Anita Latte

Melody, I think your group will have a great time on Harmony. I’m not a person that picks favorites easily because I am a context is everything kind of person…my favorites depend on…and then I prefer… So Oasis class has its place for me. I think you’re going to have so much fun.

Y'all are SO FUNNY. So DS does have one more year before graduation. I am planning for next year, trying to figure out the logistics of two ideas…the first being practical…move all his stuff back. The second is more fun…like trying to take advantage of DS already being in London and thinking about using that as a spring board to some travel. The cruise would combine the efforts of both but I’m not sure that’s what we really want to do. There is a company out there that specializes in international student shipping which means that we could just use that business for our shipping needs. DS’s Visa is good through October 2023 I think…so he’ll have a few months following graduation, which will be mid-July 2023. He’s contemplating a gap year before graduate school…or at least a gap semester since his end of term is so late compared to US schools…it would be such a short break between undergraduate and graduate school. It would be nice to have a bit of a break between…and he has several business projects going on. If he can defer admission by a semester, his lease may also be up more around October and we might be able to do a different kind of travel in the late summer/early fall. So many options would open up… Applications are due in the fall, at least by December but I”m not sure if he would know by December or later. His plans are to do the full ride of schooling through a doctoral degree so he’s in it for the long haul, which is why the gap time would be welcome. He’s looking at some very specialized graduate programs in the Northeast. He is a self taught coder and he has been combining his composition skills and computing skills. He attended a special workshop in Berlin that was all about how the creative arts are using AI. From that he’s been working on a collaboration with an artist from FInland for an audio visual art installation among other projects he has going on. Back when he was in high school, we had a long talk about work and careers…he knew and wanted to do a bunch of all kinds of work to make a living and that has started for him. So in addition to his degree program work and the art installation collaboration, he has 3 other projects going on that are all about game design in addition to a paid internship that he got for the summer. One project is for Microsoft…he is on one of several teams I think that are a part of some program that Microsoft has going on for new game development. His team had a meeting with Microsoft last week that went really well and they are supposed to have a trailer for their game done by the end of the month. Who knows what kind of doors can open through that process. And he had rushed up to GA earlier this summer to attend a gaming convention to show a different game that he and his friends have made. He is working on many things…and his thoughts in the gap year were to have the time to continue to work on some of these other projects he has going on. Sorry if I’m boasting…I’m very proud of him. Kat…all your bags are so funny. I need to look them up! I also have many bags, but not as many backpacks, though I have several. Some of mine are more for backpacking. I did get a smaller very lightweight backpack for our Glacier trip. We’re under 3 weeks away! Yikes! Laurie…The most important thing is to be comfortable, I think, whatever you decide. The backpacks can be a little sweaty on the back, but I think you talked about how a crossbody bag can dig into your shoulder? Water can be heavy…I do prefer the sweaty backpack to the digging in crossbody bag. I have a few crossbody bags for various types of travel but they can be painful to carry when they are seriously packed and heavy.

Laurie...agree with Margaret regarding the hiking shorts. I would want to know about the conditions for the hiking...I tend to prefer wearing pants when hiking especially if there are chances for tall undergrowth/plants that might rub on my legs and/or biting insects. Then I find that a looser pair of pants is preferable to shorts. If bugs aren't a problem then I tend to prefer a capri length legging with side pockets. Athleta made several that I've acquired over the years., some have the phone pocket only, some have a zippered pocket. For a backpack...I bought two of these packs back in 2018 for our Alaska trip. They are still going strong and we use them ALL THE TIME because they are so handy. I believe that one of Melody's son's or some family also had purchased the same and used them all the time as well. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TEIVUQW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thank you for sharing! I'm currently debating using a Cunard TA to help transport DS and all his accumulated belongings over the course of his undergraduate studies in London back to the US...a sort of fun graduation travel combined with the practicality of how to transport things like an 88-key electronic keyboard, computer monitor, guitar, and other sensitive electronic/musical equipment from the UK to the USA. I've always been curious about Cunard but haven't taken the time to really research the cruise line.

