Best Of

Endicott Arm Fjord and Dawe's glacier.

Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls plus Red Dog Saloon interior.

Sandy, my condolences to your DS and DDIL on the death of her father.

Like your friends, I am amazed that you were not able to participate in your kitchen design nor the paint choices. The adjuster we had at SF just sent checks and did not want any involvement in what happened with the restoration of our house. I chose the paints used, supervised the floor installers and finishers, etc. True, I was on site, which made this easier.

I had my appointment with my new PCP, who is family practice, and not an internist as my prior one was. We reviewed my medications, reasons for using and PMH which contained a lot of inactive dx which she archived. There was a lot of duplication in dx, such as osteoarthritis multiple times, which she was able to delete. It was an opportunity for a meet and greet where I discussed what care I needed and we discussed it. I will miss my old PCP for sure, but I am willing to make it work.

She was formerly with a healthcare system which just shut after poor management, and it resulted in the closing of 4 community hospitals, one of which was the only trauma center in the entire county and another where I took my students for their clinical experience. It displaced many physicians and thousands of hospital employees including their RN's. I have heard from former students who did land new positions elsewhere but many have yet to find employment.

I asked how long she had worked there and she replied it would have been 20 years in June. All of their former patients are scrambling to find new physicians, and many are coming up empty, with no one to order prescription renewals or inability to get a timely appointment. Long story short they were bought by a flimflam company named Prospect who has a reputation for buying hospitals, increasing their debt, they sell the land they occupy, and then leasing it back at a gouging price.

My DD and I had the trip of a lifetime. We had excursions to the Mendenhall Glacier, a Juneau tram ride to Mount Roberts top and then dinner at the Red Dog Saloon. I have a coat I bought many years ago from there and they no longer make them. I was hoping to get a replacement though mine is still in good shape. DH wanted a shirt but they had no golf type shirts which is what he prefers. I did find a denim shirt with their logo on it and a Red Saloon hat which pleased him. It was foggy, so not much of a view of the surrounding area.

The next day we had a catamaran excursion in the Endicott fjord to the Dawes glacier and saw it calve 4 times. I will post pictures from my phone, it is easier than trying to transfer them in. On Thursday we went to a Lumberjack show in Ketchikan and then a tour of Totem Bight State Park. Our guide was very knowledgeable for someone who had only resided there for 5 months and was a newly wed. He made us laugh when he said milk was $10/gallon and as one who loves cereal, his wife was unwilling to purchase milk so he'd had to learn to eat dry cereal. She asked what he wanted for his birthday, and he asked for a gallon of milk. She paused and told him, "she would think about it". He said that there was a lot to learn while being a husband and one was that "I'll think about it" generally means "no" since he did not get any milk. It was raining that day so while the show and tour were pleasant, the weather was not. My fleece lined raincoats, plus layering, kept DD and I comfortable.

Unfortunately, our High Tea at the Pendray Mansion was cancelled due to low enrollment. We arrived at 8 PM and docked over 1/2 mile from town so we opted to stay on the ship. There didn't seem to be cabs in the area either. It was disappointing and I don't know why Victoria was a port of call. They advertised a tour of Bouchart gardens but the bus ride was an hour each way and it left maybe 45 minutes to explore the gardens under lighting. We were sailing at 11:30 PM. I would rather have gone to Sitka.

DD found a cats eye cabochon Alexandrite ring she loved. It is her birth stone and we did bid on it in the auction they held, but lost to a higher bidder. Then we found a one of a kind one (heart-shaped stone with diamonds) and were able to get it for a better price. It is being sized. I found my birthstone in a ring, in another case found the matching pendant and later found the matching earrings. The final price made it hard to say "no". I had to send the ring to be sized as well.

We explored Pikes Place Market on Friday when we arrived in Seattle to pick up the cruise and on the Saturday when we returned we planned to do the Underground Seattle tour. The former was great and I just love the flower market there. As far as the Underground, I was a participant until I found there were 17 steps to be climbed in addition to the hour long walk. The walk I can do, the steps, not. So I was able to get a refund and sat in Pioneer Square, people watching until she returned. There is a French cafe in this square that we decided to have lunch at. She had the goat cheese quiche and I had the chicken salad. Both were delicious and I was hoping to have room for the fig topped pastry shell dessert, but alas, I was full. We did purchase a pastry each for Sunday's breakfast, since we were a 5 AM checkout for our flight home and their dining room didn't open until 6:30.

Today was a trek to Costco to get tires installed on DH's car and DS joined us while we shopped. He always has a list though today, by past standards, it was a short one. He bought DH lunch, but I was still full from breakfast.

Tomorrow we go for the new Covid vaccine, with the flu shot to occur at the end of the month. I don't want to do two together, but want to have both before we set sail for the Panama Canal next month.

I hope everyone has had a great day. It is overcast and chilly here so I am glad we had an indoor outing. Waving "hi" to everyone I didn't mention.

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.

Washington Irving

Betrayal - happy to hear you and DD had a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing the amazing pictures. The deep blue ice at Dawes Glacier is beautiful. It’s nice that you have the Panama Canal trip to look forward to.