Sea Days and Los Angeles

Cruisers tend to either love or hate sea days. I'm of the latter group, as I enjoy a good day (or days) at sea. The ship's crew offer lots of activities: trivia, competitions (crew vs. passengers), line dancing, Zumba, movies on the giant screens by the pool, pool games, and so on and so forth. Of course, there is time also to read, craft, chat with fellow passengers, use the hot tub or pools, and relax and watch the ocean.

My sea days are quite routine. I take my time in the morning, enjoy my breakfast on the aft deck, take a walk on the promenade deck, meet with the knitting group, find a quiet area to read, attend trivia a couple of times during the day, and later meet the solos group for dinner. Oh, there is lunch in there someplace too. I will avoid the buffet, as there are a couple of places near the pool which tend to be less busy. On the Majestic we had the noodle bar and the hamburger/hotdog stand. When the ship is next in dry dock, the noodle bar will change to pizza. That's unfortunate as the noodle bar provided something not available on other ships. The food there was hot, fresh and tasty. 

The next three photos were taken during my morning walk, one sea day, on the Promenade deck. When I first started my walk, there was blue sky, but as time passed the fog came creeping in, until we were socked in. Note this occurred over approximately 30-40 minutes.

Later that evening, the fog closed in even further, and I could barely see water looking down from my balcony. The ship continued to sound the foghorn every 90-120 seconds throughout the night. With the balcony door closed, the sound did not disturb my sleep. 

The fog continued as we made our way into the San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles.

Looking back towards the sea, I wondered what the day would bring. The fog did burn off eventually, and the day was sunny and warm, with high humidity. 

While we were in port, the ship underwent some maintenance. This was on the bridge, where the captain and his crew do their work, ensuring we are safe as we sail. 

I've never done a bridge tour, but have been told it is very interesting. As far as riding the basket of this machine to reach the base of the bridge would never be on my bucket list of things to do.

I did not disembark in Los Angeles, but did spend a good amount of the day on my balcony, at least until the music concert was well underway. 

To the far left of this photo are several tents where the concert was being held. Across the road from the ship was the line-up of people waiting to enter the grounds for a punk rock festival. I'm sure they enjoyed the show, but it wasn't my preference for entertainment. 

I was not alone on the ship that day, as a lot of the passengers chose to stay on-board. Talking to others at dinner that night who did excursions in the city, I heard stories of the length of time spent in traffic both leaving and returning to the ship. No thanks!

Next up - San Diego, the Zoo!

A new project, time with friends.

I'm interrupting the cruise posts for my regular weekly round-up of the week's activities. Things started out quietly and got busier throughout the week. Other than unpacking, doing laundry and a bit of housework, I did very little over the weekend and into Monday.

On Tuesday, I went out to the garage and tackled a project that I've been pondering for awhile. The former renter of the garage had built a partial wall and a work bench that made it difficult to get a second vehicle into the garage. When I was driving the Corolla, I could wiggle my way into the spot (using S turns), but with the Equinox it was going to be more difficult. So I had decided to remove part of the wall. I started by removing the plywood walls and the work bench. I should note the bench was over 4 feet tall, so useless for much more than storage.

The goal is to remove the open section to allow more room to maneuver the vehicle into place. Well, I discovered that this wall was built to last as the sill plate is anchored into the concrete. I've neither the tools nor the knowledge to overcome this problem so I turned to the internet. I've found a journeyman carpenter who has agreed to do the work for me later this month. In the meantime I have a pile of scrap lumber (not shown) to carry out of the garage. I also need to find someone to haul away the old garage door opener. There's always something that needs to be done.

Wednesday was a busy day, as I did a bit of grocery shopping in the morning, attended Stitch and Chat in the afternoon, and went to dinner with the book club ladies. There were three of us at the library, and next week there will just be two as C is heading for California at the end of the month and will be busy packing. Book club was fun, with six of us in attendance. I haven't met with the group in months, so there was lots of catching up to do. We even discussed the book, "The Nanny" by Gilly MacMillan. It was my choice, and it seemed every one who read it enjoyed the book. 

I took the day off on Thursday and caught up on various programs, NCIS, NCIS:Origins, and FBI. As well, curling and the MLB games kept me entertained. Saku was quite content to keep me pinned to the couch. :) I did stir long enough to make meals and do dishes.

