Autumn To Do List

 

 

 

I'm a few days behind on getting this posted, Autumn began on September 23rd.

Below, I've listed 15 activities I hope to do between now and December 21st.

 

1.    Visit a pumpkin patch and take a hayride.

2.    Drink a pumpkin spice latte.

3.    Make homemade soup.

4.    Go on a short hike .

5.    Go to Apple Hill.

6.    Visit three different wineries.

7.    Make S'mores on a bonfire.

8.    Start a fire in the fireplace and watch 

       A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving..

9.    Make a DIY pumpkin centerpiece.

10.  Create a piece of furniture from scratch.

11.  Take some Fall pictures with my new camera.

12.  Go on a weekend getaway with my wonderful

       husband and explore a new town.

13.  Make an apple or pumpkin dessert.

14.  Buy some clothes in Fall colors.

15.  Make homemade hot chocolate.

 

What are you planning to do this Fall?

 

 

 

Alaskan Cruise - The Ship

Before I finished blogging about our cruise,

I thought I would show you some pictures of the ship.

 

 

I thought I would include this picture so you

could get some perspective on the size of the

Golden Princess.

 

Todd and I decided to book an inside room.

We talked to the travel agent, and I told her

that I get motion sick/sea sick/just sick in general.

She suggested an inside cabin located in the middle of the ship.

Save money, and not get sick...

we were all for it.

 

 

I have to say, this option may not be for everyone.

If you like spacious rooms with a view,

this type of room would not be for you.

 

I will say that we experienced some pretty choppy seas.

And many people stayed in there room, and when they

emerged they were green and looked like death.

Todd and I felt some rocking, but for as big as

some of the swells got, we weren't really affected.

Good choice US!

 

 

There were plenty of places to relax, like The Sanctuary.

 

 

 

You could watch outside movies, swim, soak up the sun,

drink and/or eat, and dance. 

 

 

Some of the pools were pretty magnificent and had sculptures.

 

This pool had something like a moat around it.

Is that a thing around pools, or is that just around castles?

Anyways...it caught all the water that escaped the actual pool

and recirculated it back so there was no wasting water.

 

 

There was a pretty cool massive size chess game,

 

 

a putting green (I think.),

 

 

and a basketball court.

 

 

As you can tell, there were plenty of places

throughout the ship you could just sit, relax and have a cocktail. 

 

 

The pool at the back of the ship actually had

a bar right in front of it.

 

 

There was a theater where they put on shows, concerts,

classes, cooking demonstrations, etc..

 

 

This is one of many bars throughout the ship.

We actually went to a presentation

that was being held there.

 

 

 

The middle of the ship was magnificent,

and beautifully decorated.

Pictures don't really do it justice,

but trust me, it was pretty amazing.

 

 

In this central area there were two bars,

a coffee shop, a gallery, a library, three restaurants,

some stores you could shop in, and I'm sure

several other things that I'm forgetting. 

 

 

This is one of the restaurants where we ate

 our dinner on formal night.

It was nicely decorated, and very rich feeling.

 

 

At the back of the ship there is a nightclub,

and they have a moving walkway to transport you

to the actual club...AWESOME!

 

 

Can you guess the theme of the club?

It was outer spacey...kind of like Star Wars.

 

 

And, the dance floor was pretty cool.

We didn't actually go to the club

because it didn't even open until like

10 or 11 PM, and Todd and I are like old people.

We are middle aged adults trapped in the body of 85 year olds.

 

Well folks, that's it for the cruise pictures.

Hopefully it was informative,

and if you were debating on taking a cruise,

I hope it was helpful.

 

Now that this is done,

on to real life.

 

Alaskan Cruise - Our Last Day(s)

After we visited Victoria, we had one day at sea left,

and then we were heading home (insert sad face here).

 

We didn't really do much the last days

except relax and kind of fill our time with

silly things...like watching towel folding demonstrations.

 

The guys were pretty entertaining,

and they made several little towel animals.

In fact, the children were fighting over who

got what towel animal.

Can you say, glad those days are over!

 

Todd worked his daily Sudoku that the cruise provided,

 

 

and I drank my diet Coke and watched Ms. Doubtfire.

 

We also did a ton of relaxing!

Before we knew it,

we were back in port and having

to disembark the ship.

 

 

We ate breakfast at the buffet,

 

hopped in the car,

 

and headed home.

 

And like that the cruise was over!

It was such a fantastic experience,

and Todd and I have now caught the cruise bug.

We were no sooner heading home,

then we started brainstorming where we could go next.

 

Any of you cruise?

If so, where would you recommend?

Alaskan Cruise - Victoria, B.C.

Victoria, B.C. is such a beautiful city.

Todd and I have visited before,

so all the excursions we could have done weren't necessary.

I thought at one point, Butchart Gardens is fantastic, 

we need to go back, but in the end

I couldn't justify spending several hundred dollars

to do something that we had already done.

 

Instead, we decided to walk around the city and explore.

We had several hours at port, so there was plenty of time

to go wherever or do whatever we wanted.

We didn't make any real plans, just meandered around

and took a bunch of pictures.

 

 

Victoria is extremely clean, and there are flowers everywhere.

This is by the Inner Harbour which is beautiful.

One of several selfies taken this day.

 

You gotta do what you gotta do when nobody is around

to take your pictures.  At least I don't have a selfie stick!

