Review Sapphire Princess and 7 Day Independent Land Tour

[Aloha Gal]

OMG, Larry, I let out a belly laugh at the thought of the wetsuit choking you :D :D ! My co-workers think I'm nuts. I know it's been said so many times, but please let me say your journal is absolutely amazing, and I cannot thank you enough for sharing it with us.

 

Aloha

[LarryF]

OMG, Larry, I let out a belly laugh at the thought of the wetsuit choking you :D :D ! My co-workers think I'm nuts. I know it's been said so many times, but please let me say your journal is absolutely amazing, and I cannot thank you enough for sharing it with us.

 

Aloha

 

Thanks Aloha Gal!

 

Ithought I was going to take off from work yesterday and today, but it didn't pan out so it may be tomorrow before I post the next chapter...

 

Larry

[aggiemom0409]

We are going on Sapphire in early August and your review has me so pumped! I'm surprised, though after rafting most of my life in various places that you didn't mention the "aroma" that those wetsuits tend to have, in addition to choking you to death! I am still trying to decide on a camera after much agonizing and hopefully will do so soon and put my husband out of his misery...LOL:D !

[den0909]

it was excellent to read your review and get some tips!

thanks so much for sharing your holiday with everyone, i hope my first trip to Canada/Alaska and my first cruise will be as special as yours.:)

[LarryF]

I am so sorry for those of you waiting on my next chapter. Business demands have not allowed me the time to work on it much over the last 4 days.

 

I will have four hours on a flight to Philadelphia and back tomorrow, and I plan to finish the chapter on the plane and will post it tomorrow. Please bear with me and I will try to make it worth the wait!

 

Larry

[thawan]

Larry, I am also completely enjoying your review.

 

The fact that it's longer between just makes it all the sweeter when it does get here. :D

[tapia]

I am so sorry for those of you waiting on my next chapter. Business demands have not allowed me the time to work on it much over the last 4 days.

 

I will have four hours on a flight to Philadelphia and back tomorrow, and I plan to finish the chapter on the plane and will post it tomorrow. Please bear with me and I will try to make it worth the wait!

 

Larry

 

 

Your review is so worth the wait! Mind is more fact, but yours is just moving to read!

[Aloha Gal]

No apology necessary, Larry, but don't you hate it when work gets in the way of really important things? :D Good things are worth the wait!

[LarryF]

Hello all,

 

To continue…

 

Friday June 1, 2007

 

We woke up before our wake up call at 4:45 a.m. The room was full of sunlight and I walked outside on the deck to find not one cloud in the entire sky. The temperature was already in the mid to high 40s and it looked like it was going to be an incredible day in Denali.

 

The Inn provides a nice continental breakfast including an assortment of fruit, muffins, toast, assorted cereals, oatmeal, juice, coffee and hot chocolate. The fruit, muffins, bread and orange juice are kept in the refrigerator and the rest is on the counter above the refrigerator along with the coffee maker and toaster. After we both had showered and dressed for the day, we both ate the fruit, muffins and bran flakes and shared a pot of coffee.

 

Also in the refrigerator were two sandwich combos which we had ordered through the Inn the day before. The Inn has an offering of preparing sandwiches for your day in Denali. You fill out an order form and take it to a drop box. Amy ordered a turkey sandwich on a hoagie roll and I ordered ham and cheese sandwich on a hoagie roll. It also came with chips, an apple, water, juice and chocolate cookie and it’s all placed in a brown paper lunch bag to make it convenient to put in your backpack.

 

We were all set and ready to go and began our drive to Denali around 5:45 a.m. We drove straight to the transportation center which is where you catch the shuttle. I couldn’t find the parking lot immediately, so I dropped Amy off at the center to go hold a place in line for us while I found the parking lot and parked the car.

 

After parking the car, I walked to the transportation building. Inside the building is a counter for buying tickets and they also have a refreshment counter serving coffee, hot chocolate, cold drinks and snacks. I already had our tickets that I had ordered months before on-line at http://www.nps.gov/dena. The cost of the shuttle bus to Fish Creek was $25 each and the cost for entrance to the Park was $10 each.

