July 3, 2024

June 2024 Inventory

Thankfully we had a short work week due to 4th of July being on Thursday. Office closed on Friday. I picked up something on the way home from our cruise, and haven’t felt great since Monday night.

Our Alaskan Cruise (Inside Passage, 7 days) was a success. Here’s a quick list of my experiences:

Pros

• scenery was amazing, one day we saw 4 different glaciers and a bear running around near the Juneau airport
• excursions were a fun way to do some activities and not have to worry about getting back to the ship on time
• not having to worry about where to eat was a surprise bonus, especially with some picky people in the family
• the days cruising, with no port of call, were nice buffer on the way out, after a long travel day from St Louis to Vancouver and on the way back, after 4 go-go days at different ports
• we took Amtrak from Vancouver to Bellingham so we could use our Southwest point to fly home since Southwest doesn’t fly to Vancouver. My first trip on Amtrak. I wish it was more common and had better infrastructure.

Cons

• small stateroom was kinda tough with 4 people
• we never got to do the “Main Dining” room due to snafu the first night and dress restrictions the other nights
• one excursion was expensive, and probably the least impressive of the 3 we did
• flight experience on United flying to Vancouver was terrible - the flights were all delayed and their seats are uncomfortable, have less legroom, and I couldn’t fully put my backpack under the seat in front of me.

The weekend prior to the cruise, A and I traveled to South Dakota for his regional Presidents’ Cup playoffs. It was a fun trip, even though they lost all 3 games and the officiating was subpar. One of his friends unexpectedly got to go play as a fill-in and Sioux Falls was better than expected. Most of all I think A had a lot of fun with the guys.

Other than soccer and the cruise, not much is happening. I have some to-dos to knock out around the house now that we are done traveling for a while.