<<Home
<<Main Cruise Page/Photo Album Links
In the middle of March, we received an enticing brochure from Princess, listing among other cruises, this "Connoisseur Voyage" which would sail from Seattle and take us to some less-visited ports such as Valdez, Seward and—most intriguing of all—Kodiak Island on the far side of the Gulf of Alaska. The price was also intriguing—with fares starting at $1,099 for an inside cabin. Even though we had cruised in Alaska twice before, we thought this itinerary was worth a third trip.
After phone calls to Princess and Costco, we settled on an Oceanview room located on Deck 4, down low and almost in the center of the ship. Since we would spend a lot of the cruise out in the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska, this seemed the best location in case of rough weather.
Basic cost of the cruise was $1840 per person, plus trip insurance, transfers from SEATAC to the pier and our airfare from Portland to Seattle, round trip. When the dust settled, the total for the trip was $4256. We DID get a $75 onboard credit and reserved two excursions: "The Best of Seward" for $64 each, including a visit to Exit Glacier; and "The Best of Kodiak" for $89. each.
One of the early attractions of this cruise was that it would leave from Seattle. We had taken another Alaskan cruise from Seattle, and it was an easy drive from Salem to the pier, located south of city center. Unfortunately, after booking the cruise we learned that the cruise ships had changed to the new Pier 91—located in a hard-to-reach area north of city center. Also the charge to park our car at Pier 91 would be $20 a day. For 14 days, that was not an insignificant sum. So, we opted to fly up and let Princess haul us from the airport to the pier.
The ship for this cruise was a new experience for us. The Pacific Princess is much smaller than the ships we have sailed on in the past, carrying only 680 passengers instead of 1800 or 2000.
Barbara started reading the "Cruise Critic" Internet message boards, and gleaned a lot of helpful information about what we could expect. Several passengers on earlier sailings posted daily accounts of the ship, the sights, the weather—even how many slot machines would be in the casino! All their tips were much appreciated. We also followed the "bridge cam" on the Princess website which gave us an idea of the weather and the scenery we could expect.
July finally rolled around and away we went! The daily log follows.
DAY 1 July 9, 2009, Thursday Embarkation from Seattle, Pier 91
We left Avamere at 6:15 a.m, driving to the Red Lion Hotel where our car stayed behind. We left on the Hut shuttle bus at 7:30 a.m. The driver almost didn’t load our suitcases!
It was a gray, overcast day as we rode to PDX. The TSA gauntlet went a little better than usual. We had a long hike to the very end of Concourse A where the little Horizon planes leave. We could see Max light rail trains parked nearby. It is now possible to fly into Portland Airport, roll your suitcase over to the MAX station, adjacent to the airport, and be whisked to a downtown hotel without need for a car or a taxi. Our plane left pretty much on time, and we were at SEATAC, with bags claimed by 12 noon.
As we circled Seattle before landing, we went right over our cruise ship and Space Needle. We could see that we had Pier 91 all to ourselves. At the baggage claim area we soon found one of the “red shirt” ladies who handle cruise passenger transportation to Pier 91. There were plenty of "red shirt" people to help, and they quickly and efficiently got us and our bags on the bus.
The bus driver gave a running commentary on Seattle as we drove past the original Boeing plant, the piers where the cruise ships used to dock, and then through downtown on the old " Alaskan Way" elevated road. What must have been a warehouse area not long ago is rapidly turning into upscale "loft" condos. The skyscrapers of downtown Seattle looked pretty high to us, but our driver said their height is limited by the FAA. Since the approach to SEATAC goes right over central Seattle, they don't want any planes scraping off paint on the top of a skyscraper!
Ship check-in went very fast—we were whisked to the "Platinum Line" with no one waiting in front of us. NO upgrade—we kept hoping until the last minute that our Platinum level would get us a balcony cabin. Cabin 4037 seemed small, dark and our "Oceanview" window was not much more than an enlarged porthole. All during the cruise, we found it frustrating not to be able to go outside, or even open the window. We considered asking to pay for an upgrade to a balcony, but the sign at the purser’s desk said “this cruise is full, no changes can be made.” Another annoyance was our toilet which kept going into "Not Flushing" mode. It took three visits from the ship engineer who finally got it fixed after several days.
The gray clouds that met us at SEATAC had burned away by the time we boarded the ship. It was a beautiful day in Seattle—just small, puffy clouds and sparkling sea water. Seattle's skyline is lovely from either Lake Union or Elliott Bay. The first place my family lived in Seattle, in the 1930's, was Queen Anne Hill. That hill was just above Pier 91. A small marina was just beyond the pier, lying below Magnolia Hill. Off to the west was the outline of the Olympic Mountains.
We ate lunch in the buffet, or more accurately, we ate at a table on the aft deck, just outside the buffet. This was very pleasant—especially this day when all was sunny and warm.
One of our first acts after lunch was to go to the Internet Café and sign up for the shipboard internet. As "Platinum" level passengers there was 250 free minutes for each of us, valued at $100 per person. By signing up on the first day, we each got an additional 30 free minutes. We sent quick e-mails to our immediate family. We eventually tried both the Internet Café and several other spots around the ship during the cruise, using wi fi with our laptop. They all worked…..but barely. This was possibly the slowest Internet connection we ever had anywhere. It would literally take 30 of those spendy minutes to send one e-mail!
