The Senior Scene

On June 1, my traveling friend Linda Krogh and I left on a Road Scholar trip to Peru, touring Lima, Cusco, Yucay and Machu Picchu. Linda traveled from Portland to LAX, and I boarded at Sea-Tac to LAX, where we met and after a couple of hours boarded a flight to Lima. A few days later, our group flew to Cusco.

The two of us spent our first day in Lima exploring, having arrived one day early to get a good night’s sleep, and the next seven days were packed full of train rides, bus trips, walks, tours, meeting new friends, and loads of information.

We listened to lectures, took field trips with experienced guides, and wandered through local fish markets and churches. We learned how the Sacred Valley was a perfect place for farming, toured a Moray archaeological site to learn about Inca agriculture, and took a bus ride to the community of Maras to visit local salt mines and watch a Pachamama shaman lead a ceremony.

We ate lunch at a local restaurant, where they demonstrated making their signature drink–pisco sour–and we all had a glass, after which we became very chatty and got to know each other a lot better.

In Cusco we took a bus, train and another bus to the Machu Picchu site.  Our train traveled the meandering path of the Urubamba River and gave us spectacular views of the snowcapped Andes.

Our guides learned the day before of a one-day train strike to take place on the day we were to travel to Machu Picchu, and made arrangements for us to board the 6 a.m. train so we wouldn’t miss our day at the site. It was an amazing day.

Linda and I had our walking sticks and were excited and ready for the long trek up. When we reached the top, we all were bathed in sweat, tired and breathless–but oh, the views. We spent the rest of the rest of the day walking, listening to lectures, oohing and aahing at the views, and taking photos. It was the highlight of the trip.

In the following days we visited a weaving community and enjoyed a demonstration by local women who shared how they dyed the yarn, and I spent 150 U.S. dollars purchasing yarn and scarves. We visited the salt mines and had lunch in the home of local folks. 

We all were careful not to drink the water or eat from food vendors, and even so, two of our travel mates experienced food poisoning. Our guide had a doctor at the hotel in a heartbeat to administer to one of the participants. The doctor gave her a shot and left some pills and said, ”You will be fine tomorrow,” and sure enough, she was. The bill? She paid it and Road Scholar (an educational travel organization) will reimburse her.

Linda and I travel well together, and this was our 13^th trip as a team of two. It was a busy and fabulous 10 days, but, as always, wonderful to walk in my back door after a 23-hour travel day, drop my bags, pour a glass of wine and relax.

How lucky are we, at our age, to still be able to travel and to climb to the very top of Machu Picchu.

Joan Cronk, who wrote this article, is a frequent contributor to Senior Scene. She lives in Puyallup.

Where does the idea for a bucket list originate? Is it something that a retired couple brings up one day before the beginning of their golden years? Is a bucket list something that you start when you’re young?

A recent survey of 2,000 seniors nationally reveals that a large percentage of people start their bucket list when they get to a certain age. Other reasons include being influenced through media, illness or death in the family, and a recommendation from a family member or friend, among others. Only 4 percent of survey respondents said they didn’t have a bucket list.

Without a doubt, the most popular experience on someone’s bucket list had to do with travel—and 77 percent of the survey respondents indicated that they had some sort of travel goal on their personal lists. Following travel, 71 percent had financial goals on their bucket list, the same percentage had personal development goals, and the rest were family goals (67 percent), health goals (55 percent), hobby goals (47 percent), career goals (42 percent), spiritual development goals (40 percent) and volunteer-related goals (27 percent).

The most desired specific experiences on people’s bucket lists included skydiving and winning. And the least desired? Getting arrested, breaking a minor law, and trying online dating.

The top countries on people’s bucket lists were Australia, Italy, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Greece, the Bahamas, Egypt and Germany. The top 20 cities are Honolulu, New York, Las Vegas, Anchorage, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Seattle, Austin, Boston, Denver, Atlanta, Portland, Washington, D.C., Miami, Chicago, San Diego, Anaheim, Orlando and Albuquerque.

Source: Provision Living, an operator of senior living communities in the Midwest and southeast regions of the U.S.

Were you in Seattle this summer?  Did you see that gigantic cruise ship sitting so elegantly at the dock at Bell Harbor? The Norwegian Bliss is 20 decks tall, 1,094 feet in length, weighs in at 168,028 gross tons has 2,200 staterooms to carry 4,000 passengers plus additional cabins for the crew of 1,700. She is a moving theme park with a complete hotel.

She was christened in Seattle on May 30, 2018 and began her first Alaska season. We were lucky to have a group sail on this, her second season in our area. And what a sailing it was! It was difficult to choose between going on shore at the various ports of call or just staying on board to take advantage of more of the activities.

On shore there were totem poles, shops with end-of-the season sales, salmon fishing excursions or just a salmon bake, whale watching, dog sled summer camp, glacier gazing, scenic railway rides, zip lines, adventure hikes, and more shopping. You could stop for a show at the Red Dog Saloon, pick up free jewels at the Duty Free stores, walk along the plank streets, or take the gondola to the tops of the hills to see forever into the distance.

On board ship, the adventures were neverending.  It took almost the entire week to become somewhat familiar with all that was offered. Can you imagine a two-story go-kart track, multi-level water slides, a bowling alley with pinball machines,  multiple pools and hot tubs that hang over the edge? Watch outdoor movies on the pool deck’s immense screen or go into the theater for a more cozy atmosphere.  How about a little exercise in the fully equipped gym, or maybe play laser tag on the top deck? Not quite that active, then try the putting course and see if you can sink the balls on a moving ship. As always there is a Casino, Art Auctions, dance classes, games, cooking demonstrations and so much more.

Hungry? There is food everywhere and every minute of every day. Complimentary venues included the Garden Café for buffet, the Observation Deck Lounge (20,000 feet of beautiful relaxation and windows), 3 main restaurants, as well as the 24-hour Local Bar & Grill. If you want to be out of the crowds and do something a little more special, there are 8 restaurants with specialties such as steak, Asian, French, Italian, Mexican, Japanese and seafood and BBQ.

With a ship that large, I could go on forever telling you what was available and telling you that we went non-stop and didn’t see it all. You might just want to sign up for a trip yourself for next summer. The Bliss will winter out of New York to the Bahamas and Caribbean and then return again to Seattle in May.  Book now for a trip next year.

For reservations and further information, call Linda Finch at 253-927-8207 or ask to be placed on the e-mail list at linda.finch@gmail.com.

SPONSORED CONTENT