A trip of a Lifetime

Posted on May 25, 2013May 25, 2013 by Dusty Roads

How does one start to tell a tale of a trip of a lifetime? Maybe I should just say that this was the 2nd trip of a lifetime for me. The first was The Big Island of Hawaii.

Now I can add a cruise tour to Alaska as my 2nd “Trip of a lifetime”.

This didn’t just happen overnight. This trip was in the planning and discussion and saving stages for over 2 years. We finally said lets just do it before the glacier’s melt!

A big part of it was the saving part.

This was, without a doubt, the most expensive venture I/we have undertaken yet but Alaska is so big the task of putting together a vacation there seemed overwhelming. So after my sister and I hammered out the basics of what we wanted to do and see I turned the problem over to the professionals at AAA.

The trip I am about to describe to you is the result.

The first decision was do we cruise to Alaska or fly in and vacation like we usually do on our own. Since this was my sister’s Dream Vacation I let her choose. She had only 2 requests; to see the glaciers and to spend 3 days in Denali National Park. A cruise tour would accomplish both goals.

We settled on a “shoulder season” because it’s less expensive and money was certainly a factor. In May the animals are just coming down out of their wintering grounds and having babies. In September they have the northern lights (aurora borealis). We chose to go for the animals. We also chose to go south to north to give the northern locations a chance to warm up a bit more. In Alaska a couple of days can make all the difference. As it turned out spring was about 2 weeks late this year so we had a lot more snow and cold weather than is usual for this time of the year.

I think by far the hardest decision was which cruise line to use. They all cruise to Alaska these days, even Disney, and they all offer some combination of land and sea. I was leaning toward Royal Caribbean but Sandy liked Holland America. In the end we went with the travel agent’s recommendation of Princess Cruise Lines.

I drove from my home in Massachusetts to my sister’s in New York on Saturday May 11. I left my 3 cats in the capable hands of my long time pet sitter, still this is the longest I have ever been away before. My fingers were crossed that there’d be no complications for Diane to deal with.

That Saturday night we took our mother out for Mother’s Day dinner and then headed back to my sisters for an early night. We had an early cross-country flight from Albany Airport into Vancouver in the morning. By arriving a day early we sacrificed the airport transfer but got a day in Vancouver before we had to board the ship on Monday.

Our flight was uneventful and we spotted a rainbow as we flew into a misty, wet Vancouver. Our hotel , The Best Western Sands, was a block from the waterfront and very nice.

I had been to Vancouver once before many years ago and I remember the residents being very friendly, warm and helpful. That hasn’t changed at all. I still think it is one of the most friendly cities I have ever been in. What I do think has changed is the fabric of the city. We saw a great melting pot of people of many different nationalities and ethnicities. This only serves to make an already lovely city more cosmopolitan. Vancouver has really come into its own.

A Sunny Day

Posted on May 6, 2013May 6, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The weather remains cool (50’s) but sunny. The local weatherman says we need rain and that we are running about 10 degrees below average in temperature. The Right Whales are feeding off Cape Cod and it seems every weekend there’s another benefit walk for something.

The cats continue to drive me crazy. Last night after I went to bed I was awakened by loud growls. As I ran to the living room to break up the fight, Smokey at my heels, Rocky bolted to a cardboard box and Buddy flopped onto his side next to it. They both looked at me like they were the most innocent creatures in the world. Clearly it was a “mock battle”.

Not so this morning at 6am when Buddy decided he wanted Smokey’s window seat. (Sigh) That was a real fight, if one-sided. Poor Smokey! I wish I knew who removed his claws! We could pull off a few fingernails and see how they like it.

What will happen when I’m away on vacation and not around to play referee?

But back to yesterday. Since it was a nice sunny day I headed out to take some pictures. I’ve been neglecting some of my favorite spots and it was time to see what was going on for spring.

Lake Rico was busy with families picnicking and kids fishing. Since I didn’t want to intrude I moved on to the Herring Run. I’d seen some great pictures from some of my friends but when I got there the only wildlife was a few grackles.

I hung out for about an hour but nary a sea gull came to visit…lots of people but not much else.

Next stop the Grist Mill Pond in Plymouth.

Mr. Majestic was feeling his oats chasing the Canada Geese up and down the pond. Mrs. Majestic was still on her nest.

At one point he climbed up on the bank and after clearing the area of his pesky nemesis he performed what can only be called his victory dance!

Then off he sailed, head held high, obviously quite pleased with himself.

Ospreys and Eagles …Oh My!

Posted on April 20, 2013April 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Time to head to the docks or should I say a dock. I’m heading out on an Eagle/Osprey cruise. I last went on one of these trips on a cold day in February 2011. Of course I picked the coldest day of the year to go at that time. https://aroundustyroads.com/2011/03/04/eagles-on-the-connecticut-river/

This time the weather seems a bit warmer even with the stiff breeze.

The cruise leaves from the dock at Eagle Landing State Park which is located in Haddam across the river from the Goodspeed Opera House.

