Cruise to Hawaii, Oct 22-Nov 6, 2011

We left San Diego about 5pm on Oct 22 on Holland America's Oosterdam. Holland America is our preferred cruise line and the Oosterdam is a Vista Class ship and bigger than the other ones we have been on. She holds about 1800 passengers, compared to the 1200 or so we are used to. We had 5 sea days on the way to Hawaii and because of a medical evacuation that required the ship to be turned around, we had 6 sea days on the way back from Hawaii. Some people would go crazy with that much free time, but we thought it was great. What to do? Well, sleep late, eat, read, eat lunch, watch a movie, nap, hit the casino, eat dinner, hit the casino, watch a show, hit the casino, go to bed, you get the idea. I saw a couple of movies in the theater, we watched five dvd's we brought from home in our cabin, plus a couple on tv, Marcia went to two wine tastings and read a couple of books, we each actually went to the gym a few times each, I spent most of my free time in the casino, we went to several of the shows, Marcia went to a couple of the Veteran's get togethers, we chatted with Whit and David and other folks we met on board and in general we just chilled out. We would actually (jokingly) complain that shore days interfered with our naptimes.

Some pics to show that we actually do know how to dress up for formal nights. We went to three, but only got pics from two. Service in the dining room was kind of slow, so we ended up eating most of our meals on the Lido deck.

Our number one favorite splurge on this trip was the unlimited laundry. This ship didn't have the coin laundries like some of the other ships, so you would have to send out your dirty clothes in these tiny, tiny little bags and they charge like $4 for a pair of pants and $2 for a pair of socks. We paid $49 a week and got unlimited laundry. Stuff it in a bag, send it out and they bring it back the next day in a basket, all nice and clean and folded. Since we already had 4 days of dirty clothes when we got on the ship, this was great. Marcia has already decided that we will do this on all cruises in the future. Since I'm the one who always does the laundry, I find this somewhat amusing...

And, everybody's favorite, the towel animals that would grace your bed every night when you came back to your room. Here are a few of our favorites:

Now on to the islands!

San Diego

First stop on our trip/cruise to Hawaii was San Diego. Neither of us had ever been there before and Marcia really wanted to check out the San Diego Zoo. Our hotel was just a few blocks from the pier and just a short taxi ride from the zoo, so that is where we spent our first two days.

The first day we arrived at the zoo and took the skylift ride up to the top of the zoo near the polar bears. You don't realize just how hilly the zoo is and some of those hills are pretty steep. I had read that this was the best way--ride to the top and work your way down. We passed by some different kinds of gazelles on our way to the polar bears. We weren't expecting much as polar bears are usually sleeping, but we were pleasantly surprised when two of them walked out in to the enclosure and started playing. We thought they were mother and cub but a guide later told us that all the bears were full grown, so one was puny. They were quite entertaining and apparently love romaine lettuce, something I don't think they get a lot of in the Arctic.

We then walked downhill and saw zebras, birds (including a couple of interesting varieties of hawks Marcia had never heard of), monkeys, pandas (sleeping), and lots more. We later took the bus tour of the zoo where we got to see about 80% of the zoo while sitting down and got to see some animals that we would not get to see again for one reason or another.

When we came back from the ride we stopped by to see the koalas. Usually they look like this:

That is, they are cute, but they are sleeping. One, however, was in a different location and he was awake and eating and therefore just as cute as he could be:

It was time to hit the souvenier shop for a few things and catch a cab back to the hotel for a quick nap before dinner at this wonderful little Italian restaurant right across the street.

The next morning it was back to the zoo and back to almost the same starting point, but we went down the other side. First stop was by the lions. They were awake and active.

Right after them was the elephants. No little ones, all of these elephants are older.

We had a "serendipity" moment leaving the elephants---the keepers were moving an elephant in the enclosures and were separating two. A small crowd was gathering so we stayed and watched. Turned out that the older elephant (57 years) was going to get a foot soak for her arthritis and we got to watch. It's funny--the elephant takes the same medications for her arthritis as Marcia does!

Then it was through the condors and a few other things until the highlight of the visit. As a surprise I had purchased a "behind the scene" pass for us. For 1 1/2 hours we had special access to some of the animals. Feeding the rhino is Marcia's favorite story, but here are some of our favorite pics:

Flamingos

Artic Wolf

Bear Cat

Rhino

Rhino

Serval

Cheetah, with her companion dog and handler




So, as you can see, the zoo did not disappoint. We spent the next day at Balboa Park, which is right next to the zoo, and visited the Museum of Science and the Museum of Natural History. I didn't take my camera, which is a shame as the park is very beautiful and is full of museums and gardens.

The final morning we headed a few blocks from the hotel to "Little Italy" for a street market that a lady in the restaurant a few nights before had told us about. That was quite a fun experience as well. Lots of booths full of all kinds of things, with people milling all about. We headed back to the hotel a little before 11am to take the shuttle down to the pier to board the ship for our trip to Hawaii.

Under 2 Years Until Alaska--Preliminary Information

Yes, in just a little over 4 weeks we leave for our Hawaii cruise, but I'm already a couple of vacations ahead. Unlike some people :) we have to save up for our trips.

We have decided to do another cruise to Alaska in late August of 2013. I'm putting out the preliminary information now to gauge interest in getting a group together. The final dates for the 2013 cruises will probably be released in March and that will be when we will lock in our cabin. We will be putting down a credit toward a future cruise while we are on the one in Hawaii.

