from mexico to alaska in just a few days!

We have gone thousands of miles north since I last updated y’all, and I’m terribly sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. I’ll try to do the last few weeks justice.

Our last time in Costa Rica was beautiful, because it was the beginning of the rainy season, so everything was suddenly green instead of brown. We went horseback riding again, just because we liked it so much the first time. We made it back right before the hugest thunderstorm in the world hit us. We came back for lunch, and we got to watch as a cloud came towards us and enveloped the mountain we were sitting on top of. Then it downpoured the entire 45 minute drive back to the ship. It was amazing.

We went snorkeling in Huatulco, Mexico, and I wished so badly to have an underwater camera. It was my first time snorkeling (and I’m still just boggled over water that you can see through!! I will never be able to go to the beach in maryland ever again!) We saw a million fish, and swam into this cool cave thing and sat inside. And then went back and drank margaritas and ate fajitas and then swam some more. It was glorious.

We didn’t have much time in Puerto Vallarta, but we did get to walk around some and then eat at a real Burger King. It was yummy. But not a very eventful day.

Cabo San Lucas was our last day in Mexico, and like Puerto Vallarta, we had very little time. The ship was leaving mid afternoon, so we had to be back on by 2 or 3. We went swimming with dolphins! It was a little expensive but totally worth it (except for the part when Frida the Dolphin pooped on us). We got to pet, kiss, hug, ride, and take pictures with her. It was very fishy, but a lottttt of fun.

After that, we had two sea days in a row where we slept and played monopoly a lot. San Francisco was a little stressful and rainy, and cold, but we got some errands done in the morning before we had to play welcoming music for the new guests.

Then we headed North. ‘

I’m not sure what I expected out of Alaska, but I don’t think I expected everywhere to be a postcard. Everything is gorgeous, snow covered, tree covered, beautiful, huge mountains.

We began in the small town of Ketchikan, a darling little town nestled between ocean and mountains, with about 8,000 people to its name. It was very touristy, but we walked around a lot and found this amazing little diner, where we had a very large and delicious breakfast! I had a wonderful pancake and egg and bacon and biscuit, and the gravy was soooooo yummy.

Next was Juneau, a darling little town nestled between ocean and mountains, with about 30,000 people to its name. It was very touristy, but we walked around a lot.

Next was Skagway , a darling little town nestled between ocean and mountains, with about 1,000 people to its name. It was very touristy, but we walked around a lot.

So, you may have noticed that my description of each town was the same, because they were really each very similar. They are all each very beautiful, with lots of small town charm. I'm sure there was more to them than just the parts we saw on our first times there, and we have many more times to explore and see if there is anything more to each one. It’s a lot slower paced than Mexico. In some ways we all wish to be back in Mexico, but Alaska is really lovely and nice. The weather is not that bad. Skagway was very windy and it rained on us as we were walking a half mile back to the ship, so that was a little miserable.

Today was a bit of an adventure. The sudden change of weather/temperature/humidity has been hard on everyone's bodies as well as the instruments. I have a cold, and my violin threw a tantrum this afternoon. Today is sea day, and we played for this Captain’s Club party thing (celebrating the people who have spent the most money with celebrity – we always play a song by ourselves and then a song with everyone else). This time we played a tango that begins with a solo by the first violin. On his last note, I was about to bring up my violin to my chin to start to play, and my A string popped out of tune. Flat tire. No note. Lee (1st violin) noticed and held out his last note to give me a few extra moments to tune it back up. As I started tuning it back up, my D string went out too. I told lee to keep going, I would join in as soon as I get it back up. Problem was, this tango was in a horrible key to try to tune an A and a D in the middle of it. I struggled through the whole first page before finally getting it to something close to the right pitches just in time for my solo part on the second page. It was scary, but we pulled through.

Anyway. I’ll really try to write more often, and get some pictures up soon. I love and miss everyone. Email me.