CrossRoads Blog

After about an hour and a half of going through the boarding and baggage process, we were on board Conquest by noon. We were hungry so in true cruise ship tradition we ate. Also as you do on cruise ships after you board, you walk around and check her out. We spent the next couple of hours walking around the ship, checking out the pool, gym, spa, lounges, etc. We finished on the outside decks just in time for the Bon Voyage sail way. With drinks in hand we waved goodbye the island and were off by late afternoon.

It was only an hour or so into our trip (you could still see land) when we thought all might go south. We were stopped. Dead in the water. No reason, no logic, just crew members scrambling everywhere. It ended up being a 3 hour delay for a passenger who had fallen and had to be life-flight off the ship. The good news was this did not affect our itinerary which was good because everything is so tight and we didn’t want to miss out on any excursion we had planned.

For the most part we had a chill night back at the room. We had pre ordered some wine to be delivered, (plus we brought some), and Kathy and Clay had thoughtfully sent us some delivered to our room. So we popped a couple of corks and enjoyed the view from our balcony the first night.

After a great sleep we woke up and headed on down to breakfast. We chose to do the Monet room this morning (Conquest has 2 main formal dining locations plus of course the buffet areas and the other one off eating places). Thankfully they were able to make us egg white omelets (you know on a cruise you will overeat, so you try to limit the damage). After breakfast we got the run shorts on, and did the outside track on the very top deck of the ship. It’s a nice little 440 or so loop. While you hate the monotony of the constant circles, running around a ship in the middle of the Gulf (and then Caribbean) was pretty cool. Form the run we went over and did the gym for a little while, steam room and all. Very nice, not huge but it would be great for our next few days.

The rest of the day was pure get into chill mode. Drinks from a Coconut at the pool, flip flops, and being lazy. That night was the first Formal dinner night (of 2) so we donned the fancy duds, and did what you do on a cruise for Formal night – we stood in several lines for photos with all the backdrops – then we ate :-). Our assigned table just had one other couple who we ended up really enjoying their company, Kenneth and Gwendolyn form Louisiana. Our waiters were great the whole cruise (as they accommodated our ‘meal finickiness’ with no issues the whole cruise. Aside from the one night we ate at the Supper Club (an amazing meal well worth the small added price) we made sure to have dinner here every night avoiding the buffet like the plague. Another espresso or two, some more vino, and another night cruise night was done.

The second full day was also at Sea all day. We did some more running, drank and hung at the pool again digging on the Reggae band setting that groove, had a surprisingly good Indian lunch, did this whole Mardi Gras Party theme thing at night (check out the photo album for the funny face paint jobs), and did another party on the deck late before calling it a day. We wanted to be fresh for our next day’s planned port excursion in Jamaica.

We watched from the balcony as we docked in Montego Bay. The weather that looked a little risky was clearing and it was going to be a great day. We were all packed up the night before with our suitcases. Because our planned excursion was several hours, we would only have a couple of hours to explore before having to head back to the ship today. So we wanted to make sure we were ready to go as soon as we docked.

Getting off a ship at port is never a quick process…. We hopped off the ship and right at the port was our line for the Zipline Tour. Oh yeah, we were going to spend the day attached to a rope sliding through the jungle and over rivers. We could hardly wait. After a slight delay and a (best described as) harrowing 1 hour ride up the mountain, we were fitting up for our belts and zipping through the jungles of Jamaica. We both really enjoyed the tour. Including the one zip where you are hundreds of feet above a rive going 40 MPH for near quarter mile. The whole thing was over way too fast, and after another scary trip back down the mountain we spent a little time in Hip street, scored some Blue Mountain Coffee, a couple of Reggae shirts (our Bob Marley homage), and trinkets, we were back on the ship. That night we celebrated our anniversary formally with dinner at the Super Club (mentioned above). It was outstanding. I was stunned a cruise ship could provide that level food, but the did – or at least the bottle of Merryvale Profile we shared (we brought on board and had been saving for 3 years) pushed it over the top.

