April 29, 2000: Moving Back to the City/Dawn Klee's Wedding

I was sad that I wasn't able to make it to Dawn's wedding, but I did call her a few weeks ago to let her know and had a nice conversation with her. Glen Brien helped me move back to the city.   

I found Brandie and I separate apartments in the same building at 553 West Oakdale, which was just north of Diversey.    I was in apartment 209.    I spent about 4 hours unpacking.  

April 2-9, 2000: Mexican Cruise

On April 2, I took a limousine from my apartment to O'hare airport which was really nice.  I flew to Los Angeles and met the rest of my family there.    We went on the Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship.    

Our first port-of-call was in Cabo San Lucas where we took this boat over by these beautiful rock formations, surrounded by crystal blue water.   We had drinks at this neat restaurant overlooking the ocean.    Had lunch at this Shrimp Factory Restaurant.     We were going to go shopping, but Grandpa took off and we had no idea where he went.   We had someone page him on the ship to see if he was there.    We searched the stores and all, but no sign of him. When we got back on the ship, we were so mad at him for taking off.    He was mad at us for worrying about him.    We had a nice dinner and saw three of the Osmond Brothers perform.  

Tuesday, we went to Mazatlan, Mexico.  Charlene, Kelsey, Matt, and I went over to a nearby island and went kayaking and did some rock climbing.    Charlene and I were so funny on the kayaks as we couldn't get the boat to move very fast.   Everyone else was way ahead of us.   We were laughing so hard.   Then, Charlene wanted to see Old Mazatlan so we walked around.     Kelsey, Matt, and I walked to Senor Frogs Restaurant.    That was a fun restaurant.  The waiters made us all these funny balloon hats and we danced to several songs.     We danced on top of the platform. My balloon hat was so high that it kept hitting the ceiling.   We saw our head maitre'd there dancing with some girl.    We got some shots and the waiter shook our head several times in different directions.   

Wednesday, we went to Puerta Vallarta.  Charlene, Grandpa, Mom, and I rented a car. We got a car with a cracked windshield which made us so mad.    We got lost in Puerto Vallarta and ended up in a residential area where no one spoke English.  

I had a body massage on the ship which was relaxing.  Wish I wasn't so ticklish, though.  

On Sunday, we left the boat to fly home.    I flew from LA to Chicago.   Brandie and Josh picked me up at baggage claim.  We drove back to Josh's house on North Ave. in Elmhurst. I bought them pizza for dinner for helping me out.    This cruise was one of the most relaxing ones I went on.