USA – Dan & More

The Happiest Place on Earth

Thanks for joining us again. I promise that this will be the final chapter of our US trip and what a fine finish it is. If you’re new to the blog, this post is part of a series that starts with Cruzin’, then Cruzin’:Day Two, Cruzin’ III:Mexican Adventures, Cruzin’ Day IV:Poison & Magic, Last Day Cruzin’ and NASA! This is another 3,000-word whopper but I’ll try to cut most of the slack before publishing. It’s mostly photos anyway.

It’s a long jet-ride from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts of the US but we landed at LAX OK. Next job is to get to the hotel. No airport train, no public transport (that would be Communism!) so it’s an Uber to Anaheim. Trouble is that you do have to take public transport, an airport bus, I don’t know, 55 miles or something to an enormous carpark that is the Uber pickup zone. The ten acres of tarmac and tents looks like it was set up five years ago as a temporary refugee camp and forgotten about. LA is a bit of a shithole but it’s better than some shitholes I have been in.

Pet Relief — This is in the airport. I’m hoping it’s a place for pets to defecate rather than get jerked-off.

Into our Uber and a ride down massive elevated highways covered in wicked skidmarks (Look Sachie! That one goes over four lanes!) for a $60 trip to the JW Marriott, just a stone’s throw from Disneyland.

Last Day Cruzin’

This post is part of a series. You can start with Cruzin’, then Cruzin’:Day Two, Mexican Adventures and Cruzin’ Day IV:Poison & Magic.

See that? That’s the beach at Bimini, part of the Bahamas. See that ship, that’s our ship. See those clouds? Full of rain. Looks like that hurricane is getting closer.

Cruzin’: Day Two

This post is part of a series. To catch up, go read Cruzin’.

Day two and we are at sea, off the cost of Mexico. Sachie and I wake before dawn, watch a Caribbean sunrise before the worst of the heat and humidity sets in.

I’m still foggy, vulnerable, when there’s a knock on the door. Could it be? Was this it? We lock eyes and I see my own hopes and fears written on Sachie’s face. Even far from sight of land, they know we are here, they know our cabin. They have come.

Cruzin’

Dan and Sachie have been Cruising. No, it’s not like in the Al Pacino film from 1980, quite the opposite. While Al descended into a sleazy world of leather and gay sex, Sachie and I ascended to the heights of luxury and first-class travel. That is, Sachie scored a fam trip on a boat.

Not just any boat, it’s classy Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Beyond and apparently it’s quite a score. Not your usual family-friendly booze-and-buffet cruise that has you packed into tiny airless staterooms but something closer to the golden age of sea travel, 1977’s The Love Boat.

But first! A long and arduous flight across the Pacific.