It's a Monkey Mugging and I Want to Come Back Here!

An early day today because they changed the ship's clock and our watches and phones didn't change with it.  So we were up an hour early.  No problem.  Just gave us time for some protein for breakfast.  We went up to the Lido deck and got some breakfast.  I went to make me some tea and find somebody to get Bruce some tomato juice.  While there, I insinuated myself into a conversation between two guys at different tables talking about how dangerous it was to have taken one of the excursions to the Mayan ruins in Mahahual.  The concern was what would have happened if the vehicle had broken down on one of those tiny back roads.  I interrupted and told them the driver probably would have just called for another vehicle.  They do have cell phones in Mexico.  Then they mentioned the dangers of being stranded on the back road.  I told them about driving through Mexico several years ago and that in spite of all the fear mongering, we never felt unsafe, and we did get lost and have some car troubles along the way.  I mentioned that Mexico was a big country, and there are neighborhoods I won't go in in the US, too.  No different in Mexico.  One of the guys said, "But there are some bad banditos looking for you in Mexico!"  I responded that they aren't looking for ME.  They don't even know that I exist.  So long as you don't go getting into their business, trying to buy drugs and potentially picking the wrong dealer, or trying to compete or stop them, they aren't interested in you.  They really didn't seem to like me raining on their "crap on other people you know nothing about" parade, but Bruce's tomato juice arrived, so having had my entertainment for the morning, I said my goodbyes and went back to our table.

After breakfast, we went back to the room and finished getting ready.  Our room-service breakfast came, so we put it in the fridge.  I will eat fruit throughout the day.  We had plenty of time, so we watched the ship dock.  There appear to be some sunken shipwrecks close to the docks.

When they announced that the ship was cleared, we made our way down to the gangway and disembarked.  We walked through the port area with their shops and restaurants, where excursions booked through the ship meet.  Finally leaving the port area, there was a taxi stand and a road going almost straight uphill.  For $2 each, we could take a taxi up that hill and back down to where the private (non-ship) excursions are allowed to pick up.  This was a no-brainer.  We got the cab.  Our cabbie took us over the hill, found our tour guide, and let us sit in the air conditioning of his car until our guide came down to meet us and all of our group gathered.  I didn't take a picture of the hill going up, and it doesn't look as steep from this side, in part, because of the curve, but also because it just wasn't as steep.  I've been practicing and trying to build up, but I wasn't going to be able to even walk that much uphill with my heart problems!

There were a couple of birds in the trees, and I had time to take their pictures. 

Great-tailed grackle

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker (subspecies that is endemic to Roatan, Honduras, male)

When everybody showed up, Adolfo, our excursion guide, loaded us all into a van and we headed across the island of Roatan, Honduras.  While driving, he gave us some history of the island and its inhabitants.  I had always thought they were just part of Honduras all along, with early Spanish ownership, but that's not quite the case.  Apparently, the island was a possession of Britain for most of history, and the inhabitants in power were white or black British citizens or slaves.  The native Mayan language is almost gone because the government would kill the indigenous who dared to speak their native language.  Nothing but English to be spoken.  Soon after the country of Honduras was formed, having gotten its independence from Spain, Britain sold the island to Honduras.  As residents from the mainland began moving to the island, the Spanish language started being integrated quite a bit.  However, English remains the primary language on the island with Spanish running a close second.  Some people have begun bringing back the Mayan languages, but they are very few.  As we drove along, we came past a large white house.  According to Adolfo, this house was built by a former governor of Honduras with "sticky fingers."

Adolfo decided to bypass the iguana park, taking us to the Daniel Johnson Monkey and Sloth Hangout before the crowds got there.  When you go in, they put groups into four different waiting areas.  While we waited, we watched some Roatan spiny-tailed iguanas.  These guys are indemic to the island and are omnivorous, so they eat pretty much anything.

It wasn't long before Caleb, our Hangout guide, collected us and took us to the sloth area.  We were given instructions to clasp our hands in front of us and act like a tree in no wind when it was our turn to hold the sloth.  We started with Snow White, a lovely lady who snuggled in quite comfortably.

A little bit later, they brought out Bon Jovi, and he was active!  He ate and wiggled around, and tried to steal one lady's hat, and all kinds of things.

