Author Archives: sulis303

Diary Day 6

30 Thursday May 2013

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woke up at 3 and went on deck to see stars… weren’t any as the sky was filled with clouds… back to bed till 6:30…

today we are in Ketchikan for our last stop on the cruise… the picture shows the overcast as we embarked from the ship in the morning… by the time we were back on board the sum was shining again…

had an early breakfast and put on swim suits for our excursion – snorkelling with Snorkel Alaska…

had a great time, hardest part was getting into the wetsuit, boots and gloves… swam through a kelp forest, saw star fish (lots of them were purple and most of the others were orange), sea urchins and schools of fish – maybe 4 or 5 kinds… the guides were great and gave excellent instruction… I wasn’t cold for even a minute which was fabulous…

back to the ship to drop off our stuff, lunch and into town for some final shopping… had a snack of Alaska King Crab and checked out a few stores, then back to the ship…

followed a well-deserved nap with a bit of time in the hot tub… my arms are especially sore from the snorkelling as I was holding onto a float the whole time, lol…

got dressed and went to dinner… tonight we had steak and lobster…

another presentation of the arial act we saw a few nights ago and now in my room ready for bed… been a long day…

looking forward to the day on the ship tomorrow as we head toward Seattle, our final destination…

Diary Day 5

29 Wednesday May 2013

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set my alarm for 4:45 am and headed out on deck to watch as we entered Tracy Fiord and watched for icebergs…

quite a few people out and about but it was too early for the runners… the water filled with many little pieces of snow and ice as we got closer…

saw an amazing glacier where we did a 360 so everyone had a chance to see it… most people I have seen on the decks at once… the weather has been spectacular and the crew mention it often… sunny and warm when it is usually overcast and cool… most had never seen the glacier in sunlight and everyone keeps reminding us how special this trip has been…

had breakfast and the went on a tour of the galley with the procurement chef… his job is to ensure they have the right amount of food for every meal on the cruise (which is planned three months before) and to oversee its preparation… there are two very large galleys plus one for each of the dining rooms as well as for the crew… quite a system they go through to get the food out onto the table… great fun… I also received an autographed cookbook…

the kids had gone to a Make a Miracle walk to benefit kids with serious medical conditions…

when I was done I went and joined them for a half mile of the walk around the top deck… we got some great pictures and headed to lunch… For dessert we had a gorgeous chocolate cake with raspberries in it… yum…

napped and headed to bingo, where sadly we didn’t win a cruise, but one woman did:-)…

got dressed up for the formal dinner and took some pictures on deck before the meal…

there are photographers all over the ship taking pictures, but so far we haven’t found any that we really need to purchase..

the service is quite amazing… if you mention something that wasn’t quite right to a staff member the next person up the food chain is beside you within five minutes seeing what they can do to make it right… nearly everyone has a smile on their face and pleasant greetings… we missed one night at dinner and the next night both our wait person and their helper were telling us how they had missed us, lol…

after dinner we saw a production of Piano Man and then I went for a foot massage and pedicure…

currently listening to Finish That Lyric and then off to bed…

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Diary Day 4

27 Monday May 2013

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got up fairly early and went on deck to get a few pictures of the port at Skagway… then headed back to the room to find that the kids had been looking for me so we could go for breakfast… apparently I was wearing my invisibility cloak as I sat reading, lol…

after breakfast we took a shuttle to town and did some shopping… tried on a beauuuutiful amethyst bracelet, but didn’t buy it…

back to the ship to catch a bus,to take us to the train, which took us to a little place where we heard about and watched a video about the Klondike days… then back on the bus for a two minute drive to the train station…

nice train ride up through the mountains where we caught a bus back to town and did some shopping…

back for a nap and then a lovely dinner and treated to a bottle of wine by our travel agent… followed by an arial show in the centre of the ship…

busy day…

Diary Day 3

27 Monday May 2013

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For some reason the time on the ship changed back an hour last night…

Cyndi and I got up very early and went on deck to watch for whales and see the sun rise amongst the mountains… gorgeous… and, we saw a whale… it was quite a ways off the side but she got a head and tail shot… then we went back to bed for a while…

had breakfast, sat in the solarium and got in a line waiting to head out into Juneau for gold panning, a salmon bake and shopping…

got on a little bus that took us out to a creek where we panned for gold… everyone found some… beautiful warm sun-shiny day, which is apparently not normal… then we headed to a salmon bake where we had salmon and baked beans, clam chowder, great hash brown casserole and fabulous lemonade… then to town to shop…

all shopped out and have a few lovely mementos of our visit to Juneau…

back on board for a nap and the dinner at Izumi (sushi), and we’ve finished off the night at a 70s dance party…

toes in the ocean…

24 Friday May 2013

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arrived just before 11 Courtenay time… both flights went well… the one from Winnipeg was only about two-thirds full and I was the only person in my area… very nice… not so from Calgary… the seats were closer together and the woman sitting beside me needed some of my space as well…

as soon as the kids picked me up we headed out to Goose Spit to get my toes in the ocean…

toes in the ocean...

toes in the ocean…

took pictures of the rocks, the kids and the scenery…

rocks - Cyndi says I can't bring any home...

rocks – Cyndi says I can’t bring any home…

then it was home, lunch and a rest…

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we finished off the day at Locals, a wonderful restaurant where we had a fabulous dinner…

we’ve got all the bags packed, and are heading to bed as we will be getting up very early to drive to Victoria to catch a ferry to Vancouver and get on the cruise ship…

we are going to sail right through here...

we are going to sail right through here…

woo hoo, now I am excited…

and we’re off…

22 Wednesday May 2013

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so, finished up at work at 5:10… blasted off for my last physio… she was very pleased and when she did unpleasant things to check on my body, none of them hurt, which is a great sign… I don’t have to go back unless I am bothered during my vacation…

got home and had some dinner and then watched some TV… talked with both girls about the next few weeks…

had decided not to do any planting or even move the plants outside and then I looked at the forecast and there is a frost warning tonight, lol…

went out and wrapped the front planter and put all the hanging baskets into the garage…

hoping to stay warm and cozy...

hoping to stay warm and cozy…

have to finish packing and see how much my bag weighs and then have a hot tub…

leaving early tomorrow morning…

apparently I might not have access to wi-fi while on the ship so I may not be posting on my blog every day…  will do my best to stay in touch…

big day today…

21 Tuesday May 2013

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picked up the last few items for the trip, although I never did find the Ecco sandals I was looking for…

blasted off from work to go and choose carpet for the basement floor as they will be completing the repairs while I am away… I hope to come home to a fully functional basement… right now there is a fan blowing, a dehumidifier going, and two feel of drywall missing from one wall…

the last bits and pieces of George’s stuff that I haven’t dealt with are piled up in one corner and the furniture is taking up the rest of the space… when I get home I will need to do a sort through and make decisions on what needs to go where…

stopped at Safeway after all the shopping, and then went to the Sushi Train and had dinner…

place setting for one...

place setting for one…

now that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but that is the first time in my life I have gone into a restaurant and eaten on my own…

yummy tempura...

yummy tempura…

felt like a huge step… I’ve been thinking about it for some time and tonight was just the right time…

cold spinach and peanut sauce...

cold spinach and peanut sauce…

I had a lovely dinner, and ordered enough to have some for my lunch tomorrow…

gyoza for tomorrow's lunch...

gyoza for tomorrow’s lunch…

Jeff had been by and fixed the flapping siding and moved the planter up to its new home… closer to being ready to go with every minute…