So, we made it back from our Alaska cruise safe and sound. No crazy virus outbreaks, no one fell overboard (on our ship, anyway), the ship didn’t break, and we only had one really bad night of ship-rocking. We took tons of pictures and ate really well (and didn’t manage to get to the gym at all) and had an awesome time. We didn’t see much wildlife (no bears) but I did snuggle some sled-dog puppies, so I’m cool with that.
My mom graciously spent the week with our dogs (and her dogs) and, as a result, our dogs seemed just mildy happy to see us come back. I guess that just means they got lots of attention in our absence. Thanks, Mom, for letting us have a worry-free vacation. And for the 3 Nothing Bundt Cakes left in the fridge. We’ve been slowly nibbling at them.
Something interesting we saw at the Seattle airport was a new security screening setup. You self-categorize yourself as a Casual or Expert Traveler, the idea being that the Experts won’t take fifty billion years to take off their shoes and remove their laptop from the carry-on. It seemed to work pretty well, except for the guy behind us who was yapping on his cell phone the whole time and not paying attention and apparently thought that the bins I picked up from the stack and carried to the table were meant for him and not, say, me or T. So he took it! And wasn’t even paying enough attention to notice me glaring at him or telling T, loudly, that the annoying dude behind us took my bin. T retaliated by pushing his bin and bag away from our stuff. I really doubt the guy even noticed. Anyway, the line was pretty short to begin with so it moved quickly, but I think it’s cool that they’re trying this new setup.
I’m sure I have tons of stories about our trip and what we did and saw and ate, but they may come slowly. I’m still unpacking and doing laundry (and putting away said laundry), not to mention the very important task of sitting on the couch and watching all the DVR’d shows that piled up and caused the DVR to fill up to capacity.
I can highly recommend the Alaska cruise for the beautiful scenery. Even on the rainy days, it was amazing to see Alaska. However, be forewarned that you will be spending a lot of time with a lot of, um, senior citizens. Many of whom enjoy complaining, eating more than you think possible, and moving extremely slowly while not leaving room for you to pass by them.
Three Dog Kitchen 