do you know how much I can NOT do when I have the time?

I’ve had the past two weeks off, under the auspices of the Start of Kindergarten. Back at the beginning of the year, before we knew which school the Magpie would attend and how the start of school would be structured, I needed to schedule these highly sought after days off, just in case. As it turned out, she not only got into the school we were hoping for, but they started full-time on the second day of school.

So, I’ve had past week and a half in which I could, theoretically, mass edit the last year’s worth of photographs, clean, purge the pile of holy crap company’s coming so throw this all in the computer room/basement, get a hair cut, clean some more, paint the hall and – hey why not! – start getting my photo projects organized too.

To date, I got that hair cut.

I have also had several lunch dates, coffee dates, walks in the woods, shopping trips and times spent amusing the cat. I have been working on the school routine, supplies, uniforms and all the paperwork that comes with it. I have sent my parents photos of her first day of school. I have taken the time to do nothing. I have taken the time to start kindergarten sanely.

Honestly, the whole kindergarten process and been underwhelming and stressful all at once. I have no idea what I’m doing – in terms of meeting expectations – as it’s only the second week and the school is still getting the expectations distributed. And I’m still figuring out what SigOther’s, the Magpie’s and my own expectations are. We’re winging it during a designated grace period with the underlying fear that comes from being in the dark even though we know there’s nothing to trip over and there are tonnes of folks around looking out for you. The school’s not worried, so I’m not. Mostly.

But the kid is loving school. There is no concern about that. She’s bringing home questions, songs and stories. She has friends she plays with. She has a teacher she hugs every morning. She’s exhausted every night and wants to go back to school every day. She has already confused SigOther with the four phrases of French she’s learned. She is keeping very busy and involved.

She’s more than making up for my slacking this past week and a half.

Day 7: The Last Minute

It’s the final full day of the cruise and we spent the entire day at sea, with a vessel full of folks who have spent the last week getting used to doing stuff. It was a wee bit hectic. The only saving grace is that we switched our clocks and hour ahead last night and we had to have an early start to the day to meet appointments. So we were some of the very few up for breakfast and we started the day lightly. Afterward, we checked out the photos that had been taken by ship staff and debated the merit of each one. Having waited until the last-minute to find out if there were any last-minute shots, it was the time to pick and choose. Now, why some were only available in the 8×10 format and others were available in 5×7 or 8×10 is still a mystery but, of course, the ones we wanted were big. Also a mystery: the best shot of me ever is the one in which SigOther is looking at the camera like he’s staring into the sun while eating a lemon as his more tender regions are attacked by piranhas. I got that photo anyway. I can scan and crop.

By 915am, the Magpie hit the kids’ club so SigOther and I could hit the spa. We had a steam room/ mud session booked and fully intended to relax away the past few days. Body scrubs, muds, steam and skin care later, we sat on a warm stone seat with a glass of champagne before picking up our child from her Toy Story boot camp; we were steamed clean and rubber-muscled while she was wearing camo face paint and dog tags, calling left, left, left, right, left! down the hall back to our room.

The next last-minute event involved the shops: a souvenir for each of us. Any and all Ladies’ Medium sized anything were gone, but I managed to convince myself that these were a bit more generously sized clothes and bought a small sleep shirt anyway. SigOther and the Magpie each picked a shirt of their own and the Magpie also came away with a watch and some pirate tattoos.

She then later – much later, in exhaustion at bedtime when she saw Minnie of tv –  questioned why she did not get the Minnie Mouse dress that she wanted… (um, because it cost a small fortune??)

After a light lunch it was time to pack and chill out. We are getting of the boat tomorrow. Early. Damn early. With plans to take advantage of the express disbark debark disembowel disembark get off the boat option, we have to be the first ones at the door and there will time to pack in the morning. There were opportunities to do more and more things today – as there has been throughout the cruise – that we haven’t taken advantage of. Our friends have taken their girl around for multiple character meets, events, shows and photos. We’ve attended some. This was another day where we parted ways and we stayed in the cabin and took the quieter route for a few hours. After the worst of the organizing was done in a relatively sane manner, it was time for the Magpie to go to the kids’ club to prepare for their final extravaganza: a show put on for the parents.

I napped.

I did manage to get up in time, though, to get to the main show theatre with SigOther and find a great seat. We watched several hundred little critters dance (and I use the term loosely) on stage with their counsellors, Mickey and Minnie while photos of the time spent in the club flashed across the screen. We even get to keep the t-shirt that each little kid wore for the performance. It was adorable and fun and very, very Disney. I swear they’re recruiting them already.