About our bedroom wall color: You can see the wall of closets in the first photo and the third single closet in the second. Our room has east facing windows so it gets morning light and then becomes progressively darker throughout the day. I love the deep color on the walls. It’s very cozy at night and makes for a wonderful sleeping atmosphere. We recently installed dark brown woven roll up shades on our windows. That reinforces our cozy cave at night. The over the bed lights are on dimmers with soft white bulbs. It’s been great for sleep. In future, we have thoughts of painting all the louvered doors so that would introduce a much lighter color in the midst of the deep wall color because we’d probably pick a white color. That might really offset the walls since they would be significantly broken up by the closet doors, the furniture, and the mirrors. I think that would have a brightening effect during the day, maybe, but not do too much to counter our good sleeping space. Right now, the lamps on my dresser (short and wide with the mirror above) have daylight bulbs installed and we usually have at least one on during the day. Reflecting in the mirror, it offers nice enough light during the day. We don’t really spend too many daylight hours in our room so that light is really just about walking through the room to access the bathroom. I’m a person that can deal with various forms of insomnia so I try to keep our bedroom dedicated to sleep and little other activity so the deep walls really work for me overall.

Kat...Like I said...I'm working on not letting other voices tell me what I should or shouldn't be wearing. I still feel like I don't have much of a style. It's a work in progress. I usually think function first. I'm the person that dresses shoes first. And part of my clothing evaluation has been influenced by what size I am and how happy I am at that size...so often I've looked for cheap clothing to meet needs "temporarily". I'm dealing with that tendency too... Lately, I'm becoming more particular about fabric. I think you and I share an absolute LOVE for merino wool. I never would have thought I would wear it as much as I do...but the few lightweight shirts I have, I reach for first all the time after laundry day. I haven't purchased too many because I've been on a losing, changing body shape trend for a while...so I'm riding it out until I more comfortably reach the next size. My hope is that as I need new clothes I will be purchasing more and more wool and other natural fibers. Someone mentioned to Mom that cashmere has the same temperature regularly qualities as wool...not sure I believe that, BUT I'm willing to give it a go. Looking through the Garnet Hill catalog, I saw a serious sale on some cashmere lounging/casual clothing...and I am contemplating.

Melody...I do have pictures! Our bedroom has 3 reach in closets, each with a pair of louvered bifold doors. I reworked the two closets that are side by side and take up one entire wall of our bedroom. There's about 2' of drywall separating the two pairs of bifold doors. There used to be a single wire shelf for hanging all along the closet and four smalls shelves separated the two closets. In the before photo below, you can see the brackets of those small shelves still but I had taken those shelves out before taking the photo. My closet project was originally going to be the third single closet that DH was then using. He had gone to out of state to onboard and this was going to be my sort of happy new job/wardrobe present for him. That plan was derailed when I saw the evidence of the carpenter ants at the bottom of his then closet... So I turned my sights to the other closet where there is actually a light installed in the closet...there is no light inside that third closet. I had purchased a relatively inexpensive closet kit already. https://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-12-in-W-White-Custom-Organizer-Wood-Closet-System-7033/100597846 Using this closet kit as the basis for my idea...I purchased a second closet kit so each side would have one...and then I purchased cube like shelving for behind the drywall. I reinforced the stacked cubes with a 1x4 which also helped to anchor the closet rods in something more sturdy than the MDF of the ready-to-assemble furniture. The cubes are just the right depth that we can pull them out. I added a shelf all along the top of the closet. I reused the stackable bamboo shoe shelves we already owned on my side of the closet, and my big splurge were the two adjustable shoe shelving units for DH's shoes. The closet rods in the kit are such that each rod is actually two rods, where one fits into the other and this is how they are adjustable with a minimum size and maximum size. The minimum size was too big for my project and I had to cut the rods to make them fit. I just cut off however many inches off each of the two rods...so now the manufactured edge of the rods are gone and the "lip" where the bigger rod ends more abrupt...the hangers don't glide over it quite as easily but otherwise, no big deal to cut the rods. My side: The longer side accommodates most of my dresses. There's just enough room on the side of the shoe racks to hang the very few long dresses I have. DH's side...he doesn't need long hanging space. I made sure that the height of the rods can accommodate his long length jackets and shirts. I did remove the baseboards across the back and the right side of the closet to be able to put the shelving units as close to the wall as possible. I can cut the long baseboard to size later when DH can help me with the air compressor and the brad nailer. I haven't used those tools yet. I've been debating some cedar planking in our closet. I might put sections of planking in various areas not all over. HD has a kit for about 15 sq ft of wall space... These show the middle cube storage. Target was having a sale on all such items at the time. The shelves and cubes were 25% off. I bought enough cubes to fill all the cubes. And I purposefully picked the color/pattern story of the cubes going from lightest on top to darkest on bottom. Here's my side after culling and organizing: Dresses and skirts on the left. Upper right are my tops. Lower right are my overskirts/hoodies/pullovers/jackets. The middle cubes have hats, handbags, scarves. I have clear plastic tubs across the top shelf with sentimental things that I've kept...things like my high school tall flag uniform... DH's side: Upper left are shirts. Lower left are pants. Right side are jackets/suits/overshirts. His middle cubes are hats, work pants (as in yard work and home improvement), jeans, etc. The left side shoes are more work related and thus used more often. DH has gone from working a 4/10 with two days at home and two days in a very casual office (because most programs were still working from home) where he would wear Vans into the office to working a normal, but flexible, 5 days in the office in a normal business casual/very casual work environment. The right side has more athletic shoes (for instance, DH has 3 pairs of tennis shoes...one each for hard court, clay, and grass). The unseen middle cubes have things like the few clothes that don't fit me right now that I hope will fit again, costumes, concert tees, specialty clothing (snow pants, snow bibs), shoe care, etc. The things you might need but rarely need. I also replaced the light bulb with a bright daylight LED bulb. It's a single bulb fixture in the middle of the closet. In the future, we might replace that with a bar type light fixture that would stretch further to the right and left than the single A19 bulb. Meanwhile...I'm absolutely thrilled with how my project turned out. For the first time since we moved into our home two years ago we have sorted out storage space for all our wardrobe, including out of season (rarely ever IN season in Florida) winter clothing.

