THE GRAND FINALE

Today we woke up to brilliant sunshine, What a lovely end to a perfect holiday. Didn’t get really mobile til about 10:00 and that was just perfect. Pam decided not to emerge til about 3:00 – she even had room service bring her lunch. – the lazy sod.

I went to the room to see if Pam was still alive and much to my dismay, there was Stacy – almost mortally wounded - she had opened the stateroom door and scraped the top of her third toe – almost right off. However, because you are not supposed to be sick or injured outside the clinic hours, we had to wait from 12:00 until 2:00 to get some attention. They poured hydrogen peroxide over it and then applied some bacitracin and then a supply of bandaids to keep the dressing changed – as of 9:30 this evening, it is still weeping, stinging and uncomfortable. No doubt she will be riding on Nana’s knee on the wheelchair to disembark. An unfortunate end of a wonderful journey for her. I’m sure it will take a while to heal.

Some of us saw dolphins swimming and playing along side the ship, (some of us were gambling and saw nothing). Later there was a sighting of a pod of orcas and Pan, using dad’s camera’ was able to get some closer shots than the rest of us. Then it was time for dinner.

We enjoyed our last dinner in the dining room and had the parade of the baked Alaska and the Filipino farewell song. Lots of sparklers and lots of baked Alaksa for all to have dessert. We waved our napkins high in the air in appreciation for the dining room wait staff. Lots of fun tricks and really bad jokes. I think we will all remember why the giraffe didn’t come to Tarzan’s birthday party!

Well, since this is the last post before we debark tomorrow, I will keep it short and sweet. So good night all, and we will be seeing you very soon now

Cheers

Ketchikan...and rain, rain, and rain!

Thursday August 30, 2007

We arrived in Ketchikan at 1:30 in the rain. It is mostly drizzle, but rain nonetheless. There were three other ships in port with us, but the shops never seem to run out of merchandise.

Stacy and Shannon went on a sea kayak trip for 3 hours. They were rained on, but not terribly wet because they had the proper clothing. Shannon said it was very hard work as “the seas aren’t exactly glass, you know”. They saw lots of eagles and enjoyed their ride.

Pam didn’t get to go on her float plane trip today – it was cancelled due to the wind and rain and visibility. She ended up doing a zip line and said she was scared at the beginning but like the adventure. She does have a picture, but it will have to wait until tomorrow as I can’t find her or her camera right now!

Eileen, Mom and I didn’t do very much this morning and when we docked in Ketchikan, Eileen and I went out to find the Silver Thimble Quilt store. We came out empty handed and just couldn’t quite understand how that happened. Could it be possible that we finally have everything? We will have to check our stash when we get home. We called home to find out that the temps were soaring and we are about 60 degrees F here – we both decided that we are glad that we are here! We were off the ship for about an hour and a half and came back to the ship and then the heavy rain started.

The casino has been closed all day because we are still in port, however as we are set to sail in a few minutes, the jingling should start soon! I know mom is ready to play the little machine with the squirrel and the money tree. That has been a favourite for all of us on this trip!

Well, nothing more to report – no great wins – yet – I’ll let you know tomorrow!

Ciao

MAN THAT MARGERIE - SHE IS ONE COLD BITCH!

Today we awoke to the rude clock alarm set to go off at 5:00 – we were told that you could see whales beginning at 6:00 and we didn’t want to miss a thing. Well the “DAM” whales forgot to show up! So there we were all dressed and nothing to see. The weather report from the Navigator’s log said that it was partly cloudy – he must have been on another ship. It was raining here and continued to rain until we were in Glacier Bay. Then the skies lifted and although not sunny, we had a great day there. Pea Soup was served on deck as well as in the Crow’s Nest Observation lounger – where we were. Then at 10:30 we were invited to partake in wine and cheese with Margerie – the glacier.

We bundled Nana up on our balcony and she was able to have an excellent view right at her own door. All in all it was a great day!

There was lots of activity – which interprets into lots of calving at the her base. She is reported to be moving forward at a rate of 7 feet per day. Also, the glaciers here are thinning in depth. It will be interesting to compare pictures from 2 years ago, although I think it would take more than that to see a significant difference.
After a very long luxurious sleep (none of this 5:00 am stuff) and her own personal beautification, Pam arrived on deck at approximately 10:30 to take in the wonderful sights and of course had missed nothing. She was playing poker last night and walked away – or should I say danced away - from the table with $150.00 in her pocket. She began taking more photographs.

She took a great one of Shannon, Stacy, Eileen and I. We were all smiling beautifully for her when all of a sudden Margerie let out a huge crack and we all (but Eileen) spun our heads around at precisely the moment that Pam pressed the button. Another great picture for scrapbooking.
Some of us had a nap this afternoon after our early morning – I needed it and slept soundly until it was time to get up to dinner. We had dinner in the nice restaurant on board – the Pinnacle Grill. It was nice, but I think I would rather just eat in the dining room or the Lido – too fancy for me.
After I went to the internet café and was able to chat on line with Matthew, Colleen and Kim. It was nice to be in touch even though it was brief. I might try again tomorrow as I just noticed that there is a web cam on board. So that might be fun too.

