Cranberry & Pineapple Continued.....Again.

[Jrsy Boy]

Here are the remaining photos from Winter Park if you are interested.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Loved your photos. Hey, I never saw you spinning or flipping. What gives??? LOL Those darn pine beetles have sure made a mess up there.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Loved your photos. Hey, I never saw you spinning or flipping. What gives??? LOL Those darn pine beetles have sure made a mess up there.

I didn't do either. Tammy and Alex didn't seem to think the spinning thing was really that worth waiting for again and I just didn't feel like standing in line to jump on a trampoline when we have one in the backyard. I did the climbing wall and the human maze, though we didn't get photos of that.

It is pretty disheartening with all of those dead trees, but it is still beautiful regardless.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Jrsy - looks fun up there. Never been there in the summer. I would not do the spin ride, makes me want to throw up just looking at the pics, lol!

 

[cristit14]

Nice pictures Jrsy. I'm with you Heidi, I got nauseous just looking at the spinning ride.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Booked our flights for Disneyland this morning. SW's fares dropped overnight by just enough to convince me to go ahead and purchase them. None of the other airlines have budged...except temporarily upward. And the direct flight out had been more expensive than flights with a stop, but today they were all at the same lower price, so that's definitely a bonus.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Direct flights are a HUGE bonus for Ted and I. We are going on a Holland America Land/Cruise tour to Alaska on Aug 11 and we were able to score a direct flight to Fairbanks on Frontier. Coming home we got a direct flight from Vancouver to Denver.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Jrsy - It always seems more official to me when the flight is booked! I am just waiting for SW to release more dates after January 7th!!!

 

[Jrsy Boy]

You guys remember the "Dole whip floats" we made at our BBQ last September? We haven't been able to find the Ben & Jerry's "Jamaican Me Crazy" that we used at all this year, but over the weekend we found Pineapple Sherbet at King Soopers, so we'll be trying to make them again.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Oh YUM!!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

You can't find that anymore, big bummer! Glad you found a substitute, hopefully it tastes just as amazing as the ones that were made last summer.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

I'm going to try to resurrect this thread. Sandy has an excuse for not posting but not the rest of you!

I've been tracking our airfare for our DL trip in case it dropped and we could get a credit from SW, but it is actually up by $74 since we booked! And that is just on the trip out there, the fare for the trip back hasn't changed. We also found out that you can pay for your stay at Hojos by check ahead of time if your dates are set, so we did and that is one less thing that will be on our credit card.

One year ago, we still hadn't yet told Alex about the trip we were taking for his birthday.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

You are right, I have no excuse!!!! I am a slacker! So I heard you saw my DH somewhere yesterday!!!!

I have noticed our flights on Southwest haven't dropped in price the last two trips. I kept hoping for a DING but got nothing!! They are still cheaper to fly for us so I will stick with them.

My mom and I leave for DC on Monday. I have to go there for work and thankfully she can come along. We are staying at the Ritz Carlton in Pentagon City and then we will ride the Metro out to the National Mall. We get back Thursday, and then Friday Tyler is having his VNS procedure/surgery. My mom will be at the hospital with my sister and Tyler and I will be with Joey at the campground. We are all a little nervous but praying it helps with his seizures.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Thanks Jrsy. Sad that this was thread was dying.

If anyone is interested here is my trip report for few days:

Wednesday, August 11
Fairbanks
Flew out of Denver on Frontier at 6:10pm. Ted went to work until noon. We were fortunate enough to have a non stop to Fairbanks. DIA’s concourse was very chaotic and frustrating. They have a new boarding technique that we aren’t familiar with and neither was anyone else. They now don’t board anyone with a roll on until last. The lady calling out the row numbers and explaining the new process was not using the microphone so no one could hear her. I know several just boarded out of turn out of frustration. There were several other gates boarding at the same time and in close proximity. The lines we intertwining. What a mess! The flight was non eventful other than being a long 5 ½ hours. We noticed on the plane that it was light out at 9:00 and when we landed at 10:00 it was still light. They told us that it gets dark about midnight until 5:00am when the sun rises. The cruise line certainly has it’s act together. We picked up our luggage, gave it to the attendant and then advised to board a bus to the resort., Regency.

