On Thursday, November 16, Grant and I flew from Long Beach to Sacramento, and then drove up to Lake Tahoe. (We rented the same type of car we had in Orlando last summer. ) Also, the car had satellite radio, which was awesome.
It was freezing in Tahoe! We stayed at the Marriott vacation club there. Our room was extra cool because it had a fireplace. Once we checked in, we drove over to Harrah's and had dinner, and then went to Raley's to do some grocery shopping.
The next day, we lounged about in the morning, and then walked to Harrah's and ate at their buffet for lunch. Their buffet is on the top floor of the hotel and has floor to ceiling windows that have spectacular views of the lake and the mountains. After our late lunch we walked around through the area and down to the lake.
On Saturday, we checked out of our hotel and drove to Chico. We checked into the Marriott Residence Inn. Then we drove over to see Grant's old apartment, and then we walked around Cal State Chico. - Wow - what a beautiful campus! This was my favorite part of the trip because I have always wanted to see where Grant spent his first year of college. The town is beautiful - I can't believe he ever left - although I am certainly thankful that he did!
We had dinner at his favorite Chinese restaurant which was really very good!
On Sunday, we left Chico and drove back to Sacramento. We had all afternoon, so we went to the capital building which was very interesting - I loved seeing where the meetings are held in the big galleries. I think it would be awesome to see it when it is in session!
When it got dark, we went to Old Town Sacramento, and walked around, buying some candy, looking at the trains, and eating dinner.
Our flight home was short and sweet, and our landing at Orange County was super bumpy. Right in the middle of the plane braking, our row's oxygen masks popped out of the overhead compartment! How funny! Only our row!
What a relaxing weekend - a nice way to chill before the end of the trimester and report card time!
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Universal Studios mini trip
The weekend of October 13 - 15, Grant and I spent a the weekend at the Universal Shereton Hotel. Our October date was the Universal Halloween Horror Night, and we decided to just make a weekend out of it.
On Saturday we had lunch at the Saddle Ranch Chop House just outside Universal Studios - OH MY GOD, they had the best sweet potato casserole in the world as a side dish.
We spent about 4 hours in the park and then went back to our hotel to rest before the evening's events.
Universal Halloween Horror Nights was fun - but nothing compared to Knott's, of course. However, one really cool thing was the maze that was down on the movie lot - through the "war of the World"/"Ghost Whisperer" plane crash set, and the Bates motel... so cool!
It was a nice weekend - It was great to not have to drive there and back on the same day!
On Saturday we had lunch at the Saddle Ranch Chop House just outside Universal Studios - OH MY GOD, they had the best sweet potato casserole in the world as a side dish.
We spent about 4 hours in the park and then went back to our hotel to rest before the evening's events.
Universal Halloween Horror Nights was fun - but nothing compared to Knott's, of course. However, one really cool thing was the maze that was down on the movie lot - through the "war of the World"/"Ghost Whisperer" plane crash set, and the Bates motel... so cool!
It was a nice weekend - It was great to not have to drive there and back on the same day!
Alaska - The rest -
Wednesday, Aug. 30 - Icy Straight, Alaska
This was, quite possibly, one of the coolest ports, because it was so rural and not built up. We tendered in to Icy Straight, and when you get off, the locals greet you and give you a wood chip that they invite you to burn in toe community fire; to become a part of the spirit of Icy Straight. The little town is tiny and cute. The cannery was interesting. However, I really loved the forest walk - the trees were immense, the feeling of calm and peacefulness was so enveloping that you could almost physically notice your heart quieting. So amazingly beautiful.
Today was gray and a bit drizzly, so we went back to the ship a little early.
That evening, we took come casual portraits - one of Grant and I turned out really cute. Dinner was, as usual, delicious. The evening's show was a singer/entertainer named Glenn Smith. He was okay - some of his references Grant and I didn't really get, but it was fun all the way around. They we stayed in the theater for the Love and Marriage game show - which I always love to watch!
Day 6 - Ketchikan
Ketchikan, to me, seemed like it could have been one of my favorite ports. The initial street was lined with the regular cruise port stores, but a street or two back and you were in a cute little town that fused the old fashioned 1898 Gold rush era with modern America. Unfortunately, we didn't get as much time to explore as I would have liked because it was raining pretty hard, and it was windy. Enven with a ponsho on my jeans were soaked after an hour.
SO after a little bit of walking around, we went back on the boat. It was freezing, it was raining... so Grant and I went into the pool and jacuzzi! So fun. This was the first cruise were I ever actually went into the pools, and the salt water really didn't bother me at all. To the contrary, I actually enjoyed the buoyancy it provided!
After our swim we went back to out to our cabin to get ready for dinner which was delicious. Then we saw the production show Piano Man, which I really enjoyed. I love when they play a lot of good music, which they did in this show. (However - no Copa Cobana during the Bari Manilow part!!!)
Tonight was the midnight gala buffet, so of course we went through to take some pictures, and then have a little snack. Chocolate covered strawberries.... yummm...
Friday, Sep 1st.
Our last full day of cruising was through the Inside Passage, which meant much of the afternoon we had land on both sides of the ship. This cruise was very scenic!
After brunch in the WindJammer, we got our Bingo tickets so that we would be ready to play. We walked around the ship, enjoying the views on deck, and then played afternoon bingo, which we lost. We spent part of the afternoon packing - yuck! - and relaxing, and enjoying our balconies. Dinner was wonderful, and the juggler at the farewell show was very talented and very enjoyable. Sigh - I always get sad on the last day!
On Saturday, Sep. 2nd, we got off the ship and Vancouver with no trouble. Our original plan was to check in at the airport and leave our luggage and then rent a car for the day since our flight didn't leave until six. However, due to the way customs works here, you have to take your luggage with you through customs, and once you are through customs you can't leave the airport. Luckily, the rental car we had ordered was all out when we got there, so they gave us a choice of a convertible or a minivan - the minivan of course had plenty of room for all of our stuff.
Armed with Grant's GPS, we explored a bit of downtown Vancouver, with stops at Granville Island Market - and lunch at Bridges, and then a drive around and walk through Stanley Park. Very cool. We had also wanted to check out the University where the 4400 was filmed, but we ran out of time.
Overall, this was a fantastic trip!
This was, quite possibly, one of the coolest ports, because it was so rural and not built up. We tendered in to Icy Straight, and when you get off, the locals greet you and give you a wood chip that they invite you to burn in toe community fire; to become a part of the spirit of Icy Straight. The little town is tiny and cute. The cannery was interesting. However, I really loved the forest walk - the trees were immense, the feeling of calm and peacefulness was so enveloping that you could almost physically notice your heart quieting. So amazingly beautiful.
Today was gray and a bit drizzly, so we went back to the ship a little early.
That evening, we took come casual portraits - one of Grant and I turned out really cute. Dinner was, as usual, delicious. The evening's show was a singer/entertainer named Glenn Smith. He was okay - some of his references Grant and I didn't really get, but it was fun all the way around. They we stayed in the theater for the Love and Marriage game show - which I always love to watch!
Day 6 - Ketchikan
Ketchikan, to me, seemed like it could have been one of my favorite ports. The initial street was lined with the regular cruise port stores, but a street or two back and you were in a cute little town that fused the old fashioned 1898 Gold rush era with modern America. Unfortunately, we didn't get as much time to explore as I would have liked because it was raining pretty hard, and it was windy. Enven with a ponsho on my jeans were soaked after an hour.
SO after a little bit of walking around, we went back on the boat. It was freezing, it was raining... so Grant and I went into the pool and jacuzzi! So fun. This was the first cruise were I ever actually went into the pools, and the salt water really didn't bother me at all. To the contrary, I actually enjoyed the buoyancy it provided!
After our swim we went back to out to our cabin to get ready for dinner which was delicious. Then we saw the production show Piano Man, which I really enjoyed. I love when they play a lot of good music, which they did in this show. (However - no Copa Cobana during the Bari Manilow part!!!)
Tonight was the midnight gala buffet, so of course we went through to take some pictures, and then have a little snack. Chocolate covered strawberries.... yummm...
Friday, Sep 1st.
Our last full day of cruising was through the Inside Passage, which meant much of the afternoon we had land on both sides of the ship. This cruise was very scenic!
After brunch in the WindJammer, we got our Bingo tickets so that we would be ready to play. We walked around the ship, enjoying the views on deck, and then played afternoon bingo, which we lost. We spent part of the afternoon packing - yuck! - and relaxing, and enjoying our balconies. Dinner was wonderful, and the juggler at the farewell show was very talented and very enjoyable. Sigh - I always get sad on the last day!
