North to Alaska!
05.06.2026 Big Sam left Seattle*
Gloucester to Vancouver
Hey Now! Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Come inside, come inside. The adventure of a lifetime lurks within these virtual walls. My dear Sweet Ti and I are celebrating the completion of our 70th trip around the sun. And what better way than to celebrate than to knock a couple of items off our bucket list. We fandangled a couple of casino comp from the Blue Chip Club for a seven day Northbound cruise from Vancouver to Seward and a 7 day Southbound cruise from Seward back to Vancouver on the Celebrity Summit. And in the same cabin to boot! We booked a couple of days in Vancouver to poke around before the cruise. It sounds like a beautiful place.
We left from RIC as usual. We booked the flight thru Delta but a leg of each way is on a Westjet aircraft.
On time departure and I have upgraded us to Comfortably Numb class. Dreams do come true as we score an empty middle seat for this leg.
We have a quick turn around in ATL but have informed Delta about our Sweet Ti's mobility issues and are met at our gate by a cheerful mobility assistant who was a banshee behind a wheelchair. I ran after. We made it in record time , coronary notwithstanding.
Dream deja vu! Yet another ghost in the middle. We are in Extended Comfort whatever that means. But there's tons of room and these Canadians are so darn friendly. We settle in for an Extended Comfort Journey. It turns out to be even more extended as there are strong head winds and it takes us almost 6 hours to get to Vancouver.
We slept in between the quality Westjet service calls. Free booze too!! Gotta make your own entertainment though.
The approach to Vancouver was spectacular over the water. Skyscrapers as far as the eyes can see. This place is spread out. There were golf carts awaiting our arrival. A fine Canadian chap drove us thru the beautiful terminal complex and the various customs stops. He took us just about all the way to the Sky Train station stopping along the way to grab our luggage and one of their FREE CARTS.
They make this city very accessible. Our hotel is right next to the 4th station on the line. We card thru the turnstiles and are whisked away. Next stop: Bridgeport. We hop off and make our way to our home for the next 2 days.
It's only a bit after noon here. The front desk has no line to speak of. Our room is ready in the west tower. Sweet!
Very tidy and clean. Nice consumables from the coffee and tea selection with the requisite electric tea kettle to the bathroom products.
Marina view is pushing it a bit. They are actually in the middle of a large project here on the Fraser River.
Damage from a Massive fire in 2024
Getting the lay of the land at this resort. There's a buffet but only on the weekends. A fancy Asian resturant, a Ramsey steak joint, and the food court in the casino. We opt for the food court and get some food to go. While I waited for our food, I stopped by the player's club and signed up. $20. fsp. Then I hit up the cashier and exchanged $300. USD for $430. CAD. I was informed that they would honor that exchange rate for that much money for the next 12 hours only. I thought it was kinda strange. I also hit this...
Pretty decent food at not terrible CAD prices. Nice employees too. Everyone is very polite and friendly. Sweet Ti napped while I gamboled.
Up and down etc. I recognized the majority of the slots, many were either Canadian or Australian. Very few VP machines. Well it's been a long day but we are safely ensconced in a foreign land and our adventure awaits!
05.07.026 In the year of ninety-two*
Granville Island
Hey Now! Welcome to a beautiful 8°morning. Whatever that means. It's interesting watching the Canadian Weather Channel here. They cover everything from Alberta to Nome Alaska. It's looking pretty good for the next 2 weeks weather wise. Maybe not so much way up around Seward, but time will tell. Today we are touring Granville Island. But first things first. I mosey down to Starbucks for some Coffee Elizabeth. Well that ain't happening. There's several events going on here and the crowds are out. So I hit the food court in the casino for some free coffee and some delicious pastries. Way cheaper than Starbucks too.
nice robes here....
The weather is here! We pack for bear and take off on our self guided excursion. Much cheaper than Viator. From our room to the train in less than 8 minutes. Again, clean and efficient. We even had someone give up their seat so Sweet Ti could sit.
Next stop Main Street Station. We hopped off there and elevated up. I had absolutely no sense of direction as we emerge.
Not being able to see the Science World building or the waterfront gives me pause, but as we are obviously lost beyond belief a friendly local shows us the way. Follow the signs- you just must know where to look!!
Canadian Goose. Literally.
It's a rather pleasant walk down to the river. This entire area was one of the sites of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. The Olympic Village was here too. The architecture is really impressive. Just as it is all over this town.
After our lovely morning stroll along the waterfront we came to The Village ferry stop. Awaited the next False Creek ferry to arrive and purchased a couple of day passes from today's local,Captain Derrick. He just handed us a handful of paper tickets. Off we go. Derrick is Polish but has lived here in Vancouver for many years. He's been a Captain for 8 years. Na Zdravie!
It's a really gorgeous morning on the water. We change ferries at Granville Island ferry dock and continue on.
Final stop: The Vancouver Maritime Museum. There were some beautiful old sailboats being tended to on the dock.
