Mexico... Again?

People are asking Andy and Terry, "Where are you going next?"

Andy says that they have plans to return on a cruise (or two) to Mexico.

He's heard of a few sales, one in September and one in November.

He's thinking, "We've already been to Mexico, but the price is right and a cruise is just too much fun to pass up."

As a result, they will be sailing aboard the Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas two weeks from now.

This is the same ship that took Terry and Andy north toward San Francisco last June.

This time it is heading south to its normal ports of Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta.

Their trip in June was a lot of fun, so they decided to go to Mexico on this ship in September.

Come back in a few weeks and read about how things went.

The ship sails on Sunday, September 13, and returns a week later.

See you then.

Laughlin

Terry and Andy have driven out to Laughlin, Nevada for a little change of scenery. They stay at the Colorado Belle Hotel right on the river.




The weather here is hot and dry. The temperature today is 106 degrees. Terry does a little shopping at the outlet mall, and Andy watches the baseball games on the TV's in the casino.



They stay cool inside the air conditioned casinos, and they take a walk along the river when they want to get away from all of the air conditioning.



Andy and Terry decide to take a ride along the old Route 66 Highway between Kingman, Arizona and Seligman. It's a pretty drive, but there are very few towns along the way.


After a couple of days they decide to come back home to cool off and count all the money Terry has won in the casino.

San Diego Fan Fest

On their first Saturday back home from the Baltic Sea Cruise,
Andy and Terry have recovered enough to take a drive down to sunny San Diego.


Their favorite football team is having their annual Open House Practice session.


It's called Fan Fest. Andy was afraid he would miss this event because of the cruise, but the timing worked out well.







All the fans are invited to come to San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium to visit while the San Diego Chargers go through their practice routine. About 19,000 people showed up today.




They have a nice time, taking in the stadium sights, enjoying the San Diego weather, seeing their favorite players... and getting a bit of unpleasant sun burn.





Fan Fest is finished by 2 PM, so Terry and Andy decide they've had enough excitement for the day.


They don't want to over do it.


They go out for a late lunch and return home to rest up from their

San Diego Charger mini adventure.

Back From The Baltic

Terry and Andy have been back from Europe for a few days now.

Their jet lag is beginning to wear off, little by little.

At one point on the two week trip, they were 11 hours ahead of California time; the time zones seemed to change every day or two,

but that's what happens when you're "on the move."



First, They flew to London, then got a bus for the two hour drive south to the port of Dover in England. Then they quickly boarded the beautiful Norwegian Jewel.

They were the last ones to get on board, so the ship departed before they knew it. The seas were extremely smooth for the entire journey.

They are told that rough seas are not common on this voyage - a very lucky thing - especially for Terry; she HATES rough seas!

Two days later they dock in Copenhagen, Denmark.

After waiting out a morning rain storm, they go onshore for a nice walk through town.



Of course, they stop for a photo of the Little Mermaid which is right near the dock. Then they continue on to see the sights on the waterfront.



At the palace, the changing of the Royal Guard occurs every day at noon.





After a nice, tiring day walking all over Copenhagen, Andy and Terry return to the ship to relax and rest up for the next day when they will dock at the German seaside resort of Warnemunde.

Andy and Terry take a nice walk through town in Warnemunde. They've hardly ever heard of this place, but it is a very attractive town.






Terry and Andy are establishing a regular routine.

In each new port, they wake up and have a very leisurely morning breakfast and "take it easy."

After most of their fellow passengers are gone off the ship, they stroll off to see the sights. When they get tired, they stroll back onboard and have a nice late lunch and rest up for the next day.


On the ship, they sign up for many onboard activities. Their favorites are the frequent Trivia Contests. They manage to win more than their share of Trivia sessions.

Below is a photo of Andy and Terry and one of their favorite Cruise Staff Hosts, Melissa, from Manila. She has traveled all over the world while working onboard cruise ships.





A couple of days later, the Jewel docks in Tallinn, Estonia, a former Soviet Russian satellite nation. Tallinn has a very nice "old town," a good place to explore for the afternoon.





After Tallinn, we set sail for RUSSIA!

The ship docks at a remote pier in Saint Petersburg for two days.

Up in this part of the world the average sunset is about 10 PM!





Terry and Andy take a couple of city tours in order to see more of the city. Andy is even invited to dance with the Russian folk troupe.



Andy discovers that it's a lot better to take pictures of all the souvenirs than to actually buy so many of them.

Terry is not convinced about his money saving policy.






After two sightseeing days in Russia, the ship sails to Helsinki, Finland,
a very clean and pretty place where you can barely understand the street signs,
but nearly everybody understands English.

Nearly everywhere we have gone on this trip, most of the people speak English pretty well.




For their final port, they find themselves in Stockholm, Sweden.

They ship is docked not far from the "old town" section of Stockholm where the Royal Palace stands.






After their visit to Stockholm, Andy and Terry have some fun on the ship during the two day trip back to the White Cliffs of Dover, where they have to leave their ship and take the bus to Heathrow Airport.

Their trip is over - all except for the grueling flight home to California.




After they have had adequate rest, you will be hearing more about what adventures Terry and Andy have planned for the near future.

See you then.