<div class="floatleft">(http://justswimfl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/fascinating-hairstyles-for-crazy-curly-hair-with-curly-hair-101-how-to-the-best-curls-in-hot-weather-of-hairstyles-for-crazy-curly-hair.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Kelli Rhodes<br/><strong>Location/Time:</strong>From her last surfing tournament > Home > Flights > Linea<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Open<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong>A dark blue blouse buttoned only up to the last two top buttons tucked into light blue jean shorts and black sandals with a one piece white bikini underneath the outfit (With the top of the bikini showing through the opening of her blouse)<br/><br/>Melbourne, Australia.  It was a land down under but also a land of competition to Kelli.  Her major qualifying surfing tournament was happening just a week before her trip so even though she already received the invitation to join the cruise, she tried to focus on what would make her the money at this present time and to do what she loved to do in her left all at the same time.  She knew that she had to give her all in order to make it into the elite ranks of the Women's World Surfing Tour.  She had to give her best effort out in the waves because if she didn't, than she would be back in the qualifying rounds and not be able to get to the big bucks that the elite professional surfers can make.  If she could make her last wave count, than she was thinking that she would be sure to make it.  Many thoughts rode in her mind as the wave was coming in.  Just a day ago, she got the response from Clover that she was invited to join the cruise of a lifetime.  To her, anything that meant major money was something of a lifetime to this point in her life.  She was always struggling to make ends meet.  To complicate things, living near the Bay Area meant that you had to either be a millionaire to afford the housing costs or make at least 100K a year in order to make the rents there.  She was glad that she had some friends that helped out but now, the time was coming to an end.  She had to make everything count... and now, it would come in this last wave.<br/><br/>As it crested, she felt like she got the perfect approach.  Paddling as hard as she could while flat on her surfboard, she finally stood up and immediately went left with the wave.  She tried to make some runs against the wave and to go forward with it but it was the last break of the wave that did her in.  The whitewash of the wave came too quick for her on the front side as the wash enveloped her body all the way through.  There was no more wave and now, she was lost in the wash.  All that was left were the final scores as soon as she reached the shore and it was then that the inevitable happened.  Looking up at the scoreboard, she found out that she didn't get a high enough score to qualify for the main tour.  Finishing in 8th place, she was really devastated that the waves and the surfing gods were working against her.  No interviews were given as the tournament was on world wide TV.  It was like she was an afterthought in the sporting world.  With the devastation hitting her almost like a ton of bricks, she finally made her way to the hotel room to check her emails.  It was then that she started to get a glimmer of hope.  Not only were there was one email but two from Clover.  The first one thanked her for the invitation and the second was her itinerary to get from her home in Santa Cruz to the big cruise boat that was station in the Mediterranean.<br/><br/>She only had a day to make it back home but she took the 19 hour flight from Melbourne back to San Francisco and then finally had to take an Uber back home.  Yes, the cost of the Uber was costly after 90 miles but it finally gave her the rest that she needed.  She never unpacked from her Melbourne trip as all of her clothes were already packed in her suitcases and her backpack that carried all of her essentials.  She regretted having to leave her surfboard home but she was gladly inspired that there was going to be some sort of surfing type of events on the cruise.<br/><br/>She dreaded gong over California State Highway 17 during rush hour in the morning.  It was only two lanes in one direction for most of the trip with many winding curves and not many places to go off the side of the road.  There were a couple of people that tried to cut her off just before she reached Lexington Reservoir but once she reached Los Gatos, it was almost smooth sailing all the way to San Jose Airport.  Parking took about 30 minutes but once she reached the shuttle buses to the terminal, everything seemed to be feeling much better.  TSA was always a pain but she went through them and had a quiet flight to Phoenix.  At least she was able to catch up on some sleep through the 90 minute flight as she landed and was talking to a couple of men that seemed to recognize her through the surfing tournaments.  She tried to keep a happy face as much as she could, it seemed that the guys were more into her body than her surfing.  She was glad that she finally was able to get rid of them as she made her way across the terminal to catch her next flight.<br/><br/>From Phoenix to New York... it was a flight from hell.  Smashed in a window seat next to two very big Samoans who happened to be Husband and Wife, she had no leg room and... well, no room to speak of.  There was no exit and no entrance with the couple sitting next to her.  She thought that she was going to die from claustrophobia with their arms and legs straddling close to her.. even touching them through the entire 5 hour flight.  Once she was off of that flight, it was already 9:30 Pm in real time but it was early and a relief just to get some somewhat circulated air.  She almost fell asleep at her seat in the terminal for her flight to London when the announcement came to board.<br/><br/>Finally making her way onto the plane, she was surprised that her seat was actually a bed.  With her exhaustion, came the sleep as she was too drowsy to even meet the other women on the plane.  She finally woke up just as the instructions came from the pilot to fasten the seat belts.  As the plane landed in London, she was finally able to meet the rest of the women in the baggage claim.  She made some small talk to all of them to gauge what their interests were.  She wanted to pursue their interests further but it was off to another flight.  She lost sight of two of the women but during the other flight, she was awake enough to make some conversation.  There was the shy Shoka who seemed to love tabletop games.   She had to remember that later on as she just listened for that time.  There was also Maya who she really connected with.  This was a woman who seemed to love a lot of what she loved to.  She was glad that May could surf and hearing her describe the beaches of her home in New Zealand really entranced her.  She really loved Maya's accent but she never really admitted that to her up front.  Maybe soon?<br/><br/>As they all finally reached the boat, Kelli was stunned at how marvelous it looked.  This boat was like a dream come true to her!  Never in her life could she afford to go on a boat like this... let alone a cruise.  She heard the Captain give his introductions along with a few of the women that were not sharing rooms start to pair up together.  Though it seemed that Maya was pairing up with Harmony, she let that slip aside as she took the next room up.  "Anyone else want to chill with me through the trip... whoever's left?  I don't mind... and I don't bite."  She playfully admitted as she brought her suitcases and her backpack into the room.<br/><br/>It didn't take her long to get comfortable as she was already dressed for the cruise.  The only thing that she did was to take off her blouse and throw it on top of her suitcases.  The rest of her outfit stayed intact as she came back out and slightly giggled.  I guess I'll find out who my mystery room mate is going to be later.  For now, time to have some fun at the bar.  Who's with me?"  She asked as she made her way to the bar while not looking back to see who would be following her.  Maybe she would meet Clover there?  If not, she was destined to have a good time that afternoon.. whether everyone else liked it or not.