turned me around and lowered me into the hot tub.  Ahhhh!  It was so nice. Then when I got out the deck boys put me on one of the deck chairs so I could lie out in the sun.

The week just went by too fast.  It was so nice and I'm ready to do it again.  Of course I could not have done it without Janie and Sara.  I'm so glad Sara was able to get the week off.   And I'm pretty sure she had a terrific time also, even though she was" working".

Anyone who doesn't live in northeastern Oklahoma would think we returned to a snow blizzard, according to the national weather reports. But Tahlequah did not even get a snowflake.  Now the days are getting longer and we have had some sunny days; it is supposed to rain tomorrow and before long the redbud trees and dogwoods will be in bloom and spring will be here.

I am planning a trip to Fremont, CA in June. I plan to fly and my caregiver Lori will be going with me.  I will rent a wheelchair accessible van to use while I am there and my friend Riki is going to be my B&B.  It will be fun to catch up again with my family and hopefully “old” friends from my years living in Fremont.