A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

We tried entering all the FunPass data necessary for next weekend's departure on a Carnival Cruise to Mexico. It's just an easy way for passengers on an upcoming trip to speedup check in by filling in the required information online. I hope they have good security considering they now have all sorts of data about us including our passport information!

It was when were entering all the data last night that we noticed a rather obvious error made by our travel agent. The cruise leaves from Long Beach on Sunday, February 10th and returns the following week. Yet, Aerin at the Lougheed Mall branch of the Flight Centre had mistakenly noted the end as February 18th and, consequently, booked us return tickets from LA on Monday. We'll be working on Monday. Our agent won't be in the office until tomorrow, so I hope she won't have any trouble changing our Alaska Air flights to the correct day. I emailed last night and will leave a voice mail message soon.



Speaking of Alaska and cruises, I didn't put this image from our very first cruise ship experience. We left downtown Vancouver for a week's itinerary to Alaskan ports in May of 2001.

Labels: Alaska, cruise, Mexican cruise, Mexico, travel planning

In the past, I blogged about when Jay and I took an Alaskan Cruise.

Reference #1

Reference #2

Reference #3

Some of my readers may not realize how important the Vancouver-Alaska route is to the cruise industry.



I have mentioned cruises a number of times this week. This is simply in anticipation of a coastal cruise that we'll do in May. We'll head north from San Diego until we arrive at the home port.

Labels: Alaska, cruise, places

Mr. Ken Greenbaum, went to Sunapee, NH with a freshly minted teaching degree. At a mere 22 years old, he ended up teaching 5th grade. I was a student in his 5th grade class in 1969/70. Now the 11 years between our ages are't nearly as much . . . at least as a percentage. (If that's not mathematically correct, then blame him for my weak skills.)



I met Ken and his wife in Vancouver yesterday. They had come to town a few nights early. At 5:00 pm they departed on a Princess cruise ship bound for Alaska. Although they had seen much of the city because of a whirlwind tour on Sunday, we walked to Gastown. I'd like to thank the Greenbaums for picking up the cheque for lunch at 'The Spaghetti Factory'. The next time they're in town, it'll be my treat.

Labels: Alaska, New Hampshire, Sunapee

Okay, I'll admit that Flickr's fun. It's full of configurable options and basically feels cool. It makes one quickly feel like a part of a vast network of image makers and collectors. Click the screen image here to see 20 images in my recently uploaded Beautiful BC collection.

Yesterday, I got a package from my dad. I had asked him to mail old slides to me. My mom used to take Kodachrome shots when we were on trips. For example, I wondered if he'd be able to find anything from our 1965 trip in a Volkswagon bus from New Hamsphire to Alaska. I really only recall the stories told by others as it was the year I started first grade. In fact, I believe I was a few days late for the start of classes as that's the only time my dad was able to arrange vacation time. The postman's delivery arrived with slides as well as other junk. There were quite a few fading paper prints too. Now, I'll have things to scan and include here over the next little while.

Perhaps this is why Flickr is so intriguing to me at the moment. In theory, a child born today can have a digital record of everyday life. There could be a universal image repository with tags for searching. It could grow to contain an entire lifetime of images and be easily accessible from any computer. My recently-arrived box full of yellowing parchment and dyes seems like such an anachronism.

(I should give my father some credit, instead of cushioning things with environmentally-unfriendly Styrofoam popcorn, he sent the items sandwiched between rolls of toilet paper. That's an added bonus that will keep on giving!)

Labels: Alaska, Flickr, New Hampshire

By a stroke of luck, I'm able to continue discussing yesterday's topic. I mentioned how hard it is to stay excited about where one lives after being there a long time. Then, out of the blue, a way to do so fell right into my lap.

Playing tour guide and giving advice is perhaps the best way to rekindle pride in one's home. Being able to suggest activities to out-of-towners can get one reacquainted with the joys of an area. Actually, Vancouver, BC is a beautiful place and merits a lot of bragging. It's blessed with geography, an environment, and a multicultural society, that really make it special.

I received an email from a retired teacher who taught me in Grade 5 in Sunapee, NH. He was a fairly new teacher in 1969/70! Ken Greenbaum and his wife will be coming out to catch one of the avalanche of Alaskan cruise ships that depart from here. Jay and I recall a stunning time aboard one. As the Greenbaums will be arriving two days early for their August departure, they asked for suggestions on what to do. There's a lot.

The picture to the right shows Jay before the quite formal, famous 'Captain's Party' on board an Alaskan Cruise in 2001.

Labels: Alaska, cruise, places, Vancouver

Yesterday's entry caused me to consider some of our especially interesting vacations. Additionally, I was in email contact with a friend whom I worked with in the Gulf. He is taking some time off and asked for suggestions about travelling in India. That was surely an interesting summer but a full decade ago! My last statement in the response to Daragh stated, "If you do manage to go to India, you will return as a different person."

Jay and I took very different type of vacation in May 2001. We really enjoyed a Princess cruise to Alaska. Going up the BC coast and into Alaskan waters is breathtakingly beautiful. The cruise was great. The ships are so much more than simply floating hotel rooms; they're a complete experience! There's wonderful dining, onboard entertainment, lots of activities, and of course, fun day-trips ashore.

Labels: Alaska, cruise, places

I searched for a photo to include as today's entry. This pictures was
taken in Juneau, AK. Vancouver is a huge port for summertime cruise
ships to Alaska. We took a 7-day trip in 2001 and loved it. The
Inside Passage makes for an impressive voyage.

Labels: Alaska, cruise, places