All your outfits look great Laurie. I especially like your new dress with the pattern. You’ve really been branching out from your solids over the last few years! I totally understand how you feel about planning a cruise wardrobe and how much enjoyment you get from it because it’s more “you” and less the you that adheres to work wardrobe requirements or some other construct that limits your clothing choices. The cruise has boundaries for appropriateness and maybe some limits of common decency but really it’s closer to anything goes (more limits for the MDR but you get what I’m saying I’m sure). I find myself trying to release myself from preconceived notions of what is appropriate for “someone my age” etc and any other limitation and just think, do I like this? Do I feel good in this? Do I think I LOOK good in this? It’s odd to have this goal of expressing yourself but my recent experience with DH has solidified some of my thoughts regarding clothing. DH got a new job. He has already started it now. This isn’t like his other new jobs over the years where he was essentially still working for the same company…this is a completely new job. Well we ended up buying him almost an entire new wardrobe. Men’s styles have changed so much in recent years…so much of his clothing looked so out of style…very loose and baggy while today’s looks are much more fitted and shorter (hem lines). When you are about to make a first impression on a bunch of people, and even though everyone may try to not judge by appearance alone, there’s no doubt that first impressions are partially formulated by appearance and the clothes you wear are a big part of that first impression. With DH’s non traditional hair style and facial hair, he wanted to fall more heavily on the business side of business casual. Also, that’s what he likes. We went shopping and I had a fun time dressing “Ken”. For myself, I recently got a new dresser. And with DH’s new wardrobe, it seemed time to finally tackle the closets in our home. I recently gutted the single wire shelf hanging rack and designed a closet organization system with a combination of diy assembly closet items and diy shelving and reusing things we already had. So I have very recently culled my own wardrobe. I think it takes times like these where you have an event, like moving, new furniture, new closets, vacation, wedding…whatever…something that makes you look at all your clothes and do some analysis and take the time to play with how you present yourself to the world. It’s something that I feel like I used to do a lot as a teen ager (playing with hair styles and makeup) but now it’s something I really have to purpose to do if I want to cultivate a particular look vs just get dressed and/or find something that’ll do that’s not too expensive. I’m really looking forward to reading about Laurie and Margaret’s cruises. Our next trip is next month. We’re headed to Glacier National Park so not quite the same wardrobe planning lol.

Hopefully someone from that area will chime in but I would honestly say to check out Target and Walmart. I live in a coastal town and these two stores always have swim suits and they usually carry a good variety of styles. Depending on when “early” is, there could be tremendous selection as the stores will begin stocking swimwear for the up and coming spring break season well before March.