Enroute to the Internet Café we found the library, but it was all locked up. Apparently it opened only after we sailed. We also learned later that the attendant in the library was only there a few hours a day—the rest of the time, he was one of the dance troupe! On a ship this size the crew has to multi-task.
This ship held the lifejacket drill right away—even before Sailaway at 4 p.m. For us in muster A, the locale was in Cabaret Lounge, up forward. We noticed the sightlines for this showroom were very poor. That did not bode well for seeing the shows. Seating is mostly in single, upholstered chairs, all on one level. At the back of the room was one raised area with just bar stools and tables. Not very comfy for watching a show!
After Sailaway Glenn got down to serious business and ordered a set of "Dos Equis" beer bottles from Room Service. Six for $19.75. But the room service potato chips and crackers were complimentary! Combined with the cheese we garnered in the buffet, and kept in the frig, snack time was no problem during the cruise.
We had chosen Early Dining which opened at 5:45 p.m. Before the cruise, we had requested a table for 2 or 4, but we got a table set for seven! Only 3 other tablemates ever showed up—a couple from Michigan, Don and Delores, and Joan from our favorite spot in Arizona— Green Valley! Joan once lived in McMinnville and worked in the Salem schools. Small world time. This was her FIFTY-FIFTH cruise! And her eighth trip to Alaska. She said cruising is no longer such a thrill. I should think not. Don and Delores are also seasoned cruisers. We never talked to anyone on the ship who was a first-time cruiser.
After dinner we were treated to a very pretty sunset, as we headed west along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. There had been some question whether this voyage would take the Inside Passage route between Vancouver Island and the mainland or not. Answer: NOT. The Pacific Princess was definitely heading out into the Pacific side of Vancouver Island. After our rough ride along the Pacific side of Vancouver Island in 2004, we weren’t thrilled about this.
The Casino opened at 9:30 p.m. and we had to check it out. The casino is small, as is everything on the ship. Not many slot machines and they are very old ones as well. Also craps, roulette and several blackjack tables. This Princess ship felt sort of like a “miniature” cruise ship. All the amenities are here; just less than “life-size.” The elevators and the waiting area in front of them seemed especially small. But, it was pleasant to have no lines for dinner.
After the casino, we went up to the Buffet where we collected tea, coffee, a cookie, and a chocolate torte, and took them out on the aft deck. We had it all to ourselves. I was comfy enough with jackets on, AND we saw a beautiful waning full moon in the east, just rising.
We were both tired tonight—the usual long embarkation day. Barb was hurting—knees, hands, hips—probably from hauling heavy bags around off and on today.
DAY 2 Friday, July 10, At Sea Day
Last night’s "Princess Patter" ship newsletter gave the weather forecast for today: “Sunny.” When I woke up a couple times during the early morning, there was enough light to see that I could see……nothing! Fog right outside our ocean view window. But, by the time we got up, rather late, about 8 a.m., the fog had lifted, but no Mr. Sun. And, Mr. Sun never did appear. Just a gray day on the Pacific Ocean. No whales, either, although we saw one solitary bird flying low over the water.
The ship’s “locator” map on TV showed that we were going past the tip of Vancouver Island, and then swinging in between Queen Charlotte Island and the Canadian mainland. We kept thinking that we should see land on one side or the other of the ship, but nope, we could make out nothing but ocean, even with the "Admiral Nimitz" big binoculars.
So, the cameras pretty much stayed in their cases. A nice breakfast, and Glenn suggested we eat it out on the aft deck. I agreed, but it WAS a bit chilly, so I said I would go back and get my red fleece jacket. It was nowhere to be found in the cabin! After I gave up the cabin search, I went to the Purser’s desk, asking if they had a red jacket—and there it was! How and when I lost it yesterday is still a mystery, but I was very relieved to get it back. We brought “layers” to be comfortable in various temperatures, but without that fleece jacket, I would be missing one very important layer!
With that resolved, we made a little tour of the ship, finding the “Pacific Lounge” which has nice big windows looking out over the front of the ship. Ordinarily, a nice place to observe what is in front of the ship, but this morning most of the chairs were blocked by paintings! This would be the site of their first art auction today. They give away free champagne, but even that wasn’t enough to tempt us.
However! The casino was also giving out free Bloody Marys and Mimosas between 10 and 11 a.m. and we considered that worth some slot time. My drink cost me about 4 bucks, but Glenn got his free, thanks to winning a bit.
By lunch time, we weren’t hungry, but got by later nibbling on the fresh fruit bowl delivered to our room daily, on request. We supplemented the fruit with some cookies from the buffet.
The first of the ship’s naturalist lectures was at 2:15. The naturalist's name: Alan Cortash. His background: training dolphins, orcas, working as a whale-watch expedition naturalist in Alaska and the Sea of Cortez. He had a very nice Power Point program, even complete with the scream of an eagle, for those who needed to recognize the bird by its call. Today’s program was an overview; more detailed programs will follow. Very nice to know Princess is providing a professional naturalist on board. The darn casino is located just outside the Cabaret Theater, so that held us up for awhile as Barb regained some of her morning’s losses, but Glenn gave back some of his winnings. Easy come, easy go!
