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While I Was Gone…

Posted on December 18, 2015 by auburnchick

Lordy, but every time I write a post, it seems as though I’m apologizing!  My blogging…it just sucks right now.

Enough with that, though.  I’ll offer up no excuses.  It is what it is.  I’m choosing to spend down time not on the computer and, instead, watching television, knitting, and reading.

Anyhoo…

The burning question, if you’re not a friend on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter is:  What has Auburnchick been up to the past few weeks?

Well, let’s see…

I’ve been doing a LOT of teaching.  With this being December, we are hot and heavy into all things reading.  My kiddos are working hard on grammar, fiction reading, and main idea (our current unit).

Things are going swimmingly.  I’m extremely happy with my classes this year.  I’ve had fairly minor behavioral issues, and I’ve experienced a few surprises.  My students have been incredibly cooperative and trusting, allowing me to lead them in all things reading.  They don’t always like that I’m strict, but I think they understand that I’m consistent, firm, yet fair.

One thing I’m doing a better job at this year is balancing my life.  I’m lesson planning one night a week from home and getting the rest of my work done at school.  These purposeful decisions have allowed me to spend more time on myself and my family.

Probably the thing I’m most proud of is my fitness quest.  After jokingly being called “thick” by a student last school year, I made it my mission to take care of my body.  You know I started working out this past spring.  I worked out with weights this summer but tapered off when school began.  The start of the school year is when most teachers drop into a black hole.  It’s brutal setting up new classes…new routines…new everything (because the state of Florida constantly changes things).

That’s when I started working out from home with Beachbody’s Piyo program.

The diet plan and workout schedule helped me so much.  They provided the structure I desperately needed, and when I finished two months after starting it, I was fourteen pounds and 7.25 inches leaner, stronger, more flexible, and in the best shape I’ve been in for a long time.

I had seen a friend (a former teacher who I used to sub for who is now a full-time Beachbody coach) and her posts, but I’d resisted.  I’m completely sold on these programs now.  They work, if you have the self discipline to follow through (which I do, as you know, because I am the poster child for being an overachiever).

I love the free shirt I received after I uploaded before/after photos on Beachbody’s website…

The back of this shirt says it all.  I sincerely feel as though I have redefined myself.  I’ve developed healthier eating habits…keeping up with my portions in MyFitnessPal, a free app, and exercising nearly every morning.  Working out at 5:15am (thus getting up at 4:15am so I can read my First5 devotions) is sometimes challenging, but I’ve seen the payoff, and it’s totally worth it.

I have re-instilled the confidence that had slowly eroded away over the past few years, and I’m finding it a joy to pick out clothes each day.  They fit so much better now, and I’m getting into pants that had gotten extremely tight last year.

I jumped right into a new workout after “graduating” from Piyo.  I’m currently four weeks into TurboFire, which is an intense cardio program.  I selected it with a goal of burning the subcutaneous fat from my abs.  It’s lingering, despite the ab muscles I developed through my previous program.

TurboFire is no joke, let me tell you.  When I do the 40-minute workout, I burn nearly 400 calories.  It’s crazy, but I’m loving it!  Chalene Johnson is extremely motivating (and no, I’m not getting paid to say this).

Oh hey, do you like that picture up above?  Well, let me tell you about THAT.

See, with me getting into fitness and doing my first 5k in October, I started wanting a fitness watch.  After doing a LOT of research, I found one I liked and told the Mr. that this is what I wanted for Christmas.  He asked if I wanted to wait to get it, and I decided that no, I did not.  I even had a Best Buy coupon that was going to expire, so he let me order it.

I decided to get the Garmin Vivoactiv.

This arrived on my doorstep right as we were leaving for dinner. I had separation anxiety and took it with me…hence the restaurant menu.

I went back and forth between this and the Apple Watch but ultimately decided on this because of a few of the features it offered that the Apple version did not.  It’s also a watch that I thought would fit on my small wrist much better than the Fitbit Surge, which I’d read was fairly large for people with uber-small wrists like mine.

Being the techie that I am, it didn’t take me long to set it up and download widgets.  Don’t you love the clock I set up in the picture above?  It’s animated; the dog wags its tail…totally worth the itsy bit of extra battery it takes to run it.

Speaking of battery, this thing only requires a charge every 10-14 days…no kidding!  I have it connected to the GPS, and it still lasts FOREVER!  I love this thing and wear it CONSTANTLY, except for when it’s charging.

Things I like about it…

It connects via Bluetooth to my phone, so I receive various notifications on it.  I can read text messages, get weather updates, and even view calendar notifications on it!  I cannot respond to or generate any communication from it, but I can answer phone calls though it!  No, I can’t talk through it, but I can press an answer button it, and my phone will pick up!  It also has the capability of setting alarms, which I love!  It vibrates when it goes off, which is much less irritating than my regular alarm sounds, which I eventually ignore.

I love the step counter and derive much pleasure when I reach my goal of 10,000 steps.  A party goes off on my wrist when I do with the watch vibrating and displaying fireworks.  I do the happy dance every single time this happens.

Please excuse the random photos below.  They were not taken the same day, but they are various screen shots from the Garmin Connect app on my phone and photos of the watch’s widgets, so you can get idea of the data you can view.

Fireworks on my wrist…

Caloric breakdown…

It also connects to the app, MyFitnessPal, so all of my calories are updated seamlessly.  It keeps track of a variety of exercises too!  I’ve been extremely pleased with it.

Knitting-wise, I’ve been busy.  Here are a few pictures of things I’ve completed (I’ll try to post soon with specific details)…

Hearwarming Stockings for the Mr. and me…

The Mr.’s stocking

My stocking

I’ve made a few baby hats…two for a former student’s twins, and two for a friend’s grandson…

The yarn is TopThis, and it is FABULOUS to work with and comes in a large variety of animal themes!  It’s relatively inexpensive, so it makes for lovely gifts, should you choose to order it.

I’m currently working on a very large project…my Oakwood Poncho.

Thanksgiving rolled around, and the Mr.’s parents treated us to a Western Caribbean cruise.

Packing was a bear, let me tell you.

I’d created a plan for myself that week…trying to balance work and packing…and it was a relief when I finished everything with a minimal amount of stress.

It was a wonderfully-relaxing week that I’ll share about in some future post.

Getting back from vacation was not so much fun.  I got sick that Tuesday and had to take two days off of work.  I’d thought I could persevere, and I even went to work that Wednesday and attended a meeting before school.  However, I started crying toward the end of the meeting because I couldn’t figure out how I was going to make it through the day, and my friend/department head told me to ask one of our school’s secretaries if she could find a sub to cover my classes that day.

Cindy, sub extraordinaire, filled in with the subs that were already scheduled to work at our school, and after quickly creating lesson plans, I left school.  My poor first period class…they saw me crying, and my heart nearly burst when a couple of the girls teared up themselves.  I think it was hard for them to see me incapable of being the stoic teacher that I usually am.

I put in for a sub that night because I knew I was still too sick to go in the next day, and when nobody picked up, my fellow reading teachers filled in the gap and absorbed my students into their classrooms.  Reading teachers are the BEST!

I’ve been fighting the crud for over two weeks and think I’ve FINALLY turned the corner.  It’s taken LOTS of prayer and the preparation of homeopathic remedies.  I’d been unable to work out for two weeks and just got back into my routine this week.  This is the sickest I’ve been in about four years.  Not good stuff, let me tell you.

