WHAT A CRAZY RIDE THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS HAVE BEEN

We're finally on the Viking Sky and  sailing south has begun.  No photos tonight but there will be more later.  The last several days have been crazy.  Saturday the 16th we rented a car, Sunday we did the final check on the house and made sure everything was locked up, and the last thing that John always does is turn off the water to the house.  We drove to Phoenix, turned in the car, and stayed overnight at the Drury Hotel and then the next day their shuttle took us to the airport  where we boarded the plane to start our journey.  Fortunately our luggage arrived in Ft. Lauderdale and we checked into the Westin Hotel, our home for two nights. We explored Ft. Lauderdale and began meeting other people who were going on the cruise.  On the evening of the 19th we began meeting many, many people whom Fran had met online on Cruise Critic.  Big gathering in the hotel bar where Fran lost her voice talking to all these interesting people who had previously just been names on Cruise Critic.  Damn, we love the internet.  

On Wednesday we were shuttled to the ship and after passing through security  found our cabin and began unpacking. Some of the luggage from Luggage Forward arrived late and in a very sad state but fortunately  the contents were intact.  I really need to take a photo of the damage; it's almost humorous. The bag was not coming home anyway. Tomorrow is a sea day and we'll get organized.  Tomorrow is also the first day in the gym.  

Fran had dinner  tonight with Anona, Joel, and Linda; all internet friends although Anona and Fran have been chatting on the phone for hours, writing emails, and commenting on Facebook for the past several months.   Tonight Fran went to Guest Services to inquire about the jackets that were supposed to be in our room and ended up chatting with several employees for at least an hour about previous cruises, ships, and personnel.  It's one big Viking family of about 10,000 employees.  So much fun to mention a name from a previous cruise and learning which ship they're currently working on.  

So dear readers tomorrow will be a photo day.  I dusted off my camera tonight and took some great photos (I think) and will publish tmo.  So I will leave you with a photo of our beautitul new home, TheViking Sky.