Up early and out we go to our 7:30 AM bus ride - some of us more excited than others. Others of us are slightly terrified. We have picked the zipline adventure in Ketchikan because it is the only one that Edwin is old enough/big enough for. It also has the bonus of being located in the 2nd largest rainforest in the world (waaayyy behind the Amazon in size.) Emphasis on RAINforest, as it's the rainiest day we've had yet on the trip. We board the shuttle bus for the 20 minute ride to the Zipline place. Ketchikan is on an island and as we left "downtown" and skirted around one edge, we were treated to a view of a seawall atopped with resting 30-40 bald eagles. Ketchikan is the salmon capitol of the world. Smart eagles...
Arriving at the Canopy zipline, we are separated into groups and outfitted with snug fitting safety gear. Ed gets taken aside and weighed - he's exactly 70 lbs, the minimum weight requirement! He's thrilled that all of his eating on the ship has paid off. Some of us, ahem, are less than thrilled with the eating on the ship pay-off. Back to gearing up, Aidan clues the staff into the possibility that I am the most afraid one of our family. Edwin certainly isn't, and the other four have already done it. [In Switzerland - with no instructions in English and working all the harnesses by themselves. After today, I'm hit with the realization that the Swiss adventure was super risky/scary/stupid.]
Geared up - we get into the coolest vehicle we've ever seen. Like the jeep from the Jurassic Park movies on steroids. We head straight up a muddy hill to our "test run" where we are "taught" how to be clipped onto a wet, thin, steel cable and have to trust that we'll make it safely to the other side. We are shown how to brake: some of us will learn how to master it, others not so much. We are shown what to do if we come up short of the platform - how to haul yourself hand over hand backwards towards the destination platform. Two of us need to use this method: Edwin for weight reasons; me for premature braking. Edwin is shown how to tuck himself into the "cannonball" position in order to maintain enough velocity to propel himself from one end to the other. The rest of us don't have the lack of weight issues. Especially Aidan who basically takes a jumping start to each ride. There are 2 families in our group - a couple and their teenaged son from Iowa, and the 6 of us. The other family is extremely impressed with Ed's courage to try ziplining - the other boy noting that he would *never* have tried that at age 8. As we all live with Ed, we're not surprised at his bravado and courage.
Thankfully, our guides Jake and Jack keep checking our harnesses after every run and make sure we are always properly clipped in and out of the wires. All we have to do is hurl our bodies down from one ledge to the next. It's really green and beautiful. The rain comes and goes in spurts, but as we are in a rainforest, we're pretty well sheltered. The only time that it gets in the way is when the water shoots off the wire close to your face as you zip down, getting in your eyes and making it difficult to see your guide's hand gestures to "brake. Brake. BRAKE!" Aidan does a 'George of the Jungle' move into a tree once. Colin nearly takes out Jake another time. But other than that, it goes smoothly.
The end of the course contains a free rappel down from a 50 foot platform. It's hard to step off a tree at 50 feet off the ground. They wisely strap Aidan on the line next to me and send us off basically at the same time. When I hear that it's a race, I forget all about the height and kick Aidan's butt by beating him down the rope. Genius - I barely notice the plunging decent as I'm too concentrated on winning - my inner Jackie coming out. Finally, a 250 foot slide awaits us. I almost decline the slide as it sounds too complicated to brake and slow yourself down. Edwin is about bursting with excitement to try it, so I'm shamed into doing it too. Can't wuss out in front of the 8 year old... We climb aboard our awesome jeeplike vehicle again, and say goodbye to the ziplining adventure. It went very quickly, actually. And although it was super-expensive, the whole family has a FANTASTIC time, and it's totally worth it.
Cold and wet, most of us opt not to explore the town of Ketchikan. Same shops, sweatshirts and salmon as the other Alaskan stops. Brian does take the little 2 into the Ketchicandy store to find some treats. I wander a bit, but since I don't have much time (boat leaves at noon) I pass on another brothel tour. Interesting note of the brothel "industry" in Ketchikan: married men had to pay more and they had a separate street entrance to the brother district. Back on the ship, I run into friends of the Dulac's neighbors when I overhear them talking. Small world - but no so small as Princess Cruiseline headquarters are in Valencia, and you're bound to run into someone from home if you're taking a Princess Cruise.
We hit lunchtime separately and then meet up later for Bingo and another trivia game. We call Aidan and Colin to join us during the trivia game, and our team ends up tied for first place, thanks much in part to Aidan's vast and random knowledge. This is what happens when you have a kid who reads a lot: you can win family trivia games on cruise ships. We even beat the Dulacs - probably because Charles wasn't playing. And we beat them because Aidan knew that the first animal in space was a dog, not a monkey. This fact will be confirmed when we all go to the Boeing Flight and Space museum later in the trip. Maria takes over as kid club director and plays cards with the 3 littlest kids while Brian and I go back to our room to hang out.
The kids (except Colin) have all decided to pass on the second formal dinner in the dining room. I'm sure Brian would pass on the formal part if I let him. We get formalized- the sparkly dress comes out, as do the red pumps-and head down to the piazza for pre-dinner drinks and sit and listen to the band play pre-dinner drink music. We enjoy our drinks and the atmosphere of the mostly kid-free area. They announce the last song - AND IT'S THE THEME SONG TO THE LOVE BOAT!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy Crap. How great is this??? It's EXCITING and NEW. I make Brian and get up and dance with me (of course!!!). It should be noted that we are the only ones dancing. Three floors of people watching us. In the middle of the piazza. It is the highlight of my trip so far. Not the people watching us, or embarrassing Brian (but honestly, we've been together almost 20 years - is it really possible for him to be embarrassed anymore by my antics?) but dancing to LOVE BOAT music. The only thing cooler would have been if Charro had been there. (I am a child of the late 70's and 80's and I loved me some Love Boat. Followed by Tattoo and Mr. Rourke, and the plane, the plane.)
Song over, on the way to the dining room, we run into Julia and Ed at the bar (!) ordering drinks. We give them the option of going to the 8:15 show of "British Invasion" together, or go to the room. They choose the show - which turns out to be too crowded, so they end up in the room...I have no idea where Aidan is. Haven't seen him in hours.
It's not the best night for 3 inch, spiked (red!) heels as they boat has started rocking again. Dinner is delish - Only Colin opts to join us. He gets to enjoy beef wellington and lobster... The adults enjoy the extra large bottle of wine. It's a great evening, only marred by the rocking ship. Having finished his meal, Colin takes off to find the other teens. The adults decide to try the "British Invasion" show, and it's actually pretty good. It's not just Bristish Invasion music from the 60's - but Queen, Duran Duran, Wham, Banarama, and the Spice Girls are represented too! Steve and I love it and sing along. Maria sits between us and shakes her head. Brian is asleep next to me.
Brian heads back to the room and I'm once again third wheel on the dance floor with Maria and Steve. (It really does happen with surprising frequency - but not in a Stevenson Ranch kind of way, so get your minds out of the gutter.) The same band is back in the piazza and they have a New Year's Eve-ish party complete with balloons (which land all around on the floor, and frankly, make dancing more difficult.) I am able to dance for approximately 4.5 songs in my red shoes before my feet start to get numb. The ship starts rocking even more, and it's not just the numb feet and balloons that make it difficult to dance. The music ends and the party is being moved to the Skywalker Lounge at the top of the ship. Maria and Steve change shoes and head up to the dance floor. I get my shoes off and head to my bed. I fall asleep thinking that I should probably check on my older boys and make sure they are somewhere safe with all this rocking. Next thing I know, it's morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment