When I woke up and saw daylight was peaking through the curtains I got up and peeked outside. And there it was...the lighthouse!! I grabbed my camera and stood on my balcony in my pajamas and snapped about a million photos hoping I would get at least one that was decent!
The sun was just coming up above the mountains as we were sailing into Vancouver...
It had taken us over 8 hours to reach the Lions Gate Bridge since we had spotted it with the binoculars the night before. We had spent all night long going no where!
This was our view after the Sun docked at Canada Place. Although it was Memorial Day in the U.S., it was a busy Monday morning in the city of Vancouver. We had breakfast in the buffet and then returned to our cabin to wait as long as possible. When we did leave the cabin around 8:30, it was just a short time until our color was called for debarkation. We had chosen luggage tags with the earliest time possible for debarkation following those who did self-assist.
Our flight was scheduled to leave out of YVR at 1:05 and I was nervous about getting to the airport, but everything went very smoothly. Finding our luggage was easy and then we followed the signs to where a long line had formed to wait for taxis. We debated about trying to share a van with Kent & Laurel to the airport, but the representative we talked to said that there were fewer vans than cars and the wait would most likely be longer. There was no way we could get all of our luggage into a single car so we took separate cabs.
Even though we waited for a little while, the process to get a taxi was orderly and controlled and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time. We were able to pay for the ride with a credit card which was easier (since we didn't have any Canadian currency) and the price was less when you considered the conversion to U.S. dollars. At check-in, it was a little stressful when my luggage got put onto the scale, but I was OK...under 50 pounds! Kent & Laurel were on the same flight with us to Minneapolis and then would change planes to go to St. Louis.
Bob and I grabbed a couple of sandwiches from Tim Horton's near our gate and took them onboard for lunch. A little dry, but still much more appetizing than what they sell on the plane. The in-flight movie was "Hidden Figures" which I had been wanting to see so our time in the air went by quickly.
Having a direct non-stop flight takes away a little bit of the pain of ending a vacation and we were back in Minneapolis shortly before 7 pm local time. We said our good-bye's to Kent & Laurel at the gate as they headed off to find their next flight.
Once our luggage had been retrieved, we called the shuttle and were taken back to the Hilton Doubletree where our car was parked. It is a little over a three hour drive from Minneapolis to where we live, but our bodies were still on west coast time which made it seem not quite as late as it really was.
I am convinced that Alaska is one of the most beautiful places on earth, but as we enjoyed the sunset on the drive home, I had to admit that our prairie has a beauty all its own!!
This ends the posts for our Alaska cruise, but Lord willing it won't be the end of our travels! With the prospect of Bob retiring soon I am looking forward to hitting the road more often...or more likely...sailing the seas! Stay tuned!!
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