I am always impressed by how personable and knowledgeable the crew of Riverquest is about the sights along the river and the birds that can be seen. They are the ones who first pointed out Gillette Castle and gave a thumbnail history. They also knew the ID and history of the impressive building that turned out to be St. John’s. Plus they have “eagle” eyes when it come to spotting birds!

Today the cruise is billed as an Eagle and Osprey tour and we certainly got to see Osprey. We also got off to a quick start with the eagles. Barely out from the dock 4 birds were spotted circling very high up. Binoculars came out and a discussion ensued but finally it was determined that there were 4, possibly 5 juvenile eagles soaring on the thermals.

Juvenile eagles are not as distinctive as their more mature counterparts. They start out brown and progress through stages as they age. An eagle expert can tell the age of a juvenile by how much “mottling” the feathers show. They don’t get the trademark white head until they are 5 years old.

We started watching Osprey right at the dock. A pair are trying to build a nest on the center tower of the swing bridge but are having a tough time because of the wind.

As we headed down the river it seemed like every buoy or marker had a pair of Osprey trying to build a nest. It was clear that there is a thriving population of Osprey on this section of the Connecticut River.

We also saw double crested cormorants, a peregrine falcon buzzed the bow of the boat, and even a red-shouldered hawk (as opposed to a red tail hawk) took to the thermals watching for prey. Common mergansers with their funny “bad hair day ” crest floated on the river while Black Backed gulls patrolled the skies.

We passed a mute swan and spotted a loon. And then we saw the large eagle nest on an island ahead of us. The captain brought the boat in as close as he could but even then it was pretty far away. At least it wasn’t hidden by leaves yet so we had a clear line of sight and there they were. Two adult eagles , fully mature, with their white heads gleaming in the afternoon sun. As one moved off the nest to a nearby tree we could just make out the head of a baby eagle above the edge of the nest.

The pictures aren’t great because of the distance but lack of pictures didn’t dampen the excitement of seeing these gorgeous birds in the wild.

All in all it was a successful and enjoyable trip down the Connecticut River and I will continue my quest for that iconic photo of an eagle in the wild. Maybe I’ll get a chance in Alaska!

Happy First Day of Spring

Posted on March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The Northeast is digging out from another winter storm with rumors of still another by weeks end. Still the calendar doesn’t lie and Old Man Winter will have to relinquish his grip to make way for the birds and flowers of spring.

Final Hours in Fort Lauderdale

Posted on March 10, 2013March 10, 2013 by Dusty Roads

My Mexico cruise/ Fort Lauderdale adventure is winding down. I have one last thing to squeeze in and that is a visit to family.

I met my cousin at Lester’s Diner in Fort Lauderdale where we enjoyed a real good old-fashioned breakfast of pancakes and bacon. The diner is like a blast from the past, an authentic 50′s style restaurant and home to the infamous 14oz coffee cup. This signature landmark has been a family owned and operated business in South Florida for over 43 years.

My cousin told me she used to work there and met her husband there. Another old-fashioned touch. She was a waitress, he was a trucker. Sounds like the basis for a romantic movie. 🙂

My cousin is the outgoing one and she seemed to know everyone as we made out way to our booth.

After breakfast we headed to my aunt’s home which turned out to be literally around the corner from the Diner and after a short visit there we went on to the airport also just “around the corner.”

That should have been the end of the story. Drop off rental car, get on plane , arrive home but it turned out it wasn’t quite that easy. I dropped off the rental and grabbed the shuttle to the terminal. I checked my bags curbside and headed into the security line. It was huge. As I stood there looking around I realized I didn’t have my coat! It was still in the rental car. I tried calling the lost and found but kept getting lost in the IVR prompts so back to the shuttle to reverse my previous trip.

At the Hertz counter they directed me to lost & found and there was my coat. Yay! Now back on the shuttle again to the terminal and back on the line. It hadn’t moved much. I was in the same place as when I left. Slowly , very slowly the line began to creep forward.

In the Fort Lauderdale airport the security is on a slightly lower level from the check in counters. As the line crept forward I eventually reach a point where there was a ramp that led down to the TSA agent and security scanners. I wish the TSA had allowed pictures because at that point I could look out over all the travelers and it was a wall to wall sea of people all jostling and pushing for position! It was an amazing sight and I had lots of time to watch as I waited for my line to move forward again.

Once at the scanners the routine was the same…shoes off, lap top out of the luggage, walk through scanner, retrieve, put shoes back on and find the gate. Whew! from the time I got back on line the 2nd time until I made it to my gate it was over 1 hour! So glad I went early. My cousin had suggested I chat a little longer saying I’d be through security in 10 minutes. Maybe if I was on an early flight but apparently not if you are flying mid-day!

The rest of my flights were uneventful. I offered to be “bumped” in exchange for a $400 voucher but I would have to fly out the next day, not just a later flight on the same day so I passed it up.

My flight finally landed around 8:30 pm amid snow and sleet. The parking valet had my car warmed up and cleaned off when I got off the shuttle. The drive home was not too bad in spite of the weather and there they were. 2 little furry faces meeting me at the door.