Start of Journey!
Trip Start
May 07, 2005
1
2
117
Trip End
Ongoing
Galveston,
Texas,
United States
Saturday, May 7, 2005
Day 1 (Dave)
We finally made it! After months of planning, weeks of preparation, and days of intense stress we managed to sell or store everything we own, quit our jobs, and fix and rent the house. We've been running on adrenaline and caffeine so the reality of our new life hasn't settled in yet. Last night we got almost six hours of sleep -- more than any of the previous nights.
We woke up at 6 AM to store a final few things like the blankets we slept on. We discovered that a mirror, some drawers, and the freezer still needed cleaning. So instead of leisurely preparing for our trip we went into high-gear cleaning. Still we managed to be showered and ready when our ride arrived at 7:18.
We met Len and Fran on the internet through a cruise website. They offered to split a rental car with us for which we were grateful. They are cruise experts and we had a pleasant drive to Galveston where we boarded our ship. I'm looking forward to seeing them and the other "Cruise Critics" at lunch tomorrow.
After a bite to eat we went straight to bed. It was a glorious 2-hour nap. I'm sure many people think these cruise beds are uncomfortable but after sleeping on the floor for a week we found it the most opulent of luxuries.
Our bags arrived early and after waking up we unpacked. What a chore! We brought seven big bags into our tiny little room. I'm sure the seasoned backpackers just spat their coffee onto the monitor at the idea of bringing seven bags on a year-long trip. Those bags even included a tuxedo and formal dress -- not your standard backpacker fare.
After unpacking we planned on listening to the first of our Italian language lessons until we realized that we were missing five of them. Oops.
We are in the late seating for dinner which is 8:30. It's a bit late for me because I like to digest before bed. It's especially bad because we have seven time zones to change during this trip so dinner is effectively an hour later on those nights. Ugh. Our dinner companions were interesting. There was an older Swedish man who has taken 35 cruises and two Canadian ladies who haven't cruised at all. We were the only Americans -- a big difference from the last cruise we took.
We are very much looking forward to sleeping late. It will be our first good night sleep in a long time. I hope we have a chance to upload these notes soon. The wireless doesn't work or doesn't reach our cabin, plus the internet is 75 cents per minute! Maybe we'll find some internet in Key West in two days.
