I know I am slow to update all of you and I have so much to tell you! I went on a vacation but needed a vacation to recover! I am actually creating a layout featuring this adventure and if you are in any of my Croptopia U classes this year you will see this up close and personal. Here is the short version...in words only. The trip was an extravaganza featuring a cast of 16 characters...no really 16 family and friends on a week long Carnival cruise. But as always...getting there was half the fun! Ten of us left frosty Massachusetts on January 1st heading for Virginia to gather more cruisers. We piled into a huge rental van that was to become our home away from home for the next few days. The first leg of the trip was 10 hours...without delays or traffic ...we were prepared! Laptops, aircards, movies, cardgames, coloring books, an absurb collection of Ipods! You see the passengers on this section of the Grand road trip were my twenty someting children, their friends, my 76 year old mom and my husband and me! We could have survived for days on the provisions we had! A couple of GPS glitches but we arrived excited and happy at my sister's in Virginia and piled out. Now we numbered 13. After a night of sleeping on numerous airbeds and couches and late night chats and giggles, we loaded up and started the caravan. We added another vehicle and continued on the long leg of the trip. We were heading to Miami to meet up with 3 more members of this crazy group. On paper, the 15 hours seemed to fit into our idealic arrival just as the sun was rising over peaceful Miami Beach. Things always seem simpler from your couch! We arrived far earlier ...hitting no traffic or delays on Route 95 (unheard of!!) no glitches, no problems...blazing fast trip brought our little caravan into crazy South Beach Miami at 4:00 am (no one told the crazies that were getting ready for the Orange Bowl AND football playoffs the next day that it was 4 in the morning!) The streets were full of colorful characters. We decided to wake up the 3 other guests that were joining us and crash in their hotel room til it was calm and daylight! If this was the only stumbling block on this adventure woohoo! The cruise was wonderful and the weather amazing. Days were spent laying on the deck or visiting beaches and soaking up enough sun to last us through our long New England winter. It was absolutely the best trip ever (I say that everytime) I snuggled into bed the last night smiling and content although a little sad to have to "debark" early in the morning to start our return road trip.
Oh if I only knew what was to come... I will keep this simple...I woke at 5 am sicker than a dog, horribly nauseous and spent the morning looking into the ship's toilet. Ya, you get the picture. I had no idea how I was to get off the ship. My family started to gather...I am the tour coordinator after all! Somehow with a bucket in my hand, a small towel over my mouth we headed for the exit. Do not really remember customs or luggage getting into the van. I slept most of the way to Virginia stopping to explore rest areas along the way. It was not pretty and I hope that I am not on a surveilance camera somewhere! So there you have the colorful details of my departure and I have been slow to recover this week. I am not sure what I ate but so far I am only eating toast, jello and soups! I did figure out how to go on vacation and not gain any weight!
So eventhough the end was pretty bad, the trip was awesome and spending the week with my now grown kids and their friends was absolutely the best ever. We hung out together, played together, sang and even had drinks with umbrellas in them together! So much fun. This weekend was set aside to finalize Croptopia U classes. We are kicking off the 2009 series in Mystic CT next month. I have also been putting a series of Cricut classes together from basic plug in and cut all the way to cutting the fonts on your computer. Sooo many ideas and great projects. Love this toy! Well there you have it...that is where I have been and what I have been up to... tmi? I hope not! Hugs, Cara
Oh if I only knew what was to come... I will keep this simple...I woke at 5 am sicker than a dog, horribly nauseous and spent the morning looking into the ship's toilet. Ya, you get the picture. I had no idea how I was to get off the ship. My family started to gather...I am the tour coordinator after all! Somehow with a bucket in my hand, a small towel over my mouth we headed for the exit. Do not really remember customs or luggage getting into the van. I slept most of the way to Virginia stopping to explore rest areas along the way. It was not pretty and I hope that I am not on a surveilance camera somewhere! So there you have the colorful details of my departure and I have been slow to recover this week. I am not sure what I ate but so far I am only eating toast, jello and soups! I did figure out how to go on vacation and not gain any weight!
So eventhough the end was pretty bad, the trip was awesome and spending the week with my now grown kids and their friends was absolutely the best ever. We hung out together, played together, sang and even had drinks with umbrellas in them together! So much fun. This weekend was set aside to finalize Croptopia U classes. We are kicking off the 2009 series in Mystic CT next month. I have also been putting a series of Cricut classes together from basic plug in and cut all the way to cutting the fonts on your computer. Sooo many ideas and great projects. Love this toy! Well there you have it...that is where I have been and what I have been up to... tmi? I hope not! Hugs, Cara
