Just playing catch up!

Been a while since I last posted so I will summarize our travels since that last post.  I'll include links to photos at the end of each section.


The last half of 2013 found us sailing with friends, Jim and Betsy, aboard the Celebrity Millennium from Vancouver, B.C. to Alaska in August.

The cruise was amazing, I think this should be on everyones bucket list.  The ship was typical, Alaska seems to draw a different demographic.  Quite a few young families with young children.  The itinerary brought us to Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Hoonah, and ended in Seward.  We spent a day cruising the ice flows of the Tracy Arm glaciers and Inside Passage.

The sights were spectacular.  Lots of marine life, whale, Orca, otter, etc.  For me, the morning we awoke to the sounds of ice hitting the ship, was the highlight.  Well that and the whale that surfaced right outside our cabin when we were anchored in Hoonah.

The only excursion we did was a whale watching tour in Juneau.  There is absolutely nothing more magnificent than watching a whale breech and slap it's tail as it settles back into the sea.

Juneau also found us at the infamous Red Dog Saloon.  A pretty fun place founded during the mining days of Alaska and has operated for decades.  Sawdust floors, reindeer sausage, and of course cold beer.  The entertainment  is quite fun.  Several entertainers are on tap, some that just play guitars and sing songs of old and new; and others that offer a series of mining day ballads, some not suitable for younger ears!

Ketchikan, native for creek, was interesting.  The big tourist draw is the boardwalk promenade which runs parallel to the creek.  Dolly's House, the first brothel of Ketchikan, is located on the boardwalk.  Quite an interesting little place.  In season the creek is filled with salmon headed to spawn.

The cities of Juneau, the capitol of Alaska, and Ketchikan are only accessible by sea or air.

Skagway, a neat little mining town, with many shops and several saloons.

Hoonah is located in Icy Strait Point.  One of the largest islands of Alaska, it is said to be the 105th largest island in the world and the 5th largest in the US.  Years ago a cannery operated here, has been closed quite some time.  The little town has restored a lot of the cannery as a point of interest.  Probably ate the best Dungeness crab here, fresh out of the water.

Last stop on this cruse was Seward.  This particular itinerary is one way.  The ship sails from Vancouver and stops in Seward, all passengers disembark and they load up again and go south to Vancouver.

Landing in Seward, we were greeted by Lee's brother Pat and sister-in-law Suzanne.  They drove down from their home in Anchorage.  They left one vehicle for us and headed back to Anchorage where we would meet them later that day.

This being our friends first visit to Alaska, we wanted to show them some of the sights.  Our first stop was the Alaska Sealife Center located in Seward.  From there we headed towards Girdwood, stopping at the conservation center to view the moose, caribou, bear, bison, and a plethora of other critters.

Our original plan was to head up to the Alyeska Resort to take the tram up the mountain, however, weather did not cooperate.  We took our time getting to Anchorage, stopping to view creeks and Turn Again Arm, and to take a short hike up one of the many trails along the way.

We spent the next several days enjoying the comfort of Pat and Suzanne's home.  Took Betsy to Bird Creek to salmon fish one day, she was lucky enough to catch a few nice salmon.  We also did a few short "to see the sights" trips so Jim and Betsy could experience a bit of Alaska.

It was a good trip and everyone enjoyed it.

Photos of this trip:   Alaska Cruise Celebrity Millennium


We really went over board, not literally, the first few months of 2014.  To give a quick summation:  end of January found us cruising to the Caribbean; end of February, first week of March found us in Alaska; end of April, again in the Caribbean; and first week of May found in Alaska, yes again!

To explain:  the January cruise, the trip to Alaska in February, and the Alaska cruise in May were all planned.  The April cruise was a "fit in" so we could travel with old friends.  Between the April and May cruise we were home for 4 days.  Long enough to unpack from the Caribbean cruise, do laundry, and repack for the Alaska cruise.

Luckily we have a house sitter with a very flexible schedule.

Last week of January we drove to New Orleans to meet up with friends, John and Susan, we met several cruises ago and have since sailed with them several times.  We boarded the ship the NCL Jewel.  Ports of call were Cozumel, Mexico, Costa Maya, and Roataan, Honduras.

Our friends had never sailed NCL, so we were a bit on edge until we boarded.  They liked it, they liked it.  We had a good time in Cozumel, talked them into doing the Salsa and Salsa tour with us.  This is the one where you are taught how to prepare several salsa dips, then after taught how to do the salsa, the dance.  All while being plied with unlimited margaritas.  Lee and I have really enjoyed this tour, I think we've done it like 4-5 times.  It's just fun.

