Okay it wasn’t a good start to our west coast visit. We were beyond what’s known as morning sickness; because it really was early morning sickness for Rhonda. On the day before our cruise Rhonda woke up a little after four in the morning running to the bathroom and throwing up. She remained sick in bed all day, it wasn’t a pretty sight. The only thing she could keep down this day was herself in bed. Ming and I went out to Denny’s for breakfast and a nice conversation hoping the time away would allow Rhonda some time to rest. After breakfast we stopped at a CVS and talked to the druggist about Rhonda’s predicament. After she talked to Rhonda concerning her symptoms, she recommended some medication. As soon as she took the medicine it came back up. I have to say this was the sickest I’d ever seen her and it continued throughout the night.
An Iffy Morning for a Cruise
Early in the morning Rhonda tried to eat a chocolate donut, noticed I said tried. It didn’t stay down long. I was checking on her in the bathroom and she couldn’t get the lid open fast enough and she hurled that donut and her medication in all directions. It landed on me, the toilet seat inside and out, the wall, floor, bathtub, rug – you name it she hit it. I wasn’t sure she would make it to the ship. Ming wasn’t either and offered us his hospitality for the rest of the week. What a nice gesture by Mr. Ming. Almost like a miracle Rhonda was able to pull herself together long enough for us to board the ship. The cruise line was the Royal Caribbean International and the ship we embarked on was Mariner of the Seas. This ship is the third largest in the fleet with only The Allure and The Oasis of the Seas as the only ships bigger than this one. We found our way to our room #6254 
with a balcony containing two chairs, a table, and a magnificent view to gaze upon. The room was spacious enough for us since we are used to small areas living in an RV. We went through the mandatory muster drill about life jackets and what to do in case of an emergency. Our first night on the ship our seating for the dinner was at six, however Rhonda was unable to remain at our table because she again started feeling under the weather. She insisted I remain at dinner and get to know the people at our table. I did so for just a little while and then decided it was time to excuse myself and return to our cabin. Once back at the room I ordered room service for Rhonda. She lived on chicken soup for the next couple of days and stayed in bed at our first port-of-call.Second Day on Ship
Our second day on the ship still found Rhonda very weak and under the weather. While she stayed in bed trying to get better she encouraged me to explore the ship. Since our first and second day were days at sea, I did do a little exploring finding the library and picking up some books. There were a few things I checked on for us to do today but we were unable to because of Rhonda’s health. Tonight was a formal dress up night for dinner. Rhonda had bought a new dress to attend this specific night and I had a new suit but we didn’t make it. I know she was really disappointed. Instead we had room service bring us a couple of sandwiches. Rhonda was still not able to eat anything except a little bit of soup.
Third Day Cruising
Today was our first port-of-call at the city of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We had visited this city back in 2006 and had a great time. This time we didn’t get off the ship; again because Rhonda wasn’t feeling good. I knew she felt bad because she wanted to do things and couldn’t and she thought she was messing up the cruise for us. I just wanted her to feel better health wise. But today wasn’t a total loss because she did get out of bed. The best part was she ate something for the first time in days and it stayed down. That was a sign of recovery. The sun was shining and things were looking up. Although she wasn’t able to do a lot today she was able to attend the evening dinner. Everyone at our table was glad to see her back. I was happy Rhonda was on the mend.Fourth Day of Our Voyage
On day four of our cruise was a stop at Mazatlan, Mexico. Rhonda was now able to get out and about which was a good thing because we had paid for an off-shore excursion at this stop. The temperature in Mazatlan was 78 degrees and very sunny. 
Our excursion consisted of five (5) hours of sightseeing and attending a Mexican Folk Show. We also stopped to see an exhibition of cliff diving. We visited a beautiful cathedral church in the downtown area. We dined at an authentic Mexican restaurant for lunch by the Oceanside. After our long day of activities we returned to the ship and I decided we needed something to help us relax. I arranged for us to receive the royal treatment at the day spa where we would receive a warm oil back, neck and shoulder massage, a relaxing scalp massage, a tantalizing foot and ankle massage, and in addition to all of that, Rhonda would receive an aromatherapy facial. It was well worth the money spent because I think it helped us both relieve some stress and it helped Rhonda feel better just health wise. So far this had been our best day yet – but we still had three more days to go.Day Number Five of Our Journey
I was especially excited about today because we would be meeting my dear friends David and Jacque Graff. They live about 45 minutes away from Puerto Vallarta our next port. They live in a small village called Los De Marco which has a population of around 3,000 which is actually larger than the small little town we stay at in Texas during the winter months. We docked at six in the morning. Puerto Vallarta was two hours ahead of the ship’s time which was what we had to go by; we still had three hours before we were to meet them at the front of the local Wal-Mart store. I stepped out on our balcony to look for the Wal-Mart store since I knew from our last time here it wasn’t too far away. Scanning to my right I slowly turned my head looking for the mega-store. As I looked directly across from the ship it was approximately 500 to 600 yards in front of me. I became even more excited knowing that in just a few hours I would get to see my good friends. The extra time allowed us to go have breakfast – twice. That’s an easy thing to do on a cruise ship believe me. 
