Travel

June 2016 Alaska – Day 2

/ Terry / 5 Comments

Well I sleep pretty well and do not need to be at the ship till 11AM but I am up at 6AM, so I take a shower and pack everything I used the night before. I walk next door to Top Pot Donuts and a delicious breakfast of some large donuts; a chocolate cake donut and a chocolate old fashion donut with milk. Yes, I am on vacation so I will eat things I do not normally have and be bad. I sit comfortably upstairs on the mezzanine level and slowly eat while I read my magazine.

Well it is about 8AM and I decide what the heck, might as well go for a early Sunday morning walk. I head down to see that the ship is in port and continue on for about another hour exploring a quiet downtown. After walking a lot of the streets I decide to get my bags and see if I can get on board early, so I check out of the room and head for the cruise terminal.

Norwegian Pearl

Ship Docked at Skagway

I check my carryon bag but carry my shoulder bag with the camera gear on to ship, The Norwegian Pearl, my home for the next week. Check-in is easy but I have to wait another hour or so to board until they have the ship cleaned up. As I sit the waiting room becomes clogged with fellow travelers. I have group #5 boarding time so when they start calling people I get on pretty quickly.

On board I find a nice window seat where I can view the entry on deck 7 Promenade and see when the family is boarding. In just about an hour everyone is on board and we all head for the buffet on Deck 12 to grab lunch and enjoy catching up on lost time. We hear the call that rooms are ready after about an hour and a half so off we go to Deck 10 where all the rooms are very close together.

At 4PM it is time to sail so we head back to Deck 12 aft and watch the Seattle skyline fade into the distance.

When the skyline fades away we have the first decision of the cruise; where shall we eat dinner? Since my daughter-in-law and her mother have been on this cruise once before it is decided we shall eat at the dinning room on Deck 7. Good choice as the food was excellent and we had a great window view.

Sail Day-2

Pool on Deck 12

After a leisurely dinner my son and I head to Decks 12 and 13 to walk off some of the rich meal we just finished. Casually we stroll the decks going up and down enjoying the evening air and just relaxing watching the shoreline glide past.

Sail Day-1

I mention all the decks as I have made up my mind not use the crowded elevators all week to fight off gaining weight and stay in somewhat good shape with all the good food I will be partaking in. Well it works today as I have walked 7.39 miles with 19,365 steps and have climbed 66 flights of stairs. Who needs a stair climber in the gym?

Whoa am I tired when I get to bed that night and sleep like a little baby as the ship gently rocks me to sleep.

June 2016 Alaska – Day 1

/ Terry / 9 Comments

Alright the first trip on my own, well not quite as there will be 6 family members and 3 friends going along on this Alaska Cruise but I still count it being my first vacation trip since my wife’s passing. On this trip will be my son, his wife and 1 year old son, her mother, father and brother and 2 fun friends from Casper, WY I met at my sons wedding. The Wyoming friends are also bringing another friend along, also from Casper. So I won’t technically be alone but at times I will be exploring the towns we visit alone as I am not taking any ship excursions with the family.

I was up at 4:30AM Saturday morning to have my daughter take me to the airport for the 2 1/2 hour flight to Seattle, WA. Flying out at 7:30AM we landed at 9:45AM after flying a large circle around Seattle, as we were way early due to a tailwind.

I have good directions for the Light Rail line between Sea-Tac airport and downtown, buy my $3 ticket and board the train for a 40-minute carefree ride to town. Very easy system to comprehend with clean train cars. Getting off at the downtown Westlake Station I walk the ½ mile to my room for the night.

This little motel was not the best place in downtown but it was clean, safe, inexpensive and my room was actually ready for me when I arrived. So I placed my carry-on bag in my room, got my camera gear for the day packed in the shoulder bag and head out for a walking tour of downtown Seattle.

Seattle-29

First stop was to walk the 1/2 mile down to the cruise terminal and see how the walk would be in the morning. Well a 15 minute slow walk got me there to see the sister ship to mine, disembarking and embarking passengers for the sailing later that day.

OK, now knowing how to get there and how long the walk would take, I start my second part of the journey along the shoreline to Miners Landing – Pier 57 to see what this is all about. A ferris wheel is outside and a small shopping mall is inside the old pier building.

