More pictures -- just because!

Just a few more pictures from Juneau-- from the millions I took... hopefully one of these days I will actually have time to work on them and do some cropping and enlarging etc...

Day 4- Juneau

Unlike Ketchican which was cloudy and overcast-- it actually rained on us in Juneau-- but we met an amazing family running a small business-- Harv and Marv's-- They are two friends who have known each other since high school who 4 years ago started their whale watching business. Jay (Harv) was an amazing man who lives "off grid" meaning he lives on an island --uses solar energy, collects rain water, catches fish and canoues to work each day (to the marina). Now I know what your thinking... but no he's not crazy-- he's not happy about living in poverty (this will be the first year his business will make a profit) he just made a choice to live a different lifestyle... along with the 39 other families that live on Shelter Island. Anyway we were picked up at port by his father in-law-- Sandy was a nice older gentleman who took us to the marina where we boarded a small metal 6 person boat and met Jay-- Jay took us out to find Whales-- we laughed as he told us about his money back guarentee if we didn't see a whale.. he was holding a plastic toy whale... thus we wouldn't get our money back... seriously he said he has been lucky that they have always found them... And we did that day... along with seals... and a huge Eagle's nest. We could have spent all day with Jay-- he was smart and entertaining. Shared his views on politics and turmoil cruise ships caused in Alaska.. the good for the economy and the bad for locals. I like him.. I like what he stood for. And could have talked to him for hours... As for the whales-- they are huge creature.. and you find them by scanning the water looking for the blow-- and Eureka when you did you knew you were in store for a show.. over and over they surfaced.. and then finally when you saw the tail you knew they would be gone soon... Jay took us to multiple spots and at each one we searched and luckily we saw multipe whales...
After our Whale watching adventure -- Sandy met us back at the dock. Our next item of the day was to go to Mendenhall Glacier. Sandy gladly said he would drop us off their.. What we weren't expecting is that he said if we would meet him in two hours he would gladly take us back to town.. WOW that is customer service at its best. We took him up on his offer and hiked down to see the Glacier.
Just as we arrived a broken peice floating glacier started turning in the water.. pretty amazing. -- Seeing glacier was an unbeleiveable sight.. monsterous peice of ice. And the color-- the bluest blue... we were told that on a sunny day we wouldn't have seen the color as easily-- ahh bring on the rain!!!
After our hike down to see the glacier we headed to the visitor center-- learned more about glaciers and how how they have moved and receeded over the years.
My Dad had seen the Red Onion Saloon on our way out of town and really wanted to eat there.. what a fun place.. a piano player who got the crowd singing -- and by that time any food was a good thing! He decided he had enough day and headed back to the ship... but we had heard of a Jewlery exhibit at the State Muesum so we headed off in the rain to walk about 6 blocks.. probably not what Mike needed to do... but he insisted on Joining us. It was a great exhibit and the Muesum had alot of historical memoriblia that told the history of the state. Glad we went.. but we sure were tired.

Again back at the ship we raced for dinner... hahaha seemed to be a pattern.. we skipped the show and headed back to our room after alittle window shopping....

ReCap: Day 3 Ketchican

Today I scheduled an independent tour-- well really all of our tours were scheduled independly-- tours through the ship were too expensive and were a cattle herd of people. So I spent the time before we sailed and researched what was available and made our reservations with smaller companies. Todays tour was to Totem Bight Park. Here we learned about Totem Poles and how native americans lived. Once again the scenery was mind-blowing.... the walk through the forest amazing and the history we learned about clan housing informative. did you know that when they moved from summer housing to winter housing that they dismantled their clan house? Each family member was assigned boards to carry??? or that because the area was all rock that the dirt the trees had to grow in is only about 5 inches deep--very spongy to walk on? The trees actually wrap their roots around rocks.
After Touring we spent some time walking the city-- We went to Dollys house-- a famous madam who lived in town-- highlight of the tour?.. silk condems made into flowers on the shower curtain! hahaha ask me about it later!

