The Cruise

I can't stop thinking about it. Our trip to Alaska was marvelous! The cruise was a dream. I keep thinking about when we can do it again. I wonder if I'll ever take a normal vacation again. All I want to do is cruise! I'm totally hooked. I've got the cruising bug and I can't seem to let it go!

I went on a Disney cruise when I was 8, but never made it up late enough to the midnight buffet, so I wonder if that really counts. Joe had never been on one and he was worried if he was the cruising type. Rest assured, he is! He most definitely is the cruising type. The whole experience was divine.

For Christmas this past year my parents invited the adults only on a vacation of choice. Each of the 5 girls was to pick a week within the next 2 years and my parents would pick the location. That was the deal. We pick the week, they pick the spot. Joe and I knew right away that we better do it sooner than later. Our girls were at a good age to leave and our future schedule is always so unpredictable. So we picked May. Two of my other sisters picked the spring time also. So, my parents decided one trip was better than three and they got planning.

I am so glad that we were able to take this trip with my mom and dad AND two of my sisters! We really missed our other two sisters though, but I know they'll have a fabulous time on their trips next year.

Our trip: An Alaskan cruise! Holy cow, how lucky are we? We had the BEST time! :) In every way it was more than I expected! It was so much fun to be with my parents and Shanen and Nicole and their husbands without any children. We never get the chance to do that. My parents said they don't know if they'll ever be able to take a trip again just the two of them, and I don't know if we'll ever be able to take a trip again that doesn't include a cruise.

For 7 days we ate, laughed, ate, played games, ate, saw beautiful scenery, ate and ate just a little more. We ate everything imaginable including, sushi, creme brule, escargot, frog legs, duck, lobster, crab, prime rib, beef wellington, and every edible fish. And when I mean eat, we really did eat it! I loved it all, even the escargot. We even tried caviar. That I won't be trying again. But at least I tried.

The scenery was breathtaking and the weather turned out perfectly. I wouldn't have changed a thing about it! On Sunday we left Seattle and cruised clear until Tuesday morning when stopped at our first port of call. The cruising days were a ton of fun just playing games, eating and relaxing. Those nights we had formal dinners and those nights were my favorite.

Since this is like my online journal, I'll have to post several times to include everything I want to remember, but for today, I'll include the first two days.

The whole gang of us leaving Seattle.

We ran into some rough water Monday before we made it to the inland passage, but we were able to enjoy some calm wind and slightly less rough sea out on deck after dinner. It was peaceful and refreshing to have all the ocean around us just to ourselves.

These pictures make me laugh. All of of us girls have a picture in our wedding album where we are standing with my mom and we're looking at each other "laughing". It's one of those posed, but not suppose to looked posed pictures that the photographers wanted. Out of nowhere I said we needed a bride picture and for all of us to look at my mom. We started laughing hysterically and couldn't stop. We thought we were so funny. I'm so glad I have these pictures. They pretty much sum up the entire trip. Good times and laughing!