I should be getting paid overtime here, folks. There are a few of you who have really pressured me to get this thing done. You know who you are, and so do the rest of the DISers following my report!
Seriously, I'm trying so hard to get this thing finished. I don't want any more people leaving for their vacations without closure on my trip report. I already told you all that I don't need that kind of guilt in my life. I'd hate to ruin someone's vacation.
So, we got up around 7:15 and decided to be lazy. Afterall, the ship wasn't going to be in port at Ketchikan until about 1:00. (Tip: do your laundry on this morning!). We watched t.v. in bed until about 8:15, got showered, and went up to eat breakfast.
Now, if any of you had ever read any of my previous trip reports, you'd know that on a
Disney cruise one time, I set up a meeting with a DVC representative and made my husband go. Needless to say, it didn't work out the way I had hoped. My husband thoroughly embarrassed me with all of his bluntness and questions, and the lady pretty much told us to get out of her office (which was really just an inside stateroom). I'm not joking around people! She wanted us to leave and didn't want us to ever buy DVC!
Well, I talked him into attending a DVC presentation again. Don't get too excited though. The only way I could get him to go was because 1) he was bored and 2) they were giving away a $300 ship board credit to one of the lucky people that attended. Hey, we'd won bingo, so maybe we'd win this too.
So, we attended a DVC presentation at 10:30. And (drum roll please.....), we made an appointment to meet with a representative in his tiny little inside stateroom office for tomorrow. I didn't get too excited. My husband is a farmer. If any of you know any farmers, and I mean REALLY know them, you know that they are tight with their money for the most part. I'm not being prejudiced, I'm just sayin..... But, I figured if we got kicked out again, it would make for some good writing in my trip report, so it was all good.
BTW, we didn't win the $300 OBC.
Now, I'm a pretty intelligent woman. So, I went around without my husband asking all of the cruisers in white hats (they received them because they were already DVC) questions about their membership and what they liked and didn't like. Every now and then, I'd casually drop in a tidbit of conversation about DVC to my husband. I don't think he ever actually caught on that I might be up to something. I didn't think he'd actually go for it, but I always give everything I do 110 percent.
We went out to deck 4 to watch the ship pull into port in Ketchikan. We then got some lunch and headed out to walk around Ketchikan for a bit since our Misty Fjords floatplane excursion with Island Views wasn't until 4:50. Ketchikan was by far my favorite port. It's so neat! Everything is nestled so close to the port, and it's easy to get around. We had beautiful weather. It was warm with no rain which is apparently unusual in Ketchikan. We walked around and checked out the shops, and then we went and got some ice cream.
I wanted a wooden totem pole to add to our vacation collection at home, so we searched and searched for the right one. We finally found one that we liked, and it is displayed on my "vacation" shelf as I type this.
Here are a few pictures from when we were walking around Ketchikan:
So after walking around Ketchikan for a while, we begin making our way back toward the port area and decided to go ahead and go to our meeting place for our excursion. We hear all kinds of cheers and laughter coming from somewhere. Turns out it was coming from the Lumber Jack Show, so if any of you have that booked, I think you'll be in for a great time! We even tried to go, but because we had a meeting time of 4:50 for our float plane excursion, we couldn't do it.
A van from Island Views was there promptly at 4:50 to pick us up. She took us to their dock which was a few blocks away. We booked this excursion on our own through Island Views' website because I had read another DISer's review of how wonderful it was, and she was right! It ended up being our favorite!
You board a float plane and the pilot, Michelle, takes you through the Misty Fjords and lands the plane on a lake in the middle of the fjords, and you get to get out and take pictures and explore a little bit. First of all, Michelle is wonderful! We couldn't have asked for a better excursion! I took hundreds of pictures because the views were amazing, but I'm only going to post a few.
We flew through the fjords and then Michelle landed the plane on a small lake in the middle of nowhere. It was truly an experience of a lifetime! We got to get out and explore, and Michelle warned us to be careful on the mountainside. She said many people come back with wet butts because it is so slick. Well, Brian and Brandon take off exploring, and all of a sudden we see a small avalanche. Nothing that could hurt us but pretty amazing to see. There was also a beautiful large waterfall. My kids didn't want to leave and kept asking if we could go back just to do this again!
Well, guess who gets to get back on the plane with a wet and muddy butt? Yep. It's me. I knew that was going to happen! No one actually saw me fall, but they heard me scream. I had mud caked under my fingernails from gripping the ground as I was sliding down. It didn't hurt but scared the heck out of me. My family was laughing hysterically. Jerks.
So, my daughter and I start exploring together. I was worried about her because she was recovering from ACL surgery. I shouldn't have been worried about her. I should have been selfish and worried about myself because it happened again. Yep! I fell, slid down the mountain, and fell into a very small canyon type thing. I thought Brianna might have peed her pants. Loving daughter. Here's proof I fell:
We hated to get back on the float plane, but our time here had come to an end. Michelle took us home on a different route so the views would be different. Simply a once in a lifetime trip! We saw goats, and I spotted a bear but it really just looked like a brown dot from that high up. I would definitely do this excursion again with Michelle and her company if I ever go back! Michelle even let Brandon be the co-pilot on the way back, and he got to call in and tell Dan in the tower good night.
This is Michelle, the pilot, and one of her dogs.
We were trying to make it back to the ship for the 7:15 show, and we did. It was a juggling comedian. Of course, I had to skip out a bit early to get my muddy clothes changed before dinner. We had dinner at Parrot Cay and then headed to the Promenade Lounge for another round of BINGO!
Remember, we are now living the lives of Rock Stars, so we bought the electronic machine again for bingo. Plus, we had a set of playing cards from yesterday when we won (they give you a set to entice you back I think). Of course, Brandon took over the machine. That kid thinks he makes the money in the family. Well, turns out he does sometimes. HE WON BINGO AGAIN! This time he won $182 and again didn't have to share with anyone because no one else got bingo. We're thinking about keeping Brandon around, but still no more arcade! We're mean like that!
We headed back to the room as happy as could be. I began feeling a bit off due to the rocking of the ship, and we all went to bed. Tomorrow was a sea day and our DVC meeting.
Up Next: Will we get kicked out of our DVC meeting for a second time?
Susan