It was behind Dollys house that we met an Eagle on the back porch-- Who realized how big they actually were? This one was injured and the Raptor center was trying to get him accustomed to people in small doses-- Great photo op!
Then it was on to Creek Street-- a few stores-- the local museum and then back aboard the ship--

We rushed to get ready for dinner and then went shopping in the mall on board the ship. I didn't buy anything but had a great time window shopping... unless you count buying cigarettes for $14.99 a carton..hey they may be bad for you but at half price who can resist? and they came in cute packaging.

After shopping we went to the celbrity theatre to see the comedy act of Michael James. Funny-- family fummy--

And then you know what we did next.... spent an hour or so on our veranda-- our favorite hiding place!

ReCap: Day two

Overcast and about 55 degrees

A day at sea-- Day two was spent traveling to Ketchikan. It was the first of two days spent at sea. We wasted little time eating breakfast in the main dining room-- The time zone changes had apparently got to us and we woke up around 5am-- but that was ok because laying in bed we could see the snow covered mountains as we sailed by.

Every night after dinner we found a newsletter on our bed that told us of the events to come for the next day, a history of where the ship was headed & other little news worthy items. Today was jam packed with events because we would have no where to go.

With highlighter in hand We all made our choices and planned out our day. I made the executive decision that Mike and I would go to a cooking demonstration. It was entertaining and tasty-- This was also our first time to meet Puto the bartender.. he put on a little cocktail making demonstration ala Tom Cruise-- again entertaining and tasty!

Even though we had just eaten breakfast... it was off to lunch... yes a 4 course lunch-- we ate with some lovely folks from New Zealand & Mississippi

Unfortunately events overlapped and I missed out on my next event on my list-- a binocular seminar... instead we headed to the Celebrity Theater for part one of the enrichment series with the Naturalist onboard- Graham Sutherland-- he gave a great talk about Alaska and the wildlife and terrain we would be seeing in days to come--- after that it was off to the night club for a Anniversary party-- got some champagne-- our pictures taken -- passed on the cake. The view from the front of the ship -- lets just say panoramic windows.

Exhaustion had set in by now.. we all headed back to our rooms in time for a quick rest before dressing for Formal night... Mike and my dad were none to happy about putting on a suit and tie for dinner... but hey thats the fun of a cruise right??

Its not often anymore that you go to dinner dressed and everyone around you is dressed. It was kinda fun. And to add alittle more fun.. it was off to a Show in the Theatre-- "Thoroughly Broadway"-- singing and dancing from decades of popular broadway shows.

The sunset tonight at 10:13-- something that we never got used to.... I mean really at 10:00pm it was still LIGHT outside... not dusky but light!

ReCap: Day one

Our first day was Seattle & Vancouver where we boarded the ship- Unfortunately we did not have time to sightsee-- it was all we could do to get off the train with all the luggage--At the train station in Seattle we made our first true count of luggage-- Yes we had 11 pieces to transport with four bodies! 8 real suitcases, 3 large carryons, & one camera bag- that never left my side so it didn't make the official count... the rest of the trip it was that magical 11 that my mom was in charge of making sure we had.
Amazingly-- we came home with the same luggage we left with-- 2 train trips, 4 taxi rides, 8 flights between the four of us-- and no lost luggage!

The Train from Seattle to Vancouver was amazing-- The train itself was an Amtrak train-- very roomy with Seats that laid back and had recliner style leg rests-- fold down trays to put your stuff on-- Certainly a relaxing way to start out our vacation. And the scenery was like out of a picture book-- the pacific coast is beautiful with rocks, large trees, flowers and it was where we saw the first of many eagles we would see on our adventure.

Boarding the ship was an easy process-- security was much like the airport-- everything is screened as was everyone. Once we were on the ship they handed out Champagne- certainly a nice way to be greeted! And then we took one of the many glass elevators up the Waterfall Cafe (buffet area) for lunch-- It was amazing the choices of food available. From there we went outside on deck to see the Vancouver skyline. Much like any big city-- but it was Canada--so for me it that was enough to keep me busy looking!

