Travel is fast approaching…

The lovely Tina and I are off in a couple of days… to the Caribbean, the tropics, to escape, to explore, to cruise, to relax… god knows we need to escape and relax…

There is also an escape from what for us is cold, frigid weather… it will get near 32 degrees tonight… too damn cold… (there is a fire on the hearth a few feet away as I write this…) it is warmer where we are going… But before you can escape and relax you have to plan, and pack, and prepare…

We both seem to be as prepared at work as we can be… Tina more than I, but generally we are prepared… There is a project going on at the house, but I think I have done what I can in advance, have a crew coming in Wednesday to more the last of the furniture, and have to just accept I have done that that can be done…  I am close to setting up my summer camp program for the summer (summer camps in summer, who would have thought)

The Packing has started… suitcases down from the loft in the garage today… there are piles of stuff… growing piles… guided by lists… stuff to take, lists of stuff to find, to buy, and eventually to pack.

I am probably more addicted to technology than I should be… there are cameras (three) with battery chargers, memory chips, cables, extra lenses and such… an Ipad (I blog on the road on the Ipad) with its charger… a journal (sometimes I resort to paper… )  The cell phones need chargers as well… collectively it is a computer bag… a fat, heavy computer bag.

There are books… and clothing… we need something to wear… They expect us to wear clothing...  I have formal stuff (a white dinner jacket, and stuff… it is a cruise… ) swim suit and water shoes… there are tee shirts, shorts, and more… There are mardi gras beads… 

The planning is nearly done… there are guides purchased, guides downloaded and printed, and a plan, 7 pages long, 1,200 words or so, a very personal guide for the two of us…  Flight schedules and reservations, hotel reservations, a rental car, guided tours reserved in advance and “ideas”…. Places to explore once we have done what we planned to do.

Our plan…

We leave SFO on Wednesday evening after work… flying about 8:00 pm… red eye to Ft Lauderdale… Jet Blue… not my beloved Virgin, but a good airline… We arrive in Ft Lauderdale near dawn… then change planes for San Juan…  Two long flights… still domestic… 

We arrive in San Juan early afternoon on Thursday… We have a really nice hotel in Old San Juan, near the cruise pier… not the pier our ship is leaving from of course, but a cruise pier… our ship is leaving from a different pier, the Pan Am pier… an homage to Pan-American Airlines, aka Pan Am, who landed their clippers, large sea planes, here, before World War II…

We have Thursday afternoon, all day Friday, and much of Saturday in Old San Juan…  By chance there is a significant street festival going on… The St Sebastian Festival… parades, music, crowds, a zoo… we will explore and enjoy, but likely will not linger much…  We will likely use the local ferries, buses and subway to explore beyond old San Juan… We have visited San Juan before… I have blogged about it before at http://randyhees.blogspot.com/2010/11/san-juan.html That trip generated a album of 12 photos… found at https://picasaweb.google.com/108652524348276372534/November2010CarribeanCruise12Photos

Saturday evening we board our ship… the Celebrity Summit… We have sailed with Celebrety before, but never on the Summit… a new ship for a new trip.  We sail at 8:30, after dark… 

We visit St Croix, US Virgin Islands the next day… we will take a cab across the island to Christianstad to explore the National park… as in National Park Service, the US National Park Service, the guys in the magic Smokey the Bear hats…  having explored the park we will return to Fredrikstad and its attractions (and our ship) to wander about…

It is St Kitts the next day… Ft Brimstone… and some local low key explorations…

On Dominica we are canyoning… repelling down a waterfall… I haven’t repelled in near 40 years… it will be exciting.

On to Grenada… probably a ship’s tour to a nutmeg processing plant… a former plantation… then explore town and a local bar… I expect a good day.

 A day at sea… 

Then St Thomas, where we plan to take the ferry to St John…  

Then San Juan again… and how to waste a day before a 3:00 flight to Ft Lauderdale… rental car, hotel, a visit with the son… The son lives in Ft Lauderdale… we get to see the dog… We will have a brunch at Johnny V’s (we ate there before… it was good… ) then fly home.

At least we have a plan…plans are important...