A is for

ALASKA!

We will be setting sail for Alaska in few weeks – aboard Holland America!

This is a trip we have made before, and No: It does not get boring. Cruising to Alaska is ideal because some of our group don’t enjoy hot weather, we have the bonus of leaving from, and returning to, the port of Vancouver. And really, Alaska is beautiful.

One of my favourite stops is Ketchikan. There is an incredible book store – that just happens to be right above a really cool gift shop  – where the owner gets to chatting with you, offers you tea and seats you comfortably with a book. It’s in a cool attic-y space too. So cozy.

Another great spot is Haines. Not all cruise ships stop there, but it is only a short ferry ride from Juneau  – great hikes — or Skagway (definitely my favourite shopping port). Haines is one of the most beautiful towns I have ever visited and well worth the extra travel time.

True story: After our last trip I gave S his present – he was 3.5 at the time and oh so serious. He loved it – how bad is it that I don’t even remember what it was? – and asked me where I got it. “Juneau.” I replied. There was a long pause, as he shifted his eyes side to side and then he slowly said “Noooo. I don’t.”

We generally see a large number of dolphins and whales on our way back to Vancouver as we travel through some prime feeding areas along the Inside Passage.

True Story: While standing on deck taking photos of dolpins playing in the waves, a woman grabbed her husband, who was leaning out for a better shot, while loudly cautioning him that he “wouldn’t want to fall over when they’re in their feeding frenzy.”

Speaking of the Inside Passage…True Story: An onboard ‘naturalist’ was narrating while we traveled through the Seymour Narrows. She was telling the story of Ripple Rock and introduced the topic like so, in an ominous tone: “Just as all Americans know where they were the day Kennedy was assassinated, so to, all Canadians know where they were the day Ripple Rock exploded.” Hanging out on deckchairs, we all looked at one another and  burst into near hysterical laughter. First of all we had never heard of Ripple Rock (with the exception of our learned seaworthy Uncle D) and 2nd, we hardly thought an intentional blast was comparable to the assassination of JFK. Thirdly, this woman had been prattling on in an inane fashion for hours already. ‘So to, all Canadians’ became a bit of a catchphrase for some of us.

 

I’ve included some of my pages from a scrapbook of a family trip aboard the Sea Princess. This is my first scrapbook album. I started it about 4 yrs ago – it’s not finished yet. Yep. Startitis is not restricted to knitting projects, well, at least not for me.

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Most of our trips are spent laughing like fools, eating like royalty and shopping like fiends. My cousin M and I are particularly unaware of what spectacles we make of ourselves when we get going.

True Story: M and I have been approached a number of times to be asked if we are part of the onboard entertainment, where we get our material and if we are professional comedians.

We have taken our Uncle’s video camera on some late night jaunts and filmed hours of ourselves acting like idiots. Priceless those films are – it is a little scary to watch some of them now and realize there actually are other people around us…people we are not travelling with..and yet no one has ever complained…

We have shorthand for cruising related funny stories: What’s a bell pepper, rice is my favourite vegetable, Regeena, dead a**s floating, Oh God we love you!, Whop-Whop, that’s a bit of all wrong, whaaaaale off the port bow, The Quacker…to name a few. (cruise buddies: anybody laughing yet?)

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I also decided that I would feature family members whose names begin with the current letter.

Great Mom, wonderful Aunty. Balanced, organized, fit and inspiring.

I’ve known A since he was about 3. He was a friend of my brothers long before he became my cousin’s husband. Gentle, quiet, a talented artist. Super fan of Depeche Mode (that concert was so much fun) and a really great Uncle.