USA – Day 22 – Homeward Bound

Can’t believe it’s the end of our holiday and time to start heading home. We had a relaxed morning in our VERY comfy bed. It was miserable and wet out so we weren’t going to go to the suspension bridges as we’d planned.

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Finally hunger drove us to get ready and head out for breakfast. We went to Tim Horton’s again.

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I had tea and a yummy cheddar cheese bagel and we got some more Timbits for later (probably lucky we don’t have Tim’s at home as we really like these).

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We spent the rest of the morning with me watching some youtube videos and Kevin watching TV & having a nap. Then just before 1pm we gathered our suitcases, checked out and got a cab to Vancouver Airport.

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We got checked in, then surprisingly went through USA customs and immigration (which will certainly save time when we get to LAX). We checked out some shops and got some lunch. I had a yummy veggie burger (I think only the second one I’ve had all trip – the first being the day we arrived).

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We then had a about a wait of an hour till it was time to board our plane.

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I used the 2.5 hour flight to catch up all my blog reading. We also enjoyed a yummy cheese platter.

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We saw Mount Rainier poking out of the clouds (and I waved hello to my online friend Ingunn, who lives nearby)

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And some other pretty impressive mountains.

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And finally  flew over LA

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arriving at LAX.

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We collected our luggage and walked over to the United terminal. A bit of fun and games here trying to find where we were supposed to check our luggage.

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Finally we found the priority area (totally different terminal to one we first went to!!!!) Here we had a first and only real problem with United (besides the whole no screen in the seat in front) where they complained about luggage being too heavy. Yes, the very same luggage that the small West Jet airline had no problem with! We had to reorganise our bags – made easy by the fact I just whipped out the onboard bag that was in fact packed in one of suitcase and we just took that on board with us. So glad there was no one around.

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Then through security – which is ALWAYS a hassle no matter how organised you feel. Travelling through airports in the USA is not much fun – I don’t how frequent travellers cope with it all. We did a last bit of shopping and got some dinner. Yep, Mexican again :-).

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2 (huge) delicious veggie tacos.

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We then hung out in United Red Carpet Club for an hour or so where I actually wrote up this whole post, only to have problems when I hit publish – and lost the bulk of it. So not happy :-(.

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Kevin and I didn’t sit together on the way home. He wanted a window and I wanted an isle.  After being stuck in the middle for the 5 hour flight from LA to Anchorage I decided to move my seat. I missed being able to chat with him but being able to go the toilet whenever I wanted was much more important :-). I managed to sleep for around 6 hours on the flight and them watched a few episodes of Glee. The flight seemed to go quite quick and then we were touching down in Sydney. Kevin had some beef jerky to declare so the sniffer dogs checked out bags. The staff were really glad we had it as the pups were just on their l-plates. It was funny though because they didn’t find until they stabbed open the bags – and even I could smell it then :-). So fun to watch them working though and the staff kept thanking us. I was glad to leave the jerky behind as I can’t stand the smell of it – and I hope they let the dogs eat it later.

We had a driver pick us up (due to the early arrival time) and were lucky enough to see Christy before she left for school.

After a shower Kevin headed into work – hoping to come back and spend some time with the girls after school. I showered and started with the unpacking. Also took the dogs on a walk, did some washing and got some groceries. Kevin, who had only about 1 hrs sleep on the plane last till about 6.30pm, I lasted till 8pm.

USA – Day 21 – Vancouver (really in Canada)

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Woke up this morning as we were arriving into Vancouver. I went outside as we passed under the Lion’s Gate Bridge.

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Once we docked we finished getting ready and headed to the Dining Room for breakfast.

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I had my last chocolate donut (acutally didn’t have too many on this cruise)

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and half of this cheese omelette.

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After we were fed we went to our waiting area. Oh, how special we felt :-).

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We a had a longer than expected wait of around half an hour before we could depart and go through customs. Then it was quite a wait to our luggage – it was rather disorganised which was surprising.

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We then got a taxi to our hotel, the Fairmont Pacific Rim. Like our hotel in Anchorage it was very close but with all our luggage it wasn’t really an option. Don’t you just the doormen’s hats? It was a good hint we were staying a fancy hotel :-).

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And it became even more obvious when we walked into the lobby.

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And then there was our room (which we were pleased to discover was ready even though it was only 10am). This was a definite splurge hotel for the last night of our trip.

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This was our view. We were suprised to see the rain as it hadn’t been raining when we arrived.

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We got settled in and then headed out to do a city tour. We decided on the Big Pink Bus.

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The hockey stadium.

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Lovely flower baskets everywhere

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China Town

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Stanley Park

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The Lion Gate Bridge

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We hopped off towards the end of the tour and went to the Pacific Center.

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First up was some lunch – we shared this yummy Vietanmese.

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We were that impressed with the shops but Kevin was excited to find the Apple Store.

