Celebrating 35 Years!

I realize that this entry is going to be lengthy...and maybe I should apologize ahead of time...but after considering things I realized that I write this blog for myself as a way to recall the details of our travels and if you are reading it I can only assume that you WANT to read it and are not being forced at gunpoint to do so. I know, I know. That was a run-on sentence. Whatever.  To begin the tale of our 35th anniversary trip...

Saturday, April 26
Our vacation day FINALLY arrived after waiting for what seemed to be forever. We had made arrangements for Ryan to take us to the train station so we met him at his house around 8:00 a.m.  Our plan was to have breakfast with him and then go to Union Station. We went to Denny's by Town East expecting a wait since it was, after all, Saturday morning. Nope. No crowd. Got right in and was served right away. After a delicious breakfast (the cinnamon roll pancakes were out of this world!!) we were able to sit and visit for a while. No rush. Finally we decided to head toward downtown. Ryan dropped us off at the Amtrak station around 9:30 a.m. Our train was scheduled to depart at 11:50 but was running behind schedule. The waiting began...and continued...and continued. Finally about 12:40p we headed out to our debarkation platform and waited only about 5 minutes more before our train came slowly pulling into the station. In my eyes, once on the train the vacation has begun!

The stop in Dallas was a short one. All aboard and we were outta there! By the time we made it to Ft. Worth we were leisurely enjoying lunch in the dining car AND we not only had made up all the lost time, we were ahead of schedule...significantly! We must have been flying! I have to say that lunch (salad, panko crusted baked chicken, REAL garlic mashed potatoes and strawberry cheesecake) was delicious!

Since I didn't sleep much the night before departure...and since I had by now eaten two big meals...I returned to our room for a nap. A nice looooonnnnnggg nap. Awesome! I woke up, we ate another delicious meal (risotto with wild mushrooms and spinach, salad and chocolate parfait) and then returned to our room to enjoy the scenery and relax.

We got off the train once in San Antonio because...well, just because. We had a 5 hour layover there and we'd been on the train for 8 hours by then so it seemed like the thing to do. We walked around a few minutes and then got back on the train where I started journaling our trip.

At this point I have to say that on Wednesday I noticed a little bump on my arm. It was a bit itchy Thursday so I thought I'd been bitten by something. By Friday night, of course, when it was too late to do anything about it, I realized that it was poison ivy. CRAP!! By today it has spread to a spot about the size of a quarter, it has also spread to a spot on my right ankle and is spreading to my left arm even as I type this journal. Ronnie has also noticed a spot on his leg. Guess we may have to find a clinic in Seattle and getting ourselves some Medrol dosepaks!

Sunday: April 27
Train travel is fun! I survived the night without falling out of the top bunk so I chalk that up as a win. We had breakfast (eggs, fried potatoes and a croissant) with a couple that joined the train at 3:00a.m. in San Antonio. This trip has required "community seating." What that means is that you share your booth with another couple. We have been forced out of our comfort zone and have met some very nice people. We also met one ass but I won't dwell on that. Our lunch companions are from Perth, Australia, and were an absolute delight to visit with and my Angus steak burger and chocolate brownie cake were delish! Our dinner companions were not a good fit but we made it through dinner (steak, baked potato and strawberry cheesecake) without me stabbing him with my steak knife. He was an argumentative dick that was dismissive of his wife but she started returning it towards the end of the meal. Not real pleasant for us. The food, however, has been good every single meal.

Other than taking a shower this morning our day has consisted of napping, reading, playing computer games, sodoku puzzles and Skip-Bo. A relaxing day. The poison ivy has been tolerable most of the day...not excessively itch.

We got off the train in Tucson tonight just to walk around for a bit. Neither of us has ever been to Tucson. They have a nice train station with a very nice Mexican restaurant attached. Dallas should take a lesson from them.

I have been receiving texts from two different people keeping me updated on the Stars game tonight. It's game 6 of the Dallas/Anaheim series and it's a must win for the Stars to remain in the playoffs. Unfortunately I found that the Stars must not have known that. After leading throughout the game, they blew a 4-2 lead in the last 3 minutes of regulation play and then lost in overtime. Boo!

We will call it a day earlier tonight because we have to be up early tomorrow. Our train arrives in LA early and we have a four hour layover before switching trains.

