Alaska Cruise

On September 1st, we started our Alaska Cruise out of Seattle on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship, the Pearl .  It was a seven day cruise that would take us to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay (Inside Passage), Ketchikan, Victoria, and back to Seattle.

We were expecting cool, maybe rainy weather in Seattle and on the cruise.  But to our pleasant surprise, the weather was sunny and reasonably warm the entire time.

The Pearl 

Enjoying the jacuzzi.

First Semi-Formal Dinner

As we approached the port of Juneau, we were able to spot whales and dolphins from our breakfast table.
In Juneau, we took the bus to Mendenhall Glacier, one of a few glaciers that visitors can walk up to.  Mendenhall Waterfall is another beautiful site to visit.  The area has an abundance of Bald Eagles.  We spotted some near the glacier.

Mendenhall Glacier

Mendenhall Waterfall

Bald Eagle

Our next stop was Skagway.  Skagway in the native language means 'Windy Place', and the name was appropriate.  We took a walking tour through downtown Skagway with a park ranger. 

Arctic Brotherhood Hall from 1899 on Broadway in Skagway.

Broadway with our ship in the background. 

Historic Mascot Saloon

Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage was the highlight of the trip.  The day was bright and sunny but it was cold and windy at times.  We had to bundle up since we spent most of the day outside on the open deck. 

When we entered Glacier Bay, the ship picked up three Park Rangers. They narrated and pointed out the various tidewater glaciers as the ship smoothy sailed through the Inside Passage . This day brought back fond memories of our Antarctica cruise in 2008.

Reid Glacier

Margerie Glacier

Johns Hopkins Glacier

Chilly on deck.

Dinner while leaving the Inside Passage

Last stop in Alaska was Ketchikan.  Ketchikan is suppose to be one of the rainiest places in Alaska.  But not the day we were there.  It was bright and sunny and fairly warm.  We took the free city bus to The Totem Heritage Center.

Totem Heritage Center.

We did a lot of last minute shopping and enjoyed the area around Creek Street.

Creek Street

Shops on Creek Street

Ketchikan Harbor

The last afternoon and evening of the cruise was spent in Victoria, British Columbia.  The last time we were here was thirty years ago.  We recognized the Empress Hotel and the Parliament Building.  We did a lot of walking, all the way to Chinatown.

 

Empress Hotel

Parliament Building 

China Town

We had a great time on the cruise and we ate way too much.  We need to go on a diet.

Lobster and Crab Cake

Steak and Shrimp

Beef Stroganoff

Almond Crusted Salmon

Labor Day Weekend - 24 Hours In Seattle

Que greeted us at Seattle airport when we arrived on Labor Day weekend.  Afterwards we met up with Phuong who was our driver as we toured Seattle.  We had a late lunch at a well known and popular Dim Sum restaurant, Din Tai Fung.  This is only one of two Taiwanese dim sum restaurants in the United States.

 

The history of Din Tai Fung restaurant.

The Pot Sticker chefs

Phuong enjoying the Dim Sum dumpling (Har Gao).

The following morning, we visited the famous Pike Place Market.  It was Sunday morning and the market was crowded.  The weather was surprisingly warm, not what we were expecting.  We had coffee at Starbucks (of course), and enjoyed watching the street performers.

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The original Starbucks Coffee Shop

Bubble Gum Alley

Street performers at Pike Place Market.

Near the historic Port of Seattle is Pier 66.  Our cruise ship, NCL Pearl, was berthed there.  The Pearl would take us to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria, British, Columbia. We could see the ship from Historic Pike Market.

NCL Pearl from Pike Place Market

Getting the ship ready for the cruise

 

Paul's visit to Pearland

Paul made a quick trip to Pearland to spend some time with Andrew and family and to help celebrate Sawyers Birthday.  He was able to go with Carter to his swim lessons, cook a beef brisket on their new smoker, and go swimming with Carter & Sawyer at the community pool.  