This is the one we have chosen:
--it is on Holland America
--it is a 2-week round trip out of Seattle, currently leaving on Fridays
--we will probably go to Seattle 2-3 days early to do some sight-seeing
--it is not a back-to-back cruise where you visit the same ports each way
--here is the itinerary:

F--depart Seattle
S--at sea
M--Ketchikan
T--cruising Tracy arm (Twin Sawyer glaciers)
W--Icy Strait Point
T--at sea
F--Anchorage
S--Homer
S--Kodiak
M--cruising Hubbard Glacier
T--Sitka
W--at sea
T--Victoria, BC
F--Seattle

--there is no option for land tours on this cruise and it does not do the interior of Alaska
--tentative leaving date would be the last week or so of August, cruising into the first week of September---2012 prices for the cruise are approximately $2100 for inside room per person, and $2400 for oceanview room per person--probably add an extra 10% for 2013

David Williams always says that for Alaska you figure that your shore excursions and on board costs (tips, bar tabs, laundry and souveniers) pretty much equal the cost of your cabin. He's probably pretty close. Alaska shore tours are not cheap, but they are wonderful. We plan on taking lots of whale, bear and other nature watching trips. If you add in the float planes, helicoptors, and glacier landings, you can really add to the cost, but most people think it is worth it. Alaska really is a unique destination.

If you are remotely interested in going, let me know and I will put you on an information list to keep you updated. The more the merrier. We would love to have a bunch of our friends and family join us. I will not be your travel agent, but I can possibly help with roommate matching and travel information.

A Little Getaway

I usually hate to take trips in the summer as it is too hot for me, but I was dying to get away for a few days. So in late July I decided to surprise Marcia with a little getaway and didn't tell her where we were going until we pulled into the hotel parking lot.

I picked a little town called Lake Wales. It is just below I-4, midway between Tampa and Orlando. It's less than 3 hours away and wasn't too expensive.

What's there? Well, the first day we went to an aircraft museum in Polk City. This rich guy has a huge collection of vintage aircraft and restores them and flies them and displays them. We spent almost a whole day there just wandering around and looking. Loved the B-16, which was set up so you could walk through and see what it was like on a bombing raid.

The second day we were going to do "historic" Lake Wales. Well, never believe everything you read on the internet. The orange juice welcome center was closed, "historic" downtown had one store open and no restaurants, so that was a bust. We headed to the Chalet Suzanne restaurant and ended up having a light lunch there as Marcia spotted some sandhill cranes and a bunch of turtles right outside the window. They provided the lunch time entertainment. We did "Spook Hill" (twice--Marcia liked that) and then went to Bok Tower and Gardens to hear the concert and tour the grounds. Had time to hear the concert and see a very small portion of the grounds before the sky opened and DUMPED for the next three hours. We gave up and went back to the hotel. Really would like to do the Gardens again some day.

The next day I managed to hit a home run though. I had made arrangements for us to go on an airboat tour on a nearby lake. Neither one of us had ever been on an airboat before. There were four other people with us (a family from Scotland) and the Captain. It was an overcast day, not too hot, and there were lots of birds and gators out. We had two hours out on the water and saw lots of really neat stuff, including three different bald eagles.

After that it was a drive to Tampa to the Hard Rock Casino where we used my comps to have the buffet lunch and spent a couple of hours losing money in the casino before coming home. It was a great 3 1/2 day getaway!

Big Cat Sanctuary in Tampa

Okay, so I'm way behind on the blog. This is Marcia's birthday trip back in June. She wanted to go the the Big Cat Sanctuary in Tampa. We invited Linda and Elaine to go with us.

This sanctuary takes in the big cats that people have taken in as cubs and raised, thinking they were cute and cuddly, then they grew up. Or people were raising them for fur, or showing them on the side of the road for a few bucks, or whatever. They cannot be released back in to the wild and the sanctuary takes them in and provides them a safe environment to live out their lives. The tours given by the interns help pay for the food for the animals. They have all kinds of cats, from little ones to really, really big tigers. It's hot in the middle of June so a lot of them are camera shy, but I did get a few pics.

After a nice (hot) tour we headed to St. Petersburg where we had lunch at the Columbia, one of our favorite restaurants. Marcia had a great birthday!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Spring training in Orlando---a great time to take in an afternoon game, this one between the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins. March 23 was a Wednesday and an absolutely gorgeous day.

We were wayyyyyy out in the right field area, but had a front row bleacher seat in the very last section. Great place to stretch out your legs and watch for foul balls. Marcia almost got hit with one in batting practice. All those kids around with gloves and no one caught it!

We were actually pretty close to the players and had a great view of first base. It was a good game that ended in a tie after 11 innings (they don't play until someone wins in spring training). We headed out to Marcia's favorite Olive Garden for an early dinner before heading home. What a fun day!

A Quick Visit to the Folks

March 17 we headed out for a quick trip to Texas to visit the family. Stayed with Robert and Eddie on Thursday night and then we all headed to Stephenville on Friday. We stayed through Monday morning and had a nice visit. Got to visit with some relatives we hadn't seen in a while. My cousin Jimmy was not even in high school last time I saw him and he was there with his two kids, one of whom is in high school already. Unfortunately I didn't think to get the camera out then. When I did get it out, I could only take a few pictures before my camera battery died. My backup was also dead. Oh well, I did get some pics of the Dutchess of the Lucas household. She is almost 2 years old and has completely implanted herself in mom and dad's hearts and has them wrapped around her little paws.

This is her place when mom is doing a breathing treatment. The cart isn't big enough for her, but she makes do:

After we headed back on Monday, we stayed with Robert and Eddie again before leaving the next morning. Apparently all of that visiting and eating just wore everyone out:

It was nice to visit with everyone and mom and dad are doing great. Already planning a trip out there next March.