5/27/06 "Il pochi il fiero i blabbermouths" We *will* sail again Part 11

[justmestace]

http://www.zaphq.com/bubbleshow.html

KT and my parent's new dog are famous.

Where were they, with Maddy, that they got to do that????

 

[justmestace]

If I must, I must.....



T.O.P. !



pdfg and for Sam's sister and Virgil's dad

 

[scuba diver]

Something verrrrry weird is going on....smilies and avatars are missing...I can't sign on to AOL....says it's not available. Since when is something like AOL not available??

Please someone tell me it isn't just MY computer!

That probably does not happen with Macs!

 

[scuba diver]

How did we miss THAT one????

Kevin!!!
​

He probably did not even remember it was his birthday. That happens once you cross certain thresholds!

 

[scuba diver]

Trip Report - Alaska Call of the Wild


​

It’s time for our Alaska trip report. It is not going to be a really long report. It’s just the facts. The pictures taken by Sharon and Lisa are loaded on Shutterfly. I did video so if you want to see the video you have to come to Florida. The pictures give a lot of detail with the descriptions.

Shutterfly pictures are at: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaM3DVy3ZNGKI

The bottom line is simple – It was excellent. This was our first land package trip designed for families. We were concerned that there would be a lot of free time and that I would get bored. We never had any free time, not even time for shopping. They had us going from early morning into the night. Of course we did everything that was available.

This was very different than a cruise. They took care of pretty much everything and had a tight schedule. We did things that we could not have done by ourselves (like the private boat in the Kenai Fjords that would hold 200 people and we had it to ourselves for 42 of us or the fire beside the river) or would even have considered (like the Sealife exhibit).

Walking away from it we talked about all the things we did and not about all the food we ate. We ate great, no doubt about it, but the focus of the trip was about the experience and not about the food and entertainment. That is very different then what we have experienced on cruises.

We were in the best resorts in each area. We had two rooms just like on DCL and really appreciated it because the kids in our group ended up playing cards in Matt and Lisa’s room.

We covered 4 basic areas in Alaska. Some nights we ate on our own in the hotel and were free to order off the menu. It was included. Matt and Lisa quickly applied the cruise concept and ordered multiple items. The night we have 4 lbs of crab legs at our table for appetizers got a little out of hand, but I was still able to manage desert!

We are starting to look at our next trip and are considering them for Hawaii in 2008!

Here is the run down of what we did. We did this sheet because we already started to forget all the things we did.



Thursday, July 13 – Anchorage, Millennium Alaskan Hotel

• • 
    [*]Matthew arrives from Costa Rica after getting stranded in Miami
    [*]Dinner at Glacier Brew House – great Beer Battered Halibut
    
  
  

Friday, July 14 – Anchorage, Millennium Alaskan Hotel

• • 
    [*]Jim ran around Lake Hood
    [*]Breakfast at Gwennies Old Alaskan Restaurant
    [*]Hike Flattop Mountain Trail - 3 miles round trip, 1252 elevation gain
    [*]Snack at Wendy’s
    [*]Welcome Dinner at hotel
    [*]Card games in hotel lobby
    
  
  

Saturday, July 15 – Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge

• • 
    [*]Breakfast at Millennium Hotel – crab cake benedict was the best
    [*]Motorcoach to Talkeetna – moose sighting
    [*]Jetboat ride on Talkeetna River with lunch and hike to trappers cabin
    [*]Walking tour of Talkeetna – Homemade pie at Roadhouse Inn
    [*]Jim, Kristen, Sharon hiked
    [*]Dinner at Foreaker Dinning Room at Lodge
    
  
  

Sunday, July 16 – Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge

• • 
    [*]Jim ran into Talkeetna and along railroad track – 11 mile run
    [*]Motorcoach to Bill Hull – Alaskan musher
    [*]Jannel Porterfield spoke about growing up as a "homestead kid" –Detroit 59er’s
    [*]Jim, Sue, Sharon and kids walked into Talkeetna for pizza lunch at Mile High Pizza.
    [*]Cookies from Roadhouse Inn and hike on railroad tracks
    [*]Presentation by Mt McKinley hiker and nature walk
    [*]Dinner at Bistro
    [*]Sharon and Grandpa see Alaskan slideshow
    [*]Bonfire on Talkeetna river shore with "roastie toasties"
    
  
  

Monday, July 17 – Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge

• • 
    [*]Breakfast at the Lodge
    [*]Flightseeing adventure by K2 over glaciers into Anchorage
    [*]Lunch in downtown Anrchorage at Orsos
    [*]Motorcoach trip to Kenai
    [*]Dinner at Lodge with kids table – LISA’S BIRTHDAY
    [*]Jim and Sharon hiked to Kenai River, kids in the hot tub
    
