A Rendezvous with Paris

Ray and Traci, after their initial one day trip to Paris during their 2009 London trip, decided to take another voyage across the Atlantic and spend a week in the city of lights. Because Ray used frequent flyer miles to get free tickets, the Air France's non-stop flight from Seattle to Paris was unavailable, so the voyage began with an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Chicago followed by an 8 hour flight from Chicago to Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport. After the long trans Atlantic flight, Ray and Traci had to wait in a fairly long (40 minute) line at passport control – French workers staged a 1 day strike to protest a rise in the retirement age from 60 to 62 (imagine that!), so perhaps that had something to do with the fact that only 3 windows were open for hundreds of travelers. Much to their relief, Ray and Traci's bags were waiting for them outside of passport control. Ray got some Euros (current rate 1.36 dollars = 1 euro) using an ATM card, and bought two museum passes and two tickets for the Roissy Bus. A museum pass is a must – they are sold in 2, 4, 6 day increments. Usually you can save money (depends on how many museums you see), but its best benefit is cutting in all the ticket lines at most of the major Paris Museums. Unfortunately, the 45-60 minute bus ride which brings travelers from the airport to L'Opera (not far from the Westin) turned into a 2 hour ordeal due to extremely heavy traffic at 11am. One would think with the prevailing price of gasoline at the equivalent of $7.60 per gallon, less cars would be on the road! After finally reaching Paris, Ray had some American Comfort food (chicken nuggets) while their room was being prepared and then checked in at the Westin. Their room was quite spacious and elegant, complete with Westin's signature "Heavenly Bed." Both the desk and the bathroom had American 120 volt plugs. The exhausted travelers (Paris time is 9 hours ahead of Seattle) wandered around their new home which borders the famous park, "Jardin des Tuileries" and the world's great museum "Le Louvre." Paris streets are a confusing mess of streets emerging from circular "places" going in every direction. A compass would come in very handy – despite good maps on paper and smartphones, it just is not easy going in a straight line in Paris. After many changes in plans due to the intermittent cloudbursts, Ray and Traci ended up just having dinner at a Japanese Restaurant mentioned in Fodor's Paris 2010 guide called Higuma. Neither traveler would recommend their meals (Ray had a Beef Rice Bowl, Traci had Chicken Curry). As night fell, the exhausted travelers retired to the Westin.

To both of their surprises, they woke up much later than planned (7:30AM) after going to sleep shortly after 8PM the night before. The agenda was a trip to Versailles, the opulent royal palace outside of Paris. Ray and Traci headed to the Musee d'Orsay metro stop (crossing the pedestrian bridge across the Seine at the Jardin des Tuileries) and bought round trip RER train tickets to Versailles. Surprisingly, the Saturday crowd to Versailles was quite light and the travelers smoothly walked into the Chateaux Versailles using their Museum Passes. The Chateaux, or main royal palace, is a testament to royal excess. After viewing the amazing artwork including ceilings covered with paintings, gold trim everywhere and fine furnishings, one understands why the starving French public resorted to the guillotine during their revolution. As an extra treat, the Japanese artist Murakami had a show of his colorful and eccentric pieces placed at various locations around the estate. After leaving the Chateaux, Ray and Traci wandered around the spacious gardens – classical music accompanied beautiful water fountains (note that the fountains are active only for an hour or so twice a day on weekends!) You have to pay a special entrance fee of 8 euros when the fountains are active. While all of the water fountains look much better operating, one in particular must be seen. The "Mirror Fountain" is a miniature replica of the fountains found in Las Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel (mobile water jets make water "dance" accompanied by music). Next, Ray and Traci walked to Queen Marie-Antoinette's favorite palace, the Petite Trianon. Surprisingly small but nonetheless luxuriously decorated, the Queen's ground has a 12 euro entry fee (free for museum pass holders) despite its smallness. In contrast, the next stop at the Grand Trianon was another palace worthy of a despised despot. Hosting many of the same features as the Chateaux, the Grand Trianon served as a "Camp David" for France's Royal family who wanted to get away from the burdens of ruling by traveling a mile from the main Chateaux. While leaving Versailles, Ray and Traci noted the huge lines to get into both the gardens as well as the main Chateaux. Two observations about Versailles – get there early especially on weekends (the books will tell you to be there at the 9 AM opening, but Ray and Traci arrived closer to 10 and still missed out on some really big crowds), and if at all possible go when the fountains are active (fountains need to be active to be appreciated). Ray and Traci's ride back to Paris took 30 minutes, and then the travelers looked for lunch. Ray and Traci ended up having a salad and ham & cheese baguette consumed while sitting around a large pool in the Jardin de Tuileries in typical French picnic style.

After lunch, Ray and Traci returned back to the Westin and ventured to l'Orangerie, a museum located in the Jardin des Tuileries. L'Orangerie has several giant wall sized Monets located in upper floor oval rooms as well as a bottom floor with other famous works by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso et al. The final tourist activity of the evening was a ride along the Seine River with Bauteaux Mouches - a guided tour in 8 languages. Because everything was repeated 8 times, there weren't a lot of details given during the cruise. Still, the views along the Seine were great. Ray and Traci finished the evening with dinner at Le Castiglione, a bistro 1 block from the Westin. Traci enjoyed Roasted Chicken and Ray had a rib eye steak. Especially when considering the 26 euro price, Ray thought his steak was good. A couple of notes about French restaurants – tips are included in the final bill and credit card transactions don't even give you an option to add on to the bill (but you can always leave a few extra coins if you like the service). Drinks (especially soft drinks) tend to be overpriced – 5 or 6 euros for a glass of coca cola is pretty common. Entrees like steak often have a salad served on the plate – many times you won't even find a house salad option on menus. Finally, menus in Paris have all sorts of French dishes but many also have a "cheese burger" – the default selection for picky American eaters such as Ray. So it was actually easier for Ray to find an acceptable restaurant than Traci.