On Saturday, Sep. 2nd, we got off the ship and Vancouver with no trouble. Our original plan was to check in at the airport and leave our luggage and then rent a car for the day since our flight didn't leave until six. However, due to the way customs works here, you have to take your luggage with you through customs, and once you are through customs you can't leave the airport. Luckily, the rental car we had ordered was all out when we got there, so they gave us a choice of a convertible or a minivan - the minivan of course had plenty of room for all of our stuff.
Armed with Grant's GPS, we explored a bit of downtown Vancouver, with stops at Granville Island Market - and lunch at Bridges, and then a drive around and walk through Stanley Park. Very cool. We had also wanted to check out the University where the 4400 was filmed, but we ran out of time.
Overall, this was a fantastic trip!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Juneau, Alaska
In Juneau, we did our first (and probably only, ever) ship excursion. We took a bus to Mendenhall glacier, where I would LOVE to spend more time. The glacier was breathtaking, and we also had the opportunity to watch the salmon. Apparently it is quite common to see a bear in this area, especially during this salmon time, however, we only had an hour so we didn't get to be very patient.
Next our bus took us to the Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure. This was really very cool - The area was beautifully landscaped, with these trees turned upside down and bunches of overflowing plants plated in the roots up top. You take a golf cart up this trail and a guide poits out the local flora as you ascend into a rain forest. At the top, you get to look out over Juneau before heading back down again. This was really very beautiful, and a totally neat experience.
After our tour we did a little shopping in Juneau (I got my blue Alaska caribiner (spell?) here.) And then decided, becasue mom was feelins so brave, to take the Mt. Roberts Tramway up top and do a short loop hike up there. That was cool, and Mom got to do something new for her, too!
Dinner tonight was yummy. After dinner in the dining room, we went to watch "Who wants to feel like a millionaire?" Where one dude basically played who wants to be a millionaire for Royal Caribbean prizes. It was ok, but the host guy kept draggin it out so much "sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, is that your ........... .............. .................. final .............. ................... ............. answer? MMMMMMMMMMMM HHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMM. You're sure? OOOOO KKKKKKK... are you sure that you don't want to think about it it some more? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo? SO your ................ sure............. that this is your .................................................................... final .............. answer?
Yeah, funny for about the first 15 minutes. Maybe. Cheapskates just didn't want a second contestent to have to give out more prizes to.
After the millionaire show, we watched a Magic show which was very good. (Grant had seen the same show on his other cruise with Steve - and its quite possible that we'll see the same show on our upcoming December cruise!)
After dinner we went to donate some money to the casino (damn those stupid quarter machines that push down quarters and dangle dollar bills like little teases - I swae the 20$ was in the same place on the first night of the cruise as it was on the last!)
Chh... yeah, it was bed time after that. Don't ask how much we spent trying to get that out!
Next our bus took us to the Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure. This was really very cool - The area was beautifully landscaped, with these trees turned upside down and bunches of overflowing plants plated in the roots up top. You take a golf cart up this trail and a guide poits out the local flora as you ascend into a rain forest. At the top, you get to look out over Juneau before heading back down again. This was really very beautiful, and a totally neat experience.
After our tour we did a little shopping in Juneau (I got my blue Alaska caribiner (spell?) here.) And then decided, becasue mom was feelins so brave, to take the Mt. Roberts Tramway up top and do a short loop hike up there. That was cool, and Mom got to do something new for her, too!
Dinner tonight was yummy. After dinner in the dining room, we went to watch "Who wants to feel like a millionaire?" Where one dude basically played who wants to be a millionaire for Royal Caribbean prizes. It was ok, but the host guy kept draggin it out so much "sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, is that your ........... .............. .................. final .............. ................... ............. answer? MMMMMMMMMMMM HHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMM. You're sure? OOOOO KKKKKKK... are you sure that you don't want to think about it it some more? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo? SO your ................ sure............. that this is your .................................................................... final .............. answer?
Yeah, funny for about the first 15 minutes. Maybe. Cheapskates just didn't want a second contestent to have to give out more prizes to.
After the millionaire show, we watched a Magic show which was very good. (Grant had seen the same show on his other cruise with Steve - and its quite possible that we'll see the same show on our upcoming December cruise!)
After dinner we went to donate some money to the casino (damn those stupid quarter machines that push down quarters and dangle dollar bills like little teases - I swae the 20$ was in the same place on the first night of the cruise as it was on the last!)
Chh... yeah, it was bed time after that. Don't ask how much we spent trying to get that out!
Monday - Skagway
Yeah, its now October, but this really needed to be finished! OOOOPs!
So, we got off of the ship and roamed around the adorable city of Skagway. Cute in every way except for one complaint. They should really make the main street PEDESTRIAN ONLY!!! With so many ships in town and all the people, the sidewalks were so overly crowded, but you couldn't go in the street because of bisses and cars.
Seriously Skagway people.
N - O
C - A - R - S
SO whilst doing some shopping, we ran across this courtyard that was like a vortex of moderness, but not. You are walking down this cute little street with all of these old, beautiful buildings into a cute little courtyard - that happens to be a wireless hotspot, as evidenced by the 2o or so people lounging about the area with their laptops open.
In this same little courtyard we found a lady selling cookies and trailmix and candy and other snacks who happened to be going out of business... so we got hooked up with all sorts of snackins super cheap!
At noon we went and took the Whitepass and Yukon Railroad. It was an absolutly beautiful trip! We saw (and went over) some cool bridges, and saw some waterfalls... very cool!
After the train trip we went back in town to do a bit more shopping before getting back on the ship. Dinner was delicious, as usual, but I'll spare you the details!
After dinner, we saw the production show, "City of Dreams," which was very good. Then we headed over to the COlony Club to watch Rock - a Rockie, which is sort of like Karaoke, except that you are backed by a live band... wha??? So no one is signing up, so Bobby G gets up there and sings, "The Joker."
SO what do I do? I sign up....!!! What? I have neve sung karaoke in public in my life, but the chance to actually sing with a live band, well, I could not resist!
So, I sang "I saw him standing there," and I have no idea how I did becasue the band was so loud that I could not hear myself, but it totally rocked.
Totally. Rocked.
So, we got off of the ship and roamed around the adorable city of Skagway. Cute in every way except for one complaint. They should really make the main street PEDESTRIAN ONLY!!! With so many ships in town and all the people, the sidewalks were so overly crowded, but you couldn't go in the street because of bisses and cars.
Seriously Skagway people.
N - O
C - A - R - S
SO whilst doing some shopping, we ran across this courtyard that was like a vortex of moderness, but not. You are walking down this cute little street with all of these old, beautiful buildings into a cute little courtyard - that happens to be a wireless hotspot, as evidenced by the 2o or so people lounging about the area with their laptops open.
In this same little courtyard we found a lady selling cookies and trailmix and candy and other snacks who happened to be going out of business... so we got hooked up with all sorts of snackins super cheap!
At noon we went and took the Whitepass and Yukon Railroad. It was an absolutly beautiful trip! We saw (and went over) some cool bridges, and saw some waterfalls... very cool!
After the train trip we went back in town to do a bit more shopping before getting back on the ship. Dinner was delicious, as usual, but I'll spare you the details!
After dinner, we saw the production show, "City of Dreams," which was very good. Then we headed over to the COlony Club to watch Rock - a Rockie, which is sort of like Karaoke, except that you are backed by a live band... wha??? So no one is signing up, so Bobby G gets up there and sings, "The Joker."
SO what do I do? I sign up....!!! What? I have neve sung karaoke in public in my life, but the chance to actually sing with a live band, well, I could not resist!
So, I sang "I saw him standing there," and I have no idea how I did becasue the band was so loud that I could not hear myself, but it totally rocked.
Totally. Rocked.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Sunday - Hubbard Glacier (Cruising)
This morning, Grant and I woke up and did our Rasul treatment. It was a very relaxing way to spend our day. Plus, we got to spend a few minutes in the thermal suite before they took us to the rasul chamber so that was nice. The thermal suite had these tiled reclining benches that were very warm, and faced out to the sea.
After our spa time, we met up with mom and Bobby and had lunch in the Windjammer. After lunch, we decided to head towards the front of the ship to try to oget a good spot for spotting the glacier, but on the way we passed the rock wall - one of my goals for this trip. So - I did it! I climbed the rock wall. I did the beginner course and made it too the top. Then Bobby tried. There was almost no one there, so I went a head and did the beginning course again. Feeling so confident, I decided to try thje more advanced course (there were 6 different levels, but they only had the first and the fourth open today.) so I did the harder one, but I could only make it half way up - partly because I was tired and didin;t rest in between and partly becasue it was difficult. Once I realized that I wasn't going to make it this time, I turned around and told the guy. he was really nice about it - he said "just rest, it is okay, you can do it," but I had already sort of lost my nerve and I was really tired so finally I just went down. Oh well - thats cool. I climbed it a few times, which was my goal, and I can alwyas try again later!