 

British Columbia's Parliament building is

 so majestic and breath taking.

 

 

The Empress is pretty impressive as well.

This is where you have high tea.

When I was in Victoria last, with my mother & daughter,

we went to high tea here.  While costly, it is a fun experience,

and something touristy to do if you like that sort of thing.

 

It was such a beautiful day in Victoria,

I believe it was 74 degrees, and we just enjoyed

taking in all of our surroundings.

This "sculpture" is made entirely with plants.

and was just on one of the streets that we walked down.

 

 

Of course we couldn't go very long without

 getting liquid lightning.

We sat outside Sam's Deli and people watched

for about an hour.  It was a great little spot facing

the Parliament Building.

 

This was a beautiful church that we couldn't resist

taking a picture of.  We're geeks like that.

We say, "Oh pretty!" and take a picture

even if we don't know what it is or

the significance of it.

 

I believe this was Totem Park (or maybe it's part of Beacon Hill),

but don't quote me on that.

It had neat totems, but we had seen so many

I wasn't extremely interested at this point

in looking at them.

So we browsed quickly and then walked up the hill.

Can I tell you I'm glad we did.

It was amazing!

I don't think we have any parks that you

can view for free like this in California.

You would probably have to pay a fee to enter,

but Beacon Hill Park was open to the public.

 

We saw this little guy just walking through the parking lot.

 

 

I was fascinated by this Giant Watering Can

inside Beacon Hill Park.

There were buttons that children could push to

make the watering can spill water,

but I believe they were on a watering restriction,

so the structure wasn't working.

But what a super cool idea!

 

There were beautifully groomed gardens throughout the park.

 

By the time we finished walking through the city

and then the huge park, Todd and I were exhausted.

I think we walked something like 5 or 6 miles.

I wore the wrong type of shoes and my feet were on fire!

We decided to head back to the ship for lunch

and some relaxation.

 

It was a perfect end to a perfect day.

The only down side...

we knew our vacation was coming to an end.

 

 

Alaskan Cruise - Sitka

Our time in Sitka was very short.

Our cruise ship was supposed to tour Misty Fjords,

but there was some type of minor malfunction with the grey water system.

This meant we were not going to be able to cruise

 the fjords, but Princess gave each passenger a $75 credit,

as well as adding Sitka to the itinerary.

 

While I was appreciative that Princess tried to make up

for the malfunction, I wasn't versed on the area because I couldn't

research it ahead of time.

Also, we were only allowed 4 hours at the port.

 

One wonderful piece of advice I received from my coworkers

was to not wait to disembark at the ports,

especially if there was a tender involved.

There were stories of people not being able to disembark

because of the sheer number of people and the time allowed.

This actually happened to people on our ship at this port.

 

Todd and I were up at the crack of dawn,

and on the tender shortly after.

While we were leaving the ship, we heard Princess staff

telling passengers unless they had a number, they

simply were not going to be able to disembark.

 

 

Of all the ports, this was my least favorite.

There were a couple of things that factored into my poor ranking.

One - it rained the entire time that we were there.

Two - I didn't have any idea what we should do in Sitka.

Three - I had absolutely no time to research the area.

I did find out later, that the area is rich in history,

and has tons of outdoor activities to partake in.

 

So what did Todd and I do while in Sitka you ask?

Basically walked the entire town in the rain taking pictures

of things that we thought looked important.

Thus, I am not able to give you any detailed description about anything.

BUT...

they have some really cool buildings!

Sitka Pioneer Home

 

This building is a state owned and operated

 assisted living facility.

St. Michael's Cathedral

 

This Russian Orthodox church was built in the 19th century

when Sitka was under the control of Russia.

Russian Bishop's House

 

Once the called the Russian Mission Orphanage,

this building was constructed in 1843. 

It originally was the home of Ivan Veniaminov,

the first Bishop of Alaska.

 

Alaska Raptor Center

 

This is a rehabilitation center for injured or sick

eagles, hawks, falcons, owls or other birds of prey.

The Raptor Center's goal is to reintroduce the

birds back into the wild.  If this is not achievable,

the birds are then sent to zoos or wildlife centers

throughout the U.S..

 

Todd and I actually walked from the marina,

to the center, toured it (quickly I might add),

and returned all before the ship left without us!

 

 

Doesn't this guy look like he belongs on Harry Potter?

 

Awesome Bald Eagle.

 

On our way back to the ship, a random stranger

told us that if we hadn't visited "Castle Hill",

we needed to because it had a nice view.

Because we had a few extra minutes to burn,

we figured what the heck and made the

 short little climb to the top.

 

It was pretty cool.

It gave a short details of what the historical

significance was and to top it off,

there were a couple of nice photo ops.

Castle Hill

 

Originally the Tlingit and Russian Forts

location, it was also the place where Russia handed

over Sitka to the U.S. in 1867.

 

And because the marina was just so beautiful,

I just couldn't help snapping a few random pictures.

 

My yacht was waiting to take me back to the ship!

 

 

Todd's ride was waiting as well.

 

And the last random picture that I didn't take.

We were in such a hurry to get places,

I didn't have the opportunity to snap a pic,

so I went on the web to find a pic for you

of the MOST bizzare item we saw for sale during our vacation...

 

The fur covered jock strap named "The Duke"

So do you need one in your life?

Bizarre right!

 

Next up...

Victoria, B.C.