Race for the Taste 10K

This past Sunday Kim and I and 4011 of our closest friends did the Race for the Taste 10K out at Disney. First let me say Disney knows how to do races. Very organized and started on time (two very important things for me), we even had someone sing the Star Spangled Banner and fireworks.

The 6.2 miles went by very fast and it was very interesting to see just where we were walking and how we got from one place to another. We went in back gates to Hollywood Studios that I never knew existed and then a back entrance at EPCOT that I always wondered where it went.

We both had very good finishes, Kim ran more than she thought she would and finished about 15 minutes in front of me. Her time was 1:11:20 and she went more than the 6.2 miles according to her GPS . We both ended up with longer distances because of weaving in and out of the masses and for me I always seemed to be on the outside of the curve. You wouldn't think that would add up much but for the both of us it was about 1/4 mile extra.

My time was 1:26:05 which gave me a pace of 13:30 per mile, a personal best for me since I started walking.

Here I am crossing the finish line, that's me right in the center withe the purple shirt.


Here we are after our official pictures (hope to have them soon) and picking up water and fruit. We were looking for Tammy and Dan. Kim has spotted Tammy and I'm still looking for her.

Here we are feeling pretty good about the whole race and looking forward to our next one on the 24th of October. Another one at Disney, but this one is run at night and we are hoping it will be cooler then.

And yes, I did steal all these pictures from Tammy, thanks Tammy.

Nassau

It's our last full day aboard the ship and we started with a walk. Did four miles this morning and it was just Kim, Tammy, and me walking, everyone else must be tired out from all the good times they have been having.

Stopped in to talk to Dan for a few minutes and then I was off to shower and straighten up the room.

Another beautiful sunrise.

I was back to the Red Sail in about 25 minutes and we headed over to our normal breakfast location and it was just Kim and Tammy. Kim left to take her shower and the three of us got breakfast. The rest of our crew started showing up one by one until most of us were there.

Watched the ship pull into Nassau.

Dan and I were off the ship by about 0910, just going out to do some exploring before our excursion this afternoon.

Ran into one of our good friends and got our pictures taken.



Then we were off to find this church that Tammy had visited on her last trip to Nassau. Had no problems finding it, we could see it from the ship and just headed in that direction.


A very beautiful church and we enjoyed walking around reading all about it's history.

While we were in there the skies opened and the rain came down. We hoped it would stop before we were ready to leave but it wasn't looking promising. So out came the raincoats and off we went. Ended up soaked from the knees down and there was water flowing everywhere.

Didn't really have a destination in mind so just walked. It eventually let up and the walking became much more enjoyable.

A shot of the church after the rain when we walked by it again.

This is Atlantis, a huge tourist area/hotel.

This is our next cruise ship, can't wait.


Got back to the ship to change out of our very wet shoes, that felt really good. Went to the Red Sail with Tammy, Kim, Tom, Sami, and Breann to get a snack to tide us over for our afternoon excursion.

Headed ashore at about 1215 so we could get a picture at the Bahamas sign.

Our tour leader for the Segway was at the gangway when we got back. It ended up being just the eight of us: Dan, Kim, Tammy, Tommy, Michael, Sami, Cole, and me. Tom, Dennis, and Breann were doing the glass-bottom boat tour.

We walked to our taxi and even though it was advertised as being air conditioned it wasn't but the ride was short and we were there in no time.

Got all outfitted with our safety gear and got a short lesson. The instructor made it look so very easy, then I stepped on the segway and thought this is going to be too hard but within a couple of minutes I felt very comfortable and was ready to go.



This was at our first stop, we really needed the break. Found that your feet get sore because you are afraid to move them and tense them up as you are riding. We all appreciated the time to step down and walk around for a bit.



We had a really great time, felt like we were zipping along at about 30 miles an hour but the top speed on these was about 10 mph. If you ever get a chance to ride on a segway, do it. It is a blast and I will do it again someday.

We rode for about an hour and it was all through the woods and on dirt paths. So much fun.

Here are those two people again that always seem to be watching us get back on the ship.

