Suzanne Thompson

Seattle Space Needle

Suzanne — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:30:07 +0000

This morning, we walked to the Space Needle and went to the top. We enjoyed going to the top and were thankful that tourist season was over to avoid long crowds.

We then headed back to Pike Place Market to get some lunch before going to the airport. We went in the original Starbuck (where it all started) and got a hot chocolate and then back to Piroshky Piroshky for…more piroshky. Yes they were that good that I convinced Bob we should go back there.

Back to the airport, we said our goodbye’s. Bob is flying back home to Raleigh, I’m fly down to Los Angeles to spend a week at the corporate office of my new job. I’ll fly home Thursday night, then Sunday I fly over to England. Lots of travel this year!

Have you traveled to Seattle recently? What is your favorite place to visit or eat there?

Seattle Day 1

Suzanne — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:26:09 +0000

Bob and I had decided to spend a day in Seattle before heading home. I don’t recall if we just thought it would be fun to do, or if our air tickets were cheaper. On Sunday, the cruise ended and we said our goodbyes to the rest of our family. It was a fun week, but everyone was headed home except us, which sort of felt like we were left behind! Our hotel was walking distance from the ship and we got a great room overlooking the water and Mount Olympia. We walked over to Pike Place Market and saw the colorful sights there.

The flowers were beautiful and the fruits and vegetables were so colorful.

We got hungry looking at the food and looked on Yelp to see if we could find a Ethiopian Restaurant (it’s getting to be a tradition!). We found one, but unfortunately it was closed on Sunday. We ended up getting takeout at the Russian Piroshky Piroshky Bakery and getting a couple piroshky (a soft dough filled vege’s). They were really good and we were really hungry. After we got back to the room, we got to watch the Norweigan Pearl head out for her next voyage. Part of us wished we were headed back to Alaska for another week.

While watching the boat leave, we saw this sea gull pruning his feathers

Then we got to see the sun dip behind Mount Olympus. If you look carefully, you can see just a spec of sun showing between the two peaks.

Victoria, British Columbia

Suzanne — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:25:00 +0000

We’ve been eating well…too well. What would a cruise be without talking about the food? The food has been really good and there’s too much available. Even though we don’t eat snacks between meals, we’ve been enjoying a great selection of tasty, fresh food. We’ve eaten our breakfasts at the buffet as they have a great selection for everyone. We don’t select times to meet, but it seems like there’s always several of us that meet up and eat breakfast together. We ate so well that we decided to skip the chocolate buffet last night. I’m sure it would have been good, but we just weren’t wanting that much sugar that late at night.

So sad that today is the last day of our cruise. We spent the day at sea. This evening we docked at Victoria Island and took a tour bus to Burchardt Gardens. What a gorgeous place. My only disappointment is that we didn’t arrive until evening. The tour was called and enchanted evening, so we knew it would be dark, but it would have been nice to have more daylight.

I was able to get a couple pictures of my brother and his wife, Marlene (of KISSED Quilts) before dark. I thought this was cute one of them.

On the way back to the ship, we got a tour through the city where I was able to snap this picture of the Houses of Parliament from the bus window.

Ketchikan, Alaska

Suzanne — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 00:24:01 +0000

What an amazing week it’s been so far. Today was our day in Ketchikan and we had planned an Kayak excursion. We took a 20 minute bus ride to the outpost then headed down the pathway to a Zodiak.

We then took a 30 minute Zodiak ride out to an island were we then got into our Kayak to do some exploring. Bob and I shared an tandem kayak.

It was nice that Bob let me sit up front to have an unobstructed view…but I think it was because the person in the rear does more steering. This was my first time kayaking. We had wanted to go kayaking in Bora Bora on our honeymoon, but the resort wouldn’t let us take the kayaks out when there were clouds in the sky.

It was a gorgeous day and the first sunny day there is several weeks. I don’t think Kayaking would be fun in the rain. We got to see bald eagles, orka’s and other birds and animals.

Later that afternoon, we decided to try the climbing wall on one of the top decks of the ship. Bob climbed up first on the hardest route and got to the top which was about 30 feet high.

I’ve never mountain climbed or climbed a rock wall before, so took the easier route on the left. I made the mistake of looking down when I was about two thirds of the way up and it looked a loooog way down. My legs started to feel wobbly and my arms like jelly, but I made it up to the top and rang the bell. The way you get down is to kick off the wall and the attendant lowers you on the rope. I squealed on the way down, partly because it was fun and partly because it was a lot faster than I thought it would be.

Friday evening our whole family got together for a special dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Duncan’s in-laws (Marlene’s parents).

Glacier Bay, Alaska

Suzanne — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:22:22 +0000

We’ve had an amazing cruise the past few days. It’s been wonderful seeing such pristine wilderness and spending time with family. It’s is so amazing how silently the big ship glides through the water. Today was another day of beautiful scenery. The ship cruised through the Glacier Bay.

It was really neat to get to see the glacier “calve”.

This mountain is usually covered with clouds, so we were really blessed to get to see it.

Another view of the mountain with the huge glacier below.

We gently glided through the still waters

One last view of the glacier. We saw this cave calve too.

