It was a 10-minute walk to exit the pier area, as usual there was lots of security and one would need you ship's ID card and a photo ID to return to the ship. Some ports are stricter than others on this. This was a clean and well-organized harbor area and we had no problem with making the trek, for those with some walking difficulties, there was a free shuttle. Gran Canaria is less than 100 miles from the coast of Africa and the weather is temperate. Although it was coolish in the morning, the sun was shining and it was beautiful. It warmed in the afternoon and it was absolutely wonderful! The Hop-On, Hop-Off bus program is in most cities that we visited on this cruise. In Las Palmas, there were 9 stops around the city, including one at the end of the pier. Your ticket would allow you to get on at any stop. Ear buds were provided so that you could hear the on-going recorded narrative. Again, do some research before you leave home and you can decide how you want to spend your day.

Thanks guys! Actually I enjoyed seeing these pictures again myself! :-) Seeing the pic of the bathroom at the lodge again made me laugh. Maybe you cant tell in the pic, but the toilet is up on a raised floor and the floor was slanted heavily to one side. I had to put my hand on the tub to keep myself from feeling like I was going to slide off the toliet...LOL! The pic of me at the lodge cracked me up too. I was so dog tired by the time we arrived there and I didnt want DH to take that pic of me. With the way I was feeling I could only imagine how I must look...LOL...but he insisted. I felt just like one of those bloodhounds in the cartoons. You know, the one where the dog is so tired (I think he was a deputy or something) that his partner used toothpicks to hold the bloodhounds eyes open...LOL! Thats just how I felt. Im glad you enjoyed the pics Mary. You are right....I was just thrilled about the sunny weather...we were so lucky! I use to be quite a hiker in my younger days, but havent done any serious hiking in years. This whirlwind tour was quite a challenge for me. The main reason we hiked soooo far into the Hoh rainforest was that I was hoping to make it to the glacial meadows, which was posted as 16 miles all the way around. We hiked about 7 miles and realized how long it took and decided we better head back before it got dark. By the time we were done that day I really understood the saying "going for the burn". Oh boy were my poor legs killing me. They *did* feel like they were on fire and it felt as if I had this huge knot in the middle of the back of both my thighs. I was a little concerned because I was also having a shooting pain, which radiated from my lower inner thigh all the way up to my groin, but that disappeared by the next day...thank goodness! The only thing that kept me hiking for the next three days was realizing that I may never get back here again and I wanted to explore as much of it as I could. LOL Deanne, I tried to take a picture of one of the customers trying to catch a fish, but I got hit with a bit of "fish ice"...yuck, and missed the shot. It really is a fun place. Northern California is on my list Deanne! I would love to see the redwood forests and a little bit of wine country too! :-) My sister lived in San Diego for awhile so Ive been to San Fran and San Diego a few times. California is a very beautiful state too. Thanks Cindy! Wow! I was surprised to hear that your visit to Illinois was your farthest trip west. I am sooo impressed that you would do that for the first time all by yourself and sooo tickled that you would do that for me & V, well and for all the Idylls of course...LOL! It was such a pleasure to meet you....it really was! Marian, looking at the pics now, it all almost seems like a dream to me. I have a hard time grasping what a wonderful time we had too. It *was* a very special trip and something I will never forget. Oh, BTW, yes that is a piece of driftwood in the Dungeness pic...do you believe the size of that? Anyway, Marian, as promised here are some more pics... I think I mentioned that we went on the Underground Tour? The tour guides and the history are what really make this tour. The underground itself was a little bit of a let down. Actually the underground areas really didnt look much different than the basement in the house I grew up in....LOL! But it was cool to think that the whole city was above us. In certain sections underground were ancient skylights made of a purple glass and that was cool cause you could actually see the people walking through the city up above us: Here is a little blurb on the history that I found for you on the internet (so it makes more sense to you): "With tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, guides describe where the perfect land to build a new city on Puget Sound was, and how the founding fathers missed it completely. In this way, Seattle came to be built on tidal flats which were regularly inundated with sea water. Building the city on these flats meant that the ground remained forever waterlogged and the streets were a menace. Horses would sink to their stomachs, and one unlucky schoolboy drowned crossing the street when he fell into a gargantuan pothole. Severe drainage problems in this part of the city, as well as bad plumbing, meant that early Seattle residents had to contend with what tour guides call "exploding toilet syndrome." Because the city was built so low, the incoming tide would send water and sewage back through the pipes in a reverse flush. So, along with the morning flush came the threat of a deluge of sea water exploding out of the toilet onto hapless victims. And remember, Puget Sound can be pretty cold in January! Some industrious characters tried to solve the problem by building their toilets on