Back to Reality

I love cruising! It is so removed from the reality of my life that it's a vacation on many levels. It is a physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual place of stress free existence. For example, I can eat endlessly without worrying about purchasing all of the ingredients, spending the time and energy cooking, and cleaning up after the meal. Yes, I have to deal with the three pounds I gained, but considering that my mother gained ten pounds, it could have been worse.

While in Victoria,BC Canada, we stopped at a wine bar and tasted some of the local wines. I did not take the opportunity to taste the local Icewines, but I did taste the Mission Hill Winery's Oculus. It was delicious. I knew I could not bring it back in my carry on luggage (due to the current liquid restrictions) and did not want to risk putting it in my checked luggage. I'm glad it did not try that because my suitcase got pretty banged up on the return trip, and I'm too cheap to have paid an additional $25 to ship it separately. Current customs laws prevent the bar or winery from shipping it outside of Canada, so for now it is on my list of reasons to go back to B.C., Canada.



I didn't get a chance to go kayaking in Ketchikan (the kayaking partner was having back problems), but I did go on a five mile hike in Juneau. It was listed as a moderate hike, but felt far more grueling. When the guide repeatedly tells the group to "Embrace your inner mountain goat.", as you cling to the wall of a rocky ledge, it's a sign.

(The people on the left are fellow hiker's - I was pulling up the rear :-)

I had a wonderful time!