Alaska Finale

Our final stop was in Victoria, Canada. We were all looking forward to getting our passports stamped (yes, we're nerds like that) and they didn't even glance at them! All they cared about was our silly ship keycards. Dang it!!

Victoria is a nice touristy town, but, dinner was quite expensive. Be sure to bring the cash!

Speaking of cash - Tom and I visited the casino onboard many times during our trip. The last night we went, I decided to play the 25 cent slot machine while Tom played poker. After about 30 minutes of playing, I freaking won a $937 jackpot!!! I was freaked and excited at the same time!! Woo HOO!

Then, we got our bill the next morning and I had to give all my winnings away. Sad.

The Empress Hotel - is this place famous? Everyone kept talking about it.





The marina and a fancy government building (not even a capital).

Kris had to take this picture for her sons. Darth Vader was playing a violin!

One final story to show my ding dong blonde self: Kris, Dwane, Tom, and I are sitting on the boat sipping tasty beverages right after we set sail. The Captain comes on to tell us how far we're going, how many knots we're going, etc. Kris asks, "What's a knot?" and it's kind of windy so I lean over and repeat her question to Tom. He answers, "It's 1.15 miles. Not a cool mile." I repeat that to Kris. She looks at me weirdly and says "Not a cool mile?" So, I lean back over to Tom and repeat "It's not a cool mile?" I'm thinking to myself, that's weird that he said it that way. He starts laughing at me and says "Nautical mile, Jennifer". Yes, I am a moron.

One final picture to honor the Birthday Boy!!!

Happy Birthday, Old Man!!

Alaska, Part 2

After the glacier cruising, we headed to Sitka, AK. My family lived in Sitka for a little while before I was born and my Dad and Teresa got married there 13 years ago. We got to see the spot they got hitched and did a little 4x4 riding.

Teresa and I getting excited for 4x4 riding. Dad pretending he didn't know us.

He'll hate that I posted this, but, I think he's cute.

Our 4x4s

The brown spot you see out there is a BEAR!! A Coastal Brown Bear with her two cubs.

I tried to take a picture of them through the binoculars. FYI, it doesn't work.

We cruised to the black sandy beaches. That was a weird site. Black Sand...

The rainforest that we went through...who knew Alaska has a rainforest?

You can't really see it because of the clouds, but, there is a volcano out there.

Castle Hill - Dad and Teresa were married up here. Tons of freaking steps to get up there!

After Sitka, we headed to Ketchikan and sea kayaking. I've never kayaked before and don't really care to do it again. Yikes, that was hard. It was fairly easy when we were in the cove areas. But, the guides decided our group was "advanced" and took us out into the mass waves to carry us back down to our starting point. We almost flipped over!!! There were many cuss words flying and I got a blister from the oars. Oh, we also came thisclose to being eaten by a Sea Lion. One popped it's head up out of the water, his head was bigger than Diezel's, and then it disappeared back underwater. The Guide kind of freaked and said, "Um, we should move out of his way." and then took off. We oared as fast as we could to get out of there! I just kept thinking about the whale watching guide telling us that Sea Lions were mean and like to knock over kayakers. I was FREAKED.

Kris and Dwane on the speedboat - heading to kayaking site.

Tom and Me - before our "adventure".

Kayaking in the calm waters.

Dad and his hand (he blocked Teresa)

Here is a picture of us on one of the formal nights - we clean up nicely.

The sunset outside the window during dinner.

I still have more photos to share, but, it'll have to be Part 3....stay tuned.

Alaskan Surprise!

We did it!! Whew. It has been super hard keeping my dad's birthday surprise a secret from him. Teresa, Kris and I have been planning this for about a year. We wanted to take a vacation somewhere fun for his big 6-0 b-day. Originally, we looked at going to Canada for a few days, but, after we started researching, we found out that an Alaskan cruise worked out better. I've always wanted to go up to Alaska, too!

So, we booked it and kept it from my dad for about four months. I think Teresa had the hardest job....she had to tell Dad he was going on a vacation and not tell him where until about three weeks prior. Plus, she couldn't tell him that we were all going! It consisted of lots of secret conference calling, sneakery, and laughter. But, we pulled it off!

We (Kris, Dwane, Tom and me) arrived in Seattle about 45 minutes before my Dad's flight and after some confusion with which gate they were arriving at (idiots at SeaTac airport), we made our sign and prepared for our surprise. I think Kris and I were freaked we were so excited.

