Alaska - Day 11.5 & 12

Saturday, August 9, 2008 - During our final day of sailing, Dennis, Shari and Beth went to play bingo. Jack was still swimming. Meanwhile, Mom and I looked through the near 500 photos I took during the trip. It took a while to look at them using the slide show feature.

Our bingo players returned and we had one big winner. Beth won the Snowball Prize but had to share it. It pretty much paid for our bar bill for the week. After collecting the winnings and eating dinner, we returned to our cabin. The question came up... now what?

Buffy went for a walk. Later I got a call. "Come on up to the Ocean Bar," said Buffy, "the whole gang is up here." So I head on up for I guess would be one last drink with our favorite bartenders. It would turn out to be last several drinks.

We were to have our bags packed and ready to be picked up by 1am. And they were not kidding. I barely had enough time to get everything in my bag by that time. I would learn I should have left the bar sooner, for more reasons than this.

Sunday, August 10, 2008 - The Volendam was to dock in Vancouver at 7am and we were to disembark at 8am. Buffy woke up to take a shower and get cleaned up. I was hungover and slept in until about 7:30am. We finally left the ship and went through Customs with no problems. After picking up our bags, we were in our final bus line for a ride to the airport. I had to leave the line on a couple of occasions. What the hell was I thinking the night before when I had 2 buckets of Heineken?

Finally, Dennis gave up on the bus ride to the airport. He scoped out the taxi line, which was moving very rapidly. And a taxi would deliver us to the correct part of the airport. So we left the bus line for a taxi. That turned out to be a wise move... especially for me.

We were going to try to meet Matt Astel, but everyone was anxious to leave and Matt was at least 20 minutes away from the airport. So our get together was scrubbed and we were soon airborne bound for Peoria.

Once home, the remainder of the day was spent on the couch, then the bed, watching the Olympics.

This was definitely a trip worth taking. Beth and I highly enjoyed it. I really wasn't in too much of a hurry to return home. While my Mom enjoyed it, she was OK with higher temperatures and getting back home; all the travel was a little hard for her. Shari liked it except for all the cold. I doubt Dennis will be back on a cruise, though he wants to visit Prudoe Bay. And I think all Jack will remember is the pool.

And so ends the 2008 Alaska Travelogue Blog.

Photo Info:
Top: Myself, Dennis, Beth and Shari for our last call at the Ocean Bar
Bottom: Our bartenders at the Ocean Bar on the ms Volendam, from left to right, "Dan the Man," Edward and "Auggie."