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We then walked back to the hotel.

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Loving the tree lined streets.

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We stopped at a Tim Hortons – so many bloggers rave about it so I told Kevin he had to try a coffee – luckily he really liked it.

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We also got some Timbits to share – these are basically donuts balls.

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VERY yummy!

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As you can see the sun had come out by the time we got back to our room. We had some computer time and Kevin had a nap.

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Around 6pm we saw Radiance head back out again.

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Shortly afterwards we headed out to get some dinner, stopping at the Olympic cauldron.

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We finally found Freshii – which I had spotted this afternoon but couldn’t quite remember where :-).

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LOVE this!!!!!

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I had Chicken Teriyaki with tofu instead of the chicken. Because the place was closing up we took it back to our room to eat. It was yummy.

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Then it was time to enjoy that lovely bath.

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It was an odd bath because you sit in it rather than lie and you kind of feel like you should be driving a car. It was lovely though, and the view was spectacular.

Tomorrow : More sightseeing then the beginning of the long journey home.


USA – Day 20 – Onwards to Canada

Our last cruise day and a day at sea. We had a VERY lazy day as you will see, starting with room service.

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We had planned to eat on our balcony  but it was a bit wet :-(.

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At 10am we went to the movie theatre to see You Again which we really enjoyed.

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Then back our room for some more reading – I’m reading the latest Janet Evanovich – Smokin’ Seventeen. Later we headed out for a spa in the Solarium and then got some lunch from the Park Cafe – any guesses what I had? Yep, another veggie quesadilla. When then went the thermal suites for some more relaxing on the heat bed.

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We’ve been disappointed here for the second time as the steam rooms haven’t been warm enough to bother using, except for the one that drips boiling hot water from the ceiling 🙁 – and that’s just rather painful. Back to the room again for more reading. I finished my book (that I only started yesterday) and started packing our suitcases. We then headed out for our last dinner. We decided to go back to Rita’s as we enjoyed our meal there and the atmosphere is very nice. We ordered the same as last time.

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Kevin really wanted dessert but we were both full so we got them to go. And he really wanted to try both of them. Banana enchiladas (Kevin is a real sucker for any desert with banana) and churros. He said they were both great. I ate some of the ice cream :-).

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So sad that it’s almost over.

Tomorrow : Seeing the sights in Vancouver.

USA – Day 19 – Lumberjacks and ziplines

The usual morning routine. In spite of not having to rush or be anywhere at a certain time we were both awake by 7am. As we arrived into Ketchican we were greeted with this amazing rainbow.

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Around 9am we headed up to breakfast at Windjammers. After nearly 3 weeks away I’m not feeling much like anything fancy. I didn’t even want a bagel today and had cereal – something I very rarely choose to have!

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Ketchican is a lovely looking town.

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We got off the ship and visited the Visitors Information. Kevin decided he wanted to do the ziplines. It doesn’t appeal to me. We got him booked in and went to make a booking for the lumberjack show. Unfortunately there was no show after Kevin got back so he’d have to miss out.

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We wandered through the shops and did finally got some nice gifts to take home. Went back on board and had an early lunch from the Park Cafe in the Solarium- quesidialla for me, roast roll for Kevin – which we again bought back to our deck.

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Kevin went off for his zipline tour at 11.45pm. He enjoyed it but felt it could have been made better. I think he wanted less controls on what he could do :-).

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At 12.30pm I headed off to the Lumberjack show. I was bit early so wandered through some more shops.

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I got some popcorn to enjoy in the show and it was so good, much better than our “movie” popcorn. It was hard to get a good photo I was balancing the popcorn, a can of drink, my bag and my camera :-).

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I really enjoyed the show. It was funny, entertaining and the men’s strength and skill impressive. It was done as a contest between USA and Canadian lumberjacks.

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The guys getting ready to race to the top of these poles – boy, they seemed to run up them – amazing.

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Log roll.

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And the winner was not Canada, the side I was sitting on :-(.

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After the show I went for a walk around the town.

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And up to Creek Street, which is where they moved the red light district way back when, across the street and out of the town.

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Back to the ship and I went to get another quesidilla for afternoon tea…..I think I’m addicted :-). Kevin arrived back shortly afterwards. He tried to have a nap and I lay outside reading (and finishing) my book. It was another gorgeous afternoon on the balcony.

The ship set sail at 5.3pm and we sadly said our farewells to Alaska and Ketchican. Can’t believe next time we’re ashore we’ll be in Canada.

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We went to the 7pm show of Piano Man – which we discovered we’d seen before an another cruise but still thoroughly enjoyed again.

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And then went to dinner at Windjammers at 8pm – which is late dining for us indeed. Then back to our room where we actually got to see a lovely sunset. So nice to have the sun actually setting BEFORE we go to sleep.

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We also got another towel animal – a swan.

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Tomorrow : A lazy day at sea.