cruisin'

In both meanings of the word.... ;-)

Even tho it's only May, and weekends for the most part haven't been that great, we've still been on the bike quite a bit. We signed up for three dif "poker runs," to use the generic term. One ride is the Kilbourn Firebell Run for a Fire Dep't in Wi Dells: The Firebell Run is a road rally where participants have the whole summer to visit 60 individual stops across Southern Wisconsin. Participants drop off a ticket at each of the stops along the route for a chance to win Cash Prizes. The more stops they visit, the more chances they have to win! Our bike club is having its annual tour: The 2007 Circle Tour is the Colors of Wisconsin. Wisconsin has many towns with "colorful" names, so stops will be in some of those towns. There are two loops, each with 6 stops. Each loop covers approx 300 miles from the metro Milwaukee area. And third is a different GWRRA chapter's run: The Coordinates tour has 20 locations listed by GPS coordinate (and latitude/longitude). Find each location and answer the questions listed. If you count that up, it's 92 stops that we will be making around Wisconsin (most in the southern half)... we are about 1/3rd of the way done already. And to make that better, we have done the stops that are furthest away. Greg has been creating rides for us to hit these stops in an organized manner, and apparently three more day rides and we'll be done! wow!! Then what'll we do / where will we go on the bike??!!

In the other sense of the word cruisin'... as I posted, I have really missed taking a ship cruise this year. But now I have something to look forward to. We just booked a cruise for next January. Yes, it's a long time away. But yay!! I still get that happy feeling just knowing it's booked. We'll be taking Carnival Destiny from San Juan to: St Thomas, Dominica, St Kitts, Barbados, and La Romana (Dominican Republic). Altho we've done most of these stops, that's ok, they're all good places, haven't been in a few (or more) years. In St Thomas we'll probably ferry over to St John, since we haven't been there yet. And La Romana will be interesting, we haven't been there yet (we did goto Punta Cana, Dominican Rep, but it was a 4 day all-inclusive, and we just stayed at the resort). We pull into La Romana at 3pm one day and don't leave until 5pm the next, so there is plenty of time to see quite a few things, and even experience some nightlife off the ship. I'm not sure yet what we'll be doing at the other stops, but I have plenty of time to figure that out. Right now I'm just so dang excited to have a cruise booked. YAY!!! And we got SUCH a deal - we paid approx $485 pp (inc tax/fees) for a 7 day cruise. And because Carnie was offering a free upgrade special, we have the top level of inside cabin, which is currently being sold for $639 (PLUS tax/fees). And we picked a cabin that is larger than most inside cabins, which are large on Carnie anyway. Instead of 185 sq feet, our cabin is 220. But yes, there is a downside - we are directly underneath the gym - so we'll hear pounding on the treadmills in the morn, unless we wear earplugs. And then another aspect - our cabin is a handicapped room, which is why it's bigger... so then my question - if they have people who need a handicapped room - will they request us to give up our room? If yes, would they offer a better room (window or balcony) or give shipboard credits? Either way would be a win/win for us. So anyway... we'll see. We have a cruise booked, and the itinerary is great, and that's what matters!!