Looking at the water as we were pulling into Georgetown, Grand Cayman Islands is like looking at a postcard. Amazing, the deep blues, go into light blues, into turquoise, it’s all just crazy cool to look at. We had been looking forward to this port. Georgetown is home to Seven Mile Beach, considered one of the best beaches on the planet. Let’s just say, I have never seem a more beautiful beach.

We were again all packed and ready as soon as we hit the bay. The ships can not dock at Georgetown so you have to tender. It was a fairly easy process and before you knew it we were on the white sand of Seven Mile beach right in front of the famous Royal Palms Bar. Sadly (or it turned our good) our planned excursion for the day was canceled. We had planned a trip to Stingray beach (you play with the Sting Rays) along with your own boat and then a snorkel tour of underwater caves. Sad to miss, but we can do that next time. Our day worked out perfect anyway.

As I have talked about in other blogs, running has become one of the ‘what we do’ in our lives. Getting a chance to run on 7 Mile Beach in the Grand Caymans! How do you say it – doesn’t get any better. We even had to run with our backpacks as the lockers were not yet open to drop them. It didn’t matter. Sweat and all, it was incredible. This beach is perfect. I swear I think if even a shell gets onto the sand they have somebody clean it up? Anyway, we ran the full length of the beach (which oddly is not 7 miles?) and then pulled up a lounge chair right on the beach at the Royal Palms and enjoyed a couple of Miami Vice’s. Ahh… life is good

After a good chillin’ at the Palms, we heading back into the main port area, did some shopping (Black Coral is legal when harvested dead by locals is all I am saying), had some Conch (fried sadly) and some other good stuff at Big Black Dick’s (yes that’s the real name), and enjoyed the good life. Grand Cayman is quite expensive to visit, and I can see why. I do think however that it is more than worth it.

Back on the ship that night was Formal night two. More pictures, another good meal, some good company, and more vino in the room. I keep saying it – life is good.

Our last port was the one most look forward too – Cozumel Mexico. And it did not disappoint. Cozumel is incredible. With good pre-planning we got to see so much in such a short time it was almost like we were there for days. I purposely had not booked any excursion this day. I wanted to get out ourselves and check out the island. We started out but taking a cab over to our rental car. There were cars to rent right at the port, but not what I wanted. We got this old VW bug ‘convertible’. Basically a 60’s area bug with the roof cut off and replaced with a soft cover. It was red, well cared for and perfect for the Island. We hopped in the seat, put the stick in first and headed toward the other side of the island. We had a plan to do what amounted to a loop around half the whole island with our stops in between.

My wife might have 25 more years on her, but she has never been more beautiful than she was when we were riding in the bug on a sun drenched day in Cozumel with the wind in her hair and a smile on her face riding down a fairly deserted beach road. Say it with me– life is good!

We had a couple of places planned to stop, but riding down the street almost in the middle of nowhere we see this Tequila Museum, talk about up my alley. We whipped in, and several shots of great 100% Blue Agave, a cool tour by a Mayan Cowboy, a big Gila Monster and a few pictures later we were back on the road (good thing I was in a slow moving VW on a deserted road). BTW: The ‘factory’ was not at all, and it was a little corny but a great time non-the-less.

Our next stop was at the Famous Coconuts Bar and Grill. It did not disappoint. Coconuts sits on a Bluff above the amazing azure waters of the Caribbean. You have little tables in the sand with palm trees and an incredible view. We got the Conch un-fried (cerviche) and some other good fish taco’s. You have to check out the pictures from here, and for sure hit it up if ever in Coz.