Sunday started out with clear but chilly weather. Ray went for a short run around the Jardin de Tuileries before both travelers headed to the Louvre to get on the L'Open double decker tourist bus which travels along the city. Moving around the city, one notes how many clocks are on buildings in Paris and how many are broken! You have to be careful trusting Paris clocks even on prominent buildings such as the Musee D'Orsay which used to be a train station! Conditions got windy and really cold so Ray and Traci got off at the Rodin Museum where they admired the many sculptures in the combined indoor/outdoor venue. While in the area, Ray and Traci also saw the Hotel National Des Invalides – the Tomb of Napoleon. Even outdoing the Egyptian Pharaohs, Napoleon's tomb includes a golden dome, a very ornate chapel and a very prominent casket. While the monument was free for museum pass owners, Ray and Traci both thought it was rather unseemly to charge 9 euros to see the tomb of one of the nation's great leaders. Would America charge nearly $12 to see the Lincoln Memorial or JFK's Eternal Flame at Arlington? Lunch was eaten at Le Solferino, a café near the D'Orsay museum. Ray enjoyed a very good lasagna dish while Traci found a hot goat cheese on bread with salad dish much to her liking. Thanks to the museum pass, the travelers got to cut in a very long line at the D'Orsay museum which contains a very prestigious collection of impressionist paintings. Rain returned in the late afternoon so a tired Ray and Traci headed back to the Westin. They decided to give Japanese food another chance in Paris, and went to a ramen house called Sapporo – Ray had ramen with beef, Traci had a combination platter including ramen, gyoza and fried rice. Both diners enjoyed their dinner and retired for the long journey to Normandy in the morning.

Ray and Traci decided to take a day trip to walk on the hallowed ground where 30,000 American soldiers died in the liberation of France during World War II. "D-Day" occurred on June 6, 1944 when Allied Forces invaded the Northern Coast of France at Normandy. The day trip started with an early morning ride on the high speed SNCF to Caen. Ray bought advance purchase train reservations from the Eurorail site on the internet before traveling to Paris – at the station, the ticket window issued paper tickets for round trip travel. France's trains were comfortable and smooth, but the Caen train departed 20 minutes late. Once in Caen, the guides from the Caen Museum picked up a large group (about 20) and brought them to the museum. The Caen Memorial museum was built in the late 1980s and is a very large and well done multimedia presentation about the era before, during and after World War II. The exhibits are mostly bilingual (French & English) and highly informative. Ray felt the museum was extremely well done and rivaled Washington D.C's Newseum (although limited to portions of the 20^th century). After a guided tour, Ray and Traci enjoyed a hosted lunch (Ray had a steak, Traci had cod) complete with red and white wines, an apple tart, and coffee. Guests then had a chance to wander around the museum before departing in 8 person vans to the battlefields. Multiple stops including the American Cemetery at Normandy,

the artificial harbor at Arromanches, German defenses at Point du Loc, and of course, Omaha Beach captivated the visitors. The weather included off and on rain, further adding to the authenticity of the tour. The tour was moving, educational, and made the travelers want to learn more about the war. The day ended with the group being dropped off at the Caen train station – and as a bonus, everyone was able to get on an earlier train. The longer length trains (Grande Lignes) have reserved seats which are marked by small cardboard inserts above them, but walk on passengers are allowed to sit in empty seats. The conductor told Ray and Traci that people with advance tickets needed to get them stamped before boarding the train but they never did figure out where that is done. The nearly 2 hour trip arrived back at the St. Lazare Station in Paris. Although many tour companies offer day trips to Normandy, most are bus tours from Paris – Ray and Traci highly recommend the Caen Museum sponsored program utilizing the SNCF high speed train booked thru linkparis.com (a California based company). The tired travelers stopped at a pizza place near the St. Lazare Station called Café Marco Polo for a ham & mushroom pizza which was quite good before they retired to the Westin.

Tuesday started with Ray running along the Seine and visiting the grounds of Notre Dame. Since both visited the 900 year old cathedral during their last visit they did not tour it again. Next, Ray and Traci walked to the nearby shopping district. They toured the huge Printemps department store. Down the street (Haussmann), they entered the giant Galleries Lafayatte department store and looked at the large selection of goodies at their gourmet department. Traci bought some Paris chocolate. On their way back to the Westin, Traci bought some very popular Parisian macaroons from Pierre Herme – macaroons are small round meringue based airy filled cookies and come in different colors and flavors. The chocolate ones are sort of like a very light brownie. They are very delicious treats! After the shopping, Ray and Traci checked out of the Westin (Ray was only able to book a 4 night stay due to a convention which filled the hotel) and they took a taxi to the Arc de Triomphe Hilton. As expected, the Hilton served as a nice new home with more modern styling than the Westin. In fact the décor and elevator background music was similar to the Times Square Hilton in New York. The Hilton is probably the only hotel in Paris where the staff speaks to you first in English (Good morning, not Bonjour). Ray and Traci grabbed a traditional Parisian picnic lunch (ham baguettes) and joined much of the lunchtime crowd in a nearby park. They next took the metro to the Notre Dame area, stopping for some great gelato at Amorino followed by a visit to the beautiful St. Chappell – huge panels of stained glass tell in pictures the bible's stories from Genesis to the Resurrection. Unfortunately some of the panels are being restored and were blocked from view. The day ended with dinner at a restaurant near the Hilton called Le Monceau where Traci had an overdone lamb dinner while Ray enjoyed a tasty smoked salmon and pasta dish. Ray and Traci made a night time visit to the Arc de Triomphe and viewed the shimmering Eiffel tower (it glitters for 5 minutes at night on the hour).

Wednesday was the highlight of the Parisian attractions – Sacre Coeur. Ray and Traci waited until they finally had some sunshine and took the metro to the amazing church. While the Paris Metro is not especially difficult to use, it has some quirks – some of the train doors have to manually opened at stops, some of the passageways between lines are poorly marked, and several transfers require leaving one station and walking to the next (you need to hold on to your metro ticket to make this type of transfer). Metro tickets are available in stacks of 10 ("carnets") at a discount. As in many cities, metros have performers seeking money – In Paris, one station had a complete string section performing orchestral selections. As long as you know which stations you are starting at and leaving, the smartphone applications available are really helpful at figuring which trains you need to catch. Some other notable metro observations include the number of people using i-Phones, the lack of access for the disabled – a mother struggled to wheel her infant in a stroller down the steps with a box of groceries precariously balanced on the top as no elevators or escalators are available, a response by three armed police officers to someone screaming mindlessly on the subway, and finally a young child wielding a toy (?) handgun that would have triggered a lockdown in the US. Sacre Coeur is the ultimate in contrasts between secular capitalism and religious spiritualism. You leave the Anvers metro stop and walk into an alley of shops selling souvenirs of every type imaginable. In the middle, many entrepreneurs have set up 3 card monte stands using cardboard boxes. At one operation, the same woman keeps winning hundreds of Euros over a period of hours, imagine that! We had to assume she was the wife of the dealer. As you approach the majestic basilica (tribunal chamber of a king, built in 1876), young men approach trying to tie strings around your wrist and then bill you for their trouble! Farther up, kids approach wanting pledges. You hear harpists and violinists playing Celine Dion tunes looking for tributes. Merchants set up on the ground sell more souvenirs such as acrylic Eiffel Towers and postcards. After finally reaching the top, the most beautiful church awaits. While pictures are not allowed inside, suffice to say it is as impressive inside as outside. Ray bought a candle asking for a blessing to help bring the 2011 World Series to Seattle. His last request at the Shinto Shrine in Tokyo went unfilled; if the Sacre Coeur blessing fails perhaps a pilgrimage to the Vatican or Jerusalem will be needed.

