thefouramigosblog

Today we took a catamaran trip to snorkel and to a beach. It wasn’t until noontime so we had a slow morning. It was fun watching as we approached St. Martin.

It was a short walk to the Cats.

Fun in the sun!

The girls chilling in the front netting.

I don’t like to get much sun so I stayed under the canopy.

The snorkeling wasn’t great. A little murky but someone was feeding fish and we were in a school of striped fish. Unfortunately my underwater camera was on a wrong setting and became completely water logged.

As we sailed to the next beach we passed the famous beach where the planes fly over. We had a plane flyover us.

We had a nice time at a beautiful beach.

Heading back to our ship, the Celebrity Beyond, my girls were jamming to the Reggae.

Finally back to our home away from home.

So everyone who knows me knows my daughter is a gym rat. I guess it’s partly my fault. She was dragged to gyms from a very young age.

The Celebrity Beyond features a well-equipped gym. Ellipticals, treadmills, and bikes look out at the ocean. Lots of weights and weight equipment. Lemon water for hydration and nice clean gym towels.

Lauren joined me for a stretch and release class. It was at 10am and it’s free. The class was a little different from most stretch classes I do, but it was okay.

Kadyn and I looked for ducks. I’m not sure what the meaning of it but people hide little ducks on the ship for people to find. We didn’t find any. We spent our time in Eden.

We had lunch together and I decided to detox from sugar this cruise. It’s going good. The only things I miss are ice cream and macaroons.

The girls went for some poolside sunning and I met some friends for coffee.

Our afternoon massages were great. And we spent a few minutes afterwards in the relaxing room.

We ate at the buffet because it was formal night and we didn’t feel like dressing. Then we went to the production show. They do a great job with shows.

We’ve made it an annual tradition to take a trip somewhere – just Lauren, Kadyn, and me! This year, we are on the Celebrity Beyond, celebrating Kadyn’s 17th birthday on this earth.

Our cabin is an Infinity balcony and it’s lovely and spacious. The balcony is part of the room which makes it much larger.

We took a quick tour of the ship.

Now I’m relaxing on a chaise in the solarium while Kadyn is in the sun and Lauren is working out.

It was a relaxing first day of our 7 day voyage.

#celebrity#beyond

Yesterday we walked around the pier area in Puerto Plata. Bruce started feeling a bit under the weather—hopefully just a cold. This area includes pools for cruisers free of charge. Someone said it was a lazy river but I didn’t see that.

We didn’t do much yesterday. We ate in the cafe instead of the restaurant so he could stay away from people.

For the most part, we’ve had really calm seas.

Today Bruce was really sick—fever and all. I had coffee with friends we’ve made. Now we are at the buffet waiting for it to open so Bruce can have some soup.

The sea is very calm with a bit of fog. Ready for sunset!

I think we might just watch some TV and then go to sleep early. We are off the ship at 8 am.

See you on my next vacation!

#celebritybeyond#dominicanrepublic#puertoplata#

I woke very early and caught a brief glimpse of the sunrise. Then I went back to bed for a bit.

Every cruiser stops in St. Thomas several times if they cruise the Caribbean. I’m not sure how many times I’ve been here but we decided to venture out anyway.

We were going to walk to the town and taxi drivers kept offering us rides. Finally, we had enough. It was hot, we were sweaty and it wasn’t very scenic. So we finally took a cab. He dropped us off at a Catholic Church.

We were kind of in the backstreets of Charlotte Amalie. The neighborhood was a little sketchy but we didn’t feel unsafe.

We found our way to the bakery that the taxi driver told us to go to. It was very strange. It looked more like a warehouse. I bought a coconut ball and Bruce bought a guava turnover.

Then we headed back to the ship. We also took a taxi. I think we are getting too old to walk miles in the heat.

Back on the Beyond, we went for a swim and lounged by the pool.

Another lovely day on the Beyond.

What a relaxing time we’re having, Bruce and I. We started our morning with Tai Chi and then went to stretch and release.

We walked around the ship taking photos and enjoying space.

This is the walkthrough to get to Eden. Very unusual but quite lovely. It would be a nice place to meditate.

This status of the elephant looms over the pool.