Carter & Sawyer helping grandpa assemble the Smoker

Sawyer's Birthday

                                   

Sawyer's Train

Playing in the community pool.

Dinner at Red Robin.

Denver Reunion

The Ngo Family gathered in Denver for the remembrance of their mother's passing one year ago.  All of Tien's siblings and most of their spouses and their children were present.  This occasion also represented the Ngo first family reunion.  Like the Landstrom's, the Ngo family hopes to get together every three years.  The next reunion will be in 2016.  The location is still to be determined.

Last Saturday, June 15th, we gathered at Hoang's (Tien's brother) house for remembrance ceremony (Gio).  The altar had beautiful flowers, fruit, and incense.  The ten families brought over a variety of vegan dishes to be placed on the altar.  After the ceremony, we had a shared meal.

The food table near the altar with vegan dishes.

Five Daughters

Five Sons

Daughters-in-law

Sons-in-law

The grand children

On Sunday we all went to An Bang Temple for a Buddhist service.  The monk, Thich Thien Tam, prayed for Tien's mom and dad.  After the service, there was a vegetarian lunch at the temple.

Dien and Thich Thien Tam at An Bang Temple

 
Before Dien's family and Oanh left for the airport, we gathered at Hampden Cemetery.  Amy brought food: pastry, Chinese BBQ pork, fruit, flowers and even coffee to our parents grave site.

Lynn Ngo's graduation from DU was celebrated that evening at a Vietnamese Restaurant.  We dined over a five course meal complete with live music and dancing.

We were fortunate to have lunch with Paul's sister, Mary, at IKEA in Denver.  It was nice to see her and also shop at IKEA.

Peter and Amy hosted a last night dinner at Johnny Carino's restaurant.  We had a five course Italian family meal.

We all had a good time in Denver.  We would like to thank Peter and Amy for their hospitality.

Disney World, Orlando

Orlando wasn't as warm in March as we would have liked it to be, but it was much warmer then Raleigh.  Considering  everything, we had a great time in Florida, spending time and going to Disney World with Andrew, Jennifer, Carter and Sawyer.

We stayed in a condo/resort just a couple of miles outside Disney World.  Our three bedroom condo was spacious and well equipped.  There was a balcony from which we could see the nightly fireworks from Disney World.   

No need to go to Disney World.  The valet caddie was a lot of  fun.

.It rained most of the morning on Tuesday, our first full day in Orlando.  So Paul, Andrew, and Carter went to the Kennedy Space Center for the day.  When they returned, the rain had stopped and we all went to the pirate themed swimming pool.

Carter and Paul trying to find our way around the Kennedy Space Center

Pool time

  

We got an early start on Wednesday for a full day at Disney World.  The weather could not have been better.  It was bright and sunny and a little bit cool when we started the day, but it warmed up nicely.  Jennifer and Andrew wanted to surprise Carter with the trip to Disney World.  It was a surprise, but Carter did not know what Disney World was all about.  He did not know that it was the home of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, et al.  Jennifer asked him if he knew where he was an he said that it was real green with lots of  trees.  So Jennifer had to explain to him what Disney World was. He will know next time.

Where is our car? Just like  
what happened to our car in Disneyland many years ago!

Happy family at Disney World.

We started off at "A Small World" and continued on to a lot of the age appropriate rides for Carter and Sawyer.  Carters favorite ride was the Autobahn.  Carter did the driving.

Driver training

Fun with Dumbo

It's been a long day at Disney World.

Merry-Go-Round - grandma's request

At the train station before leaving the park

Thursday, we rested after our big adventure.  By noon we were on our way to Downtown Disney to shop and have lunch.  We settled on T-Rex Restaurant for a late lunch.  It was modeled after Jurassic Park.  Lots of robotic dinosaurs which kept Carter and Sawyer on edge.  Both were hesitant to go inside.  The food was good with large portions and great entertainment.

T-Rex restaurant

Two weeks later, a picture arrived that Carter drew at school.

This picture shows Carter and grandma watching the  lady  who makes "candy" apples at the Disney Store.💟