Some nap time followed the lecture, and then it was time to get ready for the Captain’s Welcome Cocktail party. One nice drink, some spiffy hors d’ouevres, and a brief introduction to the senior staff and the obligatory welcome speech from the Captain. For dinner, we both chose salmon as our entrée, and it was very good. Two of the seven chairs at our table were still unoccupied.
Another round of slot machine playing before attending the 10 p.m. show. This was a big production number, although, like everything else on this smaller ship, it too, was downsized. Just two singers and 6 dancers. But they did a great job and we had front row seats, which pretty much put us on right on the stage/dance floor! We had to be careful not to stretch out our legs, or we might have tripped the dancers. Even so, Glenn almost had the Sara Lee Cherry cheesecake costume in his lap! Pretty sexy dancing in most numbers—geared to a younger audience than they had this night, but none of the men were complaining!
A tad more gambling, then a little nightcap from the buffet of coffee, tea and a piece of cake.
Very calm seas tonight, with just “wavelets” as they describe them on the ship’s TV channel. Wavelets are good! We should be in protected waters now at midnight with land on either side of the ship, even if we can’t see any lights or signs of a shoreline.
We would be on Alaska time as of 12:01 a.m. so the watches got set back.
Oh yes—tonight’s Patter has a forecast of “sunny” for Ketchikan. The Rain Capital of the World? Oh sure!
DAY 3 Saturday, July 11, Ketchikan
When Barbara awoke at 5:30 a.m. (in the new Alaskan time zone) she apprehensively looked out the window and saw……nothing. Still all fogged in! Aaargh! But, she could dimly see the outline of forested hills and a house now and then. So, we had to be approaching Ketchikan. Going out on the Promenade Deck, there were a few crewmen and a Security officer already gathering. The water was glassy smooth, but no orcas or other whales chose to do their spouting here. More evidence of civilization as we glided through the mist—mostly marine-related. Even some houses with their float plane docked in its hangar just below the house.
Our ship went to a different dock, just north of the main cruise ship dock. This was a floating dock, moving up and down to match the severe tidal changes of this part of the world. Pretty slick—the pitch to the gangplank never changed, despite the rising water. Once we had “helped” the crew moor the ship and get the gangplanks in place, we could take a break and go to breakfast.
By 7 a.m. we were at breakfast and the ship was officially cleared for disembarkation. Those going on excursions were soon trooping off to their waiting buses, vans and/or Hummers.
We again chose to eat on the aft deck, partly because the inside seating was all full of people who needed to eat and then get to their excursions. We had the luxury of dawdling over breakfast and while dawdling…..the sun appeared! Very quickly the fog burned away and there was Ketchikan, shining in the sun. Amazing!
About 8:15 a.m. we headed out for our little walking tour around downtown Ketchikan. First stop, at the Tongass Museum and Library. I had hoped to talk to someone about exchanging information on Yes Bay, but that “someone” didn’t work on weekends, so I settled for exchanging business cards. After paying the $2.00 admission, we had a nice tour of the small museum. They had done an excellent job of using old photographs and artifacts to describe the various cultures and occupations that have taken their turn here in southeast Alaska. Their summer exhibit emphasized the immediate Ketchikan area, so I found nothing mentioning Yes Bay. One thing I found especially interesting was a display of old “trade beads.” This was the main item exchanged for the beautiful otter, seal and beaver pelts that created tremendous wealth for some people—and near extinction for the animals involved. The beads really were beautiful—and came from China, Bavaria and Italy. But were they worth the near-extinction of the sea otters?
The museum had several large photos of Ketchikan as it looked in the 1930's. I found those particularly interesting since Ketchikan was my birthplace in October, 1931. My parents lived at " Yes Bay" up Behm Canal about 50 miles from Ketchikan and the only means of transportation were a boat or small float plane. That was too far away to count on getting a woman in labor to the Ketchikan hospital in time, what with the possibility of bad weather. So my mother spent the last month of her pregnancy at the "Gilmore Hotel" and I was born at the then-new hospital. I thought I could see the hospital in one of those photos at the museum. The hospital still exists, and we walked by it. It has long since been replaced by a new hospital, and is now pretty much a slum. My birthplace looks worse every time we visit Ketchikan!
Just outside the museum we found a bench to rest on, and I made a cell phone call to Mark. Went through fine—he said he could clearly hear the clip-clop of the horses that came by, pulling a wagon full of cruisers!
Leaving the museum, we found we were at pretty little Ketchikan Creek that adjoins bawdy Creek Street. Bawdy once perhaps, when it was Ketchikan’s red light district until the 1950’s, but now home to art galleries and tourist shops. We saw no salmon leaping up the creek, but the tide was low. Probably the salmon prefer to not scrape their bellies on the rocks—better to wait until the creek fills up.
Some local fishermen lined the side of the bridge over the creek. They were none too neat fisherman either. Plopped on the rocks next to the bridge was the remains of a salmon—filleted on the spot and the rest left to feed the gulls and eagles, I guess.
From the bridge we could see that our ship now had a companion. The Coral Princess had pulled in to the other dock. She looked HUGE compared to the Pacific Princess. On our circle route back to the ship we had to either go through the Tongass Trading Company store or walk a bit out of the way. So, there we were, in the heart of Ketchikan Tourism. The Cruise Critic advice was to buy your souvenirs in Ketchikan—they just get more expensive as you go north. So, we picked up a tote bag to thank our neighbors for caring for our plants, and with that purchase and the coupon I grabbed back in Seattle, I got another tote bag. “Bag ladies” can’t have too many bags!