After Sacre Coeur, the travelers took the Metro to the Etienne Marcel stop and wandered down the rue Montorgueil, a collection of shops and eateries not unlike Seattle's Pike Place Market. Traci bought a tasty pastry from La Patisserie Stohrer – a bakery established in 1725 and a favorite of King Louis XV. On the metro again, the travelers went to the Musee National D'art Moderne (modern art museum) where, like with New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), you learn that art is in the eye of the beholder (or the one paying for it). The building is quite a contrast to Parisian architecture, and as with Seattle's Experience Music Project (EMP), has many critics. Next, Ray and Traci enjoyed treats from Berthillon, the other famous Parisian ice cream place. Ray actually preferred the nearby Amorino (from the previous day) so he bought a second ice cream from them. Traci wanted to try a falafel at L'as du Falafel, so she ordered one at the takeout window and enjoyed the delicious and spicy meal on a parkbench in nearby Places de Vosges. Stomachs full, Ray and Traci rested up for their final full day in Paris.

A steady drizzle returned on Thursday. Despite the rain, Ray ran around the large running track at the park a block from the Hilton. The first stop on the dreary morning was the Louvre. Ray and Traci visited the Louvre last year during their one day Paris adventure, so this time they tried to visit exhibits they had not seen before such as Asian and Roman artifacts, and the grandiose Napoleon III apartments.

The Louvre is so massive, people talk about how many months it would require to view each item. Certain exhibits (most notably, the Mona Lisa) get huge crowds but many less well publicized objects are also quite captivating. After a few hours at the Louvre, Ray and Traci ventured back into the shopping district to pick up goodies to bring home. They started at a store selling music boxes named Anna Joliet near the Louvre, then took the metro to The Bon Marche (a blast from the past for long time Seattle residents who shopped at the big department store before Macy's took over) and then went back to Printemps and Galleries Lafayette where they purchased some specialty chocolate from Sadaharu Aoki. Fortunately, the rain stopped and the skies were partly cloudy during their shopping excursion. Exhausted and hungry, the travelers returned to the Hilton for a brief break before dinner. For their last dinner, Traci and Ray took a suggestion from their friends Mike and Nancy and went to Auberge de la Reine Blanche. The place looks like a very traditional French restaurant on Ile Saint Louis near Notre Dame. With its English menus and jam packed tables full of Americans, it was clearly catering to tourists. For 20 Euros, patrons got a 2 course meal – Traci had a French Onion soup followed by Coq au vin. Ray had a delicious ravoli with cheese, mushrooms and potatoes (tasted like au gratin potatoes) and a great steak with aioli sauce. Ray felt the meal was the best of the trip. For dessert, Traci went to nearby Amorino for one last ice cream cone.

Ray and Traci departed early the next morning using the parishuttle.com (one 's') service arranged a couple days before departure. As with their trip into the city, traffic was bad due to an accident at the airport. An unattended baggage scare also delayed the check in process so the 6:15 hotel departure for a 10:30 flight was just right for a comfortable arrival. The flights went smoothly and the traveler's baggage made it thru the Chicago connection without incident. Ray and Traci's great adventure to Paris was an amazing experience but quite exhausting. As in London, travelers get an appreciation what old and classical really mean. Seeing places such as Versailles and Normandy gives great insight into the French culture. Experiencing the beauty of Sacre Coeur is an absolute must for any Parisian adventure.

A Voyage to Alaska

Despite living on Seattle's waterfront and seeing the near daily arrival and departure of cruise ships bound to Alaska, Ray and Traci have never taken the trip. In fact, neither had ever been on a cruise ship before. Ray's relatives from California decided to travel to the 49^th state on Holland America's ship, The ms Rotterdam and Ray, Traci and Ray's parents decided to join them. 5 major cruise lines make the journey from Seattle: Holland America, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean. Norwegian and Princess have the largest boats with what look like fun amenities especially for kids such as big pools, rock climbing walls and water slides. Holland and Celebrity are supposed to have the best food. The ms Rotterdam has 1300+ passengers and 600 crew members – an unusually high crew member to passenger ratio, helping Holland maintain high service standards. The decision to go was a late decision – booking 3 weeks ahead of time, limiting choice of rooms. Holland, like many lines, has several types of rooms including deluxe penthouses with butler service, superior verandah (balcony) suites, regular verandah rooms, ocean view rooms and no-view rooms (obstructed & interior). A new category of rooms called lanai rooms, were formerly ocean view rooms with the window replaced with a sliding glass door allowing access to the main "promenade" circling the ship with reserved deck chairs right outside. Since Ray and Traci had never been on a cruise ship, they wanted to avoid sea sickness – their research revealed many different opinions including picking rooms in the center and low in the ship to reduce rocking. Others told them to not get view rooms which encourage sea sickness, but since they were going to Alaska to see the glaciers it didn't make much sense to not get a view. In the end, Ray booked lanai rooms near the middle of the ship and the whole party was quite happy with them. While you have to share your "balcony" with the whole ship, you have your own chairs with a great view and it makes your living quarters feel much bigger.

