Tuesday, July 31 – TT Birch Bay, Blaine WA

ABDIP, sun is out.  

We have an appointment at noon to get a pre-purchase inspection on the coach.  A good result but it cost Lea and Ralph $117 and all they found was the number plate lamp wasn’t working, we didn’t even know there was a lamp there - and a belt has a hairline crack in it, but we have a spare.  Happy with that and so are they : )

While the inspection was underway (they wanted about 90 minutes or so) Lea and Ralph took us to lunch at a lovely restaurant, Anthony’s Hearthfire Grill - overlooking the wind ruffled Squalicum Harbour in Bellingham.  It was very very nice!  We took our time but the coach wasn’t quite finished when we got back so L&R very kindly drove us down the road to the local Post Office so we could suss out sending a carton home!  Priority Mail is the go, but we need to stay under 30lb to be under USS$200!  How much is 30lb - as if we can weigh it.....  guessing will work - yikes!

We get back to camp, nobody stole our site, might have had something to do with the big red “OCCUPIED” sign we borrowed from the camp to put out in front and that we had a tablecloth on the picnic table and had left our chairs and mat out etc.

We did a heap more throwing out, waiting until dark before we took bags and bags of all our old linen, pillows and towels over to the dumpster!  We were just a little embarrassed but we needn’t be, we see all sorts of stuff unloaded at the dumpsters.

It was a bit sad to throw out our custom made sign which lived in the front windscreen for so long, so we took a photo!

I look a bit shell shocked don't I?  Thin crust home-made pizza for dinner, we weren’t very hungry after our very yummy lunch.  Surprisingly we are getting through our stores of food, but there will be lots still left.  I checked with Lea and she is happy for us to leave unopened packs of food etc.  They have an acquaintance at their park who would be grateful for such bounty.

I waited up till after 10pm to see if I could see Mars, they promised on the News it would be out in all it’s green-man glory tonight but I couldn’t see it and anyway it’s way past time for zzzz’s.  Good night!

Monday, July 30 – TT Birch Bay, Blaine, WA

ABDIP, wake early and start planning.  We are on the road today just 30 odd miles north to Blaine, WA.

After a brief stop to top up the diesel we arrive at TT Birch Bay, on ‘Harborview Road’, feels like home!  It sunny and 26C.  We choose a site close to the common area so we can hopefully get their WIFI, will be doing a lot of surfing today.

Hah, reading the Camp Rules as I always do, but just a tad too late to stop Kim washing the coach which we aren’t supposed to do here, but rule 12 tickles my fancy:

Rule 12: Smoking marijuana is to be done INSIDE your TV or tent.  It is against the law to smoke in public.  Who would have thought, it’s almost like they are insisting!

We spend the afternoon over in the adult lodge googling stuff and doing big laundry in their laundromat, washing blankets, covers etc.  Just as well l had amassed a huge quantity of quarters.

Surprised to see it’s nearly 4.30pm so wander back over to the coach and get my recliner out and have a relax in the shade – the sun is dappling through the trees and it’s lovely.

Burgers for dinner tonight then go through emptying some more drawers and cupboards.  Hope the rubbish truck comes tomorrow, there is not much room in the dumpsters!

Sunday, July 29 – TT Mt Vernon, Bow, WA 98232

Didn’t sleep much last night either, making plans in my head and trying not to forget anything important I’ve thought about in the dark hours, that and Kim coughing!  We eventually get up around 8am and after breakfast do some cleaning and hiding stuff so we have uncluttered surfaces!  The coach looks so nice we should always have it ‘for sale’!

Lea, Ralph and the very cute dog Finn, pop in about noon and we sit outside to discuss a few things, they didn’t want to come inside because they had the dog, but I made Lea come inside anyway because we had cleaned and tidied and even turned the driving chairs around to make it look more welcoming for a group, they have lots of friends they camp with.  They are super keen so once we get through the AA check (equivalent) sometime early this week coming - which we should pass with flying colours and after the transfer of ownership/money etc., we will jump in a rental car and drive somewhere!

We spend a couple more hours during the afternoon emptying cupboards and drawers, resulting in quite a few loads of stuff to be taken around the corner to the dumpster!  Why did we keep all this stuff?

Then a relaxing read in the sun (thanks for the book Carrol) and a walk down to the Lodge and Pool areas for some photos of the camp and then it’s time for some dinner and an early night!

