First leg of the journey

My antsy pants get antsier as the trip gets closer. I find myself wondering what my favorite part will be, what Alaska will feel like, what the excursions will be like.

I've talked to many people who lived in Alaska. One man said the 70 degree day in Alaska feels like a 90 degree day in Oregon. One man told me to NOT go on a walk on any trails without a guide. He said half a dozen people get eaten every summer up there because they go for a nature walk without proper guidance. He said the brown bears are much bigger than the little black bears in Oregon, and they don't  mess around. They eat you. Good to know.

I get to work and realize I'm a goofball for thinking I can work the day we leave for seattle. I dive into my work and when I finally come up for air, the bosses let me leave early. Note to self: take the extra day off next time!

I drop Gijjie off at the dealership and find out there's a safety recall on a brake light switch or some such thing, so that's why she lost power on the hill in the woods on our last rock hounding trip. The poor car thinks someone is constantly tapping the brakes! So at least I know she'll get serviced and run like a champ when I get back.

We run to the house and I grab my Patagonia and my day bag. I hug my youngest son and pet the kitties. I swear they know we're leaving. I tell my son, for the thousandth time, how to care for the kitties while we're gone. They weigh 25 pounds each, so it's an involved process.

We make a couple stops on the way out of town and then head for Albany. We stop at Walmart in Albany hoping to see my oldest son, but he's off work already. So we grab our odds and ends and head north for seattle.

We drive through a traffic mess in Portland and finally break free into Washington. Our plan is to get a hotel near the port of Seattle.

We pull over in Dupont and get a Best Western. We eat at a MacNamara's which is just like a McMenamin's, for those who live in Oregon. I have a burger and Robert has a French dip. Great food. I have a Guiness and he has a Stella. 

We get up early and head out. We make another stop plus Robert has us run on a wild goose chase, trying to find a shared branch for his credit union. This is funny because I work at a credit union. Every time I try to tell him about shared branching, he poo-poos me. Silly.

We finally get to the car park and hand over our printed reservation sheet. They guide us to where to park and tell us shuttles come every five minutes. I give the four gate staff my huge container of blueberries and they are super appreciative and cheerful. It's cute because they're all 20's or 30's and tall, bearded, hipster looking guys but they tell me they'll eat the shit out of the blueberries so at least they won't go to waste.

We get on our shuttle and all our luggage gets loaded on, too. When we get to the ship, we get off and hike our luggage over to the Celebrity porters and then head for the building. We go through initial security, go up to the second floor and go through full on airplane type security, and then get our photo taken together in front of a backdrop with the Solstice on it, and then wait in line at the gangplank for about 20 minutes. Finally they let us cross the gangplank. We get our picture taken by another security group that looks over our passports. Again. And then they finally let us on the ship.

We realize our room won't be ready until like 1:30 and it's only noon. So we each grab some champagne and we turn right and find a cafe with charming yellow wingback chairs and sit. The ship is a madhouse. We have no room yet, no luggage, and no clue where to go. And everyone else, all 3000 passengers, feel the exact same thing. You can see it.

So we order coffee for me and a soda for Robert. The waitress is s tiny Philippino girl and she suggests we buy a beverage package. We decline at first, because we don't plan on drinking at all and the alcohol package is an extra $500 per person for the week. But she suggest the upgraded non-alcoholic version for $22 a day which is $150 each, and considering my fantastic cappuccino was $6, and the package includes all coffee and smoothies and such, we get it.

We wander as many of the 15 decks as we can before our cabin is ready. We start on 14 and 15 where there's a lawn club with a giant movie screen and the Hot Glass Class factory where we'll take our glassblowing class while on board. Theres a theater on board, an outdoor pool and indoor pool, 4 hot tubs, shopping areas, an art gallery, a library, a disco, a casino, a spa, a workout room, 4 specialty restaurants, the main dining room called the Grand Epernay, and the buffet area. There's a bunch of bars and cafes, there's art everywhere and glass art nearly everywhere we look, and deck chairs set up in defined relaxation spaces on nearly every deck.

We stop at one of the specialty restaurants called Murano, hoping to find out when our reservation is for tonight. We know the time but not which restaurant, which doesn't help much. But at Murano, a young man named Oleg from Ukraine helps us set reservations for the week. Oleg is charming. He advises us to do the Italian restaurant tonight, the Murano tomorrow, and another restaurant for lunch. We choose Murano for lunch. But he tells us the best thing to do is eat in the main dining room on Wednesday because it's the best night of main dining. We choose lunch at murano on Thursday before we hit Victoria, which is later afternoon into the night. Oleg was so great.

