Cruise blues and other news~~~

We took a 7 day Alaska cruise out of Seattle aboard the Norwegian  cruise line's ship Jewel.  Our accommodations were perfect;  a mini-suite with a full balcony.  Daughter Steph took care of all the booking and what a good job she did.  We had tons of space and beautiful views.

Photo from our balcony ~ Ship leaving Seattle

The first two days were spent at sea and by the end of the second day as we pull into Ketchikan Howard had full blown gout in his right foot, making walking long distances very painful.  There is a lot of walking on a gigantic cruise ship not to mention the shore excursions we planned to do, but alas, it was not meant to be.  By the time we got to our first destination, Ketchikan, we were resolved to the fact we wouldn't be doing much more that sitting on our balcony and watching the incredible scenery drift by.  Plus we had mostly nasty weather, rain and fog for 6 of our 7 days.  The sun came out in Victoria, BC on our last day. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves immensely, eating delicious cruise ship cuisine, and enjoying a trip of a lifetime.  Here's the ship's itinerary:

1. Ketchikan, our first stop, has a population of just over 8,000 and is the fifth most populous city in the state of Alaska. Local economy is based on tourism and fishing, hence the title of salmon capital of the world.
2. Our next stop is Juneau, Alaska's 3rd largest city by population.  Anchorage is first with just over 300,00.  The Aurora Borealis or Northern lights can be seen on clear nights from August through April, usually over Mt. Juneau.  There are lots of shore excursions including whale watching and trips to the Mendenhall Glacier.
3. Skagway is home to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and to both the White Pass Scenic Railway and Chilkoot Trails, two famous paths in and out of town.  
4. After another day at sea we arrived in Victoria, BC.  We've been to Victoria many times and visited Bouchart Gardens, the Empress Hotel, and the beautiful Parliament Building. The downtown and marina areas make for a good walking tour..
5. Next stop Seattle.

Along the way we saw ice bergs and glaciers, quaint towns and seaports. There was a lot of fog and rain but our balcony was covered and there were large sliding glass doors to enjoy the views. Sure we missed out on some good shore excursions, but we made the most out of our days, depending on Howard's comfort level. 

   

Marina in Ketchikan

Cool, foggy days

Glaciers

Waterfalls

We returned to the Elk's lodge in Port Townsend for a few more days, then decided to take the ferry and spend some time in Anacortes.  More on that later.  We'll be returning to Port Townsend to our "happy place" at the marina where we have a waterfront view, August 18-30.

21 Years of full-time RVing

Yep, this year marks our 21st anniversary of living and traveling full-time in a motorhome.  We've had two, a 91 Dolphin MH and the Country Coach we have now, purchased in 2001. Those first few years we did a lot of driving, trying to cram as many locations as possible in a period of a few days.  It was nothing for us to drive cross-country a couple of times a year.

In 1995 we had two grandchildren born, Daniel in Sun Valley, Idaho and Noelle in Redwood City, CA.  We were there for both!  Oh the joys of being mobile!

One of our bucket list locations was Zion National Park. The photo below was take on a walk along the Virgin river toward the Narrows. We stayed in the national park campgound, enjoyed summer days, barbecued dinners, and lots of walks.  We always put our awning up before we go in for the evening....accept for one night.  The day was balmy, no wind.  Not good as it turns out!

About 1 a.m. in the early morning hours we had a loud knock on our door.  It was the park ranger saying we had to evacuate immediately.  There had been a landslide and the Virgin River was rapidly reaching flood level.  We had a mess outside to put away, especially the awning put. We filed in with a bunch of other campers and followed the ranger up to higher ground.  The next day we found out the hotel was isolated by the slide and patrons were stranded.  Supplies were rapidly running out.

  Our cozy campsite at Zion before all hell broke loose.  Notice all the stuff that had to be put away at 1 a.m. when the ranger told us we had to evacuate,

What follows in a series of old photos taken from road trips we visited in the first few years. The pics should provide a lot of laughs.

At Arches National Park

At Capitol Reef, we think.  

At Bryce Canyon National Park

At Mount Rushmore

At Devil's Tower

Crater Lake

Campeche, MX

Admiring the electric in Campeche, MX

Howard climbs to the top of the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itsa

I however, did not make it to the top.  Too steep and scary!