CVS remedy…

I googled for my own remedy (and have discovered that I do NOT like honey and am only consuming it because it’s supposed to be good for sore throats, which I STILL have…)…

My first workout after a two-week hiatus…

Despite being so sick, I managed to get most of January’s lesson plans written.  I especially wanted to get the first couple of weeks finished so I could go into Christmas Break without work on my mind.

 

Speaking of Christmas Break, I am now officially on my two-week vacation.

This was me, this morning, after my challenging/invigorating 40-minute workout.  Because I’m still recovering from the crud, I had to transform high-impact moves into low-impact ones (i.e. no jumping and less jogging/running in place).  I still burned a TON of calories and was ready to head into my school’s early release day…

Leaving school…well, I don’t think there are enough memes to show what I was really feeling.  My watch and this selfie tell the picture best though…

After I ran a few errands and grabbed lunch to go, I settled in for a two-hour nap…more recovery time so I can continue my quest for full healing from this horrid crud I’ve had…

That’s about it from my corner of the world.

I always say I’ll blog more, but I know I can’t promise.  My priorities are shifting; turning on my computer on my “off” days is less important.  Spending time unplugged (except for my phone) ranks near the top of my list these days.

However…I miss my writing and long to return to it more consistently.

We.  Shall.  See.

Filed under: fitness | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Vacation Shenanigans – Part 3

Posted on December 9, 2014 by auburnchick

Our second official day on the ship found us at Grand Turk.

It’s a small island with a beautiful view.

If you ever visit Grand Turk, do not waste money on a cab tour.  It’s not worth it because there’s not much to see.  Just enjoy the beach!

Immediately upon settling in, Super Sis and I were approached by a lady offering to put braids or wraps in our hair.

We had decided that we wanted to do this, but we didn’t want to spend much money.  Everything on the islands is negotiable…this we knew from our past traveling experiences, so we began to haggle.

The Mr. had agreed to spend $20 on our wraps.  I was going to pay for hers, and she would pay me back later.

We finally got the gal down from her original price, and another girl began making the wrap…

I had chosen blues and greens because they are my favorite colors…

Super Sis got her hair done after mine was finished, and we then sat, contented, while we chatted and the boys threw a Nerf football.

The weather was absolutely divine and much appreciated after some cold temps we’d back home!  The water at Grand Turk was a gorgeous shade of blue.

After a teensy bit of shopping, I needed a bottle of water, so I headed for the bar in the pool area of the resort that is on the island.  What a lovely setting, eh?

Can you say Cabana Boy?  🙂

We eventually headed back to the ship where we enjoyed a round of trivia…our daily dose of fun.

A word about trivia.

We take it very seriously.  It’s boys vs girls.

The boys think they are smarter than we are…not that previous scores would indicate this.

:::rolling my eyes:::

Take a moment to admire my cleverly-added hats to hide the boys’ faces.  Go me.  🙂

Here’s our scorecard…please take notice of our name…because we are still have some ripening to do…

Take a look at how the boys…aka “The Lighbulbs” – gag – did…

They claimed it wasn’t a real victory for us because we gained a new partner…Eddie…a kind older gentleman who didn’t belong to a group.  We, being the friendly Southern women that we are, welcomed him with open arms.  He was our secret weapon and brought a smile to our faces each day he met with us.

After trivia, it was time to get ready for dinner.  The ship had pulled away from Grand Turk, taking to the high seas on its way to Puerto Rico…

I couldn’t help but take some time to enjoy the sunset.  If you’ve never cruised, you must.  The sight of the sun setting over the ocean is awe-inspiring and such a reminder of God’s beauty…

The day of fun wasn’t over though.  You see, cruise lines have tons and tons of activities planned.  Pick and choose according to your preference!

After dinner, we headed to the auditorium/theater for a special show…

I don’t even know what to say about this group.  It was on America’s Got Talent, and I remember watching the guys.  Seeing them in person was something else altogether.

The show was interactive with audience members picking out various pots and pans, along with ear plugs, so we could drum out a beat along with the talented artists.

Each member of the group brought his own unique flair to the performance…

What I loved about this act was the way the routines were changed up.  There was body percussion…

There were percussion duets…

There was some sort of chain saw fireworks thing going (freaked me out a bit…didn’t want anything to catch fire)…

One of funniest acts was the dueling drummers.  Oh word, but these guys were hysterical!!!!

During one part of the set, one of the percussionists got the older lady you see pictured in the bottom left to throw in a drum stick.  The poor woman’s aim was horrid, so he tried to walk her through how to properly throw a drumstick.  Her timing was off…she didn’t speak much English, I think…which made for a lot of laughter as the musician ad-libbed.

The absolute best part of the show happened when the group asked for volunteers, previously selected, to come to the stage.

The Mr. had been selected.

The men had to put on masks, and the audience was shown the following message on the mounted monitors…

We were in for a treat.

It was a training zoo.

Fortunately, the Mr. wasn’t the one who couldn’t see.  The poor guy in the middle (the one with both hands down) was the unlucky fellow.

If you want a good laugh for the day, check out this video…

The Mr. is wearing the purple shirt and blue jeans.

Please note that he doesn’t usually dance in public…nor does he slow dance with other men.

Ahem.

The booty song…he’s practiced those moves at home for the family a few times…as a joke.

He got some of the loudest applause.

He did us proud.

After the guys did their thing, it was time for a cookie break…

Yes, the guys doled out cookies.  So generous of them…especially after a very filling dinner, which nearly every audience member had just emerged from…

Then, it was time for a PSA about bullying.  The group has created an anti-bullying campaign with proceeds from the sales of their merchandise on the ship going toward their nonprofit organization, Legacy X.

After one final hodgepodge of classic rock and roll songs, the group finished its performance.  Group members met members of the audience outside.  They were very friendly and more than willing to pose for pictures.  I was too shy to ask (if they had been my favorite YA authors, I would have totally gone fangirl on them).

After the show, we hit the karaoke scene and listened to my talented nephew, Music Man, belt out a couple of tunes.  This guy is amazing and had the audience cheering loudly.

Later, he and Chicky saved me from embarrassing myself when the host of the evening tagged my girl and me to do a duet.  I know I cannot carry a tune, so it would have been disastrous.  Music Man filled in for me, and he and Chicky sang “You’re the One that I Want,” from Grease.  It was hysterical!  Music Man tried, accidentally, to sing Chicky’s part, to which she waved him off.  They giggled through the entire thing but still had the crowd into it.  They were acknowledged throughout the rest of the cruise by people who had seen them.  Very funny.

I can’t remember if we hit the late night buffet after that.  All I know is that we were pretty tired.  The sun, the music fun, the dancing…they were a lot to take in for just one day, and we knew Puerto Rico was just over the horizon…

Filed under: Vacation | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Vacation Shenanigans – Part 2

Posted on December 8, 2014 by auburnchick

We are the family that likes to be as close to the front of the line as possible.  This translates to checking out of the hotel early to drive to Port Everglades.

I didn’t mind though, as evidenced by my smile…

We stopped at a Walgreens on the way, picking up last-minute items.  We bought our youngest nephew a Nerf ball to throw around.  We are awesome that way.