Monday: April 28
We arrived in LA and were awakened by announcement a few minutes before 6:00a.m. We grabbed our stuff and were taken by red cap over to the Metropolitan Lounge...a very nice waiting area for Amtrak patrons. We stored our bags and walked outside for a few photos and then bought breakfast at a Subway inside the station. Back in the lounge we waited to be taken to our train and head out for Seattle.

Once on board the train, the Coast Starlight,, we spent hours in the parlor car visiting with our new friends Bill and Peggy from Grandbury, TX, as we made our way out of Los Angeles and up the Pacific coast. Incredibly beautiful scenery! Ocean views, vineyards, bougainvillea...all beautiful! We shared lunch, cocktails and conversation with our friends before all four of us would admit to being overly full and needing to rest. We did manage to work in a shower before dinner and it felt refreshing! Now I'm just waiting for the cabin steward to offer to turn down our beds!

                                                                  Bill & Peggy

Tuesday: April 29
Our last day on the train until it is time to go home. We got up, had breakfast and then sat in the parlor car visiting with our new friends Bill and Peggy until lunch. It was a beautiful trip around San Luis Obispo with snow covered mountains and a beautiful flowing river accompanying us much of that time. After a delicious lunch we napped for a bit before returning to the parlor car to continue visiting. About 4:30p we had to leave the train in Eugene, OR, and get on a chartered bus. Track work kept the train from going forward. A two hour informative bus ride took us through parts of Oregon that we would not have seen otherwise. Beautiful vineyards and countryside. In Portland we boarded a train and continued our ride toward Seattle. We had dinner with two fun ladies from New Zealand, Miriam and Sue, who were "on holiday." According to them, dinner was "lovely" and we had a great time talking and laughing with these women. After dinner we went to our room and watched the countryside go by until 10:34p when our train pulled into the station in Seattle. We made it to our hotel by 11:00p where we checked into our beautiful, newly renovated room, took showers and were in bed by midnight!

Wednesday: April 30
A beautiful night's sleep in a king-sized bed rather than a berth! We slept in and took our time heading out. We walked downhill to the bay area where we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I swear that was more food than I thought could possibly fit on a plate! I was stuffed after eating about 1/3 of mine! Next we wandered through the Pike Place Market and actually got to see the fish mongers throwing a few fish...something they are famous for.

We wandered through the shops and just took in the bustling crowd. Afterward we wandered over to a community area where people soak up the sun in a grassy oasis near the bay. We sat for a few minutes before beginning our trek back to the hotel.

 I am not kidding...I thought I might not make it back to the hotel. The trek back UPHILL was at a 45 degree angle, the humidity was unbelievable and I had to stop 4 times in six blocks just to catch my breath. I thought that I was going to throw up my lunch all over the sidewalk!

We managed to find a drug store on the way back where I bought some Benadryl for my poison ivy and then we returned to our room for a looonnnggg, refreshing nap! When we awoke, we watched the Mavericks game. They lost, but there's still game 6 in Dallas. About 7:20p there was a knock on our door and Valerie, who checked us in last night, sent us an anniversary gift of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries. How very nice!!! We watched a little TV and then walked next door to Subway for dinner. When we returned it was time for showers, television and our surprise snack. Great first day in Seattle.

Thursday: May 1
We slept late...despite the best efforts of the housekeeping staff...and once dressed we walked over to Westlake Mall for lunch at PF Changs. We walked around the mall before boarding the monorail for the Space Needle.

 We took the tour up top, took a million pictures and then returned to our hotel and watched part of the May Day protest parade from our hotel room window (26th floor).

After a bit we walked to Rock Bottom Brewery for dinner and then decided to take a leisurely stroll back to the hotel. We walked right into the middle of another wave of protestors. It was intense...and a bit fun! Police lined both sides of the street to prevent any violent behavior. We were warned to stay on the fringes because the crowd was amped up and police thought they might have to deploy teargas. We did witness a scuffle in the middle of the crowd when some protestors attacked a couple of guys dressed as superheroes. The protestors were a group of 20 something idiots shouting, "Fuck the cops."

When the excitement wound down we returned to our hotel room, watched the news and called it a night.