Might be our second to last campsite in our beautiful coach!

A yurt might be our next accommodation!

Saturday, July 28 – TT Mt Vernon, Bow, WA 98232

We are up and organised well before 10am when Lea and Ralph are coming up for more of a reccy on the motorhome. They are still talking keen but as they weren’t exactly looking for a replacement right now it’s all a bit sudden so they are going to spend the day checking out some local dealers and talking to their insurance company etc.  They also need to consider if they buy it from Canada, their home, or here, where their personal campsite is located.  We spend a couple of hours with them then head off to our next campground, TT Mt Vernon which just happens to be on Lea and Ralph's way home tomorrow so they might pop in on their way through.

Kim has my cold or someone else’s maybe and we need more meds so our next stop is Walmart in Mt Vernon and I have spied a Ross shop just off the I5 so spend an hour there after Walmart.  Losing my touch – no parcels today!  Kim spends his shopping time at Best Buys – ditto, no parcels.

Arriving at TT Mt Vernon they say they are pretty full for the weekend but in the office there are about 20 files for people yet to check in today so we don’t waste too much time starting our drive through to find a good site.  E30 suits, flat, some sun, some shade and not on the main thoroughfare and not right next to the I5.  It is very dusty here too!

 

I take a walk to suss out the hiking trail looking for the overlook which is a little bit of a disappointment.  We are not far off the I5 so traffic noise is noticeable when we have the windows open.

Overlook from TT Mt Vernon

Around HH we see an email from Lea and Ralph, they want to buy the motorhome and will swing by tomorrow to sort out some details.  Totally mixed feelings – it’s a bit soon but it might be a clean deal and we have a few days to sort out what we want to do next – come home early to winter : ( or find a plan B : )

Friday, July 27 – TT La Conner, WA 98257

ABDIP!  After brekkie we go over to the Family Centre again to use the WIFI, want to do some posts and we are thinking we should advertise the motorhome on FB  now too, we only have another six or so weeks left of our 2018 adventure.  Have a bit of a problem getting the share button on the post but I hope it is there, Kim manages to share the post.

Also of interest is the thunder of jet fighters overhead yesterday and today.  I tried for a photo and got a fast blur!  Goggle tells us the Whidbey Island Naval Air Stations is just across the water and they have purchased some new EA18 Growler fighter jets and it seems they are being trained on them.  They sure sound loud!

I see another train track setup around a motorhome on one of my walks!

This is a very dusty camp, our feet are black after walking down to the Family Centre

Awww cute 'lil bunny!

After a nice relax and a read in the sun down by the water I go back to the Family Centre for more WIFI and see if I can fix my FB stuff.  Kim came down for a while and picked some wild blackberries while waiting for me, bless him.  He gives up waiting for me and heads back to the coach.  The couple two along who are camping in a travel trailer in their personal site see our for sale sign in the window and come up and talk to Kim, while I am still away.  They need more room and want to come back after dinner to discuss in more detail.  Yikes - when I get back from WIFIing a mega power clean and tidy up takes place.  Lea and Ralph live in Canada and they seem very keen.  We have agreed for them to come by in the morning and they can see how we break camp and hear the engine going etc.

Spend a couple of sleepless hours planning what we might do if we don’t have a motorhome for the next six weeks….

Thursday, July 26 – TT La Conner, WA 98257

ABDIP - the sun is out in all it’s glory again this morning, although it is a slightly chilly 15C to start!

After some cups of tea and our favourite brekkie - Cornflakes and strawberries for he and Cinnamon Toast Crunchies and raspberries for me, we take ourselves off to the Family Centre to use the WIFI so I can catch up with my blogs.  It’s a good feeling being up to date with them, I have felt quite undisciplined not posting daily – I apologise if they are a bit muddled!  We stay over at the Family Centre until the laptop runs out of power.  Kim has checked emails, replied to some, gone on facebook etc. and goes back home to put the coffee on.

Because we are nestled in the tall trees we don’t get a lot of sun on the motorhome so we take our chairs over to the track down to the water, which is actually an unoccupied tent site and sit in the sun checking out the scenery.  The Skagit Chinook Recovery Plan has its hatchery in the bay, we can hear the generators and workers during the day.  It is very tidal.  Tiny crabs can be seen scuttling into the water when you get near.  We have also seen cute bunnies with white cotton tails and they seem quite tame.

