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http://www.efusjon.com/vid_fulllength.asp
So today on the way home from work I got pulled over. I had apparently stopped at a stop sign but not at the line that's twenty feet away from the intersection. So needless to say I got a citation for it. I have the opportunity to go to traffic school to have it taken off my driving record but I'll have to pay the ticket, pay the $62 for traffic school and then a $32 charge for taxes or something like that. So for over $100 dollars I can get it off my record or I could just pay the ticket and let it be on my record. I don't know what to do. It's so frustrating because I did actually stop and the officer even said I did. Couldn't a little warning just have done?? Oh well. What can you do?
Good news is... The officer was pretty good looking (not to be disrespectful to the officer of the law!!)
Any way, I guess I'll just go to traffic school. I've always wanted to go (I realize I'm dumb) but I don't want to pay that much for it.
So it's taken two weeks, give or take, but we're all finally starting to feel better. Dad has been in the hospital for a week now but is coming home tomorrow if everything goes well. Today the doctor said everything looked good. We miss him at home, just not the same. The dogs, Tobi and Jake, are going crazy without him here! In fact they're driving me a little crazy too!! We all still have some lingering things going on (cough, congestion, tiredness, etc.) but for the most part we're doing much better. Hopefully by this time next week we'll all be back 100%. Anyway, just thought I'd update everyone on Dad. Hopefully my next post we'll be much more exciting!!
The day we flew home from the cruise, Anthony developed a bad cough. It later turned into Bronchitis and the doctor gave him an inhaler and antibiotics. A couple days after Anthony's symptoms started, both Mom and Dad developed similar symptoms. Congestion, cough, fever, body aches, sore throat... you name it they had it. Then a day or two later, I got it all. After dealing with it for a few days Mom, Dad and I went to the Instacare. They just told us it was a virus (possibly the influenza or adenovirus) gave Dad an inhaler and told him especially to watch for worsening symptoms so he doesn't get pneumonia. Over the weekend he began wheezing and coughing much more. On Monday we took him to the doctor and got chest x-rays. It all showed bilateral pneumonia. His oxygen wasn't very good at all (his O2 saturations were in the low 70's to high 60's - normal is above 90) so he was admitted to the hospital. He's been in there for 4 days now, he was getting better but today is struggling a little bit more. Hopefully he'll get better soon and can come home. We all miss him, especially the dogs... they don't know what to do without him!! Meanwhile, me and Anthony developed sinus and ear infections and are now on more antibiotics. I thought I was starting to feel better too but today not so much. Mom is on antibiotics now as well, she's had a hard time too with her coughing. It's been over two weeks this has been lingering and we're all having a really hard time kicking it. Hopefully we'll all get better soon and Dad can come home. I'll keep everyone updated with Dad.
I've been racking my brain as to how in the world I was going to post about all of the pictures... between me, my mom, Anthony, my aunt and Amy we had over 1,000 pictures. So to make it easier on everyone I have made some slide shows of the days and condensed the pictures down since there were lots of duplicates.
In case anyone was wondering the cast of our vacation is me (Stacie,) my parents Jay and Lisa, my youngest brother Anthony, my uncle and aunt Mark and Gwen, Gwen's sister Amy and their cousin and her husband Becky and Ken.
This first post is Friday and Saturday. Friday we flew to Miami, Florida but had a layover in Atlanta, Georgia. Funny story... so we decided to eat lunch at a place called Popeye's. If you've never been to one (which we hadn't) it's a fast food place with fried chicken (southern style) mashed potatoes, buscuits, ect. While standing in line waiting me, Anthony and another lady had quite the conversation. Imagine it...lots and lots of hungry people. The place was a buzz.
Anthony: So is this place like KFC?
Stacie: Looks like it.
Lady behind us: You've never been to a Popeye's?(said with exasperation) Their buscuits are incredible!
Anthony: Well this is my first time in Florida.
Stacie: Tony, we're in Atlanta not Florida.
Anthony: Where's Atlanta?
Lady: First time in Geography too? (chuckling)
Stacie: Atlanta is in Georgia.
Anthony says to Lady: This is my first time in the country. (meaning it was his first time flying around the country)
Lady: Oh, where are you from? (said curiously because he had a great American accent as well as the all American looks)
Stacie: Utah
Lady: Oh.