 

It was just after 6:00 a.m. as I walked through the back door which takes you out to the shuttle bus boarding area. I immediately saw a long line of people waiting for the 6:30 a.m. shuttle bus. As I let my eyes follow the line I started getting a little queasy when I didn’t see Amy. The line stretched from the drive way about 25 feet to the back wall of the building and then turned left along the wall for another 50 to 75 feet. It was close to the end of the line where I found Amy. :( There had to be at least 50 to 60 people ahead of us in line. I had read time and time again to be sure to get a seat on the left hand side of the bus behind the driver about half way back. Unless quite a number of these people decided to sit on the right hand side of the bus, we were going to be SOL and I could only wait until we boarded to find out. I thought being there a half hour early would be plenty of time, but I was wrong. I would suggest showing up at least an hour in advance or more if you want to sit on the left side of the bus.

 

When the bus started loading promptly at 6:30 a.m. it was clear that everyone must have also known to sit on the left hand side, as not one person sat on the right hand side. By the time we boarded we had to settle for seats about midway back on the right hand side. I was not a happy camper! :mad: In fact I was beyond being upset and if the bus had not started moving as quickly as it did, I may have gotten off the bus and said the hell with it. It had been a long time since I had allowed myself to be this aggravated and depressed especially on a vacation.

 

As the bus carried us into Denali Park, my mood only worsened as the driver began pointing out scenic or wildlife sightings on our left side. At each sighting, most people sitting on the right hand side would be up on there feet and fall over each other to try to get a peak out of the left side windows. It was very difficult to see anything and trying to get a photo was almost impossible. About 30 to 45 minutes into the ride we came across a grizzly chasing two caribou and as I jumped up to try to get a shot through the left window, a man sitting in the seat in front of us blocked me out like a fullback blocking for his quarterback. I had reached my wits end as I turned toward my seat, I tossed my brand new expensive Camera toward the floor (which Amy thankfully caught) and flung myself down on my seat and pouted like a two year old toddler! This day was not going the way I had envisioned and I was making it miserable for Amy as well.

 

Almost as quickly as I had reached my wits end, I made a remarkable recovery and within seconds allowed myself to be at peace. It has taken me some time to decide if and how much to write about my anxiety, panic and depression challenges that span all the way back to my childhood. Writing this travel journal has been very cathartic for me and I don’t think it would be complete if I didn’t share some of my inner feelings. It’s always risky and a little frightening to let down your defenses and expose your inner self like a plucked chicken! :eek: So, in hopes that the following will help any of you that may have or had similar struggles as mine, I will let down some my defenses in order to reveal how I made peace with myself so quickly. I’ll try to be brief…

 

I was born and raised in a small southern city in Georgia. Without going into detail, from the age of 6 years old I was ridiculed because I was Jewish. I lived in a community of people that were ignorant and full of hate for anyone that was different. It was through that childhood experience that I grew up being afraid of everything and later suffered from panic and anxiety disorder (which I would guess was not even a known disorder in the 1950’s and 60’s). For most of my life I was a quiet, introverted highly anxious person. It was only in front of a few close friends and family members that I ever came out of my shell and revealed the true Larry that was hidden deep inside of me since my childhood.

 

Almost twenty years ago I developed an overwhelming fear of flying when I had to prepare for a crash landing. Needless to say, the plane did land safely, but my panic and anxiety became overwhelming! The next three years were a nightmare as I lied about flying to my employer and either drove or took trains to where I had to be. I would purchase air plane tickets through the company (that went unused) and then spent my own money for train fares, rental cars and gas. I missed out on career opportunities as I made up excuses why I couldn’t go to certain destinations where new opportunities abounded. On a fateful day three years after my flying incident, having no other choice than to fly to California in order to keep my best customer’s account, I boarded a plane for Los Angeles. Terrified, I made my way across the country and then on the night before I was supposed to return I broke down and came close to having a complete nervous breakdown. When I returned to Orlando the following day I finally sought out therapy for my condition and was fortunate to find a great therapist and eventually a great program for panic and anxiety disorder. Therapy helped me a great deal, but there were two defining moments over the past 10 years that eventually turned my life around.

 

My father has always been my hero. He was a man of little means, but had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known or probably will ever know. He lived through the great depression, served his time in the army during World War II, got married and had four children (all boys). His earnings were meager as owner of a small retail business, but we never had for nothing and he put all four of us boys through college. Even though he worked 6 days a week from early morning to early evening, he volunteered his time to countless charitable organizations. He was the most humane person you can imagine and he always put everyone else before himself.

