Cactus527

It was hard not to call Bezos and rub in how rich I am compared to him. It's too bad my flights aren't going through Vegas, because I would totally just play the quarter slots there with all of the coins that were in that suitcase! Can you imagine taking bags full of quarters to the poor purser in the casino and saying that you wanted It applied to your account?

Emptied out the suitcase to be donated. Spouse had 4061047684302 quarters in Ziploc baggies in there. It's apparently for laundry machines when Spouse travels, but Spouse hasn't used that suitcase in.....YEARS. Also found juggling balls (Spouse's), information fliers for the USS Midway, travel razors, and about 50 plastic grocery bags. Can't wait to put it all in the new suitcase!

I attempted to eat a salad for lunch. That didn't go well. Does that count? EDIT - My problem during my work week is that I get too busy and forget to eat. I shall remedy this in your honor, @OCSC Mike, tomorrow.

I use these. They're hideous in green but they stand out! https://a.co/d/ebucHPz

6 days to embarkation, 5 days to travel. I was busy doing various things this morning, @PPPJJ-GCVAB, and forgot to post until now! Work. I was busy with work. I have to work today, tomorrow, and Thursday, and then I'M FREE. Counting down the days. The best part of forced webinars is shutting off your video feed and doing whatever you want. In this case, I was going through my toiletries to ensure I had everything I needed. Sunscreen, after-sun lotion, hand sanitizer, deodorant, toothpaste...you get the picture. Potato decided to bark at a low-flying small plane today as it passed over our backyard. This, coupled with her barking at a low-flying helicopter last week, really drives home the fact that she helps the "average intelligence" of all dogs balance on the lower side. New suitcase arrives tomorrow! CAN. NOT. WAIT. Spouse demanded that I take the suitcase I have meant to take to Goodwill for forever over there TODAY so that there's room for the new one. I'll probably put it in my car today and drop it off tomorrow. Also trying to figure out Izumi (not hibachi). I can't make any reservations and never have been able to via the Cruise Planner. Am I only allowed to reserve for the regular restaurant once on board, or is it first-come-first-served there? I was going to cancel my Lyft reservation to the port for a cheaper price (I saw it drop to about $22 from my hotel to the port Monday morning at the same time I'll be doing it next week), but a driver reserved it. BLARGH. I get that it's only $28 but I have this thing about trying to save as much as possible. That's my Tuesday pre-trip news.

Wow. I have never heard anything about where to directly attach the baggage tags, but I have always put my on top just out of sheer preference.

After discussion with Spouse, the larger suitcase has been purchased.

The Lowell Observatory is EXCELLENT - someone discovered Pluto from there! You'll really enjoy that.

I did an ultra race through the slot canyons up there once. Unbelievable how beautiful it is. That's another 2-3 hours east of Flagstaff up by Page, @PPPJJ-GCVAB.

I LOVE that you do these kind of trips with your grandkids. She's going to have such great memories. My favorite places at the Grand Canyon are in polar opposite directions: Hermit's Rest and the Desert Watchtower. The best time, though, is when it's dark out and there's a full moon. So beautiful (though my kiddos said it was scary, ha!). It's also the one and only place I've ever seen elk - I literally drove around a bend and there were these (what I thought) HUUUUUGE deer looking at me while standing in the road.

I would love to do something out of Cape Liberty someday. Bookworm got to go on her class trip last year to DC & NYC, and I've never been to NYC, so I was dying just a little through the photos she was sending home. A Bermuda cruise out of there would be awesome! I hope it works out for you. I'm glad I'm not the only one that buys in certain colors. I tend to stick with white, gray, black, and a few red thrown in for fun. Now I'm leaning toward getting the better suitcase! Argh!

Craziness. I know Arizona gets a TON of visitors for spring training in March, but I can't recall ever hearing about restrictions on anything because of them. Calmer crowd, I guess. Oh, and all the golf tournaments all through the winter months. And the snow birds [old people who winter here, not actual birds]. I'm laughing at the idea of restrictions on the snow birds - Drive the speed limit! Stop blocking the aisles in grocery stores by putting your cart in the middle! No taking all the spots in my yoga class!

Indy is doing some shorter cruises out of Southampton. Pretty sure those itineraries will be a little different for you. EDIT: @dr martini do you have a link to your Freedom blog? I'd love to read it!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/04/florida-2024-spring-break-curfew-rules/72748028007/ Well, this is interesting. I'm wondering if it will affect traffic a lot going/leaving the port area... ...and is this common for Spring Break time in Florida? It seems insane!

I LOVE THIS! You are going to have an AMAZING time doing your B2B2B! I keep looking to see when I can do the same on Quantum or Navigator out of LA - so far, none of my dates are sticking.

7 days to embarkation, 6 days to travel. Last night, I was laying out all my clothes in piles for "Cruise" and "Conference." Not a whole lot of overlap, unfortunately. My oldest daughter, Bookworm, kept trying to find ways to combine outfits for both and they were hideous. Also, I'm afraid I'll get all sweaty wearing it for "cruise" and smell horrible in it for "conference." UGH. Held my credit card last night in terms of buying a bigger suitcase as I remember we have a soft-sided larger one buried deep in the recesses of The Forbidden Closet. I may try that if I need more space. With two large suitcases, a carry-on suitcase, and a backpack planned, I invested in this, which arrive this morning. #thankyoubezos Now that I've tried it, I wish Wish WISH I would have had this years ago! Live and learn, I suppose. Spent the morning getting my hair done so that I look younger than my age. Oh, gray hair, how I loathe thee. Funny story - the last time I was there, I walked in and my stylist was sitting in her chair scrolling on her phone. I greeted her and then patiently waited for her to say "okay, your turn!" But she didn't. She ignored me. I was getting really irritated/pissed when my stylist walked in the door and apologized for being late. WTH. Turns out, she has an identical twin who was waiting for her to show up to pick something up! We had a great laugh about it once I realized what was going on.

For whatever reason, when I'm here in AZ walking around in 110F / 43C weather, it's uncomfortable but I can deal with it. When I'm in Vegas in the summer doing the same, I feel like I'm sweating from parts of my body that I didn't even know COULD sweat. Elbow pits are a real thing apparently!

NOT A RS! That's a true shame!!!!

What was the date for that one?

Whenever somebody says the dry heat thing to me, I always comment that the inside of your oven feels the same way, would you like to hang out in there? Miserable but in a different way versus humidity.

LOL she's in the same area of town as me - in fact, my kids are in school over in Oro Valley. Last week of June? You chose the absolute worst time to come visit weather wise - it's the hottest it gets right before it finally breaks into monsoon season.

I have been pleasantly surprised with where my room has been placed. Both times I have done guarantee cabins. While probably not my first choice, they both work just fine; in fact, for my one this month, I'm excited to see what the location is like. As some of the others have said, if it gets assigned early enough, you might be able to switch to a different room in the same category. I have no problem with booking guarantee cabins.

YOUR BFF AND I ARE IN THE SAME CITY!!!! I didn't start off here - I actually spent 5 years up in the Phoenix area. Tucson is much, much nicer. I love that it embraces the desert rather than tries to make itself into another Los Angeles.

I've done two guarantees now. The first I booked in September 2023 and was assigned a room in October 2023 for March 2024. The second I booked January 2024 for December 2024 and was assigned almost instantly (as in 2-3 days after booking). Both were balcony rooms. I don't know how I got the luck of the draw with early assignments, but I'll take it!

Me too! Spouse questions this decision, but I tried to reason that with our overseas trip in the fall, it would be much more prudent to get a larger suitcase. Spouse is still on the fence about that.