Friday was a chilly morning, just -2C/28F when I took garbage out to the bin. Good thing I had no plans to work outside that morning. Instead, I did some housework and watching curling. That evening, I met my friends K and J for dinner before attending a comedy event at the Center of the Arts. Our tickets were free, provided by financial advisors we use. We took along a few items for the food bank donations as well. Our meals were good, but the service was incredibly slow and we had to go to the counter, as no one came to the table to take our payments. I'm not sure I'd return to that particular restaurant again. The comedians were funny, without straying into very many controversial subjects. The funniest moment (for me at least) was when Erica Sigurdson told the story of getting her husband to hang a medicine cabinet in their bathroom. After he'd delayed the project, she took matters into her own hands, texting him at work about how to do certain things (though she wasn't actually doing those things). He returned from work and got the job done. 

It was late when I arrived home and by the time I had settled down, it was nearly midnight. Saku woke me just after 6, but I managed to ignore him until my daughter called shortly after 7. Although I meant to get up after our call, I dozed off and slept until 10:30! So my day is a little off-kilter. I've just finished breakfast while watching curling. There is football and baseball later today as well. I guess you all know what I'll be doing today. :) Time to pull out the knitting needles and keep working on the mittens.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Day in San Francisco

The Captain had announced, the evening prior, we would be entering the Golden Gate Strait and passing under the bridge at about 5:30 a.m. I set my alarm for 5:15 a.m., and was up and out on my balcony soon thereafter. I really could have used a tripod to keep my camera still, as the photos I took were almost universally bad. I'm sharing one, it's fuzzy as I couldn't avoid the shake, but you get the picture!

After the excitement of seeing the bridge in the dark, I went back to be for an hour or so. The sun was starting to show itself and I took several shots before it appeared over the horizon.

This is the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, or more commonly called the Bay Bridge. 

On this morning, I took my time enjoying my breakfast on Aft 16, before heading down to the gangway. We were docked at Pier 27, right on The Embarcadero. 

Across from the Pier and up the hill is Coit Tower. From Wikipedia, "Coit Tower is a 210-foot tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, overlooking the city and San Francisco Bay. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco." At the top of the tower is an observation deck of the 360 degree views of the city, the bay, and the bridges. There is no elevator and one must be able to walk up 13 flights of stairs to the top. Definitely not on my list of things to do, though it would be neat to see.

My plan was to purchase a ticked on the local HOHO bus (hop-on, hop-off). There was a ticket kiosk just off the ship, which was a bit of a surprise, however to catch the bus, I had to walk up The Embarcadero to a place described as "CVS will be on your left". There was an older lady just behind me in line who was concerned about walking alone*, so I offered to walk with her. Her name was Maria and she lives in Las Vegas. She and her husband cruised frequently, but he recently passed away and he made her promise to continue to cruise. 

After a bit of back and forth and couple of wrong turns - we ought to have stayed on The Embarcadero the entire way, we eventually found Bus Stop #1. Since Maria is sensitive to the sun, we found seats on the lower deck of the bus and headed off on a two hour jaunt around the city. We passed by several areas of the city, including Chinatown, Embarcadero Center (a huge shopping area), Union Square, City Hall, Alamo Square/Painted Ladies, Haight-Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of the Arts, Cow Hollow, and a view of Lombard Street, before heading back to the pier. For the first ride around, I chose to stay with Maria. I listened to the narration on the ear buds provided, while she having visited the city frequently, simply answered my questions and enjoyed the ride.

I took a single photo from the bus on this trip, of a Tesla truck. I'm not sure what the appeal is, they are pretty darn ugly.

The bus did stop at Pier 27 on our return, so I stayed on the bus, moving up to upper deck for the second go-round. This time I got a number of photos, though my efforts were hampered by being on a moving bus!

The Spires of St. Paul's Catholic church soared above the buildings in the area. 

I've since learned that scenes for the movie, Sister Act were filmed in the church.

This interesting building is the Transamerica Pyramid, a 48 story office building.

According to the narrative, I listened to on the bus, there are four cameras installed on each of the four corners of the top of the building. Visitors can view monitors on the main floor to virtually see the views from the top of the building. Unlike the Coit tower, I could see myself checking the view from the ground floor.

