CRUISE TO ALASKA

After the long drive from Castleford, 

 we finally arrived at the cruise terminal in Seattle.

Gracie and Lizzie are excited to get on board the Oosterdam!

This will be their very first time on a cruise ship.

Lizzie, Elly, and Gracie take in the views of the city from the deck of Oosterdam.

Sunday May 29, 2011, we sail away at 4:00pm.

All dressed up for the first dinner on the ship.

The next day is a relaxing sea-day..a good day

for breakfast to be sent to staterooms 8047 and 8051.

Lizzie on the verandah of stateroom #8047 which she shared with Grandma.

While the ship presses on toward Glacier Bay, we have time for...

a little whale watching... 

 a little refreshment...

 a little hot-tub time...

a little bingo!

We almost won a free cruise as you can see.
Both Elly and I only needed one more number to take the prize!


We entered beautiful Glacier Bay on Tuesday May 31.
Not only is the bay beautiful, but we also enjoyed beautiful weather!

We arrived in Juneau on the first of June.

 Mount Robert's Tram
When we arrived in Juneau we rode the tram to the top of Mount Roberts.
One of the first things that we saw from the tram was a bear!

Downtown Juneau
The rest of the morning we explored the port town of Juneau,
walking the streets, touring the legislative building,
and grabbing a snack at the famous "Red Dog Saloon."

Bike and Brew Tour

In the afternoon we went on a bicycling tour that took in the sights of Auke Lake,

Alaska's rain forest, and the Mendenhall Glacier.

Before heading back to the ship we were given the opportunity to sample the beers that are made in Alaska.
(The kids got ginger ale and root beer)  Our favorite beer was the Alakan White...the one with the polar bear on the bottle.

Sitka - June 2

Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest

We arrived in Sitka on Thursday, June 2.  

Our tour of the day was the "Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest".

We saw sea otters, harbor seals, eagles, and,

 the most exciting sight of the day, the whales!

Elly and Gracie say that the whales were so close that they could smell their breath!

No photos of the whale sightings, however. My camera battery died. Sigh.

We ate lunch in this peaceful little town and went to Saint Michael's Cathedral, which shows the influence of the early Russian settlers.  When Russia owned Alaska, Sitka was the capital city.  We also went to a beautiful park with trails through the rain forest and lots of totem poles.

Formal Night on Oosterdam
June 2, 2011

The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show

June 3, 2011

Exploring historic Creek Street in Ketchikan

 Walking through the park with umbrellas that were never needed.
We were ready though.  Did you know that it rains in Ketchikan nearly 300 days per year?

When we were back onboard the ship it was time for some wine-tasting,

followed by a cupcake tea party.  Yummy!

Sailing away from the port of Ketchikan.

 Stateroom #8047
Our last day on the ship we have to prepare to say goodbye to our lovely accomodations for this cruise.
We did not arrive in the port of Victoria till after dinner, so all of our packing had to be done early in the day.

We arrived in Victoria around 7:00pm.

We were able to do some sightseeing close to the port before meeting for our scheduled tour.

 Horse Drawn Trolley Tour
Victoria Canada
This turned out to be one of our favorite tours!
A great guide, interesting comments along the way, and fantastic weather!

When we finished the tour it was already quite dark.
Days are long in that part of the world...it was nearly 11:00pm.
Time to head back to the ship for our last night's sleep.

It was a great trip!!
(except for the $287 speeding ticket.)

BRAD IS "OVER THE HILL"

VAL IS SIXTY

Don and Val celebrate Val's 60th at ElCazador in Buhl.

LOMAN CLAN

Lizzie (age 10) Gracie (age 9)
Robbie and Elly

BIKES NEED CLEANING

Bikes need cleaning...
now all we need is some good weather!
We are being teased with sunshine for a few hours,
but then wind or thunderstorms invade the day.

PUPPY LOVE

MOHR KIDS

While their parents were in Boise celebrating their anniversary,
Kaya, Ava, and Benjamin spent the weekend with us.

Happy Anniversary, Adriana and Brad! 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Lucilu is such a good mother.  It's been fascinating to watch her.