Thursday, August 12
Fairbanks
Our plans for the day was the Riverboat Discovery. The Riverboat tour was not offered to us through Holland America so I made a reservation at home for it. We needed to find our own transportation so we stopped by the lobby and they told me to talk to the Holland America staff. The lady there was so kind and hooked us up with their bus and we were taken to the boat. The tour was nice, We had a great seat on the port side. They told us that there is more planes per capita in Alaska then anywhere. We watched a sea plane take off, circle us and then land, Loved watching it. We stopped at Susan B……’s (a Iditarod winner)home where she raised her Iditarod dogs. She passed away but it is still going. It was very modest but had a lot of dogs. It was fun seeing and hearing the dogs. They are very hyper. They had about 4 young puppies that they are in the middle of raising. We watched them run and play. They had the older dogs hooked up to an ATV. We watched them take off and run a little bit in the back country, the route they train, daily. Once they got back, they unhooked the dogs and the dogs ran for the Chene river. It was fun watching them play in the water and a boat. We then moved on to a replica Native Indian fishing camp. Two teenagers explained all about the fishing camp and what each person was expected to do at the camps. We then got off the boat and put into 3 tour groups where we taken to 3 different parts and where things were explained. After that we were given 20 minutes to explore on our own. We learned the difference between a reindeer and caribou and it‘s that reindeer can be domesticated. We dropped off our things and by that time we were starving for lunch. We walked to a little restaurant called Iris at the corner of Noble and 10th. We had the best prime rib sandwich and instead of fries we chose beef stew. It was excellent. Our waiter was from Russia who’s girlfriend lives in Grand Jct and has relatives in Boulder. He would like to live in CO some day. While we were eating he dropped off a piece of ice cream birthday cake. It was the cooks birthday. Yum!! We then went on a walk down Noble to the Visitor center and walked the river. We walked around downtown a bit. It was getting close to seven so I called a restaurant called Big Al’s for a pizza delivery. It was honestly the best pizza I have ever had. Ted loved it, too. We got to bed around 9:00.


Friday, August 13
Train to Denali
Our luggage needed to be out by 6:00am so once again we got up early. We were to be picked up by the bus at 7:15. We decided to eat breakfast on the train. The bus was on time but not all guests. It’s amazing how people don’t care about time. We waited for a couple at the riverboat tour for probably 15 minutes. Then we had to wait for people for the bus to the train. People were getting anxious, the bus driver was upset, the Holland America host was upset and the bus behind us was upset because he couldn’t move. Ted said, just watch, it will be the same couple and sure enough it was. The drive there was short, probably 10 minutes. We stayed at the McKinley Chalet. Next to it is the Princess Lodge. We have learned that Princess, Holland America and Carnival are now owned by the same company.