The wonderful weather stayed with us. After a little lay-down, we headed for the Casino Bar Lounge where a nice young Forest Service woman gave natural history talks. The first was a hands-on demonstration of various local animals’ pelts and skulls. Very interesting. Then, she presented a Power Point show that was a general introduction to the animals and plants that inhabit the huge Tongass Nat. Forest.
We took advantage of the beautiful day to eat lunch al fresco on the aft deck. Why, we even needed our dark glasses! While eating, we watched yet another cruise ship slide in between the Star Princess and the Pacific Princess. It was closer to us in size, and was one of the “ Silver Seas” line. Small, but spendy best describes these ships.
Sailaway occurred pretty much on time, at 2 p.m., and we glided north past the “New Ketchikan” where all the basic stores, motels, and homes are located. With the binoculars, we could see “Totem Bight” which was our excursion on our last cruise to Ketchikan. We tried several parts of the ship for pleasant sightseeing. First the “Pacific Lounge” which was comfy, but the canned music was jarring compared to the gorgeous scenery. Then, we went to the forward “Sun Deck” which really WAS sunny. Many sunbathers enjoying the turnaround in the weather. While up there, I tried to use the cell phone and found it worked. So, I had a nice chat with Betty in Oregon.
Back in our cabin, we had room service iced tea (Barb) and Glenn No. 2 Dos Equis beer, plus the balance of the room service potato chips and some cheese from the buffet.
Dinner found us still without the other two mystery table mates. We don’t think they exist! We’ve asked the waiter to remove the extra chairs unless the passengers materialize tomorrow night. Squeezing 7 places into a 6-person table leaves little elbow room.
The scenery was just lovely, from the dining room windows, or from our cabin. We were in true “ Inside Passage” country now. Snow-clad peaks above green forests, and often little forested islands in the foreground. Coupled with such beautiful weather, this was just what we hoped for.
Spent a little time in the casino, which cost Barb less than Glenn, but neither of us were too enthused. So few slots to play gets rather boring and the pay-outs are few and far between. Went to hear the harmonica player, par excellence, Bernie Fields, but we found we were nodding off. Also, I suspected a nice sunset might be developing and wanted to check it out. A look at the bridge cam on our cabin TV confirmed it was nice and pink in the sky. Glenn stayed in the cabin, but I went to the upper decks where the wind and cool temps quickly woke me up! Got some nice shots, but hesitated to leave as the sun refused to truly give up and go away. Fog banks rolled in on the mountains around us, creating some lovely scenes. Even a colorful lighthouse appeared at the right place to be silhouetted in the pink and orange sky. I took my last photos after ten p.m. and it was still quite light and still had a lot of color low on the horizon. One of the ship’s officers even came out with HIS camera to record the lovely evening colors.
Tried to use the laptop to connect to the ship’s wireless from our cabin. The signal indicated about 65% but as I tried to set up an e-mail with a photo attached, it seemed excruciatingly slow. Worse yet, I forgot the important URL to enter to get disconnected. Had to call the Purser’s desk and get that info. All in all, I probably used up 15-20 minutes rather fruitlessly, although I finally got my message plus a sunset photo off to Mark, Karen, Betty and Terry. Hoped to send it to others, but I don’t think that is going to work. I had planned to compose a message on my laptop, put it on an SD card, take it to the Internet café and paste it into an e-mail. No can do! They have copying and pasting blocked. Got too much spam, they say. So, I guess only brief messages will be going out or what seems like a generous number of minutes will quickly melt.
11:20 p.m. and I think it is finally dark outside our cabin window. Time for bed!
DAY 4 Sunday, July 12, 2009 Glacier Bay
There was no doubt about what kind of weather we would have for our day within Glacier Bay. The sun was shining when we woke up and stayed with us all day. After hearing Alan the Naturalist’s lecture on whales we found a good spot on Deck 11 (the top, Sun Deck) about 10:30 a.m. We chose the port side which proved wise as we were on the side that faced Margerie Glacier first, and for the longest time when we arrived at the end of the Bay. We rustled up a couple of plastic chairs and placed our bag of viewing/photography equipment and extra scarves, gloves, jackets by them. And here we stayed for most of the time. During the day, we could go back and forth to check on the scenery on either side. The ship glided by wonderful mountains, which got higher and more snow-covered as we went deeper into the Bay. The water was so still that we had mirror-like reflections of the mountains on the water. Wildlife was not all that abundant though. A couple Orca, a few harbor seals and flocks of Gulls and Kittiwakes were about it. Even though a sunny day, the air got progressively colder as we sailed deeper into the Bay and closer to the calving tidewater glaciers. By the time we reached our destination, the face of Margerie Glacier, I had on everything I had brought out on the deck with me! Glenn was equally bundled up.
Thanks to the National Park Service's concern for the pristine condition of Glacier Bay, only two large cruise ships are allowed into the Bay every day. Our fellow cruise ship this day was from the Holland America line, and we only saw it once as we passed the entrance to Johns Hopkins Inlet. At that time, it was on its way out of the Bay. Basically, we felt as John Muir must have felt when he explored Glacier Bay in 1879. Just us, the mountains, the glaciers, the still water and the wildlife. Perfect!