Then we finally made our way to our rooms. We booked the concierge class- which included little special items like champagne, appetizers each night, special room service, nicer towels, bathrobes and a staff that was at our call-- literally if you stepped out into the hall they were there! Oh and a veranda that Mike and I practically lived on.

And if you didn't get enough to eat-- Dinner was at 6pm! Main dining room-- each night 4-5 course meal...now there were other places to dine onboard-- the buffet, the grill (hamburgers and such) the spa (healthy food) but we choose the Main dining room-- Seriously our waiter Ian took good care of us... but unlike other times you eat in a restaurant-- We had our waiter, his assistant, a bartender waiter, the sommelier and the maître d' all tending to us each night! Dinner was more like an event than it was a time to eat. And we enjoyed every moment of it. By luck the table we were assigned to was Table 506-- it was Aft (the back of the ship) right by the largest window on board. Our table mates were great -- they seemed to be down to earth people -a husband and wife, her sister and his Aunt- like us multi-generational- and we all agreed that rotating seats each night was the thing to do so everyone had a chance to stare off into the boats wake and see the mountains go by each night. That way no one spent the whole cruise with their back to the grand window. We truly felt lucky to have that table and spend our week dining with wonderful people.

After dinner there were shows, activities and such but we did alittle exploring and went to our room. Not the most exciting thing to do I am sure-- but we had unpacking to tend to-- and our first real chance to sit outside on our veranda.. a place we would retreat to quite often on this cruise. It was like our own private sancutary-- the ever changing view was better than tv-- theatre shows etc. We embraced each chance we got to just sit and stare off into the wilderness.

HOME AGAIN

So I have been up for more than 40 hours straight-- what a great vacation!! When people told me that Alaska was a once in a lifetime vacation they were wrong... I will go back... it was beautiful!! We had such a great time!! The views are fabulous-- the excursions we went on all turned out great-- I can't say enough good things about this vacation... I have so many pictures... we averaged about 250-300 a day!! I will be sorting them for weeks to come!!

These two pictures are just two of many that we took at Exit Glacier... I will share more when I finish getting them all on the computer!! This was a fabulous hike that Mike and I did on our last day.
And yes its true what they say about eating on cruises... we ate way too much... and even continued once we were on the train ride home!!

Greetings from Skagway

A day without rain, but wind lots and lots of Wind. If I could explain the beauty of the mountains covered in snow I would try--nothing like you have ever seen-- untouched-- barren in spots and in others a lush rainforest--

Today we saw Skagway-- home to the beginnings of the gold rush-- almost imaginable how they hiked up the mountains carrying provisions to last a year... only to find nothing....

Off to Icy Strait tomorrow-- and then the glaciers of Hubbard Bay--
Taking approximately 250 pictures a day-- anyone wanna help sort them all???
Ohhh And today I shopped.... hahaha--

We are here!

After taking planes, trains and automobiles....(cab) we have finally made it to the Summit! The weather is perfect as we sit in port in vancouver. We managed to smuggle our libations on board and cross through customs twice with no worries--- the room is wonderful... with a veranda, champagne, and enough room to store all of our belongings.

We took alittle time to explore to levels of the ship.. Its huge and I can only imagine that we will spend alot of time being lost. Hopefully if I can figure out the new camera I will upload some pictures at some point.

For those who are counting Mike brought three different cell phones and so far has only taken two calls... ahhh it must be vacation....

Saturday

The countdown has begun-- in 5 days it finally time to go to Alaska! Am I ready heck no... thats what tomorrow is for... Packing, checking lists, printing out reservations etc...

This week??