Can't see it very well, but the hatchery is is mid left!

Kim diligently cutting ankle height blackberry thorns with our Dollar Tree scissors!

By the time we have had a wee read in our loungers out in the sun it is already 2pm, where did the day go?  I take myself off for a walk around the camp, closing my rings and spying on all the sites which have permanent rigs in them – we don’t think those sites should be shown as available on the site maps we are given at each TT preserve.  I shall put that in my next review - they ask for one each time we stay.

We got a reply from the TT at Chehalis in response to our very poor but honest rating, the Manager talked the talk, said he regrets we left disappointed, apologised for any inconvenience and hopes we will give them another try.  Not unless they change stuff we won’t!  Talk the talk but not walking the walk!

Kim gets a much needed haircut sitting outside under the trees, nobody around to see so all good!

Kim feels at home, the TV weather we are getting here shows temps in Celsius, we are probably closer to Canada than the bulk of US - it’s actually a Vancouver TV station.

Wednesday, July 25 – to TT La Conner, WA 98257

Thunderbird is a nice park and we are sorry we couldn’t stay longer but we are on the road today, only 60 odd miles and just over an hours drive to the next TT in La Conner.  We take a quick stop off at a Walmart enroute and head to the TT camp.  It is down a long, tree lined road and we arrive early enough to hopefully get to choose a good site.

Lovely road in

The recommended F/HU site with 50 amp is taken and the rest they advertise are reserved for permanents so we are thinking once again we are shafted by Thousand Trails!!  We are pointed in the direction of the south loop where there “was” one FHU site but it is taken too!  We drive most of the loops trying to find a site which might suit, ie long enough and flat enough, eventually arriving at site 252 which is free and looks OK, but it’s not flat and it has no outlook – except for a propane tank etc and our front wheels are off the ground to make us level!!  Ppffft - not happy again with TT!  The couple along from us are waiting for the maintenance team to come and sort out their power – good luck, we’ve been there! 

We agree, after discussion and under sufferance, we will stay here tonight and look for a plan B tomorrow.  However, after a couple of hours of chilling we go for a walk and get to suss out some better sites, there is one which overlooks the lake and we can probably get in to it.  So we go back to the make do ‘poxy’ site,  pull in the slides, retract the jacks, stow the loose stuff and make our way to Canoe Lane and slot ourselves into site 130 - overlooking Skagit Bay!  Heaven!  This TT campground has gone from zero to 9/10 in 10 minutes!  We are now happy to stay here for the three nights we booked!  Our neighbours are nice, the scenery is amazing and the campfire is still warm from the previous campers!  We will be able to cook over an open fire tonight!  We are looking over the beautiful calm lake, just a track way and the sun will set right in front of our motorhome!

Site 130 nestled amongst the trees and overlooking Skagit Bay

The only WIFI is at the family/common area, which isn't so far from here but we do have OK cell phone coverage. We can also get some TV channels here which makes the boy happy!

Yum, steak and onions cooked on the outside fire, baked potatoes in the embers, a bit of salad and another not so tiny tea!

Fabulous sunset over Skagit Bay, just in front of out motorhome!

Yay, all caught up with the blogs, sorry to keep you waiting!  

Tuesday, July 24 – Seattle to TT Thunderbird RV, Monroe WA98272

Woke early on our last morning on board to a beautiful sun rise behind the high rises of Seattle.

Sunrise over Seattle

My 'snyphillis' is much better and I would hazard a hope that it might almost be fixed!

Proof that we did see whales on our cruise!

We dock without any delay and disembarking gets underway half an hour early, the first call is by 7.30am.  We had ducked down to the Lido Deck for a quick bite of sustenance when the call came for those from deck 5 who are taking their own luggage to disembark so we go back to the cabin, collect our bags and catch a promptly arriving lift down to Deck 3 for departing.  Nary a queue to be seen, we are off in a matter of minutes and the shuttle to take us to the vehicle parking is there waiting for us.  We get the impression the cruise line would prefer people to take their own bags off with them, rather than have the bags put out the night before for collection and storage in the arrival hall.  Anyway, unlike our last Carnival Cruise in the Caribbean, getting off the ship was a doddle.  