So, we headed towards the front of the boat to see Hubbard glacier. again, the weather was awesome. The whole crew was out taking pictures, and many of them said that this had been the clearest day they'd had all summer, and last week had been very foggy. Today was crystal clear, sunny, and beautiful.
As we retrated, we all (mom Bobby Gary, Donna, Grant and I) came back to our balcony and watched the glacier as we pulled away. I personally didin;t see any activity, but Grant did!
Tonight was formal night, so we got dressed up in our fancy duds and headed out to get some pictures taken.
(more later)
After our spa time, we met up with mom and Bobby and had lunch in the Windjammer. After lunch, we decided to head towards the front of the ship to try to oget a good spot for spotting the glacier, but on the way we passed the rock wall - one of my goals for this trip. So - I did it! I climbed the rock wall. I did the beginner course and made it too the top. Then Bobby tried. There was almost no one there, so I went a head and did the beginning course again. Feeling so confident, I decided to try thje more advanced course (there were 6 different levels, but they only had the first and the fourth open today.) so I did the harder one, but I could only make it half way up - partly because I was tired and didin;t rest in between and partly becasue it was difficult. Once I realized that I wasn't going to make it this time, I turned around and told the guy. he was really nice about it - he said "just rest, it is okay, you can do it," but I had already sort of lost my nerve and I was really tired so finally I just went down. Oh well - thats cool. I climbed it a few times, which was my goal, and I can alwyas try again later!
So, we headed towards the front of the boat to see Hubbard glacier. again, the weather was awesome. The whole crew was out taking pictures, and many of them said that this had been the clearest day they'd had all summer, and last week had been very foggy. Today was crystal clear, sunny, and beautiful.
As we retrated, we all (mom Bobby Gary, Donna, Grant and I) came back to our balcony and watched the glacier as we pulled away. I personally didin;t see any activity, but Grant did!
Tonight was formal night, so we got dressed up in our fancy duds and headed out to get some pictures taken.
(more later)
Multiple posts
Sorry about all of the multiple posts. We usually get good Internet, however, the blog site has been acting really funny. I will clean up the multiple posts when I get home. I mat or may not blog - depending on how the site is actiong when I have time to sit and blog!
Monday, August 28, 2006
Seward - Cruise Day 1
Seward, Alaska. Today, we leave on our cruise. We awoke to a light rain that persisted most of the day. We packed up and hung around the house we rented until check out time at 11:00. It was nice for everyone, I think, to get to relax, sleep in, and rest up - it had been a busy week!
At 11:00, we got a taxi which took us and our bags to the cruise ship terminal. The same taxi took all of us and our bags in two trips. The boys and the bags went first and checked in the bags, and the ladies took the next trip.
We were allowed to check in immediately, which was nice. Our cruise books said that we could not check in until 6:00 PM. Most of the research we had done said you could check in way earlier, but we always heard around 12 or 12:30. So we checked in and then got in line to get on the ship (we couldn't actually get on until noon, so we had about a ten minute wait...)
We went through security and were among the first onboard (I would say within the first 50.) We got our welcome aboard pic and headed on up to the Windjammer, which would begin serving lunch at 12:30. We tried to swing by the cabin, however, the fire doors were still closed. But they would be open by 1:00 so we could go right after lunch.
While we waited for the buffet to open, we explored the pool area and the beautiful Solarium...I must say, the ship (Radiance of the Seas) is very beautiful, and the Solarium is one of the most beautiful parts on any ship I've ever seen. The Solarium is an indoor pool with a retractable roof, so it can be open in warm destinations, but here in Alaska, is it closed and kept a comfortable temperature for swimming. Typically it is an adults only area, but since it is too cold to swim in the regular pool most of the time, they allow children to swim at certain times on this itinerary - but anyway - The solarium is decorated like an Indian jungle - there are lush tropical plants all over, a wooden bridge crosses the pool in front of a huge, floor to ceiling pair of sculpted elephants in front of a cascading waterfall. It is so neat there.
The whole ship, as I said, is beautiful - lots of glass and cascading waterfalls. Just amazing.
We had a quick lunch in the Windjammer buffet, and then went to our rooms. Donna and Gary are on deck 10, cabin #1094. They have a junior suite - a very nice room, but their balcony is right under a hump that juts out over there cabin, so it sort of restricts their views of the scenic vistas - you can see out but not necessarily up - say - to the top of the mountains.
Mom and Bobby's room is right underneath Donna and Gary's, in cabin number 9244. They have a great port side view, which is nice because most of the scenery is on that side.
Grant and I are in cabin 9258, which is on the back of the ship, towards the port side. We have a huge balcony, that holds two chairs and two recliners. Plenty of room out there!
After we dropped off our carry ons, Grant, Gary, Donna and I headed back into Seward to watch a movie at the Seward library on the Alaska Earthquake of 1964. Mom and Bobby stayed back to explore the ship. The movies were kind of, well, old school. It was an interesting experience....
Then we went to the chocolate shop before heading back to the ship.
Once on board, we checked to see where our table was, and then Grant and I went by the spa to check out their menu. We booked the Rasul treatment for Sunday at 11:45. Then we headed back to our cabin to unpack before dinner (another advantage to checking in so early - our bags were delivered by 4:00! We also met our cabin steward, Dennis, from the Philippines.
We had dinner at 6:00 in the Cascades Dining room. We are at a table of 8, which means its us 6 and another couple - they have been on a ton of cruises - 10 on Royal Caribbean!
I had a mushroom pastry, saigon chicken noodle soup, a spinach salad,
Grant had smoked fish talpenade, tuscan tomato soup, a spinach salad, ling cod, and
Mom had the smoked fish tapenade, saigon chicken soup, the cod, and a fruit salad for dessert.
Bobby had the smoked fish tapenade, spinach salad, the ling cod, and
Donna had the tuscan tomato soup, the spinach salad, and
Gary had
After dinner, we went to our cabin to get ready for the 8:15 muster drill. It went pretty quick and by 9:00 we were back in our cabin on the balcony watching the ship pull away from Seward.
We did some exploring and then went to the Welcome Aboard show. The comedian was hilarious - he could do some dead on hilarious impressions. My favorite was Don Knott -- he did both Mr. Furley and Andy Griffith.
The theater, by the way is set up very cool, more like a theater and less like a "club" with booth seats facing sideways, so more people could fit, and everyone faced forward. Also, the poles and such were positioned in a way that almost every seat was good and not blocked...
After dinner we did more exploring, deck by deck. It was freezing outside and super windy, so I wussed out and didn't go some places.
On our way back to our cabin, we stopped by to check on Bobby. W3e had promised him that he would barely feel the ship move and would be fine. Little did we know that the seas would be choppy and we would be going so fast - you could really feel the motion of the ocean! "See if I ever listen to you again..." Bobby says. But he felt fine so that was good.
Back in our room, we ordered some room service snackins and watched some tv.
I love this ship.
At 11:00, we got a taxi which took us and our bags to the cruise ship terminal. The same taxi took all of us and our bags in two trips. The boys and the bags went first and checked in the bags, and the ladies took the next trip.
We were allowed to check in immediately, which was nice. Our cruise books said that we could not check in until 6:00 PM. Most of the research we had done said you could check in way earlier, but we always heard around 12 or 12:30. So we checked in and then got in line to get on the ship (we couldn't actually get on until noon, so we had about a ten minute wait...)
We went through security and were among the first onboard (I would say within the first 50.) We got our welcome aboard pic and headed on up to the Windjammer, which would begin serving lunch at 12:30. We tried to swing by the cabin, however, the fire doors were still closed. But they would be open by 1:00 so we could go right after lunch.
While we waited for the buffet to open, we explored the pool area and the beautiful Solarium...I must say, the ship (Radiance of the Seas) is very beautiful, and the Solarium is one of the most beautiful parts on any ship I've ever seen. The Solarium is an indoor pool with a retractable roof, so it can be open in warm destinations, but here in Alaska, is it closed and kept a comfortable temperature for swimming. Typically it is an adults only area, but since it is too cold to swim in the regular pool most of the time, they allow children to swim at certain times on this itinerary - but anyway - The solarium is decorated like an Indian jungle - there are lush tropical plants all over, a wooden bridge crosses the pool in front of a huge, floor to ceiling pair of sculpted elephants in front of a cascading waterfall. It is so neat there.
The whole ship, as I said, is beautiful - lots of glass and cascading waterfalls. Just amazing.
We had a quick lunch in the Windjammer buffet, and then went to our rooms. Donna and Gary are on deck 10, cabin #1094. They have a junior suite - a very nice room, but their balcony is right under a hump that juts out over there cabin, so it sort of restricts their views of the scenic vistas - you can see out but not necessarily up - say - to the top of the mountains.
