Boten’s review: Summit, July 16, 2004 – part 4

Boten’s review: Summit, July 16, 2004 – Test Drive

part 1 - An idea is formed

part 2 - Preparations

part 3 - Oh, NO!

note: since there are now several reviews of the Summit in Alaska on the board, I have changed the title to begin with my screen name in hope of trying to reduce confusion.

This is not just a review.

This is the story of all the things that happened to us, the thoughts we had and the decisions we made that had implications on our cruise.

If you want just the cruise review, wait until I post the review, which will probably be titled "The journey begins"

January 2004

In the meantime, just to make sure, we booked the same cruise again. Same itinerary – NB from Vancouver, same ship - Summit, same cabin – 7202, a starboard size corner FV, almost the same date – July 16, 2004.

We didn’t make any other reservations yet, no excursions, no hotels, since I was still totally on crutches. We were not sure if we could make the land part. We also realized that we’ll have to tone down our port activities, I couldn’t imagine myself stepping on the pontoons of a float plane with crutches or climbing the flimsy looking ladder of one.

February 2004

I finally got the brace. What a relief! I can walk and lick ice cream at the same time!

Getting used to this monster was easier than I thought it would be, partly because it fitted very good and partly because the alternative was worse.

I still use crutches at home when the brace is off. Since it is made of metal, plastic and leather, and since I must have the shoes on while wearing it, there’s is simply no way to take a shower with it.

March 2004

We don’t want to give up on the land part yet! We are having some thoughts of how to manage the land part. Since walking long distances with the brace is difficult, maybe we should take a folding wheelchair with us. The idea seems sound, but just thinking of Dalia, a 100 pound lady, loading and unloading the chair into the car every time we want to stop seems cruel. We must find out if I can manage with the brace and crutches. We should do a test drive before committing ourselves.

Since we are going to Alaska, and since Alaska - contrary to common belief - is a state in the US, and since the US is a “user friendly” country, we should perform our test drive in the US.

Passover this year will be in early April and schools are off for about two weeks. That would be a good time for the test drive. We decided that the test drive should be done around Passover.

I called my TA and reserved the flights to Washington, DC. I also asked him to reserve a wheelchair at the airport so I won’t have to walk those long terminals.

I’ve been a member of Cruse Critic since August 2002, and I keep in touch, through e-mail, with some of the members, especially “newtocc” (a.k.a. Newt) and “cloud9”. Maybe we should incorporate a meeting with them into out test drive. Newt was very responsive. It turned out the Newts live not so far away from the Clouds, so we can meet all of them. We also scheduled to meet the “flyfans” and the “jgnovas” in Washington.

April 2004

The test drive proved to be a success! There was no problem getting around, in and out of hotels.

The two meetings were great, we had such a good time. Newt treated us like Royalty, or should I say like Celebrities. He’s such a nice guy, fun to be with. (here Newt, I just ruined your reputation as a mean guy). Cloud9 is a real angel, she and Dalia bonded like sisters.

see picture below...

May 2004 - June 2004

Now that we know I can make it, it’s time to make all the reservations. We kept our original itinerary, changed only one night stay from a B&B with lots of stairs near GlennAllen to a night at the Princess lodge in Copper Center. As for our planned Misty Fjord flight in Ketchikan, I explained my situation to Jim Kosmos of Southeast Aviation and he said they’ll try to help me and haul me into the plane. As compensation for the grief we went through, we added 3 more days in Homer to the land part, with the intention to relax by the bay before the long flight back home.

I have finished reading Peter Jenkins’ “Looking for Alaska” - a great book if you plan to go to Alaska. We received our docs, computer generated, in late June. My custom-made Milepost logs were expanded to include the trip to Homer.

We are ready to go!

Newt (left), Cloud9 (right) and Dalia (middle) in the limo Newt reserved for us. (hiding are Mrs. Newt & Mr. Cloud)

Boten,

You are a great writer.

I've said this before, but your wife and Cloud look like they could be sisters. Very lovely.

Waiting for the next installment.

Boten, again, I am enjoying your write-ups! Darn, I wanted to see what Newt really looked like! Foiled again!:confused:

Garry

Boten, thanks for the plug, but it was my pleasure meeting you and the wifester, we love you guys, it was a wonderful experience!

I really liked the first 3 installments, you are quite the writer, I'm sure Chester is jealous, you need to answer peoples questions to bump the threads to the top of the board, either way may friend, I will be following the story with baited breath (whatever the he11 that means)!

Now get to the gawd dam cruise, I have no fingernails left!

What a treat to come home from our 1 week at the beach vacation (yes, it was wonderful, and thank you for asking) to find the beginning of your epic tale. I'm looking forward to further installments. And it was wonderful meeting you and Mrs. Boten (and Fly and Mr. Fly) during your visit here -- we had to wait a bit to meet the Newts and the Clouds but that was a superb event also. An Alaska visit is on my to-do-in-the-future list, so don't leave us hanging for too long. Yes, of course, I will look for the other reviews. Tomorrow, I think. (I don't see a very sleepy smiley -- please just imagine all five of them here.)

S

Newt:

I suspect you don't really want baited breath -- I am not sure you like worms or shrimp heads or stale bread or whatever people put on their fishhooks. :mad::rolleyes: Bated breath -- I get the impression from my reading that it means you're holding your breath waiting for the next installment (in this case). Me too. :eek::eek: But I have to admit that I'm not very good at that so, please, Boten, can we have another tale.

S :D

Gkm,

That's a real picture of Newt. He looks exactly like that, really ;)

Newt,Nova,Cloud, and Boten, That sounds like a wonderful getogether. You've got me hooked. Can't wait for the next one. :)

Newts got a limo! Wow! He is a rock star! May we borrow it?

Gkm,

That's a real picture of Newt. He looks exactly like that, really ;)

Garry

Oh boy, I think I misled you. :rolleyes: Newt does not drive a limo, he rides in limos. The driver was Joe, Newt is not Joe, hence Newt is not the driver. Hope that helps.

Oh boy, I think I misled you. :rolleyes: Newt does not drive a limo, he rides in limos. The driver was Joe, Newt is not Joe, hence Newt is not the driver. Hope that helps.

Garry

Ok, this is Joe.