Ship Ahoy

Yes, I know I went to Romania this summer on a trip of a lifetime, except that I intend to repeat that trip next summer, but Husband and I are heading out. He has been working long, hard days all year long and has been itching for a vacation, so when I got back from my service trip, we planned a vacation trip, one where you just sit if you want and read if you want and sip martinis if you want and do absolutely nothing if you want. People make the beds and cook the food and sing and dance before your very eyes. Sounds like a cruise, right?

Well, a cruise it is. We're going on an Alaskan cruise, leaving San Francisco next Thursday and sailing north for a 10-day trip. We'll be traveling on the Princess Line Sea Princess, with four days at sea and five stops. We'll visit Ketchikan, Juneau, Haines, Victoria, BC, and a stop with glaciers, as I understand.

We have taken several cruises, and I've learned something about the excursions they offer—you don't have to do them. You don't have to spend a fortune by getting off a ship and getting on a bus and riding for two hours to get to some spot far away from the actual destination. So, I booked simple things to do at each place—we'll take short walking tours of the smaller towns like Ketchikan and Haines, which will give us time to wander on our own, have lunch, buy something kitchy, and then go back to the ship for a nap. In Victoria, we'll visit a garden and a winery, and at Juneau, we'll tour a summer camp for Iditarod dogs. OK, so we may have to ride on a bus to get to the summer camp, but the excursion includes a sort of sled-ride out into the woods and a chance to hold puppies. Puppies!

This trip may not be adventure packed—a lot of the excursions were ranked by activity level to include motorized scooters, so that gives you an idea of the average age of our fellow passengers. Or it may be filled with surprises. You never know.

The great thing about leaving from San Francisco is that it's close to No. 1, so we have tacked on a few extra days so we can see her, which is also a treat. So, I'll be out of blog commission for awhile and will come back with pictures. I promise. Especially pictures of sled-dog puppies.

*for those of you who aren't old-movie fans, the photo is from Road to Utopia. Bing and Bob pose as Sperry and McGurk as they con and croon their way through Alaska.