Saturday

Now the party is just beginning!

The Party is Over

Friday morning,

Our wake up call was 5:30, we had been up late repacking our suitcases. We chose to carry them off ourselves so tried to get everything we could in less bags. We put our carryons a in our big suitcases, Wayne tied his 2 big ones together and called it a set of joints.

We ate breakfast with a gorgeous view of Seattle at sunrise as we came in. We then stood in line to disembark. I was almost weepy.

They told us to have our passports and our declarations of what we bought for customs. We had everything ready to be x-rayed and to be frisked. They sent us down the gangplank, Wayne's luggage and trailer bouncing along, we were zipped out the door, didn't even check our passport.

You know we could have smuggled explosives, drugs, they didn't even check. I saw drug agents with sniffing dogs but they were sitting on the other end of the dock gazing into space.

We got our car from the parking garage and breezed right out of Seattle. I should say climbed out, have you ever seen the hills in Seattle? I would say they are as steep as San Francisco.

We are now on our way to Aaron and Jeana's in Pullman.

P.S. Before I forget, I have to tell on Wayne, two different times he went out with tags still on his clothes. Once with a button in a bag under the sleeve at dinner, and out on deck with the size tape down the back of his leg. When you see him, call him Minnie Pearl!

Thursday

Thursday Morning;

There is nothing like a fog horn. It makes you think of old Boggy movies. We entered the inland passage about 7:00am pdt. There is fog off and on, but when it lifts, the sceanery is outstanding. This is the last full day of our cruise. We are torn between having to leave the ship and going home to see our new granddaughter. Our homeward plans are to spend Friday night in Pullman at Aaron and Jeana's. We should be home about mid-afternoon on Saterday.

It is sure going to take some readjustment to get back to the real world. This being pampered and waited on hand and foot is something that we could both become accustomed. Charlotte has informed me that she expects me to dress for dinner, serve it with flair and sing to her in atleast 10 different languages while she reads her menu. I think the most she can expect is BBQed meatloaf and green salad. When we get our Sea Pass bill, she will be lucky if we are not eating dog food for a couple of paychecks...ha,ha

We are sitting in the solarium, this morning, after our hot tub and a dip in the salt water pool. Charlotte is reading her trashy romance paperback and I am just sitting here watching the fishing boats and forests moving past the big glass walls. Life sure is swell! I hope the folks at home will still be talking to us when we get there...ha..ha

Thursday night,

Well, we lazed around this afternoon and watched the sea a lot. They had ice sculpting shows and sexy leg contest for guys and the parade of flags for the crew this afternoon. Wayne should have entered the contest but now that he has clothes he hasn't been wearing his shorts.

This is our last day, we have to be ready to get off at 7:45 in the morning. That is because we chose to carry our own luggage and walk off. Wayne says no second chance to lose our luggage again.

It was bitter sweet at dinner tonight having such a good time, and yet having to tell our new friends goodbye. The waiters and cabin steward were so good and so nice, it was like they were our friends too. We had towel animals on our bed every night when he turned the bed down for the night. Most of the help are from foreign countries and send their money home to their families.

I have spent. a fortune on pictures and when I get them to the room, they still looks like Charlotte doesn't photograph well.

for those of you waiting for pictures, we should get some out tomorrow when we get to Aaron's. We put on our comment sheet what we thought about their internet, especially at 50c a minute.

Sad at leaving, anxious to see baby.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning,

This morning we docked in Prince Rupert. It is raining hard and foggy. But it's OK this is what we expected and it's not that cold. We will probably go ashore pretty soon. We had a front row seat in the Windjammer Dinning room when we came into port and tied up.

This morning at breakfast we saw 4 deer across in the city park. The views from the dining areas are spectacular. I saw the docks with large crates of crab everywhere, and they were unloading a boat with 100's of Salmon so large it took 2 to lift them from there container.

I will add more later, we are going to check our e-mail and see if I have any more info on my new baby granddaughter. If any of you, (Marilyn, Carol, ect.) have the chance give her a kiss.

Wednesday evening,

We went into Prince Rupert, Canada today. It was really rainy, but cleared up and turned out to be a nice day.

Not much to see if you weren't going on a high priced excursion to see whales or fish or have a native salmon bake.

We looked around a little, I found a pair of native made earrings made of copper that looked like a totem poles, then we got our passports stamped so we could say we left the country.

We then came back to the ship and had a wonderful lunch Wayne took a long nap and I read a book.

Tonight was formal night, so Wayne got to wear his new suit, we got our picture taken again, and this was lobster night at dinner. There is a midnight buffet tonight, but I don't think I'll make it.

Tomorrow is our last full day, I'm sad, but anxious to see little Kayci Joann.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning:

We are in Tracy Arm Fjord this morning, spectacular! There is lots of floating ice and overhung by towering mountains. In places it is so narrow you expect the ship to wedge. Some of the ice is a pastel blue, beautiful. The ship’s geologist tells us that this is the best weather in the fjord this season.

