Alaska!!!! # 1

About every five years Doug and I get an incling to take off and be with each other without our adorable kids around. Last January our friend Bobette Green invited us to go on a cruise with her and her family and their spouses and we decided this is the year to go. It seemed so far away when we booked the vacation and paid our down payment back in January, and it was almost comical as Bobette and I would text each other with "only eight more months to go!" or "Only six months to go!" . Finally, after waiting nine months the week arrived and we (Bobette and Jeremy, Cliff and Lynne Barnum and Doug and I as well as her family and their spouses) made the long trip to Alaska and boarded the Holland America Cruise line in Vancouver BC to spend a week enjoying cool weather and beautiful sights of Alaska. I'll try to not give you a picture overload, but everything was so fun and exciting I want to share it all with you!! We got alot of rest, alot of food, and played hard too. I find myself daydreaming about the whole thing when I should be working or cleaning or something else.

Here we go!!! Waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport.

Yea!  We made it onto the plane.  Security was interesting.  While I was going
through security the sparkles on my shirt set it off and I had to be frisked.
I joked with the lady that was doing the check that if she found any breast
lumps to let me know.  She assured me I was good.  Hahahah.  It was very awkward.

We flew from Las Vegas to San Fransisco, then caught another flight to Vancouver, BC.
Here we are standing in downtown Vancouver in front of a very shiny chrome blob.  We met Bobettes
family at the hotel where we were spending the night and took the train into town with them.  Vancouver is
a very beautiful city, and very clean.  There were a few homeless people on the street, but very little
trash or litter.

Here we are on the shuttle from the hotel to the cruise ship.  Our group
consisted of about 15 people.  on the left there is Cliff and Lynne Barnum, Bobettes dad Bob,
Jeremy and Bobette behind him, Pam and Rex (Bobettes sister and husband), on the left side front is Travis and Marilyn
from Rexburg, Idaho; Stacee and Doug Cox (Bobettes sister and husband); Me and Doug (who is taking the picture)
and Keri and Ron (Bobettes sister and husband). 

Here we are on the top deck of the cruise ship.  Vancouver was so beautiful!!

Lynne in the front and the rest of the group near the back having our first lunch aboard! 
It was so nice not to have to cook for myself of anyone else for a week!

Our group on the lower walking deck checking out the sights.  It was about 80ish
degrees that day in Vancouver.

Here we are after our first nice dinner standing out on the deck at sunset.  The ship was
already moving towards our first destination and the seas were calm.  It was a very romantic night.

This is a different shot of the sunset/moonrise.  Having the moon reflect off the
water like that was something I have only read about in books.  To experience it was simply
amazing.

The next morning I decided to keep it moving with a brisk walk around the deck and Doug joined me. 
He made it three laps and then started cutting through the ship to take pictures.  He would meet me on one side,
then I would continue around and he would meet me on the other side.  The more I walked, the more the fog burned off and the sunrise was amazing.  We even saw some dolphins racing the ship. 

The Monday morning sunrise burning off the fog.

Monday we were at sea all day so we spent time playing. This is Doug and Jeremy in a standoff
playing chess.  Doug and I played too, and I got a lot of help from passers-by but I still lost.  We
also played card games and ate, and explored the ship and ate, and played cards and ate. 

Monday night was our first formal night.  Doug had the camera and got a good shot
of the Barnums and me eating our soups.  The meals were amazing and so pretty I
felt guilty eating them. 

 

We had our pictures taken, but these were nice too with the moon behind us.  It was fun to dress up in things that are too fancy for church and feel elegant.  I hoped to go dancing that night but the theme was 60's music, so we walked the decks instead.