Poor Walgreens.  Store employees were probably glad to see our large group of ten pay and depart.

We kept on driving, went through the security checkpoint at the port, and pulled up to the terminal.  It was exciting to see our ship come into view…

We filled out the required health forms, assuring the Powers-That-Be that we weren’t sick with the flu or some other stomach ailment.

Then we waited.

I got in trouble when I pulled out my camera…an early Christmas present from the Mr….and started taking pictures.

By the way, that’s my first SLR camera!  I have much to learn.

Anyhoo, apparently there’s some sort of rule that you’re not supposed to take pictures inside the waiting area.  There were no signs posted…only a rude employee who persisted in giving me the stank eye across the room.

Whatever.

We only had to wait about an hour before we boarded.

This was the cleanest our room would be the entire trip.  Imagine four people’s stuff in there!!

I stepped out on the balcony and got a better look at the Intercoastal…

After eating lunch, we walked around the ship to get our bearings.

Super Sis giggled as she took the following picture…

Folks, we were STILL IN PORT and that man behind me was in his skivvies.

Ahem.

Later, everyone headed to our rooms so we could watch as we left port.  The weather was divine…humid but still warmer from where we’d left the day before.

Dinner that night was delicious.  Sorbet, a milk-free option, was on the menu, so the Mr. and I were happy!

We went to the show in the big theater that night.  It was a preview of the different acts we would be seeing that week.  We eventually hit the hay.  The next day, we would be at sea, en route to Puerto Rico.

Filed under: Vacation | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Vacation Shenanigans

Posted on December 7, 2014 by auburnchick

Dear Blog,

I realize I’ve been absent of late.

Blame it on work.

Blame it on fatigue.

Actually, blame it mainly on the trip the AuburnChick family took the week of Thanksgiving.

You see, the Grand Poobas of the family are a generous couple who enjoy getting their loved ones together, in one place, whenever possible.

As you know from past posts, our adventures often find us cruising on the high seas.

This Thanksgiving, we were blessed to return to Grand Turk, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and Holland America’s private island, Half Moon Cay.

I’ll spend the next few posts sharing photos and memories from the trip.

Let’s begin with the day we left.

We had to travel nearly the entire length of the state to get to the port in Ft. Lauderdale.  Of course, getting to the point of driving down was first met with packing…lots of it.

A girl can never pack enough, don’t you know.  What a tragedy it would be to not have the perfect outfit for a particular outing or activity.

Haters be hatin’ my organized, think-ahead brain.

😀

Getting up that Saturday to make the long drive to Ft. Lauderdale was easy…seeing this on my phone app made me smile…

For nine blessed days, my little family of four would once again be together.  We had not seen Chicky since early June and could not wait to reunite with her.  We stopped a few hours into our trip to pick her up.  A friend had driven her to a place not too far from the interstate.

Girl in-tow, we continued to make our way to the hotel, a few hours away.  We met up with the other part of the family, ate dinner and watched football on the big screens, and called it a night.  We probably had at least fifteen alarms set among all of us…all in the effort to not oversleep so we could board early.

Come back for my next post where I’ll share photos and thoughts from Sunday, our first afternoon/evening on the ship.

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Day 7 – Victoria

Posted on July 19, 2011 by auburnchick

Day 7 of The Great Adventure found us on our way to Victoria, British Columbia (i.e. Canada).

We weren’t going to be pulling in until the early evening hours, so we had all day on the ship to play.

I spent a lot of time in the Crow’s Nest, checking out the scenery through the large windows.  I saw the Princess ship.  You might remember that this ship was, for the most part, our companion during the week…

For lunch, we had been invited to the dining room to a specially-prepared fare for frequent cruisers.

I loved the view from the dining room…

We were greeted with glasses of champagne and specially-designed tiles (which will make great coasters)…

The menu was fancy and not vegan friendly.  I settled for the salad, minus the meat on top.  I passed on dessert; however, the dining room steward brought me a lovely plate of dessert.

After lunch, we headed back to the Crow’s Nest to await Team Trivia.

I took a few more pictures.

After a while, I caught my first glimpse of Victoria, British Columbia, the final stop for the Westerdam…

After trivia, we headed to our room to pack.  We were going to be in port most of the evening, and we had to make sure we got our suitcases in the hallway before midnight.

Packing was not fun, let me tell you.

Imagine four people in a room the size of a closet, trying to cram a gagillion souvenirs and two large bags of dirty clothes into the suitcases they came on ship with.

Not easy.

We grumped at each other for the first ten or fifteen minutes before settling in and getting things done.

Then, we headed to dinner.  I had the fruit dish as an appetizer…

The dining room’s large windows provided such a great view of the setting sun…

I watched this small boat accompany the ship’s entry into port…

The Princess was pulling to port as well…

We hurriedly ate dinner, eager to get on with the business of touring Victoria.

Now, I’ve gotta tell you that my children had been eagerly awaiting the moment when Super Sis and I would be stepping on Canadian soil.  It had, after all, been at least 25 years since we had visited our “homeland.”

Chicky took a picture of us stepping off the ship.

I can’t show you this picture because 1) It shows our faces but most importantly 2) My eyes look like some lunatic’s.

If you’re one of my Facebook buds, you can testify to both points.

I can, however, show you the picture of us (or rather me since I cropped out Super Sis’s head, which showed her face a bit) kissing Canadian concrete…

Folks, this is what happens when you cross a Redneck who loves NASCAR with worldwide traveling adventures…

We saw this sign as we entered customs…

I felt a pull of my heart strings.  I know it sounds strange because I’ve spent most of my life in the United States; however, my Canadian roots go deep.  My grandpa had a farm, and he had maple trees on that farm.  One year when he came down to visit us in Alabama when I was a youngster, he brought us original maple syrup…not the Aunt Jemima kind.  I remember how different it tasted.  As an adult, I now appreciate how authentic that syrup was.

I felt a few tears well up in my eyes.  I was, indeed, back in my “homeland,” setting all of Chicky and Rooster’s jokes aside.

This sign forewarned us that the American dollar wouldn’t go quite as far in Canada…

As we began our nearly 1.5 mile walk downtown, I saw this horse-drawn tram…

Our walk took us through a residential area.  The gardens we passed were lovely, with such beauties as this…

The residential area opened up to a beautiful harbor with large hotels surrounding it…

We walked past the Parliament Building…an immense, ornate piece of architecture…

The boats in the harbor reminded me of Florida…

I don’t know if you can see, but the flowers in the lawn spell out “Welcome to Victoria.”

The next picture is of the Empress Hotel, a famous hotel that opened its doors in 1908 and is known for its traditional Afternoon Tea…

Street performers were out in full force…

I don’t know what the next building was, but I just knew that it was BIG.  Podunk, USA doesn’t have big buildings like this…

It was so neat to be able to walk down the store-lined street…another new experience for a Redneck like me…

We spent a longggggg time shopping.

I had not seen yarn up to this point, but I was on high alert.

Folks, yarn called out to me like a siren, I kid you not.  I was minding my own business when I turned me head to look in a completely different direction from that in which we were headed.

I spied this sign…all the way from the corner down the street…

…And I went running…

…Only to discover that the store had been closed for three hours.  I had to make do with looking through the window…

Look at that glorious yarn.

It could have been mine.

