10. Do not leave home without your motion sickness medication! We both needed it at different times, and the doctor on board the ship has the best working hours I've seen; one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening.
9. Do not hold your breath in anticipation of seeing Mt. McKinley or anyone who is actually from Alaska! Everyone seems to be a transplant from some other state, and all of the staff working at various locations tend to be college students from Eastern European countries.
8. Do take warm clothes and rain gear. Hypothermia may set in for Texas residents used to 100+ temperatures when the daily temperatures in Alaska are in the 50s and 60s.
7. Do not stick to your frugal budget when it comes to excursions and side trips, they are worth every penny! At least the ones we did were, and they also almost added up to the amount we paid for the cruise. (For those that need some help choosing, let us know.)
6. Do make sure to bring several memory cards for your camera. Stan took over 1800 pictures! Of course, if you know him, you know that this is one of his OCD areas...
5. Do make sure you use the "Privacy Please" card on the cruise if you intend to linger in bed past 7:30 am. The cabin stewards get an early start to perfection!
4. Do make sure you attend all of the evening shows on board the ship, especially the ones featuring people the ship brought on just for that day. We felt like we were on late night T.V.!
3. Do leave the kids at home with a trusted college student looking to make some summer cash. However, don't call home too often because the kids tend to get upset and then act terrible.
2. Do pack lightly and then do laundry on board the ship to make traveling easier. But, make sure you choose a day that you are at sea, get started promptly when it opens, and make sure you pick it up on time, or little old ladies will be folding your undies!
1. Do enjoy the perfection and beauty of God's untouched wilderness because there aren't many places like it left on this Earth. (And really think about whether we should destroy it for our own selfishness.)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Vancouver, B.C. Day 13
The best laid plans...
Well, we didn't end up doing any of the things we were planning to do today. We talked to the lady that owned the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at this morning at breakfast. She said not to waste our time going to the Under Sea Gardens. We decided to drive down to it and go through the gift shop instead, which ended up being a good idea. Our other plan was to go to the Observatory, but it is only open fro 1-4, and seems rather pointless to pay to go see stars during the day when you can't see stars...
We ended up taking the ferry back to Vancouver earlier than we thought. We checked into our hotel for the night and then we did something we rarely get to do. We went on a date.
We went to see "The Proposal," which we highly recommend. It was funny and romantic. Then we went down to Gas Town to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory. This restaurant is similar to the Old Spaghetti Warehouse in Dallas, but it is not the same. They have tons of Vancouver antique tables, glass etc. and a trolley car in the dining room. (No, Gas Town is not named for the rude variety, but because of all the old-fashioned gas lights everywhere.) We walked around the Gas Light District when we were here on our honeymoon. It is very romantic, with the old lighting and two hanging fresh flower baskets on every light post. The food was good too.
After that, we walked down to the Chapters Bookstore, which is like Barnes and Noble, only three stories. For those that don't know how Stan and I got together, it was by going out every Thursday evening when we lived in Lubbock with a group of friends to hang-out at Barnes and Noble and read/drink coffee. We are now sure how city people stay in shape, because we walked about 2 miles total from the hotel to the movie, to dinner, to the bookstore, and back to the hotel.
Now we are getting ready to leave for the airport in the morning. The kids made us sugar cookies (Josh's idea) to welcome us home. The babysitter will probably be waiting in the driveway since she has had strep, a related eye infection, and our air conditioner went out all while we were gone. All that on top of normal kids-acting-up stuff. Now on to our summer routine.
Stay tuned for our top tips for the Alaskan traveler after we arrive home...
Well, we didn't end up doing any of the things we were planning to do today. We talked to the lady that owned the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at this morning at breakfast. She said not to waste our time going to the Under Sea Gardens. We decided to drive down to it and go through the gift shop instead, which ended up being a good idea. Our other plan was to go to the Observatory, but it is only open fro 1-4, and seems rather pointless to pay to go see stars during the day when you can't see stars...
We ended up taking the ferry back to Vancouver earlier than we thought. We checked into our hotel for the night and then we did something we rarely get to do. We went on a date.
We went to see "The Proposal," which we highly recommend. It was funny and romantic. Then we went down to Gas Town to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory. This restaurant is similar to the Old Spaghetti Warehouse in Dallas, but it is not the same. They have tons of Vancouver antique tables, glass etc. and a trolley car in the dining room. (No, Gas Town is not named for the rude variety, but because of all the old-fashioned gas lights everywhere.) We walked around the Gas Light District when we were here on our honeymoon. It is very romantic, with the old lighting and two hanging fresh flower baskets on every light post. The food was good too.
After that, we walked down to the Chapters Bookstore, which is like Barnes and Noble, only three stories. For those that don't know how Stan and I got together, it was by going out every Thursday evening when we lived in Lubbock with a group of friends to hang-out at Barnes and Noble and read/drink coffee. We are now sure how city people stay in shape, because we walked about 2 miles total from the hotel to the movie, to dinner, to the bookstore, and back to the hotel.