Leaving Nassau Harbor.




Can't believe it is our last night to go to the dining room. It was another great meal and we were kept amused by Guillermo again.

Dad and Ilona, our assistant server.

Paul Handy the Maitre d' and also Jack of all Trades.

Checked out our pictures one last time and then we pretty much called it a night.

This was a great vacation and if you want to vacation with lots of people it is the way to go. Can't wait until June.

At Sea Day 2

We found that we really enjoyed our days at sea and always made the most of them.

We were back on eastern time this morning so it really was 0515 when I went out for my walk. Kim and Tammy were doing laundry, weren't they the lucky ones. It was long walk day for me and about half way through I decided what was 4.5 more laps, might just as well do 8 miles today. I was planning on moving up to that when we got home so I was just a week early and didn't have anywhere to be.

After my walk went and sat with Dan for a bit and then headed off to take my shower and get the day rolling. I was back for breakfast in about 20 minutes and of course we all sat together and planned our day.

First on the list was to sign up for the On Deck for the Cure Walk benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. On our way ran into Mum and Dad relaxing in these chairs and joined them for a few minutes.


Found out the store where we were signing up for the walk didn't open until ten so we were a bit early. Decided to look at pictures and get the new ones that were out. I ran the pictures up to the room and by the time I got back the shop had opened and Kim and Tammy had started the sign-up and we were done in no time.

Off to the towel-folding demo, Mum, Tammy, Kim, and Sami were the folders. Had lots of fun and the folders did a great job with their creations.




Shots of the dogs they made.



Then some of the crew came in to get introduced and the ship's Captain spoke to us.

Then we played a round of BINGO, we were all hoping the win the $1199.00 and I got very close, only needed one number when Bingo was called.

Right after that was the debarkation talk, so we now knew everything we needed to know about leaving the ship on Saturday. About 1/2 way through the talk noticed that Dan was in the balcony and I joined him when it was over. Gave him a rundown of our plans and showed him where we would be getting carrot cake later in the afternoon if he wanted to join us. He has really enjoyed reading on his days at sea.

Ran into Tom on our way and let him know we would be going to lunch so he headed to the Red Sail and we all met him there a few minutes later.

Today was the chocolate dessert buffet bar and here are a few of the offerings. There was a lot more then just chocolate and we tried lots of different things. One of the the big advantages to having a large group you can just sample a bit of everything and nothing goes to waste.

After lunch we were heading out to watch Breann in the Family Wet Water War but it started pouring on the walk up so that activity was canceled.

By the time we got organized it was time to do the "On Deck for the Cure" walk. There were lots of participants and we walked a mile.

Met up with Dan and Dennis at the Amber Room to watch the Marriage Show, a very funny version of the Newlywed Game. One couple was married 6 days, one for 22 years and one for 60 years. They were all winners and got a bottle of champagne.

On to carrot cake and let me just say it is a good thing we didn't try it earlier in the cruise because we would have needed (wanted) a piece everyday.

We decided even though it was elegant night in the dining room again tonight we were going to put on our best duds, sneak in the back entrance and have dinner in the dining room. Ended up at the wrong staircase so our sneaking in was thwarted but we didn't care had a great time at dinner and saw people dressed in just about everything so we weren't really out of place.

More dancing tonight, can't remember the song but of course Kim and Michael danced.

Then on to a slow song and the Old Folks got up and gave us a show.

Along with Kim and Dennis.

After dinner Guillermo entertained us again with his napkin creations. A pair of shorts or a baby diaper.

A bow for Dad.

A boot.

Then he made this little animal that he cradled in his arms and pet and the next thing we know it is attacking Breann and there were screams and laughter everywhere. Another great meal.

Took a walk on deck and Dan and I called it a night.

Day 5 Costa Maya, Mexico

Today was a four mile day and not quite as windy. Did a few laps with Tammy and Kim and then it was off to take a shower and head down to breakfast.

On my way to the Red Sail caught another beautiful sunrise.


Today we sat on the port side of the ship and we were glad that we did. Saw this rainbow spanning between two clouds plus we were able to watch the ship pull into Costa Maya.