Sigh.

I’m sure the store keepers had to clean up a lot of drool I left behind.

Sigh.

Victoria was a WONDERFUL place to shop.  Sure, there were your “touristy” stores, but there were also a lot of unique stores.

I found a cute little tea shop that sold a wide variety of teapots and other tea making devices.  I didn’t buy anything, though, and kicked myself later when the Mr. told me I should have.  Why do guys always tell you it’s okay to buy something AFTER you’ve walked away.  Hmmm.

Eventually, we had to begin our walk back.  The buildings around the harbor were lit up in white lights and presented a lovely panorama…

We popped into the Empress Hotel for a closer look, but we didn’t get past the lobby since we didn’t actually have rooms there…

The Parliament Building at street level was even more impressive after dark…

The harbor was gorgeous at sunset…

One last glance at the Empress Hotel…

As we neared the port and our ship, I got this terrific picture of the moon’s reflection on the water…

Ships were beckoning their passengers back.  The Princess is the ship on the left, and the Westerdam is on the right…

After a late night snack on the Lido Deck, I headed to bed, taking another look at my souvenir from the day…

It had been a wonderful day.  I was a little sad that the journey was nearly over…until I remembered that we still had another day of adventures planned…

Filed under: Vacation | Tagged: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Day 6 – Ketchikan

Posted on July 18, 2011 by auburnchick

Day 6 of The Great Adventure found us in port at Ketchikan, Alaska…

Although it wasn’t rainy, it was a little breezy and cold!

We left the ship as soon as we were allowed to because we had signed up for an early excursion…the Lumberjack Show!

We got great seats…first row, lower level, so we had a great view!

The show got started on time, and the emcee explained that we, the audience, would be divided into two groups.  One would root for the “American” lumberjacks competing in the show, and the other group would be cheering for the “Canadians.”

My family fell in the Canadian half of the audience, which was perfect because Super Sis and I used to be Canadian before we became naturalized citizens.

First up was the log splitting contest…

That was our guy, and he had mad log splitting skills, winning easily!

The day’s competition consisted of several contests, so just because a side would win one contest did not mean that the other side was done for.  There were many opportunities to tie the score.

The next contest was axe throwing, during which the guys threw axes at a bulls eye.

The American guy was amazing, hitting the center on his practice and “real” throws…

Here’s a close-up, which shows just how much effort it takes to throw that axe…

Next up was the sawing contest.  Our dudes rocked!

 

The next contest was another log splitting contest, from a different angle though…

Dude was a beast, winning easily!

So, the next contest involved the lumberjacks rolling logs over an obstacle, taking a hose and running somewhere with it (attaching it to another log, I think), and then crossing the log that ran over the pool of water.  The teams worked as pairs, with one guy doing one part, and the other guy doing the second part.

We fell a little behind, but just as our guys were catching up, one fell down, and the Americans won.

On to the next competition!

The guys had to balance themselves on a thin, wooden stand-like thing that had been stuck in the middle of a stump while splitting a log…

What a strong guy!  He won!

Next was something of an interlude/comedy routine.  This guy was supposed to be carving out a bunny…using a chain saw (is that what the gas powered saw is called?).

He didn’t exactly carve the bunny but, instead, a small chair, which he gave to an adorable little girl pulled from the audience…

It was time to return to the contests!

Next up was the pole climbing challenge…

Those guys scurried up those poles very quickly, and once again, the Canadian side scored a victory!

Next up was the log running contest.  What fun to watch those guys try to avoid falling into the water!

By this time, both groups were tied, so everything boiled down to the final contest…log rolling!

I’ve watched these types of contests on TV, but seeing them in person was so much more fun!

It was best of three.

It was easy to see that the guys were enjoying it as much as the audience was…

The guy on the right is the current collegiate champion, which made it no surprise when our guy went down…

Time for try #2.  I was amazed by how quickly these guys could move their feet!

Our side won the second log rolling contest.  It was time for the tie breaker!  The crowd was urged to make some noise.  We did!

The guys steadied themselves and then got to it…

College boy goes down!  The emcee’s face in the background is priceless!

Dawson’s Creek (the Canadians) won!

Yo Ho!!  (what we were taught to yell throughout the competition)

The show was over.  It was now time to shop!

Oh yes.  The cruiseline-owned jewelry stores were hungry vultures…awaiting our arrival.

Let me explain how things work.

See, when you get off the ship, you get these little booklets with coupons for “free” charms just for visiting stores.

Well, what the coupons don’t tell you is that once you enter the stores, you’re lucky if you can escape, with the charms in your pockets.

The charms are used as lures to get people in for, as everyone knows, it’s hard to pass up something that’s free.

A couple of the stores’ employees were nice and handed over the goods without harassing us.

Some, however, were not so nice.

Coupon Queen wound up trying on a thousand dollar ring…for one stinking little charm.

The employee tried to get me to look as sapphires.

Ha!  I told the guy that I’m a teacher at a small private school.  I can’t afford “real” jewelry.

He didn’t care.

Rooster and I went into a different store to pick up a free pair of pearl earrings.

I handed over my coupon and had no problem.  When Rooster tried to get his pair, the guy told him that the offer was one pair per group.

I explained that we were entering as two different groups.  Technically, we were traveling with three families.

Plus, this was a cheap pair of earrings.

Give me a break.

Then, the guy said that the coupon was for ladies only.

Rooster told him that he was giving the earrings to a girl.

The guy didn’t care.

I told the man that the coupon did not state that you had to be a female to get the earrings.

The guy did not care.

Rooster said, “Fine.  I’ll go find a girl,” and he walked out of the store…only to run into Chicky, who was making her way in.

He grabbed her, gave her the coupon, and went back to the employee, who handed Chicky the earrings.

Chicky had no idea what was going on, and she turned to Rooster, shrugging her shoulders, and said, “Here.  I already have several pairs of pearl earrings.”

It was priceless and served that guy right.  I would never buy jewelry from rude store employees.  I realize we were tourists, but we could have had our pockets lined with money.

Ok.  Rant is over.

Ketchikan was beautiful, but I was not enamored with its touristy stores.  Very little, if anything, was locally made, and that was disappointing.

The scenery, however, was jaw dropping…

We walked to the wharf, which was a collection of waterfront stores.  Back in the day, sailors used to come into port and visit these houses for female “companionship.”

I really enjoyed looking around in these shops.  Sure, they contained a lot of mass produced items, but these stores were cozy and warm.

Dolly’s is the most famous “establishment” on the wharf…

The scenery here was simply gorgeous…

Back out on the street, we saw a guy who had rescued an eagle and a couple of owls that had been injured and could no longer fly…

In the next picture, you’ll see another owl.  It was actually a tiny thing…so adorable!

As with Sitka, the foliage was green because of all of the rain the area gets…

We only had four hours in port, and we shopped every minute, let me tell you.  Our feet hurt like crazy by the time we boarded the ship and ate lunch.

There were quite a few other ships visiting Ketchikan that day…

I took a few pictures from the Lido Deck…

I watched more sea planes land…

I admired the new shoes I had picked up in Ketchikan…

Yes, friends, I got my moccasins!!  These are moose skin (don’t be a hater) and are oh so soft.

After lunch, Coupon Queen, Super Sis, and I headed for the Indonesian Tea Ceremony.

