July - Cruise to Alaska July 4 - 9th, 2013 Park I

Just on a whim (and a good price) I asked John if he wanted to cruise to Alaska and he said yes.  So we got our tickets about 8 days before we left (this is after checking our calendar to see if we had appointments and found we were clear). 

We left on July 4th pretty early and arrived in Richland, WA around 1:30 p.m. and went to Terry and Dale's house for their fun party.  What a feast.  We had it all, even music.  Nice party and their friends were super people.  We had a great day.  We spent the night and they had us a breakfast fit for a king.  Two of the most hospitable people in the world.  Thanks for the fun holiday and visit.

Terry - you will not stave at her house

She is a lady who has everything

 

So fun to sing along

Beatles, Eagles, oldies

 

Terry's husband Dale, he just

a great guy, one of a kind

 

We had sparklers - always fun

  

Drove to Redmond, WA (a little suburb of Seattle), got to our hotel and then headed out for a little seafood.  Stopped at Ivar's Seafood Bar in a lovely park.  Had a tasty, casual dinner and walked around the park a bit.  People were walking, fishing and boating.  The lake is huge, and the grounds at the park couldn't be nicer.  It was a very peaceful spot.



 

Loved the hydrangeas at Gene Coulon

Memorial Beach Park on Lake Washington.

 

Sailboat rentals

 

Sun was attacking John at dinner.

 

Cool sculptures dressed

for 4th of July

  

Time to call it a night.

Big day tomorrow

 

Next day, drove to ship parking.  Boarded ship with ease and got to our room.  It was a very nice room and I think it had more space than our last cruise ship which was Carnival.  We were on the Star Princess that has a passenger capacity of 3,100.  Crew of over 1,000.  A fabulous ship and we never felt more than a tiny rocking on the entire trip.  Food was very good (not great), but their desserts were excellent.  We saw shows, went to all kinds of fun activities and enjoyed the four part series by Michael Modzelewski about Alaska.  He has written several books that I want to get from the library.  He truly loves Alaska and animals and he was an excellent speaker.  His talks were a highlight of my trip.



 

Our beautiful, huge Star Princess

 

Pulling out of Seattle harbor*

 

Huge movie screen on deck

 

Fruit/vegetable carving demos by

three kitchen staff

 

These guys were amazing

 

Gorgeous parrot



 

I went on the kitchen tour and it looked like a stainless steel paradise.  I'm sure they have every possible tool, machine.  The kitchen was immaculate.  I didn't take my camera and they had many carved items that were lovely.  I was so impressed with the cleanliness.  They have hand sanitizer all over the ship, signs everywhere about washing hands.  At each buffet line there is a Purell dispenser with a staff member there asking you to sanitize.  It is nice to see they take health issues so seriously.

 

Of interest:  Average amount prepared daily:

fish, 1,700 lbs.

poultry 1,400 lbs.

beef 1,700 lbs.

salad 1,600 lbs.

shrimps 400 lbs.

mayonnaise 13 gallons

potatoes 2,700 lbs.

butter 400 lbs.

coffee 470 gallons

 

dishes washed day 70,000

glasses washed 21,500

 

So this is a huge operation and they do a fantastic job.

 

Our trip took us through the Inside Passage to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchican and Victoria.  We cruised through Glacier Bay and saw glaciers that were taller than our huge ship, aqua blue glaciers in spots, heard the "calving" of the ice.  The sights were all majestic and I'm so glad we were able to experience our state to the North.

I can't describe all the beauty we saw, so I will just share some of my photos (only some since I took over 400).  Thank goodness for digital photography, storage and cost wise.

Juneau, Alaska

 

We had clouds and off and on

rain during the day

 

Mendenhall Glacier over my left

shoulder, and Nugget Falls on my right

 

Mendenhall Glacier

Oxygen depletion makes ice blue

 

I walked trail out to lookout

and found lovely plants

 

I just have to stop and photograph

flowers, plants

 

 

So delicate

 

You won't believe that this is the

Alaska State Capitol, but it is. 

 So unremarkable.

 

My friend, Dave, is a musher in Juneau.  He met us after we went to glacier and we took him to lunch.  We then walked to the capitol building.  Then he was able to get us (John didn't go, rainy and he was cold and pooped out) a free dog sled adventure, a ride in cart (summer) with 16 dogs pulling us, seeing and holding puppies, talk on sledding.  It was a one of a kind trip and so fun.  An adventure I will always remember.