Back on the beach road, very little of anything on this side of the island, except the occasional Bar and Grill and Palapa on the beach – which is perfect! The drive itself with the views was worth the trip itself. Speaking of, another quick little pullover found us at a place called Blowholes. Aptly named as in this location there is several spots where the tide comes ripping up through the volcanic rock and it resembles a Whale spout. Very cool. Kimberly wanted to take a picture of me so I hoped out on one of the bigger rock areas and was looking back at her when I looked down and saw water 30 feet below. Whoops, almost stuck my foot in a big hole would not have been fun.

Another 15 minutes up the road we arrived at our planned destination – Punta Sur. The area is a whole nature dedicated preserve area you could spend days at. With just a little time we planned on doing the old lighthouse. It lived up to the hype. About 150 single little narrow stairs and you are atop this little circle top lighthouse where the views are about as good as it get in every direction. Easily some of my favorite shots of the whole trip came from up top here. We also saw a Mayan ruin in the area (if you could not tell scale form being there the picture makes it look huge – it’s not.

Sadly late afternoon we had to head back into town and return the car. We did some touristy walking and shopping, and then headed back to the boat.

We had one more day at sea before arriving back at Galveston and back to the real world. We did the gym again, the pool again, walked around the ship and did the picture taking thing, and overall just relaxed while we could. Then it all was over……

We arrived in Galveston early in the evening, checked into the Hotel and plopped down for a little rest before dinner. There were 2 places we really wanted to hit and it was a hard decision. While we would have two more nights in town before the cruise, we were doing Madri Gras parties with the ‘Krewe of Who?’ both of which had dinner, so tonight would be the only eat out in Galveston night. It came down to Giado’s (an excellent and darn near historical sea food place right on the Seawall) or Mario’s, a pizza joint that had so many good memories for us and the kids back in the day, plus they had great Pizza. We chose Mario’s. Mostly because we knew with the cruise coming, and the parties, likely we had a whole bunch of good seafood on the agenda. While the pizza didn’t end up being as good as we recalled, it was a great old vibe just like we remembered.

We awoke to sounds of the beach and the smell of the Gulf. The first thing we did was throw on the running cloths and hit the Seawall. It was great taking a nice run down the Seawall and the beach. I think every time Kimberly and I glanced at each other we both had the biggest smile on our faces. We were running in Galveston on a great day, about to do 48 hours of wild Mardi Gras fan and then head out on a cruise. Is it any wonder we had smiles painted on?

After the run we hoped in the car and went on over the walk the Strand. Let’s just say, we really got to see how devastating Hurricane Ike really was on the Island. We sure noticed on the Seawall, with the Flagship and all the other damage, but wow, we had no idea. Unlike what you would expect, Ike did most of the damage on the backside of the Island. In fact, while lots of business had just recently re opened on the Seawall, I would say more than 2/3 of the Stand shops and stores were still closed. As you can see in the picture, Ike went will over head high. I think because Katrina was so in everyone’s mind that Ike never got as much attention as it normally would have. It tore up this Island and it will be some time before it ever get all the way back. We did spend some time in the places that were back open, and had a decent lunch at the Fish Market before heading back to rest up for the Krewe of Who Event that night.

The Krewe of Who? Ball was a Black and White Theme for the year. We were all set going into the night except for a mask. Luckily we had found one on the Strand at the last minute. It was a great night of hanging out with some really cool folks. Anyone familiar with Mardi Gras traditions knows that getting into Krewe parties if you are not a member is impossible. Our hosts (Ann in particular) were amazing. Actually spent both nights of parties with us and made us feel more than welcome. The party featured a great seafood buffet, a really fun Second Line Processional where Kimberly got the umbrella a rockin’ and of course some bead throwing. And more bead throwing and collecting. Let’s just say, we got some bead-bling that night (actually and way more than we can handle the next night too)!