 

For those of you who saw the movie “City Slickers”, just like the Billy Chrystal character, my best day ever was with my father when he took me to New York City when I was 10 years old. Yes, I remember walking through the tunnel with him at Yankee Stadium and seeing the bright green baseball field that I had only seen in black and white on the TV set. All my heroes at the time were on that field; Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris (in his 61 home run season) and Whitey Ford was pitching! It was a dream come true and all the time my real hero was sitting next to me. It was if we were one; all of our senses interlocked together enjoying this great day.:)

 

Daddy died 10 years ago. Amy and I were driving to my old southern hometown to try to see him before he passed. I was driving way above the limit going 85 to 90 mph. My chest was hurting with every breath and I knew that my father was barely hanging on. I kept tapping my chest with my fingers to try to ease the pain I was experiencing and exactly 45 minutes before we made it to my parent’s home, my chest suddenly stopped hurting. My father had always chided me for driving so fast and at the exact moment that my chest stopped hurting I heard his voice as clear as can be and he shouted out, “Stop driving so god damn fast and quit worrying about everything!” When we arrived at my parent’s house, my older brother told me that my father had died exactly 45 minutes ago. We were joined together in his last minutes of life and as I lightly brushed my chest again with my fingers, I knew he would be with me the rest of my life.

 

Almost 6 years ago on September 11, 2001 every one of our lives changed forever when the Twin Towers fell to terrorists. It was a horrendous event that angered and frightened us all. Although I had made some strides in my battle with my fear of flying over the 14 years since my incident, I had not completely recovered. I don’t know if I will ever understand it completely, but about a month after the 9/11 attack, I was taking a walk around my neighborhood listening to soothing music on my CD player and BAM!...it hit me like a thunderbolt! I wanted to fly! I had to fly! And shortly after that day I did fly and I was more at peace on that flight than I had been since I developed the fear 14 years earlier! The only explanation I can come up with is that while the terrorist attack scared most people and made them afraid to fly, it had the opposite effect on me. My guess is that the attack made me finally realize my time on this earth was way to short and precious to spend it in a state full of worry, fear and anxiety.

 

Over those 14 years the only leisure travel I had done was either by car or on a cruise ship to the Caribbean from a nearby port in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. A year and one week after the 9/11 attacks, I realized that day that I had a week of unused vacation that I would lose if I didn’t use it by the end of the month. Amy could not get away from her work, so 5 days later I boarded an airplane for the first time in over 14 years to take a vacation. The plane flew me to Billings, Montana where I rented a car and drove to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone and the Grand Teton Mountains had always been a life long dream of mine and now to have the new found freedom to be able to fly peacefully to a place in my dreams was indescribable. I had never done anything like this in my entire life.

 

I drove from the North entrance of the Park to the West entrance stopping every 50 yards to just stare in awe at the beauty of Yellowstone and marvel at the buffalo and elk that came so close to the car you could have reached out and touched them. The next day I drove from the West entrance around to the South entrance stopping to view Old Faithful. An hour or so after leaving Old Faithful as I drove around a bend in the road near the South entrance, right there in all its glory was the Great Teton Mountains. I stopped the car on the side of the road, got out of the car and sat on the hood and began to cry. I stared at the mountain while lightly tapping on my chest with my fingertips. Once again like Yankee Stadium, it was a dream come true and it was if my dad and I were one; all of our senses interlocked together enjoying this great day. I have never had a panic attack since that day. :)

 

I envision God as a perfect light that lives in my body, and every thing that is good lives in that light including my father and all the close people in my life that have passed. When I allow fear and anxiety to take hold of me that light is dim; when I am without fear and anxiety the light is as pure and bright as the shiniest star in the universe. So when I do allow myself to choose to be fearful, angry or anxious, all I have to do is lightly brush or tap my chest and the light illuminates immediately and consumes me in a feeling of perfect peace…

 

Now you know my secret. My father was with me on that incredible heavenly flight over Misty Fjords; he was with me on the drive through the breathtaking tundra of the Yukon and he watched in awe with me as that mighty giant whale jumped so high out of the water on the Kenai Fjords trip…and now I as I brushed my fingers against my chest, for the first time this morning I took in the glory of Denali National Park on this magnificent day full of bright sunshine and blue skies! I was at peace.