At the appointed time we took leave of the ship, walking toward the meeting place. As we approached I saw them leaning on the front of the Wal-Mart store. Let me tell you a Wal-Mart store never looked so good to me. We embraced with warm hugs, squeezes and pats on the backs. It was a sweet reunion. It had been way too long since our last one.
We jumped into their new Honda CVR (new to them and me). They were taking us to a very beautiful setting for lunch. We drove for approximately one hour and fifteen minutes stopping along the way to take some pictures with the ocean as a backdrop. 
We arrived at our destination which was at a botanical garden where we were ushered inside to a table overlooking the garden with the jungle as a backdrop behind it. We had a delicious lunch and then took a leisurely stroll around this 20 acre garden. Of course we didn’t have time to see it all but what we did see was fabulous.
Driving back to the city of Puerto Vallarta we headed for the beachfront where we parked the car and walked the store fronts where we gazed at the Oceanside in front of us. We stopped to see a famous church which didn’t allow me to take pictures inside. We stopped at a little place with an upstairs dining area where David and I had a couple of beers, Jacque had just one and Rhonda was still full from our lunch and didn’t want to take the chance of making herself sick. Walking back to their car after a much too short of a day, we encounter a couple of street artists. One painting in particular caught both of our eyes. Rhonda inquired about the price.
“How much for this one,” she asked?
Rosa the vendor and painter of the inquired about piece said, “Twenty American dollars.”
Without any hesitation Rhonda countered with, “I’ll give you ten.”
Rosa must have known it would have been ten dollars or there would be no sale, she quickly replied, “Okay.”
So Rhonda had her Honeymoon souvenir and for the low price of ten American dollars. I knew then Rhonda was back at full strength. Just before we arrived back at the car and while Rhonda was semi-haggling over the price of her newly acquired art-piece, we saw something I’d never seen before.
In a pit made of concrete actually down inside the walkway about ten feet deep there were a lot of people exercising to music. It was a sight to behold. David and Jacque took us back to the ship for our departure at 7 p.m. It was way too short of a visit with them but one I will certainly cherish.Day Six and Seven – Sailing, Sailing over the Ocean Blue
Our cruise finished up with the last two days at sea returning us to the San Pedro, California dock. On day six the ship had some really good sales throughout the entire day. After filling our stomachs up at breakfast we stopped at one of them to buy a couple of T-shirts for souvenirs. Since I had bought myself a watch the other day for the low bargain price of $10, we decided it would be nice to get Rhonda one too. Later in the day we paid our entry fee for tomorrow’s Black-Jack Tournament.
Before dinner we went to the Ice-show, “Under the Big-Top” in our formal attire. We had tried to attend this show a couple of days before, but it was packed and there weren’t any seats available. (Can you believe they actually have an ice skating rink on this ship?) Today was the last show of the cruise for this particular performance and we were so delighted to see it. We had center front row seats and the show proved to be the best show of the cruise. It had young talented professionals so full of energy it was such a pleasure to watch them perform.
Our final full day on the ship started out lazily by turning on the TV to catch a little news, we even had our breakfast sent to our room so we could sleep in. At two in the afternoon we enjoyed playing in a Black Jack Tournament. Rhonda did pretty decent but she didn’t make it to the final seven. I lost $800 on the next to the last hand otherwise I had a shot at making it to the final table of seven. Later, after dinner I went to the Black Jack table around 7:30 pm and played till midnight. I sat next to a Korean gentleman; we encouraged each other and had a good time. I surprised him with my knowledge of the Korean language. Albeit very bad I could throw in some fun phrases. I laid down $180 of my own money and walked away with $327, making a nice $147 profit.
Back on U.S. Soil
We arrived at San Pedro and disembarked the ship around 9:20 a.m. It was raining in the Los Angeles area and had been for the last couple of days. We had to wait outside in the rain for almost one-hour waiting on Ming to arrive at Dock 92. He had missed the exit he was supposed to take. He finally found his way back to us and apologized to us over-and-over. We went to Red Lobster to unwind and visit with him before going to the airport for our trip back to Indianapolis. We had a very nice visit with him and gave him our small gift that we had purchased in Mexico. He dropped us off at the LAX Airport where we had a 3-4 hour wait for our flight. The flight was just okay and we arrived at the Indianapolis International Airport approximately 40 minutes late where Kevin, my newest son-in-law picked us up.
Back Home Again in Indiana
Rhonda and I took Katie and Ally to Cracker Barrel for a nice breakfast and to say our goodbyes. They were both out of school; poor Kevin had to go to work after picking us up late and not getting home until the wee-hours of the morning. We left the Greenfield area after breakfast traveling to Bremen, Indiana, where we would met up with our good friends Dave and Clair Ton. We exchanged Christmas gifts and played some cards to fill out the evening hours in their home.