Now we are getting ready to leave for the airport in the morning. The kids made us sugar cookies (Josh's idea) to welcome us home. The babysitter will probably be waiting in the driveway since she has had strep, a related eye infection, and our air conditioner went out all while we were gone. All that on top of normal kids-acting-up stuff. Now on to our summer routine.
Stay tuned for our top tips for the Alaskan traveler after we arrive home...
Monday, June 22, 2009
Victoria, British Columbia Days 11, 12
After docking in Vancouver on Sunday, we picked up our rental car and took the ferry over to Victoria. We are staying in a quaint little bed and breakfast that has wonderful views of the ocean, along with several seals that live on the rock not to far away. We took a walk on the rocky beach below the house and Stan got a lot of great pictures with the sun setting and the double rainbow that was hovering over the ocean.
Today, we took it easy in the morning, and then headed over to Butchart Gardens for the afternoon. We visited this place on our honeymoon back in 2000, and it made such an impression on us that we were determined to come back. It is just as beautiful as we remembered it, although the price is a lot more "beautiful." My favorite part of the garden is the rose garden which has dozens of different varieties and colors all planted in a large circle. Behind the roses are 6-8 ft tall delphiniums, which come in shades of blue, violet, white, and mauve. They are truly gorgeous! We left to go have dinner, and then returned tonight to see the gardens by the thousands of lights that are lit up until 11 pm. It reminded me of a fairy tale, with all the charm and beauty.
Tomorrow is our last day, and we are hoping to go to the Under Sea Gardens and the Observatory before leaving Victoria to head back to Vancouver for the night and our Wed. morning flight home.
Today, we took it easy in the morning, and then headed over to Butchart Gardens for the afternoon. We visited this place on our honeymoon back in 2000, and it made such an impression on us that we were determined to come back. It is just as beautiful as we remembered it, although the price is a lot more "beautiful." My favorite part of the garden is the rose garden which has dozens of different varieties and colors all planted in a large circle. Behind the roses are 6-8 ft tall delphiniums, which come in shades of blue, violet, white, and mauve. They are truly gorgeous! We left to go have dinner, and then returned tonight to see the gardens by the thousands of lights that are lit up until 11 pm. It reminded me of a fairy tale, with all the charm and beauty.
Tomorrow is our last day, and we are hoping to go to the Under Sea Gardens and the Observatory before leaving Victoria to head back to Vancouver for the night and our Wed. morning flight home.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Ketchikan, AK Day 9, 10
On Friday, we docked in Ketchikan, AK. We didn't have very long there, but Stan and I took a two hour flight on a float plane over the Misty Fjords. This flight was much different from the small plane we took to the base of Mt. McKinley. Up there we saw the spectacular sights of the glaciers. In Ketchikan, we saw the beautiful sight of the remains after glaciers melted thousands of years ago. There were waterfalls running down cliffs at every turn, little peaceful lakes and ponds, and the trees were some of the biggest we've ever seen. We landed on one of the fjords (an inlet cut by a glacier that later fills with ocean) and watched a brown bear eating for awhile. It was so peaceful and pristine. Stan did loose his cookies on this flight, but we still enjoyed it!
On a side note, the show on board the boat Friday night included Broadway favorites, one of which was "Don't Rock the Boat." To my trained musical ears, the vocals weren't that good, but the dancing was pretty good. Anyway, I ended up getting a bout of seasickness on Sat. as our boat was doing to HEAVY rocking.
Saturday we spent all day at sea traveling down to Vancouver. Actually, we were looking on the virtual map on board the ship, and we had only traveled half of the distance to Vancouver by Friday. The other half was completed Saturday. On Saturday night, we saw the ventriloquist Mike Robinson. He was pretty funny with his "friend" Terrance.
Today, we got off the ship and picked up our rental car. We took the ferry over to Schwartz Bay on our our way over to Victoria, British Columbia. It's just gorgeous right now, including the first extended sunshine we've seen in over a week! We came here on our honeymoon ten years ago and loved it so much we decided to come back this trip.
On a side note, the show on board the boat Friday night included Broadway favorites, one of which was "Don't Rock the Boat." To my trained musical ears, the vocals weren't that good, but the dancing was pretty good. Anyway, I ended up getting a bout of seasickness on Sat. as our boat was doing to HEAVY rocking.
Saturday we spent all day at sea traveling down to Vancouver. Actually, we were looking on the virtual map on board the ship, and we had only traveled half of the distance to Vancouver by Friday. The other half was completed Saturday. On Saturday night, we saw the ventriloquist Mike Robinson. He was pretty funny with his "friend" Terrance.
Today, we got off the ship and picked up our rental car. We took the ferry over to Schwartz Bay on our our way over to Victoria, British Columbia. It's just gorgeous right now, including the first extended sunshine we've seen in over a week! We came here on our honeymoon ten years ago and loved it so much we decided to come back this trip.
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