greg3d

It's been a while...

Looks like the last time I posted to this blog was when I was in Mexico in 2012. So here I am in Dallas, waiting for my flight back to Cancun. As usual with adventures like this, I'm with Mortimer, however this time with his wife, Batgirl. I left Seattle last night at midnight and flew to Dallas. Mortimer and Batgirl, had flown in earlier yesterday, so I was able to meet them at their hotel and get a couple of hours sleep. Our flight is delayed about an hour. We got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We had a leisurely lunch and are now just hanging out till the plane turns up. I've missed writing. Time to start up again.

It was a slow day at the lab till the thieves showed up

Firstly, I'm heading down to Tampa for Thanksgiving. First time I will have done Thanksgiving down there since 1985. It's about time. I'm taking Mortimer with me. He hasn't had a vacation in a while either. I have lots I want to do, just hope I have time for it all.

I haven't blogged about the mozzarella yet. Last Saturday I made up my mind to hang around the house and putter. I used to do cooking projects all the time a long time ago. I used to make sausage, I used to brew beer. I even made mead once. I kind of stopped doing it when we moved out here because for a long time I didn't have a decent kitchen and I got out of the habit. Besides, there was too much to do here outdoors. So Saturday I pulled out a book on cheesemaking I acquired a while ago, having had it in mind mind to do this quite some time and embarked on making my own mozzarella. It was not a rousing success, but it was fun. The recipe I chose took me all day and made a firm ball of cheese. The problem was that the recipe called for the ball to be soaked in brine and that made it too salty. Maybe some people like it that way. Maybe that's traditional. Aside from that it tasted like mozzarella. I might be able to use it on pizza if I cut down on the salt everywhere else. It is certainly worth trying again. Now you can buy fresh made mozzarella at the fancier groceries around here, so it only all about the fun of doing it.

So. It was a very slow, very dull day for me, and if Hebert reads this I'll catch hell, because he and Michelle were screaming busy. Anyway about 4 o'clock I'm crossing over to the trailer when Debbie, one of the operators jumps in an electric cart and starts to tear off. She sees me, slams on the brakes and yells to me to get in the cart, that she needs my help. Not having much else to do at the time I said yes and got in. After we were moving was when she told me there were thieves stealing scrap metal on the other side of the plant and that we were going to stop them. She said she felt better if the had a man along. I resisted the temptation to suggest we go look for one. So we go tearing across the plant, brazenly ignoring the 10 mile an hour speed limit, since it was an emergency. I expect the cart was doing about 15 mph, but that's neither here nor there. Sure enough there was a white van and three people tossing metal pipes and other scrap into it. Debbie pulls up in back of them and starts giving them hell. The police had been called and she was trying to keep them busy till they got there. They plead ignorance that they were doing anything wrong and started throwing the scrap back, then they jumped in the van and took off. The operators at the control center tried shutting the gates, but they managed to get away. Apparently these people have been seen stealing a number of times. We got their license plate number, so maybe the police can track them down.i think we would have been better off waiting. The police would probably have been there before they got the van loaded up. It didn't look like too dangerous a situation, but I suppose you never know. Well, that was my excitement for the week.

Vancouver, long time no see

Haven't been to Vancouver B.C. in 3 or 4 years. First time, of course, without Arthur. It's been almost a year, but the firsts still keep coming and are still hard. Everywhere I look, a place we stayed, a place we liked to eat, places we walked together. Still, I had fun. I can still do these things even though he's gone, and I can enjoy them. I just set out walking this morning, ended up at Canada Place. My feet were sore and it was hot as heck, so I went up to see what was playing at the IMAX. I was just in time to see Grand Canyon Adventure 3D. It was a good film. Very good 3D and beautiful cinematography. It was an interesting documentary on top of that. After quite a bit more walking around I stopped off at the hotel. I haven't mentioned Mortimer is here also, but I haven't seen much of him. He is running around having the adventures of a 20 year old, and I'm not about to even try to keep up with him. Our interests, on this trip at least, are wildly divergent. Anyway, after the break at the hotel, which was a shower and some TV (rare for me), I ventured out to an Indian restaurant I'd been to some years ago. It was still very good. As soon as I wrap this up, I'm heading to a movie theater across the street from the hotel, which is showing Jean Renoir's Rules of the Game. I've never seen it, but it's supposed to be one of the greatest fims ever made. Should be interesting. Tomorrow on the way home, we are going to stop in Everson and visit Peggy. I'd love to hang around here, but I would rather see Peggy.