Yay, the motorhome is parked right where we left it, no scratches or marks and even the fridge, which we had inadvertently left with closed doors, was in pretty good condition, much better than I imagined.  I gave it a quick clean anyway because we will be getting supplies at Walmart this morning and want to store them in a clean fridge!

What a fabulous day in Seattle, I am sure the bluest skies do reside here, even though we did have fog real early this am.

Last look back at the Carnival Legend

Float planes taking off to the blue skies

Mountains in the distance

After a quite good drive through the heart of Seattle we arrive at the TT Thunderbird RV Park in Monroe and are pleasantly surprised.  There are half a dozen sites for us to choose from, either in the FHU side, or in the W/E sites which back on to the river and these are on the other side of the street.  We opt for the full sun, backing right on to the river, we are only here one night and the grey tank will take a couple of loads of laundry, no problem.

Our site at TT Thunderbird overlooking the Skykomish River

Unpack – tick, load of laundry – tick, coffee – tick, sit outside in the sun – tick, a lovely day – tick!  We can even get the WIFI at our site, which is just along from the adult lodge.  There are two pools here, an adult only and a family pool, but they are right next to each other so the family noise permeates. The temperature is lovely, its warm, 28C but it’s a nice heat and we can’t be bothered going to the pool so hang out at our site.  It’s hard work being pampered and entertained on a cruise ship for seven whole days you know!

So the cruise - we agree 7 days is about right, we are ready to leave at the end of a week, have tried most of the food, seen the shows and comedy acts, been 'invited' to buy stuff, seen amazing scenery and wildlife.  Would we do another one, I vote yes but Kim says no - but he said that after the last one too!  Give him a couple of weeks.

I ‘get’ ship life and am quite in my element, you can choose to eat fine dining in the restaurant, or bulk buffet dining in the trough, or mix it up with Guys Burgers, or Pizza, or Mexican (the taco bowl was worthy), or the Sweet Spot (for our version of afternoon delights) or even the ice cream yoghurt bar!  There is loads of stuff to do if you want company and some extra-curricular activities, or you can find a nice spot, in a pod for instance, and read the afternoon away.  It’s nice to cruise with another couple though, to enjoy the mandatory ‘Happy Hours’, people watching (although I have to admit the blokes did their fair share of that), girls shopping, champagne art auctions and the shows etc!

So when it comes to dinner time tonight, at home, in our motorhome, do we really miss having a selection of entrée, main and desert prepared and served to us with cloth napkins etc.  Not really, we enjoy our mushrooms on toast tonight, even if I did have to make it and Kim clean up after.  Tiny tea, back to normal - phew!

Monday, July 23 – Carnival Legend at Sea to Victoria

Cruise Day 7

Woke to fog and it feels like we have had a sleep in because it is already later due to time zone change.

Brunch at Truffles, we are getting a tad weary of the breakfasts even though there is a huge selection, spoilt for choice!  Then shopping, it's the last day sale (I bought a Guess choker) and then moseyed around and coffee and stuff.  Fog still there at 2pm, hope it clears before we get to Victoria, so we can sightsee.  The only animals I have seen today are towel animals!

Not quite the type of wild animal I am on the lookout for!

By 4pm its starting to get a little brighter so there is still a chance it will fine by the time we get in to Victoria BC at 7.30pm.  We will only have five hours here so will need to make the most of it.

We meet up for HH and decide if we will go into Victoria tonight, you can walk into town in about 35 minutes or get a bus for $13 each, or Uber I guess.  Chris is keen - he wants to buy a pin, Carrol is keen to stay put and after we check out the view from the front of the ship and remember where the ferry docked on our bike trip etc. we decide to give it a miss too, enjoy a relaxing dinner in the restaurant with a glass of wine and have an early night.  My cold is not so good tonight : (

Victoria skyline

View from front of ship

Welcome to Canada!

As you can see from the photos the fog did lift and it was a beautiful evening once we got close to Victoria.

Sunday, July 22 – Ketchikan – Alaska’s First City

Cruise Day 6

Weather app says to expect cloud and a high of 23C today, yesterday we were promised sun for today!

We are docked behind another ship by 7am and we have until 12.30 to explore the town, so we better get started.  Crossing Guards with lollipops stop the traffic for ship passengers to cross the busy road.