Walking quickly through this crowded shopping area I stumble upon an interesting antique shop across the street and go inside to look and see if there are any interesting subjects to photograph. Yes there are but the lighting was very poor and I had to really work the camera just to get any shots worth processing.

 

Seattle-28Continuing on I head uphill for Pikes Place Market to see this world famous fish market. Well it was interesting and there was a lot to see but it is so overrun with tourists in the afternoon that it is impossible to get any good photographs or to enjoy the sellers stalls. I wish I could have gotten there early in the morning before everyone was up. This place is soooooo crowed I found the first exit point to get outside and get a breath of air.

Done here with the crowds I walk over to the small Victor Stein Brueck Park, resting and gazing over the harbor for a while as I eat a small snack and have some water.

Rested I decide to walk the approximately 1 mile to the Space Needle to check it out. I am still very hungry so  I decide I need a lunch, the snack did not satisfy me. Finding a Subway sandwich shop I go in to get a quick 6″ Cold Cut Sandwich, chips and a drink.

Finishing the meal I continue my walk searching for a place to have dinner along the way. Several restaurants interest me so I at least have a pick for my meal later.

Seattle-34Arriving at The Space Needle it starts to rain, yes we are in Seattle and I must get a little wet. After a brief hour-long shower the skies open to a beautiful sunny day and sky. As I walk around the park I enjoy getting shots of the Space Needle, other museum buildings and play areas. Sitting and relaxing for a while, I just unwind from my flight and walk.

 

 

I am finished exploring and it is about 4:30PM so I head back to the room to drop my camera gear off, clean up and decide what I want for dinner.

I decide on the Bahn Mi sandwich I saw in a little shop a few blocks away on 5th Ave and head down the street to eat. Sitting there enjoying the sandwich I think about the day I have had, write down some notes and contemplate what is upcoming the next week on the family cruise. The sandwich is good and filling but I have had better Bahn Mi. Finished with dinner I head back to the room to rest and get ready to board the ship in the morning. But first I must see what Top Pot Donuts has in store for breakfast tomorrow morning. OH good, everything looks so YUMMY.

Back at the room I get everything ready for my embarkation and jot down my walking information for the day: a little over 10 miles and 25,174 steps, quite a day of plane travel and exploring. I fall fast asleep for a good nights rest, I don’t even remember my head hitting the pillow at somewhere about 10PM.

The most Inspirational Person I know

/ Terry / 12 Comments
Taken at Mount St Helens, WA 2013

Taken at Mount St Helens, WA 2013

This is a story of the most influential and inspirational person in my life, my wife Jodi, who was my best friend, my rock, and my traveling companion; the love of my life suddenly passed away on March 31, 2016 at the age of 60. This fantastic lady was shared with me by the grace of god, I will miss her; she was the spark of light in my life. I post this as a remembrance of the love she had for family, life, traveling, and giving to others.

Such a good sport
Knows which way to go
Nothing holds her down
Loves Ice Cream
Yum Yum
And she shares

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Day 8 EPCOT at Walt Disney Word, Florida 

/ Terry / 2 Comments

Well we bookend our trip with park visits to EPCOT.

Arriving at a little after 9:00 AM we enter the park and head straight to Test Track to design our virtual concept vehicle and see how it performs on the TEST TRACK. Remember it will tested on the following criteria:

1.    Handling

2.    Maneuverability

3.    Efficiency

4.    Power

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Day 6 – Off / Rest day to Disney Springs at Walt Disney Word, Florida

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Well not much happening today, we are tired and it is still on the cold side threatening to rain all day.

We have an 8:30 breakfast reservation at The Polynesian’s “Kona Café”, so we jump on the bus transportation to the Magic Kingdom and walk across the front of the park to gain access to the transportation for the resorts. It is too cold for the boat so we climb the ramp to the monorail for the trip around Seven Seas Lagoon. Although everyone raves about the Tonga Toast at the Kona Café it just looks too heavy and sweet for us so we both decide on the Big Kahuna breakfast platter. The platter consists of French Toast, Pancakes, Eggs, Home Fried Potatoes, Ham, Bacon, and Sausage. This is still a large filling breakfast and a lot of food but the large bread-roll smothered in a sweet topping would be a heavy gut buster for us. I asked to change my French Toast for additional pancakes and the ham for additional bacon, just perfect now. Filled up for the day we should only require a late lunch to keep our tummies happy for the rest of today.

