The day they made us leave the ship………………..

There was no wide-open ocean outside the window this morning, no volcanoes or opera houses. There was, however, the San Pedro cruise terminal and LA smog. Yes, that day had come, time to disembark.

I went down to the Pursers Office to ask for yet another key card. I was scolded because this was the 14^th one they had issued to me. I said I couldn’t help it if they kept malfunctioning. I mean this was the first one I had actually lost so to speak, all the others were impaired. I let the receptionist know that on a 90 day cruise, 14 cards were probably about the average number of key cards that were issued to passengers. She told me that I was incorrect, and asked the next person to come up to the desk.

Brian’s multi task tool had been confiscated when we had embarked in Southampton. They did not believe that it was to be used for slicing our biltong, and deemed it a dangerous weapon. We were reassured that we would get it back when we disembarked. We did cope without it, but it certainly would have come in handy, and not just for biltong slicing. I went by the gangway and spoke to the security officer there who reassured me that it would be returned to us as we left the ship.

We said goodbye to our room, and at the appointed time went to the theatre to await our instructions to disembark. We had decided to take the Cunard coach to the airport rather than struggle with our bags in a taxi. Somehow it made me feel that the trip was going to be that much longer.

They called for us to leave the ship, and head for the bus. This was it. After 3 glorious months we were being thrown out to the perils of reality. I was not happy. Brian said we needed to go; otherwise we would miss the bus. Reluctantly, I grabbed my bag and headed for the gangway.

At the gangway, we requested Brian’s multi tool. Initially we were told that it had been left behind in Southampton. As we were actually heading down the Solent when we had the embarrassment of the security officer searching our duffel bag, we very much doubted that it was back in old Blighty.

So off they went to search for it, while we stood patiently by smiling at and nodding to the people who were getting off the ship. Other people stopped at the contraband station, no one had a weapon of mass destruction to collect, but there were a few evil looking irons and a coffee maker. Still no sign of Brian’s multi tool.

Finally, a half hour later it became clear that the offensive weapon had been lost, and reluctantly we bade farewell to the ship, and slowly made our way into the cruise terminal. Having gone through immigration in Hawaii, we were able to whizz through immigration in Los Angeles. They did collect out custom’s card, and despite the effort we put into trying to calculate the value of each T shirt and sundry souvenirs we had purchased along the way, not to mention my attempts to purchase the perfect dress to wear over my swimsuit, they were not interested in this, and just took our customs form. Good job as I had forgotten to add the hammock into my mental calculation of our spending.

We collected our 5 bags, which was easy as they were last bags to be picked up, and boarded the bus to the airport, hoping that we had not caused anyone to miss their flight because of our delay. No one yelled at us as we got on the bus, so I am assuming that we did not cause too much trouble.

Then it was time to leave, and the bus door closed. We were really leaving the ship. I wanted to cry, but restrained myself as Brian was expressing displeasure over the loss of his multi tool, and having to deal with a sobbing wife as well seemed a bit unfair.

Suddenly, just as the bus was about to pull away, the door opened, and there was a security officer clutching the multi tool! Cunard redeemed themselves in Brian’s eyes – it had been touch and go there for a few minutes as to whether or not we would sail on Cunard again – and with the offensive weapon now safely in our hands, off we went to the airport.

We arrived at the airport with our 5 suitcases, 2 carry on bags, oversized backpack with camera equipment, and my large, but incredibly beautiful handbag, and tried to check in. We were informed that our flight was delayed, and we would miss our connection.

Now this is something that happens all of the time, so usually I just see it as part of the adventure of travel. However, I was still on the verge of tears having had to leave the ship, and the agent must have interpreted this as distress at the fact that we would be delayed, and without saying a word, smiled at me and let us check our 5 bags without having to pay anything extra at all. She then gave us a discount coupon for a future flight. Good woman.

We eventually got to Spokane, and our wonderful neighbours were there to meet us with their truck. We loaded everything into it, and headed back to Idaho again.

The house was cold when we got there, but still in one piece. Our FedEX parcel sent from Sausalito was waiting for us at the front door. Three months of Daily Programmes and sundry other paperwork have made it home! My houseplants were looking moribund, but everything else was looking just as it had on January 2^nd when we had said goodbye to the house.

It was time to quickly pack our bags for Toronto, and get some much-needed sleep.