The captain gave us a good hour at the face of Margerie Glacier. It calved a few large chunks of ice, but it was nowhere near as spectacular as Hubbard Glacier had been many years ago. While at Margerie Glacier, the ship’s thrusters were used to hold the ship steady at the face of the glacier. The thrusters also churned up the water, and that action apparently brought up good stuff to eat for the flocks of Gulls and Kittiwakes that were perched on nearby ice bergs, or in the water. A very pretty sight to see all of the birds swooping and diving for some tasty morsels. Later in the afternoon, on our way back out, we went just inside the entrance to Johns Hopkins Inlet, the bay leading to huge Johns Hopkins Glacier. This was as close as the Park authorities would allow the cruise ships to approach this glacier. This was pupping season for the Harbor Seals (endangered here). They have their pups on the many good-sized ice bergs being created by the calving glacier and then they leave their pups on the bergs—safely out of reach of the Orcas who apparently won't approach the ice bergs. However, at least one seal obligingly came out and played near an ice berg below the ship.
The last glacier we visited was Lamplugh Glacier, also in Johns Hopkins Inlet. We did not stop here, but the ship got in quite close to the face of the glacier where we could see an amazing “waterfall” shooting out from the base of a “cave” in the glacier.
The last “event” within Glacier Bay was watching our Forest Service naturalists climb down a rope ladder and get in their little launch for the trip back to Bartlett Cove where they are based. They had boarded the ship early this morning, presented some programs which we chose to miss (we stayed with the scenery and our good spot on Deck 11) and then narrated over the ship's loudspeakers throughout our time in the Bay. It was hard to hear them out on the deck, though. They also circulated around the outer decks of the ship, answering questions, as did our onboard naturalist, Alan.
DAY 5 Monday, July 13, 2009 Skagway
The good-weather god was still smiling upon us. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to see that it was already light, and the mountains along the shore were clearly outlined by the sunlight behind them. Obviously, we were well into Lynn Canal, the long fjord leading to Skagway. The water was very calm, but no wildlife could be seen.
I went back to sleep; woke up again at 5:30 and there was now bright sunlight. The ship was being maneuvered into the dock at Skagway. This seemed very early, but we were actually the LAST of today’s four-cruise-ship allotment in Skagway. Our closest neighbor was the Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas. The two ships were at the "railroad dock" near the terminus of the White Pass Railroad. Closer to town, we could see the Holland America Zaandam and beyond it the largest ship of all—the HUGE Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Sea which can carry 2100 passengers.
The aft of our ship was facing the town, and we hardly needed our jacket and vest to sit out and enjoy breakfast on the aft deck of the buffet. No great crowd out there either, at least at 8:15 a.m. when we were there. Soon we heard the train whistle, announcing that it was time for the White Pass & Yukon narrow gauge train to leave for its first run of the day, full of cruise ship passengers. All Aboarrrd! The train tracks conveniently come right down to this dock. We found that the cell phone would work here, and checked in with Mark and Karen.
There was a free shuttle right from the ship to the end of the dock. There, we boarded the “Smart Bus” and for $5. got our hands stamped. Now, we could ride the bus all day long. Otherwise, it was $4 per round trip. The Smart Bus would also take us to some outlying areas and we planned to do that on our second trip into town.
The entire town of Skagway is a National Historic Park and we planned to steep ourselves in its history. The Smart Bus dropped us off near the Nat. Park Service museum. We picked up tickets for the 10 a.m. walking tour and had time beforehand to stroll through the museum’s exhibits. Always amazing to see the huge amount of “stuff” that Canada required the Klondike Stampeders to haul up and over the mountain range separating the USA and Canada. First historical fact: no gold was ever found in the Skagway River valley. The actual gold fields were approximately 550 miles north, near the junction of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers in Dawson City. Skagway became known as the gateway to the Klondike gold fields, and was a bustling supply town. Most of the Klondike gold also exited through Skagway, on ships heading back to the USA or elsewhere.
They had a nice relief map in the museum which clearly showed the various routes the gold seekers took. Promptly at ten a.m. a Park Ranger lady started our walking tour. First, we went to “Soapy” Jefferson Smith’s old saloon. Apparently it had been privately owned, is very weathered and guarded by chain link fence. Now, the Nat. Park Service has received the saloon and many other artifacts and property its private owner, and they plan to restore Soapy’s building. His saloon is a surprisingly small building. Our Ranger guide avoided the main street, which was clogged with the thousands of tourists from all of those cruise ships. Instead, the ranger walked along side streets, past some old “false front” buildings, one of which was the hotel where plans were laid to build the White Pass & Yukon railroad. The tour ended at the Moore cabin. Captain Moore was a veteran of gold rushes from Calif. to South America and suspected this valley would be a good gateway to any mining areas in this mountain range. So, he got here ahead of the Rush. He was still pretty much overrun by the 30,000 hopeful men and women who arrived at Skagway from 1898-1900 but, he owned the dock and with many other investments, became wealthy. Later Moore went on to the Nome gold rush, finally finishing out his life in Tacoma.
We also learned that the valley has been rising as the glaciers recede and THAT’S why the docks are now a few blocks from downtown. Originally the docks started right near the Park Service building, which was once the railway station. We also learned that the tides can be 25 feet here!
