Travels with Young People

What better way can you spend your money than on a grandchild?  When my now seven year old grandson Dillon was born, I knew I wanted to be a part of his life even though we live more than three thousand miles apart.  So far, he and I have taken four sojourns together.  Traveling together, just the two of us, is  very special.

Our Sailing Vessel: Holland America Cruise Line

Our first trip was on Amtrak, from Seattle to Portland and back; the second was a whale watch in the San Juan Island to see Orcas; for the third we flew to San Francisco, and this year we took a week’s cruise to Alaska’s inside passage (the inner coastline). Our Holland America Alaska cruise departed from and returned to Seattle.

All set to launch!

First thing we learned: the Coast Guard requires that before departing any US port crew and passengers must have an emergency practice. Everyone must go to an assigned station with their life jacket!in,

Since the late August weather was not very nice (for some tastes, but not ours), Dillon had the entire rear deck to himself many

Outside the "playroom"

days! This gave him plenty of space to run around playing endless pirate games, climb, and explore. Only at the very end did he visit the “children’s room” provided to give the adults a break!ne, and n

Gold Mining

One of our stops was in Juneau, the location of many gold mines. Exploring one and watching a real gold miner was just the thing for a six year old. After the tunnel excursion Dillon panned for gold and found lots, as well as garnets!!

ow a big boat!!!

The shore excursions were wonderful, but our best day was in Glacier Bay.  Some of the glaciers are a mile wide. And hearing them cave in was most exciting—they were so loud!

Glaciers from Glacier Bay

Clearly they are receding at a very fast pace. Glacier Bay was all glacier in 1900, and now it is a huge bay miles long with several very large glaciers in the individual fiords.

Portholes

We had a cabin with portholes—and a large shelf behind the curtains that was Dillon’s “private suite”.

What a trip!

A most memorable time was had by both grandma and grandson! We are now planning our 2010 excursion, so stay tuned!