Living on the Seattle Waterfront made getting to the cruise terminal very easy. Without airline baggage/weight restrictions to worry about, Ray and Traci packed a lot of stuff. After being dropped off at the Pier 91 terminal, they brought their 2 big suitcases and a large duffel bag to the baggage desk for x-ray & loading. Then passengers head upstairs with passports and tickets for a medical questionnaire (don't check the boxes about being sick if you want to go). You get your picture taken and get on the ship. Ray and Traci found their 197 square foot lanai room quite well designed – 3 closets easily stored their large collection of clothes for a 7 day journey with much room to spare. The suitcases fit underneath the bed – people bringing more than 2 suitcases should make the additional bags "soft" so they can fit inside the suitcases. Together, Ray and Traci brought 2 iphones, 2 Kindles, 1 ipad, a laptop and a Nintendo Wii. Their luggage arrived about 45 minutes after boarding. Upon arriving, Ray hooked up his Wii to the flat screen TV in the room which only showed a few channels including CNN. Rooms have DVD players, so the travelers brought some DVDs – Holland has their own library of DVDs that you can borrow as well. The first meal was a welcoming buffet at the Lido Restaurant – Ray's family met their four California relatives for a nice variety of food including sandwiches, sushi, Thai selections, fried chicken, salads, fruits, and lots of other goodies. After the mandatory safety drill which was really easy to get to since it is right outside their Lanai rooms, Ray and Traci wandered around the ship – there are 4 major restaurants for meals, a hamburger grill stand, a pizza stand, 5 bars, a large library/internet room, a medium sized gym, a spa, a basketball and miniature tennis court, a casino, a theatre, a "showroom" and 2 "pools." The main pool has a retractable roof like Safeco field but is really small. The rear pool is a wading pool with lounge chairs placed in the pool. Next to the main pool is the obligatory Jacuzzi. In general, if you want a fancy pool, you will be disappointed with the Rotterdam. While wandering around the Lido (Pool) deck, Ray and Traci ran into some rather fancy fruit scuptures.

Dinner was at the main dining room and consisted of a delicious menu and great service – Ray's Dad had the crab legs, Traci had the so-so pasta primavera, Ray and his mother had prime rib. Ray especially loved his baked Alaska dessert. After dinner, the travelers went to the showroom for an "introductory" entertainment show previewing many of the musical acts for the week. Ray spent a few hours playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 on his Wii before Traci and Ray went to the late night Lido buffet – Filipino cuisine. There is a different late night buffet theme each night. Traci sampled a few of the desserts but Ray was still full from dinner. Ray and Traci retired to their room which was pretty well soundproofed at least to voices, the ocean, and the engines. Fortunately, their first night was calm and sea sickness free.

Some notes about shipboard life – the ship is quite organized with your room card key being used for all charges including casino play. The Lanai doors have electric locks but unfortunately you have to use a separate card key to open it. Most food is included in your ticket. The Rotterdam has a "premium" restaurant – a steak house called the Pinnacle Grill which charges $20 per person. You have to pay for most beverages – Ray bought a $20 soda card so he could get 20 glasses of soda during meals while Ray's Mom bought a bottle of fine $19 wine which she can drink during her meals (and take home if any is left). Travelers are given an option when they book for early, late or open seating at dinner for meals in the main dining room. Ray picked open seating which seems to be a great choice – you show up for dinner whenever you want. Supposedly, if you reserve a consistent dinner time when you book your cruise, you get the same table and the same wait staff for dinner every night. Of course some nights you may want to eat at the Pinnacle Grill or the Lido buffet and your table will be empty. The problem with set dinner time comes up if you are not hungry at 5:30 or too hungry to wait to 8pm – the main dining room may send you away until your reserved time. In addition, the ship has 24 hour room service (all free) so those so inclined can eat round the clock. Sometimes Ray and Traci would get an early dinner snack at the Lido Grill followed by a proper dinner in the main dining room. Nobody except your scale keeps track of how many dinners you eat. The main dining room will keep giving you food if you are hungry.

Day 2 started with Ray visiting the gym. The Holland gym is fairly small but well equipped. It drove Ray crazy to wait for the many walkers to get off the treadmills since they could walk around the main promenade deck which is 1/3 mile around. Running is forbidden from the main promenade deck for noise and probably safety. Fortunately, Ray found a very small track on the top deck of the boat where you can run – because it is so windy and cold, the few early morning visitors didn't stay very long. Ray found the view gorgeous and sea air refreshing. Traci followed Ray to the gym and then both enjoyed a buffet lunch at the Lido which is the big buffet on the Rotterdam. Ray actually got 3 slices of very good pizza from "Slice" the pizza joint outside the Lido, while Ray's cousin got a hot dog and fries from the grill next to the swimming pool – both brought their food into the Lido buffet with rest of the party who enjoyed the wide variety of foods available. The afternoon at sea was occupied with a slot machine tournament in the casino, and bingo in the penthouse bar called The Crow's Nest. Bingo is played almost everyday. Bingo cards cost $25 for 4 separate games. The 4^th game is blackout bingo and the payout is between $25,000 to $100,000 if someone gets blackout within 45 numbers called. For dinner, Ray's family went to the Pinnacle Grill. Traci had rack of lamb, Ray and his parents all had rib eye steaks after tableside Caesar salads and crab cake/seafood platter appetizers. While the food was really good, you can get much of the same food in the main dining room and save yourself the $20 surcharge – Ray's cousins who ate in the main dining room also enjoyed rack of lamb, steaks, and the chocolate soufflé dessert that Ray had at the Pinnacle Grill. The dining room would give you more than one entree while the Pinnacle Grill would charge you extra. The Pinnacle Grill has 4 standard steaks (rib eye, filet, porterhouse, and New York) while the specials rotate and are often the same as the main dining room. The portions are bigger in the Pinnacle but big deal, nobody in Ray's family finished their entree. After dinner, the group listened to an excellent piano player perform a mix of classical and popular music in the main showroom, demonstrating how difficult it is for talented musicians to get gigs on Broadway. Ray spent a little time after the show winning money at the $5 blackjack table, and then he and Traci met his cousins for late night dining with French themed food in the Lido. While closing down the Lido at midnight, the cruisers noted that the sea was noticeably rougher and the weather foggy but all slept well thru the night despite the muffled sounds of a fog horn which blared all night. Alaska does not have daylight savings time so everybody on board the ship gained an extra hour of sleep by turning their clocks back.

Monday brought clear weather and beautiful scenery. Ray and Traci skipped the gym and enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the Lido – the variety of food was great and the quality was good, but not spectacular. Around noon, the ship docked in Juneau – sunny skies and amazing geography met the vessel (along with many other cruise ships!) Ray's family got off the ship and rode the 5 minute Mount Roberts Tram to the visitors center complete with two gift shops, a cinema and a wounded bald eagle being rehabilitated back to health. Ray and Traci decided to hike to the Mt. Roberts Cross which was half way to the summit. Snow was seen in patches on the mountain and the views from platforms along the trails were incredible.

