Coral Princess, enroute to Alaska, Saturday, August 31, 2013~

Dear Journal~

Louisiana here.  Hope y'all are doing well; as for myself and my husband, we couldn't be happier!  

We are currently Alaska bound; Bill and I have taken a 10 day, ten night Alaskan cruise on board the Coral Princess cruise ship, and we are truly enjoying ourselves immensely.

While this isn't our first cruise to Alaska (we've taken two prior to this one), this is the first one without any of the children.  It's just Bill and myself.  We needed this break away from the children who are still left at home.  (While we play, the older children and my parents are keeping watch on the younger or more disabled members of the family.)

The only sad thing is Bill or I didn't get to see Isaiah and Ian start kindergarten.  Usually when one of our children start pre-K or kindergarten, I turn into a sniveling, sobbing, quivering mess!  LOL  I sure hope that Papa or Maman or the older children took pictures; I will have to check my Facebook page later to see if they did.  That way, I can see the faces of my kids and miss them even more than what I already do! LOL

The weather here is chilly; I have a thick sweatshirt and winter pants on and I am still shivering from cold.  Doesn't help it's misty outside; that makes it seem even colder, because the dampness seems to go right through you. Bill, meanwhile, has on one of his ugly Christmas sweaters and jeans, but hey ... as long as he's happy, warm, and comfortable, who am I to gripe about what he chooses to wear?  LOL

We will be going to the Inside Passage (aka Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Wilmer, Denali, etc.); we've taken this route before, but on a different cruise line (Carnival Spirit and the Disney Cruise Liner the Magic).  I am sure we will see much more now that we don't have the children pulling on us from ten different directions at once or any unforseen interruptions or distractions.  We will also be going to Fairbanks and fly back from Fairbanks ten days from today (September 10, 2013).

I have my camera (and video) all ready to go: I plan on taking scads of photos and video of our vacation.  

I know the children are disappointed that we didn't include them on this cruise, but they've already been on two prior cruises; this time, it's the parents' turn to play.  I do hope they aren't too disappointed or angry; they seem to be at the age where they understand that mommy and daddy need some time away from them.  And besides, Papa and Maman and the older kids will see to it in order to keep the younger or more disabled children occupied while we are gone.

I just hope that we are able to see some northern lights; the northern lights have been quite active this early in the season, and according to the fine folks at www.spaceweather.com, they predict a banner auroral season, with auroras being much more active than usual.

I have tried to capture the northern lights before on film, but with the night pollution from the city lights, the only way we are able to see the northern lights is a.) if the K index is at a six or higher (meaning the strength of the storm; the higher the number, the more liklihood that we will see them here in Tennessee) or b.) we get away from the city lights and go out to the suburbs or out in the country, where there isn't nearly as much light.  What I thought was the northern lights turned out to be star clusters or clouds.  LOL

I have seen the northern lights when we went to Alaska the first two times, and they've been nothing short of breathtaking!  It is always a thrill whenever I see the multi colored rainbow of light dancing across the northern skies!  And Alaska (not to mention, Canada) have some of the best auroral displays found anwyhere!

Well, Bill and I are going to go out to eat and try to get to know some of our shipmates.  We will be back later; either he or I will write in here again while we are at sea.  That way y'all can follow us on our Alaska journey and "travel the high seas" with us.  It may not be the same as actually being on board the ship, but at least y'all can get a taste of what the cruise life is all about! :)  Take care and may God bless you always!

~Love, your friend in Tennessee (via the cruise ship The Coral Princess), Louisiana May.  :)