Home Sweet Home

---

So… we rolled-in to our garage around 1am today. Sunday was a long travel day. I was up by 6am… we were off the ship around 8:30am and at the Seattle airport by 9am. The Seattle airport was packed. When I say packed I mean… historically crowded. The locals were freaking out about it. I’ve been in this airport four or five times and I’ve never seen it like this EVER. However, there were probably 4 ships that came into port today and it’s not like these things aren’t known months ahead of time but TSA was not ready for us and it was a madhouse. It took us almost two and a half hours to get from where the ship’s bus dropped us off at the airport doors to get our bags checked and through security! Once we got into the regular waiting area for our flight, we only had about 30 minutes until our flight. Kamie realized he left his new, beloved hat back at TSA. I stood in line for a Starbucks iced tea while he walked all the way back to TSA and got his hat! He’s convinced they tried to steal it because he sat it on top of his coat and my purse. Who knows. He showed-up at Starbucks a happy man. He then says to me “Oh, and they said your wife left her sunglasses too and so here you go…” and he hands me sunglasses I’ve never seen in my life. No time to go back to TSA so lucky me! I lost my favorite sunglasses a week before we left for this trip so this was extra nice.

We flew Seattle to Dallas on Alaska Airlines and then Alaska sold us to American and we flew a small plane into Springfield. We loved that small plane and those comfy seats. I will consider flying in and out of Dallas now as I have specifically avoided it for over 14 years due to it being non-smoking (Kamie smokes) but all airports in the USA (except for D.C.) are now non-smoking so we’d much rather go through DFW with AA than through Atlanta with Delta. Atlanta is a madhouse. Dallas is not.

A few thoughts about this trip… we loved it. Maybe it was the great weather, the beautiful scenery, the ability to sit on our balcony 24/7, and our general state of mind of being able to travel again… but it was one of our nicer trips. I fail to pinpoint one reason why we enjoyed this trip so much… but it just felt good. We like the HAL clientele, we liked most of the ports (I wasn’t keen on Juneau), and we loved traveling together again. Being an avid reader, I cannot believe I forgot to pack a couple of books (Kamie reads his Kindle, I don’t like Kindles) so I was a teeny bit bored at least one day. That’s on me. There is plenty to do if you take the time to read the programs they put in your stateroom every day. Also, oddly enough, on this cruise there was no baseball on TV. I did find the walking track and I did get my steps in EVERY day. I ate salads more often than not, stayed carb-free for the majority of the trip, and took the stairs quite a bit. I didn’t hustle and sweat a bunch but it was a 500 step walk or more just to get iced tea so that helps. Can you imagine what we would all look like if we had to walk 500 steps just to get something to drink? It’s about 5 steps at home now. ? I came home and weighed first thing this morning and I did not gain even one pound… I did gain .4 ounces but that doesn’t count in my book. (I still weigh more this year than I ever have in my life but I've been trying to change that since April - the old fashioned way with healthy eating and exercise) I made myself take the dog for a walk at 6:30am this morning. I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to make it up the hill by our house but lo and behold… the dog and I had a great time and walked over 2 miles in record time. I found 3 golf balls. Life is still good. ? Everyone complained about the heat in Missouri while we were gone but it was 70 when I pulled out of the airport last night and I think it was in the high 60s when I left for my walk this morning. We brought the cool weather with us. Thank Goodness. The lawn doesn’t even need mowed because of the drought here. My outside flowers are still alive thanks to my mom.

Back to Holland America… they are offering 50 percent off rates with $50 onboard credits, 50 percent off your deposit, free wi-fi your entire cruise, free drinks your entire cruise (from water to soda to liquors), one free “fancy” meal in a designated restaurant of your choice, and $100 per person credit toward any off-ship excursion if you book a new cruise with them by June 30^th. I’m going to look at either an 11-day trip through the Panama Canal (this would be visiting 5 countries we have never seen before – Aruba, Columbia, Panama, etc..) or a 14-day trip around the tip of South America from Buenos Aires, Argentina all the way around the horn and back up to Chile….sometime in 2023. We are currently booked for a two-week land-based trip from Argentina through the Andes to Chile in October 2023 but I think I’m going to cancel it. I like sitting on the balcony too much and I like unpacking ONE time. We shall see. For now, this lovely trip is over. We always know how blessed we are to be able to travel and live like we do and I don't take that for granted or forget it. Ever. Thanks for following along…

---