After riding the tram down back to Juneau, Ray and Traci wandered around downtown Juneau which was filled with various tourist traps selling the expected variety of souvenirs. Ray spent much time before the cruise contemplating taking a helicopter to the Mendenhall glacier but eventually decided against it mainly due to the questionable safety record of Alaskan aviation. In fact, a recent newspaper article reported 17 recent deaths from aviation accidents in three months -http://www.adn.com/2010/08/14/1410392/crashes-give-alaska-aviators-pause.html. Ray's cousins took a bus tour of Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens, something they recommend to future travelers. If you book tours thru the cruise line, they are often more expensive but also can be of higher quality – in Juneau, you find a bunch of tourist booths selling everything from bus tours to helicopter/dog sledding adventures at discount prices. Holland charged $56 for the Mendenhall tour while you could find discounted $7 tours, but there appeared to be quite a difference in quality of the bus (e.g. old converted school bus vs air conditioned tour bus) and places toured. After their day in Juneau, Ray had an excellent meal in the main dining room. His "Ketchikan" chowder, Caesar salad, Manila clams & scallops with noodles and baked Alaska dessert was outstanding. Traci's fruit & berry appetizer followed by hen with almond and brown rice stuffing and apple walnut tart dessert was also quite good. After dinner, they attended an excellent show featuring 6 of the Holland performers singing and dancing to Broadway show tunes. The late night dinner featured a "California" theme but both Ray and Traci were only able to nibble on some fruits and desserts.

Tuesday was glacier day. The seas were rougher than in the past. Ray actually got a bit seasick for the first time while running on the treadmill. He felt better after walking around the ship so he was able to finish his run on the treadmill. Ray's Dad fell off an elliptical trainer due to the rough seas. Traci joined Ray during the walk and they saw a whale flapping around 50 yards from the ship. Spotting active whales were a definite treat for the morning exercise crowd.

Both Ray and Traci enjoyed breakfast and lunch buffets at the Lido restaurant. The captain warned that the ship may not get to see the Hubbard glacier which borders Disenchantment Bay due to poor weather and visibility. Fortunately, the skies cleared enough to get the boat to within a half mile from the glacier although rain, fog and cold temperatures made the best viewing areas on the ship's bow less than pleasant. A glacier is a collection of compressed snow which becomes dense ice, and gravity forces the ice down to the sea often taking parts of the land with the ice flows. At the sea, chunks of ice form avalanches which make thunderous roars during the journey into the sea.

Since Tuesday was spent entirely on the boat, Holland had many other activities going on including a trivia contest, a name that tune contest, and a Bingo game – sadly, Ray and Traci did not win anything. After leaving the glacier, the seas became rougher and Traci's appetite for her Italian wedding soup and bream fish sauté dinner waned. However, after taking 25mg of meclizine, she quickly felt better and was able to enjoy her meal. Ray enjoyed his tasty turkey dinner and another baked Alaska dessert. The evening finished with a show by a world champion juggler who did an amazing feat – juggled 3 sharp machetes while riding a tall unicycle. Afterwards, they took a trip to the late night dinner buffet with a taste of Asia theme.

The trip south continued on Wednesday with a stop at Sitka. The weather was cold and rainy, so Ray and Traci never left the boat. To get to Sitka, you need to "tender" – get on one of the Rotterdam's life boats to shuttle you to shore as cruise ships do not have a place to dock. While the tender process went smoothly, there wasn't much desire on Ray or Traci's part to ride a small boat 15 minutes just to get to another tourist trap on a cold and rainy day. Both travelers used the largely vacated ship to exercise – Traci in the gym, Ray on the top deck running track where he figured out that 11 laps around was approximately 1 mile. Ray and Traci spent the rest of the day eating at a mostly empty Lido buffet, reading, playing Nintendo and napping. Before dinner, the family got together and won their first Holland America Trivia contest – chocolate trivia, scoring neat traveling coffee mugs. The seas became noticeably more violent as they left Sitka with 15-20 foot swells, and Ray began getting sick during dinner. While he was green during the soup course, he took some over the counter meclizine and enjoyed the rest of his dinner – salmon and strawberry ice cream. Traci did not get sick and enjoyed her third lamb dinner of the trip. After dinner in the showroom, two singers Melody & Irwin, headlined a musical treat – duets thru the ages. Both were quite talented and after Melody successfully completed the challenge of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," many wondered why she wasn't on American Idol. Late dinner in the Lido had a Dutch theme.

Ray and Traci awoke Thursday to the PA announcement of the cruise director that the ship arrived at Ketchikan and the tourist shops beckoned. Ray and Traci again enjoyed the Lido breakfast; Ray tried the omelet bar for the first time. Next, they wandered around Ketchikan, the rainiest place in the United States. Most of the shops were geared toward the tourists. A few shore excursions were available but given the limited time (7am-Noon) and the drizzly weather, Ray and Traci explored on foot. After an hour or two of experiencing Ketchikan and finding again that their iphone 3g connections didn't work, they returned to the boat and Ray enjoyed salad from the Lido buffet and pizza from "Slice" while Traci had oxtail soup and rice. During the afternoon, more unrewarding trivia and bingo contests took place. Ray did discover that the Crow's nest bar on the top of the ship made some really good strawberry smoothies. Thursday's dinner was a formal occasion – On Monday and Thursday patrons were asked to dress nicely (jackets & ties) for the main dining room and the Pinnacle grill – although the Lido buffet always is casual. At the Lido people wear everything from t-shirts and shorts to swimsuits and even the Holland bathrobes. The Lido usually has many of the same entrees as the formal dining room, in addition to a regular salad bar, dessert bar, pasta bar and a few other items. Note that the dining room's dress code even on "Formal" night is not rigidly enforced – some male diners had neither coats nor ties. For Thursday's formal dining, Ray had the classic surf and turf (lobster/filet mignot) which was quite good – even in the dining room, patrons can order additional entrees at no additional charge but one was enough tonite. Traci enjoyed the chef's special salmon dish. After dinner, a comedian Jeff Burghart took the stage in the showroom. Comedy is really difficult with an audience of mixed ages and ethnic backgrounds. Traci enjoyed his impersonations and humor – Ray, not so much. To top it off, the late dining theme was "Dessert Extravaganza" and the crew lined the pool deck with many types of treats including ice cream, fondue, cakes, pies and cookies.