Ketchikan is the southernmost port in Alaska and is the Salmon Capital of the World.  We see evidence of this in the town along with the mandatory diamond and jewellery shops (including one with my name on it which has been here since 1968).  Local 'Made in Alaska' totem poles, soap, coffee, and art and crafts are found all over. The infamous Creek Street area is built on pilings over the Ketchikan Creek and was once part of Ketchikan’s red light district.  Prostitution was legal in Alaska but subject to government regulations. One of the most successful proprietors was Dolly Arthur, her bawdy house opened in 1919 with rates of $3 for going upstream to spawn or 50 cents for a shot of watered down whiskey!

Creek Street

Dolly's where both men and salmon come up stream to spawn

As we are walking along the boardwalk between these shops there is a bald eagle right there in the built up area of the town.

Amazing majestic birds and we are lucky to see one co close!

We see a range of Duck Tours but fresh in our mind is the Duck tour accident which drowned 17 people including 9 from one family in Missouri last week.  They still seem to busy here though.

Alaska‘s inside passage is 500 miles long, 100 miles wide and has over 1,100 islands and 18,000 miles of shoreline, a boaty’s paradise – in summer!!  We see yet more eagles along the waters edge as we depart Ketchikan.

We have had delivered to our cabin a lovely bottle of Australian red wine and a plate of delicious chocolate covered strawberries.  They are compliments of the service desk as Kim let them know about all the extraneous noises we could hear from our cabin, the whistling from the services room across the hallway, the thumping bass coming up from the Follies Theatre below us on deck 4 etc.

HH, dinner at Truffles and the Show and it is time for bed!  Need to put our clocks forward one hour tonight too.

Saturday, July 21 – Juneau AK

Cruise Day 5

Arrive into the port of Juneau at 7am and tie up alongside the wharf.  The sun is shining (yay) we have had such amazing weather for this cruise. 

Coming into Juneau at the foot of Mt Roberts AK

After a quick breakfast we walk less than a block into town. 

Our friendly lollipop man

Once again the jewellery shops outnumber everything else by a huge margin.  They are very quick to point out that the price tag with many zeros on it is only the asking price.  They are hard sell, stalking you from their doors, offering special discounts etc.  We find out where the drug store is (passing an actual “drug store” on the way) to pick up some cough ‘n cold meds, think I am coming down with snifylus!  Another fur shop here too.  One of the shops is selling a selection of black golf balls, I guess for playing in the snow? 

Up close and personal with a bear

Unfortunately the only bears we see

Fur for the couple who has everything!

This clock at the crossroads appears in lots of Juneau marketinig

We don’t need to be back on board until 2.30pm but by around noon, after a very pleasant wander around the town, we are ready to head back to the ship, one of the four in port today. 

Beautiful day in Juneau AK

We spend a couple of hours in a pod at the back of the ship which is looking directly in to the stern cabins of the Grand Princess??  Mental note, if we ever go on the Grand Princess we will need a stern cabin, the others don’t have balconies.

Juneau is the capital city of Alaska, it took the honour from Sitka in 1906. Juneau is set along the beautiful Gastineau Channel at the foot of Boundary Range mountains and is accessible only by sea or air - there are no roads to the mainland as the terrain is so rugged. There are only 190 miles of roads in the city.  Alaska’s only aerial tramway is here and it soars up to 1,800 feet above sea level. Glad we got a good sunny day, it rains for 230 days per year.  Daylight hours range from 6.42 in winter to 18.25 at the height of summer.  John Nordstrom of retail fame sold his mining stake for $13,000 and returned to Seattle to start Nordstrom department stores.  There you go, if you ever get asked any pub quiz questions about Juneau I am happy to be of help.

We are the first ship to leave at 3pm and we have a beautiful cruise, the water is like glass and we see either otters or harbour seals poking their noses through the surface of the water and we do finally see whales spouting.

Gastineau Channel

Then the usual HH, show, dinner and bed!

Friday, July 20 – Skagway AK

Cruise Day 4

Before bed last night I check out the sky for stars, northern lights etc, and see another cruise boat dogging our footsteps, so to speak.

We arrive at Skagway by 7am, and see a wall of rock (a lot of it is painted) and trees right out our door.  We turn on the TV so we can see out the front and back without having to get out of bed.  There is the second boat, Princess Line pulling in behind us.  When we eventually get top decks we see yet another cruise liner parked in another berth - The Norwegian Jewel.  Town will be humming today!

