Relax and enjoy!

We just returned from our first-ever cruise. After over a year of planning, saving, and anticipation, we made our way to the pier and boarded a beautiful cruise ship for eight days and seven nights of cruising along the west coast of Canada to visit Alaska.

It is amazing how time slows down when you are on a cruise. We were able to relax and enjoy the experience from start to finish. Okay, maybe not every moment of the trip was relaxing. Getting to and from the pier was a bit crazy, to put it mildly, and it was challenging sometimes when dealing with crowds and lines. We were traveling with family, too, so keeping seven people together at the right place and the right time was at times easier said than done.

The goal of the trip, however, was to relax and enjoy the cruise, the sights, and the people we were sharing it all with, and that was most definitely accomplished. We loved the easy pace of cruising. The ship we were on featured "freestyle cruising," so there was great freedom in deciding where to eat, when, and who to eat with, which made it great for getting the family together for most meals even if we were doing different things during the day.

There were a number of excursions available to choose from in the various ports along the way. The hard part was deciding what to do at each stop; there were more things to do than time to do them, and of course there needed to be time for shopping at each stop. Since it was our first trip to Alaska, we opted to focus on glaciers, history, and wildlife.

Our first stop was in Juneau. The main event there was a visit to the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau,  with a stop to enjoy all-you-can-eat salmon, one of my favorites. (Did I mention the food throughout the trip was amazing? Wow!)

Then a stop in Skagway with the highlight of the journey, a ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railway narrow gauge train--we love trains and have been looking forward to this particular ride since we first heard of it. The train ride more than lived up to our expectations; there is scenery that you can see no other way than by riding the train or going on foot, and the history and information provided on the train brought some of the history of the area to life.

After a quick bite in one of the local eateries, we boarded a Skagway street car for a tour of the city and some additional history. What a hoot! The tour guide/driver was so good, she kept the entire group laughing and entertained while we learned more about Skagway, both past and present. Rosie brought the raucous, bawdy history of Skagway to life, as well as giving us a peek into life in a small community that has to have virtually everything brought in by ship. We saw a sign along the side of the road in Skagway that has stuck with me: "Worry is a bad waste of good imagination." How true!

Next was a day of cruising through Glacier Bay after a brief pause to let some rangers board the ship in order to provide information on what we were seeing. The glaciers that are visible from a cruise ship are incredible to see, and the rangers gave great narration along the way as well as answering questions that people had. Their love for the area came through clearly and made us all appreciate it more.

The last stop in Alaska was Ketchikan, where an early morning arrival meant an early trip out to see the wildlife in the Misty Fjords by way of a jet-powered boat. We were all groaning about getting up so early, but after waking up to a bit of drizzle, the weather turned beautiful and we saw more wildlife than we could have hoped for. The naturalist who was on board to point out wildlife and give information on what we might see on the trip commented again and again on the unusual things we saw: more harbor seals and pups on the beach than she had ever seen in the area, then orcas that did not just surface once or twice before disappearing but jumped repeatedly and seemed to be performing for the boat. There were eagles in the air, in the trees, and on the beach, so many that we lost track of how many we saw. We did not regret having to get up and about early at all because of everything we were able to see on the trip.

Our final stop on the cruise was in Victoria, Canada, on Vancouver Island. Since we have visited Victoria many times, we chose to stay on board the ship and enjoy some of the many amenities that we had not had time to before A nice workout in the well-equipped fitness center was followed by a swim in the heated pool (the pool was heated, but the air had a definite briskness to it!) and a little time in the hot tub and the steam room. After taking time to freshen up, we wandered down to the French restaurant on board that always seemed to be busy and were able to have a leisurely dinner there before going back to our stateroom to pack.

All too soon the trip ended where it began, in Seattle. Now it is back to the normal routine, with jobs and household chores and the pressures of everyday life. We all need to make time in our busy schedules to relax and enjoy the moment, whether it is on a vacation or by taking a few minutes out to smell the flowers and see the beauty all around us. Doing so restores the soul and brings refreshment to the spirit. Alaska is an amazing place; our biggest regret is that we did not have far more time to spend in each place along the way, so we are already looking forward to visiting again someday. May you find a way to make room in your life to relax and enjoy; it will restore and refresh you in ways you do not expect.

June 22, 2008