Back home

The ship was in port when I got up this morning. Showered and dressed and met the parents for breakfast. After that, we just hung around waiting ofr our diembarkation call, which was about 9:00. It went very smoothly and Mortimer was there to meet us. We had an early lunch or late second breakfast, however you want to look at it, and caught the ferry to Bremerton. We drove up to Seabeck where many good friends of mine were congregated for our summer assembly and introduced them to my parents. It was a pleasant couple of hours, except for some teen drama that I am going to have to deal with on Tuesday.

Home now. Not yet unpacked. Ready for bed. We got back from Seabeck and decided we were hungry and went out in search of food. Puttered around a bit and now I am ready for bed. With that I leave the first picture from the trip.

quiet close

Low key day today. We finished a trip with dinner in the ships elegant upscale restaurant. There were a couple of glitches which didn't please my father, but I enjoyed my meal. The parents decided not to go into Victoria. I was going to, but was caught off guard by a major Arthur episode. I had never been to Victoria without him and I started thinking about the things we had done there together and lost it. I ended up leaving the ship and walking out to the jetty for some pictures. The cruise ships do not dock within walking distance of downtown and I didn't feel like the hassle of a shuttle. I will come back to Victoria soon and deal with my feelings. There are a couple of things I always wanted to do that Arthur wouldn't agree to, but those would not have been possible today. I will make a trip this summer.

Home tomorrow. The bags are packed and outside the stateroom for pickup. All I have is my camera bag for the remianing few items left. I'm wearing the clothes I will wear tomorrow. Mortimer is picking us up at the terminal and then it's back to normal life.

being lazy takes practice

Onet hing I have really not done much on theis trip is sit still, even on at sea days. I've done a lot of walking, back and forth and up and down. I have sat and chatted with people, but I have not just sat by myself much at all.

As I was passing through the ship, I ran into one of the AA guys who told me whales had been spotted. I knew we were passing through whale territory, so I grapped my pullover and went out to sit on the deck. I spent mabe half an hour out there till I started getting cold. I saw some spouts in the distance, but nothing that stuck around for long. I spent another hour just sitting in the lounge looking out the window. Didn't see much but sea birds, but it was relaxing.

Finally broke down and did some gambling last night. I parked myself on the penny maching till I won a jackpot of $6.

I think i will go down to my cabin and grab a camera and see what interesting shipboard things are worth photographing. Its either that or a nap, but that's not how I want to spend my last day on board ship.

My parents told me they had misplaced thier passports. By all indications they should be in that cabin somewhere, so I'm not too worried.

dessert extravaganza

Instead of the usual midnight meal, there was sugar. The chefs spent 3 days making desserts. The entire complement of passengers is on a sugar high. It's also the first night there have been any kind of ship motion. There must be some swells out there because this boat is rocking. I wonder how many people are turning green. Not me, no sir. This is kind of fun.

zipline adventure

I can't even describe the thrill. This will have to wait till I get home and process the video and post it. I turned on the camera and let it hang while I was flying through the air. I've watched a bit of it and it does give a good picture of how high up I was. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

another day at sea

Today was spent cruising. No port of call. We sailed to the edge of the icefield of the Hubbard Glacier. Didn't see any iceburgs calving, but there was a lot of smaller pieces of ice floating by. One thing I'll say about cruising, there are some things you won't see from land. I don't think you will really get the same view of the mountain ranges as you do from the water.

Tomorrow we arrive in Sitka and I go on a photography tour.

air and sea

This morning I flew by helicopter to a glacier, outfitted in boots and crampons and tramped around on the ice. I don't need to decribe it fully now. I videotaped the flight there and back. It was a perfect warm sunny day and the flight was smooth as anything. I had the videocamera and the SLR with me so there are photos galore, most of which will be posted when I get home.

We got back to the ship in time to catch up with some phone calls and gear up for whale watching. My mother went with me on this excursion. The catamaran had a full buffet with plenty of good food. We saw four humpback whales. I took video, scenics with the SLR and even some shots with the 3D rig.  Again, well covered photographically.

We have now sailed from Juneau. Tomorrow we cruise to the Hubbard Glacier. No shore excursions, just sightseeing from the cruise ship.