Of Adrenaline and Alcohol

It was quite the rollicking day at sea. The winds may have decreased, but the swells were worse today and the ship was rolling quite a bit. I was fine, but others were not as lucky.

I wandered all over today. No pictures, that will probably be Saturday's task. I figured out how to get to the helipad on the front of the ship, and up to the chapel on the 15th floor and everything in between. I also won 3 paintings(each valued at about $500), and bought Andrew's Birthday present :> Don't worry, I actually like the 3 I won, or at least 2 of them. The third is one that Mick liked and will be her Christmas present. Being a loud know it all did me some good for once.

Wow, the rolling of the ship has increased again. I must be storm swell from Ivan. We're well to the south, but J&C commented that the ocean is much darker than the last time they were here.

Anyway, after hitting the art auction, I decided I wanted to try the climbing wall. Drew, don't laugh. They fitted me for gear, and I watched the first set of people scale the surface. They can do about 5 cross at once. I'm sure it's not a terribly difficult climb. There were probably 20 people waiting to climb, and eventually all the gung-ho types were done and I was the next one with the least amount of hesitation. I really had tried not to think about what I was doing here. I got about a quarter of the way up and slipped off. The rope is tensioned, so I didn't go far. I swung back to the wall and tried again. I now have plenty of strength, which is a nice surprise. Second time, I made it about half way up before I reached a spot I couldn't get out of, and didn't feel secure it. I swung out and they lowered me back down. Needless to say, they had to prompt me to release the rope. I took off the shoes, helmet and harness and skedaddled. My heart was going a mile a minute and I didn't really realize until I got back to my cabin how much I was shaking. I sat out on the balcony until everything calmed down, then hit a yoga class. Doing Yoga on a moving ship is quite the experience. Luckily, we stayed on the floor most of the class.

After dinner C&J and I wandered around the ship again. Out onto the back deck, then up to the Helipad. Talk about windy! We stood in the dark and watched the sheet lightening of in the west/northwest for a few minutes.

J and I wandered up to the bar on the 14th deck, which overlooks the pool decks. It probably has a great view during the day, but at night it's mostly just dark. I sipped part of a Cosmopolitian. Not nearly as nummy as the non-alcoholic version at Cascadia.

My dinner companions have proved to be quite entertaining. In addition to J&C&M, there's a 40-ish couple from Phoenix, he's a Contractor, and a late 20's couple from Massachusetts. Tonight we spiraled down into a bad joke contest after dessert. It will be interesting to hear tomorrow how people's excursions went.

But now, my pillow awaits.