Enthusiastic Excursionist

Travelogue - Days 8 & 9 Catalina Island, CA (NOT) and the end of our cruise Hello everyone! - Friday, September 25, 2009 and Saturday, September 26, 2009 After a foggy day in San Francisco, the fog continued to follow us and got thicker and thicker through the night and into Friday morning, to the point that we were not able to go into port on Catalina Island. All of our excursions for Catalina were cancelled; and we found ourselves with an unexpected day at sea with nothing to “see” - except dense fog. The day ended up being very relaxing and quite fun actually. Of course, we had to bring our Euchre Tournament to a conclusion. Ladies, we put our best foot forward and gave it our best shot, but the guys dominated us throughout ... read more

Travelogue - Day 7 San Francisco, CA Hello everyone! - Thursday, September 24, 2009 We arrived in foggy San Francisco this morning. After grabbing a quick breakfast, we headed off the ship to our tour bus for the Sonoma wine country. The fog stayed with us most of the morning and finally broke up at least an hour out of San Francisco. As we passed along the two lane road heading out to our first vineyard, we passed acres and acres of grape vines laden full with rich, ripe grapes ready for the picking. This is actually grape picking season - so most of the vineyards are quite busy gearing up for a great season and creating some delicious wines. We passed through the small square in Sonoma and headed out further to the oldest vineyard ... read more

Travelogue - Day 5 & Day 6 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada & Day at Sea Hello everyone! - Tuesday, September 22, 2009 We arrived early in Victoria, BC and because we were only in port for about a half a day, our tour of Butchart Gardens, Wine & Chocolate left around 9:00 a.m. The day was gloriously clear and about 70° outside with no winds. The ride out to Butchart Gardens was quite enjoyable with our tour guide, Mike. He was an elderly Irishman who was full of information about the area giving us tidbits of history and all sorts of information interspersed here and there with a cute joke. He made the 30 minute ride from Victoria out to Butchart Gardens quite enjoyable. Butchart Gardens is about 18 miles outside of Victoria. It was started ... read more

Travelogue - Day 4 Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada Hello everyone! - This is being sent to you on Tuesday morning as we had no cell phone coverage in Nanaimo. Monday, September 21, 2009 Last night around 5:00 p.m. we sailed out of Vancouver and headed up the coast for awhile after passing under the Lions Gate Bridge going through the narrows alongside Stanley Park in Vancouver. There was a huge sail away party; the majority of people were up on the Lido deck along with the band playing the Macarena and YMCA and them all dancing and having a grand time. Many more of us were alongside both sides of the railings as we passed through the narrows and out along Bowen Island. Because Nanaimo is only about 40 miles from Vancouver, we barely moved through ... read more

Travelogue - Day 3 Boarding Golden Princess in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Hello everyone! Sunday, September 20, 2009 Sunday morning was gorgeous in Vancouver when we woke. There was blue sky above with a few spotted clouds. It was a leisurely morning for Jim and me as we chose to sleep in a bit and then go to Starbucks for a little breakfast before meeting up with Rob and Christie for the four of us to head off to board the Golden Princess. Rob and Christie what sounded to be a really nice walk back down to Gastown and then stopped at a local place for breakfast. Once they got back to the hotel and we all got ready to head downstairs, we called the bellman to come get our luggage. We headed out the front ... read more

Travelogue - Day 2 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Hello everyone! Friday, September 18, 2009 - continued… Friday in Vancouver continued for us after we all rested a bit and then went down on to the lovely outside patio overlooking the marina and the pool here at the Westin Bayshore where we played some Euchre and the guys have now taken the overall lead in games 3-2. Christie and I will have our work cut out for us now for the rest of the trip! Keep your fingers crossed for us girls! After we played cards for a couple of hours, we decided to take a walk over to Stanley Park, which is right next to where we are staying. The sun was about to set in the west and the sweeping clouds against the blue sky ... read more

This past weekend my parents and Jim and I drove up to Monterey to visit my daughters and their families and my brother and his family. We took off early Friday morning and had to make the obligatory stop for coffee. Of course, then two hours after that, we had to make the obligatory stop for a potty break. And so it was...We drove up Interstate 15 to I-210 and eventually met up with Interstate 5 that we took North. We stopped in Buelton for lunch and more coffee and were back on the road again. All along the way, we saw acres and acres of some sort of fruit trees. The trees appeared to be young because of the size of their trunks. When we reached Highway 46, we took that to cut across over ... read more

TRAVELOGUE Tuesday, May 20, 2009 Saguenay, Quebec Good morning everyone ~ This morning we glided through the Saguenay Fjord along the Saguenay River for almost two hours viewing the splendid cliffs and scenery along the way. Every once in awhile there would be an opening and a small meadow with about five homes on it surrounded by these incredibly tall granite cliffs. As we approached the end of the fjord through the Bay of Ha! Ha! (literally - that’s what it is called) to La Baie (the bay). Although we were told we were going to the town of Saguenay, it is an amalgamation of three different towns. La Baie is set at the far end of the fjord and surrounded by beautiful hills and granite cliffs. The people were again very welcoming and happy to ... read more