Friday was the final full day of the cruise with a planned nighttime stop in Victoria, B.C. The weather was nice and the seas calm. Both cruisers skipped breakfast but after morning workouts, Ray enjoyed a grilled BLT and Traci had Thai chicken curry and Singapore vermicelli noodles. The afternoon was packed with several activities including a class on how to make the cute towel animals found on passengers' bed each night (Ray bought a copy of Holland's how to guide),

the finals of Holland America's "Idol" competition, and a final game of Bingo. Predictably, a few of the "Idol" performers demonstrated real talent, but surprisingly, 3 showed no musical talent (Must have been a very slow week at the Karaoke events.) Ray and Traci's final dinner was in the main dining room – Ray had a New York steak while Traci had ling cod. The food continued to be excellent to the very end, although the "free" and unlimited dishes were depressing the enthusiasm for this food free for all. The ship docked at Victoria where Ray and Traci took the shuttle bus to downtown, and explored Chinatown as well as the waterfront. The after dinner arrival and limited time on shore discouraged Ray and Traci from touring the famous Butchart Gardens. The final event of the cruise was a great musical show showcasing the talents of three female performers singing the songs of 1950s groups such as the Supremes. The final late night dinner at the Lido had a variety of foods.

The ship returned to Seattle during the early morning hours. Ray and Traci awoke, had a quick breakfast at the Lido Grill and they disembarked the ship at 7:45 AM for the very short taxi ride home. Ray enjoyed the cruise very much, really liked the ability to turn off your brain for a week, but was concerned that the constant supply of really good food could become a health hazard. Alaska was beautiful and the glaciers quite amazing.

There is so much more to write about but this is a blog not a novel. If you have any comments or questions, please let Ray and Traci know!

Ray and Traci's Tips for Holland America Cruisers

1. The lanai rooms are great. You don't have a private balcony, but your balcony is the whole teak deck that surrounds the ship – very handy for viewing things like whales and glaciers. If people outside your window spot whales, you can rush out thru the sliding door directly to the main deck. Note: If you plan to take this cruise next year, the Holland America ship will be the Westerdam or Oosterdam which do not have lanai staterooms.

2. The Pinnacle Grill had nice dishes, but unless you are dying for a specific steak preparation, you are better off eating in the main dining room where they will feed you multiple entrees and not charge you $20 for each one.

3. While listening to the Park Ranger talk about the Hubbard Glacier while you watch the ship's approach on the crowded bow, it is not necessary to stand and suffer bad weather. Once arriving, the captain parks the boat for a good photo break, rotating half way thru so both sides of the ship can take pictures.

4. Go to the Crow's Nest for Happy Hour from 4-5pm when drinks are 50% off

5. Don't worry about packing too much as there is plenty of closet space and large suitcases can be stored underneath the bed

6. At the first sign of seasickness, take 25mg of meclizine. It's effective and works fast! You can get some at the front desk if you don't buy it beforehand (over the counter motion sickness pills available at places like Rite-Aid)

7. If you like a particular type of wine, buy a bottle. They will tag the bottle with your name and pour from it every time you dine until you drink it all. Alcohol is not particularily expensive, at least compared to similar resorts. Ray's $20 Soda Card was good for 20 glasses of soda at any restaurant or bar (tip included!) but he didn't use all of his glasses, especially after he discovered strawberry smoothies in the Crow's Nest bar.

A Weekend in Portland (Oregon)

Ray's cousin planned a wedding in Hood River, Oregon along the Columbia River. Ray and Traci, after realizing neither could remember the last time they visited downtown Portland, decided to stay overnight in Seattle's sister city rather than in scenic Hood River.

The Friday afternoon trip did not begin well. What should have been a 2 ½ hour car ride turned into a 4 hour ordeal with stop and go traffic starting in Seattle and lasting all the way to Olympia. Just as the travelers reached Oregon, they encountered the rush hour traffic in Portland. Fortunately the drive to Portland was the worst part of their weekend.

Upon arriving at their hotel, "The Nines", Ray and Traci were quite impressed with their room. Their hotel occupies the top 7 floors of the downtown Macy's building. When making an advance reservation, the Nines ran a weekend promotion cutting the internet rate 25% so Ray and Traci decided to take advantage of the good deal. They were given a large corner room with modern décor and a spacious bath. Furnishings included a 42" LCD TV, a table with chairs, a desk, and a chaise lounge. The only bad part of the hotel is the $32 per night valet parking fee.

After checking in, Ray wanted to have dinner at a noted Portland steakhouse, The Ringside. The meal consisted of Caesar salad, rib eye steak for Ray and rack of lamb for Traci. Because it was Ray's birthday, the restaurant also gave Ray one of his favorite desserts – a hot fudge sundae. In a word, the food was fabulous. And for $80+tip including drinks, by Seattle standards it was a great deal! Portland does not have a restaurant tax (and Oregon has no sales tax) making many things a 10% off bargain!

The stuffed travelers decided to walk around the Pearl District next. The Pearl District looked like Seattle's Belltown with more families and less nightclubs. Many nice residential buildings surrounded parks with bistro type restaurants at the street level. On their journey, Ray and Traci encountered several parking lots with lunch trucks and food booths set up – kind of like a miniature "Bite of Portland" with a wide variety of ethnic foods at cheap prices. Mobile trucks were set up next to very temporary tents and more permanent appearing shacks. Also in the Pearl District was the famous Powell Bookstore, the largest bookstore Ray had ever seen. Multiple floors contained new and used books of every genre imaginable. In this era of e-books, it was refreshing to see a vibrant bookstore. On the way back, Ray and Traci passed the Pioneer Courthouse Square where a summer festival was taking place. Along with food vendors and a local band, teams of sand designers built amazing structures out of exclusively beach sand and water.

Before retiring for the night, Ray and Traci visited Voodoo Donuts, a food channel favorite donut house. While the shop had a large variety of donuts, they purchased some of their more famous styles – the Voodoo Donut with a pretzel stabbing the human shaped donut leaving raspberry drippings, a Bacon Maple Bar, and the Portland Cream Donut.

Saturday began with Ray running along the Willamette River. Like many cities, Portland has a riverfront park between downtown and the river. Several different bridges cross the river, and one can run a loop using bridges to get from one side to the other. Portland is a very bicycle friendly city with defined bicycle lanes. Most of the downtown streets are one way making the streets safer for both pedestrians and bicyclists. It is a bit confusing to walk around downtown due to the lack of crosswalks and pedestrian signals – people simply wander across streets when they clear. After the run, Ray and Traci headed out to look at shopping areas (free of Washington's 9%+ sales tax). Nordstrom's anniversary sale was going on its second day although the store looked pretty empty. Niketown appeared to have relatively more customers. Ray and Traci stopped for a light lunch at the Pioneer Square Mall which contained a food court with a wide variety of meals – Ray had soup and salad, Traci had a bagel and a fruit cup. After lunch, the travelers headed out to Hood River for the wedding. The trip to Hood River was quite scenic and the actual event took place with a beautiful backdrop of the Cascade mountains. After the joyous celebration, Ray and Traci returned to the Nines hotel and the brief weekend in Portland ended the next morning with a much quicker drive back to Seattle.

