Looking back on this...we laugh!

Another experience from my past. If you have read the 2 posts about horseback riding[Will the Real Horse's Ass Please Stand Up? and its sequel] and also the Yoga post[My...What Big Eyes You Have!!], there is a common character in these random acts of 'When You Look Back on This...You're Going to Laugh!'

What was the common thread...the link?
It would be my high school friend and best bud..Janet. So here's another adventure ..

I retired from teaching in June 2004, and in July I embarked upon the only cruise vacation that I have had the opportunity to take. I accompanied Janet along with her family [brother, sister-in-law and nephew , sister, mother, and aunt.] We were a party of 8 headed for Alaska: Break out the Pina Coladas and Frozen Daiquiris. Wahoo!

Different port excursions were offered and some were taken by our little group. I declined on the [sea]plane trip to see the bears...you had to give your weight and they added it up to be certain that the plane would stay airborne. I don't think so!!! I have a bit of a Ziggy complex.

If you purchased a side trip from the cruise line, it was a guaranteed thing. One side trip that was offered was a catamaran boat trip to a Glacier. The brochure's description was amazing, and so 5 of us signed up, climbed aboard, and journeyed onto the beautiful ocean waters of Alaska. The boat ride was very peaceful: azure blue skies, mountains and waterfalls, wildflowers, sunshine, and refreshing pure clean air.

Everyone was anticipating the beginning of the floating ice chunks, and any/all animals that were native to the area. Wearing our yellow slickers, we were allowed to travel on an enclosed area out to the deck with nothing separating us from the quiet awe and wonder .

When the first ice cube went by, the word went up like the 'Christopher Columbus' sighting of land' followed by a wild rush to snap priceless photos. As we neared the glacier, people were lamenting taking the early pictures because the ice chunks got very massive and impressive!

The catamaran coasted into a bay with tall ice formations looming in the distance. Tremendous! The motor was silenced and we witnessed the calving of the glacier and the thunderous sounds and echos. After 20 minutes, we were told there was another glacier in a close enough proximity to view it, and we went to see it.

Same routine: coasted into the bay, motor off, and we watched the thunderous fall of mounds if ice. It was time to return to the ship [especially happy]so that we would join the cruisers for , "A Chocolate Happy Hour." Wahoo x 2!

The captain started the engine...at this point I should revise it to, the captain attempted to begin the retreat from the bay and back to to the Norwegian Free Spirit Cruise ship.. It didn't take long to surmise that something was awry. We looked over the railing at the back of the ship and saw a crew member trying to break up the ice with a long wooden pole-that would be the floating ice that had accumulated and immobilized the motor. That was not a comforting sight, but worse was when we looked behind us at the opening that we needed to motor to in an effort to rejoin those who were at chocolate happy hour and other planned events. But guess what???

All of the ice that had fallen off of the glacier was NOW floating in the water such that you really couldn't see the water: all we saw was ice. And no way out for the boat that looked small, but now looked huge!

The workers instantly began to focus everyone's attention away from the boat.

"Look!! Way up on the top of that mountain is a mountain goat! Can you see it?"

Janet looked to the right and I looked to the left, and when our eyes met- we knew what we were seeing...A great big distraction!!! { Two teachers well versed in keeping things calm!!}

We began whispering things like...

What do you think?

Do you suppose this happens very often?

How much gas do you think is left before we run out of gas?

It took 45 minutes to an hour to creep in quite a random path as we edged to the exit whilst bobbing amidst the biggest ice cubes on the planet!! As we inched closer and closer...guess what we saw? Certainly a surprising yet most welcome sight...it was the cruise ship that had sailed in our direction to meet us. And all of the people were out on all of the different deck levels and everyone was cheering and clapping and waving. And we returned the merriment!

Never was I so happy to walk the plank[a wide one]which connected the catamaran to the big ship! And we felt like we'd been rescued! Wahoo x 3!!

The good news, aside from the obvious one of not floating around in icy cold water for a long time, was that since it was an excursion booked on board the ship, they couldn't leave us and move on to the next port. They HAD to wait for us! Hallelujah!

The bad news...we missed 'The Chocolate Happy Hour." Damn!!

Another crystal clear example of 'Perspective is Everything.'