And then it was time for the last supper.

Having eaten lightly all day, we were prepared for a final stuffing. But I think the kitchen has these things all figured out as this dinner seemed to be lighter and back on proportion. It was just as amazingly tasty and perfect as the dinners we’ve had this entire week and it was a great way to end the cruise.

We watched the final theatrical show as it was broadcast on tv, did the just-before-the-last-minute packing and caught the local orca whales and porpoises on the camera before getting the Magpie to bed.

While filling out the comment card, we came to the question of how likely we were to take another Disney cruise in the next five years. I am Undecided. SigOther is Very Likely. This is, really, a floating resort. A big, crazy floating resort with the potential to be very overwhelming. There are spots of sanity, but you have to find them and, in some cases, pay for them. The port time are short and sweet but left me feeling like I’d missed out with the brevity. Would I take a shorter cruise – perhaps Vancouver to San Francisco – instead of, say, a flight? Absolutely. But I’m not sure about a full cruise vacation. It was awesome. The ship, the amenities and the staff were all amazing. And now I can say I’ve been there, done that.

Next year, we’re going camping.

Day 6: everybody off the boat!

July 24, 2011

The ship hauled ass last night, through narrows and straits, past outcroppings and glaciers and amidst winds and swells. It was a noisy, rolling night and no one woke fresh this morning – least of all me. We had our character breakfast this morning with Disney icons making their rounds to the tables for autographs and photo ops. I had lots and lots of coffee. I think our waiter is getting worried about our new-found intent to eat like normal people and has begun putting extra, unordered food on my plate. I didn’t eat it anyway and simply drank another cup of coffee.

Oh, coffee. The stuff on board is weak, nearly flavoured and, even black, I can drink it like water. That’s not a good thing. I broke down and ordered my first specialty coffee today, for which I had to pay. It was okay, but probably tasted better than it would have on any Vancouver day. SigOther’s tea was more expensive that my mocha. Okay, he did get a bodum of loose leaves, but it’s still a bit steep (no pun intended). I am dearly looking forward to brewing my own Ethical Beans when I get home.

Today we rolled into Ketchikan just before noon. The morning was spent wandering the ship, watching for a few elusive killer whales and letting the girls play in the kids’ club. I am behaving myself and not spending a small fortune for a shitty internet connection to go online and try to update my statuses without making reference to the fact that I’m on vacation and my house is empty. So I typed, SigOther read and we watched the houses become denser and the cloud cover become heavier as we approached dock. Ketchikan was the last stop on our trip, yet we almost didn’t get off the boat. Tired travellers, wind, rain and the fact that our berth was the unqualified farthest from the downtown core made the effort to get off the boat a little more difficult. But we rallied and disembarked to make the trek through the drizzle and through a tunnel to the shops and sights. Since no one wanted to wander aimlessly through jewellery stores again, we hit the tourist centre and found out the way to the hatchery and eagle centre center. The route passed through the boardwalked Creek Street and Fox Bay Lodge, with its totem poles and, conveniently, a restaurant. It also meant another tram ride up the side of a hill. At lunch, we soon realised that the kids weren’t going to make it on the final leg of the walk and decided to return, instead, through a series of treetop trails back to the shops and boats.

Ketchikan by far has their act together better when it comes to the tourist experience. We didn’t get into Juneau and, honestly, we in no way felt compelled to visit Juneau. We were told that the shopping area was a segregated section of town and it appeared to be a strip of shops no different from those we saw in Skagway. This is, based on our complete lack of town experience, a horribly unfair assessment of the city of Juneau. But Ketchikan felt much approachable, friendly and alive. With Juneau’s population spread out over thousands of square miles, it felt vast and rural. And that was the appeal there. Ketchikan was more condensed and felt lived in, yet still with amazing wilderness all around. Despite our original misgivings, we were all glad that we had made the trip in.

SigOther, the girls and our friends took in a matinée, leaving me with a top deck 360 photo-op of our last port of call and a camera with a full card that needed culling. Having taken the final few photos, I returned to the room and couldn’t bring myself to open the computer. My legs were sore from yesterday’s hike up the mountain and our cabin is woefully inadequate for stretching. So I got changed and headed up to the fitness centre in the hopes that I could snag a spot on the floor to stretch out or, barring that, a chaise to relax with a foot massager. Bonus: on arrival there was one other woman stretching and one guy lifting weights and there were mats laid out. After a few minutes, the staff asked if we (myself and the other woman) were there for the yoga class. It was only 30 minutes but it covered all the ground I needed.