Once everybody in our group had their one turn holding a sloth, we migrated over to the capucin monkeys.  These guys are pretty cheeky.  We were told to leave averything except watches and cameras/phones that we would be holding tightly outside, even glasses.  So, we put everything in my purse and set it on the shelf outside the monkey habitat.  We stood in a circle and waited for the monkeys to decide to play with us.  When a group left, Caleb decided to move us to where they had been so we would be out of the sun.  At the time, Bruce happened to have a monkey on his head!

They jumped around on us, and at one point, one of them got interested in my camera!

If you look by his eye closest to his hand, you can see where he left a thumbprint on the lens!

Another member of our group from Texas took pictures on his phone of the monkey playing with my camera and emailed them to me.

Bruce couldn't have his glasses, so he couldn't see well enough to take any phone pictures.  But he positioned himself under their gym/swing/activity area, so he got mugged pretty consistently!

Once the monkeys were finished with us, we moved to the macaw habitat where we each had a macaw sit on our heads for a while.  Bruce had his glasses back, so he took some selfies.

The bird seemed interested, too.

He managed to get a shot of me, too.

Once we were done at the Hangout, we loaded back into the van, and Adolfo took us back to the inguana park.  The green iguans were on showcase here.  These guys are herbivores.  We got to play with the babies and hold "Grandpa".

We fed them bananas and leaves, and they climb over each other to eat.  They appear to be well fed, and there is all kinds of vegetation around that they can eat whenever they're hungry.

When the males are ready to mate, they turn orange and get agressive.  This guy chased one of our group around.  I think he stepped on the iguana's tail.

The iguana park has a little dock down by the water where they raise tarpon.  These guys were relocated from the other side of the island to prevent them from being buried in a construction project.  I asked if they were native to this part of the island, and our iguana park guide, Didi, said they were not.  But, she said, they have gotten well established here, so they are not an invasive species.  I didn't say it, but I thought the lion fish would be happy to know that's how the invasive species thing works.  I did ask if they caused any problems with other species, and she said they did not.

For drop off, Adolpho was able to drop us off at the port entrance, where we got the taxi going out.  They won't let them pick up there, but they will let them drop off.  We went back to the ship and had some salad and fruit for lunch.  Then I dumped photos and got the cameras and backpacks ready for Belize tomorrow.  We showered and Bruce napped.  It was hot out today, and that took a lot out of him.  So, instead of him needing to get up and dressed, I went up to the Lido deck and got him a couple of slices of pizza for dinner.  I went to the Trident Grill for me with the intention of getting a fish sandwich, but they don't have fish sandwiches on the boat!  So I settled for a chili dog and chili cheese fries.  Bruce's pizza was good, but the chili sauce had something sweet in it and was disappointing.  That's okay.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  We're taking a river boat cruise in Belize tomorrow and I'm hoping to get back in time to snorkel.  The people at the shore excursion desk think it will be tight, but that I should be able to do it.  If I miss it, I'll try to get another snorkel from the pier.

My Happy Place is Great Even When It's Disappointing

We all know what my happy place is:  anyplace where there are animals, including animals in water.  We also know that large bodies of water are calming.  So, even though cruises aren't my favorite - because I want to spend more time in port - they do travel to places that put me in my happy place.  And a boat on the water is another happy place for me.  Bruce likes a cruise because it gets him traveling to places without having to get on an airplane.  Cruises are super convenient, though.  You get to the pier and check into your room and stay there.  Your "hotel" travels to the different places.  It just doesn't stay long enough!  I got a super deal through Vacations To Go for a cruise through the Western Caribbean.  Bruce travels and it's my happy place.  So, we drove to Galveston and boarded a Princess cruise for eight days in the Caribbean.

We boarded early so we could miss a lot of lines and just hang out.  Unfortunately, there's some funky issues with Texas and drinks.  We had the drink package, which gave us 15 drinks up to $15 each plus unlimited sodas and juices each day.  We couldn't get cans of soda or bottles of water while in port, but we could get however many glasses of any of them for free.  Apparently Texas does not allow cruise ships to sell any alcohol that isn't brewed or distilled in the state.  Different cruise lines handle this different ways, and Princess has decided to give free drinks on the first day on cruises that leave from Texas.  The catch is, they have to be served by the glass instead of the can or bottle.

