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Showing posts from September, 2025

September 29th, 2025 and September 30th

First thing this morning, I went to the bank and signed papers to close out the account that matured.  Then I went to Panera and got a drink and then to THE LOCKPORT OUTDOOR STORE and returned both the rain jacket and the waterproof pants that I bought for the Alaska trip.  I had not needed to use either one of them due to having dry weather.  The return went smoothly.  Then I went to the Y and walked the track and used the recumbent bike a bit.  Then I went to Burger King and had the FIVE DOLLAR DUET which was a Whopper Jr. and fries.  Then I went to Aldi and purchased a few items including  rain jacket that I found in the AOS, for fifteen dollars!  Then I returned to Panera and got another drink, and then I went home.   After putting some of the groceries away, I called Sue R. to see how she is doing and to tell her about a grief program that the Y is having.  She is not ready to attend.  We talked for a while.   Se...

SATURDAY the 27th of September, 2025 and SUNDAY the 28th

SATURDAY  I spent most of the day at home, unpacking and putting items away.  I went out for a short while to pick up a prescription, go to PANERA and get a few groceries at Niagara Produce Lori brought supper over from THE MAYFLOWER.  It was orange chicken with rice and broccoli.  It was very good. I supplied drinks and desert: coconut macaroons from Panear.  We watched the movie about the shooter who killed several girls in an Amish school in Nickel Mines, PA.  It was good. SUNDAY:   I did not get a lot of sleep last night, I do not know why, but I felt pretty lousy in the morning.  I went to church, but did not go out to lunch with the others.  I spent the rest of the day at home.  I worked on my Alaska cruise pictures and made some headway. 

FRIDAY the 26th of September, 2025

 I spent the entire day at home.  I worked on unpacking and putting stuff away.  I have very little food in the house.  Mary brought my mail down.  I paid bills and found the new CITIZENS bill paying is absolutely ridiculous.  It used to be so easy, now it is awful.  I have one load of laundry done, and much of that is hanging up, drying.  I continued working on uploading pictures to flickr.  I tried to reach Connie by phone, but she did not answer.  

Thursday September 25th Was a Day From Hell (not really)

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 We got up early and took the hotels shuttle to the airport.  We went through the check in process which started with Peggy and David checking in. and through security.  Then we used our food voucher to get breakfast, and then went to our terminal.  It was a fairly short wait. The flight went well but it was a looooong five hours before we got to Philadelphia.  Cold drinks and cookies were served.  I was happy  to have a DR PEPPER over ice.   When we finally landed in Philadelphia we did not have a lot of time.  We got two small pizzas from this place  and it was very good, and they prepared it pretty quickly, which was good since we did not have a lot of time before getting on the small plane to Buffalo.  Unfortunately, we had to wait for a pilot!  This was a short trip.  When we got to Buffalo we got our luggage (thank God all of our checked bags were there).  We had to wait a little while for Mike and Janie ...

FLIGHT PROBLEMS September 24th, 2025

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 The last day of this trip did not go as we expected it to.  We had breakfast at the buffet, mine was very small.  Then we returned to our room and completed packing.  Just as we were leaving our room, the toilet started to overflow.  I hollered to our steward JOSE, who immediately opened up a panel in the wall, and I don't know what happened after that.  We walked off of the ship with our luggage, and it went smoothly.  I took this picture which shows COIT TOWER:   Peg ordered an UBER which took us to the airport.  As we were checking in, we found that our first flight was delayed and that delay would make us too late arriving in Dallas to catch the second flight.  We were at the airport for a LONG time while an agent helped us sort things out.  Unfortunately, there was NO WAY to get back to Buffalo today, so the airlines (American) found us hotel rooms, and also gave us a voucher for $12 for food, and they must have paid for...

Last Full day of Cruise: Tuesday, September 23, 2025

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  Peggy, David and I went to the final Bible Study.  The topic was FORGIVENESS and there was a lot of sharing.  We had planned on going to an event in the Piazza at ten p.m. but because the study went on longer than the regular quitting time, we missed out on that.  So we had a leisurely breakfast in the buffet. Once we were back in the room, Peggy went to a CREW vs PASSENGERS event in the Piazza.  David is trying to get some extra sleep since he is not quite over his illness or "bug".At some point, they went to the pool and hot tub. I skipped lunch today since breakfast was kind of late. I think I used that extra time to do some packing. In the afternoon we went to a singing competition in the Princess Theatre.  It was called THE VOICE OF THE OCEAN:Grand Finale.  Steve, who was our Bible study leader, won!!   He was very good!.   We had dinner at our regular table in the MICHELANGELO.  I slipped Mark a twenty dollar bill as a ...

