There was a lot of turbulence during our flight. I had to fight the almost overwhelming urge to gigg

I have traveled to Alaska and home again, I have eaten until even I was startled at how many calories I was able to engulf in a week, and I have been talking more or less nonstop about the trip ever since I got back--so much talking about it that I'm tired of yammering. And I haven't even unpacked and need to pack to go to Chicago and Worldcon this weekend.
The trip was marvelous. I kept a travel journal, so I'll just transcribe what I wrote and put some pictures in. (I'd include pix of my nephews, but my brother and sister-in-law probably don't want me to plaster their kids all over the internet, so I won't.) Occasionally I'll add a comment in brackets. Warning: this will be long--but, I hope, entertaining.
When I got to the airport, I was starving and thirsty, so as soon as I checked my bag, I bought an enormously expensive Coke and a donut and bolted them. About the time I had to step in the scanner and get cancered, the caffeine and sugar was kicking in so much I was shaky. It's a wonder I wasn't disappeared for appearing nervous. I was so relieved when I got through security without being arrested that I stopped at Starbucks and got a vanilla bean frappuccino, but the idiot barista added--ick--coffee. Vanilla means no coffee! It's practically the only drink on the Starbucks menu without coffee. I'm drinking it anyway (good thing I have Tic-Tacs to combat discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi coffee breath) and the caffeine is surging through my system. discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi They could use me to power the entire airport discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi until my flight leaves. Hell, I could just run to Chicago in time to catch my connecting flight.
Pizza for supper. I bought some gummis. The little bag was $4.29 and as I was checking out the cashier said, "They're four-twenty-nine," in a warning voice. I told her if I'd neglected to bring candy with me I deserved to have to overpay for it at the airport. She didn't laugh.
On my flight up I sat beside the guy who bicycled with his wife and three daughters from Kentucky to Alaska about a decade ago. I vaguely remember hearing about it on the news. He told me about it when I told him I was going to Alaska, and he was the one who started the "where are you headed?" conversation. discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi I don't typically talk to people. Ever.
There was a lot of turbulence during our flight. I had to fight the almost overwhelming discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi urge to giggle and squeal. It really does feel like a roller coaster. The world's most expensive (and awesome) roller coaster.
Made it! I had to fight a girl for my seat by the window. She had parked herself in it and spread 4,000 items about her person, including an enormous salad she was sitting there eating while I blocked traffic down the aisle and snarled at her. It took her forever to move into her actual seat, right next to me. She did apologize (and later, when we were descending into Vancouver with the lights spread out below like a fairy blanket, she said wistfully, "Is it pretty?", which made me feel a teeny bit guilty).
The flight was uneventful discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi and seemed very long although it was only about four hours. I read some and tried to doze some and mostly looked out MY window at the stars and the lights and the pale haze above the horizon that in places seemed to climb into the sky in nearly invisible columns of gray.
I tried to sleep later, but woke at 6am. That's nine my time, and for me that's sleeping late. Richard discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi [my brother] said we might meet around 7 or 7:30, so I have time to kill since I'm all ready to go except discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi for my shoes.
I am on a SHIP! We have embarked discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi although we won't leave shore until around four, I think. I am sitting on our little deck and can feel the ship rocking very gently. Only time will tell if I get seasick.
We are underway! We went under a bridge! Tara [my sister-in-law] got glasses of wine to toast to the cruise discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi and to departing Vancouver. We're sitting on our little deck now, watching the land slide by. The sea rushes in foamy swells from the ship and I can hear the music faintly discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi from where they're dancing around the pool. I'm not sure if I'm feeling swimmy-headed from the ship's motion, my lack of sleep, or the wine. Maybe all of them.
I showered once we got back to the room, and changed into capris. Now I'm full and comfy and sleepy, and the sun is not even down. Tara is reading on our little balcony, I'm here with her, and the two younger boys have the binoculars and are debating the merits of various speedboats visible from the ship.
"Early bird" breakfast means coffee and tea, not food. I am slurping down tea and waiting for a food place to open. Tara elected to sleep in, not to my surprise. She was worn out, and I'm more of a morning person than she is. It's foggy this morning. Tara said (in a creaky morning voice), "I've never been on a ship where it wasn't discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi foggy in the mornings." This is her third cruise.