Mom and Bobby's room is right underneath Donna and Gary's, in cabin number 9244. They have a great port side view, which is nice because most of the scenery is on that side.
Grant and I are in cabin 9258, which is on the back of the ship, towards the port side. We have a huge balcony, that holds two chairs and two recliners. Plenty of room out there!
After we dropped off our carry ons, Grant, Gary, Donna and I headed back into Seward to watch a movie at the Seward library on the Alaska Earthquake of 1964. Mom and Bobby stayed back to explore the ship. The movies were kind of, well, old school. It was an interesting experience....
Then we went to the chocolate shop before heading back to the ship.
Once on board, we checked to see where our table was, and then Grant and I went by the spa to check out their menu. We booked the Rasul treatment for Sunday at 11:45. Then we headed back to our cabin to unpack before dinner (another advantage to checking in so early - our bags were delivered by 4:00! We also met our cabin steward, Dennis, from the Philippines.
We had dinner at 6:00 in the Cascades Dining room. We are at a table of 8, which means its us 6 and another couple - they have been on a ton of cruises - 10 on Royal Caribbean!
I had a mushroom pastry, saigon chicken noodle soup, a spinach salad,
Grant had smoked fish talpenade, tuscan tomato soup, a spinach salad, ling cod, and
Mom had the smoked fish tapenade, saigon chicken soup, the cod, and a fruit salad for dessert.
Bobby had the smoked fish tapenade, spinach salad, the ling cod, and
Donna had the tuscan tomato soup, the spinach salad, and
Gary had
After dinner, we went to our cabin to get ready for the 8:15 muster drill. It went pretty quick and by 9:00 we were back in our cabin on the balcony watching the ship pull away from Seward.
We did some exploring and then went to the Welcome Aboard show. The comedian was hilarious - he could do some dead on hilarious impressions. My favorite was Don Knott -- he did both Mr. Furley and Andy Griffith.
The theater, by the way is set up very cool, more like a theater and less like a "club" with booth seats facing sideways, so more people could fit, and everyone faced forward. Also, the poles and such were positioned in a way that almost every seat was good and not blocked...
After dinner we did more exploring, deck by deck. It was freezing outside and super windy, so I wussed out and didn't go some places.
On our way back to our cabin, we stopped by to check on Bobby. W3e had promised him that he would barely feel the ship move and would be fine. Little did we know that the seas would be choppy and we would be going so fast - you could really feel the motion of the ocean! "See if I ever listen to you again..." Bobby says. But he felt fine so that was good.
Back in our room, we ordered some room service snackins and watched some tv.
I love this ship.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Seward - Kenai Fjords
5:00 AM the alarm beeps and we drag out of bed to get to the train station in the rain to catch the 6:40 train to Seward. Yeah, pretty cranky. But we made it and the train ride was beautiful. the train was only half full, and we realized that the rear car was all but empty, so we ended up staying there for the rest of the trip. This train ride was beautiful - (as were all of them...) we saw glaciers and waterfalls and the closer we got to Seward, the clearer the skies were.
We arrived in Seward at 11:00 and headed down to the docks to take a boat ride through Kenai fjords national park. We saw a glacier from close up, tons of jellyfish, goats, seals, otters, and...yes... whales! (So I saw the moose, bear, and whale I was hoping to see!) we also had a delicious salmon and prime rib dinner.
The waters were really choppy. Although the weather was clear and beautiful, the sea was still choppy from yesterday's rain storm. (we really lucked out weather wise on this trip!) Poor Bobby, though, had a few bouts of sea sickness, however, we discovered that the ginger candy really does help. Even I didn't feel great some of the time.
After our boat tour, we walked to our hotel. We are staying at the Harborview hotel. Our room is actually the old owners home when this was a smaller bed and Breakfast, so we are staying in a 4-bedroom house, with a family room, kitchen, and two full bathrooms. And.... a washer drier! So we settled in and did our laundry. Bobby, Grant and I walked down to pick up some pizzas (apparently nobody felt like delivering...) and Gary got some sodas. After that, I went to bed. I was tired from only getting 6 hours of sleep the night before.
However, at around 4:00 AM, we went out and looked at the cruise ship that had just pulled in, all lit up.
Today, we leave on our cruise!
We arrived in Seward at 11:00 and headed down to the docks to take a boat ride through Kenai fjords national park. We saw a glacier from close up, tons of jellyfish, goats, seals, otters, and...yes... whales! (So I saw the moose, bear, and whale I was hoping to see!) we also had a delicious salmon and prime rib dinner.
The waters were really choppy. Although the weather was clear and beautiful, the sea was still choppy from yesterday's rain storm. (we really lucked out weather wise on this trip!) Poor Bobby, though, had a few bouts of sea sickness, however, we discovered that the ginger candy really does help. Even I didn't feel great some of the time.
After our boat tour, we walked to our hotel. We are staying at the Harborview hotel. Our room is actually the old owners home when this was a smaller bed and Breakfast, so we are staying in a 4-bedroom house, with a family room, kitchen, and two full bathrooms. And.... a washer drier! So we settled in and did our laundry. Bobby, Grant and I walked down to pick up some pizzas (apparently nobody felt like delivering...) and Gary got some sodas. After that, I went to bed. I was tired from only getting 6 hours of sleep the night before.
However, at around 4:00 AM, we went out and looked at the cruise ship that had just pulled in, all lit up.
Today, we leave on our cruise!
Talkeetna to Anchorage... eventually
Today we checked out of the Princess Lodge. actually, not today, but two days ago, but since I don't remember what day, I am going to write it in present tense. Well, let me think about this... today is Saturday...Thursday, I think?
Ok, so Thursday, we checked out of the lodge. We went down to the main part of the lodge and took a nature walk with the ranger, which was way cool.
Donna and Gary had to return the rental car to Anchorage, so Gary decided to drive it back with all of our luggage while the rest of us took the train. We took the 1:30 shuttle into Talkeetna and ate lunch (we went to the pizza place, I can;t remember the exact name, and shared a hummus platter and a margharetti pizza) and then we dutifully headed down to the train station to get there at 4:15, ready for the train that would arrive at 4:40... having been assured that the train was indeed on time. (although it had been late for the past 4 days becasue of the floods.) Honestly, we didin;t mind that it was late - we were irritated about the lack of communication. We coule have spent time shopping in Talkeetna or whatever. Instead of sitting on a bench at the station for two hours.
The train arrived at 6:40... well,, at least we knew Gary was safely in Anchorage - he called us while we were waiting!
The train was a bit confusing because our names weren't printed on the front page of the manifest for the car we were supposed to be in. As a matter of fact, the guy was going to take us all the way to the Alaska railroad cars if I hadn't glanced at the manifest and saw our names. We think the mix up occurred because the train car we were supposed to be on wasn't on the train, (we were quite possibly the only people scheduled to be on it) and so we were actually getting put with another group.
It all worked out. We had a good dinner on the train - Grant and mom had a pork loin dinner with apples and sweet potatoes, Donna had chicken, Bobby had Halibut, I think, and I had a shrimp stir-fry.
The tour guide on this train was really good - he was from Alaska and he was very nice and a great story teller, so we heard all sorts of interesting things on our way.
We arrived in Anchorage at 10:00 ish, and Gary met us in the rental car. We got to our hotel and settled in quickly, because we had to catch the 6:45 train the next morning.
Ok, so Thursday, we checked out of the lodge. We went down to the main part of the lodge and took a nature walk with the ranger, which was way cool.
Donna and Gary had to return the rental car to Anchorage, so Gary decided to drive it back with all of our luggage while the rest of us took the train. We took the 1:30 shuttle into Talkeetna and ate lunch (we went to the pizza place, I can;t remember the exact name, and shared a hummus platter and a margharetti pizza) and then we dutifully headed down to the train station to get there at 4:15, ready for the train that would arrive at 4:40... having been assured that the train was indeed on time. (although it had been late for the past 4 days becasue of the floods.) Honestly, we didin;t mind that it was late - we were irritated about the lack of communication. We coule have spent time shopping in Talkeetna or whatever. Instead of sitting on a bench at the station for two hours.
The train arrived at 6:40... well,, at least we knew Gary was safely in Anchorage - he called us while we were waiting!
The train was a bit confusing because our names weren't printed on the front page of the manifest for the car we were supposed to be in. As a matter of fact, the guy was going to take us all the way to the Alaska railroad cars if I hadn't glanced at the manifest and saw our names. We think the mix up occurred because the train car we were supposed to be on wasn't on the train, (we were quite possibly the only people scheduled to be on it) and so we were actually getting put with another group.
It all worked out. We had a good dinner on the train - Grant and mom had a pork loin dinner with apples and sweet potatoes, Donna had chicken, Bobby had Halibut, I think, and I had a shrimp stir-fry.