I spent the first day getting to know the things on the ship.  I went to a spa orientation and got a special price on a massage.  I also signed up for a stretching class in the mornings that I don't have a shore excursion.  Since we each get two free classes, they said I could sign in as Bruce since he won't be using his.

Without knowing it, I booked us on Princess' "The Love Boat" ship.  As if the logos around the ship didn't give a clue, the ship's horn blew the first line of the theme song from the show before we left every port!

We went up to the Lido deck to eat from the buffet the first night.  We were both underimpressed.  It was kind of bland.  So far, I've liked the cabin layout and the food better on Royal Caribbean over Princess.  Can't compare with Costa because we had an inside stateroom, and I don't think we really ate the buffet on that one.  Albatross was a better stateroom, but there wasn't a buffet, and you really can't compare a small ship Antarctic expedition cruise with a large cruise liner.  The second night, we also did the buffet, and nothing changed on it that I could tell.  There was still dried out baked fish and no spices put in the food, even the Indian dishes.  We looked at the menu of the dining room, and they had duck l'orange, but we had already eaten, and besides, I had a massage scheduled, so we really didn't have time to do the dining room.

My massage was the worst one I've ever had.  It was supposed to be a relaxing massage, but she dug into me harder than a deep tissue massage, and I had to ask her to back off a few times.  She did for only a second or two before digging in.  Before the massage started, she talked about how a pH imbalance can cause all sorts of problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and everything I had put on my list of health issues.  At the end, she told me all of my muscles were tight and that it was because of a pH imbalance.  She gave me a hard sell for $200+ of seaweed bath salts plus oils and lotions at over $100.  When I signed the bill, there was a treatment added that I wasn't asked about and an 18% mandatory gratuity.  I went ahead and signed it, but after this supposedly relaxing, hot stone massage, my muscles (which were actually feeling pretty good to begin with, having just finished a flair of my autoimmune problems) were screaming.  Not the gentle sore of a deep tissue massage, but the screaming of a beat down.  I knew I was going to be hurting for my snorkel the next morning, but I wasn't going to miss it!  So I packed up for the snorkel, ordered breakfast to the room (pretty much just fruit and bread), and went to bed.

Up early to put the battery in and the condom (Outex underwater housing) on the Lumix camera for going underwater.  I put my rash guard on, and packed all my stuff in Bruce's backpack.  Dropped my phone in the bra of my rash guard so I could use it until time to put it in the water-safe fanny pack that would go either in the backpack or in the water with me and headed down to the dining room where the shore excursions were meeting.  We were late getting docked outside of Mahahual, but this excursion was booked through Princess, so there was no big deal.  The excursion would wait for us.  

There were guys dressed like Aztecs taking pictures with tourists, like the convicts on the train in Ushuaia.

We all stood in the right line until our guide, Christian, came to take us to the bus that would take us to the glass bottom boat off which we would snorkel.  When we got to the snorkel site, I immediately caused trouble by asking if we really had to wear life vests while snorkeling.  After promising I would not drown or disturb any of the sponges, they reluctantly let me take off my bulky life jacket.  Another girl took hers off, too.  Everybody else wore theirs.  Then, as they started passing out snorkels and I pulled out my own, they tried to tell me mine wouldn't work and I should use theirs.  I insisted that mine was fine.  After that, we all got into the water.  One girl with a life jacket on immediately had difficulties and had to be towed on the ring.  No problem.  The water was calm, so I had no concern about getting pushed around by the waves and currents.  The problem was with the reef.  It wasn't a big reef like one would expect in the Mesoamerican Reef (also known as the Great Mayan Reef), the second largest reef system in the world.  It was mostly scattered small sponges with a few corals scattered around, mostly fan coral and what looked like staghorn coral but the guides called finger coral.  It was mostly a bed of sea grass without anybody visible in it or a sandy sea bottom.

You can see how there is pretty much nothing but sand off this bump of sponge and coral.

There were a few pretty fish.  Not very many, but a few.

Surgeonfish

Yellowhead Wrasse

Snapper

Sergeant major

Bluehead Wrasse

A school of various fish in a sponge

Green sea turtle.  He was in a sunnier spot in one.

