Day 5

Today we are having exciting weather. The storm our captain is trying to avoid has a name, Norbert. I think Norbert is not a hurricane, or a tropical storm, but a tropical depression. The fitness director said, "Yes, Norbert is very depressed." Larry and I were both trying to use the exercise equipment in the gym, but it's hard to stay balanced when the ship is moving up and down and sideways in random patterns. Fortunately, my motion sickness patch seems to be working very well, and I feel fine. Looking out at the Pacific Ocean, I see big waves, lots of whitecaps, and on our balcony a strong wind is blowing. The captain claims that it will get somewhat worse in the next few hours and then better during the night. They've closed the swimming pool and asked us to avoid the open decks.

The shore excursion yesterday involved a bus ride from Cabo San Lucas to the town of San Jose del Cabo. We passed the entrances to many resorts, and could see many wide, sandy beaches off to the right. There is a lot of dust and some impressive cacti. In San Jose del Cabo we visited a couple of art galleries, tasted beer at a local brewery, and meandered around, as much the heat and humidity would allow. Shopping wasn't all that attractive an option, as the art gallery merchandise was very, very expensive and the other shops had only the usual assortment of jewelry and souvenirs. What was disconcerting was the shop owners annoying persistence to get us to buy something.  (That's unfortunately somewhat the case on the ship, too.) I did enjoy our tour guide, who has lived all his life in Cabo San Lucas.  He calls himself a Cabeno (like jalapeno).

Back on the ship, I had a piece of fresh local fish (Corvina) that was fantastic, and then wrecked my diet with a chocolate souffle. We're enjoying the company of Sol and Blanche at our evening meals, animated conversation and all kinds of tasty food. We've now tried all but one of the dining venues on the ship. We've been casually lunching at the "Waves"--I had grilled mahi- mahi, Larry had a tuna burger, with no bun, just a beautiful piece of fresh tuna. Let's hear it for fish!

Carol

Shopping Opportunity