Monthly Archives: March 2022
Planning . . .
I mentioned the other day that we have had two Holland America Alaskan Cruises cancelled in the last 18 months or so, one in August 2020 and the other one in May 2021, both succumbing to the WuFlu
When we started thinking about rebooking this year, we realized that we really didn’t have a big need to revisit places along the cruise, ones like Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, etc. We saw all these on our previous HAL cruise in May 1998.
What we really wanted to do was revisit our old haunts in Fairbanks, North Pole, Denali, Talkeetna, etc., places where we lived and visited there during our five month work-camping gig in 2008. Plus adding a few new ones like Soldotna and Homer.
So we’ve decided to just fly up to Fairbanks around the middle of August, and then rent a car for two weeks or so. Then after spending about a week there, head south hitting all our other spots along the away. And then fly home from Anchorage.
So now we’re making a list of places we want to visit, things we want to see, and places we want to eat at. Especially the ‘eat at’ part.
We had also talked about taking a overnight detour down to Alyeska to spent on night at the Alyeska Resort there. We stayed there one night on our 1998 cruise, and really enjoyed the great restaurant at the top of the mountain, which you get to by taking the ski-lift to the top.
Back then we took the lift to the top in the early afternoon to make a reservation for that evening. At that time it was sunny and beautiful out, with one of the servers putting up the umbrellas for diners on the patio.
But when we came back up about 5 hours later for dinner, it looked like this.
And this was the middle of May.
But all these plans went out the window when we checked and found that a room for one night this coming August is $599.
No thanks.
Tomorrow we’re meeting up with the Alvin Opry Bunch at the P.F. Chang’s by Baybrook Mall. Jan and I have never been there so we’re looking forward to trying it out, as well as seeing old friends.
I forgot to mentioned in yesterday’s blog the flamingo that Debi brought along for Jan when we met up at the Golden Corral in Conroe.
It’s only about a foot tall, so it will have to be an inside flamingo until it grows up enough to be released into the wild to live outside with the rest of the flamboyance.
Thanks a lot, Debi.
Thought For The Day:
“Sometimes in life there are no solutions, only trade-offs.” – Professor Thomas Sowell
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Live Long and Prosper!
And A Nice Surprise!
We were on our way up to Conroe a little after 10am to meet up with the Conroe Bunch at the Golden Corral there. Jan and I got there about 11:35 with Janice and Dave Evans showing up a few minutes later, followed by Debi and Ed Hurlburt.
When we got there, Janice said we needed a table for 8, not for just the 6 of us.
???
And that was the surprise. A few minutes later long-time friends Eldy Tompkins and Jeannie Sparks walked in.
We first met them at a rally in 2010 and have met up a number of other times around the country, as far off as Oregon. So it was good to catch up.
They full-timed for 3 years in a motorhome, then sold their rig, and bought a house in Florida where they lived for 7 years. But then they were re-infected with Hitch-Itch, sold their house, bought a 5th wheel and hit the road again.
From left to right: Ed, Debi, Jeannie, Jan, Janice, Dave, and Eldy.
We were all talking about the bad weather and heavy rain . . . and hail last night. Though we only got about an inch of rain, and a lot of thunder and lightning this morning, up north in the Conroe area, they got it a lot worse.
We said our goodbyes about 2 and were back on the road towards home. And just like our trip up, there was a minimal amount of traffic and we had a smooth trip home, getting there about 3:30. After a stop at Cowboy Coffee for Sugar-Free Hazelnut Lattes, of course.
Live Long and Prosper –
Today is William Shatner’s Birthday. He’s 91.
Looks really good for 91. Of course people lived longer in the 25th century.
Thought For The Day:
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