 

Dog sled I went on

 

I'm ready for the Iditarod

 

My friend Dave, he's a great

guy and a crazy adventurer

 

Sled dog puppy, so sweet

 

Skagway, the gold rush town that never had any gold, just the stop off point to travel to the gold fields.  Fun little city.  We took an excursion to the White Pass Summit.

 

Look at the snow pole to guide

the snow plow.  Deep, deep snow on this road

 

We had some wind up at the Summit

 

Historic trail to gold fields.

Trip made 30-40 times per miner to

get their required full ton of goods to the top.

 

Bridal Veil Falls, AK

 

Very overcast around summit

 

Historic saloon - opened in 1898

top floor had the ladies

 

AB Hall covered in drift wood.  One of the most

photographed buildings in the country.

Looks like our ship is coming

right down the street

 

Now a funny part is that on the 7 day cruise there were 2 formal nights so off to the storage unit we went to find our "good clothes" that we haven't worn in over a year.  We didn't even have any good shoes.  We dug around, found John's shoes and that was about it.  So we went off to the Goodwill and Idaho Youth Ranch and had a blast shopping for our dress up outfits.  I found a cute long, sparkly top (had the top and pants) and got some patent leather shoes at Penney's.  Got an adorable long black dress with bling at Walmart.  John got a suit jacket at Goodwill and bought some good black pants and a new tie.  We will put these outfits in a well marked box so next time we need to spiff up we can find our clothes.

 

Formal night on ship

 

All dressed up

 

End of Part I

 

* Side Note:  The Space Needle is from the World's Fair - that believe it or not, I went to when it opened in 1963, when I was 13 years old.  I lived in San Diego, CA and my aunt and uncle, who lived in Bellevue, WA, had me come up and spend a week with them.  My uncle took me down to the fair twice.  Something I'll never forget.  I've got to find the picture of me with a huge stuffed giraffe he bought for me (tried to win it, no luck).  Happy memory.



July - Cruise to Alaska July 4 - 9th, 2013 Park I

Just on a whim (and a good price) I asked John if he wanted to cruise to Alaska and he said yes.  So we got our tickets about 8 days before we left (this is after checking our calendar to see if we had appointments and found we were clear). 

We left on July 4th pretty early and arrived in Richland, WA around 1:30 p.m. and went to Terry and Dale's house for their fun party.  What a feast.  We had it all, even music.  Nice party and their friends were super people.  We had a great day.  We spent the night and they had us a breakfast fit for a king.  Two of the most hospitable people in the world.  Thanks for the fun holiday and visit.

Terry - you will not stave at her house

She is a lady who has everything

 

So fun to sing along

Beatles, Eagles, oldies

 

Terry's husband Dale, he just

a great guy, one of a kind

 

We had sparklers - always fun

  

Drove to Redmond, WA (a little suburb of Seattle), got to our hotel and then headed out for a little seafood.  Stopped at Ivar's Seafood Bar in a lovely park.  Had a tasty, casual dinner and walked around the park a bit.  People were walking, fishing and boating.  The lake is huge, and the grounds at the park couldn't be nicer.  It was a very peaceful spot.



 

Loved the hydrangeas at Gene Coulon

Memorial Beach Park on Lake Washington.

 

Sailboat rentals

 

Sun was attacking John at dinner.

 

Cool sculptures dressed

for 4th of July

  

Time to call it a night.

Big day tomorrow

 

Next day, drove to ship parking.  Boarded ship with ease and got to our room.  It was a very nice room and I think it had more space than our last cruise ship which was Carnival.  We were on the Star Princess that has a passenger capacity of 3,100.  Crew of over 1,000.  A fabulous ship and we never felt more than a tiny rocking on the entire trip.  Food was very good (not great), but their desserts were excellent.  We saw shows, went to all kinds of fun activities and enjoyed the four part series by Michael Modzelewski about Alaska.  He has written several books that I want to get from the library.  He truly loves Alaska and animals and he was an excellent speaker.  His talks were a highlight of my trip.