Skagway White Pass Railway

Suzanne — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:21:33 +0000

We awoke to our ship already being in port. After a good breakfast we were ready to go on our second excursion on the White Pass Railway into Canada. We rode on the White Pass and Yukon Route narrow-gauge railroad that served the mad rush to the Klondike in 1898. We rode in an old-fashioned parlor car for the first half of the trip. After leaving Skagway, we passed through two tunnels, sky-high trestles, and remote valleys. We saw Bridal Veil Falls, Inspiration Point and Dead Horse Gulch.

After yesterday’s eyeful of beautiful scenery, today we got to see more.

This picture is taken between the railway cars as we were chugging along.

The old railway bridge, which we did not go across!

A gorgeous September day to be exploring Alaska.

Once we got the suspension bridge (our turnaround destination) we were able to walk around.

My mum has never liked heights, but she was a good sport and with a big smile on her face, she crossed the suspension bridge that was high above the gorge.

Then we took a bus ride through the mountains to get back to the ship.

My parents after we got back the ship.

As we had about an hour before we had to be back on the ship, Bob and I went for a walk on the west side of the harbor. We found a great location with big rocks overlooking the inlet. Here’s my handsome husband.
Then we had to walk head back to the ship

and one last photograph to end another amazing day…so long, farewell, Skagway!

Juneau, Alaska Dog Sled Adventure

Suzanne — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:20:39 +0000

One thing I have always wanted to do is to go mushing with a team of dogsleds. Before our cruise, we had tried to book an helicopter/dogsled excursion but they were fully booked. We were told to check with the excursion desk on the ship after we got on board. So one of the first things we did on board was to go to the excursion desk to get on a waiting list. We were SOOO excited today when we woke and had a couple tickets for the excursion in our box. Yippee! We went for an early morning walk around the ship before breakfast and talked about how fun our excision would be.

But for those following my blog for any length of time know that sometimes the greatest wishes can not send away the weather. Like when we went to Peru and weren’t able to see Machu Picchu (which you can read about here) and when we went to Bora Bora and didn’t get to take out the kayaks (which you can read about here). This trip would be no exception and due to the fog, our dogsled trip was cancelled. I can’t even begin to express how disappointed I was, but the Brit in me kept a stiff upper lip and I didn’t cry about it…although I sure felt like it. As we headed into town, we found some local excursions and there was one that would take us by helicopter up onto a glacier and let us walk around. It wasn’t a dogsled ride, but at least we would get to do a helicopter ride (the second one for both of us as we went on our first one together in Long Beach which you can see pictures of here). The glacier we went to was a different one than where the dog sleds where, so there wasn’t fog on this glacier.

An exciting thing that happened today is that Bob set foot on his 50th state. He had been to every state, except Alaska. I’ve been to over 40 states over the years. Just this year alone, I’ve been to 27 states mostly from my two trips across the country (plus 7 countries!), although Alaska was my first new state of the year.

I can’t even begin to describe how fun the ride was and how beautiful the glacier and views were. Pictures just don’t do it justice. This first picture was of the port in Juneau, not long after take off.

View up the river

Approaching the glacier

Bob and I were lucky enough to get front row seats in the helicopter on the way up to the glacier.

The blue of the glacier ice is so beautiful. I didn’t realize how blue it was. I also used to think that glaciers were dirty due to lots of pollution, but the reason they are dark is due to the tiny pieces of rock and silt.

And here we are on the glacier.

All too soon, it was time to fly back down the glacier to the ship.
What a perfect day enjoying sea, air and land. Even though we weren’t able to do the dog sled ride, it was definitely a day to remember.

Day at Sea

Suzanne — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:19:55 +0000

We’re excited to be starting our cruise. Here is our itinerary. Today is a day at sea.

Bob and I woke up early since we’re still on EST, so we went for an early morning walk around the promenade deck. It was fun looking over the back of the ship and seeing the huge wake.

We had fun seeing scenery, relaxing, chatting with family, and participating in some of the ship activities. Surprisingly, I didn’t take many pictures today. I’ll make up for it later on the cruise. Our towel animal had a reminder to change our clocks on hour tonight.

Alaska NCL Cruise

Suzanne — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:19:16 +0000

Today we started our one week cruise to Alaska. It was so fun to get together will my family (left to right): Neville (nephew), Marlene (sister-in-law), Duncan (brother), Dawn (sister), Todd (brother-in-law), Bob (husband), me and my mum. Not pictured were my dad (he was talking the picture), LeRoy (brother), Michelle (LeRoy’s wife) and Marlene’s parents. This was the first time that all of us had been together in years. All of us where there except for one of my nephews who had just started his fall semester in college. We left the port and headed to toward Alaska.

It was so pretty seeing the sunset.

Fisheye Fun

Suzanne — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:16:13 +0000

Bob and I were lucky enough to get the new Canon fisheye lens without having to be on a long waiting list. Thank you Adorama! Here’s a few of my favorite fisheye photographs from our quick weekend in Vancouver, BC.

This one of our feet had a globe on the ground. It was directly under the the covering in the prior photograph.

The covered circular dome with hanging pictures makes an interesting photograph.

Can you see Bob waving? I climbed down some old stone steps to the water (hoping I wouldn’t fall in!) and took this one facing straight up.

Love night shots!

The Olympic Cauldron. After the longest national torch relay in Olympic history, this cauldron was lit on Februay 12, 2010. The torch was carried by 12,000 torchbearers on a 45,000km journey across Canada.