We get into our cabin and find a huge bed, a couch and tv, a big bathroom with a shower, and a desk. Robert takes the two long cabinet spaces above the bed, and half the closet and 2 drawers. I take 3 drawers, half the closet, and 3 small shelves below the safe. Once we unpack everything, we stuff the luggage under the bed. I had been wearing linen all day and had changed into Jean's, so I decide to change into silk pants and a tailored blouse, just in time for the captain to signal it's time for muster. Muster is boring and, oddly enough, all indoors. We sit through a video that's actually quite clever, all about security and rules. Afterwards we head back to our cabin and then we head to the Solstice Theater to see a presentation about Alaska.

The presentation was good and the gal, Jaqueline, was young and spunky and tells us about where to get things on board and what not to miss. We make a mental note to see Mary Amanda's talk about each city on the cruise. At 6, we change for dinner and head to our first appointment at a specialty restaurant, an Italian steakhouse. We're a few minutes early and the host is still talking to the gathered staff. Pep talk.

Once the staff man their posts, we get seated at a table for two overlooking the ocean at the tail end of the ship. It's still fairly early so we get to see the vivid green of the churning water as it swirls behind the Solstice, while we order our meal. We order calamari for a starter and Robert orders a ceasar salad and the ribeye steak, while I order an arugula salad with pine nuts, reduced balsamic, and fried goat cheese along with the filet mignon. Each steak comes with a sauce, so I order gorgonzola and Robert at first asks about the House Steak Sauce. But the waiter tells us that's ketchup. So Robert instead orders Beef Jus. We stick to water for the meal but I ask about Port for dessert. The sommelier looks at me like I have four heads.

 The waitstaff brings me my salad and the calamari, which he puts in front of Robert. There's no sign of Robert's salad. He's too quiet to speak up, so I ask if his salad is coming. This is when the meal goes wrong. Suddenly there's 3 staff milling at or near our table, and one man addresses me, saying all the courses will be served in the proper order. Robert and I acquiesce but clearly both of us are not impressed that they're treating us like idiots. It doesn't help that our waiter is about as kind and gracious as a porcupine with bunions.

 We eat everything and I must say, the steaks are fantastic. Robert is able to cut his ribeye with his fork, which he does just to show me he can. Robert gets broccoli and garlic mashed potatoes with his steak, while I opt for eggplant parmesan. All are excellent. I finish off with a nice glass of port wine. Robert signs for the only part that wasn't covered, which was my port, and we excuse ourselves and head for the open air, covered patio on deck 14. We agree dinner felt like a strained event. Our waiter was just not a nice waiter.

 We make friends on the patio with Maxine and Jim from Vegas, George and Lisa from North Carolina, and a few other couples. We have no idea that by the end of this trip, we will all be misty eyed and exchanging phone numbers before we go home.

We talk until 9 and then head to the theater to see the comedian. The comedian is HYSTERICAL. I can hear Robert laughing out loud and I catch myself throwing a dozen guffaws out, as well. There's a mix of age groups on this cruise, from 1 to 90, but there's way more in the latter age bracket than the former, so the comedian is making geriatric jokes. Everyone thinks he's funny. After the comedian, we head back to our room to get some much needed rest. I am out before my head hit the pillow.

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 Today, we wake up at 7:30. That's late for me but drastically late for Robert. We have a sea day today, and we sit and look over the itinerary for Saturday and come up with all the things we want to do and all the things we might do. Our dance card is full. We start the day off with a shower and a cappuccino at the cafe, then breakfast in the Epernay, the main dining room. I ask for scrambled eggs with feta cheese and 2 link sausages on the side. Robert gets an omelette and toast and orange juice. This is from the buffet, another day:

 We are seated between an older couple and a couple about our age. We talk between waiting for our food, then realize we've missed the Alaska presentation we wanted to go to. So we head up to deck 14 to make an appointment for our glass blowing. We set it up for the evening after our Kayaking in Ketchikan. Robert plans on making a glass flower for his parents, in black and white. I plan on making either a wavy art bowl for my folks, or a pumpkin. My mother loves holidays.

I can't write anymore. I'll pick this up later. Stay tuned!