Xotic and Xtreme

Okay, so I'm stretching things a bit but 'X' was definitely the tough one.

Xotic - our cruises to Panama and the Western Caribbean can certainly be considered exotic. The flowers, the native residents, the food, the animals, the cultures, the activities. I hope you will take time to view some of the amazing photos I've linked to.

What are your Xotic and Xtreme adventures?


BONUS: Zip-line in Hoonah, Alaska

Vacations and Vermont

"Why are you going on vacation? You don't need a vacation? Your life is a vacation?" If you're an RVer, you've heard this before.

The truth is, while we have a wonderful life that enables us to travel and see the country, daily life always intervenes. Repairs and maintenance, health and other medical issues, family times - both the good and the bad.

So, we like to plan at least one vacation a year, sometimes we manage to eke out two. Here are some of our favorites.

• Cancun, Mexico [timeshare]
• Cabo San Lucas, Mexico [timeshare - honeymoon]
• Panama Cruise
• Alaska Cruise
• Western Caribbean Cruise
• Las Vegas via RV [Garth Brooks]
• Las Vegas via air
• Key West via motorcycles
• Disney and Universal Studios with grandkids

BONUS: Vermont

Cruise to Alaska - Days 11 to 14 - Skagway, Tracey Arm Fjord and Victoria, BC

I've run out of time and patience and I suspect you have too...so I'm recapping the last several days all at once. LOL!

DAY ELEVEN: Skagway was a blast! We took the White Pass Railway...saw some amazing scenery and learned a lot about the history of the area. We also got to see two bears!

When we arrived back in town we stopped for lunch at the Red Onion Saloon. How funny....everyone in period costumes. You'll love those photos!!

We walked all through the downtown, checking out all the stores as well as (of course), the Harley dealer. Our last stop was the train visitor center and gift shop. We picked up a coffee mug for our collection.

Back to the ship where we took some photos of the rock cliff paintings from various cruise ship visitations. Interesting...

We headed off to sea...staying light so late that we captured some late evening scenery shots from inside the ship (notice the blue coloring from the tinted windows...LOL!).

Tomorrow we visit Tracey Arm Fjord and do some scenic cruising. Hoping for more WHALES!

Skagway photos: Alaska - Day Eleven - Skagway

DAY TWELVE: What a beautiful area...we just snapped photo after photo. Since there were many repeats I ended up deleting a lot so there are less than 100 to view.

Tracey Arm Fjord photos: Alaska - Day Twelve - Tracy Arm Fjord

DAY THIRTEEN: Well, we're at sea again...headed to our port in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Not much in the way of photos today. But we did get our first towel animal so Stu took a photo of that. LOL!

At Sea photos: Alaska - Day Thirteen - At Sea

DAY FOURTEEN: We arrived in our port of Victoria, BC around 4 pm and at 6 pm we were to head off on our "Pub Crawl". We snapped a few shots from the ship...watching the tour buses load, watching the horse drawn trolleys fill up and empty out and watching the helicopters taking off & landing.

There were only a few people taking the pub tour, nice enough folks but surprisingly none of the women liked beer. Hmmm....a little strange. LOL!

We had three pubs on the schedule with food being offered at the first one. First stop was Christies Pub. Decent beer and an amazing amount of free food. We got to choose one beer...no samplers.

Next stop was the Swan Hotel. Interesting art work everywhere. We were taken to a back conference room and given four different samples. Decent beer again.

At this point all but two others opted to head back to the ship...remember the non-beer drinking wives? Hmmmm.... The one couple that remained were from Houston and the wife wasn't a beer drinker but she at least sampled some of them.

The final stop was Spinnaker's Brew Pub. We were seated (all four of us) at the bar and got first class attention. We would normally had four samples but since the group had dwindled down to us four, we got a LOT more samples. We also had some great food served. We learned more about the area and we found several beers we really liked. We bought a pint glass for our collection.

We really liked Victoria....has to be one of the cleanest cities I have ever been in. We'd love to go back and spend a week or two.