  
  

Tuesday, July 18 – Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge

• • 
    [*]Matt, Jim, Bob, Jim fishing in Kenai River – Jim is "big stick"for the day
    [*]Sharon, Kristi, Sue, Lisa go horseback riding
    [*]Lunch at the lodge
    [*]Most of family kayaking on Upper Trail Lake
    [*]Dinner at Lodge with kids table
    [*]Kids in the hot tub – again
    
  
  

Wednesday, July 19 – Alyeska Prince Hotel

• • 
    [*]Motorcoach to Seward
    [*]Visit Alaska Sealife Centerquatic Center
    [*]Boat cruise to Kenai Fjords National Park – puffin, otter, seals, eagles, jellyfish pod
    [*]Tram ride to group dinner on top of mountain – saw bear, played in snow
    [*]Jim, Kristin, Matt, Tina (bus driver) hiked Winner’s Creek
    [*]Sharon, Lisa, and others swim, hot tub, and sauna
    
  
  

Thursday, July 20 – Alyeska Prince Hotel

• • Visit to Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
  • Train ride to Spencer Glacier for lunch
  • Kids take canoe trip to glacier and walk
  • Group take raft trip to glacier and back to train
  • Farewell Dinner
  • More pool time

Friday, July 21

• • 
    [*]Head home to Florida
    [*]Matt heads to Andy’s house – still more time before coming to Florida.
    
  
  

 

[WDWLVR]

Happy Belated Birthday Kevin!

Sorry we missed it, but it sounds like you celebrated in style!

 

[WDWLVR]

Jim your trip sounds fantastic! So glad you all had a good time.

 

[RachelTori]

WOW, Jim!!! Loved the report and the pictures are GREAT!! Hard to believe you all were wearing winter clothes while most of us here in the lower 48 were melting Tell Lisa my favorite picture is "Spa Girl"

We're leaving Thursday morning for Orlando - guess it's time to start thinking about packing.

Jim, I hope we'll see your family Saturday!!

 

[scuba diver]

Jim, I hope we'll see your family Saturday!!

Still planning on it. Matt is looking forward to ending his summer at his favorite restaurant.

 

[RachelTori]

Still planning on it. Matt is looking forward to ending his summer at his favorite restaurant.

Great! See you there.

 

[justmestace]

Great pictures and a great adventure, Scuba family!! A little too adventurous for me, I think. Except maybe the spa part!

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning cruisers ​

Happy Tuesday!​

Got all our reservations straightened out yesterday so we are good to go for the October cruise. Needless to say I crashed a bit early last night. ​

 

[ohiominnie]

Scuba,
REALLY cool trip report and pictures. I've wanted go to go Alaska for several years now. Of course, I want to go during Iditarod time (early March) so that would leave out a lot of the things you guys did! Hmmmm.

Very cool you met Bill Hall. Did he tell you about running the Iditarod?

What company did you go through. Something like that would make it easy to plan....let them do all of the work.

 

[ohiominnie]

Pam,
Tell Ashley we think she did AWESOME!!!
I sink directly to the bottom of the pool

 

[ohiominnie]

Irene,
Glad to hear Sam's sister is doing a bit better. We'll still lather on the prayers and

 

[ohiominnie]

Where were they, with Maddy, that they got to do that????

The day my parents took them back home with them they went up to the metro park. THey had some program going on and the Bubble Lady was there.

After they had KT and Maddie up there, and got a picture, they told my parents "look for her on our website, we'll put the picture on b/c we've never done a dog in a bubble before."

As for why she looks so tall, she is standing on a "brick" (at least that's what Nick called it)

 

[ohiominnie]

which should bring me to a TOP

pdfg and Sam's sister and Virgil's dad

 

[tinksdad]

He probably did not even remember it was his birthday. That happens once you cross certain thresholds!

Hey Mister!! Who are you again??

 

[justmestace]

The day my parents took them back home with them they went up to the metro park. THey had some program going on and the Bubble Lady was there.

After they had KT and Maddie up there, and got a picture, they told my parents "look for her on our website, we'll put the picture on b/c we've never done a dog in a bubble before."

As for why she looks so tall, she is standing on a "brick" (at least that's what Nick called it)

Before I asked that question, I sat here trying to remember if it was MADDIE or MADDY. Too lazy to go back and look. I had a 50/50 chance.....oh well. Guess I better not buy a lottery ticket!
My apoligies to MADDIE!

 

[justmestace]

Good Morning!!!!