Costa Maya pier, built just for the cruise ships. Always amazes me how easy the Captain makes it seem to just pull right up to the pier.

Armed guards to keep us safe, not sure from what but they were there.

These were the only buildings we saw for miles in either direction. It was a very nice area for us tourists.

You should see this in the afternoon when we got back from our excursion, wall-to-wall people. I didn't think to get a picture then.

They are just coming out of their dry season, so everything is kind of dried up and brittle but there was no litter anywhere. Such a change from yesterday.

The Home Depot of this little town, Dan would have liked to stopped in just to see what they had.

Gas Station where the gas was $6.00 for whatever their measure was, not sure. But $6.00 seems very high.

This was the same road we were on when we went to Tulum in Cozumel, just much further south.

All the houses had such clean surrounding areas.

And most had a satellite dish.

A couple little stores grouped together.

The little town we visited before the small ruins we saw today.

This is the town of Limones and their Mayan ruins. Couldn't compare with Tulum but still very interesting to see.

Then we were on to the main portion of our tour, a Mayan Homestead or at least that is what I'm calling it.

Francisco our tour guide made a big deal about the purity of the water from the well as has every tour guide we have had so far. I'm still not drinking any water in Mexico that isn't bottled.

This is Don Chucho and he is uncovering our lunch. He was very meticulous moving the palm fronds making sure none of the dirt fell down on the charcoal or the pot with the chicken.


Here is lunch. We had the chicken on homemade corn tortillas with some onions and guacamole and of course some hot sauce that was way to hot for me. Everything was delicious.

Not sure what kind of flower this is but it looked like a type of orchid.

We had some peppers like these that grew in Guam called boonie peppers and they were very hot also.

This is Senora Gloria showing us how she makes the corn tortillas. She was making them and looking all around and watching one of the women from our tour make a mess of her tortilla.


Then Francisco showed us the leaf/frond that Don Chucho was going to make sisal from.

Put it on the leaning sawhorse thing and anchored it.

Then took this triangled shaped log tool and stripped off all the green pulp leaving the sisal fibers.

Francisco showing us the left over fibers.

These are a few of the things that can be made from the fibers.

The seeds in this pod are what were used to season the chicken we had at lunch.

Got back to the ship and who do we find people watching but Mum and Dad on deck 5 just watching everyone come back onboard.

Stopped off to get me a diet coke, my first of the day and I really didn't even miss not having one until now. So I guess just keeping hydrated keeps those caffeine withdrawal symptoms at bay.

Dinner was another fun time tonight. Michael really got into the dancing again.


This is Dad showing us what he looked like when he was a member of the Beatles!

Can't believe the cruise is starting to wind down, we waited so long for it to start and just a day at sea and one more port and we will be heading home.

Day 4 Belize

Another early morning and let me tell you the wind was blowing hard today. I was either fighting to make headway or get blown down the track. Another thing I forgot to mention is using the GPS to track our miles didn't work so well on the ship because it also tracked the movement of the ship so I was doing 2.5 to 3 minute miles, threw us for a loop that first day but we ended up just using it for the time walked. Made for real interesting downloads of the walks when I got home.

Today I did four miles and because of that I was able to get my shower done and see the sunrise and it was one to see.


We pulled into Belize and because of their coral reef we had to tender. This was the boat that came out to the ship to bring us ashore. It was a very quick smooth ride.


While we were waiting for the rest of the people on our tour I happened to look over and who do I see but the gang getting off a tender and getting ready to get their picture taken.

Still getting off.

Ok that is Dennis bringing up the rear.

Now getting into position for the picture.

The rest of our tour finally arrived and we walked about 100 yards and it was time to take a bathroom break. Most of the people had just come from the ship, don't they plan ahead? I guess not because the break was about 15 minutes long. We were finally on our way and then we found out we would be riding on a school bus for our tour and that was an indicator of how our day went. We really couldn't hear the tour guide, so of course we just quit listening.

The next two pictures are pretty much what we saw for the next hour that we rode the bus, not very interesting or appealing.