A little late to the party but very excited for another Jim and Iain cruise! And very excited for your itinerary. I grew up in the Bay Area and have only been back a couple times since graduating college (94) so I even enjoy glimpses of San Francisco with your TR. Joining with everyone hoping you can enjoy all 3 legs this time around. @GeorgiaPeach51 I recently discovered author Carol Goodman. I picked up her 2021 The Stranger Behind You in the new section of my library was such a fantastic read, I was thrilled to learn she has authored so many books. She writes contemporary somewhat suspenseful fiction that seems to often incorporate past events and how those events influence the current circumstances in her story. Very engaging and often with plot twists I don’t see coming…a rare thing.

My one experience sailing with a bunch of Europeans was taking the Allure Eastbound TA way back there in 2014? The ship was by and large filled with more non Americans than Americans. Left Fort Lauderdale for Barcelona. The thing I would say about the ship in the evenings especially is that the people were stylin’. They looked urban and fashionable. They didn’t necessarily look trendy but they looked current and modern and again, the best word I could use is stylin’. Going shopping should be fun. I encourage you to find the fun in it. Also see if maybe your DD could find some ideas and do some of her own research on what she thinks would be appropriate outfits. I would encourage you to approach the idea of helping her figure out how to elevate her style and develop it and not approach it from the view that she needs to change too much to be acceptable with her grandmother and grandmother’s contemporaries. Focus on the venue, not the people. This is a wonderful opportunity for your DD to really connect with her grandmother. If you let your DD take the lead in the shopping and just help edit, then you’ll both be happier. She’ll feel more comfortable and confident and you will too because you can see the choices she’s making given the chance, so you don’t have to be as concerned when she’s outside your editing reach.

For the clothing, the advice I would offer is to understand that you are likely visiting cities that have a walking lifestyle and possibly a biking lifestyle. Fashion for the younger generation will be very practical. Weather may be unpredictable so wear something that can handle the unexpected and possibly brief inclement weather. Also big cities tend to have weird shade patterns and wind tunnels so having layers is helpful. Jeans/denim is perfectly acceptable so long as they are well fitting. That’s kind of key. Clothes should fit well and not be oversized (more fitted knit shirts rather than oversized tees) nor tend toward athleisure but still be practical enough to deal well with public transport etc. Color palettes also tend to more toned down, with more of what I would think of a neutrals like black, gray, navy, army green, tan, cream, white. Unless her style is to wear tons of color, of course that’s fine if she’s confident and comfortable and her clothes fit well. That’s the biggest difference I always notice…how whatever people are wearing, the clothes never could be described as dowdy, frumpy, camouflaging, or ill fitting.

My son goes to college in London and has friends from all over Europe. I can tell you that her Converse sneaker collection is on point. They wear fashion sneakers over there not gym shoes. Probably want them to be less worn and old looking but definitely there will plenty of young people in sneakers, especially classic old school sneakers.

OP I appreciate you sharing. We moved to Florida in the year our nest emptied...2019...and were on our way to enjoying being able to cruise easily and I want to cruise again, but I am not willing to subject myself to being so out of control of my own circumstances. I check periodically here to see how things are being handled onboard so again I say thank you for sharing. I will continue to wait for cruising and feel like it may be years before I would want to get on board again. I'm certainly no expert but the news of all the variants of Omicron and how sneaky it is...it doesn't respond to antibodies from previous Omicron infection...it just goes round and round. Reinfection is common. No one is talking about the potential consequences to the next passengers in the cabins where those who may not report...or who don't even test because symptoms are so slight or not seemingly particular to Covid. IDK the situation with the air filtration and how often it is replaced and how well the cabins are really being cleaned and how long Covid hovers in the air... I'm not as concerned about having Covid. Though Covid is no joke and I have to deal with the life long consequences of my own response to having Delta. It's the control factor for me...I'll continue with my non cruise travel...

We had the most forward side cabin on Millennium on our Alaska cruise. If your cruise ever heads out into open waters...like the Gulf of Alaska, then beware of the greater movement of the front of the ship. My DH suffers from motion sickness and he couldn't be in our cabin when we were sailing in the unprotected waters. It wasn't an issue in the inside passage. If your cruise goes to Skagway...the sailaway there is gorgeous. I watched from the Sunset bar for the entire time. Views are spectacular and the passage is narrow so you can really appreciate both sides from the aft.

