Bye bye ship, hello many ships

Greetings from I-5 South! For the sake of protecting my road trip identity, I will not say more then that.

A little bit of catch-up...on our last cruise, we repositioned the ship to Seattle, so we went from San Pedro all the way up to Vancouver. We had our last show/last drink in Spinnaker/last drink in crewbar/a goodbye party in the port room/dinner at Cagney's and much more to say goodbye to ship life. Half of the cast is contemplating/continuing on with ships in the near future. For now, I am planning on going back to Chicago and dipping my toes back into the advertising world (thanks Paula) and writing the third play with Amy and enjoying summer in Chicago.

Anyway, that's the plan, but first, I am going on a roadtrip throughout the west coast.

We signed off 8 days ago in Vancouver. I've been off the ship for 8 days. 8 days!

My first stop was Vancouver (or the Couv, as our magician friend Murray called it). The Couv was wonderful--Megan and I felt like as ladies without size 2 bodies, and without blonde hair with extensions, that we fit into this place a bit more then the boat.

We (Tilliski, Megan, Mark and I) went to a veggie place, and then an open mic in the area called Kits (for Kitsilano). Tilliski sang and played in the open mic...and got hit on by a local dude (they love Tilliski in the Pacific Northwest, or, as Mark called it for the Canadians, the Pacific Southwest). We drank local brews, and laughed and laughed and I kept looking at my watch thinking about all-aboard time---but no need to--I didn't have to be anywhere at any certain time.

I slept like a baby that night....stretched out on a big double bed, with no shaking, no vibration, no noise--so great.

Then, thanks to the generosity of one Mark Piebanga, and his friends on Orcas Island, we had a heaping dose of nature, mountains, ocean and good food almost immediately upon departing the NCL Star. I've wanted to go to the San Juan Islands for years, so it was THRILLING to be there. We climbed Mount Constitution to an observatory tower (I geeked out when I learned it was a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) project), had a peanut butter sandwich and then hiked back down.

The view was really amazing---the mountains of the Cascade, Vancouver Island, ocean, alpine lake--pines, spruce, cedar, moss, and more green stuff.

The night before, we hit a local pub, and I was telling the table about one time I was at the Printer's Row bookfair, with Amy, and I found a used copy of "My Sergei",* about the figure-skating pair/couple where the dude tragically died. I held it up to Amy to show her and she gave me a look that clearly indicated what she thought of the book, and I just started laughing and laughing and laughing and crying at the table. It was such a release---I felt like I hadn't laughed like that in months.

On the mountain, I thought about all the things I really love--reading, writing (well, having written), watching movies, walking, hiking, sleeping, eating, rehearsing, working hard on something, gymnastics and NPR. I'm going to do my best to remember these things and get back to them on this trip.

Then, we drove to Seattle, where I saw a NCL ship every day that I was downtown. The NCL Pearl twice, and the NCL Star, once, but only briefly.

There's more to update you all on...but for now, off I go to hit the road.

Here's a brief description of the book, by the way.



My Sergei: A Love Story, written by E.M. Swift and Ekaterina Gordeeva and published in 1996, recounts the history behind one of figure skating's most well recognized pair teams.

Sergei Grinkov and Ekaterina Gordeeva were paired together as young children in the Soviet Union after failing to prove themselves as strong solo skaters. Together they captured many amateur titles (including two Olympic gold medals and four World Championships) and professional titles. They eventually fell in love, married, had a child, and continued skating together as professionals until Grinkov died from a sudden heart attack during a rehearsal in Lake Placid, in November of 1995.

This book topped the New York Times Bestseller List and includes many black and white and color photos from Gordeeva and Grinkov's personal collection as well as publicity photos from their various touring groups, such as Stars On Ice. A made-for-television movie version of My Sergei was also made, which included interviews of family and friends, archival skating footage, and re-enacted scenes from the book (starring another famous Russian skating duo, Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikhuralidze).