Back Home and SICK

 Shalimar, FL  (Hi 86   Lo 70)

Being back home and being sick is a good thing.  It's sinuses not liking the change of temperature. I lost my hearing on the flight home, so working with that too.  I went to bed at 10pm Thursday night and didn't get up till 10am on Friday. I didn't do anything all week but catch up on computer stuff and worked on pictures.  I did get the laundry done and put away, that's an accomplishment. I'm sleeping about 15 hours a day. 

Here's Chatgpt version of this week:

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Alaska Tried to Kill Me (But I Brought Tea and Cough Drops)

So, I finally made it to Alaska — the 50th state on my list. I had this picture in my mind: majestic glaciers, moose wandering around like they own the place, and me bundled in a parka, looking adventurous. Instead, Alaska looked at me and said: “Welcome, outsider. Here’s a head cold the size of Denali.”

Every time I change climates, my body immediately stages a protest. The first sign? Laryngitis. I open my mouth and sound like a frog who’s been smoking for 40 years. Then comes the cough. If I’m not careful, it escalates to pneumonia — the grand finale nobody asked for.

It’s been this way since I was little. Back then, pneumonia was my uninvited travel buddy. Now, I’ve wised up (or maybe just aged like fine cough syrup). I’ve learned what not to do:

• Don’t go out sightseeing in 30-degree weather thinking “I’ll be fine” without a scarf.

• Don’t pretend that ice cream is an acceptable dinner just because you’re technically on vacation.

• Don’t underestimate Alaska’s ability to humble you with a single blast of Arctic air.

This time, I came prepared. Vitamins? Check. Cough drops? A Costco-sized bag. Tea? Enough to start my own little cabin café. I may sound like a raspy jazz singer, but at least I’m not completely down for three weeks but working on it. I'm on day 16 and counting.

So yes, Alaska is stunning. Yes, it’s the last state I had to see. And yes — of course — I spent half the trip sounding like a mix between Darth Vader and Kermit the Frog.

But hey, if you can’t laugh about hacking up a lung while staring at a glacier, what’s the point?

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I could never had said it better. I love chatgpt. I can understand when people are saying the kids now days will get a doctorate's degree by just sending in paperwork from chatgpt or others AI's. 

I want to thank my neighbors, Anne and Cathy for the meals. I don't eat much just don't feel like it, but they're sure good. 

ALASKA September 5 to 18 2025

CELEBRATION  I've been to all 50 states!!

ALL PHOTOS

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sBMq3rFCw7Xf8jVX7

To  Vancouver  9/5/25

Day 1.  Friday....our  flights were great and on time and we made it to Vancouver with 10 minutes to spare with connection. It really helps to have a wheelchair. Arriving at Vancouver motel at 1:00 a.m. our time. 

Vancouver and Princess Sapphire 

Day 2 Saturday. 9/6/25

It was a really long day but we did very well. We got a shuttle from the motel to the airport. We took a taxi because neither one of us could walk very well and the Princess Cruise paid for him to take us to the port. They even take you in a wheelchair and put us in the waiting area till we got into our room. It's 75° we're hot because we had long pants and long sleeve shirts thinking it would be cold today. We are trying to learn our way around and always lost on this ship. It's little but it's just not laid out to say if your aft or forward.  We're having trouble remembering or are we losing our mind. We had a really good dinner and a really good breakfast this morning before we left so we were good with food today. We're now in the middle of somewhere before we get to Kitchican on Monday. We're really doing well and love it so far. It's been so warm and it's so calm and lots of people and everybody right now is real happy and older. Older people, not the young  snappers one baby that we've seen so far. We heard whales in the dark go by the ship.

Day 3.          9/7/25 Sunday

DAY AT SEA

We had a long day but fun. It was 7:00 this morning when we got up. Bummer! We had breakfast in the room which was pretty good and then got ready to start today's activities. At 8:30 we had naturals Alaska's wildlife and right after that was shore excursion live tour presentation and then we went to $1,000 onboard shopping spree which ended up being pretty much all diamonds. We were going to go do arts and crafts we decided not to. We went to how to increase your metabolism instead, we were going to go to deal or no deal. Didn't make it number one. We got lost number two.  We wouldn't get there on time so we decided at 3:00 we'd go to afternoon tea which was absolutely excellent. We've done that before. After that we went to Qatar and vocals with Gideon. we sat in on a how to walk or how to move your body on metabolism or a couple other little things that you learn about. Lot of it was everything's in your feet so that would ended up being really good. We didn't even have lunch. Didn't think about it. I guess the tea and little cakes was lunch. We did go to a small little band that was doing tribute to Abba which was really good. I had a brand new drink which had vodka and other booze. I bartender  had no idea how she made it . Then we went to Bravo and was that very good? It was songs from the movies. It was really good and now we're trying to get ready for bed and get ready for tomorrow morning. We're going to be in Ketchikan. 

We had a good sunrise for a little bit, but it is so fog right now and there's supposed to be some real good auroras and that's not going to happen. Last night we were kept  awake by the Foghorn every 90 seconds from our ship that had to blow it to be in law with the Marine Rules.

We're staying really busy as you know I will and Mary is too.  I do have pictures up and I kept the blog going. I keep losing Wi-Fi and I keep having the concierge keep my phone  on Wi-Fi. 

Day 4. 9/8/25. Set clock back another hour Kitchican 

CRABS

We had a great day from the time we got up to time of going to bed which was late. We got up early. Got everything done and ready for the bus at 10:20. We went to George inlet and had crabs and boy did we have some. That was the most fun. I ate 19 Crab legs. They weren't the king crabs. They were just the smaller crabs. Sure was good that took us to 1:00. We were back on the ship and took  took off at 2:00.

We went back to the room to rest just a few minutes and then was on the go again with somebody that was singing, visiting some shops and had ice cream which spoiled our supper so we didn't go until 7:00. That's late for both of us. Came back to  the room and watched gorgeous scenery going past it but still no whales. I was looking through binoculars and saw little bear climb a tree that was kind of neat but it was too far away for the naked eye. We're going through a whole bunch of islands. It's getting a little chilly at 60° so we came in and went downstairs to eat and then a show that was really good. It was a guy that just did all kinds of things he sang and played with the audience.  We're now ready for bed and ready for a big day tomorrow in Juneau 

DAY 5,  9/9/25.  Juneau gold panning

We had a great time today. It was busy. We got up, had breakfast and headed out for the gold panning. They say to dress warm. We did and it was perfect. We dressed just perfect for 50° weather. A lot went into gold  Panning, it was amazing. 

We got back at 1:00. There was so much more we could do in Juneau so we decided to look around downtown and saw Booth that said whale  sightings. Guaranteed for a sighting come on with us now and it was only 169 bucks so we did it. We didn't have anything with us except what we wore. Didn't take a backpack with water etc. just winged it. We got to see about six whales. A Whole lot of other boats are out there at the same time. I was kind of interesting. It was kind of raining Misty and the air was cold but we were still dressed for it. I'm glad I didn't go gold mining for a living. That was scary coming back in though,  the boat had a whole lot of trouble. It looked like the broken  alternator belt. Three gals we're running the boat. She did a good job bringing the boat to the dock. It just made us late for our dinner. We finally got back to the ship and had dinner an hour and a half later.

One thing that's been happening I can't walk real well and  can barely get up to stand up due to my knees and everybody's so kind. They Let us go forward or help me, this guy Helped  me get the off the pier so I wouldn't fall into the water. It's been amazing what some people do for you. 

We had dinner , had a drink and went to the room to go to bed. We'll Grab a very early breakfast in the  morning tomorrow and have a very long day on a train. 

DAY 6.   9/10/25. Skagway train to white pass

We got up 2 hours earlier this morning to do something that was really worth it. We went on a train to white pass,  up in the mountains. It's real, foggy, cloudy and rainy but it was well worth the trip. It's so cool. I have over 300 pictures I'm going through. But first I have to wait for them to download to Google. I Have a bunch of videos of waterfalls and different things like the the rivers and the granite. That is just superb.

Since it was raining, we didn't do anything more but go back up to the room and watch people walk in the rain to their ship.  We went to see the  guy that won the Iterarod in 2023 with his dogs that he trained and he brought little puppies that everybody could see with him so it was a packed place. I don't know why they hold these things in such a tight little place, but it's driving me nuts. They've done that before. It's one of the things I'm going to complain about. This ship is laid out pretty well and I like it a lot. It'd be hard to choose from Royal Caribbean or Princess. I'm Very pleased with it.

We went  to dinner than to the show tonight which wasn't nearly as good as Monday nights show.

So far we haven't found the Sun. It's still disappearing and there's no Aurora because there's no stars. It's just clouds and a lot of them. 

I worked on pictures after the show tonight,  but still have a lot to sort out. I'm posting everything I took and will delete later. I'll also label them so you can tell what it is. 

Tomorrow is going to be special. 

DAY 7.. 9/11/25. Glacier Bay

Today was a highlight. Well, at least for right now. We still have a couple days yet to go. 

Today was the highlight of the week, so far. That can change we have till 17th before going home. We went to glacier Bay today and saw a lot of melting glaciers. It rained all morning. The temp is 61 but felt colder. Fabulous sightings. The sun came out later and we had park rangers on the ship to tell details about the glaciers. It took all day and we're headed to another area of glaciers tomorrow. It's been a fabulous day. I'll post the picts later tonight they have to download to Google. It's been a very relaxing day. 

I'm posting pictures as I take them but there's so many that it takes awhile with slow wifi.

We had dinner at 7 and called a night. We started rocking and rolling with some high seas about 3:00. It's not as bad as some trips that we've had, but at least we feel it. Makes it hard to walk but it's fun trying to stay up on two feet. We skipped the show tonight and we have to pack tomorrow. Got other things that we have planned So stay tuned. I'm still working on commenting on each picture that might take a while.

 Day 8... 9/12/25. College afjord

It's still cloudy.  Temps  around 55°. We'd all like to see the sun again. We're beginning to think there isn't one. 

We arrived at college fjord around 6:00pm and what a beauty the fog lifted. Just enough to be able to see all glaciers. They named them one by one but I never did get all the names. We'll have to look up a chart with all the names on it. I took photos of them all and they're all on the the website for photos which is listed on top of the blog.

We had a really great dinner and then went to bed because we had to be up by 6:00 a.m. Tomorrow morning. It was a very  relaxing day of packing unpacking packing because we had to have two separate suitcases to take with us to Denali that was hard to pack. What do you keep with you at all times and  what gets shipped on into Anchorage. 

Day 9...9/13/25.  Train to Denali 

We had to be up and out of the ship room by 7:00 this morning so we're pretty tired tonight. What a day this has been. The sun came out about 10:00 and we were on the train by 9:00 :00. So it looked gorgeous just from the start and we saw four eagles and some swans. Nothing major. I was really hoping for a moose but that didn't happen but we had a really wonderful time and it was 10 hours on the the train instead of the five that they told us. We did get two meals out of it though. 

I took over 350 pictures and they're downloading so it'll be a while before I get that done so I can post them. I put them directly to Google then I'll able to copy to the Alaska album. We did get to see Mt. McKinley so we're thrilled about that. Plus almost every mountain range there is. There was a couple with the tippy tops that was in the clouds, but well worth it. They had a 2 to 4 in of brand new snow in the top of these mountains up here in Denali so that made it really special. But oh, is it cold? We went from 50° to 31. We aren't sure tonight. We got here at about 9:00 pm. We went to get something to eat before we did anything else before the restaurant closed. This is the place that's owned by by Princess so everything's geared to only passengers for Princess. Pretty nice. We're now in the motel room for the next three nights and I've set up a text for Aurora's if they happen. That way I don't have to wake up every half hour looking out the window. It's cloudy tonight so I doubt if we see them but you never know. We have  4 days coming up with all kinds of things to do so we'll see what happens.

Day 10....9/14/25. History and puppies

We got up early and tried to find breakfast, that wasn't easy because one of the restaurants was closed. We finally went to the main building and got a little snack thing because we had to be on the bus 9:30 for a history tour of Alaska. They really know how to do it here. They do very very well with explaining. We even got to talk to a native that's been here and he  said they're losing a lot of their languages and teachings of the past really good. We also went to the tundra. That was really neat. Were looking for animals and of course we still haven't seen moose or a bear 

There hasn't been our much round but things are closing fast every time something comes up. Oh this is my last trip or this is my last meeting with everybody and the trains are starting to shut down and the buses are shutting down. It's just really getting quiet around here. It was 24° when we got up and it was 48 tonight. It's really nice. It's kind of drizzly which means it's snowing in the mountains again. Boy is that ever pretty? I've got a whole lot of pictures I'm putting up today again so please check them out. Let me know if you're not getting  them because you have to have the Google photos and I thought you had it from the last trip.

Tonight we got to play with puppies that were on the Iterarod. Lady and her husband and the kids all have a bunch of dogs and they train and they've been in the  race a few times. Very very informative day.

Remember you can still get on Google maps and follow me wherever I go so you got me on that too. Today you see that I went way up the mountains way up. Or maybe not, there's no phone or wifi once we travel. 

Getting down the last day of doing things is tomorrow and we decided to go to a musical at another hotel so we'll be doing that. It's Holland American. 

I guess the cruise ships built these cool resorts. Just  more expensive to eat. I'll tell you that. Guess that's it for today. I'm tired at 11:00. We got to be back up and out the door by 8:00 in the morning 

DAY 11... 9/15/25. Monday.  Denali musical

We got early again for a class in glass. We made key chains using cut class etching. It was 45 min and so neat. The lady will send them to me. There were 8  In the class so we all had a good time. It was 34° this morning. After that we got a really good breakfast. One of the diners is still open here. The restaurants are starting to close down so they don't have very many cooks, workers  or tables open anymore. It's just really odd. It's getting real quiet. Lots of the shops are closing now too. Everything will be gone and out of here on the 18th. In fact, they're closing down the hotel room that we're staying in as of tomorrow, so every time somebody moves out  it's closed for the year. 

We came back to our room and repacked for the trip out tomorrow. We have to be out of here by 7:30 in the morning. I'll find something to eat along the way. I'm not sure just where yet. Probably the main building that we've been going The past 3 days. We did some shopping in the two shops that were open.  Prices are extremely high so we didn't buy much. I did get a magnet and I got something for my sister that's it. Can't afford it. Funny thing everything is but one get one free or half price. Still not worth it for me.

And after we got through packing we just went to sleep for a couple hours. Can't get any better than that when you're dead Tired.  We left around 4:00 to go to the Denali musical in another building but we had shuttle  take us there. That was really terrific. So when you see the pictures of actors singing or doing whatever it was dinner and show. they did the  real neat story about Denali it was really good. Came back home and went to bed because we have  to get up really early in the morning. 

DAY 12.. 9/16/25. Travel to Anchorage 

We had to be up real early this morning. In fact, we had to be out of our room by 7:00 a.m. we also had to get some breakfast and get down and loaded on the bus to take us to Anchorage.

We found a quick breakfast and got on the bus and took some pictures when it was real pretty and I slept. I  just wanted to get rested up.  The trip was 5 hours long. We got to Anchorage about 2:00 and  it's about 50° so it's a big difference from when we left at 24 degrees. It looked like rain and we had a little bit so that means more snow up in the mountains. Anchorage is a busy place. We found our room which is 11 stories up in one of 3 towers and overlooking the water. I'm really hoping we get northern   lights tonight but I doubt it. It's really cloudy. We found a bar that we ate at which was so good. The food was excellent. It's like a homie bar everyone knows everyone. There's 71 bars in just Anchorage alone for 300,000 people.  we didn't get to see a moose. We haven't seen the Northern lights and tonight's our last chance for that. We're not sure what we're going to get into tomorrow,  we have to be out of the room by 11:00 and we don't leave until 8:13 tomorrow night for Dallas, Texas. We get into Texas at 5:15 in the morning. Leave at 8:30 in the morning for home. 

It's been a fun day including  5 hours on the bus.

I'll do a full wrap up of the trip  probably Friday since I'll be on a plane all night tomorrow night.

DAY 13... 9/17/25. Waiting in hotels for flight

We didn't have to get up early. We stayed around the room for quite a while then went down for breakfast and then packed up our stuff and went down and sat in the lobby from 11:00 to 6:00 and watched people come in and out and all the cruise people leaving at different times a lot of them we knew from first day we went into the ship. We both slept about a while too so that helped. We're also working on our pictures that we took and kind of clean them up a little bit from some of the reflections off of Windows. 

DAY 14 ....  9/18/25  Travel back home 10 hour flights

We had a great breakfast at the hotel. We didn't feel like walking anywhere so we sat in the lobby of the hotel watching people. We heard that American Airlines were having trouble getting people their luggage tags so was suggested we go early with another group so we did. It was a good thing we did, no people at the counters,  all kiosk and they didn't work. We had plenty of time to get on both flights so it was ok. We did leave at 8:13pm and an all night flight. We arrived in Dallas/Ft Worth at 5:30am.  Left for Ft Walton at 8:30am.  I slept the whole flight except for a crying baby. We got home at 11am. I put everything on the floor got a sandwich and went to bed.  We were up for more then 28 hours. I slept sound for four hours.  

Bill from the chatroom came by for a few minutes and had a great visit. Thanks for coming by so glad it all worked out. 

                                                    Dee, Kim and Bill

Here's my thoughts on the whole trip!

It was wonderful and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, just not tomorrow. 

We didn't get to see Moose, the northern lights, and bears. The bears have hibernated.

All the shops, restaurants have now closed, so glad we were the last ones to visit, the stores had half price or buy one and get one free. 

We packed pretty well for all kinds of weather, neither of us had much that we didn't use. 

One thing interesting.  Our deck on the ship was 11, the floor in Anchorage hotel was 11.  Our tours were 111 or 11 for most of them. A little bird sat on our balcony for a bit. And a lamp came on and off in the motel room.  Yep, Jim was with me every step of the way. 

Now to get some sleep and get back to normal activities.