Well – on to the casino to try our luck again. I am staying even and Pam is the big winner! We’ll see what luck she has tonight!

Love to everyone!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BRIAN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Happy Birthday Brian! We are all thinking of you on your special day and Eileen and I phoned to sing to you, but you were not home.

Now phoning turned out to be quite an experience and a story for the blog. The phone we called you from – oh pardon me attempted to call you from, was out of service, however we did not find that out until after we had put 25 cents in TWICE. So we moved to another payphone up the street and as I went to get my wallet opened to put some coins in, my wallet fell and all my coins dropped through the slats in the boardwalk. A special memory of Skagway to be sure! Now at that particular phone there was no dial tone anyway, so we moved to another phone – got the dial tone, tried to put a coin in and the coin got jammed in the slot! Finally, not to let this get the better of us, we went to an internet café where they always have payphones in good repair and we were finally able to connect to your number – but you were not home. So I hope you are able to read the blog tonight to get your special greeting!

Now for Pam and Stacy’s intimate encounter with “Spot” the humpback. Pam took the most amazing pictures of this whale with our camera – she was in the right spot (haha) at the right time and I think National Geographic should be calling her any time. I am working very hard to get a picture of the whale that Pam took up on the blog, but the resolution was too high I think – so I will give it my best shot.

We cannot believe our luck with the weather. Before we left home, there were a lot of internet weather sites that indicates the weather up here was going to be quite dreary – however, as I told Pam, if you don’t like what one site says, keep looking until you find one that you do like. So that’s exactly what we did and found a website that indicated we would have sunny and partly cloudy days – and that is exactly how lovely our weather is! Beautiful sunshine and actually wore T-shirt and shorts today.

We walked around the town and poked our noses in some shops. There were 4 ships in port altogether today and that makes for a busy day in this little town of Skagway. We are completely surrounded by mountains except for the ocean on one side. It is quite a lovely place to be. Right off the side of the ship there were several fish swimming about (don’t ask me what kind) and there was a seal who moved into the area – the fish disappeared – that is all but one – and the seal played with it like a cat plays with a mouse or bird. Catching it – letting it go and swim away – then catching it again and so on and so on. Poor fish. I guess the seal wasn’t very hungry at that particular moment and was just looking for some amusement.

Mom sat out on the balcony for quite a while today. She really enjoyed the fine weather and all the fresh air. Eileen and I were gone about 3 hours and she had her nap, watched some TV and then moved out to the deck to take in the glorious sunshine.

The girls rented bikes and went for a nice bike ride. I haven’t seen their pictures yet, but they said they had a great time and it was a nice easy ride. They are enjoying their holiday together. I am so glad they are having this opportunity.

Love to all and enjoy your day Brian!

2nd POST FOR MONDAY THE 27TH

Well today was quite lovely – the weather shaped up very nicely and even ended up quite hot for a day in Juneau. Juneau is in the natural rain forest and rainy days are way more common that sunny ones, but today was absolutely gorgeous t-shirt weather here.

Our trip up the Tracey Arm was disappointing as we were unable to get to the end to see the twin Sawyer Glaciers. There proved to be too much ice to chance the narrowest part of the channel, so we turned around, but we are promised to have a very close encounter with the active Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Bay on Wednesday.

This is a picture of Mom enjoying the scenery up the Tracey Arm.

We arrived in Juneau earlier than expected and shopping was on the agenda! We went to the famous T-Shirt Company and picked up a few things – I was lucky enough to get two great jackets for Peter and Eileen and Shannon got some sweatshirts and t-shirts and a few other knick knacks. Pam and Stacy went up on the gondola (we think) to visit the top of Mt. Roberts and then they were to be twilight whale watching out of Auk Bay. We will be anxious to get them home to hear of their adventures!

Eileen, Shannon and I took a cab to go to Fred Meyer to buy some walkie talkies for the girls to use on this ship. We learned a valuable lesson today – before you ask a cab to take you someplace, it is wise to find out approximately how far it is and the approximate cost of the trip. As it turned out, we got the walkie talkies for a very good price on sale for $39.99 but the cab ride there and back for $50.00 – oops!

I bought a $5.00 phone card and phoned Peter – the card is good for 15 hours of talking, so I let Shannon use it to call Tom too. I don’t even know enough people myself to talk for 15 hours in one week. We will make some more phone calls later in other ports and then I shall give the card to the cabin steward so he can call his family at least once.