I believe this was a bank of some sort. I was taken by the beauty of the stonework on the facade.

I took this photo because it was a spot of colour in the concrete jungle of the financial area.

This crooked photo is of the City Hall of San Francisco. It's a lovely building with an interesting history. It was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1906, re-opening in 1915. As well, in November 1978, it was the scene of a double murder/assassination of the mayor and a senior official. The perpetrator, former official was disgruntled when his position was given to someone else.

These are a few of the painted ladies that we passed on our way up a steep hill. There were many more, but the bus was just moving too quickly until it reached this part of the hill, and the driver geared down.

If you guessed this storefront was part of the Haight-Ashbury area of the city, you would be correct.

The bus turned at the Haight-Ashbury corner, but I wasn't quick enough to capture a photo.

The first photo is the first view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the highIring our ride across the bridge.

I learned that the city originally planned to paint the bridge yellow and black, but the steel but it arrived from the manufacturer as shown. It was then decided this colour would be very visible (as if the Bridge itself would not have been) and it suited the setting, so the original colour stayed. It has been repainted in the years since. That would not be a job I'd want!

I did get off the bus at the North Vista point, but was disappointed as there was a lot of glare, so photos of the bridge weren't what I was hoping for.

This is a zoomed in shot of Alcatraz Island, was used as a penitentiary for 30 years. A few famous inmates included Al Capone, "Machine Gun" Kelly, and Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz). Some of our solo group did tours - it is now a museum. Lee had booked a private tour, and said it was terrific as she got to see areas of the former prison not generally accessible. 

A view of the city from the North Vista. The Transamerica Pyramid is evident in the photo!

Another view from the vista. The city and surrounding area are certainly hilly!

I took a photo of the plant, because I was fascinated by the bloooms. It was clear they were nearing the end, but the puffs almost looked like pink dandelions. A Google lens search indicates it is likely Melaleuca nesophilia (showy Honey Myrtle). 

The next HoHo bus arrived about 15 minutes after I had stepped off the first, so I boarded and returned to the city. After a stop at Pier 39 for a walk-about, I returned the ship and was back on-board about 4 p.m. I made a stop at the International cafe for one of their tuna croissant sandwiches - they are so delicious and I hadn't had lunch. 

Then it was time to clean up and head up for pre-dinner drinks and later dinner with the solo group. 

I really enjoyed my visit to San Francisco and will definitely consider a return to visit more of the sites. In particular, I'd love to spend some time at the Golden Gate park in the Japanese gardens. A visit to the Ghiradelli store would be fun too.

*I normally would not discuss politics of any sort, but I heard Maria and other passengers mention how dangerous San Francisco is due to the sheer number of homeless people. Their fears are based on comments made by a certain Presidential candidate who has suggested the problem is due to the other Presidential candidate's stint as a the first woman Attorney General of California. I have no doubt there are many homeless people living there; the climate is warm and like so many other cities, large and small, there are people who find themselves in dire straits. In any event, we saw one potentially homeless person on our walk - he was shouting something as he made his way down the sidewalk. In other words, I felt completely safe during my day in San Francisco.

Next up - Sea days and Los Angeles

P.S. It's become a thing for passengers to hide ducks on the cruise ships. Once found, they can be re-hid or taken home. In my case, I brought this duck home for Eli. It's a bit of fun, and there are rules including no hiding ducks in retail stores or near the pools. I also found another duck, a wee tiny one at the top of stairwell, that I re-hid. It disappeared too, so someone else found it.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Visiting Victoria

We arrived before dawn in Victoria. No surprise there as the distance from Seattle is a mere 66 nautical miles. I'm sure the ship did circles in the ocean for much of the night. I truly appreciated having the balcony for the early mornings. No need to get dressed before I headed out for the sunrise photos!

After we were cleared to disembark, I stayed onboard until later in the morning. My plan was to walk to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch at Barb's Fish and Chips - yes, please for halibut. Since I had time, I went to the Knitter's and Knatters group. There were six of us that morning; Diane, Catherine, Carol, Helen, Bree, and myself. We were set up in the Doubledown bar next to the casino and the stale smoke was evident. Diane took charge and got permission for us to move to the Symphony dining room - more space and a large table to set out our supplies.

