Sunset Dinner Cruise

July 15th, 2003

"Ok, so we never actually toured Carson City. We got there, went to a Ross (where I got some shirts), a bible book store, and an ice cream parlour. We were too tired to look at everything, so we went back to the cabin and took a nap before we headed out to Tahoe City to catch a Sunset Dinner Cruise. The cruise ship was called 'Tahoe Gal' and was scheduled to sail 2.5 hours. They served drinks on the top deck (or wherever the person who ordered had gone to). Then we had a choice of eating an appetizer up top or down below. We chose to have our steamed clams and Pepsi refills up on the top deck. I didn't really like the clams, but (Sir) did and that way there was more for him!! :) The dip was good though, so I dunked bread in it. We went out to the front of the boat which was really neat because of the wind and the fact the water was so clear we could see rocks and sand on the bottom of the lake. We ordered our food out there and they came and found us later to tell us that there was a table set up for us on the lower deck. The meal was absolutely delicious. I had Beef Prime Rib and (Sir) had Salmon. Both meals were served with rice pilaf and asparagus (again both were great) and proceeded by an awesome Caesar salad. It was one of the best meals we've ever gone out for!"

You might have noticed the date on the entry above. I wrote it on our Honeymoon in California. I don't remember if the cruise ship of the entry above was a paddle wheeler or not since we took very few pictures while on our honeymoon and none of them were of that Sunset Dinner Cruise.

One day short of being exactly four years later, Sir and I went on another Sunset Dinner Cruise. This time it was a 3 hour jot up and back down the Fraser River. Our anniversary this year was on a Thursday, so we decided to save our anniversary dinner for the weekend and went on the Saturday Riverboat Cruise later in the week. I did forgot our camera, but we picked up a disposable excuse of one at a convenience store on our way to the dock.

There's nothing like being handicapped by a non-digital photography device when you're used to its superior. And aside from carefully choosing what shots deem worthy of taking up non-erasable space, it's bitterly disappointing to find that 7 pictures you were looking forward to the most happened to not be included on the developed film. (I think 'infuriating' was a more accurate term in my case.) At least a few of the pictures turned out to be worth using.

I'm not sure how much of the journal entry above was written from behind rose-tinted glasses or if our tastes and expectations have increased, but our last dinner cruise pales slightly in comparison to the record of the first. We were assigned a table on the top deck, right beside an open window. This was especially nice for Sir since he loves to have fresh air wafting about. Since the meals weren't going to be served for an hour or so, we made our way out to the front and side of the boat away from most of the crowd. The temperature couldn't have been more perfect and there was a delightful breeze to enjoy.

We saw a sturgeon leap out of the river, and once we actually got on our way we saw quite a few other things including a rotating railway bridge, some very interesting birds that were too far away to get a picture of without a camera zoom, some kind of old barge with huge abandoned engines on it, and a lot of beautiful scenery.

Our waiter came and found us when our Caesar salads were ready. It didn't take us long to eat them, and once we were finished we got up and wandered around the boat taking pictures. Most of which turned out too dark, or blurry, but Sir did get a good picture of the paddles. There was a upper deck bar (or whatever fancy name they called it) and as passengers ordered their drinks and took them outside where they could visit, the deck got pretty crowded and noisy. Of course when you're 7+ months pregnant places do tend to get crowded rather quickly.

Gradually group by group disappeared as they were summoned to their supper and the entire boat was almost silent (except for the music that was played throughout the whole cruise) as the meals were consumed. This time I had a steak dinner with a baked potato and Sir had Salmon again. We each had a side of garlic shrimp with our meals and overall, supper was pretty good.

While everyone was eating, the DJ guy announced over the speakers the list of people celebrating their birthday or an anniversary. He didn't know about us, but we didn't mind especially since there were some couples there celebrating 16, 30 and 48 years of marriage. Compared to that four doesn't seem very impressive, but it does mean there's lots to look forward to!

After supper, while some people danced (it wasn't what I thought dancing was, but they seemed to be having fun I guess), Sir and I went back to the front of the boat where we watched the scenery float by. I got a good picture of the sunset reflecting on the water that I really like.

Not long before we docked, we saw a mother duck with her ducklings swimming ahead of us close to the shore. Just as we caught up to them, the mother duck panicked, and flew across our path about 30 feet ahead of the boat. Her three mid-sized ducklings were too small to fly in pursuit of their mother and instead, started swimming frantically toward her. From the looks of it, those little ducklings weren't going to make it before we came up on them, but thankfully the captain saw them too, and slowed down giving the ducklings just enough room to make it safely to their mother. It was almost as interesting to hear and see the other passenger's reactions to the duckling drama as it was to watch the adventure unfold.I took a picture of the ducklings, but it was one of the pictures that didn't even show up on the film.

Once we docked, I took a bunch of pictures of the paddle wheeler all lit up with lights that should have turned out pretty neat, but they didn't show up on the film either much to my disappointment. Oh well, maybe I learned my lesson about forgetting the camera. Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening, and it wasn't until just a few days ago, that I discovered that the two cruises were just a day different after four years.