 

Our beautiful, huge Star Princess

 

Pulling out of Seattle harbor*

 

Huge movie screen on deck

 

Fruit/vegetable carving demos by

three kitchen staff

 

These guys were amazing

 

Gorgeous parrot



 

I went on the kitchen tour and it looked like a stainless steel paradise.  I'm sure they have every possible tool, machine.  The kitchen was immaculate.  I didn't take my camera and they had many carved items that were lovely.  I was so impressed with the cleanliness.  They have hand sanitizer all over the ship, signs everywhere about washing hands.  At each buffet line there is a Purell dispenser with a staff member there asking you to sanitize.  It is nice to see they take health issues so seriously.

 

Of interest:  Average amount prepared daily:

fish, 1,700 lbs.

poultry 1,400 lbs.

beef 1,700 lbs.

salad 1,600 lbs.

shrimps 400 lbs.

mayonnaise 13 gallons

potatoes 2,700 lbs.

butter 400 lbs.

coffee 470 gallons

 

dishes washed day 70,000

glasses washed 21,500

 

So this is a huge operation and they do a fantastic job.

 

Our trip took us through the Inside Passage to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchican and Victoria.  We cruised through Glacier Bay and saw glaciers that were taller than our huge ship, aqua blue glaciers in spots, heard the "calving" of the ice.  The sights were all majestic and I'm so glad we were able to experience our state to the North.

I can't describe all the beauty we saw, so I will just share some of my photos (only some since I took over 400).  Thank goodness for digital photography, storage and cost wise.

Juneau, Alaska

 

We had clouds and off and on

rain during the day

 

Mendenhall Glacier over my left

shoulder, and Nugget Falls on my right

 

Mendenhall Glacier

Oxygen depletion makes ice blue

 

I walked trail out to lookout

and found lovely plants

 

I just have to stop and photograph

flowers, plants

 

 

So delicate

 

You won't believe that this is the

Alaska State Capitol, but it is. 

 So unremarkable.

 

My friend, Dave, is a musher in Juneau.  He met us after we went to glacier and we took him to lunch.  We then walked to the capitol building.  Then he was able to get us (John didn't go, rainy and he was cold and pooped out) a free dog sled adventure, a ride in cart (summer) with 16 dogs pulling us, seeing and holding puppies, talk on sledding.  It was a one of a kind trip and so fun.  An adventure I will always remember.



 

Dog sled I went on

 

I'm ready for the Iditarod

 

My friend Dave, he's a great

guy and a crazy adventurer

 

Sled dog puppy, so sweet

 

Skagway, the gold rush town that never had any gold, just the stop off point to travel to the gold fields.  Fun little city.  We took an excursion to the White Pass Summit.

 

Look at the snow pole to guide

the snow plow.  Deep, deep snow on this road

 

We had some wind up at the Summit

 

Historic trail to gold fields.

Trip made 30-40 times per miner to

get their required full ton of goods to the top.

 

Bridal Veil Falls, AK

 

Very overcast around summit

 

Historic saloon - opened in 1898

top floor had the ladies

 

AB Hall covered in drift wood.  One of the most

photographed buildings in the country.

Looks like our ship is coming

right down the street

 

Now a funny part is that on the 7 day cruise there were 2 formal nights so off to the storage unit we went to find our "good clothes" that we haven't worn in over a year.  We didn't even have any good shoes.  We dug around, found John's shoes and that was about it.  So we went off to the Goodwill and Idaho Youth Ranch and had a blast shopping for our dress up outfits.  I found a cute long, sparkly top (had the top and pants) and got some patent leather shoes at Penney's.  Got an adorable long black dress with bling at Walmart.  John got a suit jacket at Goodwill and bought some good black pants and a new tie.  We will put these outfits in a well marked box so next time we need to spiff up we can find our clothes.

 

Formal night on ship

 

All dressed up

 

End of Part I

 

* Side Note:  The Space Needle is from the World's Fair - that believe it or not, I went to when it opened in 1963, when I was 13 years old.  I lived in San Diego, CA and my aunt and uncle, who lived in Bellevue, WA, had me come up and spend a week with them.  My uncle took me down to the fair twice.  Something I'll never forget.  I've got to find the picture of me with a huge stuffed giraffe he bought for me (tried to win it, no luck).  Happy memory.