In Costa Maya we went to a private beach.  We were escorted to out private cabana, provided lunch and unlimited beverages, use of water toys etc.  This day was not the best weather wise.  It wasn't bad, but the winds and rough water did not allow much in the water activity.

Roataan, Honduras is not much at all.  Unless you have a tour scheduled you are pretty much limited to the pier area, where there are shops etc, but not much else.  John and Susan had never been there, so we got off and walked around a while.

All in all the cruise was good, we all enjoyed the ship, and we were happy that John and Susan liked NCL.  Of course we like NCL and have sailed them many times.

John and Susan wanted to spend a few extra days in New Orleans, so we stayed as well.  While waiting for our hotel rooms to be ready, we toured the WWII Museum, outstanding place to visit.

Staying ended up being not the right choice.  As you will see in the photos, we got iced in.  New Orleans is surrounded by water, only way in or out is to cross a bridge!

We were supposed to drive out headed for home and John and Susan were to fly back home on Tuesday.  No such luck.  The weather came in, all roads and bridges were closed as was the airport, nothing going out, nothing coming in.

I know you are saying, wow stuck in New Orleans, how bad can that be!  Well, pretty bad.  Most of the restaurants and bars were closed.  No one could get to downtown to open up anything.  Luckily a pizza place close to the hotel was open.  The staff had stayed there the night before so they could open.

John and Susan got out on Wednesday, they found a cab company that promised to get them to the airport via back roads.

On Thursday morning they announced I-10 east bound was open, although the Twin Bridge was still closed, at least there was hope.  Around 9am, I told Lee we're leaving, we needed to go west, but at least going east we were moving.   So we packed up and checked out.  As we were checking out the news stated that the west bound lane on the Twin Bridge had just opened.  The bridge is about 30 minutes from downtown, by the time we got there east bound was opened.  So we took I-10 east to I-12, where we turned west headed to I-55.  Not fun.  The Causeway Bridge was still closed, as was
I-55 South.  Luckily we were headed north towards Jackson, MS.

I-55 seemed to be okay.  We got probably 45 minutes south of Jackson when we hit a traffic jam.  Bumper to bumper, slowly moving.  An accident between a car and a semi transporting some kind of chemical happened.  They closed the highway.  The sheriff's department and state police guided us through "deliverance" country.  I mean dirt and gravel roads that eventually led us back to I-55.  What an adventure.

Just crazy, the people in New Orleans were saying that they hadn't seen weather like that in over 20 years.   Finally made it home safe and sound.

Photos of our January adventure:  NCL Jewel and New Orleans


So we got home maybe on the 6th of February.  We had about 3 weeks to relax and prepare for our next adventure.  Flying to Anchorage, Alaska to experience the start of the Iditarod.

Lee was born in the South for a reason, she hates the cold.  I tried to talk her out of this trip, but she was determined to go.  As things turned out it was warmer in Anchorage than it was in Little Rock.

We were again met by Lee's brother.  Arrival time in Anchorage was like midnight.  I don't think anything flies in or out except the "red eyes."  We got to Pat's and we immediately crashed, long day of travel to say the least.

A few days later Pat's son Alex arrived with his girlfriend Jennifer.

The Iditarod is probably Alaska's premier event, lots of things were going on downtown in preparation for the big start.

On Thursday evening we attended the Musher's Banquet, this is when the mushers draw for their starting positions.  I mean this banquet is a gala affair.  Dress up clothes consisted of flannel shirts, down jackets, mukluks, and any other combination of clothing one could imagine.  The meal was fantastic as were all the festivities.  Even Sarah Palin was there!  A great time was had by all.

As stated Anchorage was experiencing a thaw while Arkansas was freezing.  Due to the melt down and little snow, the snow trucks were out in the community gathering enough snow to make a path for the ceremonial start of the race.  As you'll see in the photos, a trail of snow was laid down on the main street in downtown.

Following the ceremonial start it was "Run with Reindeer" time.  What a hoot.  Lee, Suzanne, Alex, and Jennifer participated.  See if you can recognize them in the videos!

After the Saturday festivities we went to the Moose's Tooth for pizza and beer.

