{"id":3662,"date":"2013-05-07T01:47:39","date_gmt":"2013-05-07T01:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/?p=3662"},"modified":"2013-05-07T01:47:39","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T01:47:39","slug":"week-16-the-vacationing-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/07\/week-16-the-vacationing-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 16 – The Vacationing, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

When last we left off, I’d hurt my knee and was nursing a pretty bad hangover.\u00a0 With one week left, would that kill my vacation mojo?\u00a0 Read on…<\/p>\n

Monday: Dominica (182.0)<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I woke up, I was pleased that my knee was a little better, but still hurt and I couldn’t walk properly.\u00a0 So that was :(.\u00a0 I spent the morning pouting and reading in the cabin, and finally dragged myself up to the buffet for lunch, more of the same – plate of veggies including salad, spinach, soup, and a few bites of fish and pasta.\u00a0 My appetite definitely got the hint that my knee was keeping me from epic doings and it was probably HALF of what it was days before.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Instead of getting off the boat and possibly injuring my knee, we just looked at Dominica from the boat (it was pretty – I definitely want to go back and do some snorkeling there) and swam and read and enjoyed the sun on deck. So it wasn’t a horrible afternoon, just not the epic adventure I was hoping for here.\u00a0 I consoled myself with a small vanilla soft serve cone for a snack and a bite of Zliten’s pizza (mainly, I wanted to see if it was crappy or I was off the day before – well, either I was off or just got a bad slice, because it was yummy).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After getting our fill of sun, we retired back to the room for more reading and showers and got changed for dinner.\u00a0 It was Italian night – so I went with minestrone soup, bacon + greens salad, spicy pasta (this was definitely memorable, good stuff), and stuffed zucchini and white beans (I only ate half of this because I was stuffed), and just some limoncello sorbet for dessert.\u00a0 I do miss my world where I had delicious, homemade ice cream in amazing flavors each night, let me tell you!<\/p>\n

After dinner, we played a game of dominos (train – got about half way through) with the ‘rents and had some peppermint tea and headed to bed for more reading and then drifting off.<\/p>\n

Tuesday: St. Thomas (183.0)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Woke up around 8:30, read and iced my knee until about 10.\u00a0 It had a better range of motion, but still hurt.\u00a0 I was bound and determined to get off and check out St. Thomas and to not be a slug.\u00a0 I had been hurt and pouty for 2 days and it was time to get over it.\u00a0 We hit the gym and I did about 45 mins of arms\/abs\/back and then 20 mins on the handcycle (this, folks, is WAY harder than it looks – mad respect to the handcycle racers out there).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We had lunch from the buffet, the normal salad\/veggies\/soup, and bites of fish, shrimp pasta, fettuccine, bread, fruit, and half a cookie made it down my piehole and then we headed off the boat with my parents.\u00a0 We had thought about going to Blackbeard’s Castle, which I had THOUGHT would be a quick walk from the ship, but apparently we docked on the other side and it was a 3 mile walk up mad hills.\u00a0 Considering that was not happening with my knee, and no one seemed excited about paying 20 bucks to get a cab there, we just walked around the shops by the port.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then, I got kind of fed up.\u00a0 My knee was hurting standing and I was tired of looking at the same crap in the shops I’d seen three other places so I said we were doing something because we were on an island and I didn’t want to hurt and be bored.\u00a0 So, instead, we found a gondola and took a ride up to Paradise Point and soaked in the gorgeous views and got a family photo care of the go pro.\u00a0 I was much happier.\u00a0 All in all, we walked about 3 miles that day, not bad for a gimp!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the way back I picked up a diet sprite from a pharmacy.\u00a0 I hadn’t had anything with bubbles in over a week and I was craving it.\u00a0 Totally delicious.\u00a0 We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and swimming (this week, if I didn’t make record of what I was doing, it was probably either me with my kindle and a deck chair, or me in the pool :D) and then got showered and changed for dinner.<\/p>\n

I had lots of food.\u00a0 We started with bread and a goat cheese tart (so rich – so amazing, especially with the bread dipped in it), bib lettuce with vinegrette, a few bites of tomato gnocci, strawberry lemon basil sorbet as a palate cleanser, orange roughy and some chicken skewers as the main course, and then a small chocolate haystack and chocolate pb ice cream that was to die for… let’s just say I was quite full.<\/p>\n

After dinner – hey, we read more in the cabin.\u00a0 Surprise, surprise.\u00a0 Then, we went to a damn funny ventriloquist, but Zliten started feeling yucky and the lighting at the show really made me start yawning, so we headed to bed early.<\/p>\n

