Cruise Part One

In July, 2011, when Mom was living with us for the summer, she started the process to fulfill one of her long-standing desires--to take all her children and grandchildren on a cruise to Alaska.  She loved to travel and enjoyed being with her children and seeing them happy, so she asked me to help with the details.  Together we researched cruise lines and excursions, settling on Holland America's Alaskan Explorer with stops in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and Victoria and a day in the waters of Glacier Bay.  She had saved the money to take everyone and even wanted to pay the (obligatory) tip.  Her excitement at the prospect of the upcoming adventure helped lessen the pain and fatigue caused by a severe eye infection she battled all summer.  Sadly, she passed away three weeks after returning to Las Vegas in October.  However, the decision to accept her generosity was unanimous (in fact, at least one grandchild asked, on hearing of their grandmother's death, "What about the cruise?").  Mom was not with us physically on the adventure, but we all felt her influence and Patty, Shauna and I all found ourselves remarking, "Oh, Mom would have loved that!" 

On August 4, 2012, 34 of her descendants, including three nursing great-grand-babies and her oldest great-grandson, Soren, boarded the Westerdam at Pier 91 in Seattle, Washington.  We missed the three, Brandon Eyre and Jason and Laura Ellsworth, who were prevented by employment constraints from joining us.  
I took some photos, but depended on others with better cameras to capture a lot of the experience.  

As David and I drove to Seattle on Friday and discovered that our hotel was only a couple of miles from the temple, we took the opportunity to attend an early morning session before heading for the pier.  The temple was closing for two weeks that evening, so the temple and grounds were filled with brides, grooms and their families.  Being in that holy place set our hearts and minds on what is important eternally.

Waiting for the shuttle to take us from the parking lot to the Pier.



Our first view of our floating home.

David and the Westerdam

Juneau, Alaska, August 5, 2012

As David and I took Asher for a few hours while Alyssa and Jared enjoyed a shore excursion, we decided to just explore the city on our own.  Carrying Asher in the front-pack was just like old times and I enjoyed his smiles and being close to him.  

A young, but knowledgeable young man, guided us through the state capitol, pointing out the photo of Sarah Palin hanging on the wall of govenors after enlightening us on many aspects of Alaska's history and government.

View of our ship from the top of the Mt. Roberts tramway, seen ascending from the docks below.

After three hours in the carrier, Asher was glad to have his freedom.  As soon as I sat him on the bed, he made a beeline for the two gold-foil wrapped chocolates left on our bed by Joe and Sam, our great stewards. Note the wrist band placed on every child to identify them if they became lost.