Over a cup of tea on the 9^th Deck we observe multiple helicopters coming and going, a small plane arriving to an invisible airstrip just behind the Norwegian Jewel, trains, boats and buses galore and people everywhere. 

After a leisurely yet healthy brekkie we walk the gangplank and wander the ¼ mile into the township.  It is like a mini Queenstown.  There are lots of souvenir shops, an abundance of jewellery shops and a ‘not so PC’ fur shop – but they had the most amazing furs in there.  The Christmas Store is the closest one to the North Pole I’ve ever been in!  Plus fudge and chocolate shops so first thing when we get back on board is a coffee and a treat from the Sweet Shop!

Welcome to Skagway AK

House of Negotiable Affections - dance hall girls and prostitutes all attempt to mine the miners

The buildings are rustically designed, more than a few are museums.  A  boardwalk doubles as a footpath in some places down the main street of Broadway, but all in all everything seems in good condition.

Main Street of Skagway

Skagway became the major embarkation point for prospectors on the way to the Yukon during the Klondike gold rush.  The White Pass and Yukon rail line took the labour of 35,000 men using just black blasting powder and crude tools to hew out the 110 mile narrow gauge to carry miners and freight to and from the Yukon. It took two years, two months and two days to build.  It’s one of the last narrow gauge railway in the US.

Back to the room and sit out on the balcony for a read before eyes droop and have to be closed for 10 minutes.  Got WIFI here to post some blogs, although it is very slow.

I have been using the Carnival App and find it brilliant. It gives the weather for each port we are going to, what’s on each day and will remind me if I choose some favourites for the day, the ship map - deck plans, we can check our Sail Away account too. Chris and I are on the $5 chat so we can talk and find each other if we aren’t in our cabins, it’s great.

At 5pm we meet back down in the Serenity Bar for HH and bask in the sun streaming over the back of the ship.  We’ve had a long stop here at Skagway and the Legend is the last of the three ships to leave.

The Show tonight, North to Alaska with Steve Hites, a local Skagway newcomer, only been here for 40 years and he tells the history of the last frontier through original music and well told stories, really interesting too.

Dinner as usual is around 8pm, at our usual table with our usual wait staff.  We finish in time to catch the Love and Marriage Show, which gives us a good laugh before we call it a night.

We are back at our cabin a little after 10pm and catch another sunset before calling it a night.

Seeya Skagway!

Thursday, July 19 - Cruising to Tracy Arm Fjord

Cruise Day 3

Again I am awake to photograph the old rosy blush and the sunrise but sneak in a few more zzz’s before finally getting up. Not much dark time, sun sets 9.53pm and rises 4.20am. The sun turns to fog and we see the ships lower radar turn on because you can’t see out the front and the fog horn sounds. Sun comes back and then hides behind the fog again but it should clear by noon.  We had an extra hour sleep last night, we put our clocks back one hour.

Brekkie is at the Lido this morning, affectionately called the trough although my fruit was lovely and I didn’t have to queue.  I am saving myself for lunch today - I have spied the taco bowls and will need to have room to put one of those away.  Yep, they are as good as they look, especially at 3pm.

I wander down to the infirmary so they can give any advice on my shin, it seems the spray on plastic skin is not rated well here, she recommends just antiseptic cream and keeping it covered.  It’s cooler today so I cover it well and then I can put my jeans on.

We have such a lot of beautiful scenery to look at today, from first thing we are weaving up the Tracy Arm in awe at the sheer cliffs on both sides.  Get very excited at our first sighting of an iceberg but see many many more and keep a good eye out for whales or other marine life, bears and bald eagles.

Ohh exciting, first icebergs!!

There is another cruise liner up the Tracy Arm already and we pass each other around the island in the middle.

He went one way around the island and we went the other

Sheer rock faces and not much growing close to the glacier

Our ship stops to let passengers who have bought the excursion to the glacier on a tour boat off.  We missed out on that tour, but I don’t mind now as our ship sails right up to the glacier and parks there for some time so that everyone can get their photo op.  The Sawyer Glacier at the top of Tracy Arm Fjord is pretty spectacular and we see a chunk calve off and smash into the sea.  This glacier is retreating by 400 feet each year so I’m glad we are here now.  