Although we had expected something ceremonial, it was, in fact, just tea with goodies…

The tables in the dining room were set beautifully, and both men and women attendees were presented with menus…

Dining room stewards brought trays of goodies around.  I was a good girl and passed up on all of them; however, Super Sis and Coupon Queen indulged.  The next picture is of Super Sis’s plate…

I was satisfied with my cup of tea…

I had some time between tea and dinner, so I visited the Observation Deck and managed to get a great picture of the sun’s reflection on the ocean…

During dinner we were treated to a farewell show by the dining room stewards.  The next night would see many of the ship’s passengers in port, so it was the last chance to get everyone together.  Diners swung our napkins in the air in support of the entertainment…

I love the next photo.  This young man seemed to be having a great time.  These ladies and gentlemen spend upwards of ten months on the ship…far away from home.  It is not an easy life for them.

Dinner was delicious. My appetizer was grilled asparagus and some kind of mushroom thing, drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette…

When we were presented with the dessert menu, I knew that it was time for me to break my fast from sugar (aside from the sweet tea I’d begun drinking in June), so I ordered the Flourless Chocolate Cake, a favorite of mine from the previous cruises I’ve been on…

What is is like to eat dessert after six months of not having it?

Please allow me to describe the experience.

When I put the first bite into my mouth, it was as if I were in a car going through one of those car washes where the water jets shoot water from both sides.

My salivary glands went into overdrive.

I had to eat very slowly.  The cake was decadent…very rich and sweet.

Up to this point, fruits and vegetables had been my “desserts.”

I did a good job, nearly cleaning my plate…

As we sat around and savored the quiet moments of our dessert time (the kids had left to watch a movie, I think), I took snapshots of the fresh flowers that adorned the tables…

After dinner, Super Sis, Super D, and I visited the Crow’s Nest, where we opened one of the complimentary bottles of champagne we had found in our rooms when we had boarded the ship.  There was a fancy party going on, and part of the deck was roped off.  One of the servers brought us three glasses, and when one of the ship’s officers saw Super D inspecting the glass, he snatched it up, apologized for it not being perfectly clean (it was, by the way), and brought us a complimentary appetizer from the party.  Holland America really works hard to keep passengers happy, and we were impressed yet again.

As you can see from the picture below, the glass was obviously just fine.

Next, we headed outside to capture a few sunset photos…

Look at the sun’s rays in the next photo…

Why is it that I never grow tired of the sunset?  It’s simply divine!

Most digital camera have the option to change scene settings.  By changing the scene to “Sunset,” I was able to get the following pictures (note the different hues)…

Super D has the same camera that I do, and throughout the cruise, he enjoyed taking pictures as well…

Super Sis sat on the deck and watched us do our thing, enjoying the sunset as well…

Later that evening, the family headed down to the Queen’s Lounge to watch the gameshow “Liar’s Club,” put on by the cruise director, the comedian entertainer, one of the singers, and another ship employee.

Basically, the “contestants” were presented with a very unique word, and they had to define the word for us, the audience.  Only one of them was correct, and we had to guess who it was.

The first word went off without a hitch.

Then the second word was presented, and I knew we were in trouble.  I don’t remember which word it was, but it was sexual sounding, and so you can imagine the explanations that were coming out of the contestants’ mouths.

It was too much for me.  I was appalled.  There were children in the audience.  My youngest nephew is twelve years old, and he, along with Rooster and Music Man, both 17, really should not have been listening to that kind of stuff.

I walked out before the gameshow was over.

I went back to my room to get ready for bed.  I found this towel animal…

Day 7 promised to be a busy one, and I needed all of the rest I could get!

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Day 5 – Sitka

Posted on July 17, 2011 by auburnchick

I woke up on Day 5 of The Great Adventure to discover that the ship was nearing its next destination…Sitka, Alaska.

The view from the Lido Deck provided these picturesque scenes…

This area is dotted with small islands, and houses are tucked in here and there…

I think that I saw a small lighthouse…

I saw a long bridge, which I believe takes residents into “town…”

Sitka is a coastal town, as evidenced by the row of houses and businesses that line the shore…

We had to take a tender to reach the shore from the ship.  The ride lasted about ten minutes as we waited for our driver to back into a “parking spot” at the dock.  From there, we had a good view of the shops that awaited us…

Sitka is a very old town, originally settled by the Tlingit Indians.  Eventually, it came under Russian rule before Alaska was purchased by the U.S.

So, it has a rich history, and the shops and other sights really reflected this.

We hopped in the first store we saw.  It actually turned out to be a large building with a collection of stores and bathrooms (very important when you’re on vacation).

This was the first sign I saw…

I kid you not.

I was destined to buy yarn on this trip…a fact made even more clear when I found the women’s restroom located right beside the yarn store with this picture window in the hallway of the bathroom…

Unfortunately, the store was not open yet, but I made a mental note to return.

Meanwhile, my group began to shop, heading deeper into Sitka…

The main street splices off at the church you see dead center…one of the oldest churches in Sitka (front of it displayed below)…

We walked.

We shopped.

Several of the stores sold Russian-made items.  Chicky bought Guy Friend’s mom a teapot that was edged with 24K gold and made in Russia.  I wish I had a picture of it for you.

There was a shop that sold Russian-made barrettes and jewelry.  Although I was tempted, I didn’t buy anything.  I regret that now.

We found a gorgeous retirement home that had a gift shop inside…

This building had been a government building but had recently been renovated to accommodate retired citizens.  The gift shop was tiny, but it was run by residents and contained a few items made by the residents.  It seemed like a happy place inside…with light pouring in from the large windows.

The gardens were something else, let me tell you.  Sitka gets a lot of rain during the year (not that you can tell from my pictures or anything…LOL).  All of the landscaping in Sitka was green, and the flowers were in full bloom.  You can see a hint of the foliage in the next picture…

For lunch, we ate at a small Mexican restaurant.  Go figure, eh?  Mexican food in a Russian/American city.  What delicious food too!

By the time I finished lunch, I was ready to go back to the yarn store, so I went off by myself and half-ran there, doing my best to avoid puddles along the way.

Knitting With Class is an adorable store.  It mostly contains yarn, but it does have one side dedicated to bead fanatics.  Maybe it’s actually two businesses.  Hmmm.  I’m not sure.

There’s a smaller room in the back.  This room contains a table for lessons and knit-nights along with more yarn.

I got busted when the Mr. walked in as I was paying for this…

That is Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn.  And yes, I know that I can find this in a lot of yarn stores and that it’s not local (although it is made in Seattle, which is sort of vacation-related, right?), but I could not walk out of that store without buying something.  It’s knitting etiquette, after all.  And those of you who knit know this, right?

The Mr. didn’t seem bothered though.  He had actually noticed a felt bag that had a hefty price tag on it, commenting later that I should sell my felted bags, with as much money as that one had been marked for.

Anyhoo…

While I had been making my purchase, I had asked the owner of the store if there was any locally dyed or spun yarn.  She told me that a resident does, in fact, dye her own yarn and that she has a good eye for color.  After giving me directions to the store that sold this yarn, I bade her farewell.

I hoofed it back in the direction from which I’d come…back toward the church and the line of stores…to a quilt store…Abby’s Reflection.  She sells quilts, cross stitch kits, souvenirs, and a smattering of yarn.

