Adieu to the Tropics

It’s cloudy this morning. The wind is blowing over 30 knots from the northwest. The outside temperature is in the low 60’s. I have taken a sweater out of the closet…

No doubt about it, the tropics are behind us. We passed Cabo San Lucas yesterday morning. We’re now about half-way up the Baja California coast and will be pulling into Long Beach harbor tomorrow morning at 7 AM.

Day four of four consecutive sea days. The cruise director and his staff are scraping the bottom of the entertainment barrel in their efforts to keep us amused. There are, of course, the usual team trivia and bingo events; but I also note on today’s calendar some real signs of desperation – “Coffee Chat with Hotel Manager Kees van Santen” and “The Art of Towel Folding” to name but two.

There are folks on board who seem to require constant external stimulation – they are in perpetual motion – dashing from the “Mega Trivia Challenge” to the “$1000 Panama Slot Challenge” and on to the “Basketball Free Throw Shootout” with barely enough time for pit-stops at the “Create Your Own Bloody Mary” station on the Lido Deck between events.

On the other hand, one of the things I find most enjoyable about cruising is the opportunity to AVOID external stimulation. Give me a book and a recliner in the Crow’s Nest and I am happy as a clam at high tide – although I have been compulsive about my morning workouts. And I am contemplating my third hot rocks massage.

Last night I did attend the evening variety show on the main stage. It was amusing – not great – but worth seeing once. The hired performers on board appear to fall into two categories: 1) Aspiring young actors and musicians; and 2) Ageing boozy lounge lizards with great tans.

What the young folks may lack in god-given talent, they somewhat compensate for with considerable youthful enthusiasm. And I’ve always been a sucker for a lounge lizard at a piano bar when it’s time for a night cap.

Well, I am finished with my morning latte so I reckon it’s workout time. The treadmill will be challenging this morning insofar as we are both pitching and rolling a fair amount. The seas continue to build and it looks like rain.

And who knows? Perhaps later I will attend the workshop on how to fold towels in the shape of cutsie animals (you use gold foil-wrapped chocolates for the eyes). Indeed, I spy a white towel and gold-eyed toad staring at me from the back of my couch as I type. It’s always good to have a skill to fall back upon…

Later gang…