Anthony blushes... end of scene.
By the way, the buscuits really are amazing. They are like a buttery, melt in your mouth goodness. Oh it was delightful.
We stayed at the Wyndham Hotel. It was so nice (we found out later that the rooms we stayed in were $600/night rooms... we didn't pay for it though, it was included with the cruise!) That night we went into downtown Miami to eat dinner and go shopping. We had to take taxi's to get anywhere. It was my first of many taxi experiences... so interesting! Once we got into town we ate at Hard Rock Cafe. We had quite the time there. It was a rowdy croud to say the least. Everyone sang and danced a lot. We were even doing the YMCA song at one point. There was also a conga line going at one time. None of us joined in but it was fun to watch all the crazy people! We went shopping and got some good deals then headed back to the hotel.
Saturday morning we caught the shuttle and headed to the ship. Miami was nice to see from the ship. Big city. I was secretly hoping I'd run into the cast of CSI: Miami (namely Adam Rodriguez, because let's face it... he's hot!) but alas we did not.
Anyway, here are the pictures from the flight, night in Miami, and ship before departure.
We had three and a half days at sea. We had a lot of time on our hands so we played card games, lay on the deck, ate pizza, ate ice cream, ate the lunch buffet, slept, one day had tea time (mostly so we could get snacks!!) played BINGO, watched shows and explored the ship. Then there was dinner. Our Head Waiter was Oliver and the other guy was Putra. Oliver did most of everything and he was a hoot. He always had magic tricks and serenaded us a few times. We really had a great time with him. The food was great and deserts were even better. (So good I put on 5 lbs... oops!) The Mait're D looked like Jafar from Aladdin. We didn't get any pictures of him but he was kinda creepy (at least he gave me the heebee jeebee's!) Oh and in case you are wondering... the pretty drink in my hands with the umbrella is a virgin pina colada. Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea!!
Our first port was in Cozumel, Mexico. It was gorgeous. Our excursion was a beach buggy ride, snorkeling, visiting some Mayan ruins, see a lighthouse and a visit to a crocodile. Our tour guides Santiago and J.C. were great. I loved them, they were a hoot. The beach buggy ride was great, the buggy we were in (Uncle Mark, Aunt Gwen and I) didn't have seat belts that worked and a speedometer that worked. It was also open on all sides. It was a little scary at first. Mark drove the first half then I drove the second. I stalled the buggy once (it was a manual... I should know better) and ran into the buggy in front of me only once.
Once we got to the beach we got all ready to snorkel, they gave us a quick tutorial on how to snorkel (I didn't listen much to what they were saying... my bad) then we headed into the water. It was so beautiful. Aqua teal water, white sand beaches, hammocks and chairs with umbrellas. Ideal vacation setting to say the least. So, back to snorkeling, we got into the water everyone puts on their snorkel masks, heads right into the water and off we go. Well, I had some problems. Every time I'd stick my head in the water my mask would fill up with water and then I'd choke. Finally figured out my hair was in the way, got that fixed. Santiago (the guide) was helping me to try to get it all working, but then I just couldn't figure out how to breath only through my mouth and would panic every time. I just need more practice. Maybe next time. I was so disappointed in myself but what can you do. My dad didn't get to do it either because he couldn't get the mask to work around his "stash" and Amy had the same problems I did. But everyone else did great. According to Anthony they saw lots of little fish, coral and even a sting ray. Of course we didn't think to give him a waterproof camera so we didn't get many pictures of that.
After snorkeling we got to relax and eat some authentic Mexican food. We then went back to the buggy's and went to the lighthouse. A few of us climbed up the 133 steps to get to the top of the lighthouse. The view was incredible. We then got to see some old ruins and visit the crocodile. After all of that and going back to town we went shopping. Shopping in Mexico is pretty exciting. Learning to barter was tricky but by then end I got it down. I couldn't believe how many jewelry stores there were. I bet just about every other shop sold jewelry. While we were finishing up shopping we got to see a very pretty sunset. It was a nice ending to a great day. I think we were all exhausted by the end but had a great time.
