THE FINAL FAREWELL TO ALASKA 2010

Tuesday, August 24th – skies are clearing as we get closer to home

Today was a sad day as we are packing to leave the ship. We were invited to one more luncheon with Captain Bos and is was a wonderful spread they put out for us. We were so fortunate to be able to take park in these meet and greets – it meant a lot to Mom. She will have so much to tell her friends at Fleetwood Villa when she gets home tomorrow.

As I write this final entry to the blog, we are sailing into Robson Bight and hoping to see Orcas. This is the rubbing beach that is talked about. The Captain made an announcement that if you google Robson Byte, there is a link to an underwater camera and you can see the Orcas rubbing on the pebbles on the bottom. I must do that when I get home – it is way too expensive to google on the ship. Internet charges are about 55 cents a minute and the connection rates are slower than the lightning speed we have at home. However, I enjoy doing this so much and this is my hobby when on these trips.

The weather has gone from rain last night – to foggy and socked in most of the day, and now that evening is here and we are nearing home, we are enjoying a lovely, albeit cool scenic cruise. OK so I had to run down to Deck 6 and out to the bow of the boat. There were 4 or 5 Orcas, but they were too far away for a picture with my camera – we could only enjoy watching them blow and splash in the distance. There were hundreds fishing boats in the area – more than we have ever seen there. Evidently the season was extended because the run of salmon is so very large this year. This is the run they have talked about for years – and it didn’t appear until this year. Finally the fisherman can have their turn.

So time for our last chance in the Casino. We have had fun putting $5.00 each in this one machine and we doubled our money on the first spin and quit. Then the next day we put in our $5.00 each in the same machine and doubled on the first spin again! So tonight we have to try this machine again and see what luck we have.

Thanks for coming along for the adventure!

….to be continued on a future journey!

IT’S RAINING … IT’S POURING

Monday, August 23 – weather is scrudgy

We pulled into Ketchikan and it was nasty – driving rain, windy and just very very wet. All in all we have been very lucky with the weather, but today in Ketchikan was only the second rainy day they had all summer. Although Ketchikan needed the rain badly, we would have preferred they waited just one more day before the deluge!

Eileen and I braved the weather and tramped around the downtown shops for a couple of hours. We came back with a little less cash in our pockets and soaking wet. Brian went off to find an internet café and he was splashed by a passing vehicle and had to change his socks and shoes when he returned.

All in all it was just a dull grey day! After dinner we played Name that Tune and the four of us did quite well, but not well enough to win a “Dam” prize. That was our last opportunity to snag one of the “Dam” coveted prizes – so we are coming home empty handed.

Tomorrow we hope to see fin whales and more humpbacks – they are on their migration to Hawaii and there is a very good possibility that we may spot them between 8 and 10 tomorrow morning. Evidently you can tell the type of whale by their shape of the blow (the puff of steam and water that comes out of the blow hole) – I’ll let you know how that goes.

G’night

MARGERIE – STILL FRIDGID!

Sunday, August 22 – surprisingly clear skies!

Today we set the alarm for 5:30 a.m. so we could take full advantage of the whole day of scenic cruising in Glacier Bay. Our day started with an unexpected emergency on ship and someone needed to be tendered off the ship and then jetted to Ketchikan Hospital. We were delayed by 2 hours. We don’t know any other details but what we do know is that because of the unexpected turn of events….we could have stayed in bed and ASLEEP for an additional 2 hours.

When we did get underway again. We began our way up Queen Inlet and saw the Carroll Glacier then back down and over to Johns Hopkins Inlet and saw the Reid Glacier and Lamplugh Glacier and then Johns Hopkins Glacier. The highlight came when we came out and entered the Tarr Inlet and then……there stood Margerie Glacier in all her glory right next to the Grand Pacific Glacier. There were some calving events going on there were lots of puffins. Did you know that several puffins together are called an improbability of puffins not a flock of puffins. That was quite a site. Lots of sea lions and lots of sea otters – it was a great day for spotting wildlife. Just as we were completing the last 360 degree turn before we had to leave the bay, the clouds moved in and the rain began. We really had a perfect weather window for our Glacier Bay visit.

Once again, we continued the tradition of having pea soup on the outer deck in Glacier Bay.

