West Coast Cruise

We went on a cruise with Matt's company in May. We set sail in San Diego, made our way up to San Fransico where it was rainy and cold then all the way to Victoria BC and docked in Vancouver (our absolute favorite place)

We took off out of Downtown San Diego. It was a beautiful day. It was also a fun trip down there from our house. Picture me packed into a van with 5 or 6 of Matt's coworkers. All of them just. like. Matt. I soon realized I was on vacation with a whole bunch of Matt's. Now of course Matt is fantastic and love him to death but 10 or 15 of him is a bit much. We had a blast though and wish we could be back.



We left Sunday and Monday was one of the days at sea. That night was the fancy night. We got dressed up with the rest of our group. We had the late dinner so we headed to the show first. I don't remember the shows much. I always like the dancing when everyone makes fun of it. I always enjoy watching dancing though.

These were our two tables. You would think that since Matt isn't in the picture he would be the one taking it, but no, he is standing right next to the guy in the blue shirt above me.

That night at dinner we (Kris) were playing around with the camera trying to use a napkin as a way to bounce off light. It worked pretty well I'd say.

That night a bunch of us went dancing. Matt and I turned it in early because it was super hot and I was in that thick sweater plus the shoes were killing me. The next morning we woke up and heard everyone had stayed out until 2am or something. We totally missed out.

Wednesday we spent in San Fransisco. Matt and I had already been there but it was fun to run around with other people who knew different places to go. We started the morning off with a breakfast at Mamma's. Matt and I had already at on the ship so we had 2nd breakfast and it was delicious. All I remember was there was cinnamon, whipped cream, and strawberries.

Up next was the Exploratorium. A big science museum. This was a lot of fun, busy but fun. The math/computer guys enjoyed trying to figure everything out.

The bubbles were a big hit with the kids. I waited my turn but the kids kept stepping in front of me. After a while I asked a kid if I could just try it once then I'd give it back. It agreed and I kept my word. It's harder then it looks.

Then we headed over to China town and we ate at House of Nanking. We absolutely recommend this place. We went in there with a group of 6 people. The owner came to our table to take our order, found out we were first timers and said "I'll take care of it" Next thing we knew we had a 4 course meal. One thing after another came out and everything was so yummy! I'm not even sure what it was now but I know it was good.

This is where I dropped out camera and the battery pack broke. Still usable about hard to hold together. We headed over to a bakery shop for some pastries that were divine. Then we needed 2nd dessert after lunch. We went to Ghiradelli's Square. Matt and I shared this Banana split. Again, it was delicious. Matt, Fronk and I headed to Pier 39 to get Matt some Sour Dough bread then back to the boat.

The set sail party was windy and cold but there was a rainbow. Check out how the wind is taking my belt up. It was freezing and hard to stay out there.

We had fun though and enjoyed the conversation with the lady who had started on the cruise in Florida and went through the Panama Canal.

The sky cleared up a little for us.

We had another day at sea on Wednesday and on Thursday we were in Victoria. This place was beautiful. I don't have any great pictures from it but we rented a car and went to the Gardens then drove around the city following a map that had a list of places to visit. Some cool and some not so cool(a grocery store).

We docked in Vancouver on Friday. This was our favorite place. Vancouver is so new and trendy plus the downtown area was clean. I love clean places.

First thing was driving through Stanley Park. It was a huge forest in the middle of a big city. Such a pretty place with lots of trails to follow.


The bridge in the background is called Lions Gate Bridge. It was huge, we walked to the middle of it and it was pretty freaky. Between the cars rushing by and people talking about it collapsing.



Matt and I walked through the park very briefly but found some interesting trees.






Next up was Kayaking the North Shore.



Everything in Vancouver was pretty. Breathtaking.



look at those trees, you'd get lost as soon as you set foot on that mountain.

This is the opposite side of the bridge as the sun was going down.We had a bunch of people pile in our car to drive around the place.



We ate dinner at a burger place(my favorite thing to eat) It was interesting being there where everyone is such huge hockey fans. Every restaurant had the game on and everyone was cheering. Who ever they were routing for lost though, what a bummer.

A few other things we did but I guess I don't have pictures for were a suspension bridge called Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain. It was my first time riding on a Gondola or tram. Pretty scary and on the way down was worse because it was packed with people! We also saw two bears they have on the mountain and they were pretty sleepy I guess. They had recently woken up from hibernation and were constantly yawning.

We had s much fun on this cruise. It was a different feel then the other cruises we have done where we were in our bathing suits the entire time. It was fun to get to enjoy new places. We flew to Arizona to pick up Westin hung out for a week then headed home.