A few more tid-bits about the cruise

After I had typed, edited, and published my blog, I thought about a few more things I could have added to it. Isn't that the way it always is?

Near the end of the cruise, one of our last ports was in Canada. We stopped in Victoria; which is the most beautiful place I think I have ever seen. The flowers were just wonderful. There were flower gardens everywhere, and throughout town there were light posts with hanging flowers every 15 feet or so. Just look at those pretty flowers! There were also roses galore that reminded me of my grandma Higginson, and her famous rosebushes. So pretty.

And I have to add a bit about the architecture of the buildings there. My gosh, they are so ornate and spectacular. We happened to be there on a national holiday, so there was a large open outdoor mall that had artists with handmade things. There was a bagpipe band that was playing, and if anyone knows me well enough, they know that I love bagpipes. No, I seriously do, I like the sound of them. I am not joking....

So, the very last day of our cruise we sailed back into Seattle. I was honestly looking forward to a rainy place, but our tour guide told us that we were lucky enough to be in Seattle on one of the few sunny days of the year. Oh well, it really was nice weather. While in Seattle, and before our plane ride back to Phoenix, my family took a bus tour around downtown Seattle. We got to stop at the Space Needle. We all went up to the top of the Needle.... wow, that is high! This picture was taken from the top. Pretty scary elevator ride; it takes, I think like 9 seconds to get up to the top. David had been to Seattle once before we were married, for a friends wedding, and the two places he wanted to take me, were the Needle and to the famous Pikes Place Fish Market. It worked out nicely, that those were the two stops on our bus tour.

At the fish market, it smelled just as a fish market should.... like fish. Peeeeouew!!! But, what a cool place. The guy in this shot is literally throwing a 3 foot salmon to a guy at least 10-15 feet away, behind the counter. Yeah, its a bad shot, but it happens so fast! The guys are yelling back and forth to each other. It is a big production, and a fun thing to just stand and watch. Not only were there lots of fish shops, there were flower shops, trinkets, homemade stuff, all over the place for sale. It was very interesting to see the different types of people in Seattle. I wouldn't mind returning, just for a trip to see more of Washington state. It is a beautiful place.

We grabbed our flight back to Phoenix, and got to my parents house at about 9:30pm. We ran over to the neighbors house, and picked up our puppy Max, and headed home on our 2 and a half hour drive. We wanted to surprise the kids with the dog, as a little gift, and even now, they all think we got him in Alaska, on the ship! It is pretty funny. Anyway, we made it back to Snowflake at about midnight, took a quiet peek at the kids and went straight to bed! I know we could have waited to drive until morning, but I was missing my kids terrible!! I needed to see my babies. And sure enough, just like my mother warned, it was only a couple hours later that I was thinking how nice it would be to go on the cruise again! Isn't that like motherhood? We all want a break, and then we get one, and then we want our kids back, and then we get them back, and then we want a break again. It is an endless cycle.... and a true way of knowing just how much you love your kids.