Victoria, BC photos: Alaska - Day Fourteen - Victoria BC, Canada

DAY FIFTEEN - BACK HOME: Wow! The trip is over...what an amazing journey it has been. We loved every minute and now really look forward to RVing Alaska in a couple more years. We saw whales, sea otters, sea lions, dolphins/porpoises, ice bergs, ice flows, glaciers, bears, eagles and more. We hate more food and drank more beer than we should have. We saw scenery that we will never forget and will probably never see again. Amazing!!! Thank you to Princess Cruises for a job well done.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Cruise to Alaska - Day Ten - At Sea

The days at sea are always a pleasure and when I finally woke, the seas were a bit calmer and the weather decent. Not overly sunny but not rainy.

We are heading to Tracy Arm Fjord for scenic cruising tomorrow. Now we are just cruising along. A few photos snapped along the way. One thing is still amazing…how often we have signal on our iPhones. Seems as though AT&T is the primary carrier here. Many of the little islands and any with Coast Guard stations have cell towers.

Tonight is our reservation at the Sterling Steakhouse. We are both looking forward to that. In the meantime we just relaxed, read and took in a movie, Alice in Wonderland. Neither of us are real Tim Burton fans…the movie was okay. We were glad we hadn’t paid to see it. LOL!

Dinner was perfection…great service and wonderful food shared with an ocean view. It doesn’t get much better than that!

After dinner we decided to try another movie. This time it was the new Sherlock Holmes. I hadn’t really wanted to see it at the movies, I like my traditional Holmes, but we figured it was worth a looksee. Well, not sure if it was the movie or us but we left a little over halfway in. Stu was nodding off and I wasn’t thrilled with the storyline. Oh well…again, we didn’t pay for it. LOL!

Tomorrow is Skagway and the White Pass train ride. We’re both excited about the ride and the quirky little town.

Only took a few photos while at sea: Alaska - Day Ten - At Sea

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Cruise to Alaska - Day Nine - Kodiak

We knew today was going to be a laid back day. We hadn’t booked an excursion other than the all day shuttle bus. The weather was forecast for rain in the morning and clearing in the afternoon. So we slept in….LOL!

By lunch time the reports were coming back…Kodiak wasn’t worth visiting unless you REALLY wanted to buy something with the town’s name. No charm, no quirk factor, generic stores selling generic merchandise. We opted out.

The end of the day we heard from those on the wildlife tours…looks like that would have been a better bet for us. But when we chose our excursions we knew we couldn’t do something at every port…both from a cost and energy perspective. Oh well..

So for those wondering…no Kodiak bears were sighted…LOL! But the upside was Stu got our laundry done. Since many were off the boat it wasn’t busy…and with the next day an “at sea” day, we knew it would be busy!

We did take a lot of photos from the boat…and many from inside as we moved out to sea. With the sunsets at after 11pm, the view was always amazing.

We did hit some rough water as we headed out to sea though…rough enough that I couldn’t finish dinner and headed back to the room to take my first Dramamine of the trip. Stu grabbed me a can of Ginger Ale as well. We had swells of up to 35 feet with up to gale force winds…talk about rocking and rolling. The steward had even moved things onto the floor in the stateroom. Needless to say, I was glad that the following day was an at sea day with nothing planned.

Here are some photos that we took from the ship, both in Kodiak and out to sea: Alaska - Day Nine - Kodiak

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Cruise to Alaska - Day Eight - Seward

We are both so excited about our day today. We’re going to visit an Iditarod racer’s dog sled camp. We not only get to learn about the race, the dogs they raise, visit (and hold) puppies but we get to take a ride.

Okay, so it’s not in a sled. Remember….it’s summer here. That said, it’s not all that warm. I layered up with long underwear, my big scarf, fleece vest and a heavy jacket. Oh, and gloves. LOL!

We visited the Seavey’s Dog Sled Camp where they first told us about the history of the camp. For those who don’t know (and that’s probably most of you), Mitch Seavey was the 2004 Iditarod champion. His son, our guide, told us this was his 12th year trying. They announced him as an 11 year loser….LOL! Seems as though the first generation came and never left, although our guide told us his grandmother still seems to think they are going back south someday. Three generations of mushers….

Next we were split into groups…half went to see the puppies first and the other half to take their ride. We were in the first ride group…yippee!

The dogs aren’t the gorgeous Alaskan/Siberian huskies nor the the fully Malamutes. These dogs are raised specifically for racing, not for pulling weight. Over the years they have worked to develop fast, lean dogs with lots of stamina.

So not only weren’t they the pulling dogs we pictured, they were a blend of many breeds…the only commonality was having a double coat. It was that double coat shedding that gave us the impression of “manginess”.