The tour guide on this train was really good - he was from Alaska and he was very nice and a great story teller, so we heard all sorts of interesting things on our way.
We arrived in Anchorage at 10:00 ish, and Gary met us in the rental car. We got to our hotel and settled in quickly, because we had to catch the 6:45 train the next morning.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge, Talkeetna
So today we headed into the cute little town of Talkeetna, which was brushing itself off after weeks of rains and the worst flooding it had had since 1986. (Yes, we are here in Alaska on the tail end of the 2006 Alaska flood!)
We took the Princess shuttle bus into town and then had lunch at the West Rib Pub and Grill. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed a nice lunch. I had a crab cake burget again, Grant had halibut burger, Donna had a regular hamburger, Bobby and Gary had Buffalo burgers and mom had a fish sampler that had a crab cake, halibut and Salmon, which was good becasue she got a little taste of these to see what she really liked (and she liked them all!) Now she knows what Alaskan dishes to order.
After lunch we went to check in to our excursion (although it was running really late.) We took a two hour boar tide on the Susitna and talkeetna rivers, up to a place where salmon spawn. Thanks to mom's good eye, we got to see a grizzly bear! It was so cool - a mom and her cubs...the mom stood right up and stared at us for a moment.
We also saw a bald eagle and an eagle's nest. We took a short nature walk and saw an Indian camp recreation which was quite cool. Our tour guide, Angela, was very knowledgable becasue she was an Eskimo and she had lived in a small village at one time. Also, there was a trapper's cabin, which was somethihng to see - it was small and dark!
After our boat trip we haded back to the lodge and viewed Mt. McKinley from our hotel. It is very cloudy, so we're not actually sure if we can see mt. McKinley or just the mountain range in front of it, but it is beautiful, none the less.
We went back to 20-3 -20 for dinner - (Gary ordered the crab cakes, although I didn't three in a row would be a bit much - Donna had a club Croissant, Mom had chicken manicotti, grant had the salmon, and Bobbi and I went halvsies on a pepperoni pizza and a chicken quesedilla. Now we're just hanging out...
We took the Princess shuttle bus into town and then had lunch at the West Rib Pub and Grill. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed a nice lunch. I had a crab cake burget again, Grant had halibut burger, Donna had a regular hamburger, Bobby and Gary had Buffalo burgers and mom had a fish sampler that had a crab cake, halibut and Salmon, which was good becasue she got a little taste of these to see what she really liked (and she liked them all!) Now she knows what Alaskan dishes to order.
After lunch we went to check in to our excursion (although it was running really late.) We took a two hour boar tide on the Susitna and talkeetna rivers, up to a place where salmon spawn. Thanks to mom's good eye, we got to see a grizzly bear! It was so cool - a mom and her cubs...the mom stood right up and stared at us for a moment.
We also saw a bald eagle and an eagle's nest. We took a short nature walk and saw an Indian camp recreation which was quite cool. Our tour guide, Angela, was very knowledgable becasue she was an Eskimo and she had lived in a small village at one time. Also, there was a trapper's cabin, which was somethihng to see - it was small and dark!
After our boat trip we haded back to the lodge and viewed Mt. McKinley from our hotel. It is very cloudy, so we're not actually sure if we can see mt. McKinley or just the mountain range in front of it, but it is beautiful, none the less.
We went back to 20-3 -20 for dinner - (Gary ordered the crab cakes, although I didn't three in a row would be a bit much - Donna had a club Croissant, Mom had chicken manicotti, grant had the salmon, and Bobbi and I went halvsies on a pepperoni pizza and a chicken quesedilla. Now we're just hanging out...
Train from Fairbanfs to Talkeetna
Railroad from Fairbanks to Talkeetna
We had to get up pretty early this morning to catch a 7:00 shuttle to the train station. Today, we took an 8 hour train ride from Fairbanks to Talkeetna on the Alaska railroad. We paid the extra for the Gold Star Service, so we got to sit in a rally spectacular domed car with high, domed glass windows. On the way, we did see a couple of moose!
We ate lunch in the dining car - Grant, Bobby and I had the wild game stew - so I have now officially eaten reindeer and buffalo. Mom got pot roast.
Sitting in the Gold Star section we also got free beverages and these cute snack packs with pretzels and honey mustard and jam and chocolate covered blue berries.
The train was pretty late coming in - all of the rains caused severe flooding and the trains had been closed for the past few days, so in many places they were still working hard at clearing the side by side tracks. We saw many parts of the hills that had mudslide damage, and the water levels were really high.
We got in to Talkeetna at around 7:00, which was about 3 hours late. Gary met us and drove us to the lodge in his rental car. The train station took care of our luggage and brought it to the lodge for us.
We met up with Donna after checking in. Our rooms are in building 17 - 1711 for Grant and I, 1714 for Gary and Donna, and 1712 for Mom and Bobby. We had dinner at Twenty-three-twenty, which is one if the restaurants here, named for the altitude of Mount McKinley. Grant and Bobby had Salmon, Mom and Donna had a shrimp and crab salad on a croissant, Gary had the Buffalo stew, and I had crab cake sliders. Yummy!
After dinner we chatted about which excursion we wanted to do and then headed off to bed!
We had to get up pretty early this morning to catch a 7:00 shuttle to the train station. Today, we took an 8 hour train ride from Fairbanks to Talkeetna on the Alaska railroad. We paid the extra for the Gold Star Service, so we got to sit in a rally spectacular domed car with high, domed glass windows. On the way, we did see a couple of moose!
We ate lunch in the dining car - Grant, Bobby and I had the wild game stew - so I have now officially eaten reindeer and buffalo. Mom got pot roast.
Sitting in the Gold Star section we also got free beverages and these cute snack packs with pretzels and honey mustard and jam and chocolate covered blue berries.
The train was pretty late coming in - all of the rains caused severe flooding and the trains had been closed for the past few days, so in many places they were still working hard at clearing the side by side tracks. We saw many parts of the hills that had mudslide damage, and the water levels were really high.
We got in to Talkeetna at around 7:00, which was about 3 hours late. Gary met us and drove us to the lodge in his rental car. The train station took care of our luggage and brought it to the lodge for us.
We met up with Donna after checking in. Our rooms are in building 17 - 1711 for Grant and I, 1714 for Gary and Donna, and 1712 for Mom and Bobby. We had dinner at Twenty-three-twenty, which is one if the restaurants here, named for the altitude of Mount McKinley. Grant and Bobby had Salmon, Mom and Donna had a shrimp and crab salad on a croissant, Gary had the Buffalo stew, and I had crab cake sliders. Yummy!
After dinner we chatted about which excursion we wanted to do and then headed off to bed!
Monday, August 21, 2006
So...where was I?
So we got in to Seattle at like 1:00, got our hotel voucher, and spent the night at the Gateway Radison.We got about 6 and a half hours of sleep before it was time to get up again... (By the way - we've now officially tried that sleep by number bed - not big fans, Grant and I, of the sleep by number system...)
This morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel with our voucher from the airline. Then we went to the airport and got on our flight to Fairbanks (via Anchorage). Luckily thought, we were in first class, so we had a free meal and free use of the video screens (Dig E players) with movies and TV shows.
We finally got to Fairbanks (and all of our luggage made it as well!) We got to our hotel at around 4:30. Mom and Bobby were already here (they had gotten in last night). We checked in and chatted and then we headed out to go to dinner. We stopped at the Fudge Pot and bought some fudge to eat on the train tomorrow.
We had dinner at a place called Past Bella...I had Eggplant Parmigiana, Bobby had lasagna, and Mom and Grant had Chicken of the Sun (CHicken sauteed with garlic and sundried tomatoes.)
We are back at the hotel and getting ready for bed... we have to take the 7:00 shuttle so we have to get up early.
Gary and Donna decided not to come to fairbanks and take the train becasue if the risk of the trains not running, so they will drive up to Talkeetna and meet us tomorrow.
Good night
This morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel with our voucher from the airline. Then we went to the airport and got on our flight to Fairbanks (via Anchorage). Luckily thought, we were in first class, so we had a free meal and free use of the video screens (Dig E players) with movies and TV shows.
We finally got to Fairbanks (and all of our luggage made it as well!) We got to our hotel at around 4:30. Mom and Bobby were already here (they had gotten in last night). We checked in and chatted and then we headed out to go to dinner. We stopped at the Fudge Pot and bought some fudge to eat on the train tomorrow.
We had dinner at a place called Past Bella...I had Eggplant Parmigiana, Bobby had lasagna, and Mom and Grant had Chicken of the Sun (CHicken sauteed with garlic and sundried tomatoes.)
We are back at the hotel and getting ready for bed... we have to take the 7:00 shuttle so we have to get up early.