We met up with some friends for coffee in the afternoon and Bruce had his second acupuncture session.

The evening show we saw last time, which was on the Beyond, was well worth seeing more than once.

Today we started with a morning stretch in Eden and then I did stretch and release in the fitness center.

Bruce said his shoulder is feeling better. I’m really hoping the acupuncture works.

We are now enjoying relaxing in the solarium and taking a quick dip in the pool.

Today we landed in St. Martin. It promises to be a nice day.

Now we are relaxing at Orient Beach after a swim in the crystal clear water.

What a life we have and we are so grateful. God has been good to two wretches like us!

It was a fantastic day at the beach!

Now an evening watching a production show!

Tomorrow St. Thomas!

We love the Celebrity Beyond. Its capacity is 3300 passengers but it doesn’t feel like that.

This time we have a regular balcony, not an infinity balcony.

Right now Imelda is off the coast of Florida and we may have to change course to avoid the worst of her. Luckily Bruce and I don’t get seasick.

We went for a spa tour and Bruce is getting acupuncture hopefully to help his shoulder.

We watched as the ship left the Port of Miami. It was raining.

We had a lovely dinner in Tuscany. There are four main dining rooms: Tuscan, Normandy, Cyprus, and Cosmopolitan. We can eat in any one of these. I had escargot, a pumpkin salad, and prime rib. With a cannoli for dessert.

Now we are getting ready for comedy in the Beyond Theater.

Unfortunately, the comedian wasn’t very funny so we left early. We are heading to bed early because we are doing Tai chi in the morning.

The drive to Truckee and Lake Tahoe from Reno is quite picturesque.

Mountains everywhere. Some stark and dry and some with huge evergreen trees.

We made it to Lilly’s soccer game. It was adorable. All 7-year-olds. That’s Lilly number 6.

Emmy was busy with her friend Edison.

The mountains were spectacular as the sun lowered on the horizon.

We checked into our Hyatt Vacation Club which I booked using points.

Kami and Erik joined us for dinner and we ate pizza at Rubicon. The village of Northstar was very pretty at night.

After dinner, the girls went in the hot tub.

Now it’s a little TV time to unwind and then bedtime.

Today the girls made tie-dyed t-shirts.

It’s so beautiful here. The girls were on the balcony watching the gondola.

Pool and hot tub time!

Bruce and I even braved the hot tub!

We took a gondola ride to the top of the mountain.

The girls also roller-skated. It was Lilly’s first time on roller blades.

The girls spent the night. Now they are headed to school and Bruce and I are traveling back to Reno!

Home tomorrow!

What a day traveling yesterday. We had to fly from LA to Phoenix and then Phoenix to Reno.

We disembarked from the Navigator at 9am. Our flight was at 1pm so we had plenty of time. Unfortunately, there weren’t any lounges in LAX, at least not through Priority Pass or Amex. So we just hung out at the gate for several hours.

Phoenix has several lounges which was good since our flight was delayed four hours. We spent the four hours in an Escape Lounge through Amex. The food was good but the bathrooms were not.

We finally arrived in Reno at 9:30. We had a room at the Silver Legacy. And the casino was good to us. We played for about an hour and then went to bed.

Today we are off to Lake Tahoe to see family!

Our second port was Ensenada. It looked like a typical third-world country. The mix of wealth and poverty.

I booked a tour that took us to La Bufadora. It was approximately an hour ride to the site.

The scenery was dry with burnt grasses from the sun and heat. In the ocean were these huge circles. It’s their tuna farms. They sell to an Asian market.

We ran a gauntlet of vendors selling their wares, many of which were probably made in China. A polite No gracias worked to stop them from hassling us.

Finally, we reached the infamous blowhole. It’s one of the largest geysers in the world and the spray was impressive.

The coastline was beautiful here.

We stopped for tacos on the way back to the bus.

We slept on our way back to port. It wasn’t a great tour but at least we saw a little of Ensenada.

We spent the rest of the day packing, wandering the ship, and checking out the mini golf course.

Dinner at 5 with Carrie and Chris and then another production show.

Now I’m sitting in LAX waiting for our flight to Reno with a stop in Phoenix.

Next stop will be with the grandkids!