The train was fun. The train has three different companies using it. It is owned by Alaska railroad but the cruise companies, Holland America and Princess each have several cars that they pay Alaska railroad to pull. Also in the front is where the locals travel. They are not scenic cars like ours. Our car had the observation deck on top where we were assigned seats. Below was the restaurant and kitchen. Our rail guide was very entertaining and informative. Kate told us all about the trip as we were going. Ted and I got to talking to her and she was telling us all the stupid questions that have been asked. One question was when do they turn on the Northern lights and another one was who planted all the trees. We had a good laugh over it. We had breakfast with a fun couple from IL, Larry and Karen. Breakfast was pretty good. Ted had a skillet with reindeer sausage (yes, I said reindeer sausage), I had a smoked salmon breakfast burrito with a side of reindeer sausage. I knew ahead of time that the train served it and by no means was I going to try it but I gave into myself. It was EXCELLENT! Each train car has a bartender. Ours was fun and a great bartender. Her specialty was a hot chocolate drink made with vodka, Kahlua and Amaretto. It was addicting! She also boasted of a mudslide that she makes with Amaretto and she made one for me. Yuumy! We were only on the train for 4 hours. We were bussed to the Chalet. Ted and I made arrangements on our own to go on the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Our packaged included a National History Wilderness Tour which was 4 hours but I had read on the internet and we also saw a “blurb” on a Holland America video that said that the Tundra tour was a must do. It was for 8 hours and went deeper into Denali. I have to add that cars and campers cannot go that far. It is just for a tour busses. I made friends with a lady on the Internet that told me how to go about getting on a tour since it wasn’t included. It took a lot of patience, time and phone calls but I got us booked before we left home. We got to the Chalet about 12:45 and our bus for the tour was scheduled for 1:30. We needed to pick up the actual tickets at the front desk,, drop off our carry on’s and grab a bite to eat. It was an 8 hour tour and they only supplied a box lunch. There was a small counter to buy a few things so we bought Pepsi and sandwiches to take on the bus. We waited until they called our tour and we boarded a tan school bus and ended up in the far back. I wasn’t real happy over that but I knew we were lucky to have been able to even get on that tour. Then the bus driver came back to explain to us that it gets stuffy in the back. Oh great, that’s all I needed I thought., So off we go. The driver was absolutely a great guide. He explained so much and pointed out a lot. We found out that the group on the bus was a private tour group . We thanked them for adopting us. We had a great time with three couples. Ted and I referred to it as the back of the bus gang. It was as if we had known each other for years. It made the trip so enjoyable. We found the landscape beautiful. I can’t believe all the colors that the mountains have. We saw lots of caribou, some dall sheep, moose , 2 wolves, maybe 2 or three bears and two bear cubs. We saw a couple of eagles, the state bird, and a trumpeter swan. The absolute highlight was seeing Mt McKinley in all its glory. It’s something that only 30% of tourists see because of the clouds. They call it the 30% club and we are now proud members of it. We got back to the Chalet at 9:15pm and headed to bed. Our room was cute. It was like a cabin. We really liked the Chalet. Beautiful setting, right in Denali Park.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Today is my last day of work at the office for 11 days!!!!!!! I am so excited, I cannot wait to get away from all this stress for awhile.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

You are right, I have no excuse!!!! I am a slacker! So I heard you saw my DH somewhere yesterday!!!!

I saw him at the Auraria stop; we were apparently on the same train. It was funny because he was also wearing his Old Chub shirt, so there's no way I could have missed him.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I saw him at the Auraria stop; we were apparently on the same train. It was funny because he was also wearing his Old Chub shirt, so there's no way I could have missed him.

Too funny! You will probably see him on Tuesdays/Thursdays if you usually take that train because he has a late class until a little after 5:00 those days.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Too funny! You will probably see him on Tuesdays/Thursdays if you usually take that train because he has a late class until a little after 5:00 those days.

This was at 7:30am-ish on Tuesday. I'm usually at the Oxford station just after 5pm, so it isn't likely that I'll see him. Wished I had his cell # so I could have called him and told him to turn around and wave. Ask him if he still wants to come over for a brew day this fall, since we never did it last spring.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

BTW...are any of you going to the Great American Beer Festival?

 

[jiminyC_fan]

A few more days of my journal:

Saturday, August 14
Train to Anchorage
We had to have our luggage out by 9,. We were to be ready to get on the bus to leave for the train station by 11:15 There was a bunch of shops across the highway that they call the boardwalk and I wanted to buy souvenirs for everyone. We got there about 7:15 am and of course nothing was open so we just walked it and found a campground., It was soooo cold and we even saw a tent and an ongoing joke with Heidi and Chris, two billboards. We ended up at a gas station that was open,. We got a kick out of a sign outside the store that said “we proudly sell Pepsi”. No wonder we had a hard time finding it in Fairbanks. Coke must have the market. We bought Ted more Pepsi for the train ride. While walking back we found a store open and what a find it was. We purposely didn’t pack warm clothing knowing that we wanted to buy some for us up here. Prices were great even for Alaska.

