Tale of a Lost Passport

Posted on April 4, 2013April 4, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Driving home the other day I had a sudden thought…Where is my passport? As I thought about it I became more and more nervous. By the time I actually reached the house I was in a full blown panic.

I last used the passport on my cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. I knew I had the passport when I got home because I’d seen it but where?

While I was on the cruise and then in Florida I kept the passport in the folder I carry on each trip with all the print outs, tickets, guide books, attractions, reciepts and maps. I have a separate folder for this Alaska Cruise. I’ve found that doing it this way organizes not only my travel documents but my thoughts and helps me squeeze in as much as I can on these trips because who knows if I will ever “pass that way again”.

When I get home this folder combines with my notes and photos to provide the basis for my tales of my trips which I share here so that those of you interested in a location can have the benefit of my experiences or mis-adventures, as the case may be. 🙂

Well, as I was writing my posts for Florida and the Everglades I remembered seeing the passport and thinking I should put it away where it belonged. But I am the world’s best procrastinator and didn’t remember doing that.

Baby Alligator

Now at home and in a panic I checked all the places I usually keep the passport when not traveling and even some I don’t usually use. Nothing. I pulled out my luggage and checked all the pockets and linings…nope… nothing.

Finally I went though the pockets of my photo vests, coats, jackets and pants. Those were a real long shot but I was hoping. Still nothing.

I’m sure by now you are asking yourself why I didn’t look in the folder. Well, that’s because as I was cleaning off my desk a few days before I looked at the huge folder and thought “I don’t want to save all this stuff. It takes up too much room in my file cabinet” so I did something I normally don’t do…I threw out my folder with notes, and maps and travel documents. In the process I threw out the passport. 🙁

I raced to the post office where they calmed my fears and said they could expedite a replacement and have it in 2 weeks. Of course it would cost me…what doesn’t these days..so now the search was on for my birth certificate…last seen 7 years ago when I applied for the passport. Lets just say it’s in a safe place.

It was looking more and more like I would have to drive to upstate NY for another certified copy of my birth certificate. So that was my plan for Monday but Sunday as I was doing routine house work I emptied the small trash can under my desk. As I tipped the can I spotted a manila folder! What’s this? Could it be? OMG it’s the Cozumel/Florida folder.
My hand was shaking as I pulled the precious folder out. The first quick flip through yielded nothing, a big fat goose egg so I took the folder to my desk and spread it out. I went through everything one piece of paper at a time and there it was. A bit battered and bent but intact.

I can now share this cautionary story because all’s well that ends well but I did have quite a few days of stress over this silly mistake!

Sea Day On Carnival Imagination

Posted on February 14, 2013February 14, 2013 by Dusty Roads

As I write this post there’s another Carnival Ship being towed to Alabama from their failed Gulf Cruise. The Carnival Cruise ship Triumph was disabled on Monday by an engine fire. The ship is carrying more than 4000 people between guests and crew with some reports as high as 4500. The ship was 55 miles off the Mexican coast when the fire happened. Conditions since then have really gone downhill. I would not like to be on that ship! To think only a little more than a week ago we were on the Imagination in the same area! We could have been on there!

Luckily our ship didn’t have any problems. In fact we had an uneventful day at sea the last day. The cruise director had loads of activities planned. We watched the “Hairy Man” competition and the ice carving exhibition.

The lunch buffet was a bit fancier than usual with ice cream swans.

Sorry they melt fast and when we had them make us a fresh one we forgot to take the picture before eating it! 🙂

We finally got some sunny weather too.

There were trivia contests and time to look at all of the photos the ship-azzazzi photographers had been taking. There was even time to grab a nap in the afternoon. The evening was spent at dinner and the farewell show. It was all a nice relaxed pace but plenty to do.

One thing we never got to was the Casino. We walked by it plenty of times, talked about trying it for a bit but just never got there. I’m definitely not a gambler and I don’t think Joe is either so it wasn’t missed at all. Still I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there was a casino for those so inclined.

Arriving back at our cabin for our last night we had our last towel art. I can’t call this one an animal. But very appropriate for a Post on Valentine’s day, don’t you think?

Time to leave Mexico Behind

Posted on February 13, 2013February 13, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It was time to start back to the ship. I left the ruins through the hole in the wall and caught the tram back to the marketplace and parking area.

Now I had the most uncomfortable experience of the whole trip. I know that in many countries market places are filled with pretty aggressive stall merchants. It’s one thing to read about it but quite another to be subject to it. I don’t know if it was because I was alone when I stepped off the tram or because I was a woman or if this is just their way. It’s possible it’s all an act for the gringos but I didn’t like it.

In any case I wanted to look in the market place. I didn’t have much money on me but I was curious. Big mistake. The proprietors ran at me waving mayan calendars, or another big one was cigars. At first I tried to make light and laugh it off saying no-no I don’t smoke and things like that. But as I got away from one another was there in front of me pitching their wares and they had an answer for everything. I broke away from them with “Buy, Buy for your husband, buy for your friend, take back to America”…ringing in my ears.

I’m sure they need the money. The area is clearly poor by American standards but the aggressive approach certainly drove me away rather than encouraging me to buy anything. I was relieved to get back to the bus where they were handing out cold cloths and water.

The ride back to the docks was uneventful. It was dark by this time and I think everyone was tired. It was time to try out our guide’s advice for avoiding seasickness.

We took seats on the lower deck and waited. News finally came that another tour bus was stuck in traffic because of an accident and we had to wait for them. Once they finally arrived the crew wasted no time in casting off. I was still wearing my patch but I tried Paula’s tips and it seemed to work. The return to Cozumel was much easier than the morning trip.

We arrived back at the cruise ship about 9:30 pm ship’s time. Although we had covered many time zones the ship never changed the time. We were still on EST time. Unfortunately the delay leaving Mexico made us miss dinner. We wandered down to the Lido deck where the late night offerings were being picked through. We settled on Pizza. Not my first choice of food before bed but better than nothing.

Tomorrow would be a day at sea with no ports of call.

We headed back to our cabin to be greeted by another Towel Animal. This time a frog. 🙂 Love those little surprises.

Can you see the Face in Stone?

Posted on February 12, 2013February 12, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Mayan carvings are always features in NatGeo specials. Also in those Ancient Alien shows to support the idea that we were visited by aliens/ space travelers in ancient times. Whatever the reason a trip to Mayan Ruins would feel incomplete if there wasn’t at least one carving.

At Tulum the guidebooks talk about frescos and paintings but they were not open to the public when we were there but we still got to see a face carved in stone.

Can you see it?