We’re off! We left the house Wednesday morning at 6am, not to return for 198 days! There’s always a feeling like we forgot something, but we mailed most of our stuff two weeks earlier so all we really needed to remember were each other, medications, and passports. Beyond that, no big deal if we forgot something. Right?

We don’t actually board the ship until today (Friday), but we left Wednesday to be safe. We booked our flights long enough ago that we had no clue if the weather might be an issue, so getting to Portland a day early seemed like a good idea (in case the flight from Redmond got cancelled and the pass wasn’t easily drivable). Little did we know that the weather would be as nice as it was (no white Christmas, sadly). 

So Wednesday we just hung out in Portland. We arrived, bolted to the hotel and were able to get in super early (yay!). Then I went to grab something from a bag and discovered that we *did* forget something… our bags! We checked two bags but since we each had our carry-ons and were bolting for the shuttle we just spaced and forgot them. Haha. So John and I had to go back to the airport for those. At least we didn’t truly forget them… and we remembered to pick them up once we got to Miami! 

We decided to go to Dave and Buster’s for lunch to give the boys a chance to get some energy out while John and I could get some work done. It says something that we can concentrate in as boisterous of a place as Dave and Buster’s! The boys used their tickets to buy some Nerf guns, which we then had to tell them was a bad idea because they’re not allowed on the ship. That at least allowed for us to have fun going through the list of things not allowed on the ship – hoverboards, throwing stars, spear guns, brass knuckles, handcuffs, paint thinner, projectile weapons, replicas of weapons… you know, the usual.

The rest of the evening was low-key at the hotel since we had to catch the 4:40am shuttle to the airport for our morning flight. I watched one of the best movies ever – A Few Good Men – as John commented on the insane number of commercials that kept coming on. It has been a loooong time since we’ve watched regular television and I can’t believe we dealt with that many commercials on a regular basis. 

Oh – I did discover something that I forgot to pack… my glasses. I brought reading glasses (I’m old) and plenty of contacts but left my glasses by the bed at home. Oh well. Hopefully that’s the worst thing forgotten. 

Yesterday’s flights were first class on Delta and otherwise quite uneventful. We stayed at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami – wow – such a nice hotel! The boys had their own room, which was good for all of us. And now, I’m posting this update while they all shower. We head to the ship in 1 hour! More updates coming… excitement is HIGH!!!