DAY TWELVE of Alaska Cruise/Trip (Monday September 22nd, 2025) AT SEA DAY)

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 I slept really well last night.  Peg's alarm did not go off so we missed out on going to the Bible study.  David does not feel well, I think he has a head cold but he seems to hink that's it is allergies.  He wanted to get more sleep, so Peg and I went to breakfast in the Boticelli, ,and then to a trivia type competition. LET;S GET QUIZZICAL. By the time we returned to our cabin, it was time for lunch (again in the Boticelli).  After that, Peggy and I went to the Customer Service office and I signed up and paid for 24 hours of internet service.  We can switch between devices, so that all three of us can use it but only one aet a time.   So, I used internet for a while and then David used my chrome book to look at and check a few things.  Peggy spent some time online using her I-phone. Then we went to the Boticelli for supper.  It was LAND AND SEA NIGHT.  The steaks and lobster were really good.  After that, David and Peggy we...

Day Eleven of Alaskan Cruise/Trip: Sunday September 21st, 2025 PORT DAY (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)

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 We went to the church service.  We had breakfast at the buffet and relaxed until it was time for lunch, which was again at the buffet.  Then it was time to get ready for the stop in Victoria.  When we got off, we took a shuttle to the downtown area ($15.00) and then took a hop on/hop off tour of the city.  It was very interesting and informative.  WE walked to Chinatown and looked around.  Here are a couple of other pictures from the bus tour. This is the EMPRESS HOTEL When we got back to the ship we decided to get burgers at the SALTY DOG CAFE up on the deck with the pools.  The SDC did not have any drinks available, it had something to do with the ship only being allowed to have a certain number of bars open while in port.  However, the clerk at the SDC arranged for drinks (lemonade or iced tea) to be brought to us from one of the bars.  That was handy! When we got back to our room, I was able to use my cell phone to order my Viberzi...

Day Ten of Alaskan Cruise Trip: September 20th (Saturday) AT SEA

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Peggy and I went to the Bible Study.  Peg did a mini-sermon on the topic of FORGIVENESS.  Then David, she and I went to the buffet for breakfast.  The dining area was quite full.  Two ladies from Australia joined us at our round table.  When one of them went to get some food, the other lady asked us to NOT say anything about Donald Trump, since her friend hates him.  Peggy didn't really go along with this and she DID speak about him. Peggy and I played a couple of games, and later on she and David chose the movie INSOMNIA.  I watched parts of it, enough to know what the plot was.  Peggy fell asleep on their bed.  We went to the Bottecelli for lunch.  I wrote in my notebook that I had scallops, so I don't know why I have a picture of  sandwich and fries.  But, David ordered a sandwich in a Charcoal Bun.  It looked horrible and very black, but we all tried a taste and it tasted just like a regular burger bun.   We ...

DAY NINE of Alaskan Cruise Trip (Friday, September 19th)

 Peg and I went to the Bible study and then we went to the buffet for breakfast.  We had a really good table by the window, so we stayed right there to watch for the glacier cruising.  Unfortunately, the sky was gray and it may have been raining off and on and it was NOT spectacular.  We stayed at the buffet for lunch.  The trip to the major glacier (I can't recall the name, but it is a woman's name) was cancelled due to poor weather.  I went back to our stateroom to get some games and I stopped at SLICE to get a slice of pizza.  I had seen that they were taking a pizza out of the oven and I wanted a FRESH HOT slice and I got it.  Peggy and I placed a game of PHASE TEN.  After a while, a woman at the next table who had been on several cruises (mainly for gambling) told us that there was little more to see, so we returned to our room.  I rested until it was time to go for supper at the Michelangelo.  I had scallops and a large helpin...

