And on the Sea

After we settled in our cabin and dinner, the cruise ship left Seward with us on deck.  The room seemed small but adequate for us since we spent our time on deck, in port, at the theatre, and listening to musical performers.  The next day at sea the ship pulled up among small icebergs as close as safely possible to Hubbard Glacier's six mile wide face.  A beautiful sunny day we saw eagles soaring and harbor seals sunning themselves on the icebergs and swimming alongside the ship.

On Sunday we docked in Juneau set between the mountains and the sea.  We walked up to the Alaska State Capitol for a guided tour, then past the Governor's House only open to the public for the annual open house around December 7.  Up a steep climb we found the House of Wickersham, a Victorian manor lived in by the man responsible for Alaskan home rule, the Alaska Railroad, the University of Alaska, and Mount McKinley National Park.  The guide summoned us in even though the house is closed to the public on Sundays. On our walk back to the ship we saw St. Nicolas Russian Orthodox Church and the obligatory saloon (Red Dog Saloon).  As we walked about we noticed the abundant lush vegetation and that most cars are older and smaller (the same throughout our stops).   That evening we sat "fore" and watched as we sailed through some straits.  

In Skagway on Monday we took a historic walking tour from the Klondike National Historical Park Visitors Center.  Gold.   That afternoon we boarded the narrow gauge White Pass and Yukon Railway for a ride up to the pass climbing alongside the turbulent Skagway River before summiting at the border between Alaska and British Columbia where we saw ice still on the river and deep snow alongside the track, and flags marking the border.

Tuesday we were "tendered" to Icy Strait Point shore.  After walking along the rocky beach and nature trail we walked into Hoonah, the largest Tlingit village in Alaska.  Along the way we saw eagles, one eating its fish lunch atop a piling and others perched in trees.  The town was different from the others:  houses were modest, roads were narrow, jewelry stores were absent, fishing harbor looked ordinary, boats looked used.  This is the fifth season of cruise visitation for the village and they permit only one ship at a time--I hope it does not change too much over time.  Refreshing.  That night we had a formal dinner of lobster followed by Baked Alaska.

We walked about Ketchikan Wednesday where we took a bus to see collection of totem poles--short stop, too commercialized.  Back in town we visited a museum and stopped in their library for 15 minutes of free Internet.  The stores are beginning to look familiar so back to the ship and a snooze on deck. 

After a day at sea seeing beautifully forested mountains nearby on either side we reached port in Vancouver, passed through immigration and customs, and were transported to our hotel.  We along with Bill and Ginny from Alabama took a bus to University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens, a collection of at least seven different gardens including an Alpine Garden arranged by continent, and A Walk in the Woods.  Especially interesting was the Physic Garden displaying medicinal plants (Bill is a pediatrician and Ginny a nurse).  That evening we had our farewell dinner as we followed Game 7 between Detroit and Pittsburgh intermittently in the bar.  After that we strolled a while finding near the museum a countdown clock for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

We arose at 2:30 am Saturday morning for our taxi ride to the airport.  Eight of our group were aboard the 5:40 am flight to Salt Lake City.  Upon arrival there Kathy and I read on the departure board that our flight to Detroit was cancelled (the other six were off to Newark).  It took several conversations to learn we were rebooked on a 3:00 pm flight affording us five hours of unscheduled airport touring.  After our somewhat bumpy flight to DTW we arrived home close to midnight.  Bring in the bags. Tired.  Happy.  Great trip.  Good night.  We'll start the laundry in the morning.

...To Shining Sea.

We visited Alaska on a twelve-day tour that included a land portion from Anchorage to Denali NP via motor coach and train, then motor coach to Seward.  There we boarded our ship for our cruise that stopped in Juneau, Skagway, Icy Straits Point, Ketckikan, and Vancouver.

We arrived in Anchorage late Tuesday afternoon and, after checking in to our hotel, walked about the downtown area passing the official starting line for the Iditarod Dog Sled Race, a world class stuffed Kodiak bear, and a memorial to Alaskan statehood, then met our tourmates at dinner.  With light streaming in the windows until near midnight (4 am Romeo time) we resisted sleep.  Though we know about the increased daylight, the experience was sensational, sitting up with light through our window so we could read until near midnight.

Wednesday morning we rode to Telkeetna.  There the Telkeetna River and the Chulitna River join the Sustina River.  Along its banks we got a panoramic view of Mt. McKinley (Denali) with Mt. Foraker,  and dipped our hands into the cold water to scoop up flour rock, the fine sediment deposited from glacial runoff.  Walking back through the town we found a small cafe with bakery in the historical district (downtown) that served wonderful cinnamon rolls--should have bought two.   We boarded the Alaska Railrod train in Telkeetna for Denali Park.  The rails followed a river winding its way up to Denali Park.  Here our hotel sat on the banks of the Nenana River and because we had no air conditioning we left the doorwall open for cooling and for the white water noise which lulled us into a sound sleep.

The next morning we took the Denali Natural History Tour into the park where we saw young Grizzly bears playing in a meadow beside a stream not far from their mother, Dall sheep high up in rocky terrain, caribou, moose, and ptarmigan on the side of the road; a rustic, still used ranger cabin; and of course Denali.  For two full days we have viewed the "the great one", seen only about 20% of the time because of the fog, rain, and clouds, but for us 100% of the time.  That afternoon we were driven back to Wasilla for the night.

Our first stop on Friday was at a sled dog training facility run by the family of Joe Redington, Sr. who founded the Iditarod Race in 1973.  Kathy took a ride on a wheeled sled pulled by sled dogs--MUSH.   A short ride later along the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet we stopped at Begich-Boggs Visitors Center from where we can view Portage Glacier, walk along Portage Lake, and touch floating glacial ice. We then rode in the Kenai peninsula, back and forth between mountains, to Seward where we boarded our cruise ship later in the afternoon.