Sweet Home

Our last day of the cruise we enjoyed sunny skies, smooth seas, and beautiful scenery. The Captain said that our best bet to see whales and other local wildlife would be around sunset and he wasn’t wrong. We had seen some seals earlier in the day, but right on time came the whales. In the video below, if you look closely, you’ll see the blow from one whale. That’s the way it was for about 20 minutes as the sun set.

I grabbed a burger and a Piraat for dinner on the balcony. Mom had an ice cream cone. We both felt a little sick with a new cold (or something) coming on. So, we skipped the last night celebratory activities etc and just enjoyed the scenery.

The next morning we awoke in time to see the sun rise as we went under the Lion’s Gate bridge and came into Vancouver. Beautiful.

Disembarkation was slow, especially the part where we waited in a long line for a taxi. Mom had barely slept the night before and neither one of us felt good. By the time we made it into Austin just after midnight, we were exhausted. This morning (Sunday) Mom texted me to let me know she tested positive for Covid. So far, I haven’t.

Overall, this was an eye opening trip. I’d cruised with Princess 20 years ago in the Caribbean and haven’t felt a strong desire to do that again. My memories from that trip are few, largely because I slept most of the time. I was determined not to let that happen again, but every time the seas started to roil I found myself under the covers waiting it out. (Maybe I should think to bring something for seasickness in April 2024 when we will do a transatlantic on Holland America. April tulips in Amsterdam, here we come!) Despite some similarity, this trip was better than the one 20 years ago because Alaska is more interesting to me than beaches are. It was great to escape the brutal Texas heat and enjoy cool wet weather for a while. Seeing salmon runs attracting bears and whales start their migration south was a special treat.

Thanks for following along with me.