Hey Laurie... I don't think the aurora borealis are all that elusive in general. Activity level changes based on how active sun flares are I think...but from my understanding, the phenomenon that produces the lights happens year round...it's just that you need darkness in order to actually see it. I think there is something about it being more active around the equinoxes? But I'm not entirely sure... What I do remember is that March and either September or October are usually more active times for seeing the lights. But I think all winter is a possibility. I could just be that March and September/October are more popular times... This was a March plan because of my birthday, but I recall be somewhat thrilled to realize that it just happened to be a good time to try to see the lights. In some circles, March is a preferred time to visit Fairbanks...and Fairbanks is a popular place for seeing the northern lights. Daylight hours in March in Fairbanks are "normal"...the sun rises and sets with a normal amount of daylight. Earlier in the year...so much darkness. Later in the year...so much light. March is when the weather generally starts to warm up a bit and so everyone really gets out to play and have fun with snow activities before it all turns to slush. We were right there at the cusp of slush... Just as a reminder, we spent a week in Fairbanks. It was a good amount of time. I completely understand your DH not wanting to have a vacation longer than a week during working years. It can be very difficult to transition back to work if you are gone longer...not only because of having enjoyed vacation so much but also because of all the make up work and getting back up to speed after being gone for longer can be a hard crash after time off. We were fortunate in that we had a great deal on our vehicle rental...we got a corporate rate. Also, the hotel was covered by points, so no OOP there. We didn't really spend that much more on food than a normal week of celebration. So airfare and the cost of our excursions. It really wasn't too bad at all for a week of vacation. It isn't the kind of vacation that you would tack on to an Alaska cruise because the times of year conflict...so you could definitely plan such a trip separately. IDK if there would be anything closer to you? Something that might be less travel and more north from the east coast? I didn't research other places like Canada, Greenland or Iceland. I have no idea if there would be similar tours up there but I imagine there might be. It might be worth researching because it could be much closer to you being so far up north already.

From a fellow Gen X...really enjoyed coming along on your cruise with you. Thank you so much for taking the time to post.

Wow...what fortunate timing in terms of people and potential loss of life. What a bummer though for scheduling...more cruises may be impacted.

I suppose it depends on your cold tolerance. Mendenhall water is glacier fed and it is COLD. I only touched it when we hiked down to Nugget Falls...Brrrrr.

Another recommendation for a hat with a stiff brim...which is especially helpful in the rain, even if you have a hooded raincoat, and especially if you wear glasses. I would also recommend bringing a refillable water bottle if that's not normal for your cruising.

I went through the same question about cameras before our March 2022 trip to Fairbanks, except that I knew I wanted an upgraded camera capable of taking decent photos of the aurora borealis. After much consideration, I did decide that I didn't want to mess with a camera with interchangeable lenses...all it took was my friend's description of her holding camera lenses and bags, etc., while her DH was wiping lenses and dealing with changing them, etc. I'm not that fussy. I think what I ultimately got is considered a bridge camera. It's a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000. It's an older camera but it is highly recommended for low light conditions because it has a 1" sensor. That may not be important to you though...but it all depends on what your itinerary is. I have a smaller point and shoot Panasonic so the camera was more familiar to me from the get go. STILL...what I really want to share is that I purchased my camera online from KEH. They are an excellent source for used cameras. They rank the condition of the cameras and price accordingly. This was recommended to be by a friend who's son is a professional photographer and it seems to be well known is such circles. If you decide to look for a new camera, they would be a good source. Edited to add...I also second a portable battery for recharging your phone. We have two Anker brand ones. The first is larger and capable of charging two devices at the same time via USB. The second is just as powerful, if not more so, but it smaller, lighter, but only capable of charging a single device.

