Gopher sends his regards.

To follow up on Carrie's post, we had a great—albeit busy—time during our hiatus from the frozen Kansas tundra.To give you an idea as to just how busy we were, Carrie, Curt and I each had to participate in a little foot race through downtown Houston before we could ever belly up to a buffet or delight in the wonders of duty-free men's fragrances. For Carrie, the promise of an all-you-can-eat pastry bar meant a personal record in the 5k and a 17th-place finish in her division. Curt and I on the other hand needed no added incentive, the Houston Half Marathon was our own Battle of Gettysburg, a struggle that pitted North versus South and brother against brother. In the end, however, my desire to crush my older brother's self image proved inadequate as I lost by four minutes and 14 seconds. (In my defense I did encounter a goo mishap at mile ten and have not completely ruled out the possibility of tampering).

Once the races were out of the way, we loaded up the cars, grabbed a quick lunch and headed to Galveston to hop on the Voyager of the Seas.

First of all, the boat was huge. On top of that, it was all Texan'd up, complete with large Texas flags draped across the sides and inflatable horns attached to the front like Boss Hogg's Caddy—the only thing it was missing was a few billion rhinestones and some teased hair. I fully expected the ship's horn to sound like the General Lee as it jumps the ravine. 

Inside, it was just as impressive, complete with a rock-climbing wall, inline skating track, mini golf course, ice rink and basketball court. Over the course of the week we got to know every inch intimately. Luckily what we didn't get to know intimately was our fellow 3,500 cruisers, which were an assortment of retirement home escapees, drunk Cajuns, Houston socialites, and awkward honeymooners—an eclectic mix to say the least. Our favorites were a group who came complete with their own day-of-the-week T-shirts including, "Margarita Monday," "Wasted Wednesday," and "Thirsty Thursday." I'm pretty sure that these were the same people who take home boxes of Wild Turkey as their souvenirs.

Our other company on the boat was the over 1,000 crew members representing 993 countries (that may not be exact). To say that customer service was their number one priority would be understatement, I'm having a hard time adjusting back to a life where I have to cut my own food. Speaking of food, Carrie and I are both on detox. There was so much to eat, I started to wonder where exactly we were being taken and if there was some sort of "prod" in my future.

Lastly, there was the onboard entertainment which much to my disappointment did not include Charo (Coochie Coochie). We did however take in a Johnny Cash impersonator—complete with a PowerPoint "Salute to America" and an ice skating show that, while impressive, was a bit confusing.

There's a lot I'm leaving out, but you probably need to get back to work or something and some things just deserve their own post.