Alaska part 4 (final installment!)

 Our third port was Skagway.  It was  a tiny little town that we were able to walk through in 20 minutes.  However, I did manage to find a coffee shop/deli.  I almost died when I paid $6.50 for a 16oz mocha. I guess that's what they pay when everything has to be shipped into them.  We then spent the rest of the day on the ship waiting until it was time to board the train for our excursion.  We got off the ship in the afternoon again and got a great car on the train that had only about 10 other people in it.  This proved perfect for the girls when they passed out 1/3 of the way into it.

 I was a little bummed that they fell asleep because we paid big bucks for this adventure, BUT it was nice to be able to enjoy the scenery without someone climbing up and down me.....my point and shoot camera didn't capture the magnitude of this excursion.  It was spectacular and SCARY clickety clacking on the narrow tracks with an endless fall on both sides.  I finally chose not to look that closely and kept my eyes focused in the distance.

Dressed up for dinner.  Elizabeth & Danielle

 This is the other artist that was on board.  His name is Dominic Pangborn.  He is an amazing man with a truly inspiring life story.....google him, he is a genius!  On top of all that, he was so great to our girls.  The first night at a cocktail party the girls were tired and not having the time of their lives.  He pulled out a bucket of multi-colored modeling clay, for each of them, that ended up entertaining them all week!  You betcha, I bought one of his pieces of work!  Like I said, genius.  He also happens to be a designer and sells ties and bedding at Macys.

 Our last port was Prince Rupert island in Canada.  The most exciting thing there was a Safeway that had Starbucks inside.  The auctioneer on board told us not to even bother getting off.  "It's not even a real port."  He was pretty much right on.  Apparently, the ship is required to stop in a "foreign" country otherwise at least 80% of the staff on the ship has to be American.  Therefore, Prince Rupert is on the itinerary.

                                                              Yep, this was it....

 When we got back "home" our cabin steward made a monkey for our monkey.  (Ellie is our monkey).

 The last auction.  Marko was explaining each of his 6 pieces of work in his portfolio and what inspired him.

This is Jeff and Machae.  They are from Orange County and they sat with us the first night in Seattle at the welcome dinner.  From then on we hung out with them at all of the "events."  We really clicked with them.  They were hilarious. 
In Seattle at 8pm Friday night we were sitting at the table in the ball room with our 4 year olds waiting anxiously for dinner to start.  Partly because I  was starving, since we eat dinner at 5pm, and partly because I knew the girls weren't going to last much longer before melt downs started.  Jeff walked over and said in a loud voice, "Do you mind if we sit with you?  (There are still 6 spots open)  It's pretty obvious no one else is going to join you!"  I burst out laughing (being the ONLY couple there under 50 and WITH kids).  We soon found out that they left their two sons at home and they love kids.  Machae is a teacher and Jeff confessed to still being a kid himself.  They were great with the girls and so fun to hang out with.   We all agreed that if we get invited back to another VIP cruise we will go together.

It was a great vacation with lots of fun memories!  Is is too soon to be ready for another vacation?  :)