Story behind our sign: we couldn't decide what to do. We thought about getting a wheelchair and having a sign "Wheelchair for old man Worley", but, we noticed that there were two wheelchairs that had been requested for people on their flight and it probably would offend them. Teresa had told us that Dad had purchased a t-shirt that said, "Old Guys Rule" and would always say it to her. We went with it and viola:

It's kind of hard to see his face, but, if you looked closely, he is about to say "Sh*t!"'. He he!! That was his reaction when he saw us. Dwane's off to the left,, filming the surprise. :)

After that, we were off to the ship. We sailed the MS Amerstam with Holland America. Overall, it was great. The food was yummy, the drinks were plentiful, the casinos paid, and we had a blast the entire week.

We had one full day at sea, stops in Juneau, Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria, Canada. In between our stops, we ate, drank, took lots of naps, played Phase 10, ate, drank, gambled in the casino, visited the spa onboard, ate, and drank. Do you see a repeat of anything? Yes, the rumors are all true. The food is plentiful and the drinks flow.

Enjoy the pics!

Dad, me and Teresa whale watching in Juneau.

Whale

More Whale (they are really big up close!)

Seals on a booey...I don't know how to spell booey, but, you know what I mean.

Hubbard Glacier

Me and Kris hanging on the bow, waiting while we creep slowly towards the glacier.

Me and Tom getting sunburned and enjoying the beautiful weather. Oh yeah, there is a huge glacier behind us!! It's six miles long and over 300 feet tall (above water).

More seals....on the ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD!! Can't tell you how many times I said that and heard others saying it. The guide even mentioned it.

Here's a picture of our room. It was cheaper for us to have an interior room, but, we had a fake window. It even had a light behind it to simulate a window. It was hilarious.

Our steward left us surprises every night. These two were my favorite.

Our tiny bathroom

To be continued....

Confession Time...

I read an article today that said Dallas/Fort Worth is second in highest road rage. Now, I suffer from road rage now and again, but, it surprised me that we came in second...only after NYC. I've beenthere, those people are crazy!

My confession? After reading the article, I realized that I'm guilty of almost all the things that piss people off. I talk to my sister on my cell almost every day on my way home from work. Usually, some other family member or friend is calling me during that time so I'm going back/forth between the calls. I'm also a texting-driver. I try to only text while I'm sitting at a light, but, sometimes I'll answer a text while driving down 75. It's a terrible things to do and I can't help it. Many a meal has been eaten while driving down the highway, too. Um, have I mentioned (if you don't already know) that I drive a standard?

I rarely put on make up while driving, maybe lipstick or powder. Another one was shaving - I'm going to assume they were talking about men. I've never seen a woman with her leg up on the dash shaving away while driving (though, it could happen). The last one was reading - I've been guilty of flipping through magazines or my mail while at red lights, but, never while I'm driving.

But, if I see someone on the phone or looking down at a phone? Oh, hell NO. Definite cussing at them!

I'll apologize to everyone now - sorry for my cell-talking, texting, eating, lipstick applying ways!

New Cowboys Stadium

Ginger and I got last minute tickets to attend the opening concert at the New Cowboys stadium in Arlington. All we heard prior to the concert was how bad traffic was going to be...it was easy. It took us one hour (including stopping at Sonic for food) to get from Garland to our seats. Parking was $40...eek. We parked at The Ballpark and walked (not far at all). The range of people was vast. You had the true rednecks and then the girls with babydoll dresses and "boots". It was great people-watching.

It was supposed to start with Julianne Hough, but, she called in sick. Who calls in sick when George asks you to play? Dumb girl. But, we got to see LeeAnn Womack instead. I like her even better. Truthfully, I've never heard a song that Julianne Hough sings so I don't know if I like her or not. Then, Blake Shelton....HOT. I think he was singing directly to me, sorry ladies who were there. He has that smouldering look down!

No words to describe Reba and George. They were just awesome. Reba sang "Fancy" as her encore. Poor Ginger had to listen to me yelling that song. It's my favorite. Sweet George was greatness. Near the beginning of his set, he had them open the retractable roof. It takes 12 minutes to open it fully. Of course, they were opening it when George said so. It's George!

The concert was great and I'm glad that we got to go. Thanks Megan and Christine for the excellent tickets!

This screen is HUGE. We pretty much just watched the screen the entire time.

It was a packed house!

LeeAnn Womack (she flew in and performed with less than 24 hrs notice)

Hot Hot Blake Shelton

Reba, in her red dress, singing Fancy

King George

Guilty Pleasure

I love game shows. Not Not NOT reality TV, but, actual game shows. I could sit and watch the Game Show Network all day. $100,000 Pyramid, Password, Family Feud, etc. Love them!

My new guilty pleasure is Wipeout. I love this show. It cracks me up! The big red balls may be my favorite obstacle. Though, the new ones they have come up with this season are pretty dang hilarious.

Does anyone else watch?