Brian finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo today and we all had naps this afternoon feeling much better for it. Tomorrow we will wake up – when we wake up no alarms! Tomorrow we are in Ketchikan and this will be our last shopping day. We have had fun on our adventures on and off the ship and we still have a couple of days to go.

Tonight the Captain said we would be going at warp speed in order to make up the two hours that we were delayed during the medical emergency. So we will be rocked to sleep and I’m sure we will not have any trouble falling asleep – the bed looks very inviting!!

Talk to you tomorrow!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIT!

Saturday, August 21, 2010 – clear skies

We began our day singing Happy Birthday to Kit and we hope you had a wonderful day. The cabin mates of 7034 are warming wishing you all the best for the year to come too!

Hi! Did you miss us? We are sorry that we did not blog yesterday.

Yesterday, we arrived in Skagway at 6:30 am. This town is the beginning for the White Pass Yukon narrow guage railway. It is truly our favourite stop. After breakfast, we went into town to wander around and shop. We have been so lucky with the weather. We had been expecting overcast skies and misty rain, but so far, we have had lovely mild and for the most part, sunny days.

After a couple of hours walking about we came back to the ship and had lunch then played some Scrabble until it was time for Mom to have a nap. I read my book until it fell on the floor and woke me up. Eileen laughed at me and then we decided to veg in the room for a while until it was time to get ready for dinner.

After dinner, when we usually blog, and we did have every good intention of doing so, we were invited to a special party to have after dinner drinks with our wonderful captain and totally lost all track of time. Actually, we arrived a bit late and he remarked that he had been waiting for us. Are you jealous?

We stayed up in the Crow’s Nest to watch the ship leave port and then Mom wanted to gamble!! So we played for a while and the next thing we knew it was 11:30 – and knowing that we needed to get up for 5:30 a.m. as we begin our approach to Glacier Bay, we just needed to get to bed! So we did.

Be sure to peek in again later today for the highlights of Glacier Bay!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RYLAN!

Friday, August 20th – Cloudy with sunny bits

The day began with the members of cabin 7034 singing Happy Birthday to Rylan!! So we hope that you had the best day ever and know that you were fondly remembered on your special day of by the four of us.

Today was the scenic cruising day up the Tracey Arm to see the Sawyer Glacier. We had better weather than we thought and the glacier was magnificent. Years ago when we were up this way we were able to see both of the twin Sawyer Glaciers, however climate change has made it impossible to see both of the Glaciers from a large ship.



There were lots of bergie bits in the waters and of all shapes and sizes. It is still thrilling to come into these waters and start to see the narrow passage and the amount of ice. The captain did 2 360 degree turns to ensure that everyone had a excellent view of the glacier. Mom said that these were the best views she had ever seen and they were right off of our balcony.

We docked at Juneau at 2:30 in the afternoon and ventured out to the shops. The Alaska T-Shirt Company still does a booming business. The purchases are placed in a trademark red plastic bag and then the procession of the passengers coming back to the ship looks like a large red millipede.

Casino is closed today because we are in port and so Brian, Eileen and I are having some time in the pool and the hot tub tonight. Maybe this will ensure a good night’s sleep – Eileen and I are still working on that!

Talk to you tomorrow …

….CAUSE WE WAS TOSSIN AND TURNIN – TURNIN AND TOSSIN …..

Thursday, August 18 – Sunny with Clouds

Did I explain to you before we left that we are all staying in a deluxe verandah suite….and that the 3rd and 4th persons in this suite pay only $358.00 each? Well, the reason is clear! The queen hide-a-bed has a 1/8th inch mattress that sinks in the middle.

Although Eileen and I would start the night facing out on the edges – we would inevitably wake up (often) nose to nose in the middle! Brian delights in describing our bed as “the rack”.

Easy for him as he and mom and their own single - pillow topped 3 foot thick mattress with the extra fluffy down duvets. This morning Brian brought in muffins and latte’s for breakfast. He said he had a wonderful sleep as did our mother. Brian did serve Eileen and me lattes in bed as we floundered around – I guess he felt some guilt – but not enough to give up his bed tonight!!! Oh well….

There were several hump back whales about – but we were never close enough to get a decent picture. Maybe we’ll spot some later on in the cruise. We played trivia after lunch and came 2nd. We missed winning the “Dam” prize by 1 answer. Did you know that Great Britain holds the patent for polyester? Well, neither did we!!! Phhhhhht.