Spectacular Sawyer Glacier

The sea is a beautiful colour

The sun is warm but the breeze is freezing, we are happy to be wearing our down jackets but that didn’t take care of the frozen ears.  The sun stayed out all afternoon so we thawed out on the loungers for a while.  Kim is out on our balcony now with his binoculars checking for bears, whales and bald eagles.  I wore out one camera battery and half of the spare too, when I download them I see there are 227 photos – phew a marathon effort!

Our cruise so far!

We have our usual HH and nibbles behind glass tonight and watch as we weave out way back down the Fjord.  It could be the Marlborough Sounds in some places.

The show tonight is The Brits – a tribute to the British invasion from The Beatles, The Who, Herman’s Hermits and The Rolling Stones so we aim to hit one of the shows either 7.45pm before dinner or the 9.45pm after dinner.  In between is a tribute to Michael Jackson so we might not get dinner tonight.

Dinner is next on the list after the Show which had good music and again at Alvaro’s Table.  He does look after us and again the staff entertain us although tonight Chris is not helping them out dancing and wearing the Sombrero!

We go to check out the Punchliner Comedy Club but the next show is not for another 45 minutes at 10.30pm so we all decide we are too tired out to wait.

I did see a bear today - a polar bear!!

Wednesday, July 18 - Cruising west of Vancouver Island

Cruise Day 2

4am showed a lovely rosy glow over the island, the sun peeped over the horizon at 6am and it was an instant effect.  Then the clouds came over.  Temp is 15C getting to 20C if forecast is correct.

Dawn emerging, from our balcony on starboard side

Our plans to meet for brunch in the Truffles Restaurant don’t work out, C&C aren’t out of bed yet so we go down to Lido for a cuppa tea.  Kim can’t restrain himself, he is having bacon, scrambled eggs and toast and more toast to keep him going while we are waiting for breakfast.

We check out the last 30 minutes of the 'Introduction to Alaska – Glaciers, Volcanos and Wildlife' and find it very interesting.  Hope we will even some of what they talk about.  Meet up for brunch at Truffles around 10.30 and Kim is coerced into having blueberry pancakes to top off his earlier breakfast.

Carrol and I ditch the boys and check out the Cooking Demonstration at the flash Nouveau Restaurant and we get to taste small samples of all the courses they showed us, mushroom capuccino, salad, chicken with rosemary/garlic potatoes and mac cheese followed by the most heavenly tiramisu.  Well, even tho it is straight after brunch we manage a taste of everything and polish off the desert.  The watermelon carving was amazing!

Very skilful

Next we visit the champagne Art Auction, don’t buy anything we enjoy the bubbles while we peruse the artwork!

We rush away from there before it's finished, we are meeting Chris and maybe Kim for the Guess that Song TV Theme Trivia.  However we are a bit late and there are no seats so we don’t participate but do manage to get seats early for the 50’s and 60’s Music Trivia Quiz and must say we do ourselves proud scoring an honest 31 out of a possible 44.  One person claimed 43 and won the 'solid gold plastic ship on a stick' and a bottle of champers.

We’ve also been to the Murder Mystery show but it seems that there are clues to be learned over the course of the cruise and we aren’t sure if we can be bothered.

Kim stayed up in the Serenity Lounge, he scored a “pod” for himself and was enjoying the sun when it was out, engrossed in his latest book.

Back to the room - aww, we have a towel animal. I spend some time making notes for the blog and downloading the photos before HH.

Take our own drinks to HH today, pick up some nibbles (cheese, olives, smoked salmon, cold meat etc.) from the deli bar on the way through and end up at the Alchemy Bar which was a bit too noisy music wise for us, so wandered forward a bit and got comfy seats beside the photo booths.  Tonight is dress up night so we enjoy people watching and seeing all the lovely outfits.  We go back to our cabins to glam ourselves up prior to dinner which is at the Truffles Restaurant again and we luck out and get our same table same waiter, Alvaro - he is getting to know us.  The wait staff entertain us tonight and they do a spectacular job, the solo singer is very good.

Girls glammed up!  No photo of the boys, they were pulling faces!

We catch a couple of comedy routines at the Punchliner Club which rounds the night out nicely and we are home in bed by a little after 11am.  It is late so these are adult shows, Stanley Ullman was good and Chas Ekstber does the most realistic sound affects, both acts are dotted with a liberal dose of “F” words! 

A nice calm night but don’t see stars, or northern lights or whales – yet!