• Amanda started her internship and is doing her very own clinical trial on Face firming lotion or something like that... How cool is that? sounds like something I could use...
• Christopher has finally decided that NOVA is where he wants to be....so I assume the wheels are in motion for him to find another job and start packing.
• The CARPET IS DONE!! yes I have stayed up late the last two nights to try and get my house back into order. And it feels good to finally be able to move around my house-- see furniture and know its all done...
• Plans for David's wedding seem to be coming together. Music is still an issue and I just don't have time to tackle it. And Amanda has left hers here on her computer... Hopefully one of the other kids can work on it.
• After weeks of trying to get my elbow to heal it seems that weeding the garden today has put me back a few steps. Old age sucks-
• Madison offically decided today that she is an inside dog and no matter how much I have tried to convince her otherwise she has stubbornly decided to hang out on the couch rather than do any more yard work. And Mike who is still recovering from last weekend has joined her.
• Did I mention Alaska is right around the corner???? ahh back to work for me... I have laundry to put away and bathrooms to clean

Ta ta for now

Memorial Day

Memorial Day officially comes to an end... with clothes in the washer... dishes in the sink... and I am ready for bed.... But first a few pictures that tell the story of this weekend. Amanda left to go to New Jersey-- Starting her internship and a grown up summer complete with a new hair cut... Christopher came down for the holiday weekend-- getting to be a kid for a moment in time... alittle baseball alittle fishing... alittle Nascar....And the unsolvable cube--- Nicholas made the Uncle Mike imposed 5:30 am start and got a fish... I got myself a new life jacket... one my daughter would be proud of...pink... Rusty showed off his waterskills to impress his girl.. on day three of fishing.. Both Mike and Christopher brought home the big one... and who knew two dogs could be lulled into submission with a few hours in the sun???
More later... sleep is calling...

 

 

Sunshine

Home again after a quick trip down to the lake to move my boat. As if on que mother nature came through with a wonderful weekend. We spent both Saturday and Sunday outside -- only coming in to sleep and shower-- alittle sunburned and a few sore muscles from cleaning up leaves, cleaning flower beds and scrubbing boats--- ahh it was a good weekend!!
Got to see Karen and Tim's new toys-- very cool new boat and a turbo charged jetski--like Karen needed more speed-- last we left her she had 9 hours and counting til she could go full throttle---
Madison was like a kid at christmas... she woke us at 7am on Saturday--hopping and jumping ready to get outside and find her some ducks--- those little legs didn't stop all day---needless to say she slept well-- and when she came home she had stories of Thrash, dogoggles, new neighbors and boatrides... way too much fun for someone so little!

Life can suck

 

There's always someone whose life is worst then yours... and you've now met them... its me. Yes I know you are thinking we've seen these pictures before but no its just another project gone bad. The carpet guy-- who I will now refer to as the ASS-- was supposed to do two bedrooms today and the living room and other bedroom tomorrow... but somehow after months of bringing me GREEN SAmples he brought me 60 yards of cracked wheat... yes this is After he asked for more money. Needless to say Ass did not lay the cracked Wheat nor did he get more money. And once again I have a living room full of stuff... as I can't put it back until I have carpet.. which Ass is now reordering... so see someone elses life is worse than yours...

Spent alittle time working browsing the internet looking at wedding flowers... ahh the fun of planning someone elses wedding. Found some arrangements that I have fallen in love with... ohh and then there are the cakes...

there is something about a simple cake with a few flowers... Call me crazy but I think after looking at a ton of pictures today that if it were me... I would be choosing a ivory and orange wedding.... kinda crazy sounding but white calla lilys, tiger lilys, roses.... the orange thing seems happy and the ivory elegant...
Alias its not me... and until Ruth comes up with something better we are planning a yellow wedding..

Throw out the life vest

It seems the world is moving forward a whirlwind speeds and I am treading water to keep up. Mike was gone all weekend and I was obviously in slow mode because today I have the drowning feeling... It could be because Amanda deposited her whole house (don't even ask how it all fit in her car) into my living room.... or maybe because I feel pressure to have answers for David regarding his wedding and am at the mercy of others... or maybe its that I know we still have new carpet to get put in, mulching to do, a basement to get clean... And then theres the---Amanda is leaving in about 12 days to go to New Jersey... ohhh and Alaska is just around the corner (hmm 24 days!!)

I need more time... a bigger calendar and more time.... did I say that already?

And the good news keeps on coming....

