TIme to take Kathy on a much delayed

25th Anniversary Cruise!

On the 22nd of January, following the loss of our beloved Charley the day before, Kathy & I winged our way down to Miami to ship out on Celebrity's Century for a 5 day trip round the western Carribean.

We had originally planned on doing this last spring, but work pressures required a postponement.   So at Chritmas we re-scheduled and got a great deal.  In fact it seemed so good that sisters Jean and Nancy along with their husbands Steve and Randy decided to come with us too.   Then my Mom and her friend Judy decided that they couldn't miss it so they signed up as well.   Finally cousin Jeff Johnson and wife Vicky said they were all in too, so off to the Carribean went the 10 of us.  Woomba!

On the night prior to the cruise in Tampa, Kathy and I went out with her college roommate Katy and her husband Rick  to a restaurant called Charley's.   Jeff and Vicky joined us and we had a great time, enjoying a tremendous meal.   Kathy and Katy picked up where they left off at college talking like they haven't been a day apart since.  It was great to see them.

On the cruise the send-off was decidedly chilly what with temperatures in the 40's.  Click the 'Play"

button on Kathy's video lower right of the Bon Voyage party that had our teeth chattering.   

After cruising the first day, we stopped in Ocho Rios, Jamaica where we scattered to see some of the island.   Kathy & I grew tired of all the locals trying to sell us anything and were glad to get back on the ship. The next day we docked at Grand Cayman and we went ashore and found it to be much more pleasant.

Throughout the week we would always have dinner together and we were well taken care of by Melwyn - our head waiter on the boat.   He did a superb job and made our stay most enjoyable.   Part of the fun of traveling is making friends with people from other countries and Melwyn sure fit the bill for that.  We exchanged e-mail addresses and who knows - our paths may cross again.

Picture all the way on the bottom is of the group at dinner with Melwyn.  As you can see we had a great time - even with my little tart Kathy trying to steal a kiss from him.

Although it was delayed by a few months, it was great to get away with Kathy and celebrate our 25 years together.  Too often people see us and remark to Kathy, " Boy you are so lucky to have Rick..."   or "What a great husband you have, handsome, hard working and I bet a real romantic treasure!"    But let's not forget that as great as Kathy has it with me, I have it OK as well.   Can't imagine being married to anyone else.

I love my kathy! 

Happy 25th My Little Rainbow Trout!