When we got back on the boat, we road over a small cenote in the water.  The cenotes inland are much more famous and used for diving.  This one was very small.  I tried to start of chorus of "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea," but nobody joined in.  I also dug through the backpack to get my phone and grab a picture since I had put the camera up, and realized that I never took my phone out of the bra of my rash guard.  So, I snorkeled with my phone.  Thankfully, it still worked and didn't fall out while snorkeling!

After a stop at a restaurant so we could go to the bathroom and the locals could try to peddle their wares, we went back to the port area.  This is apparently the big draw here.  People actually drive two hours to work at the port and there is a condo complex close to it where port workers live who don't drive.  I walked through much of it so I could see what all was there, and by the time I got about half way through it, Bruce texted me to see what I was doing to see if we wanted to have lunch together.  I told him what all was there (overpriced Mexican food, swimming pools that you have to buy a drink to use, a replica of a Mayan ruin, and lots of shops).  

He decided he didn't want to come out, wanted to stay on the climate-controlled ship so he didn't wear out from the heat before the excursions he was going to do the next couple of days.  So, I decided to try out the one thing that interested me - the fish eating the dead skin from my feet!  The first time I experienced something similar was in Victoria Falls, when I did the Devil's Pool.  The little fish nibbled at the skin on my legs while I was waiting for my turn on the edge.

She started out by cleaning my feet with a soapy brush and a water hose over a bucket.

Then I got 20 minutes in the tank with the fish.  It tickled for the first few seconds, but then it felt good.  They went after a couple of callouses I have really good.  They didn't get it all, but they smoothed them down pretty good.  My feet were smooth, much better than a pumice stone!

As I was walking back to the ship, I was thinking how this was probably such a good business idea.  There were 12 stations, and they were at least half full every time I walked by.  At $25 for 20 minutes, one station would bring in $75/hr.  If half of them were busy for an hour, it would be $450 an hour.  The cruise ship was in port for nine hours.  Assuming the place was busy for 5 of them, that would be $2,250 per day.  As I got closer to the pier, I saw another fish manicure place with the same company.  This one was in the busier part and I counted 24 stations here, and only a few seats were empty.  This is definitely a good business.

When I got back on the boat and got the cameras squared away, we went to the buffet, and I found the taco bar (thanks to Bruce pointing it out to me).  Whoever made the taco stuff found the spice shaker.  Or maybe it was because I found the jalepenos.  I had a little taco salad.  After dumping my photos, taking a shower, and Bruce having a nap, we looked at the dining room menu and decided we would go to the dining room.  They were having scallops on rice for one entree and steak for another one.  And cherries jubilee for desert.  We decided we would split them and have surf and turf.  I'm glad we decided that because Bruce got a nice piece of steak, but I got five tiny sea scallops on a bed of rice just big enough to hold the five sea scallops.  It was very tasty, but tiny!  They didn't light my cherries jubilee, either, but again, it was tasty.  The dining room is a much tastier option than the buffet on this particular ship.  

Tomorrow's port is Roatan, and I'm really looking forward to going to the sloth and monkey hangout.  I would love to snorkel the reef, but there isn't time for both.  I booked both for Belize and double checked with the shore excursion desk who said they think it will be tight, but that I may be able to make it. 

The End of an Era(s Tour) and I Got To See it

Taylor Swift has been a significant character in the portion of my life that includes a daughter.  It seems that throughout Chrissy's teen years, there has been a Taylor Swift song that is at least somewhat relevant.  "The Best Day" is pretty much a description of our relationship, and it makes us both cry, especially on the day we dropped her off at college, but still to this day.  It's no surprise that both Chrissy and I are Swifties.  She's a die-hard Swifty.  She's also loved going to concerts since before she was able to drive.  I used to take her to small venue outlets when she was growing up.  I took her and her best friends (my honorary daughters) to music festivals regularly.  She still goes to concerts regularly.  So, it's no surprise that when Taylor Swift announced her new concert dates in Vancouver, Canada (driving distance for us), she wanted to go.  It wasn's surprising even though she saw the Eras Tour when it was in Seattle.  For that one, she actually had floor seats, just off the stage.  But that was before The Tortured Poets Department album came out.