 

Thirty minutes later as the bus drove around a bend and crested a hill there on the right hand side of the bus was Mt. McKinley! It was bigger, grander and whiter than I had ever imagined. I got off the bus and made my way toward the rear of the bus and just stared in awe at this magnificent sight. The incredible gigantic snow white mountain set against the deep blue sky was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. And I stood there as long as possible with a lump in my throat and tears clouding my eyes as I tapped my chest lightly. It had turned into a perfect day…

 

Too be continued…

 

Larry

[tapia]

I can't even say much to that other than wow. I'm glad you got over your fears & anxiety to have this wonderful trip.

[judynorth]

All I can say is WOW!

 

Believe it or not, I posted this before I saw the previous post.

[calbob]

WOW again...This is better than a James Patterson book !!!!! I admit I am hooked on cruise critic, but Larry, your writing and subject matter has me logging in daily if not hourly to wait for your next update...My only regret is at some point I will not see the

 

to be continued, before your name....

 

CALBOB

[Tyrkitty]

Larry,

 

Another great day! Not only are we learning about your trip, but also how to try and live our lives to the fullest. It is sometimes easier said than done to let go of our fears and enjoy life - glad you have found the secret for you.

[kehlx2]

Hello all,

 

To continue…

 

Friday June 1, 2007

 

 

OK--tissues needed here!!! Thanks

[ecpc1302]

Dear Larry,

 

You have a wonderful way of sharing your feelings with the world. I admire your courage!

Elsie:cool:

[Aloha Gal]

Oh my, Larry, I am so touched and awed by your post. I'm grateful for your sharing.

 

Now, I have to sop up the mascara streaming down my face! :D

[jstpshe]

Oh my, Larry, I am so touched and awed by your post. I'm grateful for your sharing.

 

Now, I have to sop up the mascara streaming down my face! :D

 

MY opinion exactly. Beautiful, touching and really got me thinking and appreciating things more.

 

Larry,

 

Write a book! Seriuosly!

 

Thanks for sharing and giving of yourself!

 

CJ :) :)

[cjnky]

And when you write that book, I'm the first one in line to buy an autographed copy! {{HUGS}}

[LarryF]

Thanks for all your kind words. I wrote most of it on the plane last night. It was very difficult to write while trying to hold back tears so the people sitting next to me didn't think I was crazy!

 

One of the days I may put my story in a book because I feel I might can help a lot of people get over their fears and anxieties. I began assisting my therapist several years ago with a program designed to help with panic and anxiety disorder called the CHAANGE Program. It's been very rewarding helping people turn their life around.

 

I am at a company meeting all week until Sunday and will try to write and post my final chapter by :( Sunday or Monday. I guess I need to take another incredible vacation somewhere soon so I can write some more!

 

Thanks again,

 

Larry

[cvschmitt]

Larry,

 

Thank you for sharing your feelings and experiences with all of us. I was moved to tears. You and Amy are a wonderful couple. May God bless you both.

 

Carol

[LarryF]

Larry,

 

Thank you for sharing your feelings and experiences with all of us. I was moved to tears. You and Amy are a wonderful couple. May God bless you both.

 

Carol

 

Thank you Carol. God bless you as well.

 

Larry

[pretenda]

That was a wonderful story - all our very best to you and Amy, we truly hope we travel on the same cruise sometime.

Glenda and Tony

[OnlyMe]

I am printing out your report as we speak. I don't know how I missed this amazing report all along but we leave for AK in just 3 days and I just cannot wait to read all!

Thanks so much for posting!

[LarryF]

Hello all,

 

To continue…

 

Friday June 1, 2007 continued…

 

With my new found peace, the rest of the day in Denali was just phenomenal. The bus driver had warned us that the mountain would eventually become shrouded in clouds, but that just didn’t happen at all. The sun shone brightly all day long with not more than a lazy cloud of two in the big blue sky. :)

 

From that point forward until we turned around at Fishcreek, we continued to see lots of wildlife including two more grizzly bears, a moose, dozens of caribou and mountain sheep, marmots, snow shoe hares and eagles! The climb up polychrome pass was exciting as the bus winded its way up the narrow dirt road. When you looked out the window, all you could see was a 4,000 foot drop all the way down to the ground! If you looked out the front window when the bus rounded each turn, it looked like we were going to just drive right off the cliff! :eek:

 

On the ride between Polychrome Pass and Fish Creek, we enjoyed our packed lunches. The sandwiches and chips really hit the spot and the chocolate chip cookie was real good! When we arrived at the Tolklat stop everyone got off the bus. The park has a ranger station and gift shop at this stop as well as restrooms and water coolers. The Ranger answered a lot of questions I had about camping in the park and taking guided hikes. I would like to come back some day with my kids and possibly camp out in the Park.

