All 50 Road Trip-May 20, 2018, Day 9

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Seattle, AK to Norwegian Pearl

We all slept well this morning. Keaton and Campbell slept in Nonna and Pops' room last night. They were leaving the breakfast area when we came in. Pops warned us that the breakfast was a bit odd. Indeed it was-good, but odd. Everything there, everything, was prepackaged.

They had a huge selection-muffins, cheese sticks, juices, breads, etc. but everything was prepackaged. I had a delicious muffin and the boys enjoyed the lemon bread. Now, the fruit was not in a package, but they had kiwi as one of their fruits. Kiwi? We have never seen that at a hotel so far. Reagan really enjoyed hers, but I probably didn't cut it that well using a plastic knife. Can you eat a kiwi without cutting it? I just don't know.

We loaded up at 8:30 and forget to take our daily time and mileage picture. I guess we were a bit excited about the cruise. It was misting a bit of rain but soon stopped. We stopped first at the Freemont Troll. It was neat to see, but we were just there for a few minutes.

Right nearby was Kerry Park which had a great view of the city. Then we drove to the Space Needle and took a few pictures. The back seat of the car was completely filled with luggage. We had crammed it in there very nicely. The kids were all squeezed in their rows, but everyone did great.

Our next stop was the Klondike Gold Rush NHS. The folks gave us Jr. Ranger books that we will finish at when we get home. We now have 2 different ones to finish at home-I hope no one minds doing school like work during summer. We watched the movie there, and it was a neat stop.

Behind it was Seattle's first city square area. They were having a rally there which unnerved Graham. I think that rally was about coal or the environment. There were about 30 police officers there starting their day as well so there was no reason to be concerned with a peaceful rally going on.

Robby dropped us off at Pike Place Market. It was crowded. Whenever it is crowded like that, I am always impressed with the kids. They are always trying to hold on to Whitman and find each other. We saw some flowers and walked around a bit while waiting on Robby to park the car.

Once Robby joined us, we went to the fish market. We were right in front when they threw the fish two different times. They also had a fish that was in the ice, but it also had a string on the back. So the workers would pull the string and the fish would move. Whitman couldn't take his eyes off of it!

We found Beecher's cheese place, and Robby hopped in line for macaroni and cheese. I walked on down the street with Nonna and Pops to the original Starbucks. There were waited in line while Robby and everyone else ate the mac and cheese. It was delicious mac and cheese. Now, there was a Russian bakery that we didn't get to try because the line was way too long. Maybe next time!

From there, it was just a short drive to the pier. We unloaded our luggage, and then Robby went to drop off the car. We waited for him outside, but it didn't take him too long to return. He was pleased with his spot and the shuttle.

We then lined up to board the boat. Since we go to Canada there seems to be a lot more scrutiny of our documents. Birth certificates, passports, etc. Lots to hold and juggle while going through security and check in. We did make it and were soon on the boat.

We walked around a tiny bit but soon discovered that our rooms were open already. We all headed off to find our rooms and drop off our bags. This room is a bit different in that there is a trundle bed and only 1 bunk bed. Robby's room is just like this one.

Yes, the boys and Robby are in a room below ours and Nonna and Pops are a few floors below. We are yet to see their room, but hopefully will tomorrow. I actually have the best group. Reagan is a major clean freak, so she is even getting on to me about not putting my stuff up exactly correct.

We ate our lunch in the buffet area. I wasn't that impressed this afternoon with the food. Hopefully, I just didn't find the right thing to eat. My favorite thing last year was eggs benedict at breakfast. Maybe I will find that tomorrow.

It took us a good while to get organized; this room is small, but could greatly benefit from lots more drawers. Once we were almost organized, it was time for our muster drill. The girls and I had to go upstairs for ours. We were inside which was kind of nice since we found a seat during the drill.

Afterwards, we all met up at the swimming pool. The kids swam and swam. Campbell said that the water was colder than Jenny Lake. Whitman stayed in the pool the entire time splashing away. It was warm in the sun, but not nearly warm enough to be in the pool. Reagan spent most of her time in the hot tub.

I walked down to get dinner reservations and was able to get them for only an hour later. My choices were early or late so I chose early. The kids just had about 15 more minutes to swim before they had to get out. From there, we went back to our cabins to get ready for supper.

We all put on our dressy-ish clothes and then headed upstairs. Everyone met up there, and soon we were at a table. Nonna said that eating in the nice restaurants was her favorite thing to do on the cruise. The kids certainly enjoy being able to pick out what they want to eat and to try new things.

Reagan had matzo ball soup and a rotisserie chicken, Anderson had lasagna (possibly) and a slider. Graham had chicken legs for an appetizer and steak for his main course. The others all had kids menu items. Though when it came time for dessert, the overwhelming choice at our table was the lava cake. It was just as delicious here as it was last time in Hawaii.

Last year on the first night of the cruise, Whitman fall asleep with his head on the table. Tonight, he feel asleep with his head in my lap. He was exhausted, but did wake up to eat some of his jello before we left.

From there, the kids changed their clothes back to their regular clothes and then headed to the kids club. Robby and I watched the show-actually, I dozed through most of it! Then I worked on the blog some before having to leave to pick up the kids. They all seemed to have fun but Reagan and Graham do not want to go back. There seemed to be a lot of kids in there - maybe more than the Hawaii cruise. We were kind of surprised.

We went to the buffet and didn't make it back to our rooms until 10:30. The kids found plenty to eat that late-pizza, ice cream, cookies and lemonade. Then it was pajama time and my girls, at least, combed through the papers telling about what all was happening tomorrow on the boat. We have already made out list of tomorrow's activities.

Current Dennie Kid State Count (May 20, 2018):
Reagan-needs Alaska
Anderson-needs Alaska
Graham-needs Alaska
Campbell-needs Alaska
Keaton-needs Alaska

Whitman-needs Alaska, Montana, North Dakota

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