We take the monorail back to catch our resort bus transportation and we hardly stop in the line to wait for the next bus when a private Disney van pulls up, the driver gets out opens the side door and say’s our ride is ready. What??? Our driver explains that due to the buses schedules of getting guests to the parks in the morning this van service is provided to return people to the Resorts if it is needed. Wow, a private van / limo ride back and a wonderful talk with our diver. Returning we start a load of laundry and do some packing as we are changing hotels tomorrow for our last two nights.

We start our walk to Disney Springs and proceed across the pedestrian bridge that provides access between Saratoga Springs Resort and the Disney Springs shopping area.

The bridge drops us off near the Transportation Stop and we visit The Art of Disney, Disney Days of Christmas, Spice and Tea Cooking shop, Once Upon a Toy Store, and The World of Disney Store.

A steady rain starts about 11:15 AM as we are in Once Upon a Time and by the time we leave the Disney Store it coming down  little harder and does not look like the rain will let up much at all today.

Wanting to go over to “Cookes of Dublin” for our only other meal today we decide to stay close to this side of Disney Springs as the rain is just coming down too much for us today and we head to “Earl of Sandwich” before we get drench in the rain. We to get our sandwiches to go and eat back at the Villa; the rain lets up into a drizzle as we start our walk back at 1:30 PM.

Back to get out of our wet clothes we walked 3.5 miles and 8,779 steps today. Sitting at our table to eat our sandwiches. I got the All American and Jodi got the Chipotle Chicken Avocado, as always-great sandwiches especially when we warm them in the oven.

Now it is time to finish our laundry and packing as the rain continues to fall outside. We then rest and complete our routine. We will have our luggage transferred to our new room at All-Star Music Resort in the morning as we go for our third and final day at the Magic Kingdom.

Day 5 – Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney Word, Florida

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We head back for our second day at the Magic Kingdom. We arrive at 8:45 in 38-degree weather, rather cold today as it had been in the high 70’s and low 80’s for the first part of our visit.

Main Street Station

No problem with the security line today and we waltz right into the park. Heading down Main Street we finally come to a stop at the hub. Until the park officially opens at 9:00 we can not proceed any farther into the lands. We are heading to FrontierLand so we stay out in the main hub where there is nice warm sunshine instead of waiting with all the others in the cold shade.

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Day 4 – Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney Word, Florida

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Animal KingdomThis is the farthest park from Saratoga Springs so even though we left earlier today we did not arrive at the park until right at 9:00 AM. This means we were able walked right into the park, until I was randomly singled out to go through the metal detector. Well there was no line and all I had to take out of my pocket was the phone.

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Day 3 Hollywood Studio’s at Walt Disney Word, Florida 

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Well rested we actually get to the park about 8:30 this morning. The gates were open and you could enter the park to explore Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards.

We could not go on the exciting drive thru the streets of LA on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster this trip but this is usually our must see first attraction in this park. Our grandson and granddaughter have just loved this roller coaster ever since they were tall enough to ride it, and this is an attraction that we come back to several times during the day when they are with us. This indoor coaster launches you at 57mph and 4.5g’s in 2.8 seconds as you twist, turn and invert with Aerosmith playing through the speakers. “ROCK ON!!”

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Day 2 Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney Word, Florida

/ Terry / 1 Comment

We are up at 6am to eat breakfast and start our morning routine prior to leaving for the Magic Kingdom. Leaving our room at about 8:30 we walk to the transportation stop and arrived at 9:10 on our Disney Transportation bus to a massive line at security that handles the bus and ferry passengers. We notice the center security line, which services only the monorail passengers, is almost empty so we hightail it over to the center of the park entry and get right into the park.

Entry walkway

Entry walkway

Passing through a crowded Main Street we head straight for the wildest ride in the wilderness “Thunder Mountain”. We have found that if we get to Thunder and Splash Mountains early they are basically a walk on rides and 2 of the high wait time rides are crossed off our list (there was one time we got to stay on Thunder Mountain for another trip as there was nobody else in line, always ask if possible).

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