We were bussed back to the train depot. It was late by about 15 minutes. We were in the front of the train yesterday but the back today. The seats are pre assigned. Larry and Karen were across from us again. It’s fun now as we are getting to know a few on the train. There is an older couple that I adore. He walks with a walker and winks and smiles at me. Ted and I refer to him as my boyfriend. He is absolutely adorable and his wife has a great sense of humor. We had lunch on the train with a couple. Very nice people. I don’t recall their names. He is a cancer survivor and she has cancer in both lungs. She is between chemo treatments. The train guide is a young guy. At first I though oh my but as time went by I liked him. Our bartender wasn’t very attentive. The ride once again was beautiful. Dinner was with a couple from Belgium. They had a hard time communicating with the staff so we helped them. We really enjoyed talking with them. She reminded me of Dani next door at home. We managed to see another moose. We went over a high bridge and was told that if the Statue of Liberty was standing at the bottom of the gulch that we would be staring her in the eyes. WOW!!! We arrived in Anchorage to a huge group. We were bussed again to the Hilton Hotel. Nine busses at one time had to pull in and drop off guests. All in all it was well executed. We stayed on the 22nd floor, top floor of the Anchorage tower. The view was of the mountains and downtown.


Sunday, August 15
Board the Statendam
Our luggage pick up was 8:00 and departure time was 8:15. We boarded our assigned motor coach and headed to Seward where we were to board the ship,. Our bus driver was extremely knowledgeable and informative. It was a four hour drive to the ship. She stopped once for us to stretch our legs. It happened to be a beautiful area. Once again, we were traveling with the same group of people and it was fun just talking to everyone., Larry and Karen are going to be a couple doors down from us on the ship. It just started to sprinkle when we arrived at the Port. Of course, their were so many busses bombarding the port that we had to drive around the tiny town of Seward to waste time until it was our turn to pull into to the terminal. The terminal was not much. Looks like a airplane hangar. Check in was a breeze. Fast and easy. We had to wait to check in and then again in a line for security but after that we got right on the ship. Walking on was nothing. Just a hallway and one person that says welcome. You don’t feel special like on DCL. We were ushered to the elevator and not allowed to go anywhere but the Lido deck for a lunch buffet. They even had a staff member on the elevator to ensure it. I thought the Lido deck was very nice. It has a retractable roof over the pool and hot tub. It can be compared to Deck 9 on DCL. (without the beverage station, LOL). The Lido restaurant is very nice. We are told that for the first two days you cannot serve yourself at the buffet to avoid a Norwalk breakout. I thought it kind of dumb but not much of a hassle. It’s awkward since they don’t have trays to carry your plate and drinks. We ate with Larry and Karen. They came over the loud speaker and announced that our rooms were ready so the four of us headed down to our room., I found our room very nice,. Tons of storage. I had to have a look at our window and as the internet warned me, it was kind of gross, rusted and all. Seward has a free shuttle so we headed off with Larry and Karen. We wanted Pepsi and diet pepsi for the trip since there is not a beverage station and pop is 2.00 a glass and 2.25 for a can and only the coke brand. We got off the ship and it was raining. I mean raining. We were told that the shuttle MAY stop at Safeway so we asked. He couldn’t but would get us as close as he could. Honestly, in retrospect it was a dumb move. We hooked up with another couple that wanted Safeway, too, so the six of us crossed a busy highway with it raining. By the time we got out of Safeway we decided to walk all the way back to the Port instead of just stand in the rain waiting for the bus to pick us back up at the drop off point. It was raining a lot by then. It was hard to cross the highway. Larry ended up helping me with my pop. We safely got across the highway and very close to the ship when the bus showed up. They are not permitted to stop at random spots but this bus driver did. She said we needed to get out of the rain. We were drenched. BUT, it was a fun time and made for good memories. Larry and Karen think the same. By this time the luggage started to arrive so we put things away. We then went out to explore the ship and found “my boyfriend” is also a few doors away from us. We explored a little with them. They are just too cute! We have open dining but we didn’t feel like getting dressed so we ended back at the Lido for dinner. It was prime rib and very good. Embarrassing but true, we went to bed at 8:00pm. The early mornings and being so busy has gotten to us and we are just plain tired.

