Loreto

Saturday, December 12, 2015

What an amazing day this has been so far. I woke at 6:30 which has become the norm. It looked cool and dark and very very cloudy.

 I stayed in bed another 15 minutes thinking it was too dark to go topside. I dressed quickly and was up on deck ten just before seven. Because it was so windy and cool I did 2 laps downstairs and then went into the fitness center when it opened. This was going to be a treadmill morning. I walked for 30 minutes and then went for coffee.

Because we had lots of yesterday’s breakfast left I brought Ken a coffee and a coffee and fruit for me.

We had breakfast inside and listened to the captains announcements about our situation. He said it was 19 C and would go to 21C in the afternoon. That temperature and the breeze made us decide to wait until afternoon to go ashore. We did not have an excursion booked. Having been here before we knew there was a very nice sandy beach right next to the tender dock.

 Loretto is a beautiful little town surrounded by impressive mountains. We put on our swim suits and sat on the balcony enjoying the view and the sun and the shade and the breezes. The ship was at anchor and it swayed back and forth so that we would be in the hot sun and then after a few minutes we would have cooling shade. It was ideal. We watched the tenders go back and forth and commented on how unusual it was to see tenders with only a few people on board.

I have a good book on the Kindle so I relaxed and read .I reminded myself of how lucky we were to have found each other. I made a note to self to write and thank Valerie for inviting me to go to Toronto with her and to thank Rose for telling me about Classmates. Who would have known then what a change it would have made in my life?

 I felt happy relaxed and peaceful all at once. Life with Ken is good. I am so very blessed.

Before we knew it the clock was showing noon and we had not yet allowed Romano into the room. Time for lunch! We put shorts and a top over our suits and went topside. We each had a hot dog, some fries and an iced tea. Then we went up on deck ten to sit in the lee side and still get some sun. The wind was now quite strong and we were thankful that we were not on shore. That tender ride would not be good. It would have been a GRAVOL day for sure.

 I lasted almost a half hour, but Ken stayed and I left and headed back to our cabin stopping for some iced tea along the way. While I was getting the tea the captain came on the PA and informed everyone that all shore leave was cancelled. The weather had deteriorated; the winds were up to 30 knots. The priority would be getting people back on board safely.

I watched the tenders bobbing up and down in spite of trying to attack the waves side on. Returning tenders had huge waves crashing over the bow. I am so glad that we decided to stay on board and enjoy the ship. I am So happy that I was not one of those passengers taking that rough ride across the bay.

Everyone returned safely but I gather there were a few cases of mal de mer.

We went to dinner and I brought Canada pins for everyone.

At the end of the meal we got an anniversary song from the staff and a wonderful cake that we shared with the group.

Because the show was a vocalist we were neutral about and because the ship was doing a lot of moving we decided to return to the cabin early and just put our feet up.

Another great day had come to an end.

Only 4 more days of cruisingL