TURNING 60 ON A PANAMA CANAL CRUISE

Harry's wish for his BIG birthday was to get out of town, away from the attention of family and friends.  My assignment was to find a trip to accomplish just that.  We chose a cruise through the Panama Canal, something that we have never done before.  Here is our itinerary:

We arrived in San Juan late at night on the 17th, and we had a few hours to explore the town before we boarded our ship.

  We stayed at Hotel Milano in Old Town.
 Blue cobblestone streets are typical in the area.

Stateroom #9072 on Celebrity Millennium -
our home for the next fifteen days.

CARTAGENA COLOMBIA

April 21 we ported in Colombia.  The tour that we chose took us to the Fortress, the Inquisition Museum, and the beautiful old Colonial City of Cartagena.

COLON PANAMA

April 22 we arrived in Colon.  We took a short bus ride and were oriented to the port area.  Then we boarded a little boat and travelled around on Gatun Lake, seeing the wildlife (everyone was really thrilled to see a white-face monkey) and all the many boats waiting their turn to make their way through the Panama Canal.  After that we visited the Embera Indians, a group of people native to the area.  They still live in much the same way as they have for hundreds of years.
Our tour concluded at the Gatun Locks, where we were able to watch several ships pass through the canal from an observation deck.

The Embera Indians with their handmade crafts.  The woman on the right is the current leader of the tribe.

PANAMA CANAL PASSAGE

While we were on the ship, we had a professor from Boise State University offer lectures on different phases and aspects of the amazing Panama Canal.  The lectures were informative and very well attended.  Harry and I had done lots of research at home before the trip, but it was good to get Professor Penny Schwiebert's lessons.  The one thing that is amazing is, that even though we were doing a WESTbound crossing, the ships travel through the canal in a SOUTHEAST direction.  Odd, but true!

Our ship entered the canal zone at 6:30 in the morning.  The passage took all day.

PUNTARENAS COSTA RICA

Harry and I took the Jewels of Monte Verde Cloud Forest tour. 

PUERTO QUETZAL GUATEMALA

On April 27 we arrived in Guatemala.  This was one of our favorite stops.  We went to the old city of Antigua, very beautiful old colonial town built in 1530.  It is up high in the mountains, and because of the higher elevation, the climate is ideal.  We explored the town on our own and had a traditional Guatemalan lunch in a beautiful regional hotel La Posada Del Don Rodrigo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY

Me and the birthday boy!
The waitstaff presented Harry with a birthday cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to him in their varied accents.

ACAPULCO MEXICO

Harry and I were shown the local sights by our cab driver, Alberto.  

A Mariachi band from Acapulco came aboard our ship and entertained us before we sailed away that evening.
It was great.  Many passengers knew all the songs they presented, and they all sang along.  It was so festive!

CABO SAN LUCAS

On May 1, we ported at Cabo San Lucas.  Harry and I have been here several times.  Rather than taking a tour, we tried to catch up with our friends, Jerry and Carol.  They had been staying in their new MonteCristo Villa at Sunset Beach.  We knew that they were flying home the day of our arrival, but we hoped that we might catch them before they left.  Even though that plan failed, we enjoyed seeing this part of Cabo San Lucas.

SO LONG CELEBRITY MILLENNIUM

This cruise had a nice balance of ports and at-sea days.  We enjoyed Bob and Jane, who we dined with each evening.  We were well-served by our waiter David at dinner.  Harry's daily ritual before dinner was a hot-tub soak in the pool on deck.  Each evening we had FREE cocktails in Michaels' Club.  We did a lot of reading.  Two great books that we both read were "Unbroken" and "The Girl Who Played With Fire".  A daily bulletin kept us informed about the goings-on in the world...The Royal Wedding, American Idol Updates, the tornadoes in Alabama, and the end of Bin Laden.  It was another wonderful trip.  We are thankful for safe travel.

SEVEN PUPPIES - ALL MALES!

Lucilu and her new litter of puppies.

We were surprised to see that the puppies are so black.
We were even more surprised to discover that all the puppies are males!