At Sea

April 23

Slept much better than the night before.  Woke up around 9:15 but laid in bed and watched the sky (I do miss not being able to see the ocean as in a balcony).  Made sure everything was tidy for the cabin crawl this afternoon and then went to turn in my Canadian customs form.  There is quite a discussion going on with our Canadian CC members about having to fill in the forms with three port days left (don't know what they will buy).  Evidently Canadian customs is much stricter than US and they don't like estimations.  (In about 20 trips out of the US, I have always estimated and never been questioned [now knocking on the wood table]).

I have found that since the Lido gets so crowded for the two hours it is open for lunch, if I go early I can get a good seat by the window.  I check out the Internet (love this unlimited package), read my book or just stare out at the sea.  When the Lido opens I leave my book and glasses on the table to reserve my seat.  I was a tad unhappy about the Lido not having trays but the staff is very good about offering to carry plates and even refill water/tea/coffee.

Still don't have much of an appetite so I ended up with a bowl of fruit, mashed potatoes and a couple of cookies before heading off for Geography Trivia.  We tied for third place with 15 out of 18 - winners had 17.
Q.  What is over 5000 miles long?
Q.  How many US states border Mexico?  Bonus point for naming them.
Q.  Which is the southernmost US state?
Q.  How many time zones does Canada have?

Our cabin crawl/poker run was delayed because it was the day of the Mariners Lunch where those who have traveled numerous days on HAL get special recognition.  Those of us hosting our cabins met at the Pinnacle Bar at two to go over the directions.  It took about 45 minutes for the five groups to come to visit my cabin.  Afterwards we all met in the Pinnacle Bar to see who won the poker run.  Alas, I did not.  Afterwards the cabin hosts did the cabin crawl seeing insides to a Signature Suite.

ABBA Fab, the tribute group, had a trivia at 5:00.  I know less about ABBA than Woodstock.  The team managed to get 8 out of 23 but most were guesses.  I will give you the only two I knew.
Q.  What is the capital of Sweden?
Q.  One year ABBA beat out this car company for making the most money in Sweden.

It was almost six by the time trivia was over so I hustled to get ready before heading to Pub Trivia.  Toughest pub trivia yet.  We only had eight correct.
Q.  What is the most populous African nation?
Q.  Which country has the largest continuous sand desert in the world?
Q.  Which city has the most recognizable subway map in the world?

Tonight was my first attempt at a full meal which I ate so I guess I am back to normal.  I had something I had never heard of before - galumpki (sp?).  It is a Polish dish with meat and rice wrapped in cabbage.  It was rather tasty.  Blueberry frozen yogurt was my dessert choice.

From what I've heard, I missed good shows the past two nights.  Tomorrow they are both on so I will see.  Tonight's show was John Nations, a juggler.  Normally I would have passed on the show but I heard him talking to some people in the Lido last night and he sounded interesting.
It was a good show considering it was juggling.  He was very personable and entertaining.

Puerto Vallarta tomorrow.

Geography trivia - Great Wall of China, 4 (California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona), Hawaii, six
ABBA - Stockholm, Volvo
Pub Trivia - Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, London

Smooth sailing until next time!

My dinner