Carol had no plans for the morning, and asked if she might join me in Victoria. Of course, and we made arrangements to meet at the gangway after dropping our projects in our staterooms. Well, best laid plans and all, there are two gangways so we missed each other. I had waited about 15-20 minutes when I decided to head out on my own. She did catch up with me after I'd arrived at Fisherman's Wharf.  Funny story, I mentioned my destination to another, non-Canadian passenger and was informed that Fisherman's Wharf is in San Francisco. :) 

The wharf was a short walk from the port, winding along Dallas Road. At the wharf are the private houseboats, as well as several businesses; mostly restaurants and a couple of gift shops. 

There are public walkways between the length of the houseboats, but these are private homes. 

One can, and I did, walk towards the inner harbour where I could watch the floatplanes start their journeys. It's been over 40 years since I left Northern Saskatchewan, but I still find great joy in seeing and listening to the sound of small aircraft.

Back on the board walk, we spotted these manniquens on a balcony keeping watch over the tourists below.

Another favorite was this sign: beware of log!

Carol had caught up to me and when I was finished with photos we headed to the order window for Barb's Fish and Chips. We both ordered the one piece fish and chips, along with a drink and were handed a pager. It wasn't a long wait before our food was ready, and we carried our trays over to a picnic table close to the water to eat. Oh, it was a good as I hoped, the batter crispy, the fish fresh, and so very tasty. We did have a few pigeons keeping an eye out for fallen bits of chips, but neither of us shared.

Carol is from Ohio and recently retired, an enthusiastic and prolific knitter, and was also travelling solo. I invited her to join the group for dinner, but she had other plans for the evening. We parted ways back at the ship, and after a short nap, I took my knitting to the aft deck for a cup of tea.

Next to us in port was this National Geographic cruise ship. I took a quick look at their website and while the itineraries look amazing the cost is way beyond my means. On the other hand, a smaller ship would allow the passengers views and opportunities to explore that are not available with the large cruiseliners. Perhaps I need to start buying lottery tickets.

Sail-away happened late that evening, after dinner so I have no photos. I met with eight of the solo/singles group that evening for drinks and dinner. No photos of my food this night, but I did try vegan ice cream for dessert; blueberry and it was good.

Next up - Day 4 - San Francisco

Getting there and Embarkation Day

My son drove me to the airport about noon on Saturday, Sept 28. I hadn't remembered there was a football game happening, and we took what should have been the shortest route, but traffic was pretty busy. In any event, I was there in plenty of time for my 3 p.m. flight to Calary. The flights to Seattle via Calgary, were fine and on time. However, the airport in Seattle is a gong-show due to the amount of on-going construction.* We arrived to be told we would be disembarking on the tarmac, where we transferred to a bus, and then seemingly, drove the far way around the terminal to a long ramp that switched back and forth until finally spitting us into a lower hallway. From there we turned right and walked the length of the building to the carousel. Once the luggage arrived, I called the hotel and was advised to go upstairs, walk across a skywalk to the garage, take the escalator back downstairs, cross the street and call back with the number on the red pillar closest to me. Confused yet? I was. I eventually found my way after checking with a young woman at a kiosk in the garage.

When I booked this cruise, I booked the Holiday Inn Express - Tukwila due to the availability of a hotel shuttle, a complimentary breakfast, and the fact the hotel was on the list of hotels for the Seattle Express shuttle. The shuttle driver arrived about 15 minutes after my second call. I've forgotten his name, but the fellow was friendly, and very curious about Canada. We arrived at the hotel about 10:30 p.m. by which time I was feeling quite tired. The front desk clerk checked me in quickly, gave me directions to the elevators and I was soon in my room for the night.

It was a lovely room, spacious and spotless. The view from the window was a parking lot, so I left the curtains closed. The bathroom, no photo, was also large and clean. It didn't take me long to get ready for bed and I'm sure I was asleep in minutes. The next morning, I went down for breakfast about 7:15 - lots to choose from! I had the shuttle scheduled for 9 a.m., but my notice indicated I should be downstairs firfteen minutes earlier. Since I'm always concerned about missing the bus/flight, I was there even earlier, about 8:30 and the driver Satchel, arrived a few minutes later. I was first on the bus, but there were several more stops before we reached the pier. We were unloading just before 10 a.m., dropped off luggage with the porters and were soon in a queue to get through security before heading upstairs to the waiting area. I don't think we were waiting more than 10 minutes before we were allowed onboard the ship.