She did pass around some of the local money which of course Dan is always interested in so he got some to add to his collection.


The chickens at our Sights and Sounds of Belize.


The dancers, they were pretty good and really looked like they were enjoying themselves but we were inside with no a/c so it was kind of uncomfortable. The one thing I could say was the bathrooms were very clean and that is always a pleasant surprise.

This was the only excursion out of the four we took that fell below our expectations so we were pretty pleased with that because you never really know what you are going to get when you sign up for a tour.

Our bus trip back was much shorter, we went a different route. This is the cemetary we passed on the way back.

Every corner seemed to have one of these carts selling stuff.

Got back to the ship and went to eat lunch, found out later we were all eating lunch at about the same time but didn't run into each other.

Spent some time wandering around the ship and then went to check out our photos and bought the ones we wanted.

Off to dinner and of course it was delicious. After, Guillermo kept us entertained with two forks and two toothpicks. He connected the forks together at the tines and put one of the toothpicks into the tines and used the other toothpick to balance all of that and then we passed it from person to person and everyone was able to do it with it falling. Found out this was quite a feat we accomplished because later in the week he tried it again and couldn't even get it through two people.



After dinner Dan and I were off to get some stamps for our postcards and we got down to guest services (deck 3) and realized we had no cash with us, so up the stairs to deck 10 and got our money and back down we went. Going down is nothing but that coming back up is a killer. I sure wish there were some hills in this part of Florida so I could get use to walking up.

Stay tuned, Costa Maya coming up next.

Day 3 Cozumel

Today we set our clocks back an hour but I ended up just staying on eastern time because for three days it wasn't worth trying to get use to the change. Dan changed his watch so we knew when we had to be at our appointed places throughout the day.

This meant I was up at 0445 ships time to go walking and this worked out really well because then I was done before six and didn't feel rushed to get ready to get off the ship.

Here we are pulling into Cozumel, did you know that Cozumel is an island off the coast of Mexico? I didn't until we starting planning this trip.

I always like the pretty color the water turns with the side thrusters are used and it is amazing just how easy the Captain makes it look when he is pulling the ship up to the dock.


The area where we got off the ship.

We got off the ship right after it docked, walked to the end of the pier and crossed over to another pier because we were taking the yellow boat to the mainland to visit the Tulum Ruins.

It took us about 45 minutes to get to Playa de Carmen. Forty-fine very long minutes, it was a very bumpy ride with the smell of diesel, but we finally arrived and all that was put behind us.

That's our bus up the street on the right.

We had about an hour ride to get to the ruins but Angel our tour guide made the time go by very fast with all his stories of the Mayans. Just so you know there are still Mayans in Mexico, a lot of them are 100% Mayan and speak one of the many dialects of Mayan.


This is the Mayan calendar which is set to end Dec 21, 2012, but that doesn't mean it is the end of the world just the end of that 5,000 year calendar.

Our first view of the ruins. It was a much larger area then I thought it would be and in very good condition.

Us, just before walking through the wall into the city.



Angel our guide, he was very passionate and knowledgeable about the area. Both of his grandmothers are full-blooded Mayan, so he learned the mayan language to communicate with them.

We learned so much that it is hard to remember. Buildings facing east to west were temples, if there was a thatched roof it was a dwelling. This whole area was mostly for religious activities.

There were iguanas everywhere we went and most of the ones we saw were pretty small.




Stairway leading down to the beach. After our tour of the ruins we could go to the beach but there was only about 50 minutes until we headed back to the ferry so Dan and I opted to walk around some more and then try some of the fish tacos. We were glad that we tried them but I don't think I will have them again, just not flavors that go together for me. Dan also tried one of the local beers, which he did at every port we pulled into. Had to get those beer caps for Jared.

And of course you can't get away from the good old USA.

Our trip back to Cozumel was much better because we were on a bigger, faster boat so it didn't seem so rough. Got back on board the ship at about 1730 and walked up the ten flights of stairs to the cabin, have I mentioned we walked a lot of stairs this weeks. Only took the elevator twice on the whole cruise.

Waiting for dinner.

Entertained tonight by the staff of the dining room, they sang and danced to "Won't You Be My Girl". As you can see Kim, Breann, and Michael were our dancers.

Another great day under our belt, can't wait to find out what happens tomorrow.

Cruise Days 1 and 2

Well we are back and it is time to start telling the story of our cruise. We had a wonderful time and can't wait until next year when we do it all again.

I thought the morning was really going to drag but had so much to do that the time just flew by and before we knew it we were at the terminal for the Carnival Glory.


Waiting patiently for the menfolk to park the cars and meet up with us so we can all go into the terminal together. Had to fill out the form stating we weren't feeling sick or anything like that.

Some very happy vacationers.

The terminal seemed to be a madhouse but the line went very quickly and we were on board before we knew it. Not many areas of the ship were open to us to begin with and our cabins wouldn't be available until 1330 so we went up to the Red Sail. This was the buffet and we got our first meal of many.

Got all settled into our cabins and then checked out the balconies. All our cabins were right in a row. First: Tammy, Tom, and Sami, then Dan and me, Kim, Dennis, Cole, and Breann were next and Mum and Dad on the end. Tommy and Micheal had an inside cabin down the passageway a bit.

After dropping off all the stuff we were carrying with us off we went to explore the ship. There is no deck that goes all the way around the ship so we will be walking on the jogging track. It is 9 laps to a mile and that is going to get a bit tedious but is better than making turns to walk back and forth on the outside decks.

Of course our first official act was the lifeboat drill and we found that being early didn't pay off.

Doesn't this look like a trouble-making threesome.

Here we are all set for the drill to begin.

This is what it looked like about a half-hour later, just before we were dismissed. We had six rows of people and let me say not a bit of the breeze (if there was one) was getting to us.

They weren't kidding about pulling out of the harbor after the boat drill, we didn't even make it back to our cabins before the ship was moving.

Caught our breath for a few minutes and then it was time to head down to dinner. We were seated at three tables that were placed end to end and that worked out very well for the whole cruise. Met our waiter Guillermo and his assistant Ilona and it turned out they were one of the best things about going to dinner every night.

We were in the dining room for about 1.5 hours but it really didn't seem that long.

Time to head out and walk off some of the delicious dinner.


After doing some more exploring it was time to head back to the cabin and call it a night.

Day 2 was a day at sea and we really enjoyed just wandering around and dropping in to participate in different activities.

Kim, Tammy and I walked just about every morning, I started with a long walk because we had no where to be. Sixty-seven and a half laps later I was done with my 7.5 miles. We didn't eat breakfast until about 0830 because of the walking but hey we are on vacation.

We checked to see if any new photos were available and then we were off to the Fun Ashore Tour Talk. We were early and the Famous Faces Challenge was about to start so we decided to play. It was a pretty easy Challenge and Dan and I got 24 out of 25 right so we were awarded a ship on a stick.

This is a very coveted item and we were lucky to bring one home on our first full day cruising, okay not really but we had a good time.

Dan went up to cabin after this, his goal on the cruise was to see how many books he could read and he used our two at sea days to accomplish this. I was off to Scrapbook Making and met up with Kim and Tammy, we were very disappointed because it was just a sales pitch to buy the scrapbooking supplies they carry on the ship.

By this time the three of us were hungry for lunch so up to the Red Sail we went, just so you know I only rode the elevator twice during the whole cruise the rest of the time it was the stairs. Usually it was about 5 - 6 flights at a time. Most everyone had eaten by the time we got to the buffet so they just sat with us to keep us company.

Kept our afternoon full with lots of activities.

Watched the kids come down the slide.

Chess games.

Kim admiring her medal after winning the Turbo Trivia.

Watched the disco lessons and the bingo game, both were very entertaining.

One of the several towel creation we found in our cabin over the course of the cruise.


This is one of the few sunsets we saw because usually we were in the dining room at this time. Tonight we ate at the buffet because it was elegant night in the dining room and we aren't the elegant type.

That wraps up the first two days, tomorrow we pull into Cozumel where we break up into three groups for excursions.