Have I mentioned how bad Los Angeles drivers are?...

November 27, 2024

Our day didn’t start too well when we arrived at the rental car agency (Sixt) at 0730 and found that they changed their hours and wouldn’t open until 0900. Bummer. Kathy arrived to pick us up a little before 0700 so we figured we’d be on the road about 0800. Nope, didn’t get going until after 0930! Which meant we would be going through LA right at rush hour. To kill time, we had a nice breakfast but didn’t make up for LA in rush hour. In the rain. With the worst (and scariest) drivers in the US! Right before Thanksgiving! Did I mention it was also raining?

Thanks to Kathy, we have a nice carry-bag for Willie that will double as a backpack for excursions.

The drive was long and mostly, boring. On I10 we did see the largest big rig truck ever: a 58-wheeler! Six eight-wheel axles on the trailers, plus two four-wheel axles and a two-wheel axle on the cab.

What did we do before smart phones? At my fingertips are maps, gas prices, and directions to anywhere!

Because of the late start it was dark when we arrived at the Queen Mary, our hotel for the night before the cruise. It is not your usual hotel where you drive up to the front door. No, we had to park in the dark quite a way from the hotel in the midst of construction and dozens and dozens of tents for a big celebration over the Thanksgiving week. I had no idea what to do so called the hotel. It seems you somehow have to know that they have a golf cart to drive you from the parking lot to the hotel. So intuitive.

It was an experience staying in the Queen Mary! No heat unless you ask for a portable space heater. No A/C unless you ask for a fan, so no A/C. Our room is unremarkable, port holes open, very old-fashioned bathroom. So many things I’m accustomed to in normal hotels: reasonably priced meals (what we get for a free breakfast in many hotels cost us $28 each: overcooked scrambled eggs, rubbery bacon, you get the idea. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we stayed here, but would not go back.

The next morning, we had a seamless transfer of our bags to the ship, parked (does a ship park? OK, OK, they dock!) right behind the Queen Mary, via the bellman and his golf cart. Not so seamless was the transfer of us to the rental car return and then getting a ride to the ship and the seemingly endless walk from our Uber to the actual ship. By about 1pm I had more than 5000 steps counted on my pedometer.

I’ll write more about the ship on my next post. Sorry not to have any photos, perhaps by then I’ll be able to get access to Google Photos! Or I'll use my trusty Nikon rather than my phone!