A Trip to the New Bronx Zoo

Ray and Traci decided, despite a disappointing Mariners season so far, that they would visit the new Yankee Stadium during the Yankee/Mariner series this year. Surprisingly, tickets were not hard to come by, with Stubhub.com scalping outfield tickets for about $25 each. Like many Seattleites, Ray and Traci have complained about the cool and damp Seattle weather this summer. They got on the Alaska Air flight to New Jersey, and then promptly wished for Seattle weather. After landing in New Jersey, they took the Air Train at Newark's airport and got onto the New Jersey Coast Line train which dropped them off at Penn Station in New York. The temperature was more than 90 degrees with 80% humidity. Fortunately the late arrival spared the travelers the direct sunlight, but it was quite uncomfortable especially dragging their bags to their hotel.

The hotel for their latest New York Adventure would be the Hilton Times Square. Their room was surprisingly large, easily the largest room they ever had in New York. It was clean, modern and tastefully decorated with some very practical amenities like a good sized closet and many drawers to put clothes in. Adventurers to New York who want to stay in the middle of the action would find the Hilton ideal.

With darkness falling, Ray and Traci ventured into the crowds to find dinner. Traci picked a restaurant in midtown called Sapporo (like the Japanese Beer). Traci had shoyu ramen while Ray picked the Sukiyaki. The food was good especially considering the total bill was $22. Before retiring for the evening, they stopped at the fancy Times Square McDonalds for soft ice cream – the restaurant has a Broadway theater styled store front and the spacious interior is decorated in the same fashion.

When Ray and Traci woke up on day 2, the temperature was already 88 degrees! After enjoying a Hilton complementary buffet breakfast, Ray and Traci decided to go to the King Tut exhibit three blocks from the hotel – King Tut's return rekindles the interest developed in the 1970s US tour, updated with new scientific evidence (i.e. DNA analysis of King Tut's family tree) and new multimedia exhibits. Unfortunately, some of the key artifacts such as the famous golden burial mask didn't make the trip to NYC. Afterwards, Ray and Traci headed from King Tut's Times Square home up Broadway to the shopping district. After a brief repeat visit to the celebrated St. Patrick's Cathedral, they window shopped the Apple Store, Niketown NYC, the Sony Store and Trump Tower. Despite running out of iphones days ago, the Apple store was flooded with people wishing the store had iPhones or iPads in stock! In general, Times Square seems to be bucking the overall negative economy as people seemed to swarm the area even with the new expanded pedestrian walkways. Another recent change was the impressive amounts of police in both the Central Park and Times Square areas which must have caused crime to go elsewhere. Later, Ray and Traci went to Joe's Shanghai in the midtown area for some Chinese food including chicken dumplings, won ton soup and not so crispy spicy shrimp. Joe's is a highly recommended Chinese restaurant although Traci was somewhat disappointed compared to her meal during a previous NYC trip at Joe's other location in Chinatown. After leaving Joe's, Ray and Traci attended the musical "Rock of Ages." Traci was somewhat skeptical of a musical based on many of Ray's favorite musical acts from the 1980s – but the performances, the humor, and the cast's ability not to take themselves too seriously won her over. Ray felt the musical was the most fun Broadway show he attended – a "Mamma Mia" with self deprecating humor and 1980s music with a bite. If you only like musicals with opera quality vocals, orchestral music, and intellectually stimulating plots, don't bother seeing "Rock of Ages" when it plays in Seattle next year.

Tuesday brought more clouds and slightly cooler weather. Ray started his day by running around the reservoir in Central Park which turned out to be quite a challenge given the heat and humidity. After breakfast, Ray and Traci headed on the subway to the Southport TKTS booth to try their luck at getting discount matinee show tickets for the next day. After a 40 minute wait, they bought La Cage Aux Folles tickets at 30% off. The Times Square TKTS booth only sells tickets for day of shows, while the Seaport outlet will sell the matinee tickets the day before. From the Southport area, they walked across one of New York's famous landmarks – the Brooklyn Bridge.

As expected, many tourists crossed the Pedestrian walkways – some in better shape than others, with many stops for photo ops. Leaving the bridge behind, Ray and Traci had lunch in a famous Brooklyn eatery – Grimaldi's Pizza. Despite a 2 pm arrival, Grimaldi's had a line of people on the sidewalk waiting to get in. Fortunately, the line was a relatively short 15 minutes. Ray and Traci enjoyed a very good ham pizza cooked in Grimaldi's famous coal fired brick oven. After their late lunch, Ray and Traci rode the subway back to the hotel before heading to Yankee stadium. The latest incarnation of Yankee Stadium opened in 2009 to much fanfare. The easiest way to get to Yankee stadium from Times Square is the express "D" train from Bryant Park. A 30 minute ride drops you off right at the ballpark. At first glance the outside architecture looks quite plain with little detail except for the golden "Yankee Stadium " inscription. Once inside the main gate, visitors find the "Great Hall" with long banners celebrating Yankee heroes past and present. Ray and Traci took an extended tour around the main floor and the upper deck seating areas before settling in. Overall, the interior of the stadium lacks the polish one would expect in a billion dollar structure. Modern ball parks often have floor to ceiling views of the field for patrons walking the main concourses whereas Yankee stadium has narrower "mail slot" view. Monument park has been transplanted into the outfield of the new stadium but it closes 45 minutes before first pitch. A gorgeous gigantic Mitsubishi video screen occupies the biggest area in the center field scoreboard.

One area where the Yankees did not spare any expense was the high concrete partitions staffed by security separating the choice infield seats in the first few rows with the less pricey ones behind. A premium infield seat can run $1600 while the ones a few rows behind go for $300! Another big deficiency was the relatively limited concessions (with the expected very high prices) – Yankee Stadium's "food court" had only a very few vendors, and the variety of foods was really limited especially given the multicultural background of New York. The stadium does have several exclusive sit down food areas including a steak restaurant which may compensate for the limited concessions. In any case, Ray and Traci spent the first game up in the 400 level by the left field foul pole. Sitting so far away from home plate was a new experience for the Seattle fans however the Mariners surprising offensive outburst and Cliff Lee's typical professional pitching job kept them quite entertained. The M's won 7-4 making Ray and Traci's short subway ride home much happier than it was for the Yankee fans.

