A Journey of Mixed Emotions

Well here we are again. Last year our friends Steve and Angela from the U.K. asked us to help choose a Mediterranean cruise with them. Since we have been before and they never had we gave them our input and choices. However they had a cruise credit so price didn't matter to them but our price at the time did. As the year went on the price didn't drop for us so we told them we probably wouldn't be joining them this time.
 
March 2015 brought illness to Jim's mom, Dorothy. We both have spent many hours making sure she is doing well as well as other family members. Around mid-April I could tell Jim needed a break and something to look forward to. I said to him, "if the price of the cruise drops would you go" with which he answered "YES"!.
 
About a few days later the price cut in half and we grabbed it! Our friends were absolutely estatic and we moved into travel planning mode---our favorite place to be. It is amazing how quickly everything fell into place.
 
Two weeks ago my father became confused and mistakenly took too much medication. Though he seemed fine afterwards his overall health quickly deteriorated to the point that we feared the end was near. He also suffers from heart valve disease which is a new diagnosis for him. Until 2 weeks ago he was basically symptom free. Now he isn't. We called Hospice and he was placed under their care last week.
 
He insists that I not cancel this trip. For weeks we have talked about the places we are going and what he and mom experienced when they traveled there years ago. It is something that we share together and ever since Jim and I started traveling my parents have never been far from my mind. Usually my mind is saying "how in the world did my mom (who seemed a little scatter-brained but wasn't) ever manage to do this?"  I base everything on how hard it is for me at my age and ability so how in the world did my mother manage it????
 
So Dad and I have had a great time talking about what to do and what to see. And then he got sick. So I have to decide, Do I Go or Do I Stay?  there could be a very real chance that he will pass away while I am gone. There is a good chance that he will stay alive until I return. He was emphatic that I go and Marilyn is an angel to stay with him while I am gone. He will have Hospice to help, Kelsey to give care, night nurses for when Marilyn is working and hopefully the knowledge that I am returning to tell him my stories of our travels to keep him going.

we got to London Gatwick around 3:00 PM Thursday. We left LAX at 8:30 PM on Wednesday. Add 8 hours time difference. Our seats on Norwegian Airlines were tight. water and drinks and food are all extra. Basically it is a Boeing Dreamliner but being Dreamy isn't how I would peg it.

After going through Customs we headed for our hotel--Hampton Hilton. There was a sign that pointed to the Hilton this way. So we walked and walked right up to the reception desk and was told we were at the wrong Hilton. we were at the South terminal Hilton and we needed the North Terminal Hampton by Hilton. So off we hiked.

we got to the reception desk and were given a beautiful room.. we dropped off our luggage, and immediately crashed! we woke up around 10:00 PM and ate a few snacks and then slept again until 5:00 AM.

Our proper English breakfast was included with our price and we dined like royalty on eggs, beans, sausage, potatoes, tomatoes, toast, ham, cheese, cereal, juice and coco. we figured out it was the first real food we had since our hamburger at LAX at 6:00 PM on Wednesday. By the way we also concluded that sleep was more important than eating!

we are off on the train today for Southampton. Our friends will be at our hotel tomorrow morning to pick us up and take us to the cruise terminal. We are cruising on the Caribbean Princess with stops in Barcelona, Corsica, Marseilles, Florence, Rome and Gibraltar. we get back to Southampton on June 12th.  we have free Internet on board the Princess so email and blogging will work.

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