A little interesting thing about the ship is that each stateroom has a DVD player, Not realizing that they have a HUGE DVD library we brought some from home. The pamphlet has 786 movies. Nice added touch! Room service is much more extensive than DCL.

Monday, August 16
Day at sea, College Fjord
Well darn it, it’s another early day. We got up at 5:30 because we were going to College Fjord at 6:30 and we didn’t want to miss it. We got some great advice on the Internet from a man that just did the same tour a couple of weeks ago and he told us where to go for the best viewing. Man, was he right. It was at the bow of the ship that is normally closed to guests but opens for the glaciers and for when the Statendam goes through the Panama Canal. It was cold and cloudy. We stood out there with another older couple from Ottawa. She was so cute with her Canadia “eh”. LOL It was beautiful and we took lots of pictures. It’s called College Fjord because all of the glaciers are named after popular Colleges like Harvard. The sun popped out for a second and made for a different view. We were only there for probably an hour. Dinner was formal but we skipped it and went to the Lido. People are sick from the waves but we are doing great. We have been told several times that a green apple and salt works and that is what the crew does. Bumped into Larry tonight and found out that Karen isn’t feeling well so he took our green apple out of our fruit basket so she could try that.

Tuesday, August 17
Day at sea, Glacier Bay
Woke up to a horrible dreary day. This is the day of Glacier Bay. The big glaciers. What a bummer! I was sitting on our couch looking out our window and I saw spouts of water coming out of the water. I sat and wondered what in the world was causing it so I got up and looked out. I saw whales in the distance. I even saw their tales. I can’t tell you how excited I was. We got dressed in layers., Me in my long underwear, blue jeans, long sleeve shirt, flannel jacket and on top of that a raincoat, headed out to the deck. The fog was thick. We got out there about 9:30am and entered into the bay at 10:30. Got a great spot and waited it out. Along the way we spotted several whales, sea otters and birds. We waited it out until 12:30 but the weather took a turn for the worse and was raining. The forest ranger said that we had 2 hours before we got to Margerie Glacier so we grabbed a quick lunch at the fast service. We had hamburgers that was very good. I also had a herring sour cream beet salad. It made me think of my parents and grandparents. I liked it but Ted wouldn’t even have a bite.,LOL We decided to fully prepare ourselves for the afternoon and put on our rain pants that we bought before the trip. Best decision so far. We went back up to the bow and had it to ourselves for awhile. We really didn’t know where to stand so we just stopped. It turned out to be perfect. We got to Margerie Glacier with the clouds and fog covering it. What a bummer. It then suddenly appeared right before us. It was a sight to behold. Gorgeous and huge. Just as fast as it appeared, it disappeared. We waited it out and while waiting we could actually hear it calving. It sounded like loud gunfire. It happened several times. On the biggest one, we saw it fall in the ocean., It rewarded us for our patience., It was so foggy that the Captain had to keep sounding the fog horn. Once again, the glacier surfaced for quite awhile. The Park Ranger told us that we had another ½ hour before we reached two more glaciers so we came in to warm out and headed back out. Pretty much had the bow to ourselves. One glacier was visible but Johns Hopkins wasn’t. It was suppose to be a big one. In fact, one mile long. I was so happy about the beginning of the day so it didn’t bother me. What a great morning/afternoon! Cold and rain didn’t stop us. After Johns Hopkins we came in for happy hour at the Ocean Bar and then had dinner. We are now in our stateroom watching a movie. It’s so foggy out that we can’t even see outside our window. We are still hearing the fog horn. As I am typing this the Captain stated that the forest rangers are getting off and also a service engineer. The service engineer is being taken off for medical reasons and will be airlifted once off and flown to Juneau. He then went on to say God bless him and his family. That alone sounds scary. I pray he is ok. Edited to add that Ted found out that he had a heart attack.