Friday: May 2
Another day of sleeping in before we walked back to Westlake Mall. We took a Duck tour around downtown and Union Lake. The "Captain" was awesome!! Crazy sense of humor, funny hats, terrible jokes and all!! Afterwards we walked to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and then returned to our room for a nap. We repacked our bags and watched a movie. For dinner we went to the Regatta Bar and Grill in our hotel and enjoyed some delicious pizza and a few margaritas. How many is a few? I'm not saying...but, two is a couple. Okay, we had three...each. Then it was room, showers and sleep.

Saturday: May 3
We got up around 8:30a, got dressed and headed to the ship terminal. By 11:00a we were on the ship where we promptly checked out our room, ate lunch, napped and unpacked before sailing. We familiarized ourselves with the ship, took pics, ate dinner, went to the welcome aboard show and finished the evening in the piano bar. Back in our room, we were asleep by midnight on very rocky seas.

Sunday: May 4
We awoke at 9:20a thinking it was really early. Ummm, not so much. It was soon discovered that a line had broken overnight and toilets weren't flushing, but they got it fixed quickly. We dressed and headed out to breakfast. We wandered around a bit before heading to the Vista Lounge for a game of Bingo. No winners this go round :(. Back to our room, we sat out on the balcony to read and relax. My favorite thing...no land in sight for 360 degrees! Love it! For dinner (and for our anniversary) we went to Sabatini's for a wonderful Italian meal. It was delicious and we left stuffed!! We finished the evening with a show in the theater and then turned in for the night.

Monday: May 5
We arrived in Juneau about 11:00a. Before leaving the ship we called Harry (father-in-law) to wish him a happy birthday. When we left the ship we did some very quick shopping before heading to our excursion...Mendenhall Glacier, whale watching and a salmon bake. The glacier was really neat. Our first view of ice chunks in the water! Beautiful! The salmon bake was a great little boat ride out to an island and the food was delicious. We got to witness a pair of frisky river otters playing in the water and then began looking for whales. We found one whale but we were really too far from it for any great pics, but it was a neat experience nonetheless. Back to our ship and off for our next destination.

 

Tuesday: May 6
Today found us in Skagway, Alaska. This was a neat little town but it was incredibly cold...part of the time. In port it was cold, cloudy and misty. We boarded our bus and went 1/4 mile into town to the Red Onion Saloon (formerly a brothel) where we were served a scrumptious breakfast by the "ladies" who work there and then were given a tour of the facility. So much history there...given a tour by the building "whorestorians."

Afterwards we continued on the bus up to the Yukon Suspension Bridge. Be.u.tee.full!!!

After that we returned to Skagway and went shopping in the quaint little town.

Wednesday: May 7
This was a day on the ship as we sailed through Glacier Bay. This was truly an incredible experience!! We were up close and personal with a glacier as we watched huge chunks of ice break off and fall into the water accompanied by a thunderous noise and splashes (called calving). The icy water looked like a slushy and the view was like none other. It was beautiful! We also saw several whales from a distance. Such a serene setting!!

Thursday: May 8
Today we docked in Ketchikan for a very short period of time. We took the "Coastal Wildlife Tour" where we boarded a boat with 12 other passengers and set off looking for sea lons, whales, bears and eagles. We literally saw dozens of eagles nesting in the trees and sitting on the rocks. We saw a few sea lions just floating along taking it easy and then the granddaddy of all sightings...a momma humpback whale and her baby!!! We were close this time and got great pics of the two of them breeching the water. Incredible doesn't even begin to describe it!

There was one downer today. I talked to my dad this morning and he told me that his friend, Lila Massey, died last Friday and was buried yesterday. I hope this doesn't drag him down emotionally.

Friday: May 9
Today was mostly a sea day as we sailed toward Victoria, BC, in Canada. We got a late start in Ketchikan (which seems to be an ongoing theme for this cruise) and arrived in Victoria at around 8:00p. We were not scheduled for an excursion since ours had been cancelled (Pub Tour) and many others were cancelled due to the late arrival. We were not able to get off this ship until around 9:00p and we had to be back on the ship by 11:30p so we opted not to stand in the ridiculously long line and pay $20 for a shuttle ride into town for 90 minutes. We would only have to wait in another ridiculously long line to get back on the ship so we walked through the gift shop and got back on the ship after about 10 minutes on the ground. We went to a bar, grabbed a beer and found a place to sit and read. I am highly disappointed with the debarkation and embarkation proceedings for this ship. We have been late in every port including our embarkation from Seattle. The chaos is ridiculous! Thank goodness we decided to self-debark tomorrow in Seattle. Otherwise there is absolutely no telling when we would be able to get off the ship and we might miss our connection to Vancouver!

