Children live what they learn. My father was a workaholic. That's all I saw so that's all I knew how to be. He was a baker and ran the family bakery. Dad went to work at 10:00 at night and came home at 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning. Once a year we would go to the state Baker's Convention for a long weekend. When I was about 13 we went to Anaheim for the National Convention. The only reason we were able to take these vacations were the fact that they were work related. That was the extent of my Fathers vacation time, sick leave, snow days, participating in my and my 3 siblings births, teachers' conferences or school events.
That's what I saw and that's what I learned. My work ethic was the same as my Father's. I knew nothing else. When I was 35 I met my sweetheart. He came to the USA from Germany 30 years prior to my meeting him. He couldn't believe my answer when he asked, "what have I seen and where have I been in the US and the world?" I had barley been outside the state borders. This man from Germany had seen most of the US and Europe. His mission was to show me the world. So, where do we begin?
I being the city girl wanted to be in 5 star hotels, dining on linen, the more china, silver and crystal the better. Camping to me was a Holiday Inn with no room service. He on the other hand likes to be in a tent in the rain, chasing bison, fishing and canoeing, bathing in a stream and flipping chips???? Oh my, what are we going to do? Men really are from Mars and women are from Venus.
We found the perfect answer! An Alaskan cruise with Holland America!!! No, this is not an advertisement but we’re both in the food and beverage industry (a chef and catering director). We both worked for the best of the best. If it wasn’t the quality or service we expected we would rather be at home. We were waited on hand and foot. Pampered and catered to so every expectation was met before the thought was formed. The food was superb!
The scenery was majestic. We watched dolphins riding along in the wake of our ship. Entertaining us the more we cheered them on. Otters sunning themselves on ice rafts. Glaciers calving in the afternoon sun as we drank hot chocolate on the deck.
Our side trips consisting of dog sled races, fish fry, salmon fishing excursions would make any outdoorsman a happy camper.
It definitely was a win win situation. I loved the outdoor activities and he loved the pampering and the food. The best part of all......we don't know if our next cruise will be the Eastern coast in the fall or the Hawaiian Islands??????
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