We successfully avoided going into any tourist shops, and headed back to the ship about 11:15, for rest and lunch.
After yesterday in chilly Glacier Bay, it felt just plain HOT in Skagway. We transferred from the city shuttle to another one that went out to other “destination” tourist sites: We had our choice of "The Jewell Gardens" which apparently features a glass blower (go figure!) and the “Gold Fields” which features a huge gold dredge AND a micro-brewery. The brewery tilted the scales toward the Gold Fields for us. The bus took us up the canyon a mile or so above the town. This attraction sits right at the edge of the Skagway River, but the dredge never was used near Skagway. It actually started out in a mining district near Baker City, Oregon and then went to the Klondike. Gold Fields bought it and brought it down to Skagway in 2000, broken down in sections and transported on flat bed trucks. We learned that it cost twenty bucks to tour the dredge or twenty bucks to pan for gold. That sounded way overpriced to us. Apparently they do most of their business with the shore excursions from the cruise ships. We opted for the $6. pint of beer and on this warm day it was cold and good. We sat in their restaurant/brewery where we had a nice view of the river and the gorgeous mountains high above. Also took a quick stroll through their gift shop, but our buyers’ resistance remained at “high.”
Our return shuttle took us directly to the ship at about 3:30 p.m. Looking out our cabin window, we spotted a series of spouts from the opposite side of the bay. Going up to Deck 10 with the high-powered binoculars, we could see several Humpback Whales in that general area. Got some good looks at them and attempted some pictures. They stayed in that area for at least three hours. We still were seeing them at dinner, and even when the ship pulled away from Skagway at 8 p.m.
Since the cell phone was working in Skagway, we took advantage of that and called Karen in Salt Lake City. The Shakespeare festival was great, she saw the wildflowers up at Brighton, and did some bird watching at Bear River. Sounds like a very nice week for her. She flies home tomorrow.
We chose to eat in the buffet tonight, as we wanted to see the 7 p.m. show featuring Steve Hites, a local Skagway singer and entertainer, whose show was entitled “North to Alaska.” During his show, he managed to encompass the entire history of Alaska, from the Yankee whalers who were captured by a Confederate ship—weeks after the Civil War ended!!—to the Yukon Gold Rush, the Nome gold rush and 20 th century events such as building the ALCAN highway, statehood, the oil discoveries, the pipeline, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, right up to the election of Alaska’s first woman governor, Sarah Palin. All very entertaining and very appropriate to our location tonight, in Skagway.
After dinner, we sat out on the Promenade Deck awhile; just soaking in the gorgeous scenery of the Lynn Canal. This is NOT a canal, but the deepest fjord in North America and one of the deepest and longest in the world as well. We saw lovely waterfalls cascading down the steep mountain sides, with glaciers nestled among the jagged peaks up above.
We could have watched the scenery for several hours since sunset wasn’t until 10:30 and then it would be twilight for another hour, but the casino called. We played a long time without losing very much. We even had some nice “bonus” wins.
DAY 6 Tuesday, July 14, 2009 At Sea
Foggy and overcast all day and evening, BUT also calm seas. This meant very smooth sailing across a big chunk of the northern Gulf of Alaska.
We considered doing the laundry, but found a crowded laundry room full of surly cruisers. We backed out quietly and decided to try at some later date. We spent a fair amount of time in the casino—pleasant, but not especially profitable. In mid-morning we attended Naturalist Alan’s lecture on Otters and other sea critters. Very good, as all of his lectures have been.
It was gray, foggy and cloudy all day. The good news? Nice, smooth seas all the way from Skagway to Valdez. Since it was an At Sea day, it didn't much matter if it was cloudy or clear. Not much to see anyway. No marine life showed itself. Took a nap in the afternoon. Then, stayed up until midnight—hard to realize the time of night as it was still light!
We saw a very good show tonight—the dancers, all six of them, plus the ship’s small orchestra did a great job. Parisian theme, including of course! the CanCan.
I finally met up with one of the Cruise Critic e-mailers. This was Katie from the Simi Valley. Later, I left her a copy of the compiled cruise tips we had both been reading before our cruise. She was upgraded from a balcony cabin to a mini-suite, and with her two adult daughters, they appreciated more room. However, she said she suspected the ship is NOT full. No one appears to be in their original cabin on Deck 6 and the entire row of cabins there appears to be empty. Hmmm, the signs in the Pursers Office say the ship is full.
DAY 7 Wednesday, July 15, 2009 Valdez
Yesterday I bought shuttle bus tickets for Valdez. The plan for today: hit the Laundry early, get the wash done, and then go into town. Proved to be a good plan. I found the last available washer, and by the time it was done (25 minutes) one dryer opened up. They charge $1. for each, and the soap is free and automatically dispensed right into the machine.
We ate breakfast on the aft deck while the dryer was doing its thing. Not cold out, and as we finished breakfast the low clouds began to burn away, revealing spectacular mountains and glaciers all around Valdez.
I met Naturalist Alan in the Laundry. Even naturalists have to wash their clothes now and then! Told him we were appreciating his lectures. He said tonight we would pass right by where the infamous Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef spilling 10.8 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay oil into Prince William Sound.
Once the clean clothes were put away, we gathered up our cameras, binoculars and only a light sweater or vest. By now, the clouds were gone just as in Ketchikan, and it was really very pleasant.
