Day 2 - June 15th

This was our first full day at sea. The weather was still pretty cold and cloudy, so there wasn't much motivation to hang out on the sun deck, except in the over-populated hot tubs, of course. :) Yeah, Nolan wasn't too happy that he didn't pack his hoodie. At least he has long pants & shoes. I didn't even pack any of those. Just capri's & flip flops.

I was relieved to find that my motion sickness was starting to ease up, the medication was starting to work, and also being outside actually helped. It really affected me much more being in the inclosed areas, but something about being outside helped quite a bit. Interesting how that works.

We held a small Sunday service in my parent's state room. It was neat to hear my family sing hymns a cappella. It was even more touching when we all paid heartfelt thanks to our parents for everything they are, and everything they've done to help us be who we are today. I am forever indebted to them.

This night was also the Captains Dinner, where the idea is to dress as nice & elegant as possible to pay respect to the Captain. Some people didn't quite understand that concept and took it as a "dress as skanky as possible" night. One woman's "dress" dipped down so low in the back that it was a few inches below her bra, and was so short that if not careful we could also see if her bra & panties were a matched set! Aaaah! Thank goodness for LDS modesty guidelines! Nolan was looking good though...

One of my goals with the cruise was to watch (& photograph) the sun setting over the Pacific. Sadly due to the cloud layers hanging around the ocean, I was only able to capture one sunset. It was breathtaking. I was once again awe struck and amazed at the beauty that the Lord has created. I am saddened that so many people take for granted or don't appreciate the raw beauty of nature.

I'd be perfectly content and entertained to stand out on deck for hours and watch the clouds cross the sky, or watch for flying fish launching themselves from the wake of the boat, or watch the sun set and the moon rise, or spotting pods of whales off in the distance, or watching the dolphins swimming along with the boat. Why stay inside and watch a racy Vegas style show, or hang in the casino when you have all that outside? People just don't know what they're missing. I guess at the same time though, I was grateful for the solitude I was offered on the deck of the boat. Gave me lots of pondering time.