Great pics David! But I gotta tell you, in that pic where you're filling up w/gas....

you forgot to write Yotatech in the window dirt!

 

Tom,

Its hard to make out, but if you look in the lower left of the window, you can just make out my Yotatech sticker in the back...

Babypig,

The road all the way to the tunnel was open. I was trying to figure out what the large concrete building that looked like it was dynamited was. There was something that looked like the nose cone of a missile sticking out of a chute at one point as well. Do you remember seeing what I'm talking about? I didn't realize thats where they filmed Insomnia, which was a pretty cool movie! I took a ton more pics, got them on my laptop at home. I'll try to set up a webshot album for them tonight.

 

Those pics are awesome!!!! What a beautiful sunset!

I was actually thinking of taking my wife on an Alaskan cruise. Any suggestions Rob.

 

Not to answer for Rob, but there are alot of cruises that depart from Washington State for Alaska, from Bellingham and Seattle. I'd like to do the same, but get wicked seasick, so I opted to drive instead.

 

Is there any way to know if you get seasick ahead of time?? Or is it wise to just "pre-load" on motion sickness medication?

 

There's no way to tell if you will be susceptable to sea sickness. And unfortunately, once you are sick, its too late for medicine to help. Your best bet is to take some Dramamine or something similar from a few hours up to a day before.

Your Dr. can also prescribe a small patch that delivers medication transdermally. My mom gets those. She will put one behind her ear before they get on the boat, and it will last for a few days.

 

A few years back, I took the non-drowsy formula of Dramamine, and it wasn't too bad, still made me a little sluggish. Those big cruise boats are pretty stable in the sea anyways, probably wouldn't even feel the movement of the ocean much at all.

 

Hmmmm....Mine was about 4 years ago, but from what I can remember........eat all the crab, lobster, and smoked salmon you can haha!!!

My cruise departed from Vancouver actually, we flew up from Arizona. If this is your first cruise, and even if it isn't. Try to go on as many excursions as possible. Walking through the towns is always fun, but the real fun is when you take a helicopter ride over a glacier, or a drive through the mountain and encounter a bunch of animals just like how Mad did. Then at night be ready for tons of shows to watch, and events to go to. And of course bring your warm clothes

As for the sea sickness thing, yea you wouldn't know. But pray that you don't get sick cuz that'll ruin everything. I mean, these cruise ships are soo huge and so techincally developed that you really don't feel the waves much. They have all sorts of gizmos and gadgets that level the ship out when it gets rough. Only at times you will feel the big ones. So I don't think you will need to worry about that.

also bring swimming suit, HEATED POOLS RULE!!!!

btw, any idea which cruiseline? I highly reccomment carnival and royal carribean.

 

I've never been on Carnival, but I've heard mixed reviews. Its definitely the cheaper way to go, which makes it popular with the younger crowd.

We looked at both Carnival and Royal Caribbean for our honeymoon and ended up going with Royal Caribbean. For the same price we're paying on RC we could have had a fancier room - one with a balcony - on Carnival. But our agent said that particular deck was right below the main deck, which would have meant lots of noise from bands, people, etc. I was also told that the food is much better on RC.

If you want to go a notch above Royal Caribbean, go with Celebrity. I was on that line on a cruise from NYC to Bermuda and it was awesome. Food was 5-star quality each and every night.

We're going on our cruise two weeks from Saturday. Can't wait!

 

yea I took Royal Carribean to Alaska, and Carnival to Mexico.

Carnival was def. a lot more fun for the younger crowd, however I think my parents had more fun on RC because it was, like Tom said, geared toward adults more while Carnival is geared toward the younger group. And RC was a lot more elegant and classier.

 

Another thing to check is the problems they've been having with the Norwalk Virus on some of these ships. Several boats have returned to Washington with numerous people getting sick. Check the news to find out what particular ships/cruiselines were having trouble.

 

Nate,

Check out this site:

www.mytravel.com

The company is called Cruises Only. That's who I went through to book our cruise and is who my parents always go through when they book theirs. If you want, you can ask for Richie Malik at x77294, he's the guy my dad always talks to. Tell 'em Tom Mertz referred you and hopefully he can hook you up with a better discount.

Their prices are very competitive, and if you happen to find something lower than their price they will match it.

That's actually what happened when I booked our cruise. They had the lowest price around so I booked it, and not more than 5 minutes after I get off the phone, Sarah checks Expedia of all places and they were almost $100 per person less. So I called back right away, gave them the web site and they adjusted our rates.

 

Saweet!! It always helps to have a man on the inside! Thanks for all the tips guys. I think I may make it a suprise x-mas present. It'll be our first vacation together (other than trips to TN to see her family). I travel with work so much, it's gonna be weird to be with her on a plane.

 

hey since you're located aaaaallll the way back east, it might be an easier trip to have a cruise to the bahamas yah? Just an option, although it'd be totally different than a cruise to alaska.

 

yeah i thought about that, but i think the view of alaska would be worth the trip across the country - plus i have enough FF miles to fly both of us first class both ways

 

My Dad works for Costco Travel in the cruise department, so let me know if you guys ever need anything.

Sweet pics! That looks like an awesome trip! How did the Runner do? Any problems or observations?

 

It ran like a champ for the most part- I took off the rockcrawler/MT's and put the stock revos back on before I left. The only problem was with my electric locker. For whatever reason, I was getting an electrical fault somewhere that made the vehicle think the locker was engaged, which then disabled my ABS. I mostly ignored it, since it was an intermittent thing throughout the trip. When I got back to Seattle, I cleaned the connections to the locker, engaged and disengaged it a bunch of times, and it hasn't come back yet. I made a bed in the back, basically an extension of my custom cargo box, and it worked pretty well. I was glad I was driving a Toyota once I got out in the boonies without any signs of civilization around. Breaking down out there would suck!

 

Awesome journey there David Thanks for sharing some pics and details. Brandywine looks incredible!! Glad you had a great time and no mishaps.

I've always wanted to see those Northern Lights...

 

We had one of the one tons that we drove on the trip lose two tires just over the BC border into the Yukon and the bill came to five or six hundred bucks as i recall. So getting stuck out in the boonies definitely would suck. One of the producers from Calif. kept asking where all the people were.

 

Dr. David,
Nice pics, thanks for sharing. I sure do want to head up there one of these days...
I should just put it on a calendar and go for it.

Jim