PREPARING FOR CRUISE

       Well, saying that a lot has happened in our lives the past two months is a huge understatement.  As many of you know we bought a house in Durango, CO, mid November and then packed up and moved here the end of that same month.  We are pretty much unpacked and settled in our new home now.  We became Coloradians (no such word) this past week as got our temporary Colorado drivers licenses and vehicle licenses.

       Now we are turning our attention to preparing for this world cruise.  This past weekend we each packed two large suitcases.  Yesterday I delivered them to the FedEx store here in Durango.  Regent Seven Seas Cruises (hereto referred to as RSSC) has contracted with Luggage Free to ship four suitcases from here directly to the Port of Miami and will be awaiting us in our suite when we board on January 5th.  This is service included in the price of our cruise.  We love this perk.  Sometime after Christmas we will pack four more large suitcases which will be checked luggage on our flight to Miami.  Of course, we will each have a carry-on bag so a total of 10 bags going with us on this cruise.  Now you are asking, "Where in the heck will we put all this stuff in our suite?"  Don't worry, we did it on our 2010 world cruise!!  Also this past weekend I packaged up all the vitamins and medications we will be needing during the cruise plus some for travel days.

       Preparing to leave on an extended cruise like this takes a LOT of planning to make sure all bills are paid, mail is picked up, and house is attended to during the Durango winter months.  We have hired a house manager to check up on the house every so often.  Complicating matters is our house in Dallas has not sold although we do have a sale contract on it as of this writing.  Fingers are crossed it will close prior to year end.  So for now, two houses, two bank accounts, and two sets of utility bills to keep track of.  You would not believe how much sleep I have lost the past couple of months.  I lost 12 pounds and have not even been working out.  I am a worry wart.  We are SO ready to get on our cruise ship.
       There will not be any more posts until after first of year.  We are keeping a very close eye on the weather forecast as traveling this time of the year can be challenging.  Our current plan is to rent a car here and drive to Albuquerque (4 hours) on Jan 3rd.  We will spend night in Hampton Inn airport as our flight departs at 5:00 am (ouch!!) on 4th.  It connects at DFW Airport to our flight on to Miami, arriving there hopefully at 1:00 pm.  Regent is over nighting all world cruise passengers at Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables where that evening there will be a Gala cocktail party and dinner.  More about that when we start our trip.
       I hope you will all enjoy traveling with us via this blog.  I spend a lot of time trying to make it interesting, enjoyable, and a learning experience for all of us.