The satellite Internet is unusable because of the high mountains so close to the ship. We will try to get this out this afternoon after we hit more open water.

Tuesday afternoon,

This vacation thing is something I could get used to. I did the hot tub thing for a while and lounged around in the Solarium. I then ate too much lunch and hit the real sugar dessert bar.
I then went to a show and a Bingo game.

I might mention Wayne is enjoying himself a lot, you know the guy that didn’t want to come.

Tonight dinner was fun, the waiters (about 90) marched around the dining room waving white napkins and singing in 20 different dialects while we all clapped. It was a hoot.

If I can stay awake we’re going to a show with a comedienne. I might mention that Wayne slept in this morning, and took a nap this afternoon.

I’m waiting for word on my new granddaughter. They were supposed to start her today, and we haven’t gotten an e-mail and we’re out of “affordable” cell phone range.

More in the morning-

Evening:

We bit the bullet and made the call. We have a new 7 lb 11oz granddaughter.

Monday

Monday 27,

We docked in Skagway early this morning. We went ashore about 10:00 because I wanted to get some souvenirs and see some of the tourist traps I missed in Juneau.

The weather has been real good.

It was about ¾ of a mile from the ship to Skagway, Wayne’s leg gave out and he had to sit down. I hit three or four shops and found some things and decided I was done too. I don’t like standing in line. When we’ve docked there is always 3-4 other ships there with approximately 2000 people per ship. That makes for some long lines.

We waited until 12:30 and went on our train ride over the mountain into the Yukon Territory of Can. The scenery was breathtaking and so was the high skinny trestles over deep deep ravines. We didn’t see any wild life at all, other than thousands of Salmon spawning in a little creek in town. We saw bald eagles yesterday.

We got back early and made it to dinner. Wayne is dressing up a couple of times a day. He says he’s got all those clothes now he’s going to wear them.

The food has been excellent. We were eating at the buffet, but when Wayne got something to wear, we started going to the dining room. They treat you like royalty. We have 4 couples for tablemates that we’ve become friends with. Two are from WA, 1 from W.VA, and the others from Boston, MA. We’ve met people from all over the world, and the USA. You can’t imagine how funny it sounds to have waiters from 10 different countries sing Happy Anniversary to you. Each one with his own dialect, (and tune). Our waiter brings all the extra desserts to our table and plunks them down. He gave me three last night. I passed them on, but they do have real good sugar free desserts. We went to the show last night, it was real good but I think I’ll go to bed tonight, we are supposed to get to the Fjords early and I want a spot in front of the 270o front windows. They say it’s real cold out on deck. Sorry I rambled on. Later.

40th anniversary Saturday

Sunday, August 26

Yesterday we were at sea all day the boat went up and down and sometimes lurched sideways with hard waves but it didn’t bother Wayne or I other than walking like we were drunk. A lot of people were ill and they had plates of little green apples everywhere that people thought would make them feel better.

Wayne’s suitcase is still missing. They’re still looking.

We have found that although we have internet service, it is slow and we can’t seem to get it to send pix we’ll try again.

Last night we had formal night, it was real fun, they fixed Wayne up with complimentary tux shirt and shoes. We looked good and the photographer took lots of pix. We went to the Captains Champaign reception and the to dinner and met 4 nice couples at our table.

Today we go into Juneau; we set our clocks back 1 more hour, (now we are now 2 hours off). First stop is a clothing store for Wayne. We will then ride the trolley around Juneau, see what we can see.

More later.

Just came back from breakfast, there are a lot of whales and Orcas blowing, coming up flipping turning and going down lots of them even some seals. This is cool, this is something I would have been disappointed if I hadn’t seen. Later

The internet on the ship is sooooo slow! We gave up on sending pictures and even aborted the above text for a while. The ship is in port now and a lot of the potential users are off site seeing. Maybe this will go through now. Our adventures in Juneau were a short trolley ride/tour and a city bus ride to the “Valley” where we could replace some of Wayne’s lost clothing. He will no longer have to go naked if we send his shorts and tee shirt to the laundry.

Juneau is a pretty place but downtown is a little tourist trap and major diamond marketer. MPC employee’s can’t buy many diamonds. We had to go 8 miles to the Fred Meyer on the city bus. Saw some colorful and crazy people on the bus. The Fred Meyers was just like Nampa. Going to supper more tomorrow.

Monday :

I am still having a lot of issues getting things to my blog. I have decided to try sending email this morning. There is a little less overhead to send it that way.

Update: Now that I have a new wardrobe, my luggage has shown up. The story is it was stowed with the crew’s baggage. I have more clothes than I know what to do with. We are in Skagway this morning and headed out on the train this afternoon. As long as we are here you can call us on the cell.

Friday

Bummer!

Hello To All,

Well today, Saturday, we are at sea and it is a little choppy but it doesn’t seem to be making me sick.