Back and geared up for dinner, the Magpie nearly fell asleep as we were getting ready. But ready we got – semi-formal for the captain’s dinner – and off we headed for lobster and seafood. As with all the other sit-down dinners, the adults menu was nothing short of amazing. The girls ate, but not much, as has been their route. They are smarter than the rest of us. We appalled our server when no one ordered dessert this evening, not even the girls. The youngsters ended the night at the kids’ club and the adults got through a bottle of Catena malbec before we took the two kids for their 2^nd sleep over.

I have copied over 2,000 photos from my camera to the computer and have spent the last 30 minutes randomly deleting obvious duplicates so that I might have some room for any photo ops tomorrow. Redundancy is good. But it’s time consuming.

It’s 9:45pm and they’re both fast asleep. We just have to try to move them out of our bed and then all should be well.

Day 5: Wilderness…ish

July 23, 2011

I just picked up the bedside clock in an effort to face the overwhelming backlighting away from me. I somehow hit a combination of buttons that reset it to midnight…

Fortunately, we don’t need to be at our special character breakfast until 8am tomorrow morning, so we should be okay.

After writing last night, I sat out on the balcony for over an hour, just watching the mountains and ocean glide by. It was amazingly relaxing and I was looking forward to having more rocks and trees around me today, in Juneau. But first, we had to get off the boat.

We have given up on eating at the big buffet near the top and on from the pool-side offerings. For some reason, the free-for-all, cafeteria style buffet appeals to the masses. There are always one or two other facilities open for breakfast and lunch. Seated, calmer and less buffet like. But at least the food in the crazy buffet generally has some very good options. In a facility where the dining can be phenomenal, the pool side burgers, pizza, chicken strips and fries are bizarrely awful. Even the kids’ menu in the main dining is a bit sketchy: starchy, bland and processed. We’ve asked the Magpie to order some of the bigger kid options and, today, she shared my lunch dish.

But I digress. Sufficed to say, we’ve figured out how to eat well and within the physical bounds of our stomachs.

This morning, I started off upstairs on the treadmill with a view of Juneau out the window. Fifty minutes later, I discovered the fitness centre showers. Having returned to the safety of our room to shower in days past, I stayed upstairs today and it was incredibly worth it: the fitness centre showers are amazing compared to our lowly stateroom. If that is representative of gyms in general (and I’m doubtful…), I would be willing to hang out on treadmills more…

But, no time for that. After breakfast, we loaded up our bags and cameras and made our way off the boat, stopping by for a photo-op with Donald Duck on the way. We had selected a tram ride up Mt. Roberts as our excursion for the day – we deemed it along the same lines as the Grouse Mountain tram and park area – for the walk and non-shopping component.

We got to the top of the tram and visited with the injured bald eagle who was representing the raptor centre before taking a wander up the trails that led further up Mt. Roberts. The girls climbed a few trees and wandered the paths for a bit until they became tired: that didn’t take long. It certainly didn’t take long enough for me, when there were trail markers telling me there were so many lookouts and viewings just around the corners. So, with blessings, I forged ahead while the remainder of my group wandered the lower trails back to the gift shop and restaurant. I returned the water bottle to SigOther, lest the Magpie got thirsty.

I walked up past several lookouts and a sign that warned me not to go further unless I have good shoes (check), water (um…) and was prepared to stay the night (my boat was leaving in 6 hours…so, no). There was even a line of stones in the trail that mocked my crossing of the invisible barrier to my certain embarrassment when I was the lone hiker to delay an entire cruise ship with my folly of getting lost in the wide open fields above the treeline.

Though I saw no large, carnivorous, rugged Alaskan mammals (two-legged or four), there were plenty of skittish songbirds, butterflies, blue-bottle flies and mosquitoes to keep me company. There were several other tourists venturing beyond the lower trails and locals as well, the latter of which made me more interested in continuing the hike. I mean, if the locals enjoyed the walk up, then surely it was worthy.

The trail kept going. I stopped when I reached my first patch of snow. I would have loved to continue but not without having communication with the remaining party below first. And lunch. Which I did not pack. But my sanity had been restored. Even this small piece of sanitized wilderness was enough to take the edge off. Too many people and too much boat had begun to get to me. A few rocks under my feet and greenery around me has made all the difference today. But I had to leave it before the family – and the boat – left me.

no one would hike up with me, so I had to take my own damn photo

On my return, I found SigOther and the Magpie in the gift shop, just getting ready to consider their next move (find me or leave me). We wandered around a few more minutes to pick up our token Alaskan wares and headed back to the ship for a late lunch. No one was up for wandering the streets looking at more jewellery shops.