Gary and Donna decided not to come to fairbanks and take the train becasue if the risk of the trains not running, so they will drive up to Talkeetna and meet us tomorrow.
Good night
Articles
Here is the text from the news articles in case they are later taken down:
From: http://www.nbc4.tv/news/9708437/detail.html
Crew Evacuates Long Beach Passengers From Smoke-Filled Cabin
POSTED: 6:34 am PDT August 21, 2006
UPDATED: 6:52 am PDT August 21, 2006
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Passengers landing at Long Beach airport on a flight from Seattle got a scare Sunday when the cabin filled up with smoke.
The Alaska airlines jet was evacuating shortly after touching down at 6:00 p.m.
Airline spokeswoman Caroline Boren says there was so much smoke in the cabin that the crew decided to evacuate passengers using the airplane's slide.
She saids three of the 140 passengers and one flight attendant requested assistance from paramedics for injuries they apparently suffered during the evacuation. One requested further treatment at a hospital.
No word yet on what caused the smoke.
From: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-jonbenet21aug21,0,2419400.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Ramsey Case Suspect Is Back on U.S. Soil
John Mark Karr lands at LAX and is taken into custody. He faces extradition to Colorado.
By Stuart Silverstein and Joel Rubin, Times Staff Writers
August 21, 2006
John Mark Karr, the suspect in the slaying of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday night aboard a Thai Airways International flight from Bangkok.
Federal immigration officials processed Karr shortly after he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport. He was taken into police custody on a Colorado warrant, informed of the charges against him and taken by helicopter to the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles, officials said.
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Karr will be held in isolation at the jail to protect him from other inmates, according to sheriff's spokesman Deputy Rick Pena. "Accused child molesters are targets for some of the other criminals in there," he said.
Colorado authorities said Karr had to be arrested in California and go through an extradition process, rather than simply being put on a connecting flight to Boulder, because of rules that regulate the transfer of accused criminals from one state to another. Los Angeles court officials said Sunday night that an extradition hearing had not yet been scheduled.
Carolyn French, a spokeswoman for the Boulder County district attorney's office, said that if Karr agreed to the extradition, he could be flown to Colorado as soon as a day after the hearing. But if he contests it, she said, he could remain in Los Angeles up to 30 days.
Karr is expected to face charges in Colorado of firstdegree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault in connection with the 1996 killing of JonBenet.
A passenger who sat near Karr during the long flight said the suspect seemed to enjoy a friendly rapport with law enforcement agents.
"They always had smiles on their faces — except when they were protecting him in the bathroom," said Dan Shiff of Montreal.
Karr shied away from the throngs of cameras that crowded around him in Bangkok, but spent about 30 minutes "primping" before the plane landed in Los Angeles, Shiff said.
Despite the overwhelming media coverage of Karr's moves over the last few days, some aboard the flight were unaware of his presence.
"I didn't know what was going on," said University of Southern California student Lalida Mangkornkanok, 21.
"We weren't informed that he was on the flight…. I'm glad nothing happened."
Five days after he was taken into custody by authorities in Bangkok, Karr, 41, was led out of the Thai city's downtown immigration detention center at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Surrounded closely by a cadre of about a dozen uniformed police officials, Karr was not handcuffed but was ushered quickly to a white van.
Karr, wearing black pants, a maroon, short-sleeved shirt and a black tie, remained expressionless as he walked through a media throng.
A frantic motorcade of several taxis and cars chased the van through Bangkok's traffic-choked streets and onto its express toll road for the 20-minute drive to Don Muang International Airport. As the van pulled up to the curb at Terminal 1 beneath a Thai Airways sign, a crush of television cameramen and photographers descended.
A melee ensued as a phalanx of immigration police officers formed a tight ring to secure Karr. With the escorts pushing violently against the aggressive horde of journalists, travelers looked on as the spectacle snaked its way through the terminal.
Again, Karr stayed silent, looking ahead blankly.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Dr. Thep Vechavisit, a prominent Thai plastic surgeon who specializes in sex-change operations, breast enhancement procedures and other cosmetic plastic surgeries, acknowledged that Karr "was one of my patients," the Associated Press reported.
Vechavisit declined to elaborate, but a staffer at the clinic, who asked for anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the media, said Karr had consulted the doctor about a sex-change operation.
From: http://www.nbc4.tv/news/9708437/detail.html
Crew Evacuates Long Beach Passengers From Smoke-Filled Cabin
POSTED: 6:34 am PDT August 21, 2006
UPDATED: 6:52 am PDT August 21, 2006
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Passengers landing at Long Beach airport on a flight from Seattle got a scare Sunday when the cabin filled up with smoke.
The Alaska airlines jet was evacuating shortly after touching down at 6:00 p.m.
Airline spokeswoman Caroline Boren says there was so much smoke in the cabin that the crew decided to evacuate passengers using the airplane's slide.
She saids three of the 140 passengers and one flight attendant requested assistance from paramedics for injuries they apparently suffered during the evacuation. One requested further treatment at a hospital.
No word yet on what caused the smoke.
From: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-jonbenet21aug21,0,2419400.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Ramsey Case Suspect Is Back on U.S. Soil
John Mark Karr lands at LAX and is taken into custody. He faces extradition to Colorado.
By Stuart Silverstein and Joel Rubin, Times Staff Writers
August 21, 2006
John Mark Karr, the suspect in the slaying of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday night aboard a Thai Airways International flight from Bangkok.
Federal immigration officials processed Karr shortly after he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport. He was taken into police custody on a Colorado warrant, informed of the charges against him and taken by helicopter to the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles, officials said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Karr will be held in isolation at the jail to protect him from other inmates, according to sheriff's spokesman Deputy Rick Pena. "Accused child molesters are targets for some of the other criminals in there," he said.
Colorado authorities said Karr had to be arrested in California and go through an extradition process, rather than simply being put on a connecting flight to Boulder, because of rules that regulate the transfer of accused criminals from one state to another. Los Angeles court officials said Sunday night that an extradition hearing had not yet been scheduled.
Carolyn French, a spokeswoman for the Boulder County district attorney's office, said that if Karr agreed to the extradition, he could be flown to Colorado as soon as a day after the hearing. But if he contests it, she said, he could remain in Los Angeles up to 30 days.
Karr is expected to face charges in Colorado of firstdegree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault in connection with the 1996 killing of JonBenet.
A passenger who sat near Karr during the long flight said the suspect seemed to enjoy a friendly rapport with law enforcement agents.
"They always had smiles on their faces — except when they were protecting him in the bathroom," said Dan Shiff of Montreal.
Karr shied away from the throngs of cameras that crowded around him in Bangkok, but spent about 30 minutes "primping" before the plane landed in Los Angeles, Shiff said.
Despite the overwhelming media coverage of Karr's moves over the last few days, some aboard the flight were unaware of his presence.
"I didn't know what was going on," said University of Southern California student Lalida Mangkornkanok, 21.
"We weren't informed that he was on the flight…. I'm glad nothing happened."
Five days after he was taken into custody by authorities in Bangkok, Karr, 41, was led out of the Thai city's downtown immigration detention center at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Surrounded closely by a cadre of about a dozen uniformed police officials, Karr was not handcuffed but was ushered quickly to a white van.
Karr, wearing black pants, a maroon, short-sleeved shirt and a black tie, remained expressionless as he walked through a media throng.
A frantic motorcade of several taxis and cars chased the van through Bangkok's traffic-choked streets and onto its express toll road for the 20-minute drive to Don Muang International Airport. As the van pulled up to the curb at Terminal 1 beneath a Thai Airways sign, a crush of television cameramen and photographers descended.
A melee ensued as a phalanx of immigration police officers formed a tight ring to secure Karr. With the escorts pushing violently against the aggressive horde of journalists, travelers looked on as the spectacle snaked its way through the terminal.
Again, Karr stayed silent, looking ahead blankly.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Dr. Thep Vechavisit, a prominent Thai plastic surgeon who specializes in sex-change operations, breast enhancement procedures and other cosmetic plastic surgeries, acknowledged that Karr "was one of my patients," the Associated Press reported.
Vechavisit declined to elaborate, but a staffer at the clinic, who asked for anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the media, said Karr had consulted the doctor about a sex-change operation.
A series of unfortunate events....
Wow! So much to say, and we haven't even left LA yet!
So, the plane that we are going to take comes in to
Long Beach for an emergency landing. They have to park the plane on the runway and evacuate the passengers using the emergency exits. This is around, 5:30.
So, the plane is dead so we have to make other arrangements. We stand in line for 40 minutes at the ticket desk (no one was there...) while Grant tried to get help over the phone. Finally at 6:30 we get someone to help us and she says, "One of you go get your bags..." so I go out to get the bags and Grant gets us rebooked on a 9:00 flight to Seattle out of LAX, a hotel voucher, and an 11:00 AM flight tomorrow morning to Fairbanks.