The shuttle bus was an old school bus, painted white, and it made a zigzag tour of “downtown” Valdez, the boat harbor, RV parks (the driver claimed that Valdez has the largest RV park in Alaska), etc. He pointed out a rather barracks-style 3-story building with a “motel” sign on it. He said it was built by Exxon to house the pipeline construction workers, and when no longer needed, the company tried to give it away—and got no takers. So, they put a price tag on it—and it sold! Go figure. Many of the buildings in Valdez appear to have been pipeline workers' housing. Quite a few “park model” type RV's around the town. We saw several such "Park Model" RV's, joined together and now used as a motel. In fact, there were LOTS of house trailers around town, not all in the RV parks. Boy! How do you keep those warm in the cold Alaskan winter? Answer: with a lot of oil heat. Other bus driver nuggets: It's very hard to get fresh veggies in Valdez. They send them first to Anchorage; the ones that fall on the floor get to Valdez! The pre-1964 earthquake Valdez was four miles to the north. Totally destroyed. A few buildings, including the former post office were brought down here.
Valdez appears to have no real “downtown.” There IS a handsome convention center, a community college boarding school (run by the Univ. of Alaska), the RV parks, the boat harbor, etc. but all are rather randomly spread out. Considering that this must have been a planned move of a town, it seems rather haphazard.
We left the shuttle bus near the Visitor Center, got some information, and then went in to the gift shop adjoining the Center. Saw some cute little Eskimo-type magnets for $7.00. I looked them over, and then took one over to the clerk, saying “There seems to be something wrong with these magnets.” That made him do a double take! Then I said, “They don’t say Made in China.” We all had a laugh, then he explained that everything in the shop, including the magnets was made by his family—father, mom, grand mom, sisters, him, etc. Their real enterprise was soapstone carvings and carvings from whale bone (obtained from St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea). They accumulated a lot of bone and soapstone dust from all the grinding and polishing. At first, they tried burying the stuff in their back yard in bags, but their mom objected to the lumpy lawn! So, they hit on the idea of combining the dust with polymer, painted the resulting figures, then decorated them with mink. Well! With a “provenance” like that, how could I resist? So, two magnets (for me and Mark) and one pin (for Karen) came back to the ship.
After our "major" souvenir purchase, we walked across the street to a two-story store called “Anne’s Place” where you could buy antiques, clothing, souvenirs, and climb into a tanning bed! They also offered two free video shows—one on the 1964 earthquake and one on the oil pipeline construction. In a corner of the store, they had a TV set up, with folding chairs for the viewers. A young girl changed the DVD’s at the end of each show. We noticed a lot of boxes near the TV, all covered with white cloths. A sign on them said: “Please don’t mess with these. They are Michael’s dialysis equipment.” A very touching sign. Later, we learned that 31-year old Michael, the owner's son and a diabetic, has only one kidney, now failing, and is using dialysis while waiting for a kidney transplant. Pretty dramatic stuff goes on in Valdez.
The movies were excellent! The earthquake one was original footage taken in Valdez, Seward, Anchorage, and other Alaskan towns hard hit by the quake and ensuing tsunami waves. Very compelling—an excellent explanation of what happened up here on Good Friday in 1964. The pipeline film also was good background on what currently keeps Alaska solvent. We could see two oil tankers across the bay from our ship—sucking up Prudhoe Bay oil from the end of the pipeline, no doubt. A large tank farm was spread out on a hill, high above the water. Certainly an incredible engineering achievement. Was the pipeline worth the environmental damage? Probably. Was the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill worth it? Probably not. Naturalist Alan says Prince William Sound still has not recovered. Over twenty Orcas (Killer Whales) died, and have never been replaced. At least a thousand sea otters died; they are slowly coming back. Oil can be seen on the rocks along the edge of the bay. And, what is being done to prevent another huge oil spill? Most of the tankers calling at Valdez are still single-hull and can remain so until 2015, per the U.S. Congress. Can you really eliminate all the possibility of a spill from a ship? I doubt it. Dinner mate Joan read a recent book from the ship library, called “Spill.” Must look for that in Salem.
By the time we had finished watching an hour’s worth of 20 th century Alaskan history, it was time to head back to the ship for lunch. By now, the aft deck was bathed in bright sunlight, the bay sparkled and once again, we had lucked out on the weather.
Fortified with lunch, we decided to take the shuttle again, this time being dropped off near “Dock Point” where there was a hiking trail along the water. Our bus driver was vague on just where the trail was. As it turned out, we didn’t find the trail, but had a nice walk past the boat harbor and by a lovely little bay, filled with milky glacial water. Oh, so scenic! Farther up the bay we could see a big container handling operation, so perhaps Valdez is also the main port for all cargo in this area. Apparently it is the northernmost ice-free port, and that is why the pipeline ends here. Ships can haul the oil down to the “outside” refineries year-round.
Later, our dinner mates had few kind words to say about Valdez. I begged to differ. One of the points of this cruise was to see some of Alaska that most cruise ships never reach. I think Valdez had a more honest feel. This is what “real” Alaska looks like: a bit raw; with ugly buildings (for the most part); modest houses (for the most part) and the majority of the residents are making a living in some way not directly related to tourism. Other cruisers, who took the boat trip to Columbia Glacier, thought it the best excursion of the cruise. So the Valdez area is not lacking in natural beauty.