It’s now Thursday morning. The pattern I planned for our first few days in Alaska was for the morning to have a paid for planned excursion type outing. The afternoon was flexible. I could choose between several different museums, etc., depending on energy levels, mood, and weather. Today’s morning involved a 2-hour guided snow machine ride, beginning at 10:30 AM in North Pole, AK…less than 30 minutes away. They asked that you arrive 30 minutes prior to your planned time so that you could sort through proper outerwear, which they have available…from gloves to shoes and everything in between and generally be ready to GO when it was time to GO. I wasn’t initially jazzed about snow machining. BTW, this is what it is called in Alaska…not snow mobiles…snow machines. In a somewhat contradictory way, when the snow arrives in Alaska, transportation is much easier. In the winter, all the waterways freeze over and then the added snow pack creates a highway that is much easier to navigate than many roads…and actually provides transportation to places that are otherwise only reachable by air. Snow machines are extremely practical in Alaska and I would even say they might be considered essential by some. I didn’t have a clear idea of what it would be like to do a snow machine ride until I read one particular review that talked about the trails and seeing wildlife and getting into the wilderness. With that picture in mind…I thought it would be a fun, less physically taxing way to get into nature. Ice fishing was already on my list with this company and they offered a discount if you purchased more than one excursion with them, so it was a bit of a no brainer to book a snow machine excursion with them as well. https://rodsalaskanguideservice.rezgo.com I booked the 2-hour excursion because I had read so many reports of people who wished they had booked the 2-hour excursion because the 1-hour seemed so short by the time you really got going. We set an alarm before crashing the night before. We walked across the street to have happy breakfast at The Crepery again...trying different crepes, and again loving our breakfast. I may enjoy my lattes, but DH is a serious coffee drinker. He has a serious caffeine habit and can suffer if he doesn’t get his caffeine intake. As much as we in the lower 48 may love a Starbucks drive thru…in much of Alaska…and definitely in Fairbanks…coffee huts rule. Coffee huts are the café equivalent of tiny houses. Picture a backyard shed with a drive up window. Tweak that a little, or a lot, with character and a catchy name and at least one drive up window and you have a coffee hut. We hit Golden Heart Espresso on the way out of Fairbanks… And DH was a happy coffee-er. He was also a happy 4WD 4Runner driver down this washboard snow/ice packed road. If I didn't mention it before...the 4Runner was already in 4WD when we picked it up and we left it in 4WD for the entirety of our trip. Beautiful, gorgeous day to be outside! Upon arrival, we checked in and were told that all was well with our chosen attire...except they didn’t think our snow mittens were a good fit for snow machining, so we did use their gloves. For the record…I was wearing a 250 weight Smartwool ¼ zip base layer, a full zip fleece midlayer, insulated snow bibs, my trusty Roffe skiing jacket from my Colorado living days (96-99), a handknitted wool beanie (purchased at an Arts&Crafts festival in downtown Winston-Salem), my fleece-lined and extra long buff, expedition weight Darn Tough OTC socks, and my Xero brand snow boots. I also had glove liners…which I told would be handy if you wanted to take pictures in cold weather and you didn’t want to have completely naked hands. Here we are: Note the loop in the background. After being instructed on the basic workings of the snow machine, we were instructed to drive around the loop until we were told to stop driving around the loop. Basically, we were all observed and when we were all deemed to be doing well enough, we stopped again and our guide ordered our group. IIRC there were 6-7 of us…all the foreign tourists couples/individuals were in front of me, then me, then a couple with a male driver behind me, and then DH. I happen to know that DH was placed in the back not only because his showed great capability in driving but also because of the distinctive color of his outerwear. The rest of us were ranked according to perceived skill. There were MANY foreign tourists here. Most had the appearance of being from the Far East, which makes sense geographically. We could clearly see that communication could be challenging at check in. There was a bit of a language hurdle. Verifying who were the licensed drivers among the group was also challenging. You could book the excursion as a driver and a passenger. The cost was slightly less. We were booked as two drivers. One thing we were warned about in specific was to stay on the roads/trails where the nice hard pack snow was located. Veer off trail and you would quickly find yourself thigh deep in powdery snow and it could take a tremendous amount of time to dig you out. Stay on the trail! With a reminder to leave good space between the snow machines…we set off! Immediately, two things became clear. 1. You don’t need to hit the brakes. Easing up on the gas will result in an immediate slowing, which is usually enough “braking” if you felt the need to reduce speed. 2. On a straight away…a loose grip on the handlebars is best. Where we were, there were some worn grooves in the roads/trails…these caused the front skids to bounce around a bit because the grooves weren’t necessarily straight. If you tried to keep your handlebars perfectly straight, you’d be fighting the “road” constantly, so a looser grip would allow the skids to feel their way through the grooves while you basically looked like you were driving perfectly straight. Sadly, the lone male foreign tourist didn’t pick up on that fact. He was directly in front of me. I could see him struggling. And then, somewhere around 5-10 minutes down the trail…he went off road. Just a few feet but he was deep in the snow. He sort of stopped and I thought, Whew. Didn’t look too bad. But he must have thought…this isn’t too bad…I’ll get myself back on the trail. He hit the gas again and went deeper into the snow. He stopped and I thought, Just stop Dude. But then he started again and just about ran into the treeline. Not knowing what else to do as the rest of the party continued on…I just came to a stop and the guys behind me all agreed and stopped too. The whole line stopped soon enough and our guide comes back to see what the deal is…lo and behold…she wades out into the drift and talks to the guy who end ups being a passenger on her snow machine. And off we go again. We’re a bit more down the trail…having a jolly time…and we see these lone riders coming towards us. Well, the guide did…I was too far behind…they were too far ahead. All I know is that we stopped for hot minute. Then we started up again. And then the guide really freaked out… “I told you to stay there! I said wait here!” But that language issue… What was supposed to happen was that we were supposed to wait for her where she had first stopped while she went ahead to meet the lone couple on the snow machine who happened to somehow lose their group, were lost in the forest and trying to make their way back. If you were wondering…they were foreign tourists too. Instead, when she started up again…we all played follow the leader and kept following her…because she only told the people in front to not go…we were all properly spaced out with good room…but they didn’t understand the message. The challenge is that it’s complicated to put these machines into reverse… So now we’re burning time while our guide has to literally turn everyone’s machines around. Photo opportunity… As she came to turn my machine around…I said to our guide, “Rough day at the office…” She said, “You have no idea…” The couple between DH and I had also purchased the 2-hour guide session…but apparently all the others had only purchased the 1-hour session. And after all these mishaps…it was basically time to head back to the office and drop them off. Our guide assured us that we were about to have some real fun now… And boy did we ever! Up to this point, we had never left the park service road…which I’m sure is just a dirt/gravel road…but NOW, we were on what is basically a hiking trail. The scenery was stunning. I love to hike. And this motorized hike through a wilderness blanketed in snow was breathtaking. We were warned that sunglasses with the helmets could be uncomfortable, so we weren't wearing them while riding. I didn’t need, nor want, my visor on my helmet because I didn’t want to be separated in that way from my environment. We wove our way through the trees and upon a wider stretch of trail really opened up and went speeding along and went out onto the frozen surface of Chena Lake. There, our guide disabled the governors on our snow machines and we were able to speed around the lake and explore to about 10-15 minutes. Like children, we just needed to stay within eye sight of our guide. I can’t recall exactly how fast I went…the governor kept us at or under 55 mph…and I think that I pushed up to 70, but not over. DH’s number made my eyes pop out… What. A. Blast. All too soon it was time to head back. We had arrived earlier than we needed to but we tend toward that rather than risk being late. The people here, like everyone we had met so far, were exceedingly friendly, open and quite willing to talk about living in Alaska, etc. Both before and after our ride we had fun just talking all the different people working there. I highly recommend this guide service.