We slept in a little from the party night, got up and ran the Seawall again. Coming back from breakfast (we ran to it) we even ran on the beach for a bit. After the run we headed south on the island down to the Jamaica Beach area to hang out for a bit. We used to bring the kids here too, it was just south of the main Galveston area and a nice beach to relax. We didn’t stay long though because this was the day of the biggest Mardi Gras parties, parades and fun. The Krewe of Who? Had a balcony on the Stand to throw beads all day and watch the parades (for those who do not know, Krewe’s are the ones that throw the beads form the balconies to the masses, and I mean masses of people jammed below with arms stretched catching them).

By the time we got to the party the Stand was rockin’. It was way windy, but it did not seem to damped the enthusiasm of the crowd. I think they all were just happy that the party still went on this year despite Hurricane Ike. We had a riot, we watched the parade and threw a ton of beads from the balcony, had great meal and drinks while an excellent Zydeco Band played, and rocked all night long. Only downside was trying to get back to the car with all the people on the street took forever and it was windy!
After a good night’s sleep, we awoke, looked out from our balcony and a few miles in the distance, there she was, having arrived that morning – the Carnival Conquest - our home for the next 7 nights.

What can I say? As soon as we hit Houston City limits we were on our way over to Goode Company Barbecue. For those that have not experienced it – in my not so humble opinion, it’s as good as it gets. There is ‘Que’ that might come close, but the sauce at Goode Company -wow, nobody does it like that. Anyway, we found a new location (though I would miss the charm of the old Kirby Road dive) up on Hwy 290 that was close to where we met and spent the first few years of our marriage. Seeing our plan was to swing by some of the places of old, it made sense to stop at that one. I of course got two meals, a cool coffee cup souvenir and some sauce for the suitcase to bring home (ahh the first memento of the trip!).

After lunch we began the old places tour. Fist stop as it was closest was the apartments where we lived when Michael was just born. As they were gated, we had to park and walk in and ask the lady at the office if we could get in. She let us of course, but we did get kind of an odd look like “umm are these people here really to see the outside of an apartment they lived in 24 years ago”? Answer ‘Yes, yes we are’. And if she were of an age where she was celebrating her 25th, she would understand the sentiment factor in seeing the pool where you hung with your first child. Or the steps up to the door you carried your beautiful baby. Or the French patio doors where you can still picture your lovely wife waving goodbye as you head out to work. Anyway, I digress. The old place held up decent, we took a couple of pictures and were on our way to the next location – the place we met.

Sun Forest and Forest Glen Apartment no longer exist, least in name anyway. Frankly, they really need to no longer exist in function too. But I am getting ahead in the story.

We pulled into the parking lot of (whatever they are called now) our first apartments. Pulling in off Tidwell street my mind was back to when I first saw that amazingly beautiful redhead of mine. I was a young, unsettled, pool volleyball playing’ bad boy that lived there and she was an innocent girl on vacation from a small town in Michigan, heart of gold, youngin’ (who by the way filled out those old Levi Jeans in a way that made me get a quiver ).

The short story is this was the place we fell in love, the place where our first child was conceived. And….a place that as it turns out had more than felt the 25 years we have been gone. Wow, how would Chris Rock say it “I’m not saying it’s the hood – I am just saying it’s hoodish”. Okay, Chris may say hoodish, I am saying it’s the hood. The place was beyond a dump, it was almost downright scary. While the charm was gone, we were able to get some good grins, looking at the window of my old bedroom that instead of having glass, was boarded up looking like it had been like that for weeks. Needless to say, we just took some pictures from the car, and left shaking our heads and smiling.

We finished up the old school tour with one last stop at our first house. The neighborhood seemed mostly the same. They even took better care of the yard then I did (surprise..). We took some shots, reminisced about the old days again and the front steps, etc. etc. and headed for the beach.

It’s really almost stunning when we think about. I guess it’s like they say ‘time fly’s when you are having fun’. It has been twenty-five years since Kimberly and I said “I DO”. Twenty-Five years… WHAT? We aren’t that old right? Isn’t the Silver Anniversary for folks with Silver Hair and pants pulled up too high? Well, in any event, we won’t think of it that way. Just going to be an Anniversary that is a biggie.