 

Our friends, Joe and Michelle that we met at the Talkeetna Chalet B&B were on our shuttle bus and while driving round trip from the Tolklat stop to Fish Creek and back, they invited Amy and I to go hiking with them. So, when we arrived back at the Tolklat stop, we talked with the bus driver about where we could hike and he told us we could hike along the creek bed for about 3 miles that would bring us back to the road and we could catch another shuttle from there. Amy bought a bell in the gift shop to ward off the grizzlies and we set off on our hiking adventure!

 

We made our way down to the creek bed and followed the water having to cross over small streams here and there. After only hiking for 10 minutes it became apparent that we must not have followed the directions well as we came to a fast moving stream much too large and deep to cross. Seeing no other way to continue we headed back the other way and climbed back up to the road. We hiked along the road for about an hour and half just enjoying the beauty of the day. We didn’t come across any wildlife (probably because Amy kept jingling the bell! :rolleyes: ), but we had views of Mt. McKinley the entire time! Several buses passed us and we eventually boarded one when everyone agreed we needed a bathroom break. We rode the bus to the Polychrome Pass stop.

 

The weather was so nice at this point that we decided to take another hike along the road. We took off most of our layers and put them in our back packs. The temperature was well into the 60s while in the sun and cooled off into the low 50s when in the shade. We hiked for about another hour, not seeing much wildlife except some snow shoed hares that would scurry about when Amy rang the bell. I found myself walking backwards as times as the mountain was visible behind us for most of the hike!

 

We eventually caught another shuttle and returned to the Transportation Center around 5:30 p.m. The trip into Denali had taken us 11 hours and I could have stayed there a lot longer. It’s a shame that the Wonder Lake stop was not open yet, as the views of Mt. McKinley must be even more incredible from there.

 

Once back to the car, we drove to the Denali visitor center and bought souvenirs and gifts. I bought a book call “Alaska, a Photographic Excursion” which I have opened and enjoyed many times since our return. It was about 6:30 p.m. and we were both hungry and I asked the cashier at the visitor center if she had a good recommendation for dinner. She said if we didn’t mind taking a 20 minute drive south she highly recommended the Creekside Café located at the McKinley Creekside Cabins, http://www.mckinleycabins.com/cafe.htm.

 

The Cabins and Restaurant are located at mile marker 224 on the Parks Highway. They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner and have a great assortment of food on their menu. We decided to share a large bowl of chili and a Halibut Fish and Chips entrée. The food was excellent and filling and I highly recommend this restaurant! Before we left, we got a large chocolate chip cookie to go for our drive back to Anchorage the next day!

 

It was close to 9:00 p.m. when we got back to our room at the Lakeview Inn. It still looked like it was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon! Once back we sat out on the deck for a while just admiring the beautiful view, but it wasn’t too long before total exhaustion began to overwhelm us. It had been quite a day beginning before 5:00 a.m. full of excitement, adrenaline and emotion! I really didn’t want to go to sleep as this would be our last night in Alaska, but my eyelids just couldn’t resist closing and I drifted off to a nice peaceful sleep.

 

I was going to continue to write about our final day, but I find myself not wanting to end this;) journal similar to how I didn’t want our trip to end. So I’ll go ahead and stop writing at this point and post my final chapter in a day or two. Our flight out on Saturday was at 5:00 p.m. and I had made no plans for us in Anchorage prior to our flight, but like I said earlier, Alaska never ceases to amaze me and is full of surprises…and you can bet there was still a surprise or two or three waiting for us on our last day in Alaska. ;) Stay tuned.

 

To be continued…

 

Larry

[cjnky]

Another fantastic chapter!! I have 28 days to sail-off, and just pray I can see every bit of the great state as you did!