Water water everywhere

Back from the cruise to Alaska - what a crazy subculture there is among the cruising people and their world.  It was good fun but holy cow, I've never seen SO many jewelry stores in my life!  We had to look for anything that wasn't a jewelry store on the main drag of all three towns that we docked at.  A local in a tiny bookstore we found said the stores open when the cruises start and close when they stop, it's really weird.

Mendenhall Glacier was nice, glad I took the bus over there because it got me outside the Tourist Bubble where I could see the actual town and the valley around it, and I loved the Mt. Roberts Tram.  Best things on the ship were the private karaoke rooms and the brine swimming pool when at sea as it would slosh just like waves and I could body-surf from one end to the other when it really got going.  Enjoyed exploring the ship, there's so much on there, but a week was about right.

Also relating to oceans, my eldest went to the coast and got TWO jobs in one day, she's now commuting 2 hours one way just to get to work until she can get that first round of paychecks so she can look for an apartment.  I love Lincoln City, so I'm totally good with her being over there as it means I get to visit! ;-)