How "senior", jim? ~ and you do recognize that you [and me too] are technically "seniors" now, right? ~

My sister LOVED the 8-day Alaska cruise she took a few years ago ~ said it was insanely gorgeous ~ she is now planning to take another, longer Alaska cruise ~ I'm thinking I should "warn" her about the MS Vandaam, even tho she too is now technically a "senior" ~

Sooz

Speak for yourself on this "seniors" thing, Sooz. In my mind, I'm just getting to the age I have to decide what I want to do when I grow-up.

However, while most of the passengers would fall into the technical "senior" category, I wouldn't put a lot of them into the geriatric set. Most of them were pretty enthusiastic, especially ones like the 87 year old lady who spent a solid hour line dancing one night or the ones who joined us on some fairly strenuous hikes.

Alaska is amazingly beautiful and we had a great time although I will confess that some days the only exercise I got was waddling from one dining room to the other. But we got to see whales, glaciers, bears and more souvenir shops than you can shake a stick at.

I wish I could post pictures in V or C.

jim, I'm guessing you want to post directly from your camera ~ hopefully, either Kathy or roseanne [both of whom have done it] or our resident tech guru Jabra can post how-to instructions in our Tech forum ~

Sooz

I've tried to post from my computer, Sooz....and from photobucket. I even followed the instructions Jab gave once under the Tech thread, but no luck unless I wanted to post pictures of little red "x's". That I've got down pat.

Actually be happy for the seniors on the cruise ship. The Norwegian Breakaway out of NYC has tons of kids. We went to Bermuda on that ship and it was so crowded with kids and young adults you could never get a chaise on the pool deck. The more expensive the cruise the higher the percentage of seniors.

On my girls trip to Alaska....

Rana, age around 30, and I were demurring about going on the helicopter up to the glaciers to ride on dog sleds. We went on the White Pass and Yukon Ridge Railroad in the morning and an 89 year old woman told us she was going on the helicopter to the dogsleds. Well, she shamed Rana and I so we toughed it out. My profile picture on facebook is the four of us girls on the glacier. So glad I did it.

Where's Roseanne? How's your trip going?

We are in Great Falls this evening. Made great time with gaining an hour, lol.

Will post after we get home, with some details. Best freaking road trip ever! Thanks for asking.

Pictures say a thousand words or so. Just saying.

Back home finally. Once you get past all the pretty scenery, you just want to be back.

jab, I'll see if I can post some pics. All of the ones I've posted in the past were from twitter or a web page. Maybe I'll get a photobucket account.

Thanks Chaos.

From Calgary, through Saskatchewan, through Manitoba was sort of boring other than the hundreds (or thousands?) of Canada Goose we saw in Winnipeg. Flying and on the ground. As Sid said, the trip from Thunder Bay to Wawa was awesome! The views fantastic. From there to Espanola equally beautiful. The ferry ride was fun and a great break from the driving.

By and far the most unexpected part of the trip was on the way home through Michigan. The trees bursting out in color that was, at times, a sensory overload. We don't have much variety in colors for our fall here and I've missed that from Alabama. Really made me think of Mom who loved fall.

Then. THEN! A drive for miles and miles along the northern shore of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. Oh my. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was an ocean. Sandy beaches, rolling waves and no "other side" to see. Next came a drive along the southern shore of Lake Superior for a while.

Minnesota is pretty with all of it's lakes. North Dakota is like a different country with it's odd, prehistoric land formations that were once under an ocean. Even the dreaded trek along highway 200 was better since they've developed a little bit more along the way. No waiting until I burst to use the facilities, ha!

Our visit with my FIL in Port Elgin was bittersweet. His age is really showing. He seems very fragile and frail. He had a slight cold while we were there and it really knocked him for a loop. I love to hear his stories. He spent a lot of time with the Inuit when he was working in Newfoundland as a civilian for the US base there. He has been to Crete 13 times, traveled by motorcycle all over Europe and to Egypt a number of times. He has a lot of stories. If I had the time with him, I would record them all. Sadly, they are now told in a very disjointed manner as he has memory problems.

I'm so glad we made this trip for many reasons. It was, without a doubt, the best road trip ever..........so far.

Pictures will follow if I can manage it.

One other thing I didn't mention. This was the most relaxing vacation we've ever had, barring a few tense miles on very dark 2 lanes at 4am. We rented our own suite in Port Elgin. It was an older (70's décor) building that used to be apartments. We had a bedroom, a fully stocked kitchen, a living room, two TV's!, and a nice bathroom that had the best water pressure. The proprietors were nice, friendly people.

We weren't pressured to be entertained or to entertain, if you know what I mean. No grandkids bugging us either, lol. FIL's friend, Catherine, would bring over dinner every afternoon. FRESH tomatoes, carrots, green beans and the BEST sweet corn I've ever eaten. All bought from a local farm stand and all organic. We ate only veggies for dinner and we made our bruschetta with the yummy tomatoes to eat for lunch. At first our digestive systems were shocked, LOL!

So glad you had this trip experience after the last few months you've endured at work ~ it sounds wonderful ~ I love car trips ... but only when I can meander and don't have a solid have-to-be-somewhere-at-a-set-time ~

FTR, the view off my balconies is virtually identical to your description of the drive along the northern shore of Lake Michigan ~ also FTR, the Michigan upper peninsula IS gorgeous ~ I've spent some time in Sault Ste Marie, and I loved every single minute ~ saying that reminds me of how long it's been since I've been there ~ time to start thinking of another trip up there!

Sooz

So glad you had this trip experience after the last few months you've endured at work ~ it sounds wonderful ~ I love car trips ... but only when I can meander and don't have a solid have-to-be-somewhere-at-a-set-time ~

Yep, it was the perfect "fix" for the last few months. I would LOVE to meander. We talked about just that- again- as we made our way to and from. One day, maybe....when the kids are more grown and busy with their own lives (or we find a way to retire), we can take an "us" trip like that if we are still healthy. So many places we'd like to stop along the way. One never knows. I'd never have thought I'd live in Canada and make the road trips that we've made so far, or seen the places we've seen. For now I am happy with that. I try to remain grateful for the "now" and let tomorrow take care of itself.