Sweet Ti even found a book to read at the Little Library there.
We paid our admission and were informed there was a guided tour of the R.C.M.P. St. Roch starting soon. We queue up.
It's incredible the hardships these brave sailors faced in the Bering Sea. Afterwards we toured the rest of the museum.
Great museum. We hit the gift shop on the way out and made sure to thank them for everything. Next stop: The Public Market.
Granville Island is a cultural and artistic hub in the heart of Vancouver. Sounds like a press statement because it is. We got off the ferry and moseyed around a bit. The Public Market itself is huge! We were starving at this point and found our way to the food court. We grabbed a couple of slices of pizza and finally found a seat. The place is completely mobbed.
yum! bombed!
I noticed a lady was having trouble opening her water bottle and so I bopped over and helped her out.
She and her husband will figure in later on during this saga....
After a bit more poking around we made our way back to the ferry and asked the captain if there was any way that he knew for us to have a bit of a shorter walk back to a train station. He recommended the Yaletown ferry dock. " The walk to the station is much shorter " By jove, the man was right!
Every town has to have an Umbrella Street
Yaletown Station
And back home in short order. What a wonderful way to spend the day in such a lovely place. Sweet Ti crashes for a bit while I hit the casino for an early evening session.
Roll 'em Jimmy......
I asked a slot attendant about food comps earned for play. She looked at me like I was crazy. So I strolled over to the player's club and inquired there. No dice. But I have earned 35. in free play. Good enough. So I played that thru and next went to the cashier with my TITO and around 85. CAD to exchange into USD. Well boy howdy! Now I know why they did that whole receipt thingy as all about when I exchanged the money to begin with. They do not exchange back otherwise. So I ended up playing away the CAD. Then I ordered some dinner and retired upstairs to eat and pack. It's been a whirlwind journey so far. And we are just getting this thing started!!!!
05.08.2026 With George Pratt his partner*
Leaving Vancouver
Hey Now! Coffee Elizabeth and then we begin our trek across Vancouver to Canada Place. We check out and haul our load over to the train station.
Seeing as it's a Friday the subway is faily packed. Sweet Ti finds a seat while I attempt to stabilize 3 pieces of luggage from flying around the train car. Not made any easier with the jackrabbit starts and stops every few minutes, But we finally arrive at the Waterfront station. Now to find our way to Canada Place. This should be interesting especially after yesterday. At street level we follow other travelers with luggage.
We are approached by a friendly dude who comments on my Grateful Dead hat, pins, and patches. He is today's local, Yosef.
"I'll take your picture"
Thanks Yosef
Yosef has lived all over the world but says he always ends up back here. Something special about this place. He shows us a cut thru to save us a bit of walking over to the cruise port. We arrive and are sent down thru the parking garage. Strange. We find the luggage drop.
We go thru several suggestive lines including customs. Then we get tantalizingly close to our ship.
And then back inside for more line segregation. Finally to the last line and eventual embarkation.
Take us sailing James!!
Room 6024
So we had this same cabin on our West Indies Sorcery trip a couple of years ago. But that was before the big Summit refit. The biggest upgrade we spot right away is the power plug to the left of the bed. New panels on the walls too. Otherwise, pretty much the same room.
Such a beautiful cruise port. Just way too spread out. We walkabout the ship and try and find the upgraded surprises.
gumdrops!!
Sailaway
Love going under bridges!
On our way thru the Strait of Georgia
As we leave Vancouver and the shelter of land the weather started to pick up. Looks like a rock and roll evening. Back at our cabin, we meet Sharon, our room attendant for the next 14 days. Sharon is from the Philippines and writes down the few things that we ask for. I love it when they pay enough attention to you to write things down. Distilled water, Ti's birthday celebration, etc. We signed up for the Go Green program and made sure she knew. A fat tip always helps. She's a sweetheart. But enough of this. Time to gamble!
I do like what they have done
to my car! casino. Fewer slots means more room and they
rearranged the pit and put the poker tourny table over in the art gallery next
door along with several slots. They outgrew the original footprint of the place.
There are 8 VP machines with back to back o each side of the casino on the
aft end of the joint. While I was playing Paul, the casino host came up and
actually greeted me by name. "We appreciate our Sapphire players" Well
I will be sure to leave lots of hundys about the place. Nice guy.
781 tier points.
05.09.2026 And brother Billy too*
Inner Passage
Hey Now! Rock and roll ship! I head out to El Bacon (Café al Bacio) with my handy dandy carrier......
Mr. Handy
The envy of the El Bacon crowd!
We have also ordered the continental breakfast and enjoy our repast. And for desert it's Bonine all around. Then we lay around in bed and got into the rhythm of the waves. Hopefully this won't last too long but the weather farther north doesn't look but so promising. But the world always looks better after a nap. I let Sharon know we are hanging tight for the morning and she said to tell Madam Happy Birthday. A bit of background, Sweet Ti's birthday was in April, and mine is later in May. We both turned 70. Might as well celebrate on a ship. Sharon gives me a wink. We awaken refreshed and fully Meclazined. We decide on a Cosmo lunch. Lower deck than the buffet.
3 to 6 meters
barf bags none for me thanks!
New and improved El Bacon !
We finally found a leeward shore and the seas calmed down a bit. We moseyed on over to the Casino....
We take a break and scoot back to the room . And what's all this???
Happy 70th Sweet Ti Darling!!!
1602 tier points
Stretch and friends
05.10.2026 They crossed the Yukon River*
Ketchikan
Hey Now! Happy Mother's Day Sweet Ti. Shh- don't wake her up. I awaken early as today holds a dream for me. I've been a fly fisherman my entire life. Hence flysrb! I always dreamed of fishing for an maybe catching a trout or salmon in Alaska. Well today that dream becomes a reality. The fishing aspect anyway. I have hired a guide to take me out today. But that's not for a couple of hours yet.
Looks like we are getting a front row center berth here in Ketchikan
Well since I've got a couple of hours till the meet up I join the crowds at the buffet. We really don't like the layout and were hoping they would change it but nope. The stations are so fa apart and with the kitchen in the middle of everything you have to walk all the way around the ends to get to the other side. One interesting aspect of this ship is the distribution of the elevators. The Silhouette class ships are actually bigger, they have only 2 sets of elevators. Whereas the Millennium ships such as the Summit have 3 sets of elevators. The ones to the aft of the ship are actually inside the buffet area. Strange. Great if your room is back there. Got that killer bacon here tho.
Paul from Cali
competition
I had plenty of bacon and descended to grab Mr. Handy and did the Coffee Elizabeth El Bacon. I also added some Spa Calf (Café)- a fruit plate and avacado toast. When I return to our room Ti is sort of awake so I wish her Happy Mother's Day and I butler her with pleasure. I had a card laid out for her and she opened it and swooned. Or some such. Pretty soon my phone goes off. It's my guide who introduces himself as today's local, Tappen. We make arrangements to meet at the statue beside the dock. I ask Tappen how many people are in our group. "Just you and me". Perfect! Well, it's raining lightly and it's supposed to do this on and off all day. At least it's in the mid 50's. I put of plenty of clothes. A kiss for luck and I'm off! "I'll probably be the only dude in waders and I drive a beat up green jeep" said Tappen.
Ketchikan is just like you would picture an Alaska frontier town. Or at least what I had pictured in my mind. There's a large parking lot and I spot the green jeep pulling in. Just slightly beat up. Out pops our Tappen and sure enough, waders. We shake hands and I hop in and we head over to The Hook Up Fly Shop. Along the way we get to know each other a little. Tappen is in his 20's. He's named after a bridge.
Tappen lives the rest of the year in Maryland. He guides there too. He studied biology and worked in that field for awhile. Wanderlust must have taken over. This his second year of guiding up here. I tell him that I would love to catch a trout on a dry fly. He tells me I'm about 3 weeks too early. But the good news is that the steelhead are running in Ward Creek. Seems that when they return there to spawn it drives the other trout up into Ward Lake for a bit. Steelhead huh? They are endangered here so it's all catch and release. At the fly shop I'm given a pair of stocking foot waders , boots, a wading staff, and full water bottle.My fly vest draws lots of attention as it's covered in dead patches. Tappen's Mom followed the Dead and Company on tour years ago. Go figure. Let's do this thing!
We drive a few miles towards Ward Cove. I notice there's at least one boat in just about every yard. The houses are of every description from mobile homes to mountain châteaus. We turn off onto a small road and commence to gain altitude. After a couple of miles we turn around in a small parking lot and stop at a pull off along the road. We are here. Tappen pulls out a fairly large rod. Immediately I spot a problem. It's strung right handed. I mentioned to Tappen that I was left handed back in the shop but in all the hustle and bustle he may not have heard. I can live with it. We take off down the trail to the creek. It's a temperate rainforest. Beautiful and very wet.
Tappen picks out a promising spot and we enter the creek. The water isn't too deep but it's moving with incredible force.
Master guide
He rigs me up with an egg pattern that he tied last night and a strike indicator.
So I'm basically bobber fishing. It takes me a while to get the hang of it and it ain't pretty. I manage to catch a stickleback (tree) or two. I finally get my roll cast to where I can put the indicator more or less where Tappen instructs me to. Then I feel something. Tappen sez "Set the hook!" I set the hook. The water erupts as the fish jumps completely out of the water. "Put him on the reel!!" About the time I get the slack line back on the reel the fish takes off downstream. Incredibly powerful fish! Tappen tells me to try and keep him away from shore. Easier said than done. Doing everything wrong handed doesn't help. But I keep him away from shore and reel him in close enough so that Tappen can net him. "Her". What? "It's a her. Female steelhead." I receive handling instructions.
just wow!!!!