Day 2 –Sunday August 2 –
A 3 hour bus drive to Vancouver was uneventful but I did make a few observations of my travel companions (so what else do you do except fall asleep????)
The first notable group was the Georgians who obviously knew each other and/or related. The stories and laughter began. [Sidebar: Why do southern women wear makeup you can chisel off and all have bleached blond hair?]
The other interesting couple I thought would never complete the trip. He was short, bent over, had some trouble walking, and wore a path to the bathroom, I lost count. I thought of the commercial of an overactive bladder! She came on the bus using a wheel chair. Both were in their 90’s. Well, after touring with them for almost 14 days, I learned that he was a retired colonel, and a retired SEATAC Boeing employee and this was their 57th cruise trip. After completing this cruise, they were heading for a Panama cruise. Lesson learned…don’t judge a book by its cover.
Next stop…the Canadian border and pass through without incident. Finally reaching our destination of the ms Statendam but not without the requisite embarking photos. {Isn't that a great photo of mom?}
After casting off, we headed out of the harbor, passing under the Lions Gate Bridge in a northwest direction. 
Then ships horn blasts away, followed by the droning voice of the ship’s captain, born in Indonesia, of heavy Dutch accent but sounded like Toshiro Mifune in Midway (that’s a WWII movie for those in LomaLinda Land) announcing the requisite lifeboat drill. So I donned the life vest and stood 6 wide by 4 deep. I thought I was in the military and I was going to be issued a rifle…I was getting excited!!!! Then we shout out “here” when our cabin number was called. Now why would you want to embarrass yourself by now showing up and having Toshiro call your name over the entire ship’s PA system? They finally showed up (afternoon delite?????) and we were dismissed.
I’m going to let you hanging until the next installment….writer’s prerogative!
Then ships horn blasts away, followed by the droning voice of the ship’s captain, born in Indonesia, of heavy Dutch accent but sounded like Toshiro Mifune in Midway (that’s a WWII movie for those in LomaLinda Land) announcing the requisite lifeboat drill. So I donned the life vest and stood 6 wide by 4 deep. I thought I was in the military and I was going to be issued a rifle…I was getting excited!!!! Then we shout out “here” when our cabin number was called. Now why would you want to embarrass yourself by now showing up and having Toshiro call your name over the entire ship’s PA system? They finally showed up (afternoon delite?????) and we were dismissed.I’m going to let you hanging until the next installment….writer’s prerogative!