Saturday: May 10
Our Alaskan cruise is over :(. But a relatively short bus ride will put us in Vancouver, BC, for a couple of days before we begin winding our way back home on Amtrak. I have NO COMPLAINTS about our train ride or our time in Seattle. Our cruise, too, has been wonderful except for the aforementioned problems getting on and off the ship and our time, or lack thereof, in Victoria. The ship staff was excellent and service was great. One bartender even remembered our preferred drink and would fill our order before we could even make our request (Diet Cherry Coke). ;)

We got up at 6:00a so that we could dress, eat breakfast, finalize packing and get off the ship at 7:45a. Debarkation was fairly simple and a taxi took us to the train station where we waited a couple of hours for our bus (and a 3 hour ride) to Vancouver, BC. Upon arrival there we caught a taxi to the Fairmont Hotel and checked in. This has been a tiring day though we did nothing. Our plan...have dinner and relax and call it an early night. The next two days will be non-stop to make the most of our time in Canada.

Sunday: May 11
Mother's Day...though I did not get to speak with my kids today. Also my dad's birthday. Before leaving the hotel I called to wish him a happy birthday. Then we left the hotel and walked to the trolley stop and boarded a trolley for a tour around Vancouver. We got off at Granville Island and ate lunch at The Sand Bar. After a bit of sightseeing we got back on the trolley and finished the tour. We returned to our hotel and rested about half an hour before we headed out to the tourist area (Robson Street) for souvenir shopping and dinner. We ate at Earl's, a spot recommended by the concierge, and it was great. After buying a few things we walked back to our hotel for the evening. Tomorrow we will go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Monday: May 12
We spent a good portion of this day at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was amazing. Beautiful setting and I had absolutely no problems with going out on it and taking pictures off the side. Can you outgrow acrophobia? Apparently I have! There were several suspension bridges and overlooks and I managed every single one of them without a problem. Well, my feet and hips felt like they were on fire, but no other problems. Afterwards we took the trolley to Gastown and bought a few more souvenirs. We then returned to our hotel and turned in for the night. Leftover pizza for dinner because we were too tired to go back out! Tomorrow is an early morning so we called it quits early.

Tuesday: May 13
Wow! What a day! We got up at 3:30a and were out the door by 4:30a. We made it to the train station before 5:00a to catch our 5:30a bus. Once the bus arrived we loaded...along with 8 other passengers...and headed toward Seattle. We went through US Customs and were a half hour inside the US when our bus had a blowout.

Fortunately it was on a rear tire because we were traveling down the highway at around 65mph at the time. After about an hour stranded on the side of the road we were picked up by taxis. It took two taxis for all 10 passengers and part of our luggage was in one taxi while we were in the other. Within 4 blocks of the Amtrak station in Seattle our taxi sputtered and died.

We were quickly piled into another taxi which took us the rest of the way to the station where Amtrak employees were waiting at the curb to help us get on the train with our bags...all of them. Yes, they held the train for us! We were literally sitting down in our seats when the train began to move out...only an hour late! The rest of the day was uneventful as we began making our way back south toward our transfer in Los Angeles. We went to bed early since it was such a long and exhausting day!

Wednesday: May 14
Today would have been my mom and dad's 65th wedding anniversary. This was a train day. We arrived in Los Angeles and had an hour before our connecting train arrived, loaded and departed. Homeward bound.

Thursday: May 15
Another train day. Met a nice couple from Vancouver, BC, at lunch and had a really good visit with them. Other than that...eat and nap!

Friday: May 16
We had a 3 hour delay getting into San Antonio and there was a near mutiny on the train because our sleeping car was disconnected so that it could be connected to our our train into Dallas. This meant we were disconnected from the dining car. You would have thought that some of these people would wither away if they didn't get to eat right at that moment in time! It was ridiculous!! They got the trains switched and we were on our way...now 3 1/2 hour late...but we got to eat breakfast...and lunch. By the time we arrived back in Dallas we were a little over 4 hours late. We were eager to get back to Dallas, pick up Beau and get home where we could begin planning our next outing!

I have tons of beautiful memories of this trip...and even more pictures! All of our destinations were incredible and we loved traveling on the train. We made the most of our time while making memories that will last us a lifetime!