In hindsight I don’t think I screwed up at all. But when it first happened….big whoops. Let’s just say I had been tracking a particular ‘special trip’ plan for some time. I had not booked it because the pricing kept going lower. Finally it was getting close so I went online to lock it in, and GONE – DONE – SOLD OUT. Let’s just say I was big time bummed. I wanted a special trip and here we were now just a few weeks out and without a plan. In the end though, it all worked out as we came up with a new ‘theme’ to our Anniversary trip. We would do a ‘back to where it all began’ type excursion.

Kimberly and I met, were married and had the boys in Houston Texas. With some perfect scheduling and lots of research, we were able to map out a pretty exciting agenda. We would do the old-school bit in Houston, head on down to Galveston (old school for us too) and play Mardi Gras for a couple of days, and then hop on a Caribbean bound cruise ship for a week of fun, sun, and foo-foo drinks.

As of lot of our friends know, Kimberly and I have really gotten the ‘running bug’ over the last year or so. Almost seems to have turned into a mini obsession. I think we both run somewhere between 4-5 times a week now. We do short runs (3 miles or so), long runs (10 or more), trail runs with hills, interval runs, speed drills, hill sprints, and plain old around the neighborhood runs. But our favorite ‘kind of runs’ are races and what we (and others) like to call ‘destination runs’. Destination runs are basically going someplace cool to run. Seeing most of the time you are running in a gym on the treadmill, or around your favorite park hills (cool but still you have seen them before) so when you get a chance to run around someplace new it is great. And if it is a very cool place (i.e. like we did the Grand Canyon, or Saugatuck, etc) then it is even better. Races of course are just opportunities to run with others and be a little competitive so as to help push yourself on occasion.

This weekend we had a chance to combine theses two favorites with a ‘destination run race’ in Apache Junction at the Lost Dutchman’s Marathon (Half Marathon, 10K, 8K Trail Run and 2 Mile fun Run). The Marathon (and all races too) is considered one of the best ‘small town races in America’. There are lots of reasons of course, the race management team, the city support, the way cool way they treat the runners with campfires and good grub, plus many others. But the main reason being the beautiful Superstition Mountain Course and backdrop that you get to run in whatever race you chose.

As we have blogged before, the Superstitions are one of our favorite Arizona locals. We love to hike them hills. The variety, beauty and challenge of the hikes make them some of our most memorable in all of AZ. Plus we really enjoy the old-west-laid-back-we-are-all-family vibe of Apache Junction. Hard to beat sippin’ a cold one on the patio there at the Mammoth Steakhouse and Saloon looking out at those Mountains, or grabbing an ice cream at Tortilla Flats after a long day hike in the Mountains.

We decided to stay over near the race because it would have required a little too much of an early morning to drive over race day for us. From up North West Phoenix we are a good 75 miles or so from Apache Junction. We found a good rate at the La Quinta off 60, and scooted over a bit early on Saturday to make a full day of it. First thing was to hit the Expo and get our bibs and race goodies. The Expo was small, but nice and also well organized for an event of this size. The Apache center where the Expo was held is very nice for a community center. After snagging a Cliff bar and our shirts (nice long sleeve race shirts by the way which is kind of unique) we headed over to hang out and walk around Goldfield Ghost Town where we had a burger on the Patio at the Saloon. We stopped at an Art festival just up the street a piece (notice the old West lingo there) and walk around for a bit. We took some pictures and they are in the 2009 Misc folder if you want to check out the scenery in that area.

After a near perfect day we headed back to the Hotel where we had a dinner of our homemade pizza and protein bars for desert. Yep, we packed over the cooler because it’s just the best pre-race night meal we know and we love pizza made like that with the whole grain breads and such. We watched a little tube, then did the old {let’s try to actually get at least 4 hours sleep before 4:30 when we have to admit we are up and can’t sleep anymore anyway mode}. One day I’ll have to Blog on the trials and tribulations of sleeping the night before a race and how early you have to get up to run (with all the pre-race stuff required).