Hey, there's a clock. It's almost 6:20 am. The foghorn keeps sounding, just like something out of a movie. The dining room where I'm sitting, waiting for food, is open at its far end where the pool is. The air rushing in is cold and salty, and tendrils of mist wisp toward me until they dissolve in the blasts of heated air. The floor is wet. I can still see the ocean sliding by, although I'm up on deck 11 so I can't see it very well from here.
Tara came to find me before I had my second tea, and we went for breakfast once it opened. I ate one of everything I could fit on my plate. Then we went to the gym and worked out, which is probably a good thing although now I really have a headache. I should discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi have had that second tea after all.
The boat was rolling a bit earlier and Richard discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi and the kids were feeling a bit seasick. They are all doped up on Dramamine now. I took Tylenol for my headache and feel better too, but I had a light lunch. Comparatively speaking.
I've discovered that I love strolling around outside on deck 5, which is the lowest deck where you can actually go outside. It's chilly and damp down there so I mostly have it to myself. I keep taking photos of the bow waves and our wake. Tara pointed out that I'm going to end up deleting most of my pictures. [She was right.]
We saw WHALES. Or orcas [actually they were probably humpbacks] which are, I think, a type of dolphin rather than a whale. discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi We saw a lot of them and Tara got some pictures, or at least she did after she appropriated my camera's memory card. She'd forgotten hers and my camera was refusing to focus when I zoomed in. Teamwork! She made me promise to email her the pix after we get home.
Tonight was formal dress for dinner. I forgot to take pictures, but the boys were so adorable dressed up. I had oxtail soup, duck, and berry pudding. I feel kind of sick from too much rich food. I have no one to blame but myself.
discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi We are sailing alongside land, possibly islands. It's only a little discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi foggy this morning, so I can see the low hills very closely, craggy with pine trees, and glimpses of higher hills beyond. And there are lights in the distance. People live here.
I love early mornings by myself. I tried hard not to wake Tara when I got up and dressed, but the way I was thumping around she was probably wide awake but too polite to say so. [She was. I woke her up every single morning.]
I have my tea and I'm waiting for breakfast to open or for someone I know to show up and say hi. No headache this morning, no queasiness. Richard has a supply of Dramamine and ginger products so big he could set up a drugstore in his stateroom. I have a ginger chew he gave me yesterday in my pocket. He says he eats them all the time--like, constantly, the way other people chew gum. They're good, but lordie, not that good.
We went on our first excursion today, discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi a canoe trip and little discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi nature walk in Ketchikan. It was fun, and the foggy, gray weather turned abruptly warm and sunny while we were out, giving us a brilliant view of some mountains with streaks of snow at their summits. From the water of the small lake, we could smell the cold, clean scent of evergreens that climb the steep sides of the mountains.
I bought a brown fleece jacket with a bear stitched on it, which is snuggly warm and which is probably why it turned so warm out. But even with the sun out, the breeze has a snap to it that feels more like early spring to me than late summer.
I thought it was closer to 6am and got up and dressed and slipped out to drink tea and wait for breakfast. Imagine my surprise. No wonder I'm still so sleepy, but the tea and coffee things are already discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi set up so at least I can get some caffeine down.
It's light, which is why I thought it was closer to six, but only just. After I finish my tea, I'm going to walk around on deck and take pictures. A lot of the mountains here have snow on them. I am all snuggled up in my brown bear jacket. Best $15 I ever spent.
We're stopped at the port where we go on the zipline. It's strung up above the hills like a radio tower guywire. There's three lines [actually it turned out to be six] so we can all three go at the same time and race. In honor of that #3, I ate three breakfasts. Hobbits are amateurs .
There's no dock for cruise ships here, so we'll have to cross to land in little boats. Tara told me the name of the boats but I can't remember discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi it. All I can think of is 'trebuchet' and 'punter,' which are just random words.
We rode up to the top of the mountain in a bus, and the driver told us some stuff about the town and places we were passing. The ride was about 45 minutes and he stopped once so we could take pictures out the windows. From what he said, the zipline discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi is owned by the Tlingits (pronounced sort of like Klinkits) and has brought a lot of prosperity to the village. discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi The bus driver said that he was one of the village elders, and told us the traditional greeting to visitors and how he would introduce discount plane tickets to st thomas usvi himself to them. Then he let us all out at the top of the mountain and we walked down a short distance to the zipline launching pad or whatever it's called. There was one poor lady who got scared and decided she couldn't do it, and when