We arrived back in Seattle on Friday, to be welcomed by its famous blue skies. And while Perry Como never crooned these exact words, we are sure he may well sing along with us “the steepest hills hills you’ll ever walk are in Seattle” especially when you are dragging your life’s belongings on tiny little suitcase wheels!

We docked at Seattle early this morning and had selected the self help plan to get the luggage off the ship, to avoid the possibility of missing our connection. We need not have bothered, and it meant that we were up with the birds and felt a little wrung out all day.

Today was the last day of our Tripadeal tour and it finished with a  quick fire city tour. The sort where the tour guide says “On your left you’ll see the famous dock where Hiram Flatbottom – oops! did I say left, I meant the other left – sorry, we all missed it.”  It was not quite as bad as that, though she did often seemed confused about left and right, and we saw some interesting sights, such as the lock system for the boats that has incorporated  a salmon ladder to enable the salmon to migrate according to their cycle. The water was pouring through the ladder at a tremendous pace and we were able to see fish bravely battling the current to return to the open seas.

 Homeless in Seattle

We departed our tour friends whom we had been with for the past 18 days, at Pike Place Markets, the busy farmers and craft market near the bay. There were no cabs around here to take us to our hotel, and the only way to go from there is up! It has been a very warm day and the street seemed to get steeper and steeper, and our arms and legs weaker and weaker. It brought to mind some words I famously said when I was about three on a hot and dusty trek back to the farm “Mum, I’m so dead I nearly tired!” My poor mum cracked up, but was so kind that she picked me up and carried me the rest of the way.  I am sad to say that Jenny was not so moved, and I had to struggle with my own load!

Ship life has been interesting. Jenny was so very anxious for the past year in anticipation of the cruise part of our holiday. She really does get anxious about getting anxious. In the end, it was a sinus infection that brought her low, and it was really just the last day where she felt a bit unsettled. For some reason, this ship, The Explorer of the Seas, seems to respond to every bit of ocean movement.

There were around 4,000 passengers, and there were some interesting fellow travellers. The most interesting were the Mennonites, about 700 of them on a “Sail and Sing” Cruise that they seem to do every year.  The men seemed to be a stern lot, with their bushy Amish-style beards and leather braces. The women dress very plainly in drab, long cotton dresses, usually a white bonnet and hair very straight and pulled back  tight in a bun.  I am not certain that Royal Caribbean embraces them with much enthusiasm, as they eschew many of the income streams of the cruise line – the alcohol, the casino and expensive restaurants. On the other hand they seemed to take a guilty pleasure in a free ice-cream or soft drink, and I saw them often lurking around the ice cream machine on Deck 11. They had a gospel concert one morning so I went along. It was all very mainstream conservative – not quite my cup of tea – but they sang with enthusiasm and in good spirit, so that was a good thing.

In summary, I would say we enjoyed the cruise, and for Jenny any repeat would have to be on very still waters – maybe a European river cruise! We did enjoy our ports of call – Juneau, Skagway, the glaciers, and yesterday, the beautiful city of Victoria with its lovely homes and gardens and of course the very famous Butchart Gardens where we enjoyed a high tea as well as strolling the magnificent displays. One could well spend much more time there.

Tomorrow we pick up a hire car (that hopefully comes with navigation) and have eleven days here – firstly at Friday Harbour on San Juan Island, then a few days in Vancouver and then about four days back in Seattle. This will be my first time driving on the wrong side of the road, but I have been practising from my seat on the bus. We will just have to see what reality brings.