Shadowmeboy's Escape to the Western Caribbean!

Shadowmeboy has escaped on a Western Caribbean cruise aboard the Norwegian Escape.

Join in on this fun filled pictorial review of the June 10th, 2017 Western Caribbean sailing. You might remember Shadowmeboy's last big adventure aboard the Norwegian Sun, last June! (pictured in Sitka, AK harbor)

Shadowmeboy was joined on this and his last adventure by his dear wife Susan!

You didn't think I was going to do the whole review in the third person, right?

Hi! I am Shadowmeboy better known as Matthew. Some of you may have read my last pictorial review, last year, about the Norwegian Sun and our Alaskan adventure which included Puppies!!!!! Sorry, I was way too excited about the Puppies. I will calm it down.

My wife, Susan, is a school teacher and I work for a grocery store. Susan and I have been married 10 years as of June 30th! Due to her school schedule, we cannot sail as much as we would like.

We live in the Pacific Northwest, so we have sailed Alaska several times. Thus why we broke free and sailed the Caribbean. We live along the Columbia River on the "dry" side of Washington State among the Apple and Cherry Orchards. The picture below is an area shot I got of our hometown flying home from Nashville in 2016.

Most of the pictures were taken on a Canon Rebel T5 DSLR. I also have some pictures from my Mothers' Canon, along with our Fuji waterproof camera and my trust Iphone 6s.

I think it is time to get this moving! In Cozumel, you will have to remember I only came for the tacos!

My wife got out of school on June 8th at 10:00 am. We had the car packed and were on the road by 10:30. Here I am loading the final things in our car.

We hit the road and traveled through Wenatchee, over Blewitt Pass toward Yakima, WA. Our flight was leaving from Portland, OR, the next day. We flew from Portland as it was the cheapest flight I could find, checking Seattle and Spokane as well.

Here I am being my goofy self!

Dropping down into the Yakima Valley.

I missed the sign that says "Yakima, the Palm Springs of Washington!"

The Yakima Valley is really pretty. We started climbing out of the other side heading for the Columbia River Gorge.

It can get very windy, so there are a lot of wind turbines.

The number of turbines only increase the closer you get to the gorge.

A ton more turbines across the Columbia in Oregon.

the stonehenge war monument outside of Goldendale, WA.

A better look at the river as we start dropping down to the river level to cross into Oregon.

I am going to take pause here. I need to go to bed, its been a long day. Till tomorrow.

Fantastic start. I am excited to hear all about the Western leg. And on The Escape (I'm motivated to hear all about it as she will be hanging out in my home port, NY next year)!!!!! I am not new to cruising, but haven't yet done the Western ports...

Looking forward to your review. We will be on the Escape in 2 weeks. Can't wait to find out how the tacos were.

Mary Ann

Yay! You're back!!!! Tell me you found Puppies in the Caribbean??? Those were the cutest cruise pics ever. Your positive attitude and joy from your travels are contagious. Thank you so much for sharing it with us all!!! Can't wait for more.

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So glad to see you're doing another review. I really enjoyed your Alaska review. Happy Anniversary!

Fantastic start. I am excited to hear all about the Western leg. And on The Escape (I'm motivated to hear all about it as she will be hanging out in my home port, NY next year)!!!!! I am not new to cruising, but haven't yet done the Western ports...

Thank you. I enjoyed them! Having sailed mainly from the West Coast it was a new experience for me.

Looking forward to your review. We will be on the Escape in 2 weeks. Can't wait to find out how the tacos were.

 

Mary Ann

They were really good.

Happy Anniversary!

I'm excited to read more about the Escape and your reviews are always so good.

Yay! You're back!!!! Tell me you found Puppies in the Caribbean??? Those were the cutest cruise pics ever. Your positive attitude and joy from your travels are contagious. Thank you so much for sharing it with us all!!! Can't wait for more.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not exactly, but I found baby animals of other kinds.

So glad to see you're doing another review. I really enjoyed your Alaska review. Happy Anniversary!

Thank you. I am able to post a few more posts, due to the wife still sleeping. I know better than to wake her up early especially today. :)

Since L1211 mentioned the puppies and due to the fact I switched photo sites. I wanted to share a few of the puppy photos from last year.

I mentioned it last year, but everytime Susan would hold a new puppy, it would fall asleep. I would have a squirmy one and hand it to her, and it would fall asleep in 2 minutes.

Well, that was a fun walk down memory lane, lets get back on our journey to the Escape!

Happy Anniversary!

 

I'm excited to read more about the Escape and your reviews are always so good.

Thank you!

I am huge train fan. I love watching and riding trains. Thus our trip last year had several train rides. Well the Columbia River Gorge is a hot spot for train action. When we dropped down to the river level on US 97, a BNSF freight was in a siding waiting for another freight.

BNSF runs on the washington side and the Union Pacific runs on the Oregon side.

We start crossing the Columbia at Biggs Junction into Oregon. You can see Interstate 84 on the Oregon side. We were using that to get to Portland.

Finally on I84

The Columbia River Gorge is stunning. Make sure you have a chance to visit someday.

BNSF has a line that goes through Bend and Central Oregon to California. This bridge connects that line with its Columbia River mainline.

Sorry if these are a little blurry, i was taking photos while Susan was traveling at 70 mph on the Interstate! Go speed racer, Go!

Loved your Alaska review!

The closer we got to Portland, the cloudier it got.

The Columbia River and Snake Rivers are navigable by barge all the way to Lewiston, ID. So you will see navigation markers along the river.

The Dalles Dam and lock in The Dalles, OR.

We had a wet spring, so the dams were still spilling water to prevent flooding.

That looks like a fun ship to do a river cruise on.

A BNSF freight across the Columbia.

Loved your Alaska review!

Thank you, I hope you enjoy this one too!

Great pictures to start, looking forward to your review

Barges run the river from Portland to Lewiston, using the locks at each of the Dams. It was awesome to see a barge on the river.

We come around the corner on I84 and there is a UP freight. I barely was able to get a picture.

When we got to Portland, we met up with a good friend of mine from my High School days.

We checked into our hotel in Portland by the airport, because it was be an early morning.

We got up at 4 am PDT, and caught the hotel shuttle to Portland International, arriving at 445 am.

We enjoyed the Alaska Airlines Board Room prior to our flight, Susan is ready for Florida!

We board our flight to Orlando. Yes, we are sailing from Miami, but my parents are meeting us in Orlando and it was way cheaper than flying in FLL or MIA from Seattle, Spokane, or Portland.

#iflyAlaska

We start pushing back from the gate.

We start taxiing to the runway. Lets get a picture before takeoff!

We start racing down the runway. I am still snapping away!