Passport...check

December our friend Brian invited us to go on a cruise with some other friends to the Caribbean. We took a few days to think about it and then told Brian we were in. The most important thing we needed to do at that point was to apply for our passports. We gathered our birth certificates, filled out the applications and printed them out and made our appointments at the post office. I had heard from other friends who had gotten their passports last year that get can be a long, drawn out process. The woman at the post office that assisted us informed us that we would not need to pay the fee to expedite our applications, that it would be processed within 4-6 weeks. I was so nervous...what if she was wrong...what if we got to February and still had no passports. Then this week I went to the mailbox and found the envelope which contained that precious little document. I got so excited holding that little book in my hand. Seeing all the blank pages. Oh, the places we could go...Steve and I have never talked much about international travel. We have both always said that there is so many places we want to see here in the United States before we start traveling around the world...but I am finding me thinking changing as I look at that small blue book.

So there are 6 other couples going on this cruise. They are all neighbors/friends of ours, so it should be a blast. We leave the middle of February and fly into San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there our 1st port is St. Thomas, then the next day we wake up in St Kitts, then that night we cruise on to Grenada where we will spend the next day until the early afternoon when we leave and head for our next island of Bonaire. The final island we will visit is Aruba and then we will spend one full day at sea as we head back to San Juan. Steve is taking scuba lessons, so he can do some diving with some of the others in our group. I will hang out on the beach with the more timid non-divers. I am looking forward to doing some kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, viewing waterfalls, biking, sunning, enjoying that clear beautiful water...best of all, we will get to bask in some warm weather. We have had quite a cold snap here and I am looking forward to wearing capris, short sleeve shirts and sandals. Only one more month to wait