Mall Blart

In Tampa we rented bikes from the ship and rode to a nearby mall. After doing some shopping, we went to get on our bikes and head back to the ship. To our shock, our bikes had been “booted” with a massive lock and a sign saying we were parked in an “unauthorized bike storage location”. I felt like I was in college all over again. Anyway, we had to call a #, a security guy picked us up and drove us to the security station to fill out the bike release paperwork. He explained that bike thefts were common and they locked them up “for our protection”. He then proceeded to give us a tour of the authorized bike parking locations & point out all 57 security cameras.

Here we go...again

We are in Tampa today getting ready to board the Holland America Ryndam. We'll be onboard for 6 weeks doing two different 7 day itineraries to: Key West, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, & Cozumel then Key West, Roatan, Costa Maya & Belize! After getting a taste of life on land it's a little bitter sweet. I've gotten all too used to internet, cell phones, and actually choosing what's for dinner, but I'm excited for some beaches & homemade guacamole in Cozumel!

Happiest Place on Earth!

I've never been so excited to go to "work". Right now we are at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort for a company conference. We are here for 9 days and since the training is only 5 days there has been plenty of time for sun, swimsuits, and even a little Mickey! That red cup has entitled me to unlimited free fountain Diet Coke ALL week...yay:) Have you ever watched those Publisher Clearing House commercials and just wished they would come knocking on your door?? Well at Disneyland I guess dreams really do come true...we unexpectedly won a del sol competition and even though it had a couple less zeros, I can assure you being handed that enormous check is just as exciting as it looks.

Shopping Ambassadors taking over Disney World! For one of our activities we went to the Magic Kingdom with the entire group. It was sponsored by Del Sol and they provided t-shirts for everyone. Can you guess who was in our group?

Thunder Mountain!

Alina, Linda, Gail, Kim & Me. Some of the girls we work with that I never get to see because we are all on different ships.

Dry Suit

I just came across this photo while I was packing and I couldn't help but laugh…partly because at first I thought it was some Star Trek Halloween costume and then because of the story attached. A couple weeks ago Christian went on a dry suit snorkel. He was really excited about it. When we met up after the excursion his clothes were soaking wet. Turns out if your suit doesn’t zip properly it becomes a “wet” suit snorkel and in Alaska it makes for one very unpleasant dive. When Christian told the guide that his suit was leaking the guy told him to just try to keep his back out of the water.

As seen on TV

I’m still not quite sure how you become the fastest wood chopping, tree climbing, and log rolling “lumberman” in the world. Nevertheless, we saw them compete live at the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan…just as hillbilly and cheesy as you might expectJ

A Big Wave Goodbye

This is our last Alaskan cruise. We worked hard to get everything done early so we could take it easy and have a relaxing final week while we wrapped everything up. All went according to plans until we set sail in Seattle. We ran into a terrible storm & 30 foot waves. It got so bad that we had to return to Seattle at 2:30am, get rerouted, and miss our first port. Crossing my fingers for smooth sailing here on outJ

Family Onboard!

My parents and my aunt & uncle, Chris & Jacque, just came to visit for one of our last Alaskan cruises. I think we may have been more excited for them to come than they were. After so many cruises of the same thing we couldn't wait for some company and family to join us! We had great time and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Thanks for coming!! In Juneau my parents did a helicopter tour that actually landed on the glacier.
Walking on the Glacier! After their tour we met at Tracy's Crab Shack for a fresh crab dinner.

Mom, Chris, Jacque, and Glacier Bay National Park.

In Sitka we joined my parents for a whale & wildlife watching excursion. I couldn't get my mom to take down the binoculars for a picture...they were all but glued to her head the entire tour! We saw some of everything...whales, sea otters & bald eagles.

My mom really wanted to see whales and I was a little nervous recommending this tour because they didn't guarantee whale sightings. Luckily, there was no shortage of whales. They were all over!

Mush!

We've been wanting to do it all season and we finally did! This was the last week of the season that the dog sled tours were running so it was our final opportunity. We tried last week and it was full, but it worked out to our advantage because the weather was perfect this week. We took a helicopter tour up to a dog camp on a glacier and went dog sledding. There was only 5 in our group so Christian & I got our own sled and team of dogs. They also let us each take turns "driving" the sled. It was AMAZING! Getting ready for take off!

Flying over the glaciers. The helicopter could get so close.
Approaching the camp.
Ready to go!

Taking the reigns!

By total coincidence our friends from Juneau Gil & Lital were actually on the same excursion!

4x4

Last week Christian went on a ocean raft & 4x4 adventure in Sitka. There was an extra space and the shore excursion team let him hop on. They took ocean crafts through the Sitka Bay over to the rain forest where they met their 4x4 vehicles. Christian was in luck because the 5th person was grandma who didn't want to drive!

All geared up and ready to go.

Face shot.
Christian & Grandma taking off.

Under the Sea

I just finished a submarine tour of Sitka and my mind is currently overloaded with all the scientific names of all the urchins, fish & creatures I saw. My fingers were never fast enough to catch a photo of any of them though so instead I have tons of kelp and coral pictures. I'm not really sure why I was worried about it when I could just download better pictures on the internet, but here's a recap of my view behind the glass. I asked a guy to take my picture and somehow he managed to change the setting to black & white and turn off the flash without me noticing.

The tour guide threw on a dry suit to grab some sea urchins so we could get a closer look.

Grandparents & Glaciers!

My Grandpa & Grandma McNay came to cruise last week! They must have brought the California weather with them because we had some of the best weather of the season while they were here. We had a great time and I was even able to sneak away from work in Ketchikan to go on a tour with them.

We enjoyed the glaciers from inside, but quickly went out to snap a picture and hear the cracking and calving of the glacier.
Hubbard Glacier.

Saxman Village in Ketchikan. We took a trolley tour to the park and around the city.

Welcome to Ketchikan, Alaska!

Enjoying the last sunset on their balcony!

This is Alaska

Last week in Glacier Bay national park we saw 3 bears eating a whale carcass that had washed up on the shore. I don't think it gets anymore Alaska than that.

Butchart Gardens

The shore excursion team asked if we wanted to go to Butchart Gardens last week when we were in Victoria, Canada. We thought...why not? It was amazing & I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go. They keep the gardens open late just for the cruise ships. We quickly ran around to see everything before sunset and then took another loop through the gardens to see it at night.