DAY EIGHT of Alaskan Cruise: Thursday, September 18, 2025 Skagway

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 This was what I saw out the window when I got up. The RUBY PRINCESS had stopped and we were in Skagway!  We had breakfast at the Botticelli (I had a soft boiled egg, toast, oatmeal and a banana) and then we returned to our room to get ready for getting off the ship and going to Skagway.  We got tickets for Shuttle #10 and went down to wait to be called.  Things moved along fairly quickly. The shuttle boat was one of the lifeboats, it took us to the mainland.  This is a view of the RUBY PRINCESS from the port.   When we arrived we took a shuttle to the downtown area where we walked around a bit. The downtown area has a lot of interesting shops, etc. but we did not have time to go in many of them.  Here are a few pictures:    We found a geocaches in the library (hooray). And you can see it in this picture that I took.   We picked up a few free items from various jewelry stores.  There were a lot of jewelry stores, and we did ...

DAY SEVEN of Cruise/Trip: Wednesday September 17th, 2025

 Peggy and I went to the Bible study and then to the buffet for a late breakfast.  We went to a competition between officers and guests (water ping pong). Peggy completed and I took some pictures.   David and Peg went to customer service (I think to ask about possible reimbursement for not going to Juneau).  I went to the theatre for the movie THE PROPOSAL after a while, Peggy joined me there, but she fell asleep and slept through most of it.  She said she had already seen the movie, anuways.  I liked it.  We returned to our cabin for a bit, and then she and I went to AFTERNOON TEA.  This was kind of a weird experience. We were put (along with a few other people) in kind of an alcove. The servers almost routinely ignore this alcove and it was kind of hard to get our small items (small sandwiches, scones, cakes, etc.)  We returned to our room for a bit before it was time for supper at the MICHELANGELO.  I had the chicken parm, which ...

DAY SIX of Alaska Cruise/Trip (Tuesday September 16th).

 We had breakfast at the Boticelli and then returned to our room to get ready for KETCHIKAN and then we went down to the fourth floor to disembark the ship.  I think we took a "tender boat" from the ship to the dock.  We walked around downtown Ketchikan for a bit and then returned to the port and waited a bit for our trolley to arrive for our tour.  The tour guide was VERY good!. But she only took us to ONE interesting place THE GOLD RUSH CEMETERY.   She dropped us off near Creek Street, which was horribly busy.  We did not have time for lunch before going to the Lumber Jack show.  After it was over, we headed back to the ship, planning to board BUT we found out that our stop in Juneau was cancelled and because of that we were given more time in Ketchikan.  Davie returned to the ship but Peggy and I decided to take advantage of the extra time.  We returned to downtown and found CRABBY CRAB, a small restaurant, where we had lunch.  W...

DAY FIVE of Alaska Cruise/Trip (Monday September 15th) DAY THREE on THE RUBY PRINCESS

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 Peg and I went to the Bible study and enjoyed it. Peg took this picture, the empty chair is hers! Then we went to the International Cafe.  I  asked for a certain kind of scone but apparently they had to bake a whole new batch, and I could not understand what the two workers were saying, so I chose a different item to go with my tea.  There was some sort of event going on in the Piazza, something to do with spa services and each of us spun the wheel but didn't get anything except some money off of a spa service.  We went to EFFY to pick up a free pendant.  When we got back to our room, I stepped out on the deck and it was HOT out there.  We decided to take advantage of that by using the pool and then the hot tub.  I quit early and returned to the room to shower and change and then I met up with Peggy and David at the pool, and we got lunch from the Salty Dog Cafe (grilled chicken sandwich, fries and lemonade). David and Peg went to a game sh...

DAY FOUR of Alaska Cruise Trip) Sunday, September 14th 2025 DAY TWO ON THE RUBY PRINCESS (first full day) It was a SEA DAY!!!!

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  I slept pretty good.  The ship seems to be doing a LOT of swaying.  We went to the INTERDENOMINAIONAL CHURCH SERVICE in the Explorers Lounge (CHURCH SERVICE IN A BAR!!)  It was short but very good.  And then we had breakfast at the buffet which is called HORIZON COURT.   We returned to our room and there was a letter for me saying I needed to update my credit card information.  Peg went with me to GUEST SERVICES and I got that taken care of..  I was able to get my PRINCESS APP on my phone straightened out, too.  We went to a craft class where we made an item. Peggy must have asked someone to take this picture of the three of us.   We had lunch at the BOTTCELLI.  I had a Monte Cristo sandwich, but it was not really all that good.  I had a chocolate item for desert, but only ate a small amount because I was concerned about dairy.  After lunch we went to the ART AUCTION.  We each had a small glass of champag...