Wednesday: At Sea (going North away from the pretty islands) (181.0)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had no idea how I ate THAT dinner and lost 2 lbs, but we’ll call it vacation magic!\u00a0 Knee status: still hurts, can almost straighten sitting down, bending better.\u00a0 Zliten felt like crap (he was coming down with a cold), so we stayed in bed and read in the morning until about 11.\u00a0 We hit the buffet right as lunch was being served and had my usual plate of veggies, thai salad, gumbo, some other stuff (nothing remarkable).\u00a0 There was a big sale in the cruise shops, but I didn’t find anything worthwhile to spend money on, so we left, got bathing-suited up, and split a delicious watermelon guava cocktail and read, sunned, and then some crazy animal show from the BBC came on (I wish I could remember what it was) and it was HILARIOUS!\u00a0 Soon after, they played Ferris Bueler’s Day Off, and I watched most of it from the pool.\u00a0 Yep, my afternoon sucked. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We headed to the gym late afternoon and I did a 20 minute handcycle hill workout (ow.) and I did a light spin on the stationary bike for 25 mins – and it didn’t feel too bad.\u00a0 I was hoping this would bode well for the ride Saturday (and we all know that didn’t pan out, but, whatevs).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We then got ready, got fancy, and took more pictures since my mom didn’t like the one from the last formal night because she didn’t have enough lipstick on.\u00a0 It actually turned out quite a bit better and we ended up getting that one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dinner was great – I got thai rolls with satay sauce, tomato basil soup, greens with vinaigrette, and it was lobster night, so of course, I got lobster and shrimp with butter.\u00a0 So, so good.\u00a0 I rarely find it worthwhile to pay for lobster (I’d much rather have crab) when I’m eating out, but on a cruise, I’ll take it any day.\u00a0 For desert, more ice cream!\u00a0 Pralines and cream and mandarin sorbet was today’s flavors, and the mandarin was a total winner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Zliten’s cold caught up with him, so I left him in the room and went with my parents to see the show – a tribute to pop music with the singers and dancers.\u00a0 I could tell that “cruise bitchiness” had officially and totally set in because my mother was complaining that one of the singers wasn’t very good.\u00a0 If that’s your complaint of the day, then you have, indeed, as Princess says, “escaped completely”.\u00a0 After, guess what… I read and then zonked out.<\/p>\n

Thursday: Princess Cays (181.2)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was really excited for this day.\u00a0 Most places, it’s definitely a *thing* to get to the beach from the boat – an excursion, a taxi, or navigating it yourself means you need to have done your homework (and involve a lot of walking or bus).\u00a0 This island is owned by the cruise line, so you tender to shore in a little boat, get off, and immediately walk onto a gorgeous white sandy beach.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I’m getting ahead of myself.\u00a0 We woke up, read a bit, and got breakfast today instead of lunch since we wanted to get off the boat early – I had some corned beef hash (cruise guilty pleasure), an english muffin with cream cheese, some bacon, fruit, and half a small waffle.\u00a0 We headed off the boat around 11, got my parents situated in some beach chairs in the shade, and headed into the water with my mom to snorkel.\u00a0 She spent about 10 mins in and then got out, but Zliten and I explored for about an hour.\u00a0 It was AMAZING.\u00a0 The water was super clear, and just right near the shore in less than 10 feet deep water were SO MANY FISHIES!!!\u00a0 I took what felt like a billion pictures.\u00a0 Zliten dragged me out asking for a quick break.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They had buffet lunch set up, but I was still full from breakfast (I know, who am I?), but Zliten procured a coconut fruity drink for us to share, and then we found a cute little leezard that Zliten made friends with, and then I dragged him back into the water for another hour of exploring – I found a super awesome shell that I brought home (and sadly, I figured out there was actually something in it, I thought it was empty, I feel pretty bad about that and also it’s stinky), we saw remains of a lobster, a crab, an invisible fish, and so much more.\u00a0 This was EASILY the highlight of week 2.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I was dragged yet again from the water so we could dry off and make the last ferry back around 2:30pm (believe me, I didn’t want to go – if it were up to me I’d still be on that beach).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once we got back, we spent some time packing up our cabin which was a mad-stuff-splosion, and then we decided to take the afternoon to ourselves – we had some drinks on deck, watched the ship pull away from the island, and enjoyed our last afternoon of sun.\u00a0 After a few drinks though, we quickly realized we forgot lunch, and had a quick snack of curry chicken salad and french fries to sober a little bit, and then we finished packing and headed to our last feast.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dinner was the classic shrimp cocktail and ceasar salad, some curried pumpkin soup, meatloaf, and the traditional baked Alaska.\u00a0 We then wandered to the casino and cashed out, yep, still 3 bucks up for the trip.\u00a0 Niiiice.\u00a0 We wandered to the photo gallery and bought photos.\u00a0 Actually finally finished packing and set our bags out.\u00a0 Something was a little off, and my nose was runny, and I hoped it was allergies (spoiler: it wasn’t… stupid cold).\u00a0 We played our last game of hand and foot and the men won (so… ladies 3, men 3), and then unspectacularly ended our last night with icing the knee, reading, and love boat reruns.<\/p>\n

Friday:\u00a0 Bye bye Emerald Princess!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To keep it short – we had breakfast, getting off the ship was a breeze, we killed time in the airport, the travel was uneventful, and got home and worshipped our comfy couch and bed and hugged our leezards and kitty.\u00a0 We spent the weekend recovering from colds and just relaxing and getting our tummies slowly ready for good healthy food again – no epic adventures or training.<\/p>\n

And now, it’s back to life, reality, and dealing with recooping from a stupid injury, which I will talk more about next post.\u00a0 However, I will report that I weighed in the day after we got home and I was 179 and have been maintaining a weight in the high 170s this week, so my fears of gaining a billion lbs on vacation?\u00a0 No big deal.\u00a0 Just needed a plan, and to follow it and eat like a normal human being not gone loco.<\/p>\n

Besides the whole knee incident (and catching a cold at the end, but whatevs), and a little bit of parental stress – it was a perfect vacation.\u00a0 I’m already dreaming about visiting some of those islands again!<\/p>\n

Question: What is your favorite place to vacation?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>
<\/fb:like><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When last we left off, I’d hurt my knee and was nursing a pretty bad hangover.\u00a0 With one week left, would that kill my vacation mojo?\u00a0 Read on… Monday: Dominica (182.0) When I woke up, I was pleased that my knee was a little better, but still hurt and I couldn’t walk properly.\u00a0 So that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paUhDu-X4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3662"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3669,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662\/revisions\/3669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}