slidergirl

Tracy was $70/lb for one type and $75/lb for another. I’m on the Eurodam too. I did pickup my Soho Coho Tshirt - the one outside the front door. Looks a lot like one I have from a Lyle Lovett concert. And I saw some old bottles and glass insulator caps through the window at Sam McGees. I collect the insulator caps, so it was one bright spot in Ketchikan to find a bunch of them and buy one. Too early for fish in the fish ladder, I was sad at that. Watching the fish fight up the ladder is fun to watch. We’re docked in Victoria next to the Volendam. She looks like a nice little ship.

I got on the Eurodam last Saturday. It indeed seemed fast. I did get the relaxing I needed. We’re docked next to the Volendam tonight in Victoria. She is a small ship! My cabin is at the back end of their ship and there are still the aft cabins behind me. I decided to not go into Victoria - It would only be for maybe 2 hours and I just wanted to hit a drug store to get a couple bottles of 400mg Advil. I can keep taking 4 of my 200mgs at home. It’s a little drizzly so it just didn’t seem like a worthwhile thing - I’ve been to Victoria a few times and it’s a short evening stop. I almost fell asleep today up in the Crow’s Nest! The chairs facing the bow are really comfy and listening to some classical music just was soooo relaxing. I have to remember to do this when I get home! OOTD for departure day: jeans, black & white striped Tshirt, jeans jacket, Chameleons. The only difference from the embarkation OOTD is black & white vs pink & white Tshirt - same brand. I noticed there are weight scales outside for the elevator banks on each floor - I guess some people pack so heavy that they need to check. I at least had 15 lbs of under weight to play with and I don’t think 4 Tshirts and my insulator cap are that much 🙂

Hank - you are just behind us by a day! We were in Sitka on Wednesday (their first nice day I was told), no other ships. I got to the Raptor Recovery Center before the masses from the ship. I love going to rescue/recovery places anywhere I go so this and the Bear sanctuary were good for me. Did a little walking in Sitka National Park, too. We were in Ketchikan yesterday along with the Grand Princess. She came about 2 hours later, so there was a little bit of time that the town wasn’t crowded too much. The weather there yesterday was mostly sunny and high 40s, so very pleasant for walking around. It was a little disappointing to see the main drag cluttered with either jewelry shops or cheesy souvenir stores. Walked over to Creek Street and got my Soho Coho Tshirt. Walked up the trail to the fish ladder to see if there was any activity - sadly no fish yet. If I went back to Ketchikan again, I would either stay on the ship or shell out for some kind of excursion. The ship ran out of chai mix yesterday! Oh No! One guest walked away in a huff when she was told no more. Me? I dutifully waited 20 minutes in line to get my plain ole’ cafe latte. I’m not worrying about entertainment - I’m just donning my headphones, putting on some tunes and sitting out on my balcony or on my sofa until the wee hours. My 2 bottles of wine I brought on are sufficing for additional entertainment 😉

Too fancy for me 😉 My LBTD (little black travel dress) is as fancy as I go. It is currently a Woolx short black Tshirt dress. Can be work day/night - just change up what I wear with it. Last night was “dressy” night on the ship and I think I looked better than a good 80% of the people. I only saw a handful of ladies with long dresses and they weren’t gowns. Now, this is an Alaska cruise on HAL so the dress “standards” are definitely more casual all the time. From the head slob…

Pics uploaded so I’ll add some. I “dressed” for dinner last night at Tamarind: my Woolx Tshirt dress, black booties, denim jacket. I wore the bluish green beaded tassel necklace my owner gave me and the bluish earrings I bought last summer for my grand niece’s wedding. I looked fairly presentable. Some of the girls doing service in Tamarind kept coming over and saying they liked the boots. Anyway, it was an excellent dinner. The lobster/shrimp potstickers were tasty and the crispy duck was indeed crispy skin and tender meat. After a couple left, the girls had me move over to one of the banquettes against the windows so I could watch the sunset. It was a pretty one. Went back up to the room, put on my headphones and did some nice musical listening until I fell asleep. Today is all overcast, but calm water. I’m just sitting up in the Crow’s Nest, had a latte, and just listening to more music. Cynthia - today it was the guy taking the orders who was SLOW, the girl making the coffees was very fast. I have to pack up tonight - I’m having Port Valet deal with my bag to the airport so I can wander around for a little in town. I waaaaaay overpacked!!! Didn’t need my 2 sweaters, didn’t need the nice black pants, didn’t need the 4 shirts I brought to change into for the evening. Didn’t need one of my leggings. But, that’s what happens when I take the roller because I can’t put my Allpa in the overheads and I didn’t want to walk around Seattle with it!!! OOTD: the same olive tie dye hoodie (I love it and it doesn’t stink up), Woolx leggings and my black mini skirt, my Moab’s.