We went and had a peek in the Red Dog Saloon – they have sawdust floors, an old honkey tonk piano with an equally old honkey tonk piano man. They were all singing along and drinking $6.00 beers. The lady at the door wouldn’t let me come in to take pictures cause they were too busy, so I asked her if I could please take one from the door and stepped inside and took a picture and then left – what a crabby pants! I sure wasn’t going to wait for a table and drink a $6.00 beer in there!! It did look neat though,

Right now, Nana, Shannon and Eileen are playing tile rummy and arguing about the rules, I am so glad that I am typing the blog J

Oh I forgot to tell you – this morning at 4:00 there was a signal of 6 bells. While I was counting and hoping it wasn’t the dreaded 7 short blasts and 1 long one which means get your lifejackets on and get to the muster station, Eileen was madly smacking the night table trying to shut off the phantom alarm clock – Mom was saying what’s happening – what’s happening…

Anyway 6 short blasts means FIRE! However, there was no fire. Just a whole bunch of fire alarms going off at the same time in the engine compartment. The chief officer came on to tell us that is was a false alarm and go back to bed etc. Then a couple of minutes later, as we were beginning to fall asleep again, the captain – who sounded like he was just woken up also, told us that no fire was detected – it was a false alarm and go back to sleep. We used this mid-night interruption for a pee break and then we did all fall asleep again before anyone could come on the blower and tell us to do just that.

Well, once again I will try to upload a photo or two – we have tried to use less resolution and that might help – other wise you will have to be satisfied with my ramblings!

I will report tomorrow from Skagway.

FIRST OF TWO POSTS TODAY

Well yesterday was good for Pam! She was the great grand champion of gambling. She won $176.00 at bingo – then she won $48.00 at the little 2 cent machine after putting in only $10.00 and when I left her she was grinning like mad at the 21 table. I played one shoe with her at the 21 table and was up $4.00 from the $20 I put down and then it was time to take mom home and give her a snack and put her to bed. Pam’s lesson today is NEVER SPLIT TWO JACKS! A mom can still teach her 26 year old daughter a thing or two!

The clock went back one hour through the night. So we awoke at 6:00 am to take in the beautiful sights of Tracy Arm. We are looking forward to more whale spottings – specifically humpbacks and orcas - throughout the day especially near the mouth of the channel. Spotting grizzlies, black bears and mountain goats along the route is entirely possible too. Tracy Arm is a true fjord and is just south of Juneau. Although there are no guarantees, as the twin Sawyer Glaciers at the upper end of Tracy Arm are retreating at the rate of about 2 feet per day, seeing glacier calving is a possibility. We arrive at Juneau at 2:30 in the afternoon and leave at 10:30 at night so this is a long day for us. All that shopping and one of the best little quiltshops is so close to where we dock.

We look forward to seeing the Red Dog Saloon – it still has the original dirt floor and is on the historical registry.

Interesting asides – Bruno Marti of La Belle AuBerge and the producer/judge of “The Next Great Chef” is aboard with us and enjoying the fabulous meals and chatting with all that know him.
My neighbours, the Dryfout’s are on board also and I have run into them from time to time.

Well, time to take in some of the amazing views – will write more later when I have seen it all and bought it all in Juneau!

p.s. having trouble putting picture up on this site – will keep trying

Here we are at last!

Sorry for the delay in blogging, but the day went by so darn quickly or should I say “dam quickly” since we are on Holland America’s Zuiderdam ship it took a bit of time to get set up, but here we are on line at last.

The trip by limo to the ship was uneventful and we moved quickly along through the lines. We were aboard by 1:00. There was a great buffet lunch set up and after lunch, getting all the stuff put away, it was time to get out on the deck for the lifeboat drill – that’s always a thrill. Pam took a great photo of Stacy and Shannon while Mom, Eileen and I were struggling away on the other side of the ship with our lifejackets and the belts and belts and paraphernalia … thank God it wasn’t a real emergency!

Dinner was served and Stacy tried to be electrified by the big brass ball – didn’t work. After dinner, we all tried our hand in the casino and although we did come away with a little bit, overall the machines were pretty stingy. Lots of 1 and 2 cent machines to keep us amused though.

Pam even tried poker. She had won $40 on the machines, so she took her winnings to try her hand at the Texas low limit no holdem poker table. She had fun and after playing for about an hour, left the table with $15 remaining from her $40 win.

Oh my gosh typing up in the crows nest and just saw a whale (probably a hump back) surface and then he and his tail submerged for another feeding frenzy. Ho Hum just another day in paradise!

Well today we played trivia and came 2nd with about 6 other teams! No fancy luggage strap for us! Now we are waiting for the Majority Rules game that will be starting after ballroom dancing. So relatively quiet today which is fine by me.

Tomorrow we are in the Tracey Arm in the morning and then in Juneau in the afternoon from 1:30 until 11:00 pm - a late one! So I will resume blogging tomorrow with some more photos from the kidlets! I think they are deciding between whale watching or Pam is thinking about helicopter adventure! Wow sounds exciting. Eileen and I will stay on board except for our adventure to the quilting shop!!!!! Talk to you tomorrow!