Anyway, 4:30 came about, we got up, I got coffee, Kimberly got the Herbal Tea and we started moving. I packed the car, we showered, brushed the teeth, attached the iPods and were off over to hopefully find a parking spot semi close to the race start. By the time we got there it was a little after 6:00. Sadly the parking lot was full as was about ½ mile of the road heading into the park. It was a great morning, though quite abnormally cold (good for running, bad for beforehand), but the sun was rising and you knew it would be perfect. It took us about 20 minutes to walk from the car to the starting area. We were doing the 10K this year. It started in the same spot as the Half, 8K trail Run and 2 Miler (all out and back as best I could tell). The Marathon guys finished here also.

With the various races staggered start time throughout the morning, most everything went off without a hitch. Considering there were some 2200 odd racers and more support and volunteers here everything was very smooth – there was even a ‘real’ bathroom with little or no wait most of the morning (umm Chang’s could learn something here). About 15 minutes before the race we checked our gear (the jackets and gloves, etc) and headed over to the start.

The 10K is basically out one road and back. You are headed pretty much (at least what feels like) due East into the Superstitions then back. What a great feeling as you run up and down the little hills. Most of the course is fairly easy with the minor little up and downs, with the exception of the turnaround spot that has a nice little hill that while not bad at all will have your heart rate up a bit. With the decent weather we both had a pretty good race considering all. I was ‘out of the metals coming in 5th in my age, but I was 29th overall out of the 540 runners doing the 10K. Kimberly had some aches going in but still had a respectable 10th in her age group out of 44 and was in the top 70 of all woman. We both got a great finishers metal - way cool hardware in this race!

There is no doubt we will do this race again. I think next year perhaps the Half Marathon. We sure do hope that it falls on a different weekend than the IMS Marathon on the West side – we sure hated to miss that this year.

This year’s Super Bowl at least brought some ‘happy football feelings’. In a season where my team (err umm the err umm Detroit Lions) set a record for futility, my current hometown boys had made the Big Dance. It was a perfect Winter weather day, the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect for a good morning run.

Before knowing that the Cardinals were making it to the Super Bowl, Kimberly and I had signed up for the second annual ‘Super Sunday 5K’. It was just up the street at Thunderbird Paseo Park and put on by the Arizona Running Events guys. Seemed a perfect opportunity to get ourselves out of the sack and do a little exercise on a Sunday. For me it was all about humping it so I could then eat all the good stuff all day long while I watched the game, the pre game, the pre-pre game, the post game…. you get the picture.

Paseo Park really is a good place to run. It’s basically in Salt River Project’s Arizona Canal at 59th Ave and Thunderbird. The Canal is one of the longer ones in Phoenix and makes for great running, biking, etc trails seeing you don’t have to cross any roads (all run underneath for the most part). This part of the Canal makes for a near perfect 5K just by marking out a half way point in the sidewalk for an out an back easy 5K. Kimberly and I have even used this area for our long runs as you can go from 75th all the way to Tempe and more!

It was of course well ran, and a nice group showed up considering it’s a small local event. The best was they obviously had the shirts made after the Cardinals had won the Championship game, or they decided to have them changed, because the “Super Sunday” race shirts were customized with support for the Cardinals. How cool is that for a race souvenir (would have been much, much better had they won…).

We both ran a good race, I came in 7th overall and 2nd in my age group with a 21:36 time and Kimberly also took second in her age group (we always seem to do that same thing - thing) at just under 27 minutes. We hung out for a good while afterward. First we plopped down and enjoyed the banana’s and Snicker Protein Bars from the race promoters, and afterward decided to do a little more running and biking – so we just did the same 5K two more times. I figured I could now go home and let the eating in front of the TV begin…..