Today was a beautiful day to be out walking in Ketchikan. Sun was out and the temp was in the upper 40s. I just walked around the old part of town, over to Creek St, up the Married Man walk to the fish ladder (no fish yet to be going up). Found a place that had old glass phone pole insulator caps so I had to stop in and buy one (I collect them). Picked up a Tshirt at Soho Coho. I had to ask where to get a cup of coffee - there wasn’t a place anywhere! A local got me up the hill a little to a place that had good coffee and pastries. That kept me going. I have to say - unless you were doing an excursion or really into jewelry or cheesy souvenirs, not much to do in town. Good thing it was a short day. The Grand Princess pulled into town about 2 hours after we did. Went back to the ship around 11am and hung out upstairs on the Seaview deck and the one above it. Watched the ship leave port, go out the channel and into the sound. Watched the harbor pilot exit the ship - that was fun! My cousin Jack retired as a harbor pilot in Chesapeake Bay/Hampton Roads, so it was interesting to see how the pilot boats pulls alongside and tracks with the ship to offload the pilot. My photos are still uploading to the cloud, so I’ll put some out more later, OOTD: jeans, my olive tie dye Smartwool hoodie shirt, my vest (not cold enough for my jacket), and my Moab’s. Tonight is Tamarind so I guess I’ll change clothes for that.

Popped over to my phone to post a few.

The outfit yesterday was on of my favorites to wear to work. From cold and dreary to cool and mostly sunny today. It was a good day to get out and about in tiny Sitka. This is the only place I booked an excursion - out to the bear sanctuary, the raptor rehabilitation center and Sitka National Park. Didn’t book with the cruise as they didn’t do all 3 and I didn’t want to be on a big bus with 50 others. Used Sitka Wildlife Tours - just a van with 9 of us. I’m a sucker for wildlife rehab places so this tour was right up my alley. The bear sanctuary takes in cubs whose mothers have been killed. The cubs grow up to be nice specimens. The facility uses old leeching pools from a defunct paper mill. The walls of the pools are too high for them to get out and is recycling old property. Today there were 5 brown bears and 3 black bears in residence. The blacks were hiding, but the brown were out and about. Kind of like “the humans are here, give them a show.” We then went to the Alaska Raptor Recovery center. Wow. They had quite a few bald eagles there in various stages of getting ready for release. They are big and they look mean! They had an owl there, too, getting his wings back. He had a wonderful face. Last was the little National Park. Walked among the totems and learned what each meant. Went down into the forest for a little bit of a trail walk. Loved the forest - just so green, the moss, the stuff growing on the old stumps. Things were just starting to bud. On the way now to Ketchikan. A short day - 7am-12:30pm. Just going to walk around town, grab a fish taco, stop by Soho Coho and look at the artsy Tshirts. The salmon aren’t running quite yet so I don’t think there will be much to see at the salmon ladder in town. OOTD: jeans, Cotopaxi hoodie Tshirt, Cotopaxi vest, Patagonia jacket, a Boho Bandeau in my hair, and the Chameleons. My photos haven’t made it over to the cloud yet, so I’ll add a few later.

I’m in a plain balcony cabin now. No binoculars.

Yes, they were in the US. Please provide examples of what you consider developing countries. Developing does not equal corrupt.

That was the only time I went for a latte. Yeah they were slow. But guests were ordering multiple drinks to be made like in their local *bucks! I’m finding the buffet coffee just fine.

Where I’ve worked, 3 people had access to the master key for the safes: Front Desk Manager on Duty, Security Manager on duty and Maintenance person on duty. Only 3 keys and they were tracked. If we had to go into a safe, always 2 of us went. I don’t think all that much about not being a safe “safe”. If I wanted to, I could take a picture of the safe & contents every time I got in there so I’d have a time stamped document. Like others said, hotels are not hotbeds of massive thievery. I’ve traveled and worked in hotels as employee and as guest for decades and haven’t had an issue. No place I’ve worked in the past 15 or so years has had a safe theft.

I’ve received refrigerator magnets from Annapolis, MD as a gratuity with no cash included. I’ve received voucher for a free Papa John’s Pizza (from Papa himself) with no cash included AND no Papa John’s within 50 miles. I’ve received candy at Christmas (just what a Type 2 diabetic wants) with no cash included. There are others, but I hope you get the point.

It is a cold, dreary, rainy(and a smidge of snow) day. Glacier Bay was the destination. We are the first ship of the year in the Bay. Had a nice view of the cruise from my balcony. It was clearer viewing than up in the Crow’s Nest with the rain on the windows. I popped up there to grab a cafe latte and it was crazy crowded. Took my beverage and ran back downstairs. No wildlife seen other than seagulls and one swimming animal I think was a seal. Lots of ice floating in the way up to Margerie Glacier. The captain did a cool slow 360 turn so that all sides of the ship could see the glacier. He got the OK to cruise up to Johns Hopkins Glacier. They both look the same to me, but the tops of them were interesting to see. I still think Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park was more interesting to me, as well as the random little glacier we had to climb across decades ago when I was backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas. Call me jaded 😉 We just pulled into Icy Strait Point. It’s raining pretty good and I didn’t have anything particular to do this evening there so I’m staying on the boat. The bay floor must drop off drastically here - I think we’re docked no more than 100 yds from the rocky beach. Cool looking spot - the forest comes right down to the beach. It has that damp forest look and smell. OOTD: Black Woolx leggings, my black “butt warmer” insulated mini skirt, purple & black tie dye hoodie shirt, my Cotopaxi vest, Patagonia jacket, Merrill Moab’s (they were jealous that the Chameleons were getting all the wear). And pigtails.