So, a little over a year ago, Chrissy got registered for presale of the tickets, got her code, and was given the time and date she could log in to try to purchase tickets.  It fell right smack-dab in the middle of one of her sessions.  So, what did she do?  "Mom!  Get me two tickets, straight on to the stage, not floor level!"  Having not purchased concert tickets for decades and hearing horror stories about how the process has changed, I was really nervous!  I had her credit card information, her Ticketmaster information, and her client was good with her watching her text messages during session.  I signed in and watched the countdown clock until it finally let me in.  I found seats, put them in the basket, and before I could get the credit card info entered, they were swiped out of my cart.  So, I found two more seats, put in the credit card information, and the card said they needed a code to continue the transaction.  Chrissy sent me the code that was texted to her, but the seats were gone.  So, I found two more seats, got the card information in, and the purchase went through.  I think it took all of five minutes, but the stress felt like hours!  And Chrissy was happy with the seats I got.

The plan was for one of my honorary daughters to come up and go to the concert with her, and while they were in Vancouver, her daughter and boyfriend were going to stay in Washington with me.  I was so looking forward to taking that child to the zoo and wildlife park and maybe even to play in the snow on one of the mountains!  She is sooo much fun!  Unfortunately, hurricane season in Florida had something to say about that, and they weren't able to come.  In my disappointment in not being able to see the girls, the wound was soothed a bit when Chrissy asked me if I wanted to go instead.  This would be my second Taylor Swift concert.  Chrissy took me to the Reputation Tour in Seattle just a little after my shoulder surgery.  This time, I was able to use both arms and wasn't nearly so fragile!

So, when the time came, we packed up all the friendship bracelets Chrissy had made and our matching sweatshirts, and off we went, up I-5 to the Peace Arch US/Canada border.  We left plenty early, knowing that rooms in Vancouver were so tight that people were actually staying in Washington (some as far as Seattle, but most in Bellingham) because they couldn't get rooms any closer to the venue.  We seemed to time it right, and there wasn't much of a wait to cross the border.

Canadian border guards got a helping hand from this Western Gull who appeared to be patrolling the line of vehicles,  checking our lane

and then the other lane before one driver bribed him with a muffin.

While I was getting ready to leave, I was listening to the news, and heard that they had put a friendship bracelet on the Capilano Suspension Bridge, se we decided we had to go see it!  When we got there, we learned that it was also "Canyon Lights", the annual winter lights festival at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

For those who haven't been to the Pacific Northwest in winter, these lights were nice and bright.  It was just around noon.  In most places, you have to wait till night to be able to see winter lights.  Here, you can often see them all day long!  This is also why people who live in this area are routinely told to take Vitamin D supplements by their doctors (to make up for the lack of sunshine) and why seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a problem up here.

It wasn't just a friendship bracelent on the bridge, though.  The park had integrated an "everything Taylor" approach to Canyon Lights this weekend!

These little heart hands were on several barrels in this part of the park for trading bracelets for those who didn't want to talk to other people - and those who did.

The suspension bridge, itself, was sparkly all the way across.  The last time I was there, it was pretty packed, and with so many people on the bridge, it wasn't that hard to walk.  This time, early on a Friday afternoon, when most people were at work or school, it was a bit bouncy and wiggly.  I declined having hot chocolate until we made it back across!

Plaques with Taylor lyrics were scattered throughout.

Even without the Taylor Swift additions, Canyon Lights is beautiful and worth the admission to the park.  The Taylor additions made it even better.

Nods to her song titles in many places throughout the park

And the Cliffwalk had been renamed to the Swiftwalk!

From the Swiftwalk, we could look over at the suspension bridge to see the friendship bracelet.

And at the end of the Swiftwalk was a picture frame.  After trading some bracelets with several people, we had our picture made in the frame.

We stopped at Chrissy's favorite pho place and drove around a little bit looking for a place to park near our hotel.  After getting checked in to our little, waaaay overpriced room, we thought about going back out.  But, we decided to stay in.  I had some salad that I had brought with us because it would go bad over the weekend if it didn't get eaten, and Chrissy streamed Friday's concert.  The surprise song was a night early.  She did a medley that included "The Best Day", and we both cried, like we do just about every time we hear it. 

The city of Vancouver went all out for these last three of Taylor's Eras Tour concerts.  There was a map of a lot of special signs they put up for the Swifties who were descending on the city.  Chrissy had looked at them all and decided she wanted to get pictures at the Swiftcouver sign, so after breakfast, we headed down to the waterfront.  I loved these polar bears of colored lights.

And this mobile with wheels that spins around, not just the wheels spinning.