Oh.

My.

Word.

I know that all five of you who are reading this don’t knit, so let me direct you to this post, which my friend, Nancy, recently shared with me.  You simply MUST read it.  It explains why sock yarn is so addicting.  Go read it and then come back and read the rest of my post.

Back?

Ok.

Let’s proceed.

I could not resist the yarn that was before me…

I’m not gonna lie.

It was pricey.

But, I was looking for something that represented Sitka…not something I could find in any tourist shop.

Heck…the name of the colorway is “Jewels of the Czar.”

You can’t get more Russian than that.

The yarn is a blend of superwash merino, cashmere, and nylon.

And this will be on my feet one day.

Uh huh.

I pick good souvenirs, do I not?

After my small purchase *cough*, I headed back to find my family.

They were in a shop that sold moccasins.

I had been wanting a pair, let me tell you.  So did Chicky.  So did Rooster.  So did Guy Friend.

No, Guy Friend was not on the trip, but he was living vicariously through Chicky, so he might as well have been with us.

We were moccasin crazy.

I sat down to try on a pair and discovered just how wet my feet were…

Those are my Hedera socks, by the way.  You know me…my knitting travels everywhere with me.

I did not get the pair of shoes I tried on.  Chicky did, though.  So did Rooster.  Chicky also bought Guy Friend a pair.

I was disappointed, but I had yarn.

Meanwhile, we had more sights to see.

Here is what we saw on our walk…

I saw the local high school…

I also saw the Old School…

Every bend in the path gave us another unique, beautiful view of the scenery…

The yards were gorgeous, really putting mine to shame…

I know I keep showing you pictures of the ship in harbor, but it really was a sight.  It reminded me of a toy boat in a pond…

Rooster is becoming quite the shutterbug as well…

We gradually made our way to the Sitka National Historical Park…

One of the primary focuses of this park is that of the native arts and cultures of Sitka, including totem poles…

There was a lovely exhibit of ceremonial robes…

The rest of the family went on a nature walk.  I passed and spent my time reading the various descriptions beside the exhibits.  I am, I am slightly embarrassed to admit, not much of a nature walk type of person.  I appreciate nature’s beauty, but I really don’t enjoy walking, in the rain, to look at it up close.

After the family got back, we made our way back to the tender.

I was, at this point, freezing.  My feet were soaked to the bone, and all I wanted was a hot bath.

The first thing I did, however, was take photographs of my yarn, with the landscape as the backdrop…

Day 5 was our second formal night, so we had to get all gussied up.

As we got ready, we bade a rainy farewell to Sitka…

Dinner was good, from what I recall.  I didn’t take pictures of it, but I trust it went down well.  😀

We were all a bit drained from the day.  Rooster put on a little singing show for Chicky and me in the room.  He’s a very laid back kid who doesn’t usually sing or dance, so he had us in stitches.

Day 5 or rather “Night” 5 was the Dutch Chocolatee Extravaganza on the Lido Deck.  This is when the pastry chefs work their fingers to the bone to create divine chocolate works of art.  I’ve gotta tell you that I wasn’t overly impressed and did not take any pictures!  There weren’t as many items as what I’ve seen on past cruises.  The family was so tired that hardly anyone ate anything but, instead, headed to bed early, where we found this towel animal…

We were excited about Day 6…which loomed only a few hours ahead…

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Day 4 – Hubbard Glacier

Posted on July 16, 2011 by auburnchick

When I awoke on Day 4 of The Great Adventure, the sun was shining, and the ocean was beautiful…

The weather was deceptively cold, as I quickly discovered when I went out on the 10th deck to sit for a spell…

Then, the rain came…

Then, it went away…

It just couldn’t decide if it was going to be sunny or not!

The ship was headed toward Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier on the North American continent.  What makes this glacier so unusual is that it is thickening and advancing while other glaciers have been thinning and retreating. It is expected that the glacier will eventually close off the Russell Fjord and create what will then be known as Russell Lake…

As it stands right now, Hubbard Glacier is in the perfect position to be viewed from a cruise ship.

It would take us several hours to get there, however, so we were left to our own devices.

After breakfast, Super Sis, Coupon Queen, Chicky and I attended the Totally Tea class, during which we picked up some information about tea and the best way to prepare it.  It was led by two gals…Jo and Rebekah.  Rebekah was the gal who had led the horrible hummus and pita demonstration, and she proved herself somewhat unprofessional at the tea presentation as well, yawning through half of it.  Her eyes looked somewhat wild, like she’d been up all night.

I was not impressed.

Jo, however, was quite the opposite.  She was the Lifestylist, which meant that she was in charge of the fitness classes.  She also headed up the scavenger hunt that Rooster, my nephews, Super D, and Grand Pooba participated in.

Jo was FANTASTIC and really knew her stuff.  She threw in a lot of health facts and really did her best to steer us toward healthier options.  I liked her a lot.

One thing she suggested was adding milk to your tea.  I’d never heard of this before!  She also cautioned us not to steep tea too long because then it becomes bitter.  No wonder my tea of late has not tasted good!  She cautioned us not to use regular tea bags as the white ones are bleached, and we don’t want those chemicals in our tea.  Eww!

She showed us a tea diffuser and advised that we use loose tea and the diffuser, which allows tea leaves to “bloom,” thus spilling out their flavor.  I already own one of these and have used it before.

After the tea demonstration, I headed to the Crow’s Nest to watch the ship’s progress toward the glacier…

It doesn’t look like we’re too far, eh?

Ha!

Here’s another picture…a little closer in…

Eventually, my crew went outside.  The ship’s staff had opened up two decks in the front…decks 4 and 5…so ship goers could have a better look.  The staff provided hot chocolate and split pea soup to warm us up because the closer we drew to the glacier, the colder it got.

I could not stop snapping photos, so be forewarned…this post has a LOT of pictures!!

The scenery was breathtaking.  The following pictures are incredible…I was amazed by the way the clouds seemed to split the mountains in half…

The closer we got to the glacier, the more of these we saw…

Those are ice-bergs.  The dark one is dirty ice, so to speak.  Pieces of ice as tall as ten stories regularly break off of the glacier, fall into the water, and make their way down the pass.

I continued to take more pictures…

I zoomed in on my camera…

Looks small, eh?

Just wait.

The mountains that surround the glacier are green with snow on the top…

We drew closer.

I captured this very short video…

As we neared the glacier, the water became more and more saturated with chunks of ice…

It was very strange indeed!

We saw several large ice-bergs…

There was a man and his wife standing beside me, and he kept estimating the size of the bergs…”That one is the size of our house.”  His wife was dubious, as was I (but I kept my opinion to myself…for a change).

The river of ice continued to approach us…or rather, we closed the gap on the ice…

I love the next picture.  It reminds me of the shoreline of the beach that is near my house, except that mine doesn’t have ice in it…

The crowd on the bow got larger…

We were all mesmerized by the sights before us…

The bergs got larger still…

And the ice just kept coming!!

We were making progress, and the glacier loomed ever closer…

See the black area halfway down the ice?  That is actually the earth that is being pushed up between TWO glaciers.  Hubbard Glacier is to the right, and Valerie Glacier is on the left.

Our long wait outside rewarded us with the sight of the following furry creatures…

Those were seals!!  We watched as they slid off of the ice-bergs and disappeared beneath the water.  They were adorable!