We got into the sled and I managed to snag the front row. We watched as they started hooking up the dogs. As soon as the dogs realized that the sleds were loading, the barks & howls started. They all got more and more excited…you could almost hear the, “Pick me, pick me!” in their tones.

We took a fun 2 mile ride with plenty of stops to rest the dogs. Not that they were tired but since it was summer (especially to them), they could easily dehydrate. It was really funny to hear the dogs take up vocally when another sled ride passed up by during a break. They did NOT like being passed…LOL!

Before we knew it the ride was over and we were back at the camp and it was puppy time. They had one litter of nine. The mom was more than happy to share the puppies with us. Not sure anyone wanted to hand them back…who doesn’t love snuggly little puppies.

I snapped a few shots of them playing…they are only 3 weeks old and just adorable. I watched while one tried to get back in with mom and his sibling pulled him out by the tail. LOL!

Next came a talk by another musher. All the mushers also race and they come in all sizes and sexes. We saw the gear they used. We learned how the races were run, how the dogs were handled, what happened if a dog got hurt or sick and much more.

During the cruise there were at least three opportunities to visit a dog sled camp….we think we got the best tour and would do it again.

We got back to the town of Seward in time for lunch at Nellie’s Roadhouse. They were packed but we managed to snag window bar-style seats. The service and food were both good…not cheap, this is Alaska, but enjoyable. From there we walked the downtown on both sides, visited shops, tried on silly hats, bought a few gifts & mementos and then headed to the bus stop for the ride back to the ship.

We managed to get off the bus a couple of stops too soon, thanks to me…oops, but it worked out well. We found a nice little micro-brew restaurant on the water, Chinooks. Time to try a couple of local beers. Yum!!

From there we continued to walk back to the ship..it was further than we thought be we knew we needed to walk as much as possible. We’d been eating WAY too much lately…LOL!

Back at the ship we relaxed in the front viewing lounge before a late dinner with some great conversation with our table-mates. Life is good!

Check out all the photos and two fun videos of the dogs getting excited as they were hooked up as well as being pulled by the dogs (ignore the tilting at the end...we didn't tip over, it was an operator error....LOL!): Alaska - Day Eight - Seward

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Cruise to Alaska - Day Seven - At Sea

Today was a quiet day of relaxing and reading. Since we are at sea...there is nothing to SEE.. (sorry....hee-hee). Dinner was our Second formal night...we were invited to the Captain's Cocktail Party beforehand...we were napping and missed it. LOL!

So I thought I'd post a couple of snippets about what we like so far, what we might change and ramblings.

So far we LOVE the small ship. It seems as though people are generally friendlier, more inclined to sit down and chat. The same goes for the crew...everything is more laid back.

We still like the late seating and this time around we seem to have done very well with our table mates. Jan and Al are from Phoenix, formerly from CA while Patti and John still live in CA. We always seem to find something to chat about and our sense of humors seem to mesh well.

We don't know if it's this cruise, the recession or what but the evening activities are pretty quiet. On our Panama cruise, the bars were hopping every night as was the casino (when open). This time around, not so much.

We've found ourselves staying up late because it's so light out...we sit at the front of the ship watching the scenery go by....very relaxing and usually some nice music to go along with it.

We have discovered one thing about shooting the scenery from inside the boat. All the windows are tinted and the photos have a blue cast. Doesn't matter if I use my Panasonic Lumix or Stu's Canon. Same thing. After taking a gazillion of photos this way I tried one of my "scene mode" settings...the one for underwater. I figured water is blue in cast so maybe it would filter it out. Guess what...it did! Needless to say, I tried to use that when I remembered but you will still see a lot of blue cast scenery photos. LOL!

We've heard that this ship is leaving the Princess line. We asked and found that it was being moved to P&O since it can't be retrofitted to meet the Princess new standard. All Princess boats will have the same amenities like suites, mini-suites, balconies, Sterling Steakhouse and Sabatini's Italian as well as the new movie under the stars. April 2011 will be the last inside passage cruise for this ship.

We also heard that Hoonah (Icy Strait Point) will no longer be a stop. We were very disappointed to hear that since it has been our favorite stop so far. We worry about the economy of the town since they have done a lot to encourage tourism. I hope they can retain their charm and stay economically sound.