Our second port of call was Grand Cayman. We had to anchor a little bit away from shore because of the coral reef. So in order to get to where we needed to go we had to be tendered (picked up by ferry like boat and go to shore.) Once we got to shore we met up with our next tour guide, Ralph. He drove us around and told us a bit about the island. He then took us to a town named Hell. That's right, Hell. The reason for the name is simple. There are rock formations all over the town that look like what Hell is imagined to look like. It also houses the only government post office. So imagine our delight to be able to purchase souvenirs and post cards and mail them post marked from Hell. We all thought it was pretty funny.We then went to a turtle farm. In Grand Cayman they grow turtles to breed them and then some for the meat. They were cute little turtles. I just couldn't think about the fact that some were going to be eaten. Everyone who wanted to got to hold a little turtle that was about 5 months old. I was terrified to hold him because I thought if he wiggled I'd accidentally drop him but everything was okay and I didn't drop him and we all survived! After that Ralph took us to another boat where they took us out to Sting Ray City. Sting Ray City is a sand bar about a 30 minute boat ride from shore. For some reason the sting ray are attracted to that spot and are used to the tourists so don't care about all the people. The water again was blue and had white sand. It was cool to see all the sting ray in the water but was a little weird to have them swimming all around you. We were all a little jittery around the little guys (okay some were really big) but they were very gentle and slimy!!
We didn't have as much time here as we did in Cozumel but we still got to see a lot. I don't think anyone was disappointed. After Sting Ray City, some went shopping while the rest of us headed back to the ship. Another great day in Paradise!
Our third and final port of call was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. My mom, dad and Anthony went on one tour while the rest of us went on another. Mom, Dad and Anthony went to the Dunn's River Falls, which is the most famous falls in Jamaica. Mom and Anthony hiked up the falls and then they all three got to lay on the beach in little cabanas and get massaged and eat jerked meat. In Jamaica the people there are what some might call "pushy" and they'll get you to do just about anything. In fact, one lady insisted she needed to braid my dad's beard/stash. It was funny! Very festive. I have to say I laughed pretty hard when I saw it because I just didn't expect it and it caught me off guard. I feel bad. I hope Dad doesn't think I was laughing at him. Just at the silliness of it!!
Gwen, Mark, Ken, Becky, Amy and I all went on a tour that took us on a sky ride over the rain forest and then on to a bobsled ride. The ride up the mountain was gorgeous, lots of lush green forest that was like a canopy. Big spiders and pretty flowers were all part of the scenery. Mark and Ken were a little scared of the heights but did well! The bobsled ride was great fun. It was just like a roller coaster ride, very exhilarating. After the bobsled, Gwen, Becky and I all decided to go on the zip line. The zip line was great, we got to zip through the rain forest. To say it was so much fun wouldn't be enough to describe how great it was! Our tour guides for that were hilarious... everyone is a comedian! Afterwards we went back to the shops down by the boat. That is where we all got attacked.... As long as you didn't make eye contact and said "NO" pretty firmly you were okay but that was pretty hard to do. I think we all left Jamaica with more than we intended to because of how pushy they are.
Jamaica is also famous for their rum. Every shop we entered we were offered free samples (which were shots) and if you really wanted to get drunk it would only have taken a few free samples to get you there. On the beach where my family were, they also had a lot of free rum. Both my dad and Anthony were not only approached but the man tipped their heads back and poured rum down their throats. Anthony freaked out because he isn't old enough. He told the man that he was only 19 and his response was "It's okay, Mon!" But it really wasn't. Jamaica as beautiful. Lots of different options as far as scenery but mentally exhausting with all the hounding and pressuring from the people. Interesting life experience.
The last day we had to be out of our rooms early in the morning and after waiting over an hour finally were called to get off the boat, go through customs and find our shuttle to the airport in Fort Lauderdale. We finally got to the airport and had to wait another 2 hours. Got on the plane and had a layover in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Waited another 2 hours. Got on the plane, flew back to good ole Salt Lake City. Got the luggage and drove home. By the time we got home at nearly 10 at night we were completely exhausted.
The vacation was great. We had lots of fun and good times. Memories to hopefully last a lifetime. 7 days was the perfect amount of cruise. Any more or any less just wouldn't do, by the time we were traveling home we were all ready to just be home!And in case anyone was wondering, I brought 7 pairs of shoes and used every single pair!! Til next time.... Ciao.
In case anyone is wondering, I'm home from my vacation. Had a great time and once I get a chance I'll update with pictures and stories.
