Should've Been Friday The 13th

      Man, it feels like forever since I did this. It’s only been two weeks, but still, it feels longer. I had every intention of doing this last Friday, but with lack of sleep, and a gig that night, I decided to rest. We had to be out of our stateroom by 8am. Our luggage wouldn’t be to the pick-up point until around 9:30 am. That’s a lot of down time. We had to wake up early to be out by 8. Plus, as usual, we stayed up way too late. Hence only giving us a few hours of sleep. Luckily, we left LA right in the sweet spot, and were home in 2 hours. I thought I might sleep on the ride home, but that didn’t happen. My sister was driving. We had quite a bit to talk about. Also, I always feel bad sleeping when someone else is driving. Maybe if it was on a really long road trip, but in general, I feel the company does a driver good. We talked about our parents mostly. 55 years of marriage, and they still don’t seem to be able to navigate things together that well. I would think after that much time, people would get “good” at it, but they’re not. It seems like perhaps their coping skills got set some time ago, and they just never updated them. I feel lucky because I don’t have to experience it that much. My sister on the other hand, is immersed in it. She even shared a room with them on the trip! I can’t imagine. My mother wasn’t feeling well the whole time, and barely left their room. It’s kind of sad. I think she wants to do things, but there’s always something holding her back. This time it was her back, sometimes it’s her knees. Regardless, there always seems to be some kind of reason why she can’t participate in life. Unfortunately, I don’t see things getting “better.” Miracle cures are fantasies of the ill, and loved ones.

     The cruise itself was alright. It was a little hectic when we got on board because everyone boarded the ship before we could go to our staterooms. So, thousands of people were just crowding the common areas. It was a zoo! The buffet was open, and they billed it as a “welcome aboard lunch.” It was a nightmare. We finally found a seat, and we finally got some food. But, man, I almost lost my shit several times. Some people seem to have no sense of decency or common respect. I swear, it seemed like some of these people had never left the house before. I cannot comprehend being so clueless. It was as if I was in the Twilight Zone. “Picture a man, stuck in a crowd, with a bunch of people who’ve never been stuck in a crowd.” I’m glad I survived. That was the only time the buffet was that crowded. Thank goodness! We only really went to the buffet for breakfast after that. They had some good food. That’s one of the best parts of taking a cruise, the food! The first day we just kind of wandered around, seeing where everything was. My legs were a little sore after that, so I’m glad we eliminated places we didn’t need to go back to. For example: the children’s area! It seemed like the whole back of the ship was dedicated to children. Waterslides, wave machines, rock climbing wall, basketball courts, an arcade, they had a lot of stuff for the children to do. And it seemed like they were trying to get it all done before we even left port! It was a mad house. Naively, I assumed children would still be in school, and were not going to be as “present.” I was wrong! There were children running everywhere. I’m glad they did have an adult’s only pool area. That was relaxing. We didn’t go swimming, but we did take advantage of their huge whirlpools. I’m glad they didn’t let the children in.

     The entire second day, we just did circles in the ocean. Catalina, our first stop, is only about 45 minutes from LA. We didn’t pull in until Wednesday morning! I guess they have to be at sea to open the stores and casino, so we just floated around for a day and a half. I’m not much of a shopper, or gambler for that matter, so I don’t think I get the thrill that some people do. It was really kind of weird, as we just floated around, that if you don’t want to shop, gamble, or take part in any of their “events,” cruising is just getting drunk all day. Well at least it felt that way to me. We did take a class on making sushi. It was fun, and it came out really good. My mom was scheduled to attend, but I think I already covered that. We had a good group of people with us. It was just a little weird to be eating sushi at 10am! Catalina was a bit of a bust. We scheduled a glass bottom boat tour, but were informed upon arrival that it had been cancelled. So, we just walked around. My sister and wife had never seen it before, so at least they got the experience. It was kind of cold, and didn’t really feel welcoming. At least my sister got off the ship! It felt like part of the whole thing was that we could entertain my dad. Which we did, lovingly. He’s usually stuck with two “home bodies,” so he was glad to have people to do things with. In Ensenada, we went Tequila tasting. Technically Mezcal, which was awesome! We got to make our own lunch, it was like a cooking class, while we drank margaritas, it was so much fun. My wife and I took my dad. We had so much fun. It was nice to see him open up, a lot of times it seems like he’s just a shell waiting for the next time he gets yelled at. It’s kind of a bummer.