Sunday found us on the road early headed to Willow for the official start of the Iditarod.  The excitement of the people was very evident.  The real stars are the dogs.  Omigosh, once on the lead, they were barking, jumping, lurching forward, excited to go.  I thought to myself, "in a day or two, these dogs will be wondering, what the hell did we get ourselves into."

Bottom line of this adventure, one of the most fun and exciting times we've ever had.  Everyone needs to add this event to their bucket list.

For this segment I have added separate albums for each adventure.

Musher's Banquet

Ceremonial Start

Reindeer Run

Official Start



Seven years ago on our 10th anniversary cruise we met John and Chris.  They being avid cruisers living in Beaverton, Oregon, have been after us to join them on another cruise.  Long about mid-January they called and very excitedly told us they found a cruise out of Houston, within driving distance for us, so we'd be able to go.  Oops, not!

With our end of January cruise, the Iditarod trip, and the May cruise, there was just no way we could fit in an end of April cruise.  We called them and discussed that we had made all these other plans.  We suggested they cancel the Houston cruise and join us on the Alaska cruise departing from Seattle, which is within driving distance for them.

We were hopeful, but Chris only cruises where the sun counts.  So on the Alaska cruse there'd be no catching of rays!  So graciously we had to decline the offer.

For those of you that really know Lee, this now has become a challenge, off to the internet.  After many hours and days, looking and comparing, and counting our pennies, she looked away from the monitor and said "we can do this, gonna be tight, but we can do it."  The booking process began.

With the Iditarod checked off the bucket list, we now prepare for a hectic 45 or so days.  We leave again the end of April for a cruise out of Houston aboard Princess Cruise Lines Caribbean Princess.

The drive to Houston was uneventful, well, except for missing our lunch stop.  Thought we knew where the place was at, not!

We actually drove to Humble, Texas, about 30 minutes north of Houston and about an hour from the port.  After roughly 7 hours behind the wheel we arrive Humble.  John and Chris flew in from Oregon and were awaiting our arrival.

Check-in, get to our room, and text to let them know we were there.  Minutes later a knock at the door and the reunion began.  Went to dinner, had a nice visit, returned back to the hotel, with plans to meet the next morning.  Being they flew in the plan was for them to ride with us to the port and we'd drop them off at the airport upon our return.

Quick hour drive to the port the next morning.  Dropped off bags and the girls, and went to park.

Check-in for the cruise was easy and painless.  Boarded around noon and headed to lunch.  Sail away was around 4, let the vacation begin.

Ports of call were Cozumel, Mexico, Belize, and Roataan, Honduras.

Guess what we did in Cozumel?  If you guessed Salsa and Salsa you would be correct!!!!!  This was John and Chris' first Salsa and Salsa experience, we believe they enjoyed it.

We did not get off in Belize, have been there before and there is really not much to do unless you take a tour.  John and Chris did get off as they wanted to tour Belize, one of those places that intrigues them as a possible retirement location.

On this trip we ported on the opposite side of Roataan, Honduras, a place called Mahogany Bay.  This is a resort like area that was built strictly for cruise ship business.  We viewed the area from one of the upper decks and figured we were close enough to say we were there!

The cruise as a whole was pretty good.  We have noticed that food offerings have changed a bit across the industry.  Surely it's all about cutting the budget.  Princess has always offered a better menu then other lines, seems now they are all about on par.  And they still serve lobster!!!!!

Entertainment etc was okay, pretty much the same as any other line.  The highlight of the trip was the rekindling of a friendship.

And while aboard we celebrated our 17th anniversary, is was very special having John and Chris there.  Also note, they celebrated their 31st anniversary while aboard.  So it was a very special cruise.

Back in Houston, we drove to the airport, said our goodbyes and we headed northeast.  Being that we got a late start, we decided not to make the long drive so we stopped for the night in Marshall, Texas. Had a wonderful dinner at Porky's Smokehouse and Grill.  Next morning we headed home.

Always nice to sleep in your own bed!

Caribbean Princess April 2014


Home from the Caribbean.  It is now May 4th.  I sometimes wonder what the cats and dog think about all this.  We walk out with suitcases and a few hours later Randi, our sitter, shows up with hers!!

So now we are in a semi panic mode.  Time only to unpack from a warm climate cruise, do laundry, repack for a much cooler climate cruise and in four days be gone again.  I'm not sure we even had time to go through all our mail from the last trip.  So early morning of the 9th we're out the door, en route to Seattle to meet up with John and Susan and John's sister Ann.