Sunset cruise at Acapulco, MX

Rafting the Salmon River in Idaho with Bill and Carol

At Glacier National Park

Tunnels at Custer State Park, in South Dakota

Mount Rushmore

Hot springs by the Rio Grande, Big Bend NP

Hiking at Big Bend

The marina in Victoria,  British Columbia

Native dances in downtown Vancouver, BC

Liard River Hot Springs BC, on the road to Alaska

The London Bridge at Lake Havasu, Arizona

This is enough for now!  I will continue to work toward the present in future issues.  Many thanks to daughter, Terri, who spent a lot of time going through boxes of old photos and scanning them.

Our current location is the Elks Lodge in Port Townsend, very nice for $20 per night. We will be allowed to leave the motorhome here when we go on our cruise to Alaska on July 23rd.

Vancouver...mostly drive-by shootings and fun with photo editing!

First the border crossing:

It's a short drive from our casino location east of Anacortes to I-5 and north to the Canadian border's Peace Arch Park crossing near Blaine, WA.

It only took an hour or so at the border, detained inside the Custom's office sans any/all personal belongings, while our motorhome was searched....completely. At one point one of the very nice agents came in to request the combination to our safe. No problem, after all wouldn't you suspect anyone with a Texas drivers license of carrying weapons?  Moving on...

Destination North Vancouver:

We knew our two GPS units (Garmin and phone) wouldn't work once we crossed the border unless we paid for roaming data access, so I had Googled the map directions, not trusting our memories of former visits, and printed them out. But, as I know so well, the mapping programs don't consider what we're driving but the fastest route. So with Stephanie and Gary following we navigated through residential communities to connect the dots between Canada's route 99 at the border crossing and Trans-Canada 1 and our North Vancouver destination, trying at all cost to avoid driving through downtown and across the infamous Lion's Gate Bridge. Friends Gail and Earl took that route a few years ago on their way to Powell River, in their 38' MH towing a car, and almost had heart failure.

Our destination is the Capilano River RV Park in North/West Vancouver, pretty much the only option we've found over the years, and actually well-located for access to public transportation via the Sea Bus to downtown and the delights of West Vancouver with its ritzy urban amenities and nature's beauty. The Capilano Suspension Bridge is just up the road and Whistler Mountain is a mere 90 minute drive.

Once parked in rather close quarters and expensive to boot, about $55 US per night...our dollar is worth $1.09 Canadian... we headed to the Market at Lonsdale Quay.  Treasures jumped into our bags in the form of salmon pate and smoked salmon candies.  Sushi joints beckoned and dragons entertained. Good start to Vancouver, we thought.

Seeing the City:

So on a Saturday, we excitedly headed to the Lonsdale Quay, purchased our round-trip tickets and hopped on for the 12 minute ride across the Burrard Inlet to downtown Vancouver.  We know the drill, right?!  The hop-on hop-off trolley is both fun and efficient in seeing the city with a second day included in the price.  We oohed and aahed along Robson Street all the way to Stanley Park where we hopped off at the rose garden and grabbed a tasty lunch at the Stanley Park Bar and Grill.

Saturday is not a good day for sightseeing:

This is the normal trolley route.  We departed the Sea Bus and boarded the trolley at location 10 near Canada Place:

Things started going down hill.  Saturday was a poor choice of days, this being a pre-Labor Day weekend and the height of tourist season.  There were several major events going on in the City and we were soon confronted with traffic gridlock.  The trolleys and buses were caught in the middle and schedules flew out the window.  Several routes were blocked or cancelled.  We had a long wait before continuing on through Stanley Park.  Photos were snapped from trolley windows.  Apply some fun editing techniques and they turned out pretty good:

We had to get off at Granville Island to do some window shopping and see the marvelous Public Market we have so loved visiting on our two former visits.  We were joined by thousands of other like-minded folks. Howard braved the throngs to purchase a couple of racks of lamb for a family meal, while I fled outside for air.

This time the wait for a trolley was over an hour.  As crowds gathered in the late afternoon, it became obvious that several buses would be needed.  Even with stress levels building we chatted with a bunch of nice folks from all over the world.

So once again all I have are window shots as we drive through Chinatown and Gastown, back to our starting point, tired, hungry and anxious to get on the ferry back home.