As we got closer to the glacier, I could not help but notice the different colors within the glacier itself…

And the ship kept going…inching ever closer…

The actual size of the glacier, in comparison to the ship, became more and more apparent…

Being near the glacier reminded me of how very big this world is, and how very small I am…

We were constantly astounded as large chunks broke off of the glacier, sounding like thunder as they hit the water with large splashes.  Unfortunately, I was never quick enough to capture this in a picture, but those images will live on in my memory.

I’m not sure how close the ship got before stopping…I’d guess about a half of a mile.  Then, the ship did a slow turn so people located all over the ship could get a view of this most amazing phenomenon.  As the ship turned, we ran to our cabins to get a better view…

Before we knew it, we were saying goodbye to Hubbard Glacier…

We snapped a few last photos…

I pulled out the Chinook Shawl that I had recently finished.  I had already used it a couple of times during the trip, and I wore it when we were approaching the glacier.  The kids had nicknamed it “The Cape” because of it’s size, and they’d been begging me to flap it.

The glacier scenery made me think of eagles, so I finally agreed to their request…

It was a little bittersweet…leaving the glacier.  I’m not exactly sure why.  Perhaps it’s because I was seeing something I’d never seen before.  I mean, you can’t get much further from a warm, sunny beach than an icy cold glacier!

Going back through the passageway from whence we’d come…back into the clouds and mist…made me grateful that God had opened up the skies and allowed the sun to shine on our time with the glacier, for that is certainly what He did, as the travel director announced on the P.A.  She told us that she had not seen such a beautiful day in months!

Then, it was time to get ready for dinner.

I have a funny story to tell about dinner.

Every night as I finished dinner, the dining room steward presented me with the following day’s vegetarian menu.  I would make my selections ahead of time so the kitchen would have time to prepare as my meals weren’t exactly the dining room’s norm.  I was also free, each night, to select items from the regular menu, if I wanted.

Well, on this particular night, one of the appetizers struck my fancy.  From what I could recall, I had only ordered two things off of the vegetarian menu, so I figured I was all set.

So I ate whatever was brought to me, never giving anything a second thought.

However, when it was time for dessert, which I was skipping, instead of removing my dinner fork, they left it.

I thought I was done eating.

The kids had already left the table so they could go see a movie.

The rest of the adults waited.

That’s when I was told that the kitchen had lost my vegetarian entree order but had found it and was scrambling to make it for me.

Oh.  My.  Gosh.

I was already full, but I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  I felt that I was already inconveniencing people by requesting a special menu, so I didn’t say anything.

Oh.  My.  Word.

When they brought up my food, I was incredulous.

Before me sat two or three skewers of vegetables.

With rice as a side.

Sigh.

The crew member in charge of the kitchen came up and personally apologized.

I assured him that it was quite alright.

Then, I sat down and stuffed that rice in my mouth, forcing myself to eat.

I ate a few vegetables and pushed the other ones around to make it look like I had eaten.

Guys, on a regular day, I don’t take in a lot of calories.  I haven’t been a big eater since starting my vegan diet…hence my weight loss and, now, smaller tummy.

I was beyond full, but I thanked my dining room steward graciously before Super Sis rolled me out of that room.

Sigh.

The next night, the manager of the dining room again came up to apologize.  That was when I told him the truth…how full I’d been from my other dishes and how it really would have been okay if he had permanently forgotten the dish.  He, with his French accent, got a good laugh.

Later that evening, the family attended music trivia in the Crow’s Nest.  Let the record show that I got the John Denver answer correct when nobody else did.

I headed to my room to get ready for bed, finding this awaiting me…

Day 5 would soon be upon us…

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Day 3 – Independence Day and First Day in Port

Posted on July 15, 2011 by auburnchick

Day 3 of our Great Adventure was, coincidentally, Independence Day.

I woke up to find that the ship was no longer rocking.

Yay!

The view outside my window was gorgeous!!

First, I enjoyed a breakfast that consisted of delicious fruit.

Then, I headed to the Crow’s Nest for Team Trivia.  We could see ice-bergs outside the windows…

The boys soundly beat the girls.  Pooey.

Next, it was time for the day’s dance lesson:  the Jive!

Super Sis and I paired up once again, only this time, it was my turn to be the guy.  We had great fun, let me tell you!

Unfortunately, I won’t burn your eyes from the pictures.  Watching Dancing With the Stars would never be the same after seeing us masterfully perform those steps.

:::AuburnChick rolls her eyes sarcastically:::

Hours fly by quickly when you’re on a cruise, and soon it was time for lunch on the Lido Deck, where I took advantage of the beautiful view of the water…

The ship was closing in on civilization, and watching the approach was fun indeed…

We were surrounded by mountains…

Houses were tucked away into the landscape…

I spied waterfalls hidden in the mountains’ crevices…

Back in the room, I began getting ready to depart the ship, putting on my Bex socks, which had accompanied me on the last cruise I went on…

Then, I went back out on the deck to take more pictures.  The next one might look familiar (it’s the new one at the top of my blog)…

My newest knitting project wanted to take in the scenery as well…

The city started coming into focus…

Apparently, there are a lot of boats around here, as evidenced by the small harbor I saw…

Here’s more of the local scenery…

One sight I never tired of throughout the trip was that of sea planes coming in for landings…

Finally, we pulled into port…

A quick story about the above picture.

When we returned to the ship later in the day, we went out on our balcony (made larger because we got the stewards to unlock the connecting partitions that separated all three rooms).

We watched as a woman and her dog played on the rocky shore.  The woman took a ball and put it into a long ball throwing contraption.  Her dog, a golden retriever, eagerly ran down to a large, flat stone, looked back at her, and sat, wagging his tail in anticipation.

The woman threw the ball over halfway across our view of the water…a long way…and the dog happily retrieved it.

Please keep in mind that the temperature was in the low 50’s, and that water had to be frigid.

Yet, the dog retrieved the ball, ran back up the hill, rolled around a bit to dry off, did his business behind the bushes, and then gave the woman the ball, running back down to the flat stone to begin the process again.

We watched this go on four or five times.  It was apparent that the dog was having the time of his/her life.

Now, where was I?

Oh yes…I remember.

As we departed the ship, I took this picture.

If you look closely, you’ll see that the sign on the green building in front of the ship has the name of the city we were visiting…

Juneau!

Yes, my friends, we were on an Alaskan cruise!!

Look at all of the shops that awaited our arrival…

A peek back at the ship…

Some people braved a sky cab, which took them to the top of the mountain…

I don’t know why, but this steep set of stairs caught my attention…

This display in front of a fur store caught everyone’s attention…

I don’t know that I could see myself wearing that at the beach.  LOL

We had a lot of fun trying on things inside…until we got in trouble for taking pictures of ourselves.  We got busted by a store employee who pointed to a sign that said “No photography allowed.”  Oops.

Not too far down the street, we saw the famous Red Dog Saloon…

You had to be 18 to enter, and since I’m just a year shy of that, I stayed on the street.  heehee

No matter where we shopped, we had an amazing view of the mountains…

We headed downtown, where I found this large map, posted at the harbor, helpful…

We decided to visit the museum, however it was closed because of the holiday…

So, we headed back for more shopping.  I wanted to visit the shops I’d seen down at the harbor; however, Super Sis had a surprise for me.  She had run into something near and dear to my heart…

Look closer at the sign…

Oh yeah…a yarn store…in Juneau!!!!