Formal night dinner tonight, we looked gorgeous and managed to escape all the photographers by saying we were in the witness protection program and told them to read the memo.

Well, clocks go back an hour tonight as we are officially on Alaska Time – we will be cruising the Tracy Arm starting at 7:00 a.m. and then docking in Juneau at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Talk to you tomorrow …

ALL ABOARRRRRRD

Wednesday, August 18 – Sunny but cooler

Today was the most easy embarkation day ever. We arrived at the pier at Canada Place at 10:45 and were checked in right away. After Mom gave a pat down to the Customs Officer, we were escorted on board. At 12:00, we were sitting in the dining room having a lovely lunch. The emergency drill was painless as Holland America no longer required you to wear your life jacket during the drill. So basically, we just took the elevator downstairs to the promenade deck and lined up under our designated life boat. Odd isn’t it how the reflective strips for the life boats are on the underside of the boat…hmmmm.

Dinner tonight was yummy Alaska King Crab Legs – Brian was exhausted after his feast. We used our special invite and went to a meet and greet with the captain and some of the officers. This captain is the same one we sailed with years ago – Peter Bos. Kit you will remember him. He is very nice and very enthusiastic. He enjoys these waters tremendously and he is fun to sail with. He greeted Mom by name and assured her that this would be a memorable cruise with lots of wild life both on and off the ship.

After our meet and greet, we went to the casino to help pay our dues. Didn’t hear of any big winners and we certainly didn’t walk away with any bundles of cash….but this was only Day 1. Tomorrow I will take my big purse to bring all the winnings home!

We have an “at sea” day tomorrow so it will be very pleasant. We will do some more exploration on this ship and find out where Trivia is and any other “Dam” games that are happening. (Holland America’s ships all end in ….dam –like Vollendam, Zandam, Zuiderdam etc – so they always talk about the dam ships or the dam trivia or the dam name that tune and their prizes are embroidered, embossed or engraved with dam on them. Maybe we will be able to bring some dam thing home to show you!

Bye for now …..

ALASKA OR BUST 2010

Once again I will blogging our way up the coast to Alaska and back. It is such a beautiful trip - and enjoying it with my brother (Brian) sister (Eileen) and our mom (Mom) will be full of special moments that will undoubtedly create wonderful memories. The cruise to Alaska is our Mom's favourite. For Mom, Eileen and I - this will be our 4th cruise. Brian has enjoyed it a few more times than we have....but enjoying it together is always special.

I will post every day beginning on the 18th and I hope you will enjoy a bit of the trip along with us!

Chat with you soon ...

THE END OF THE LINE ......

Today is our last day and since we have covered so very much ground on the other days, today is quite low key. We went uptown to see the Guggenheim Museum. We only went in the foyer, we didn’t tour the museum, but it was good to get out and see it. The premise of the building is that it is a multi chambered nautilus shell. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It had a very modern and interesting façade and was across the street from Central Park and in amongst so many old style brick and concrete buildings.

We are such experts on the subways now, we even ventured on the bus today. No trouble at all - just travels a bit slower than the subway system. The traffic is always horrendous any time of the day or night…the horns honking….the millions of yellow taxis…..and black hired vehicles…..limos…. pedestrians who cross the street any time….doesn’t matter what the lights indicate, if they figure it is safe to go - they go! There is very visible police/security presence all over the city. I can honestly say there isn’t a time we felt uneasy no matter what time or where we were walking.

So we came back to get ready to go see a matinee play. Today the play was “Lend me a Tenor” and starred Tony Shaloub (Monk) and Anthony Lapaglia (Without a Trace). The rest of the cast had familiar faces and the acting was reminiscent of the old screwball comedies. At one point it sounded like “Who’s on First… It was very funny and quite enjoyable.

After the play, we went for dinner at a nice French Brasserie Restaurant that was right around the corner and we had a delicious meal. The tables were quite close together and we ended up sharing lots of good conversation with the couple at the next table. They were from DC and in the city with university students for the weekend. The students can come for a very low price and do some academic/art activities which includes 1 play and a trip to a museum. They are pretty much on their own for the whole day other than in the mornings when they do some academics.

