|
Jim, Tammy, and Victoria
Our Alaska Cruise came in the year that marked two tenth anniversaries. In May, Dotti and I made a trip to Victoria, BC for the first time. We spent the night there and then came back the next day. It was the boat rides that we were most looking forward to enjoying, and the visit to Victoria was sort of secondary. We didn't plan for it and we didn't have a list of things to see. As it turned out, we saw very little of the city. We went out and did some shopping and returned to our room for the night. The next morning we came home. So, ten years later, when we visited in 2006, it was almost like never having been there before at all for Dotti and me. The second tenth anniversary was more profound. In 1996, we were reconnected with Jim and Tammy. We hadn't seen our friends face to face since we all were living in the Norfolk, Virginia area. Dotti, the boys, and I, had moved to Massachusetts in 1988. So, 8 years had gone by without our seeing each other. In 1995, we had moved to Vancouver, Washington from Massachusetts. In 1996, Jim retired as a Chief Master at Arms from the Navy, and it was time to move back home to Spokane from the San Francisco area where he had been stationed for his last active duty assignment. En route, Jim, Tammy, and two of their daughters (Misty and Jamie) stopped by to see us. It was a very happy reunion! Dotti and I had just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, and Jim and Tammy were about celebrate theirs. Spokane is only 6 hours away, and that meant we could get together again from time to time. Things had taken a very nice turn for the better! 
Here are Jim and Tammy in 1996. Jim's hat is a bit larger than what he was wearing on the cruise, but other than that he looks just the same. J
Tammy, showing off her lovely smile, looks like she is happy to be heading home after having the Navy move them around so much. 
Here are the two beautiful "bestest friends" looking like two sisters seeing each other after a long separation.
This was over a year before Dotti was to begin her journey on the road that led to creating Dotti's Weight Loss Zone, but look how pretty she is with that big smile. This reunion was a very happy time for all of us! 
Just for completeness I threw in this picture of me, sitting in my office at home, that was taken at the same time as the others. I was about to turn 45, and the gray hair hadn't started to set in yet—my how things change. J (Speaking of change, remember when tractor feed computer printer paper was the latest thing for your dot matrix printer?)
Jumping backward about two months, to end the of May... Dotti and I took a little vacation in 1996, a few days where we drove up to Seattle to see the Space Needle and a few other sights, and then we headed a bit farther north to Anacortes where we could catch a ferry over to Victoria. We spent the night in motel right next to the ocean, and after settling in, we walked down to the beach and along the shore for a ways. 
Dotti was nice enough to pose for me, while leaning on her hiking stick, with the waters of the Juan De Fuca Strait running out in the background to the horizon. Every time I look at her I have to say, "Yep, I'm a luck guy!"
Dotti had a computer at this time—a hand-me-down from yours truly—but she used it for word processing, and not much else. Making web pages was something she had never even dreamed of doing. You've come a long way Dotti! ☺ We picked up this post card to show  the San Juan Islands, because our ferry ride took us past them. It shows our general course as we traveled from Anacortes, Washington to Sidney, B.C on the ferry. We made two stops in the Islands, one of which was at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. After we arrived in Sidney, we then drove to Victoria in our van.
I am not sure what the route was exactly 10 years ago, but it didn't really matter very much; it was so cloudy that day that we could only tell that there was land out there, a lot of the time, and the rest of the time it was just gray. Other than when we pulled in to let passengers off at two points along the way, we missed out on the "scenic" part of the San Juan Islands on that trip. However, we have every hope of doing it again on a sunny day. 
This ferry is similar to the one we rode to Victoria. It is fun riding these ferries because you get some of the feeling of being on big ship with the wind in your face and the motors vibrating the deck beneath your feet. When the weather is nice, it is a real pleasure to stand on the weather decks and enjoy the wind, water, and sunshine.
It wasn't good weather, which was not surprising, but the forward covered open air deck had some people running a boom box at top volume. This was the only time I have been on one of these ferries when this has happened. We ended up having to move indoors after a bit.  Before heading indoors, I did take this picture of another ferry, heading in the opposite direction. You can see that there are indeed islands in the background, but unfortunately, you would be hard pressed to visually locate any detail about what is on the islands.
Dotti took this one of me just before we made the move indoors.
Dotti is such an upbeat person that she pulls my spirit up, even when I am scraping bottom. That cheery smile is a sure bet to make me smile right back at her, sooner or later.
The plush accommodations on this State run ferry boat are quite apparent when you look at the people sitting on wooden straight-backed chairs. The chairs have cushioned bottoms and with that the extravagance ends. However, fortunately, with Dotti in the room, even the most basic accouterments are transformed into pure luxury. 
This area around the inner harbor was where we walked from the ship during our 2006 cruise. However, in 1996, Dotti and I stayed in a hotel that was several blocks north of this location. I don't think that we made it this far south in 1996.
We did do some shopping in 1996, and the temperature must have been quite mild, because I was carrying my coat rather than wearing it. (I don't know what the actual temperature was on that day, but the average high for late May in Victoria is around 60° and the low is 46°.)
Here's my lovely Dotti in front of the Victoria Lines ferry.
The ferry ride over had not been all that we had hoped it would be; so we did a little looking around and we found that there was another ferry available offered by Victoria Lines. The more we learned about it the better we liked it. It was a straight shot to Seattle, which would speed up the return home. Since it was privately own, rather than state owned, the odds were better that they would keep conditions pleasant and try to avoid conditions like the ones that we encountered outside on the ferry over from Anacortes. We bought a ticket. We had some time to wait after we arrived at the loading area for the ferry, and so we took some pictures while we waited. 
This time Dotti is leaning on our van, and the ferry is soaking up the sun in the background. We were going to have a sunny day for our trip back to Seattle and home!
It is early and still cool enough for my jacket. When you look at some of the later pictures, where the wind is blowing my hair around, you may forget that it started out the day looking like this. ☺
Here is what our new ferry looked like. It was a lot nicer than the Washington State Ferry was and it turned out to be a much nicer ride as well.
Whenever I get out on the water, whether it is the ocean or a river, unless it is really warm out, I put on a good heavy coat. This coat is heavier than the one I had on when we were on the pier, but the wind chill at sea normally demands it. Of course we are inside here, but not for long!
The weather was so much nicer on our homeward journey! And with Dotti smiling brightly it is a wonderful day for a short cruise.
See what I said about the wind and my hair? It makes me tired just looking at that big old video camera today. It was a lot heavier than the one we have today, and a whole lot bigger.
One final 1996 smile from Dotti before we move forward ten years to today. While many things have chaged over the past 10 years, Dotti is still the same wonderful woman that she was in 1996. I am so glad that she is!
Speaking of changes, it is hard to remember when I could look at my hair and not see gray everywhere. Goodbye 1996, hello 2006...
|
