Teach.Run.Love: Extreme Vacationing part 2

Continuing on about our vacation..from this past summer.... A MILLION DAYS LATER.

July 4th: Day at sea. Happy 4th of July! Today I got up and went running/walking on the track on the top deck. I saw 7 whales so needless to say, I stopped running and whale watched :) We had breakfast in the main dining room! SO good. We went to morning trivia and then to the final art auction. Tonight was lobster night in the dining room! So I had the lobster/shrimp plate and prime rib. What's a girl to do when she can't decide? Say "and" :) They had a 50's/60's dance party in the centrum later that night to celebrate the 4th of July. They also had the waiters come out at 11 with trays of appetizers/desserts I guess to act as the "midnight buffet" alternative.

July 5th: Victoria, British Columbia.
I experienced my first trip to Canada today! I do have to say, Victoria is a beautiful city. Very European! The 6 of us took a taxi to the Craigdarroch Castle and paid for the tour. It was very beautiful. Then we walked probably less than a 1/2 mile down the road to the Governor's Mansion to walk the gardens (for FREE) I took lots of pictures! The flowers were absolutely incredible! There were beautiful views, ponds, ducks, turtles, and flowers (of course). It was actually pretty warm today (70 degrees) We definitely over dressed. After the gardens, Josh and Kenz went off to antique shop, Tom and Derek went back to the ship and Sandy and I went shopping/sight seeing! We walked ALL over creation trying to find somewhere to eat and finally came upon this burger place called fatburger! SO good and good prices! We walked some more and more. My feet did not feel well in the boots I was wearing. Even though they were flat boots :( We went into the Bay Center Mall and I found my watch I was getting for my birthday/anniversary! We walked some more and then found some Gelato ice cream! Very delicious! We walked down the harbor, saw the Empress hotel, the Parliament building and some beautiful views. We walked all the way back to the ship. We probably walked about 5 miles that day, if not more! When we got back on the boat, I put on shorts and a t-shirt and went up to the pool deck because it was so warm. I took my book and read for a bit, put my feet in the heated pool and relaxed for a bit. I also watched the Celebrity ship sail in! Dinner was great (it was our last night on the ship) and the show was really funny. He was a variety comedian/magician. We headed back to pack our bags to get ready to disembark the next day. So sad to be leaving our ship but excited for the next leg of our trip!!

Craigdarroch Castle

Empress Hotel

Parliament Building

Our Ship

July 6th: Back on the mainland. Seattle, WA. We are getting off the ship but our trip wasn't over yet. We got to eat one last amazing breakfast in the main dining room then we headed to our waiting stations to disembark. We made our way to the Seattle train station to check in. We were taking a train to Eugene, OR. Staying the night in Eugene, renting a car, then the next day we were headed down the coast of OR and CA. The whole train experience was fun except for a little delay. We got a table seat which was nice. We played cards, played on the ipad/computers, read, and ate no so good expensive train food. We got stuck behind a broken down train for 2 1/2 hours. It was very frustrating. We finally got to Eugene and to our hotel. Derek got a deal on Priceline for the Holiday Inn for $50 a night! The rooms were beautiful! Nice big king size bed! We were so excited for some good sleep after being on the train forever!

July 7th: My 25 birthday! It was such an eventful Birthday! We got up in Eugene, ate breakfast and hit the road to highway 101 south! We drove along the Oregon coast, in the forest, saw lots of redwood giant trees, went through a "Drive through TREE", stopped at several spots to take pictures/ stretch our legs! Tom wanted to find a dive diner for lunch but we never found one! We saw ELK in the forest! That was really cool. We stopped in Crescent City for dinner for my 1st Birthday dinner. We ate at a seafood place called The Chart Room. We saw sea lions in the harbor outside of the restaurant! We still had a ways to go before we stopped in Eureka, CA. When we finally got to Eureka, we didn't have any reservations at any hotel, so we just stopped at several to see the rate and get a room. We had to settle at a nasty super 8 but we survived. The fog there in CA is crazy!

July 8th: We continued our journey down the Cali coast. We made a bad decision and took highway 1 down the coast. The roads were terribly curvy and the fog made it really hard to see the ocean.

We did stop at several rode side Redwood tree stops. Our final destination was Santa Rosa, CA. We did stop at a beach. It was a pebble type beach and it was cold. We finally made it to another priceline find! The Flamingo Resort. It was nice! We ate at a beautiful Italian restruant for dinner for my 2nd birthday dinner! I got amazing Tiramisu for dessert!

July 9th: Today we went to San Fran and to wine country today.

We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in the morning fog (which actually didn't let up at all). We went down Lombard Street (the curviest street). We drove to Fishermans Warf, Pier 39, walked around and then toured Alcatraz. It was really interesting and a little creepy. We ate at In-n-Out burger! Love that place! Then we drove through wine country. So beautiful! We also stopped at a vineyard in Sonoma to stretch our legs and look at the views! We also drove through Napa. We went back to Santa Rosa and ate at a little cafe.

July 10th: HOME! We left the hotel and had to take Tom and Sandy to the airport. They had an earlier flight. After the airport, Derek, Kenzi, Josh and I had a drive around downtown San Fran and China town. We didn't get out in Chinatown because we didn't find any good parking. We went back to Pier 39, walked around, went to ghirardelli square and had a free piece of chocolate! We ate at a cute 50's diner on the bay and then headed to the air port. It was an absolute trip of a life time.