Jaimie’s is a great place for lunch! In the non-cruise ship world that’s exactly when I would be wanting to eat there. Also…if you are hot dog fans? Or sausage? The hot dog place in the boardwalk is complementary and really good. Also, the Mexican place on the Boardwalk? I hope my memory isn’t failing me but i think they’re menu is a la carte? Really tasty margaritas, yummy guacamole and I THINK I liked the chicken tortilla soup… perfect light lunch and fun to eat there in the more open air restaurant. That’s why Johnny Rockets can be fun to eat breakfast at…because you eat outside on the Boardwalk. I generally prefer dining al fresco even in the days before COVID. Especially for breakfast and lunch. It’s invigorating and feels nice to have what I think of as “live air.” The Solarium is the same way. That one is best when the weather is less attractive because you can find fully shaded tables “outside” in the solarium. On Harmony, there isn’t a pool but I think somehow there’s the sound of water. I can’t recall what exactly it is though. The Wave Cafe? Whatever it is on the sports deck is a bit of a hidden gem because few seem to go there for breakfast and yet that’s where the made to order omelets are. You can sit many places up there in the totally open air. Read…can be windy. As you can see…I do put a high value on the overall experience and count atmosphere high on my list.

Ugh…so my point is that Jamie’s is nice and smaller but because of the noise level…doesn’t feel as much as a break from being around people. 150 Cental Park has a more library feel in my memory.

Melody…somehow I must have deleted one or two sentences before posting. Excellent food and service referred to 150 Central Park. Then, reading negative reviews and everything after that referred to Jamie’s. What’s missing there is…We ate at Jamie’s and enjoyed our meal there. I’d read some negative reviews…etc. idk if you’ve read any more recent Jamie’s reviews but before our Feb 2020 cruise, there were several that viewed Jamie’s as inferior to other Italian choices on other Royal/Celebrity ships.