Okay, off for now. Tomorrow is Seward and we are doing the dog sled excursion. We get to see PUPPIES! LOL!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Cruise to Alaska - Day Six - Glacier Bay

We both woke early with Stu being the first at around 6 AM. He had already been up front taking photos when I woke around 7 AM. As he headed to get breakfast, I headed for the shower. But first I had to peek outside….and saw two whales!! WHOO-HOO!!

Then before I could get to the shower I noticed the rainbow. Wow! What a great start to the day….

At 8 AM we picked up the ranger from the visitor’s center for the Glacier Bay National Park. He would spend the day on board, narrating our passage.

Not going to bore you with the details….we just kept snapping shots all day. While we were at the first Glacier (Margaret), we saw some minor calving (pieced breaking off and dropping into the water). The big surprise was the noise…you could hear things cracking & popping. Then a HUGE bang when it broke off. Impressive!!!

After dropping the ranger back off around 6 PM we headed out into open sea. The captain warned us of the upcoming weather conditions. We were going into 30’ seas with gale winds. Oh yeah, fun…and it was all due to hit at our dinner time.

By the time we were getting our salads, I knew I wasn’t going to make it. Stu got me some ginger ale and escorted me back to our room. I took a Dramamine and crashed for the night. Oh well…

Check out all the photos here: Alaska - Day Six - Glacier Bay

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Cruise to Alaska - Day Five - Hoonah

Today we hit Icy Strait Point in Hoonah, AK….our first real taste of living in Alaska. Not a major port, we had to take tenders in to the landing. While a little rough, it wasn’t bad at all.

We had about 30 minutes to explore the museum and gift shop before heading off for our ZipRider tour. We knew we’d spend more time when we got done with our ride.

We loaded up on the local bus to head up the mountain for our ZipRider. It’s the longest, highest and fastest….oh my! What had I gotten myself into…LOL! Our bus driver kept us updated with local what-not information.

While the island is loaded with wildlife (brown bears grow upwards to 800 lbs), we only saw bear scat…no bears. Once at the top of the mountain, we had about a five minute walk down a gravel road to get to the landing for the ride.

We would go in groups of five…separate harness seats though. They strapped the first five in and the rest of us watched expectantly. A loud bang and they were off! I kept telling myself that 60 mph was nothing….I’ve done 90 on my motorcycle. Hee-hee!

Stu went with the group just ahead of me….everyone wanted to go with their “partner” and I had already told him that if we had to separate, could he please go first so he could catch a photo of me. He’d done a zip line before but this was a first for me.

Suddenly it was my turn….the most trouble I had was getting my feet to stay on the trap door in front of me. The rain had gotten worse and both my shoes and the door were wet. Then bang….the doors opened and everyone went….I was the last, not sure why.

The first drop was the worst, then I started to glide along faster and faster. It was cold, the rain was stinging my face and I was having trouble breathing when facing forward. Yup, very much like a motorcycle ride under the same weather conditions.

The sights were amazing….gorgeous views of the bay, the forests, the ship and the little town below. I kept hoping to catch sight of a bear or even some deer but no luck. Before I knew it I was approaching the landing spot. I leaned back and pulled my feet up. I thought I was coming in pretty fast but remembered someone mentioning the springs at the end. They worked and quickly stopped me, much more gently than I anticipated. [I am the last in line in the first photo...] The rain had gotten harder as I came down the mountain...again, felt like riding a motorcycle in heavy rain...stings the face and soaks your pants from the knees down. LOL!

I was laughing and told the guy that undid my harness that the landing was the most fun part. LOL!! Stu was waiting for me and heard that comment. He’d managed to snag a few shots of me and my fellow riders. Great fun!!!

Here are the stats on the ride, from their website:

• * Length: 5,495 feet long
• * Vertical Drop: 1,320 feet
• * Average % grade: 25%
• * Top Speed: 65 mph
• * Cables: 6 side by side

We did some visiting in the local gift shops, picked up a few things and then stopped for lunch. We had halibut and chips…decent if pricey. Then it was time to grab a tender back to the ship.

We really enjoyed chatting with the locals in the various shops. Great folks, very grounded and VERY friendly. Our favorite stop so far!!

We opted to eat at the buffet and then caught the dance show put on by the staff. Great show….really enjoyed ourselves. While at the buffet, I snapped a few shots of the melon carvings. Wow!

So, all in all, another great day!!!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu

You can see all the photos in our SmugMug Album.