Kittens From The Dark Side: Alaska: Day Two

We started off Day Two (May 16th) with breakfast!

And breakfast in our hotel was really fun.

They had an automatic pancake-making machine!!!

Mark (my brother) and Greg were pretty thrilled.

Here is the pancake coming out!

I was excited because they had gluten-free yogurts and boiled eggs in the fridge.

The day was a cool and overcast one (my favorite weather!)

And I wore this outfit:

Detail of the blouse & sweater:

(I love jewels and embellishments, but I have to admit that my hair gets wrapped around the stones quite a bit . . . if you need any Christie DNA, check this sweater . . . but if you plan to clone me, please let me know)

Front of the blouse:

Back of the blouse (big polka dots!)

Shoes (black sparkles!)

We went down to the lobby and put the cruise tags on all our bags:

They look like this:

The idea is that, when passengers get to the pier, they leave their bags (except for carry-able items they wish to keep on their person at all times) with the ship personnel. The suitcases they get loaded onto the ship and delivered to the staterooms (cabins) while the passengers are wandering around the ship and eating lunch. It's a neat system because the hallways are too narrow for 2500 people to roll their huge suitcases to their rooms all at the same time.

My adorable Mom, waiting for the shuttle!

Grandma and Grandpa kept Cora busy counting candies.

Slightly blurry, but oh-so-cute.

Then we loaded into the shuttle, where Cora fell asleep on Grandpa.

The city of Vancouver is beautiful!

I love the train (streetcar? I don't know what they call it . . . in Europe this kind of mass transit would be

called a streetcar) lines.

Here is the pier and the building in which we went through customs.

While we were waiting, I saw a seal in the harbor!

He's small, but you can make out his teeny weeny nosey!

Here is my family dropping off their luggage:

In case we forgot what we were looking for . . .

Here is some luggage getting loaded into the ship.

After customs and other paperworky type things, we walked over the gangway

Cora was getting sleepy.

Reminders were everywhere for us to be careful.

Don't fall in!

We went up to the buffet on the 9th floor, where the views were beautiful!

The point of the pier, where people were walking and watching the ships.

And, of course, we had lunch.

I have mentioned over the past couple of weeks that I have expanded my diet and that I am eating a LOT of fruit and vegetables. I am still doing REALLY well with the huge dose of Boswellia I'm taking (1200 mg 3x/day!) I feel better than I have felt for YEARS both physically and emotionally - it's a complete miracle. (Thank You, Jesus!) I have lots of energy (for almost a full month now!)

So here's what I ate for lunch pretty much every day.

Though I stopped getting the apple (because I want it in small chunks on top of my salad, but I can't cut it up successfully with that little knife) and the meat. And on successive days, about 1/3 of my plate was watermelon!

We ate out on the patio part of the dining room. Windows, but the roof was only over part of the deck.

Left to right, not including the bald stranger in the tan shirt:

my Dad, my brother, Cora (on Jillian's lap), Jillian, my Mom.

After we had lunch, Greg and I went off to explore the ship:

Greg:

The inside pool (called the Solarium):

The rock-climbing wall!

It's crazy that that huge ship is tied to the pier with ropes!

The bathroom had beautiful blue and gray tiles.

And a reminder to open the door slowly and not trip!

The elevator doors were beautifully art-deco.

Look carefully, and you can see me (on the left) and Greg (in plaid on the right) in the mirror!

We didn't use the elevators much . . . usually we climbed the stairs from deck 2 to deck 5 or 9 -

that's a lot of steps!

There are mirrored surfaces everywhere, and each one is an opportunity for me to take a silly photo.

Here's the outdoor pool and hot tubs.

Then we were given the okay to go to our stateroom (cabin)!

Again, lots of mirrors.

We put our valuables in the cute little safe and unpacked so we could stow our suitcases under the bed.

The TV had a channel for ship information.

The first day, there was a LOT about appropriate hand washing.

After we hung out for awhile, it was time for a drill!

We were supposed to report to our Muster Stations. The crew told us that there was more than enough room for every passenger and they wouldn't leave anyone behind!

Here's the boat that would carry 180 people.

After a bit more exploring, it was time to dress for dinner.

I don't know if most people changed for dinner on the first day, but I had seven dresses along (two extra fancy), so I changed! It's more fun that way. I wore the same sweater, but changed into this dress:

Our first evening in the dining room, I was scooting my chair up to the table and the arm came off!

We could watch everything happening out the window.

A ship carrying stuff to China:

Here's the menu from the first night.

The little wheat picture are the options I had for gluten-free meals. Amazing!

My dessert the first evening was banana mousse with fruit. Yum!

And it's fancy!

Cora played in the windowsill with her new water coloring book. The green pen has water in it, and when the water touches the paper, the colors come out. No mess, and when the drawing drys, the colors disappear again!