Ebbie and KT, thanks for the info, I love parades and I don't mind if they are large or small, I was born and bred in a country town and our parades weren't huge by any means. The Anzac Day marches here always bring out the rivalry between the brass/military bands and pipe bands - the pipe bands march slower than other bands, leading to snapping at heels sometimes!

We had already decided not to book any shore trips in advance, as we like the idea of wandering around ourselves and meeting and talking to locals. The only exception might be the train trip in Skagway. Our son (Stephen The Drummer) has just finished his first 2 weeks cruising the Inside Passage and is looking out for places for us to see, he's on his way to Ketchikan again having sailed from Vancouver a few hours ago. He's working this cruise run intil sometime in August. He has already found the quilt shop in Ketchikan and a bead shop in Juneau for his mother - I knew that boy would come in handy for something one day!

Diana, we both enjoy jazz too and will check out the Vancouver festival. Unfortunately we won't be around for the other festival, I had found it on the net and it looks like fun.

Cheers
JennieG.....21 days now.........