I’m on the Eurodam. Captain said there was a medical incident last night and conversation with US and Canadian officials determined best action was to speed it up to get to Juneau and offload the guest there. That’s why we arrived early. Cold and very cloudy day - 40-42 degrees this morning/early afternoon. No biggie to me as that is what it was like at home when I left! I still sat out on my balcony awhile when we came in the Channel. It seemed like quite a few places were still renovating, not yet open for the season or out of business. Norwegian Bliss docked behind us a little after we arrived. They’ve been following us out of Seattle.

Hi from cold and very cloudy Juneau! It is 40-43 degrees today. Called for rain, but it has held off so far. I’m back on the boat so it can rain all it wants. We got into Juneau 2.5 hours early. Captain said there was a medical issue onboard last evening and US and Canadian authorities decided the best thing was to haul it to Juneau and off board the guest there. I had nothing planned today but to wander around. That didn’t take too long! I stopped off at Dockside Daves for fish tacos (1 halibut, 1 salmon) and got an EXCELLENT A-Papa Sour from Devils Club Brewing. The two of the paired up to make a little open air Biergarten to sit, sip, and eat. Worth the port stop. Wandering over, I sat at the dock and people watched for awhile. So many different styles of clothes on people!! One lady had on a full-length fur coat - I’m pretty sure it wasn’t faux. I did get some comments from women that they liked my Chameleons. The tie dye does brighten up the yucky day. One funny thing coming into port - the container port had a bunch of busses sitting on top of containers - first time I’ve ever seen that. I guess when there is no road into Juneau you have to get those tourist busses here somehow. Quite a good number of stores were closed - either not ready for the season or gone for good. Was not prepared for the plethora of diamond, tanzanite, whatever other stone stores there were! OOTD: jeans, long sleeve T, my Cotopaxi hybrid vest, Patagonia down sweater, Chameleons. Nice and comfy and not too hot not too cold. Didn’t need gloves or toque. On another note - my hair is now grown out enough that I can put it in pigtails again! For awhile there, post-COVID, there wasn’t enough to make it worthwhile to put into 2 tails as there was barely enough for 1 scrawny pony.

I’m on the Eurodam right now. I go for dinner around 8pm. A bunch of the stations are already closed up for the night and the rest are closed promptly at 8:30. I haven’t had trouble getting a table yet, breakfast or dinner. I have offered to share with people walking by looking frustrated at not finding a table, only one took me up on it. Having a degree in Sociology that studied group behavior, I always find buffets “interesting.” Lines at the beginning of a slide that passes multiple stations - why not queue at the station? I saw this happen at a Club Med once - all the Americans dutifully waited in the long cafeteria-style line while the Europeans dove in where they food they wanted was located. Second day, everyone did the “dive in” and things went so much better. I got a stink eye last night because I went right where the salmon was to get my piece for my salad and not wait in the line that started back at the fruit.

Look at Cotopaxi and see if any of the many bags fit your size and price parameters. They are lightweight and very colorful - you’ll spot yours yards away! On my cruise right now (Alaska), I’m using the Bataan 16L as my daypack, a Taal Convertible as my “day bag” since I packed the Bataan. I also have the Miravieles 35L duffel, but didn’t bring it this time. I’ve camped and travel around Europe with my Cotopaxi stuff. LOVE IT.

Not me. I just pick up a nice piece of grilled salmon to add to my salad. Didn’t say “fresh grill” or grilled in front of me. The salmon tonight was with a crispy skin on - went well in my custom made Cobb salad.

Actually got about 2 hours of mostly sun this afternoon. Put on my Patagonia jacket and did a little basking while listening to Sting. Laziness at my best!

I’m not a dress up to go to dinner person. I would prefer an entree size salad, maybe Asian if it looks good that night. But if that isn’t your thing, go for what suits you. No judgement…

I didn’t look at much else since I knew I wanted a salad. There was a pasta spot and a place with the fish that also had red meat offerings. That’s all I remember but I know there was more.

I’m on the ship. When my Uber pulled into the pier area, a big “We (heart) Alaska” sign was on the front of the ship. It was a good day to start the season- very warm and sunny. A lot of sailboats out in the Sound going spinnaker only.

I’m on the Eurodam now. I saw 3 kinds of fish at the Lido: soy glazed salmon, salmon with an apple glaze and Alaskan rockfish. I added a piece of salmon w/ apple to the Asian salad that comes with pieces of seared tuna. Salads are my thing, too,

Day 2 at sea. After a hot and sunny day yesterday it’s cold and foggy with rolly polly water. But that’s OK. I’m just hanging out, more music and maybe some reading. Breakfast at the buffet was typical stuff. Got a nice little mixture of fruit, nuts and granola for my yogurt. As usual at a buffet, there were people who filled up their plates like it was their last meal on Earth. Never understood that one. Two pics: yesterday on my balcony and today. No food worthy of a pic. OOTD: Free People hiking pants, REI hoodie long sleeve shirt, and the Chameleon.