After dinner we hopped the uptown subway and went to Columbus Circle and walked around for a short while, but the wind is bitter tonight, so here we sit in Starbucks - warming up with a couple of lattes and about to leave to go back to the hotel and pack up. It has been a whirlwind 4 ½ days and hard to believe that at this time tomorrow we will be home again!
See you soon.

WHO KNEW YOU COULD FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF A CITY!

Today for us began about 10:00 and we were out of the room by 10:45 and on our way to a Starbucks to use their WiFi - what a difference! We could actually get connected and get the blog done and the pictures loaded in minutes instead of hours. The hotel internet is really pathetic! After we had yoghurt and lattes we made our way downtown to see the big hole that was the twin towers - however, there is so much construction that there is no hole anymore. It was amazing just walking around it and over it just how frightening it must have been. There is a Marriot Hotel right next door - can’t imagine the terror that the hotel guests would have felt especially if they were away from their families. We did not visit any of the memorial sights. There are several scattered around the different boroughs.

Saw a man fishing right in downtown New York. He wasn’t fishing for fish, he was fishing for money. He had a string with a magnet on it and he was just wandering down the street peering into the grates. He was making cat noises and at first we thought that a cat was trapped down there, however, we found that he was just a bit strange. He told me that a good was to lose my camera would be to take his picture. I just clicked, smiled and wished him good luck and we were on our way. (I knew I could outrun him if I had to)

We hopped the subway and went to explore the garment district. What an interesting area. So many shops with fabrics and trims. There are stores with beautiful silks, brocades , sequined fabrics, linens, wools and amazing fabrics made of all kinds other fibers. It was an amazing area to walk about in.


Then we hopped a different subway and got off in to Chelsea and walked the High Line Park which is an old unused elevated train track. There are gardens and benches and a lovely walkway. As the weather was changing today, it was cold and breezy so it was good to get down to ground level again. Then we walked around Chelsea for a while. Found a really old style diner. Only seen those kind in movies. So we wandered around a bit more until the weather began to turn and then it was time to come home - rain was starting but we were fortunate that it was only fine drizzle and it wasn’t enough to dampen our spirits or our clothes thank goodness.

After some down time in the hotel, we wandered over to the Olive Garden for dinner. It was as good as it is at home - but a little more expensive. Times Square has its own mark ups! Did some shopping at the M and M store and then it was home to put our feet up for the night.

One more day so we will visit the Guggenheim Museum and see another play and then it will be time to pack our bags and come home. Weather is only supposed to drizzle - so we might still be ok for one more day.

E-chat with you again tomorrow

SHOES ARE FINE - BUT FEET ARE FAILING

Well, what a day we had today! Didn't get up especially early but when we did we headed to Katz Deli (of When Harry Met Sally fame)for LUNCH! What Sally had was not on the menu so we had a hot pastrami and pickles. That satisfied us!



We then hopped back on the subway and headed to Central Park. Once we agreed on our directions we toured the lower third of the park. Birdwatched, saw Alice in Wonderland sculpture, watched model boats on the pond and saw a couple of street mimes. Also serenaded by a woman extolling on her hatred of America and all things American. The lyrics went something like "I hate America, I hate Americans, references to Iraq, bombs, Obama, etc - all to the tune (we think!?!) of "God Bless America" - fitting . . .


From there we went to Rockefeller Centre and the top of the Rock. I was not pulled off by my vertigo and got some wonderful shots of the New York skyline. Had great burgers at a Grill in the Concourse. By this time our dogs were dying!! We returned to the hotel in time for a 15 minute break before heading out to "Wicked".

"Wicked" was spectacular!! The special effects were mind boggling and the comedic skills of Glinda were a highlight. I am now practicing the art of hairflipping so I can be popular too.

Then came the challenge of finding a nightspot for a nosh and a drink. You'd think it would be easy, but we keep finding places that have just closed. Asked a policeman to advice and he tried to send us to the Hershey's store for hot chocolate. Why would he do that? Sophisticated ladies drink alcohol. Went to a rib joint and ordered martinis. They got the order right on their second attempt.

Then to bed.

GOOD THING THESE SHOES WERE MADE FOR WALKIN'!!

