Alaskan Saga 2019 - Part 1
7/28/2019
Day 1: Going North, North To Alaska!
10:00PM
Bearing 292.9
Speed: 19.6 Nautical Miles
Distance to Ketchikan-our first port: 553km
I find the ship's navigation channel strangely calming. We're going places. And perhaps it helps keep my focus from my very full belly. Good gravy that was some, well, good gravy. And prime rib. And ice cream, etcetera, etcetera... Wendi has asked that I not disappear for 60-90 minutes to this ship's gym every day so I'll need to forgo that 3rd helping of whatever tomorrow. It's that or buy a whole new wardrobe from Juneau's Clothing by the Square Yard Emporium.
Barometer Trend: Steady
The trip to the ship went off relatively smoothly. We'd made it nearly to the end of the driveway before it hit me that a phone on Airplane Mode might mean no Bluetooth headphones.
Unacceptable. Therefore, it was a quick dash for our old iPod Touch; with its actual headphone jack.
Xander, as required by state law, asked me the "Back already?" question. as I dashed in and out.
Speaking of, you may be wondering why our Pride and Joy was on the couch watching the first of his five Mission Impossible movies. Funny story, that. On his many flights (2 to LV and 2 to Hawaii) and one international trip (Whistler, BC), he was required to have his birth certificate and a parent or two. We just didn't bother reading; REALLY comprehending, the fine print till roughly a week before the trip.
What we learned was the above-mentioned documentation worked fine for 15-year-olds but X turned an ancient 16 years of age 3 days before departure. A 16-year-old needed both his b.c. AND some form of state issued photo I.D.
Spelling it "Amerika", now, are we comrade??
So, despite our (my) best effort, X's photo I.D. did not arrive in time. For all I know, it's in our mailbox right now but more likely, it'll be another week at least
(When we return home, we're finally going to turn in our already filled out passport forms. We postponed this final step last summer when we learned of the $450 price tag.)
So, since a refund wasn’t possible and postponement would cost an additional $2500, we decided upon abandoned. He seemed quite sanguine about this possibility. I guess it's the bird in the hand phenomena. The theoretical enjoyment to be gained from a week long voyage in constant close proximity to his parents PALES in comparison to concrete enjoyment of wearing his jammies, watching movies and playing video games from dawn till dusk.
Despite his protestations that a 16-year-old is perfectly fine staying home alone for a week, our friend Janet is staying there with him. I have vague memories of what dullards 16-year-olds are and, well, we wouldn't want anything to happen to our cats.
So back to the trip. Our first hurdle happened when getting off the ferry in Seattle. We'd agreed that springing for a taxi ride for the 1 mile trip from the ferry terminal to Pier 66 was worth the expense. However, when we got to the street, all the awaiting taxis were facing southward while we needed to go north. So, we started meandering north, assuming we'd encounter a taxi going our way. About 10 minutes into our trek, we realized that A) there were no taxis going our way that didn't already have customers, B) the two bags I was carrying were getting heavier and heavier, and finally, C) attempting to chase down a ride would expend more energy than just continuing to slog northward.
In short, dumb-asses.
When we arrived at the terminal, I was drenched with sweat. Not an auspicious beginning. Never have I been so pleased to hand over my luggage to someone else. Unfortunately, the checking in process soon involved getting our photos taken.
In a panic, I turned to my Beloved and asked, "Can you do something with this?" while waving in the general vicinity of my sodden coiffure.
"Stop sweating," came her helpful reply.
Not sure where that pic went but it's not on my ship ID card, for which I'm ever grateful. So, we were aboard. That was good. Our rooms weren't ready, nor had our luggage been delivered yet. That was bad. Well, the least we could do was find said room (or "cabin" as we salty dogs say) and drop off our carry-on bags. At this point, they were more "drag behind" bags as my arms and shoulders were starting to seize up.
Our room, #11838 (Deck Heaven-snowman, handcuff, snowman) was open but hadn't been cleaned up yet. No biggie. We stored the wallet, purse and iPad in the safe, left the rest in the closet, and went off to explore our new home.
About 10 minutes into our exploration, an idea crossed my mind, which I shared. "Hey, funny thought. What if that wasn't ACTUALLY our room?!? Ha ha"
While the mental sound of a record skipping bounced between my ears, Wendi unleashed "THE LOOK" upon me and I rushed to reassure her that it was in fact the correct room. No doubt. Take it to the bank.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around and scheduling activities. We've got a couples massage and a Klondike train ride coming up. (Though not at the same time.) We'll see what else. I think our number one activity is keeping Wendi from freezing. Turns out, she doesn't like being cold.
Huh. Who knew? It least we're going somewhere warm. Well, this trip was more for Xander's edification than ours....
Yeah, planning might not be my strong suit.
Speaking of the Spawn, about 5:00 PM, he started sending me texts asking if he could buy a sword at the mall. Seems he wanted to use his birthday money from Tutu to buy this totally awesome sword but there are these stupid rules about needing parental permission, yadda, yadda, and could I tell Janet that I'm totally down with it? Please?!
Well, those of you who read my previous write-up on the subject, "My Son The Moron" know, Alexander Eric, long blades, and Wendi's exquisite (and fragile) interior decorating don't really go together.
I used the tried and true "We'll talk when we get home." It worked.
It's actually Sunday morning now and I'm waiting for Wendi to wake up. She gets so little sleep that I don't want to disturb her.
Ketchikan 317.3 nautical miles. Talk at you later.
-Later-
10:23 PM actually.
Sea State: Large wavelets
UTC: 5:24 AM
Distance to Ketchikan: 138 miles
In fact, I was working so hard not to wake her while finishing up the above writing that all the lights were off and I was just sitting there quiet as a mouse on the couch; two feet away. I look over.
Still snoozing.
Type, type, type. I look again.
She's sitting up on the bed STARING RIGHT AT ME!! If you've seen any ghost movies; any Japanese horror, you know I had every right to scream.
But I am a very brave man therefore, I did not.
The rest of the day was somewhat anti-climactic after that. Our breakfast was actually our lunch. We did some shopping, some gambling and got a nice couples massage. Tomorrow, we reach our first port of call. Should be fun.
I managed to blow through my 125 minutes of internet time in... 125 minutes last night. Seems I should have logged out before going to sleep. I am being more careful with my second (and just as expensive) 125 minutes so I’ll just be online for just a bit tonight. Hopefully, X will have something exciting to report.
Adios!
Mr. Hardy