He comes out to meet me, and our bags still aren't there...wha wha what? So we wait, and then... the bags from the people who were evacuated come through (I understand helping these people - they'd been through a lot - but we all had connections to catch at LAX! And the odd thing was, our bags were just sitting somewhere... they hadn't been put on the plane.... They'd known since 6:00 that we'd need our bags (all of us!) and yet our bags weren't here yet!
So while we were waiting, Grant called and changed our flight out of LAX to the 9:45 flight, so we'd be less time crunched. (We also heard that security and media would be making the airport extra busy tonight becasue the guy who ic accused of murdering JonBenet Ramsey is scheduled to land here from Thailand tonight at 9:30 - I misheard and thought it was some dignitary and relayed the information to someone else...oops.... hee hee)
So anyway our bags came out at like 7:40 and we grabbed a taxi (with an airline voucher, of course) and got to LAX at 8:00. It is 8:50 now and Grant just got back with Burger King (another good reason to take the late flight!
More later
So, the plane that we are going to take comes in to
Long Beach for an emergency landing. They have to park the plane on the runway and evacuate the passengers using the emergency exits. This is around, 5:30.
So, the plane is dead so we have to make other arrangements. We stand in line for 40 minutes at the ticket desk (no one was there...) while Grant tried to get help over the phone. Finally at 6:30 we get someone to help us and she says, "One of you go get your bags..." so I go out to get the bags and Grant gets us rebooked on a 9:00 flight to Seattle out of LAX, a hotel voucher, and an 11:00 AM flight tomorrow morning to Fairbanks.
He comes out to meet me, and our bags still aren't there...wha wha what? So we wait, and then... the bags from the people who were evacuated come through (I understand helping these people - they'd been through a lot - but we all had connections to catch at LAX! And the odd thing was, our bags were just sitting somewhere... they hadn't been put on the plane.... They'd known since 6:00 that we'd need our bags (all of us!) and yet our bags weren't here yet!
So while we were waiting, Grant called and changed our flight out of LAX to the 9:45 flight, so we'd be less time crunched. (We also heard that security and media would be making the airport extra busy tonight becasue the guy who ic accused of murdering JonBenet Ramsey is scheduled to land here from Thailand tonight at 9:30 - I misheard and thought it was some dignitary and relayed the information to someone else...oops.... hee hee)
So anyway our bags came out at like 7:40 and we grabbed a taxi (with an airline voucher, of course) and got to LAX at 8:00. It is 8:50 now and Grant just got back with Burger King (another good reason to take the late flight!
More later
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Alaska! - Long Beach Airport
Grant and I are sitting in the terminal waiting for our delayed flight.
I am feeling crappy becasue the agents gave me a hard time about the contact solution I brought - I had checked online and it specifically listed contact saline solution as something I could bring. I left it sealed in its box, thinking that would help, and I went out to specifically buy a 4 ounce bottle (which by the way costs the same amount as a full size bottle...)
My big concern was if we missed our connection and I had to spend the night.
I told the lady I checked the website and it said the solution was fine and she said, "the key word is essential...is the contact solution essential?" I explained that the solution would be if my flight was delayed and I missed my connection, and she argued with me, 'Well, how do you know your flight will be delayed? Did they tell you it would?" You could tell she was irritated that I had brought it, but it was allowed so she wasn't going to stop me.
I just felt bad. I don;t like to push rules or limits m- I like to comply and be not a pain or a problem... I wasn't going to bring it. I have only had two instances when my contacts have gotten really dry on planes and I have had to take them out and soak them, but long flights or late nights tend to do it. I really just wanted to make sure - and the website said it was okay. I don;t know why I feel crummy. I just do.
Anyways...
I have this game called 20Q. I have a portable one, but you can play online at that link. I am addicted. I love this thing. It passes time while waiting here.
As of now, our flight is delayed, so we will miss our connection. They already rebooked us on a later flight so we;ll be getting into Fairbanks an hour and a half later.
I am feeling crappy becasue the agents gave me a hard time about the contact solution I brought - I had checked online and it specifically listed contact saline solution as something I could bring. I left it sealed in its box, thinking that would help, and I went out to specifically buy a 4 ounce bottle (which by the way costs the same amount as a full size bottle...)
My big concern was if we missed our connection and I had to spend the night.
I told the lady I checked the website and it said the solution was fine and she said, "the key word is essential...is the contact solution essential?" I explained that the solution would be if my flight was delayed and I missed my connection, and she argued with me, 'Well, how do you know your flight will be delayed? Did they tell you it would?" You could tell she was irritated that I had brought it, but it was allowed so she wasn't going to stop me.
I just felt bad. I don;t like to push rules or limits m- I like to comply and be not a pain or a problem... I wasn't going to bring it. I have only had two instances when my contacts have gotten really dry on planes and I have had to take them out and soak them, but long flights or late nights tend to do it. I really just wanted to make sure - and the website said it was okay. I don;t know why I feel crummy. I just do.
Anyways...
I have this game called 20Q. I have a portable one, but you can play online at that link. I am addicted. I love this thing. It passes time while waiting here.
As of now, our flight is delayed, so we will miss our connection. They already rebooked us on a later flight so we;ll be getting into Fairbanks an hour and a half later.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Friday and Saturday - Leaving Las Vegas
On Friday, we decided to use the new monorail. We got on at MGM and rode it to the Hilton, which is the second to the last stop. We ate lunch at the Hilton Buffet and then played in the Space Casino.
Next, we took the monorail back to the Imperial Palace stop and walked across the street to Cesears Palace. In the forum shops, they were having a grand opening og a new Field of Dreams store. Pete Rose was on hand to sign autographs (for a fee...) but Danny was able to say hello and shake his hand.
Then, Danny went to look at an Exotic Car display at the other end of the forum shops while Grant and I looked around the Gap and FAO Schwartz (which is way different and not nearly as cool, in my opinion, although it had some ok features.... it just felt very stripped down...) then we went and played some slots at Cesears.
When Danny finished there, he and Grant went over to Imperial Palace to check out there car collection. I have dutifully walked through that place at least twice, so I opted out this time and instead I went to the Mirage to check out the white tigers and... what else? .... play some slots.
We took the monorail back to our hotel. We were pretty tired so we just had pizza delivered to the room and watched TV.
The next morning, we packed our bags and headed on out. First, though, we went to brunch at the Paris buffet, which was really good... they had many different kinds of things, like the crepe station, for example. It was quite tasty.
On our way out of town, we stopped at state line and did some shopping at thte outlets. I got some cute clothes at Old Navy and Charlotte Ruse, and found some great deals at the Bath and Body Works (like some of the discontinued Plumeria body wash!)
We ate dinner at the Red Robin in Victorville and arrived home around 8:30.We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to pick up our precious sweet puppies. Belle and Kanga were very excited to see us!
Next, we took the monorail back to the Imperial Palace stop and walked across the street to Cesears Palace. In the forum shops, they were having a grand opening og a new Field of Dreams store. Pete Rose was on hand to sign autographs (for a fee...) but Danny was able to say hello and shake his hand.
Then, Danny went to look at an Exotic Car display at the other end of the forum shops while Grant and I looked around the Gap and FAO Schwartz (which is way different and not nearly as cool, in my opinion, although it had some ok features.... it just felt very stripped down...) then we went and played some slots at Cesears.
When Danny finished there, he and Grant went over to Imperial Palace to check out there car collection. I have dutifully walked through that place at least twice, so I opted out this time and instead I went to the Mirage to check out the white tigers and... what else? .... play some slots.
We took the monorail back to our hotel. We were pretty tired so we just had pizza delivered to the room and watched TV.
The next morning, we packed our bags and headed on out. First, though, we went to brunch at the Paris buffet, which was really good... they had many different kinds of things, like the crepe station, for example. It was quite tasty.
On our way out of town, we stopped at state line and did some shopping at thte outlets. I got some cute clothes at Old Navy and Charlotte Ruse, and found some great deals at the Bath and Body Works (like some of the discontinued Plumeria body wash!)
We ate dinner at the Red Robin in Victorville and arrived home around 8:30.We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to pick up our precious sweet puppies. Belle and Kanga were very excited to see us!
Friday, July 28, 2006
Thursday - Vegas
Ok, this is going to be a quick one! We drove out to Green Valley ranch, one of the Station Casinos, to check out there buffet. We had lunch (hmmm, we got there at 2:00 and they brought out crab legs at 2:45 for dinner! WOW! Lucky me again!
We played the slots for a bit, and then stopped at Walmart on the way back to the strip.