We stood in line for the Switcouver sign.  It was so large that we are only tiny dots in front of the "T".  We traded some friendship bracelets while waiting.

Instead of taking the car out of the parking garage and searching for the other signs, we decided to take in the Christmas market that was just upstairs.

We got some schnitzel and spaetzel for lunch which we ate on these giant chairs.  It was one of the better Christmas markets I've been to since leaving Europe.  It was nice, but it didn't really compare to the pictures my friend in France was posting the same weekend!

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert.  Chrissy had gotten us matching sweatshirts.  Hers said, "Here's to my mama," and mine said, "Had to listen to all this drama."  It's a nod to the song, "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" from the Reputation Era.  As with many Taylor Swift lyrics, the words are no less true just because they were put in a song!  We walked down to the venue (BC Place) with a mother/daughter pair from Saskatchewan.  When we got in, Chrissy got me settled in our seats, got us a picture, and headed for the merch line.  Some people behind us took this pic with Chrissy's phone.  My Lumix wasn't allowed in the venue, so everything was phone cameras.

I traded a few friendship bracelets and had a good time talking with people around me.  One group brought hospital bracelets from The Tortured Poets Department with the tagline, "The Asylum Where They Raised Me", which is also a line in the song, "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me".  My bracelet was upside down when I took the picture, so I just turned the pic upside down for this.

During the break between Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift, I decided I should probably run to the bathroom.  Oh Geez!  What a line!  I ran into Chrissy on her way back from the merch line, where she was picking up pizza for us.  The line to the bathroom was so long, I had to text her to remind me what door to go back into the stadium for because I lost count!  I made it back in, just as Taylor was getting started.  It took me three songs to eat my slice of cheese pizza, and I really don't even remember tasting it!  Taylor was just that good!  Or maybe the pizza was that bland?  Who cares.  I was nourished.

I have to admit, it was nice having a phone with a decent camera!  Thanks, Bruce, for talking me into updating our phones!

In Gelsenkirchen, Germany, a group of Swifties created orange orbs, which were blown up balloons backlit by their phone flashlights.  The trend continued all the way through to the end of the tour, showing up for the song "Willow" from Gelsenkirchen to Vancouver.

While I mostly just enjoyed the show, dancing and sitting and shouting and singing, I did do some recording.  There were signs posted around the venue saying that by being there you consented to your image being used by her and her crew, and there were drones, crane cameras, and jibs that you could see that apparently weren't normally at the concerts.  Many said it was reminiscent of the venue where she shot the Eras Tour Movie last year.  I don't know what it was, but I enjoyed watching the cameramen following her around and trying to stay out of her way but close enough to get the shots!  You can also see the 360 jib aerial camera in both of these clips!

For the acoustic/surprise song set, she brought Gracie Abrams back out and did a medley with her.  It was a wonderful show.  I spent most of my time enjoying it, but was glad to have a decent camera in my phone so I could capture pieces to remember it by!

Since our hotel wasn't far from the venue, we walked back, still trading bracelets while walking out of the venue grounds.  It was only sprinkling, and the train had a line that was super long.  We passed by a couple of girls who were trying to get an uber while still walking.  When the one with the app noticed an Uber close by, they turned and ran back to where she had initially ordered it.  I hope they got it!  But, there wasn't much reason for us to try to get one.  By the time a driver got there, we could have been back to the hotel.  

After sleeping in just a touch, we had breakfast at the hotel, and while I checked us out, Chrissy went to get the car and pull it around.  We loaded up and headed out, stopping at duty free before reaching the border.  We got a jerk border guard, but it wasn't a big deal.  He asked if we had anything to declare.  I knew that for most things, you can have up to $500 before needing to declare it, so I just said no.  His come back was, "You didn't buy anything all weekend?"  Instead of schooling him that we knew about the $500 rule and the difference between purchasing something and bringing it across the border (We bought lots of food that we didn't bring back with us!), we just said a couple of sweatshirts.  We didn't want to get pulled into secondary inspection.  We just didn't feel like going through that nonsense.  It was a fantastic weekend and didn't need to end on a low note.

The drive home was uneventful, being just like the PNW, drive a few minutes needing headlights, alternating with a few brief moments of sun glare, going back to needing headlights.  I dropped Chrissy off at her house, then came on home and crashed.