Of course, I had to go in.  Super Sis stayed with me while everyone else headed to other stores.  They just don’t understand the yarn obsession that all knitters suffer from.

I was pleased when I found the following…

See the label?  It’s hand dyed right there in Juneau.

Talk about a souvenir!!  Woo Hoo!

I also fell in love with this mug…

Super Sis and I headed out to find our family, but I had to potty.  Look at what I found right beside the bathroom…

Yep!  Another yarn store!  This one had every nook and cranny filled with yarn…

I’ve gotta tell you that by this time, I was on sensory overload, and I DID NOT BUY yarn here.

The store owner saw my bag from the other store and was disappointed, but when she heard that I had purchased the locally dyed yarn, she was more forgiving.

One last stop that I made was to a gift shop by the harbor.  Throughout my trip, I found myself looking for less touristy things…items that had relevance to the local areas that we were visiting.

I found these, which I took out to admire after I got back on the ship…

I am kicking myself for not buying the necklace that went with these items.  These were designed by a local artist, and I never found them at any other stop we made.

I purchased the next pair of earrings at one of the tourist traps.  I would later see these at every port, but I loved the color and the style…

Of course, I had to pull out my yarn and admire it again, with the local scenery in the background…

We boarded the ship tired but happy.  Juneau was amazing and worth the walking we did.

We were all hungry and headed to dinner.  This patriotic cake greeted us as we entered the dining room…

I headed up to the Crow’s Nest after dinner and treated myself to a holiday-themed Pina Colada…

As you can see from the window in the background, the weather turned rainy.  Thank goodness it had held off while we were out and about.

While in the Crow’s Nest, I had the honor of watching two bald eagles soar across the sky.

What a treat and not a sight I’m used to in Florida.

I noticed that the American flag was flying from the bow of the ship…

When I returned to the cabin at the end of the day, I found this…

Meanwhile, the ship headed back out to open water…headed toward its next destination…

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Day 2 – At Sea

Posted on July 14, 2011 by auburnchick

Day 2 of The Great Adventure was spent at sea…the entire day.

The sky was overcast, and there were mountains in the distance…

The ship rocked a lot as it made its way across the waves.  Many in our crew fought queasiness throughout the day.

There were a number of activities going on around the ship.

As I walked to the Lido Deck to eat breakfast, I saw that the Signature Shops had set up a sale around the pool.  Because I had not had time to replace the battery in my watch, I purchased this inexpensive sports watch to make do…

It’s actually quite a decent watch considering the $10 I spent on it.  It has an alarm, snooze, calendar, hourly chime, and stopwatch.

Next up was something I’d seen on the schedule that had been left in the cabin by my cabin stewards the night before…

Dance Class!

You might remember my recent post – where I explained that I would like to learn how to do the waltz.

Well, my dreams came true when the dance class provided instructions on how to do the waltz!!

Coupon Queen and Chicky accompanied me to the class where, to my dismay, mostly couples showed up.

I figured I would probably mostly be watching; however, the instructors, dancers who work for the cruise line, lined up the males and females and taught both genders their respective steps.

So, I got up and lined up with the girls and learned the basic steps.

When it came time for dancing to the music, I sat down and watched.

I didn’t have a partner.

Still, I enjoyed myself.

Next, Super Sis, Coupon Queen, and I went down to the shopping area and waited to see if we would win a drawing for jewelry.

We didn’t.

Oh well.  I haven’t exactly won the lottery before…I’ve never been what one might term “lucky” as far as winning things goes.

Somehow, we fit lunch into the tight activity schedule…hustling our way up to the Crow’s Nest for the next item on the agenda…

Line Dancing!!!

Chicky, Super Sis, and I had a grand time learning the steps to several dances…

Super Sis is the first gal on the right…dark hair.  I’m to her left (blonde ponytail), and Chicky is to my left…barely seen…blonde hair.

Take a look at our feet.  you can tell that we’re definitely Southern girls…used to going barefoot!

You guys…let me go on about this activity for just a moment.

I have to say that this was one of the most fun activities I did the entire trip.

I love dancing…always have.  If you are reading this and knew me in high school, then you’ll know that I went to every high school dance and was usually the last person to sit down.

During our little dance session on the ship, we learned how to do the Hustle (think about John Travolta).  Last, we learned how to dance to the song Cotton Eyed Joe.

Now, first the instructor made us pair up.  Super Sis and I joined forces.

Then, we had to make two circles, with the guys on the inside.

Sis and I looked at each other…eyes huge.

She got to be the “man.”

teehee

The last step we learned was that of the guys pushing their partners (the girls) forward to the person in front of them.

That meant that we were changing partners, and we had to put our arms around our new partners and hold hands.

Can you saw AWKWARD?

I was mortified, and Sis’s face looked the same.

Still, we played along.

The music was turned on, and off we went.

At times, I had a girl partner as other friends had to take turns playing the guy of the pair just like Sis and I.

What a great time we had!!

Oh my word!

I am ready to buy a pair of cowgirl boots and go dancing every weekend!!

LOL

While we were line dancing, Coupon Queen went to a class on flower arranging.  She’s pretty good at crafty stuff, so this was right up her alley.

After the line dancing, we headed to the Culinary Arts area for a lesson about hummus and pita.

When we entered the room, we saw tables set up like the following picture…

There was going to be a wine tasting after the hummus class.  I thought the glasses were gorgeous as they sat on the red table tops.

The hummus and pita thing was held behind the red curtain just beyond the wine glasses, so we bid adieu to the beautiful display and made our way to the back of the room.

I have to tell you that the hummus/pita thing was the most poorly done demonstration I’ve ever attended on a cruise.  Unfortunately, the gal…the one in charge of all culinary activities…would become my least favorite employee on ship…so unprofessional and disorganized.  I attended one other activity she participated in but, for the most part, avoided anything that had her name on it.  Sad to say but oh so true…and my only complaint of the entire cruise.

At 3pm, the family gathered for Team Trivia.

Now, you must know something about my family.

We like trivia.

A lot.

We divided into girl/boy teams, just like the last cruise.

Chicky had not been feeling well, so she napped through the trivia.  We forgave her.

Still, the girls managed to beat the boys by one point.  Overall, our group didn’t beat out the other contestants that day (or any other day, for that matter).  Still, it was fun.

After trivia, we got ready for our first formal night.

Dinner was delicious.  I ate vegetarian sushi, vegetable strudel, and mushroom soup…

After dinner, Super Sis, Super D, their children, and mine attended the 70’s music trivia session.

What fun!  We did real well, but we didn’t win…coming up just short.  Still, we had a great time.

After the trivia, there was going to be a 70’s dance party.

I was totally up for that; however, the others left me to attend a show.  I don’t like attending the shows on ship.  The auditorium makes me feel nauseous.  So, I stayed to watch people dance.  It really wasn’t that much fun, so I left the party early and went up to the Crow’s Nest to read for a while before heading back to my room, where I found this towel animal…

None of us were exactly sure what it was.  We thought it might have been a sea shell.

Everyone was eager for Day 3…when we would pull into our first port.

Filed under: Vacation | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

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