This week has been incredible when it comes to good family news... David and Ruth announced they were getting married!!! And since they are coming from Amsterdam and London in June-- What better time to throw a wedding--- So exciting to see David take the plunge... We've all thrown ourselves into the planning-- I just hope we can pull off a dream wedding via email and phone--

And then Amanda went on an interview for an Internship
today and nailed it! She'll be spending her summer in New Jersey doing research for L'oreal. I couldn't be prouder of her-- Should be an exciting summer and the learning experience of a lifetime. My heart sunk when she called-- I miss her terribly and can't imagine her not being here-- the reality is I've been counting the days down til the end of this semester and I wasn't ready to hear the news that she wouldn't be here.
My head tells me this is an awesome challenge for her -- my heart just hasn't caught up yet.
Did I mention how totally excited her dad for her?? He never doubted for a moment that she'd be heading off to greater things--

race

So sorry for the delay in sharing the Nascar pictures from this weekend. Our time in Richmond never disappoints us! Saturday we got to the track early enough that Mike was able to pull off getting a spot up close at gate 6. Which meant less walking for him and easy access to the track. Christopher got a promotion at work (couldn't be prouder) and while he had purchased season tickets was unable to get the day off to go to the Busch race. But that didn't stop him from joining us for alittle tailgating. And then it was off to work for him. David stayed using Christophers extra ticket and Mike C and Chris G slide into the parking spot we "saved" for them. All and all it was a good day-- We saved ourselves the ride home by going to Mike C. lakehouse in Lake Anna. Which by the way is mighty cute.
Whle the weather disappointed us on Sunday the good times did not. I had to laugh that after we set up the tents for tailgating A bunch of Christophers buddies showed up ---without race tickets... they came for the tailgating! Beer in hand and an attitude of finding a good time. They weren't there long before they found more friends from school- nothing like a bunch of rowdy boys to get the day going... But what was remarkable in no time they had the entire road in front of our tailgate filled with games!! They played bucketball, some kind of ringer game and beer pong. And no they didn't bring a game with them... they made friends fast-- and the pre-race party began

Nothing like a day filled with family and friends. We were worried that Nick and Robin wouldn't find us. But low and behold they showed --rain and all...It didn't take much for Nick to join in the games-- Christopher loves showing off his cool nephew-- and while I thought it important to introduce him... it seems all the boys remembered each other anyway---
. I would be remiss if I didn't comment on the seats that Mike scored for the race.. If you look at the picture-- look at the seats all the way up at the top!! yup we could see the entire track! Unfortunately without the "handicap" stamp everyone had to walk to the top. Which was a trek-- Needless to say Mike and I rode the elevator. Sundays race ended early with a rained out. So Guess ? what we ended up with three days of festivities--Nascar was no longer a two day race it was an event!... this time we decided that Saturday was a bit much and we parked in the handicap lot and made the kids come to us. The sun shone bright... but the wind was a bit much--(ok it was a bit much for me-- no one else seemed to have an issue)
Like a duck out of water-- I embraced the whole Nascar scene-- after all if you can't beat 'em -- join'em----

Busch Race

Just a quick photo of yesterday-- Don't we look all grown up at the Richmond Bush race? Check out the new glasses!! Should be posting NASCAR race pictures but after hanging out in cold damp weather-- the race was called for rain after about 12 laps under caution... so its back to Richmond for us tomorrow---- Boogedy Boogedy boogedy---lets go racing boys!!!

Weekend recap

This picture cracks me up-- yes the boys are home from Talledga and from the stories it sound like they had fun. The had a "travel package" to go see the race. It included Race Tickets, Hotel room and bus transportation to and from the Sat and Sun. races... What it didn't include was tailgating-- I mean really its a bus... But you know Mike and its not a race if theres not tailgating involved... So Saturday the boys convinced the bus driver to bring a grill Sunday and they would bring the meat! yes that driver actually brought her grill and surprisingly some food too... and Mike and Mike apparently took a taxi to the grocery store Saturday night and bought up a whole bunch of local sausage. I only wish I could have seen the two of them in the grocery store... (although this type of shopping comes naturally to my hubby) only my husband would figure a way to spend race day HIS WAY!

(yes that is a cardboard cut out of Clint Bowyer... and I would guess heavily airbrushed... cause god knows he doesn't look that good in real life!)