Though, based on the view from the boat and the view from Mt. Roberts, Juneau is a gorgeous town. Time and travel permitting, I would love to be able to visit the town and area itself – without the cruise, without the kitsch, without the rush. It felt like Yellowknife and looks like British Columbia.

The afternoon passed: from the top deck, we watched a hang glider soar above Mt. Roberts while we played cards. The girls and dads went swimming while the moms took in some of the northern sun that has yet to grace Vancouver this summer. We went back in with a little time to spare before readying ourselves for pirate night. With makeup, head scarves, feather swords and tattoos in place, we managed to eat proportionate meals and get out of dinner with our guts intact. The Magpie wanted to go for pirate stories at the kids’ club and we said goodnight to our friends before heading our separate ways.

Watching whales splash and dive in front our cabin’s veranda as the light faded on the snow-capped mountains ended the evening before we brought the Magpie back to bed.

Day 4: gluttony. I believe that’s the second deadly sin

July 22, 2011

We have already lost track of the days (okay, I’d lost track of the days back on day 2, but that’s me). The days are so broken up, the meals run together and scenery is a lot of gorgeous oceans and mountains with little context. I am going to have a lot of great photos that all look an awful lot alike…

Some time last night, our ship made its way up another narrow passage and docked in Skagway, Alaska. A mere stones’ throw from Canada, but Alaska none-the-less. We awoke at a reasonable hour and, after SigOther took his turn at a bit of exercise and a dip in the hot tub, we went for breakfast to fortify ourselves for the epic 3 block walk into the town hamlet side-streets village of Skagway.

Nested on the waters’ edge at the base of rugged, pine-spotted hills, its entire existence would appear to be based on selling semi-precious gemstones and northern-esque trinkets to sea-legged tourists either before or after they travel around the hilltops and glaciers by one of the many local helicopters or passenger trains. Home to just shy of 900 people, I feel it very unlikely that many of the residents are actually locals. I guess it’s no better or worse than the populace in, say, Whistler or any other town whose livelihood is based solely on the (in)discretionary spending of others.

no, this has nothing to do with Hogwarts...

Despite my threats, I came away with no new jewellery. I have tumbled stones and quartz crystals, along with a small ball of musk ox based yarn. It’s amazing stuff – though pricey when not blended – and I’ll have to find some new, smaller needles and the where-with-all to attempt the accompanying scarf pattern.

After a slow wander from one end of town to the other and back, we found a few seals and a martin near the docks before boarding by noon. Lunch was followed by a swim and some down-time before supper.

Tonight, SigOther and I had a supper on the top deck – the adults’ restaurant. We had a spectacular table right at the back of the boat in the widow with a late afternoon view on the inlet and surrounding mountains. Dinner ended just as the ship left the docks and began to make its turn to head back for inside passage. The Magpie is spending the evening in the neighbouring cabin with her friend (so far so good, as I type this) and we will be returning the favour by hosting her friend for a sleepover on Day 6. They made a walk around the deck and waved at us through the window before resuming their evening tour of the boat.

This whole cruise has been a big change of scenery for both of them and the Magpie has commented several times how much she misses her day care friends. We spent time at a small playground in Skagway today that the Magpie was thrilled to find: something familiar. The ship is truly big and epic, in every way possible.

And, as with everything on the ship, the dining experience is big and epic. We discovered earlier today that we are done eating. Seriously done. Why do we feel compelled to order appetizers, mains and desserts with every dinner and even today’s sit down lunch? Just because we’re ordering salads and seafood doesn’t mean the portion size is anywhere near appropriate. And then we went for dinner tonight, where the suggestion was to order extras, sides, desserts, coffees… even more! Sure, it’s a great deal, but we both left to come back to our room and literally beach ourselves on the bed, each seriously contemplating the merits and pitfalls of ipecac (which we don’t have on us and would be hard pressed to get without explanation, I’m sure… or, given the over-dining options, perhaps not).

Three days of gluttony has run its course. We’re on the homebound stretch and the new plan involves eating a lot more reasonably. We’ve been good, really and, yes, we’re on vacation. But I’m not into eating myself ill at any time. That’s no good for us or the Magpie.

Tomorrow morning, I’m calling dibs on the fitness room. And then we go to Juneau.