The Land of the Midnight Sun

Wow, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it? How are you? Have you done something new with your hair? Or have I simply been out of commission so long that the bouffant has gone out of style once more? Things sure have gotten dusty around here in my absence. But I promise never to leave you unattended to this long again…erm, well until a week from now when I leave for Canada (coincidentally, where I was just yesterday) for an assignment. At least in Canada they have Internet…don’t they? So theoretically, I could blog while on the road. Whereas, in Alaska, they have this thing called dial-up, which was even worse on the boat and went for astronomical prices of ONE DOLLAR PER MINUTE, and even my global edition CrackBerry rarely picked up a signal. What’s that you say? You actually want to hear how Alaska was? And to think all this time I merely thought you kept stopping by to admire my tan and impeccable ability at avoiding ending sentences in prepositions (a major pet peeve of mine). Well, sorry to bust your bubble, but there wasn’t a whole lot to snark about, so you’ll have to simply make due with me waxing poetic. And posting LOTS of pictures. Like, don’t be surprised if the subsequent week’s worth of entries are heavy on the photographs.

So where should I start? I guess I should tell you that I’m very anti-cruise. That probably doesn’t surprise you, as those in my line of profession must loathe organized travel based on principle alone. Sure, I think it’s perfectly acceptable for you to embark upon such a journey, but personally, cruises aren’t my preferred method of travel. But. When your parents sit you down over Christmas and say, “hey! We’re going on a family cruise to Alaska! And we’ll even pay yours and Scott’s way if you can get yourselves to Seattle,” you don’t exactly retort, “me? I don’t do cruises.” (Yes, my parents are insanely generous and amazing people. No, you can’t have them; in fact, I refuse to even share.) But when you’re stuck on a boat with the people you love the most in the world surrounded by some of the most amazing scenery you’ll ever witness, I suppose it’s bearable. =)

But I digress.

We’d been planning this trip for years actually. We were supposed to go two years ago, but my sister and dad voted on the Caribbean instead and somehow won out. (Now, that was a rather miserable cruise, aside from the company. The ports of call were these horrible tourist eyesores like Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I didn’t even get off the boat on a couple of stops. Not to mention, it was on a Carnival ship, a line which I’m pretty convinced is reserved only for those who reside in assisted living facilities.) So we finally got around to hitting up Alaska, as well, which was my 19-year-old sister’s FORTY-NINTH STATE, meaning she’s five up on me and I’d better get to working if I’m going to explore Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, the Dakotas and Iowa before she slums it in Hawaii. (Pic from last cruise, July 2006.)

What I didn’t realize until about a month ago, is aside from the five of us (four Lunas and a van Velsor), we wouldn’t be alone. Nine of their friends would be joining in our endeavors. Now, group travel usually gives me the shudders, because have you ever tried to organize 14 people on a trip, factoring in personal preferences and desires? NOT POSSIBLE. So I cringed at the thought of eight days of this. Luckily, everyone was just as fun as accommodating as could be, and I was quite pleased at the end of it when they all decided upon a Baltic and Russian cruise in 2009 (which means yet another cruise, but hey I’m coming around). Doesn’t this group just scream fun? (That’s the top of my dad’s head concealed by Danielle and Karen’s heads in the back lefthand corner. My mom? Well, she’s the shortest one in the group; you should be able to pick her out no sweat. My sister’s my blonder, better-looking clone. NO, we aren’t twins; I outnumber her by six years, thank you very much. I think we all know which one SVV is, the one of the really, really good-looking variety. Tell him he doesn’t have douche curls, so we can end this debate once and for all.)

So we all met up in Seattle and headed north to the Land of the Midnight Sun…