Friday 8,24

Yesterday, Oh my!!!! We arrived in Seattle plenty early, but when you are from Homedale, Id and there is lots and lots of traffic it’s stressful. Oh yes I might mention that Wayne’s GPS quit before we got out of the driveway. That upset Wayne. We found two parking garages, (which one??) Finally got parked, found someone else from the cruise, we should’ve parked somewhere else, so we went back, the valet took our car and our luggage and we took our carryons and headed in. Oh yes, we both had to go to the bathroom real bad. We were a little flustered by now, our carryons, 2 overnight bags weighted down to about 20 lbs a piece, my purse, my portfolio, a camera, a computer, and Wayne’s walking stick. The bathroom is locked. We go thru first check in, real well. We go thru the second and third, get our key cards, very polite, real fast. Now sit and wait. Look there’s a bathroom!! Ahhhhhh.

Now we go thru security to get on the boat, Wayne made it, I beeped and they had to wand me. Now on the boat, the bags are getting heavy, walk, walk, walk, Wayne is sweating his lips are getting blue, and I’m stressed to the max. Waiting for fun.

We waited in the outdoor observation area for our rooms to be ready about an hour but we ate and calmed down a little. Seattle was warm and beautiful.

We got in our room it was small but not bad, by 4:00 we had our entire luggage except for Wayne clothes. The suitcase is lost and they are searching for it. All it contained was all his new clothes and his new suit. He is wearing shorts, and says he is going to start streaking. Tonight was to be our Anniversary supper and formal dress. He is pretty bummed, I can’t believe he’s had such rotten luck.

If we can figure how to get hooked up to internet we’ll send this. Wayne said he didn’t even feel like downloading pix, just sits and looks down his nose.

Hope today is better.

8:45 Saturday 8-25

We had breakfast in the very front of the ship. Glass windows on three sides, great view, although with the weather a little rainy the ship sways enough up there that everyone walks like they are drunk. We all laugh and don’t worry about it.

They are still looking for Wayne’s suitcase. They are giving him a free tux rental, if they can fit him. Keep our fingers crossed.

What you see on a walk around the campground.

Chillin' in Yakima

8:00pm home time. Our camping is rather new age. Had supper at a Burger King on the way back from the local Cosco. Gas was 2.699 /gal, Good price by recent standards, better than I expected. I remember not being able to get much more than $2 into the gas tank on my 63 Karmin gia. Do times change or what?
We need to strike camp before 9am mdt. That will get us to the parking garage at our scheduled time and not have to wait around to get in. So goes the plans, but we all know how plans go.

Yakima

We made it to Yakima today. Seattle is tomorrow. Nice easy trip so far, and arrived at our KOA camp site early enough to laze around and catch our breath. We have had great weather so far.

Packed to go

I wasn’t kidding about the load. The exception here is the steamer trunk, which is part of the living room décor. Maybe the steamer trunk would have been appropriate on a cruise. I am betting the baggage handlers don’t see many of them in this century.

False start

I guess blogger is going to work now. This is sure hard on an old man trying to keep up the new stuff. Here is what I tried for several hours to input:

Well, here it is. The last day before we leave. We are ready, sort of. A trip is not a big deal to a lot of folks. My bi--monthly excursion, 30 mile for grub, is a tramatic experiance that requires 2 days of planning. We have a pile of luggage in the middle of the living room, that may require a U-Haul or a small truck rental. Not knowing exactly what to take, we are taking everything. Trying to limit the financial impact, we are tent camping on the way to Seattle. I like tent camping, but I like to go prepared. That requires more "stuff". Heaven help us! Every once in a while I wish we had a bigger car, then, I pull up to a gas pump and wish our cars were even smaller. With gas prices hovering on both sides of $3.00, I am tempted to take the 40+mpg car instead of the 30mpg car. The weather has cooled and we won't need the a/c, but the Aspire is not serviced and could use new tires before a long trip. With the rear seat removed, it will hold as much as a compact pickup truck. Arrrgh, I need to stop those thoughts or I'll find myself headed to town for tires. I'll just have to make everything fit in the car with a trunk and a back seat.
Being a pessimist, I expected one of us to start this trip with a cold or my back out. I am surprised only that it is Charlotte instead of me with the back pains. She needs a vacation. I am just not sure a cruise is the right kind. We may have to sign her up for the spa and massage on the ship. It is expensive, but may be nessessary to salvage her enjoyment of something she has dreamed and schemed for the last 20 years.
I better get out of here and finish the last water set on the lawn. I wouldn't want the weeds to suffer while we are gone.

I'm still learning

I am on the learning curve today. Picasa and Blogger are all new to me. If this works, there should be a small slide show here now. Hope this works, it will make more cruise pictures available.
p.s. Yippy! it worked. I may be able to bore you with all of the cruise pixs.

I can't wait or can I?

Departure date is rapidly approaching. The bags are packed, the car is serviced and the lawn work is caught up. I've setup a blog and checked that I will have Internet service on the ship. And, I am still uncomfortable. I wonder if we can get our money back? Deadlines are a terrible thing for a procrastinator to face.