There was time to visit the aft of the ship for some photos, a chance to relax and knit, before I met some members of the FB group for lunch. There were eight of us for lunch, including two women I would see more of throughout the cruise. (Lisa and Lee)

We were docked at Pier 91, while this Norwegian ship (not sure which one) was at the downtown Pier. 

After lunch, the staterooms were available and I went up to drop of my carry-on and personal items. There I met Jerry, my steward, who asked me to complete the declaration form for Victoria. Yes, since we were heading to Canada for our first port, we all had to complete a form indicating the purpose of our visit, the goods we were bringing with us, etc. That was a first for me. After collecting the form, he headed off and as my luggage had arrived, I took the opportunity to unpack. That out of the way, I spent some time reading on my balcony, before heading back to the Wakeview area (Aft 16) for sail-away. Lee met me there and we had a great chat. 

At the dock opposite to us was the Royal Caribbean Radience of the Sea. This is one of RCL's smaller ships with a capacity of approximately 2500 passengers. In comparison the Majestic Princess carries 3560 passengers. I can assure you, there were not nearly that many - getting my luggage before mid-afternoon is quite unusual. 

Then it was time to get ready for dinner and the pre-dinner meeting with the solos and singles. There were two or three who joined me at the Crown Grill bar at 5:15, but it wasn't until 6 p.m. the the Princess host realized that there were several groups in the vicinity and brought us all together. In total there were nearly 25 people who came that first evening. I should note there was no signage, the Crown Grill bar seating area is small, and the majority of the group ended up meeting in the hallway - there was seating but it wasn't in the location indicated. 

Oh well, not an auspicious start, but I did join a group of eight for dinner in the dining room. Several of these solos/singles met every evening thereafter: Bill, Leeann, Sharon, Andy, Edlinda, and me. Others that came and went included Dave, Lynn, Jan, Lee, Lisa, Rose, and couple others whose names I have forgotten. Dinner was lovely, but I chose not to go to the shows that evening, rather headed back to my stateroom for a good night's sleep.

Next up - Day 1 - Victoria, British Columbia

* On the other hand, the departures area of the airport, while congested, did not have the same level of construction. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 *comments off

I'm back!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

This is, based on a Google search, a portion of a children's song: To Market, To Market. My Dad used to say it to us when we were headed home after a Saturday afternoon in town. Another favorite was, Home James and don't spare the horses. Funny how such simple memories are retained.

Again, I am reminded how much I dislike travel days. Getting to Seattle was a relatively simple process, no delays BUT the airport is a mess. More on that later. Getting home however took several hours longer than anticipated due toflight delays. If only I lived closer to a port city, but that isn't happening. I can't be too irritated though, especially watching what has happened the southeastern States with the devestating tornadoes and hurricanes. The house was still standing when I got home, the kitchen was tidy, and the furnace kicked in when it went below freezing. 

This is just a quick check-in. I've unpacked this morning, had a lovely long chat with my brother, and will head out shortly to pick up some groceries. There's nary a vegetable (other than frozen) in the house, nor any real leftovers in the fridge to nibble from this morning. You can bet I'm missing the Marketplace Buffet. No one brought me my tea either. :p

Meanwhile, I'll share a couple of photos, one taken the last night of the cruise, about midnight. The second one I borrowed from my brother of last night's Aurora Borealis. I went straight to bed upon arriving home, and he has less light pollution at the farm.

BTW, the earlier photos were of Seattle (Connie noted this one), sunrise in Victoria, British Columbia, a view of the city of San Fransisco from the Golden Gate Bridge, the marine fog as we pulled into port in Los Angeles, and a sleeping snow leopard at the San Diego zoo. As you can imagine, I've many more photos to share. :)

I likely won't post tomorrow - have a good weekend everyone!

Cruising the California Coast

First off, there will be no sunset photos and just one sunrise. Since Day 2, we've been dealing with fog; the worst was between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even this morning, in San Diego, the marine fog didnt burn off until mid-morning. 

Otherwise, it has been a great cruise and I'll share more when I get home this weekend. In the meantime here are a few of my phone photos.