Today was amazingly sunny and beautiful. We started the day by taking the subway down to Battery Park and finding the Wafels and Dinges truck. We found him, and the waffles were as wonderful as I thought they would be. We were talking to a fellow on the subway and he told us that after were found the waffle truck we should take a walk down Stone Street. This was two short blocks that were filled with tables and chairs for the Financial District lunchtime crowd - and filled with a ton of atmosphere. It was a real find!

We took the Staten Island Ferry to the ‘the lady’ in the harbour. Then we began our walk uptown and covered so much ground. We walked through Little Italy, SoHo, Chinatown and into Greenwich Village. We saw Washington Square and ate Pizza at Lombardi’s (the oldest Pizza Parlour in North America ). We saw so many beautiful old buildings, narrow cobble stoned streets and a real eclectic mix of people, sights and sounds.


After our feet got so tired we could hardly take any more steps, we found the subway and headed back to Times Square to pick up half price tickets for a show tonight. We saw South Pacific at Lincoln Center. It was great. We hopped the subway to come home and when we got on, the door shut on my bum - so I wiggled in and my coat was still caught but managed to free it with Sandra’s help. We ended the night with cheesecake at Roxy’s Deli in Times Square. I think that was dinner.

Tomorrow we will head up town to Central Park and see what is up in that direction. Weather is supposed to be 70 degrees. We are so fortunate with the sunny days.

START SPREADIN' THE NEWS . . .

Sharing a room with Sandra gives new meaning to “Sleepless in Seattle”. It wasn’t the snoring oops excuse me - “purring” as one might suspect, but the inane alphabet memory games we were playing in the middle of the night. It all began when she whispered ….”are you awake?” and then A my name is Annabel - my husband’s name is Arnold - we have two children named Ashley and Alex - we live in Alberta - we raise alpacas that like to eat apples - and so on. We both decided that Xavier and Xaviera - sadly were unable to bear children - were homeless and therefore couldn’t have a pet.

So now as I type this we have failed dismally on puzzle #1 of the new sudoku book we have to share. There is a lot of turbulence on this flight making typing difficult and I think we are about to try a brainteaser puzzle that Sandra picked up to challenge us - yes it will be a long flight indeed.

Well the flight eventually landed and then our bus was battling rush hour traffic to get to our hotel…and what a beautiful hotel it is! The Best Western President Hotel ½ block away from Times Square. So after checking in and dropping off our things in the room, we were ready to go at about 5:45. So we walked and walked and didn’t quit (except for a bite of dinner) until 11:00 and here we are now back in the room and ready to put up a couple of pics and put the blog to bed!

Must tell you though, after walking for blocks and blocks and blocks we finally found the Tim Horton’s and when we got there at 10:30 we found out that they close for the day at 10:00.




Among the successes today, we experienced Times Square both in the day and the night, we walked around Grand Central Station, we did get great tickets for Wicked for Thursday night, we patted a NYPD horse and took lots of pictures. More walking planned for tomorrow to see more sights!

Good night and talk with you tomorrow zzzzzzzzzzzzz

MEET OUR NEW YORK TRAVEL GUIDE - CEDRIC

Arrived in Seattle at 3:30. The drive down was uneventful. The hotel was easy to find but was much smaller than their internet ad implied. However, it is adequate and the staff (of 1) was accommodating and friendly. The bars on the windows turned out to be only mullions.

In our room I opened a travel pack that Sandra put together to find our travel guide … Cedric T.G Brownbottom of the Brooklyn Brownbottoms.

We drove around to find a couple of stores and only got lost once. The quilt store was a bust, the yarn shop closed last year and is now a piercing parlor – (actually it is a hair salon that has free ear piercing) and the scrapbooking store was huge and full of wonderful stuff. Then it was off to dinner at Red Lobster. We enjoyed a Berry Mango Pina Colada mmmmmm and a most wonderful dinner. After we were sated, we wandered over to Border Books and had a look around.

So now the alarm is set for 4:45 am so we can catch the 5:30 shuttle for the airport.

NEW YORK ADVENTURE COMING SOON ....

Soon my cousin Sandra and I will be winging our way to New York, NY. Can't begin to imagine what delights are awaiting us! Our lists are made and our packing....omg! gotta run and pack. Look out New York, we are about to land on your doorstep!

E-Chat with you soon!