This is a recap of the California vacation trip I took with Ketut.
While working hard during my middle years, I was able to take several cruises. On the very first one with my Aunt Betty, I met a charming waiter, whom I developed a long-time friendship with. He was Indonesian and his name was Ketut. After several more cruises, one year when the New Amsterdam ship was scheduled for dry dock in Portland, Oregon, I invited him to spend a week with me in California.
By writing to the ship captain, I was able to vouch for him to visit me for that week. It was an amazing week with me showing him all of California.
The California Vacation Trip
We started from Sunnyvale and drove to Lake Tahoe to start. As we reached the summit between CA and Nevada, we ran into a snowstorm. That was exciting for him because he had never seen or been in the snow. Not as exciting for me, because it meant driving on the snowy and slippery roads. But we made it to Lake Tahoe. We had dinner in one of the hotel buffets. When we exited the dining room, I put a few quarters into a slot machine and won $250. That gave us great spending money.
Lake Tahoe to Disneyland
From Lake Tahoe, we headed south through Yosemite and then on down the state of California to Disneyland. We spent two days there. It was the middle of the week, so the lines were not bad. And we got to ride and see everything, including the roller coaster that was inside a dark building. I forget the name — Space Mountain, I think it was. It was terrifying the first time. But later when we rode it a second time (me reluctantly), the top of the building was open. We could see the tracks and it was really a very small rollercoaster.
The End of the Trip
From Southern California, we drove back north up Highway 1 along the coastline and spent a day doing the 17-Mile Drive and Carmel. Also, the aquarium there. It was really an amazing trip until I had to put him back on a plane to Portland, Oregon to return to the Nieuw Amsterdam ship.
This relationship was doomed to failure however for two reasons. One, he would always return to Bali, and two, he was a strong Hindu deep into the traditions of the religion and his country. My life was in the US and I wouldn’t have been comfortable or happy in Indonesia.