Everyone arrived at the hotels without too much of a hassle.  We have learned taking the Light Rail from and to the airport is a lot less of hassle, not to mention cheaper.  Taxi's from the airport to downtown run around the $60 mark, the Light Rail for two is like $5.50.

Because John and Susan had the extra person, along with all the extra luggage it was less of a hassle for them to take a shuttle.  I won't go into the details of that fiasco, the shuttle folks basically forgot them, so they ended up grabbing a cab.

We enjoyed a nice walk about downtown Seattle, a nice dinner, and then a leisurely walk back to our hotels.

Next morning we headed to the pier.  With us staying at a different hotel it was just easier to meet once aboard.  Check in with Holland America was pretty easy.  We've never sailed with them, so this was our first experience aboard the Westerdam.  All the ships in their fleet end with "dam."  The fleet is referred to as the Dam ships!!!  Everything went according to Hoyle.

One nice thing about both Princess and Holland America, as soon as you board you can go to your cabin.  Other lines you may have to wait an hour or so.  Our cabin was very nice.  Lee upgraded us to an aft veranda.  Our cabin was on the fantail, center of the ship, talk about a great view.  Lee always does so well picking good cabins.

Our cabin was nice and roomy, only glitch was the previous residents locked the safe with their passcode.  Can you say dumb-ass!   Ugh, just not sure why people do that sort of thing.  Quick call to customer relations and the issue was resolved.  Off to lunch.

The ship was laid out very nicely, much different than previous ships we had been on.  Note of interest:  the corridors and waiting areas by the elevators were rather dark, but OMG, when the elevator doors opened it was like bright orange or red!  Talk about a waker upper.

Our itinerary brought us back to Ketchikan and Juneau, as well as Sitka and Glacier Bay, and last stop Victoria B.C.

Again the views were marvelous.  We watched many pods of dolphin or Orca passing the ship.  Glacier Bay was as awesome as our previous Alaska cruise.

I think Sitka was the highlight for us.  The Alaska Raptor Center is located here.  What a wonderful facility, here they care for injured raptors, rehab and release back to the wild if the bird is releasable.  For those birds that are not, they find them homes at a zoo in the lower forty-eight.  We spent a couple of hours here, very very educational.  We are thinking about maybe next year instead of cruising or doing a drive trip, we may just fly into Sitka and volunteer at the Raptor Center for a week or so.  We had a long chat with the member services manager, many folks fly in and volunteer for 3-4 days.  So it is a doable adventure for us.

Sitka was a nice little town, we thought there would be more Russian Mosque (onion dome) structures being it is one of the Russian culture hubs.  I think we saw one.  Still a nice little place to walk around.  Sitka is home to the Sitka National Cemetery.  I believe this is the only National Cemetery outside of the contiguous United States.  Found this be interesting.

Left Sitka en route to Victoria.  How weird, we did not port until after 6pm with an all onboard time of 11:30.  Just seemed odd to do this type of city at night.  We did get off the ship, walked down to one of the harbor areas and took a little harbor boat to downtown.  We had a very nice dinner at one of the local hotspots and headed back to ship.  Tonight was pack your bags night, tomorrow we say good-bye to the Westerdam.

Ported back in Seattle, it was a quick cab ride to our hotel.  Again kudos to Lee, we arrived like at 10am and they checked us right in, she's good I tell ya.  John, Susan, and Ann had to wait until maybe 1 to get their room.  Think that was due to them having a suite with a third bed.

We were spending the night in Seattle, so the girls planned a Savor Seattle tour.   It was quite good, we walked all over Seattle, but got to experience some neat eateries.  One of the stops was Serious Pies, a pizza place that was really cool and the pizza to die for.  That was our dinner spot.  We had to wait about 45 minutes to get in, but it was well worth it.

Next morning we took a walk to Pike's Place Market, again.  Our flight didn't leave until one so we had plenty of time to enjoy a breakfast and do our last minute shopping.

Back to the hotel, check out, and head to the Light Rail.  Flights were on time and all was good.  Arrived home about 11pm.  Tired and worn, we had to sit up with the babies for an hour or so, they missed us!!

Travel for now is done.  We have a few little weekend getaways planned; in the Fall we have a zoo conference in Milwaukee, and a US Marine Corps reunion in Branson.  After those trips, we are done for 2014, I think.

Holland America Westerdam Alaskan Cruise