jimsjournal

Let me take you on a sea cruise -- 06/25/03

Monday was the last day of school for 8th grade students at Nancy's school -- this included the 8th grade promotion ceremony. (It is not called a "graduation" -- they are attempting to keep it low key and avoid some of the pumped-up hype that occurs in some communities.)

Yesterday was the last day for the 6th and 7th grade students. (In our town, elementary schools are kindergarten plus grades one through five, middle schools are grades six through eight, and high school is grades nine through twelve.) And last night was an end-of-year party for the teachers in her school -- we all went on a sea cruise.

Okay, not an exotic cruise to the tropics.... The Southland is a boat that does cruises along the coast and in and out of some of the bays and inlets. The teachers chartered the Southland for an early evening cruise -- departing at 6:30 and returning a bit past 9:00 (which, this far east in the time zone, means after dark) -- with food brought by the teachers and beer and wine available from the ship's bar.


Nancy and friends in the main cabin.		The Southland at its dock.

The interior picture was taken just after dinner, a bit of lingering with after dinner coffee. The picture of the Southland was taken after we had returned from our cruise. (I had taken some before cruise pictures also, but there is something wrong with the electric eye on my digital camera and all non-flash pictures are coming out totally over-exposed.)

The end-of-school party eventually became a party. The ship featured a sound system and, with one of the crew serving as disk jockey, dancing began on the upper deck at the rear of the boat. Soon a conga line came dancing around to the front, down to the lower deck, and through the main cabin. (As you can see in the picture, it is not possible to descend steep stairs while keeping your hands on the person in front of you.)

Conga line!

As the evening went on, the rear deck was the dance floor as a dedicated group of teachers danced and danced. If only their students could have watched them getting down with the beat. grin
	Shake - Shake - Shake

A very pleasant evening. Nancy and I have been saying for the past two or three years "Gee, we ought to take one of those sunset coastal cruises sometime this summer...." and now we finally have. It was fun and relaxing. I could imagine doing it again next summer.

Summer! Yes, it's finally summer -- not just on the calendar -- we finally have genuine summer weather. I was wondering if it would ever get here. It seemed as if early April stayed around until mid-June this year.

Fitness and such: well, I have knocked off four pounds or so... Ran in a 2.5 mile race on Saturday, a mixture of grassy fields, a cross-country trail through woods, and paved road. Since I have done no speed work, just slow running on the bike path, I was surprised at how quickly I ran it. (No, nothing amazing, just much faster than I've been running in my regular runs.)
Friday 06/20 -- 7 mile bike ride
Saturday 06/21 -- ran 2.5 miles
Sunday 06/22 -- ran 6 miles
Monday 06/23 -- ran 4 miles
Tuesday 06/24 -- no workout

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