Black Dresses and Lots of Salmon: Family Vacation

Something that bothers my sisters about me is when I care about being classy. Maybe I can generalize that I’ve always liked nice things, as you’d assume everyone does, though my middle sister in particular seems to be the exception that proves the rule. I remember in third grade when we had a creative writing project, with a prompt to stretch the imagination. I described at length the “Ultimate Luxury Liner” which had a bowling alley extending the length of the ship on a lower level and a similarly expansive swimming pool up top. The bowling alley would certainly need to be near the bottom so that people who constantly drop balls wouldn’t rattle too many levels below them. Never mind that bowling balls would definitely end up in the gutter on any ship.

(I wish I had a picture of the essay, but it's long gone and on second thought, my handwriting was embarrassingly atrocious.)

Of course at that age, I had no concept of the real size of ships nor any concept whatsoever of why people would build large ships for entertainment. Now, some dozen years later, I am fortunate to have a stronger grasp of these sailing hotels from personal experience. Because in fact, my mom has progressively phased out non-cruise family vacations in recent years, which is a way of saying that she has been vacationing more during our vacations.

     

Compared to other summer cruises, this one was less sweltering by far and delightfully more nature-centric. Mountains, I realize, are conspicuously refreshing and if air could be called organic, this would be it. We saw a few animals, like brown bears and bald eagles, though I usually preferred reading a book to whale spotting as I hear the latter is even less eventful than fishing. The weather in June was fit for hiking, so we hiked and ate berries off of bushes along the way - very rugged. I temporarily acquired the ritual of breathing deeply, not because of the altitude but because I wanted to store up on clean air. A cruise to Alaska is something one and done for me, because if I get the chance, there are so many other places in the world to enjoy, but this was definitely among the most relaxing trips I’ve ever taken.