It started raining softly early this afternoon, and by tonight it was coming down steadily. So I guess we're going to start out for Los Angeles tomorrow with clouds hanging over us. If it's a choice between water or fire, I'd probably choose water at this point, having seen the damage fire can do. At least the air should be clearer in the southern part of the state than it was two weeks ago.

We're leaving just after noon tomorrow. I'm taking everything I own with me, so it doesn't matter if everyone knows that I'll be gone. We'll be in Disneyland all day Saturday and boarding the ship all day Sunday. Apparently it really is an all day affair, although we'd better be on board by 5:00 pm, because that's when it sails. That's what they call it, but I assume there's some kind of auxiliary power. The picture I've seen doesn't show any actual sails.

We'll be at sea all day Monday. I'm already a little bit at sea, if you know what I mean. Then we hit three ports in three days — Cabo San Lucas Tuesday, Mazatlan Wednesday, and Puerto Vallarta Thursday. After that, it's two more days at sea and back in Los Angeles Sunday morning. That's the skeleton schedule. I'll fill in the details when I get back. I just wanted you to know, in case you wanted to put pushpins in a map or anything.

Today was hectic, and I'm still not packed. It's 9:30 pm on the night before we leave, and I have a ton of things left to do before I can even go to bed. That doesn't even take into account what I have to do in the morning before I can get out the door. I've done what I could do ahead of time, and now I'm ready to do the rest of it. But I can't do it if I keep writing. So, goodbye, and thanks for hanging around. I hope you'll still be here when I come back.

I really need to go pack. I've run out of excuses, and I've just about run out of time. All those little piles of clothing have to fit into two suitcases and a carry-on. And I have to be able to carry all three at once, or something has to go. It's a challenge well worth the eventual reward.

By the way, in case you've forgotten (I haven't), the cruise is a celebration of John's birthday. His birthday was a month ago, but he turned fifty so of course we're still celebrating. It takes longer when you get older.