That evening, we walked from our hotel to the Aladdin and looked around the shops. We had dinner at Cheeseburger in Las Vegas (from the same people who opened the Cheeseburger in Lahaina) - It was quite tasty.
We walked across the street and North to Cesears Palace, where we played slots, admired the statues, and wandered through the forum shops. We crossed the street and headed back down the strip, walking through Harrah's, Imperial Palace, Barbarey Coast, and Balleys before stopping in Paris to play some more slots. Grant had a prettty lucky day and we ended up a little bit ahead.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were beat!
We played the slots for a bit, and then stopped at Walmart on the way back to the strip.
That evening, we walked from our hotel to the Aladdin and looked around the shops. We had dinner at Cheeseburger in Las Vegas (from the same people who opened the Cheeseburger in Lahaina) - It was quite tasty.
We walked across the street and North to Cesears Palace, where we played slots, admired the statues, and wandered through the forum shops. We crossed the street and headed back down the strip, walking through Harrah's, Imperial Palace, Barbarey Coast, and Balleys before stopping in Paris to play some more slots. Grant had a prettty lucky day and we ended up a little bit ahead.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were beat!
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Wednesday - Vegas
This morning we got a slow start - partially becasue it was so nice in our room and we wanted to enjoy it, and partially becasue there was a E! True Hollywood Story on the new Kids on the Block on tv...
Anyway, once we got going we swung by to get our Pocket Book of values. We looked through to choose which coupon to use and we opted for the Carnival World Buffet at Rio. Oh. My. God. I had forgotton how good this buffet was. I mean I remembered - but it was better then I remembered. First of all much of the design was updatd, and the food stations were nicer. The food was good with many different nations represented in a huge variety. They had the teppenyaki where you pick your veggies and they grill it for you, as well as a variety of noodle soups. The best thing was, we went in at 3:00, and by 3:30 it was offically dinner, which meant they put out a mountain of crab legs!
After lunch, we went to pick up our club cards and the people there were so nice... they changed my name on my card and gave me RIO beads! (5 of them!) Then, Grant got his own card Circus Circus. One of the coupons were for two free decks of cards at the slots of fun casino next door. First, though, we went up to the midway and won a whole bunch of stuffed animals and played some arcade games. We ended up winning 10 stuffed animals between the three of us. (between the beeds and the stuffed animals, I am set for prizes this year!)
We went over to slots of fun and I got my two free decks of cards (again, this will help my classroom on rainy days...)
After that, we drove to MGM to pick up our tickets for Mystere, the Cirque Du Soleil that Grant and I were going to see later. Right next door to MGM was the new Hooter's hotel (redone from the old San Remo). We decided to eat there - we got buffalo chicken strips, I got a bowl of clam chowder, and grant got a Mahi sandwich. Danny just had the chicken strips. It was really good, and we ended up ordering a second order of chicken strips (hot instead of medium this time.)
Our waitress was really nice. We found out that this was her last night working, and that on Friday she was flying back to Oklahoma to get married. Ah.... so sweet! She looked really happy.
After that we drove back to our hotel and ran upstairs to change clothes. Danny stayed at the hotel and enjoyed the oversized bath tub, while Grant and I went to see Mystere at treasure Island. This was my second Cirque Du Soleil as well as Grant's and we both loved it. We loved what they were able to do with the sets and ths stage because it is a permanent show. And wow... the things these guys can do with their bodies. Amazing!
After the show, we went back to our hotel and down to the Marketplace to buy some snacks.
Another really great thing about our hotel here in Vegas is the washer and dryer - becasue one of the owrst things about Vegas is the way that the Cigarette smoke just permeates your clothes - so we've done laundry every night.
Anyway, once we got going we swung by to get our Pocket Book of values. We looked through to choose which coupon to use and we opted for the Carnival World Buffet at Rio. Oh. My. God. I had forgotton how good this buffet was. I mean I remembered - but it was better then I remembered. First of all much of the design was updatd, and the food stations were nicer. The food was good with many different nations represented in a huge variety. They had the teppenyaki where you pick your veggies and they grill it for you, as well as a variety of noodle soups. The best thing was, we went in at 3:00, and by 3:30 it was offically dinner, which meant they put out a mountain of crab legs!
After lunch, we went to pick up our club cards and the people there were so nice... they changed my name on my card and gave me RIO beads! (5 of them!) Then, Grant got his own card Circus Circus. One of the coupons were for two free decks of cards at the slots of fun casino next door. First, though, we went up to the midway and won a whole bunch of stuffed animals and played some arcade games. We ended up winning 10 stuffed animals between the three of us. (between the beeds and the stuffed animals, I am set for prizes this year!)
We went over to slots of fun and I got my two free decks of cards (again, this will help my classroom on rainy days...)
After that, we drove to MGM to pick up our tickets for Mystere, the Cirque Du Soleil that Grant and I were going to see later. Right next door to MGM was the new Hooter's hotel (redone from the old San Remo). We decided to eat there - we got buffalo chicken strips, I got a bowl of clam chowder, and grant got a Mahi sandwich. Danny just had the chicken strips. It was really good, and we ended up ordering a second order of chicken strips (hot instead of medium this time.)
Our waitress was really nice. We found out that this was her last night working, and that on Friday she was flying back to Oklahoma to get married. Ah.... so sweet! She looked really happy.
After that we drove back to our hotel and ran upstairs to change clothes. Danny stayed at the hotel and enjoyed the oversized bath tub, while Grant and I went to see Mystere at treasure Island. This was my second Cirque Du Soleil as well as Grant's and we both loved it. We loved what they were able to do with the sets and ths stage because it is a permanent show. And wow... the things these guys can do with their bodies. Amazing!
After the show, we went back to our hotel and down to the Marketplace to buy some snacks.
Another really great thing about our hotel here in Vegas is the washer and dryer - becasue one of the owrst things about Vegas is the way that the Cigarette smoke just permeates your clothes - so we've done laundry every night.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Las Vegas
Grant, Danny, and I drove to Las Vegas last night. The traffic was clear once we got out of Orange County and we got to Vegas in about 4 and a half hours (not counting our Barstow stop for dinner at Big Boy.
We are staying at Marriott's Grand Chateau, the new Vacation Club that has opened right off the strip (literally right off... you could easliy walk to, Say, the Aladdin hotel, which is next door.) this Vacation Club has only been opened for a year so everythign is still very new.
Grant has a coworker/friend who used to work at his property and now works here. As a result, we have a room on the 30th floor with a great view. In addition, she generously had our room ready complete with a bottle of wine, a letter for us, a 25$ Mariott "poker chip" that can be used in the Market place or at the pool bar, and two tickets to a las Vegas show (Tony and Tina's Wedding.) How very thoughtful!
Ourt room is nice. This vacation club has one, two and three bedroom units. Some of the one bedroom units are lock offs, which mean they connect to more bedrooms when a bigger villa is needed, while some of the one bedrooms are stand alone, like ours. As you walk in, there is a door immediatly to the right that leads to the bathroom. the kitchen is on your left and the back of the unit is the sitting area complete with a large flat screen (plasma, I think) tv, stereo, and dvd player. A door next to the tv leads to the bedroom with a king bed, another tv, a large bath tub, and another door to connect to the bathroom (By the way, the shower has two shower heads. cool)
I went to bed at like 12:30 (Im getting old) while the boys went out to walmart to get some breakfast food and snacks. So of course, now I am up and they are sleeping, which is fine becasue it gives me the opportunity to do some reading!
We are staying at Marriott's Grand Chateau, the new Vacation Club that has opened right off the strip (literally right off... you could easliy walk to, Say, the Aladdin hotel, which is next door.) this Vacation Club has only been opened for a year so everythign is still very new.
Grant has a coworker/friend who used to work at his property and now works here. As a result, we have a room on the 30th floor with a great view. In addition, she generously had our room ready complete with a bottle of wine, a letter for us, a 25$ Mariott "poker chip" that can be used in the Market place or at the pool bar, and two tickets to a las Vegas show (Tony and Tina's Wedding.) How very thoughtful!
Ourt room is nice. This vacation club has one, two and three bedroom units. Some of the one bedroom units are lock offs, which mean they connect to more bedrooms when a bigger villa is needed, while some of the one bedrooms are stand alone, like ours. As you walk in, there is a door immediatly to the right that leads to the bathroom. the kitchen is on your left and the back of the unit is the sitting area complete with a large flat screen (plasma, I think) tv, stereo, and dvd player. A door next to the tv leads to the bedroom with a king bed, another tv, a large bath tub, and another door to connect to the bathroom (By the way, the shower has two shower heads. cool)
I went to bed at like 12:30 (Im getting old) while the boys went out to walmart to get some breakfast food and snacks. So of course, now I am up and they are sleeping, which is fine becasue it gives me the opportunity to do some reading!
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