Yes, I know. I haven't written more about my trip. I suck.
Here are two links that update you on the little polar bear I posted a video on. That ought to count for something, right?
http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/2011/07/01/little-polar-bear-orphan/
http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/2011/07/11/little-polar-bear-lessons/
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Alaska!
I know, FINALLY! She's posting about her vacation! Sorry for the delay. As usual I have a list of excuses. I had a zillion things to do when I first got back, both at home and at work. Then Greg and I both got this stupid respiratory infection that laid us flat the whole 4th of July weekend and beyond (Greg still isn't over it - I'm better because I went to the doctor). Then I was REALLY behind at work and not feeling totally up to par.
But that is all in the past, right? You all forgive me now because I am finally posting about my trip, right? Right?
So, to the trip. Greg & I took a 14-day Alaska cruise on Holland America's Amsterdam. We took the train up to Seattle the Thursday before we were to embark, which was kind of fun. It takes about the same amount of time to take the train as it does to drive, but with the cost of gas and then parking the car for two weeks it was a lot cheaper. Because one person in our party *ahem-not me* insisted on packing his entire wardrobe, we had 4 big suitcases and two carryon bags. Here's a tip for all of you that plan on taking Amtrak. They have a 50 pound limit on each piece of checked luggage and they freaking MEAN IT. And no sneaking one bag in at 45 pounds and the other at 55 pounds. 50 pounds. No argument. Luckily, we got there early enough that we could rearrange our suitcases and move things like bottled water around. There is nothing like neatly packing your suitcase at home and then having to rip it all apart to move 7 pounds from one bag to another in the middle of the Vancouver Amtrak station.
I'm not really complaining. It is all part of the experience and it wasn't a huge deal, just annoying.
So after the uneventful train ride we took a taxi to our hotel downtown. We stayed at the Sheraton, which was really nice. Friday morning we took a taxi over to the pier. Fun fact - For some reason taxi drivers get cranky about 6 pieces of heavy luggage (even though none of them were over 50 pounds). And they don't think a trip from downtown to the pier is worth their time. A fare is a fare, isn't it?
We had a terrific bording experience. We got to the pier about 11:00 and we were checked in and in our room by 11:30. The a/c was being worked on and the cabins were really stuffy for the first couple of days, but we got a fan and eventually it cooled off.
Here is our itinerary:
Fri June 10 Seattle
Sat June 11 Cruising Inside Passate
Sun June 12 Ketchikan
Mon June 13 Cruising Tracy Arm (Twin Sawyer Glaciers)
Tue June 14 Juneau
Wed June 15 Icy Strait Point
Thu June 16 At Sea
Fri June 17 Anchorage
Sat June 18 Homer
Sun June 19 Kodiak
Mon June 20 Cruising Hubbard Glacier
Tue June 21 Sitka
Wed June 22 At Sea
Thu June 23 Victoria
Fri June 24 Back to Seattle
We did a lot of things and had a lot of fun. It would make this post REALLY long if I told you about everything we did in these two weeks, so I will just summarize each area we visited and provide a few pictures. I think I'll do semi-individual posts for each area.
Ha! Now you have to wait for me to write those.
But that is all in the past, right? You all forgive me now because I am finally posting about my trip, right? Right?
So, to the trip. Greg & I took a 14-day Alaska cruise on Holland America's Amsterdam. We took the train up to Seattle the Thursday before we were to embark, which was kind of fun. It takes about the same amount of time to take the train as it does to drive, but with the cost of gas and then parking the car for two weeks it was a lot cheaper. Because one person in our party *ahem-not me* insisted on packing his entire wardrobe, we had 4 big suitcases and two carryon bags. Here's a tip for all of you that plan on taking Amtrak. They have a 50 pound limit on each piece of checked luggage and they freaking MEAN IT. And no sneaking one bag in at 45 pounds and the other at 55 pounds. 50 pounds. No argument. Luckily, we got there early enough that we could rearrange our suitcases and move things like bottled water around. There is nothing like neatly packing your suitcase at home and then having to rip it all apart to move 7 pounds from one bag to another in the middle of the Vancouver Amtrak station.
I'm not really complaining. It is all part of the experience and it wasn't a huge deal, just annoying.
So after the uneventful train ride we took a taxi to our hotel downtown. We stayed at the Sheraton, which was really nice. Friday morning we took a taxi over to the pier. Fun fact - For some reason taxi drivers get cranky about 6 pieces of heavy luggage (even though none of them were over 50 pounds). And they don't think a trip from downtown to the pier is worth their time. A fare is a fare, isn't it?
We had a terrific bording experience. We got to the pier about 11:00 and we were checked in and in our room by 11:30. The a/c was being worked on and the cabins were really stuffy for the first couple of days, but we got a fan and eventually it cooled off.
Here is our itinerary:
Fri June 10 Seattle
Sat June 11 Cruising Inside Passate
Sun June 12 Ketchikan
Mon June 13 Cruising Tracy Arm (Twin Sawyer Glaciers)
Tue June 14 Juneau
Wed June 15 Icy Strait Point
Thu June 16 At Sea
Fri June 17 Anchorage
Sat June 18 Homer
Sun June 19 Kodiak
Mon June 20 Cruising Hubbard Glacier
Tue June 21 Sitka
Wed June 22 At Sea
Thu June 23 Victoria
Fri June 24 Back to Seattle
We did a lot of things and had a lot of fun. It would make this post REALLY long if I told you about everything we did in these two weeks, so I will just summarize each area we visited and provide a few pictures. I think I'll do semi-individual posts for each area.
Ha! Now you have to wait for me to write those.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Soon
Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I got back from vacation and before I could recover from that, I got walloped with a nasty respiratory infection. I spent 4 1/2 days in bed and am just now poking my nose back out into the world. I watched a lot of GLEE, but that's about it. I still haven't finished unpacking!
Anyway, I will post some stuff soon. Here's a teaser for you:
This is the baby polar bear that was found orphaned in Alaska somewhere. I got to see her at the Anchorage Zoo. Cute, isn't she? She is moving to a zoo in Kentucky sometime this month because they have too many bears to take care of already at the zoo here.
Anyway, I will post some stuff soon. Here's a teaser for you:
This is the baby polar bear that was found orphaned in Alaska somewhere. I got to see her at the Anchorage Zoo. Cute, isn't she? She is moving to a zoo in Kentucky sometime this month because they have too many bears to take care of already at the zoo here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)