June 22, 2008. Our state room, on the Sapphire Princess, with a nifty bottle of vino from our agent, the HQ. Sapphire, incidentally, is my birthstone – and that meant absolutely nothing to the best of my recollection.
[The HQ, of recent vintage, with a grandaughter.]
There is a momentary lull in the Alexandria sports scene (the girls have a home hockey game tomorrow night), so back, by popular demand, is our 2008 Alaska cruise adventure, fabled in song and story! But first, I have to ask you people – what is going on today? For the first time ever, the blog has gone over 200 hits in a day – in fact, to 225, and the day is young (and I wish I was)? Is it the Lauren Trumm Fan Club? Whatever – thanks! 🙂
[This is where the magic happened. No, seriously, every day a guy came in performed magic – turning an unsightly state room into this!]
[The view from our balcony. You pay extra for this but then how many times are you going to make this trip. Plus, when the natives paddle out to you in their canoes . . . wait, that’s a different venue.]
[There’s our train.]
[Well, there are balconies . . . and there are BALCONIES. This was Beryl and Don’s – on the bow (naval talk for front) of the ship – a gathering place for the group. If you’re traveling with a group, I would recommend that someone get one of these!]
[The view off the stern (naval for the back of the boat – we learned all this stuff with the Moby Obie).]
[Don, Howie, Crazy, Donna, and a hint of Beryl. These folks look entirely too comfortable in this atmosphere – like it’s normal, or worse, expected! Ha!]
[Having long left port (naval talk for port), we’re heading out into the Gulf of Alaska.]
[Again (and the following 2), views from our balcony.]
[Spectacular! From here to Vancouver, the only place on the planet where you have 1,500 miles of continuous coastline with snow-capped mountains.]
[A party room at the stern. Did I mention that the boat was pretty darn big?]
[It was a floating Mall of America.]
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About tomobert63
The Journey Begins
Thanks for joining me! This is the follow-up to the original, “alexandriacardinals.wordpress.com,” which overwhelmed the system’s ability to handle it any more. Thus, this is “Part 2.” As the original was initially described:
10-26-07-4
“It all began in a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, California” . . . wait a minute, that was Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show! Let’s see . . . oh yeah, it all began in 2003 when retirees, i.e., old people, in Alexandria, Minnesota, who had no desire to become snow birds, went looking for mid-winter entertainment here in the frozen tundra of West Central Minnesota. We discovered girls’ high school hockey, fell in love immediately, and it remains our favorite spectator sport to this day. Initially, and for several years, reports on these games were e-mailed to those who were actually snowbirds but wanted to keep abreast of things “back home.” It was ultimately decided a blog would be more efficient, and it evolved into a personal diary of many things that attracts tens of readers on occasion. It remains a source of personal mental therapy and has yet to elicit any lawsuits.
~ The Editor, May 9, 2014
p.s. The photo border around the blog is the Cardinal girls’ hockey team after just beating Breck for the state championship in 2008. It’s of the all-tournament team. The visible Breck player on the left is Milica McMillen, then an 8th-grader – she is now an All-American for the Gophers. The Roseau player in the stocking cap I believe is Mary Loken, who went on to play for UND; and the Cardinal player on the right, No. 3, is Abby Williams, the player we blame most for making us girls’ hockey fans who went on to play for Bemidji State.
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Photos contained herein are available for personal use. All you have to do is double click on any of the photos and they will become full screen size. You can then save them into your personal “My Pictures” file. They make lovely parting or hostess gifts, or holiday gifts for such as Uncle Ernie who wants to see how his grand niece is doing on the hockey team. If any are sold for personal profit, however, to, for example, the Audubon Society, National Geographic, Sven’s Home Workshop Monthly, Curling By The Numbers, or the World Wrestling Federation, I only request that you make a donation to the charitable organization of your choice. You have two hours and fifteen minutes. Pencils ready? Begin!
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alexandriacardinals 