January 6

Our preparation seems to have been successful. We were all packed; the house was clean. We don’t think anything was forgotten. Our motto has been “passports, tickets, money.” If you’ve got those, everything else can be fixed. We  have a sense of comfort with our friend Claudia (through yoga and massage) living at our house for the next 4 months. And, we’re only a phone call or email away.

On January 4, our friend, Janet, dropped us off at the airport Red Lion about noon. We had the luxury of free time since our flight to Los Angeles was at 6am the following day. We walked around downtown, had a relaxing lunch, and saw Wicked. We couldn’t remember how long it has been since we had free time and just wandered around. There’s a lesson there. We never really have to do anything, but we schedule obligations. I make lists to check off. Karla invites responsibilities through non-profits, helping our Indian friends on the Klickitat, and volunteering at a thrift store and seeking a variety of do-gooder activities. We enjoy it all, but perhaps my list should include “doing nothing.” 

On January 5, we got a Red Lion shuttle to the airport and got in a flow that would end on the ship. It’s nice to have only a 2 hour flight in the same time zone. Viking was there to receive us and we were herded to a bus and to the ship. Check-in was easy and we were in our rooms and unpacked by 2:30. From there we had “nothing to do.” So, we checked the Viking Daily to see what lectures, receptions, and other events were coming up. I, of course, started to make a list.

We had heard that there were 80 passengers from previous cruises. Also, about 400 people got on in Los Angeles. About an equal number disembarked after sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to LA. We learned that some travelers are staying on through New York. We know people getting on in South Africa. (John and Carolyn Soutter.) We saw about 10 people we knew.. They seemed like old friends.

In traveling from the airport to the ship, we were reminded of why we don’t/wouldn’t live in LA. In our last blog, I compared The Greater Lyle/Dallesport metropolis with Los Angeles. My careful analysis found  GLD to be superior. That remains so. Unfortunately, our relaxed day in Portland didn’t encourage us to live there. On a Portland Saturday afternoon, it was sparsely populated. The percentage of apparently houseless people was high. Three panhandlers found us in a relatively short time. Drugs seemed too plentiful. It’s not like that in Lyle.

Our ship has been free of panhandlers so far. But, there are other threats. One of our friends who traveled from Ft. Lauderdale mentioned lots of coughing in the theater. We wonder about Covid. We read that 3 cruise lines had been struggling with Norovirus (Vomiting. …Cunard, Princess, and, of course, Holland America.) There have been no reports of scurvy that used to plague some cruises. And, so far, there have been no  publicized cases of venereal disease; this used to be a problem on earlier cruises.

We are starting 5 consecutive “sea days.”  before our stops in Hawaii (Oahu and Kauai). That seems like too many, but we’re enjoying settling in and seeing friends from previous cruises. Karla is getting plenty of walking and socializing. I’m starting my walking and gym routines. And, I’m able to fulfill my obligations to Wordle, Connections and Spelling Bee. We plan to stay a while.