Wednesday was the last full day in NYC for Ray and Traci. Ray was quite thankful for 70 degree temperatures and again ran around Central Park's reservoir. After enjoying the Hilton's buffet, they headed out to wander around the area. At Rockefeller Center, the Lego company was having an event – children would build structures out of green Legos and the organizers would arrange them together forming big cities. In addition, master Lego builders put together a massive red Lego apple.

Ray and Traci's next event was the matinee showing of La Cage Aux Folles. Traci was pleasantly surprised when the well known actor Kelsey Grammer took the stage rather than an understudy. Ray was intrigued by Kelsey's talents which were much more impressive than just his famous roles as Dr. Frasier Crane and Sideshow Bob on the Simpsons. Ray did think the story could use a little modernization in its latest incarnation. From La Cage Aux Folles, the Mariners fans headed back to Yankee Stadium on the D train to enjoy another game. For the second game, Ray purchased premium seats directly from the Yankees – 3^rd deck behind home plate in the "Jim Beam" section – basically similar to a more expensive but less extensive "Terrace club" experience found at Safeco. The private lounge had a bar (with Jim Beam, of course), a pizza concession, a burger/fries concession and bathrooms without any waits. After you leave the lounge, the cushy seats in the front portion of the 3^rd deck behind home plate afforded excellent views of the action. For dinner, Traci had an adventurous Spanish Rice with Chicken dish while Ray stuck with the more traditional Yankee Hot Dog. Again, Mariner fans were treated with a dominating pitching performance, this time by Felix Hernandez while the offense again exploded for 7 runs including 2 homers by rookie Michael Saunders. Ray and Traci returned to the Hilton quite happy after a 7-0 thrashing of the World Champions.

Thursday was another cool day. Ray and Traci decided to end their NYC adventure by visiting the Frick Museum – the former residence of a steel tycoon and art patron who assembled a very impressive variety of art. As afternoon approached, they checked out of the Hilton and boarded the Newark airport bound train at Penn Station for an uneventful trip back to Seattle where they found cool and wet weather.

A Short Track to the 2010 Olympics

Because of the wide variety of interesting sports, Ray and Traci found themselves watching a good portion of the 2010 Winter Olympic games. Whether because of the close proximity to Seattle, the personalities involved, or the success of the US, the travelers decided to travel to Vancouver and experience the Olympics firsthand.

The finals of the Short Track competition seemed to be an ideal event – a great competition, a local personality (Apolo Ohno), 3 medal events (Women's 1000m, Men's 500m, Men's 5000m Relay). Unfortunately, many others did too – Ticket brokers, Ebay and the "Official" Olympics Ticket Auctions had the cheapest pairs of tickets running for $900 (9 x original price!). Even after waiting until 7 hours prior to the event, the best deal found was $770 for a pair of tickets in the back of the nosebleed section and likely partially obstructed by a camera man. Deciding to forgo buying tickets online, Ray and Traci headed north to check out the Olympics.

Travel on I-5 was uneventful, and there was no wait at the border. Ray planned on parking near the short track venue (Pacific Coliseum), and found a free street parking spot near a school. After getting Canadian dollars at a HSBC bank, Ray and Traci caught the 135 bus to Robson Square, the center of the Olympics.

Driving in, one wouldn't know anything special was going on. Even during the short 3 mile bus ride to Robson Square, little traffic was encountered – appeared to be a slow workday. Once in the center of the Olympics, crowds were noted in the drizzly Friday, but they weren't overwhelming. Ray and Traci headed to the Olympic Caldron for the obligatory picture of the torch.

From the torch, the hungry travelers found a Japanese restaurant on Robson. Traci had an udon dish with some California rolls and Ray had a beef teriyaki / tempura dinner. Fortunately, this restaurant didn't have "Olympic Pricing" and the $35 (including tip) dinner was quite satisfying. Hunger resolved, Ray and Traci wandered around Olympics Central. Fans everywhere were wearing Canadian Hockey jerseys as their team was about to win their semifinal game, setting up the epic rematch with the US for the gold medal. Police patrols also looked rather inconspicuous – small patrols were noted - but the heavy anti-terrorist forces must have stayed well hidden. Ray and Traci wandered over to the ice skating rink were many kids enjoyed the festivities on the ice while older ones waited 7 hours for a free zip lining experience overhead.

The Official Olympic Store had a long line (they only let a few people in at a time) – interestingly enough, there was a longer line outside the Canadian Mint where they let people actually touch (while wearing gloves) Olympic medals. Ray and Traci went to the Hudson's Bay department store above the Olympic store where on the 5^th floor, they had a selection of Olympics souvenirs, none of which the travelers bought. Ray and Traci are both returning to Vancouver for a meeting in May, and they figured everything would be at least half priced by then.

Their final stop during their brief Olympics experience was back at the short track venue. After getting off the bus (public transportation was very efficient for these games!), Ray immediately was approached by scalpers offering tickets. Refusing initial offers, Ray and Traci found an area that served as an enclave of pure capitalism (maybe the last?) – buyers and sellers finding a market price for tickets. Still unhappy at the prevailing prices – which were much better at this late hour than anything on the internet, Ray and Traci wandered toward the main entrance where a friendly scalper obviously tired from a day's work ended up selling two fairly decent seats for 2 ½ times face value. Armed with tickets, Ray and Traci passed a rather strict security screening (just like at the airport) and found their upper deck seats 13 rows back positioned right above the finish line of the oval. While they missed the Men's 500m quarter finals and 1 of the Woman's 1000m quarter finals, they immediately became captivated by the spectacle that is short track racing. Apolo got disqualified in the 500m finals after an amazing performance in the semifinals (he really did take out a competitor). A highlight of the evening was Katherine Reutter's silver medal in a very close Women's 1000m final, further adding to America's haul.The most interesting and confusing event was the crazy Men's 5000m relay – 5 teams of 4 zooming around at high speeds and changing places on the fly every 1 ½ laps. The US won a hard fought bronze, giving Apolo his 8^th overall medal in Olympic games.

After the wonderful short track competition, Ray and Traci decided to get out of town as the Canadian Hockey team was close to winning its game, and the crazy Canadians would be celebrating en mass until the late hours of the night. Their border crossing was again quick, and the exhausted travelers completed their 12 hour 32 minute journey as veterans of their first Olympics and fans of the short track for life.