raised platforms ten to fifteen feet high, but these contraptions required the use of a ladder just to get to the toilet. Something clearly needed to be done. In order to remedy the city's severe drainage problems, and the unpleasant threat of exploding toilets, streets were raised a full storey. Ground level was now to be high enough that both the streets and the sewage could drain properly. Only the streets were raised initially, however, which meant that the sidewalks remained in their original location far below the new streets. Simply crossing the street meant that one had to climb up one ladder, walk to the other side, and then climb down another ladder to the level of local businesses. This could be dangerous, and several citizens died in accidents falling from the street to the sidewalk. Unfortunately, sidewalks were also below the horses that traveled on the streets above. So, having solved the problem of exploding toilets, Seattle residents now had to contend not just with ladders but also with horses walking around 10 feet above their heads. This wasn't a good combination, particularly on rainy days as you can imagine. Eventually the sidewalks were covered and enclosed. Lower-level tenants survived for a while with sidewalk stairway accesses, but eventually these were all sealed, and the underground labyrinth was forgotten and left to vagrants, bootleggers, and prostitutes. In the mid-1960s, local resident, journalist, and amateur historian Bill Speidel began to write about the passages, which still remained under Seattle's historic Pioneer Square area. Concerned about destruction not only of the tunnels, but also of the historic square, Speidel began offering tours to the public in 1965. While about 25 square blocks of Pioneer Square has hollow sidewalks, only a small part was made accessible to the public through tours. The publicity that Speidel and others brought to the area resulted in its designation four years later as a national historic district." If you want to read more about it...heres the link: http://www.mysoresamachar.com/seattle.htm Anyway, Pioneer Square is a lovely little section of Seattle, with gorgeous architecture and very old buildings. Lots of nice antique stores too. I understand this section of the city was pretty seedy at one time, but seemed perfectly safe to me. I loved this glass and iron structure...so charming! We also went to the space needle while we were in Seattle. Here are a couple of views from inside the needle: Heres a pic of the space needle during the day: And at night: Heres what I hope you were talking about Marian....We took a harbor boat across Puget Sound. We took the shorter, hour long harbor tour as we didnt have a lot of time. Here is a view of the city of Seattle as we are leaving the dock: Heres a view of the Space Needle from our boat: I was amazed at how much action goes on at a harbor. Funny, I guess I never really think about all the import and export. There were quite a few cruise ships...most of them were heading to Alaska: This is a dry dock, where they repair ships. These cranes lift the ships onto the dock....amazing! Check out this little bathing beauty...LOL! Thats a seal sleeping on top of the buoy! Isnt he/she the cutest?!? I asked the tour guide how the seal got up there and she said they jump into the air and then land on the platform!!! We all got such a kick out the seal, but he/she was completely bored with us...LOL! Lastly a couple of miscellaneous pics: OMIGOSH this is beautiful country! Here is Paul at the Hoh Rainforest....Will you look at those ferns? It really *is* like a lost world: Prehistoric really! I *loved* all the gnarled old trees, coated in lichens with moss dripping of the branches...and all the ferns... One more pic of Lake Quinault. Hubby looks a sight better than I did at this point....of course *hes* wearing sunglasses...LOL! Here is us just beginning our trek up Hurricane Ridge: This is a view from on top of Hurricane Ridge: Do you see the glaciers? How cool is that? To imagine that that snow never melts....its amazing. The pic is a little fuzzy cause I had to use the zoom and Im not very good at it also, unfortunately, I do not know which mountain that is. Crescent Lake again... Dungeness again. I loved this place! Well Marian, this should keep you busy for a little while! :-) Actually, I want to thank you for asking for these pictures, this was actually good therapy for me and reminds me to be grateful for all the blessings Ive been given...hope you enjoy it too! Ei

LOL Jodi! I like your lifestyle!! So when we all get together to cook some awesome meals for you and your DH, that's where we can expect to do the cooking! Can't wait!

I am enjoying these stories. I'm another who grew up vacationing at the Jersey shore. It was a magical place so many years ago, now it is too crowded. We would spend a month in Ocean City NJ. We spent the days on the beach and most evenings on the boardwalk. A real treat was the one night each summer when we went to Wildwood to go to the boardwalk and ride the rides. Later we switched to Stone Harbor, NJ. We would also go to visit my parents' families in a little town in upstate PA and that was so much fun. There was a dairy farm nearby and we hung out there all the time. Every summer there was a carnival and we always went to that. That little town holds such great memories for me. We stopped taking vacations when my parents built a big house with a swimming pool. It was so boring. It was too far away from anything to get there on bike or foot. I just remember being bored to death all summer. As soon as I was old enough to get away on my own, I went right back to the beach and got a job working on the boardwalk. What fun! Later we took the kids to Ocean City every summer.