Certainly, Valdez does not live solely on the cruise ships—and a good thing too! Only ONE ship—the Pacific Princess comes to this port, every two weeks. Next year, Princess is pulling out completely. So, why are they busy building a nice new pier, visitor center and ferry dock?
After dinner, we went out on the Promenade deck and caught the last half hour of Alan the Naturalist’s narration. At that point we were near the mouth of the bay where the Columbia Glacier feeds its big ice bergs into Prince William Sound. Very good-sized bergs were floating by, most of them at a comforting distance. Alan pointed out the place near Bligh Reef where the Exxon Valdez got off course and hit the reef with calamitous results.
After Alan finished his narration, the clouds were lowering. It was time for the evening show, but we decided one evening of Bernie, the very talented harmonica player, was enough, so we headed for the casino. It was Barbara’s turn to make some money tonight and when Glenn said he had lost enough, she gladly quit, so she could savor a little winning for awhile. Instead of staring at the slot machine screens, we went up to the top deck and watched a lovely sundown and the long, long twilight of these high latitudes. The ship’s bow was pointed south at least until midnight, and we sat behind the glass shield, watching the islands and high mountain peaks glide by. We tried to figure out just HOW the captain was going to get between the islands or around what appeared to be a solid barrier of mountains. Fingers of fog began to seep down the mountain valleys, reaching to the water. At times, there was literally a “fog fall” pouring down over the lowest hills and forests. Did we have lots of other cruisers enjoying this beautiful evening? Nope, not a one! Only the lonely security guard came by, on his regular patrol of the ship. He was an Indian, from Goa, and seemed happy to need to be on the top deck this evening.
DAY 8 Thursday, July 16, 2009 Seward
Like a repeat of our arrival in Valdez yesterday, all was gray with low clouds hanging down over the mountains as we arrived at Seward. One of our two excursions was for today—“The Best of Seward.” For $64 each, we were to: "Visit Exit Glacier, a part of Kenai Fjords National Park, and explore the small coastal community of Seward.”
We left a call for 6:30 a.m. so we would be sure to be done with showers and breakfast before we met our bus at 8:15 a.m. Our tour bus was an old school bus, now painted green. It was operated by “Whitey” while Whitey's wife drove a matching bus. They split us cruisers into two small groups, about thirty in each bus and off we went. First, a slow drive through Seward—like Valdez, another “working” Alaska town. We passed the huge conveyor that moves coal from the trains to ships. Apparently the coal mines are about 100 miles north. A large harbor marina, full of boats, both sport and commercial fishing. And RV’s! All along the water, one RV park after another. Why so many? Well, they occupy land that was once commercial docks, oil tanks, canneries—all swept away by the 1964 tsunami. The government decreed “No more permanent buildings” in this area, but as our driver/guide said: “Well, if a few RV’s get swept away in the next tsunami, there will just be less congestion on the town’s streets.”
We also drove by a memorial to the young orphan Indian boy John (Benny) Benson who lived in Seward and won the competition to design the Alaska territorial flag, now the state flag. And it IS a beauty, with the blue background behind the Big Dipper and North stars.
Benny's story is a very heartwarming one. I quote from a website:
"The winner of the contest was a seventh grade Aleut student, thirteen year old John Bell (Benny) Benson from Chignik. He was living in an orphanage in Seward, the Jesse Lee Mission Home, at the time of the contest.
He designed the present AlaskaState Flag with a blue background to represent the sky and the Forget-me-not flower. On that background were placed eight gold stars to represent the Big Dipper and the North Star. The Big Dipper forms part of the constellation Ursa Major or Great Bear; symbolizing strength. The North Star represents the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. Benny's simple, elegant design was adopted by the Alaska Territorial Legislature in May, 1927.
For his efforts, Benny received first prize, a gold watch that was engraved with his flag design. In addition, the Alaska Legislature awarded Benny $1,000 toward a trip to Washington, D.C. to present the Alaska Flag to President Calvin Coolidge. Unfortunately, the trip to Washington never took place due to prior commitments of the President. Though Benny never made it to Washington, his territorial flag became the Official"State" Flag when Alaska joined the Union in 1959. The Alaska Legislature decided to apply Benny's award of $1,000 to his education. Benny chose to study diesel mechanics."
Our buses headed north, then west on the Exit Glacier road. We made one stop—at the home of our bus drivers/guides. Mostly this was so we could meet a true Alaskan Husky—their aged dog. The dog, rather stiff with arthritis (Oh! I could feel his pain!) dutifully climbed aboard our bus so we could admire and pet him. Whitey explained the origin of the Alaskan Husky—these dogs were developed during the various gold rushes in Alaska. The miners figured out that dogs were the most dependable way to pull a sled over the snow. They are a mix of original Husky with other breeds brought up to Alaska. Usually they were big, strong breeds. Today, these Alaskan Huskies are dying out. Now that dog sledding is a major sport, dogs are being bred for speed, not the ability to haul a miner's gear.
Back on the road to Exit Glacier, we were following the Resurrection River which enters Resurrection Bay at Seward. Our guide said that Exit Glacier had been pretty much ignored until the past decade or so. The glacier got its name from the daring mountaineers who first traversed the huge 300-square-mile Harding Ice Field in 1968. The ice field straddles the Kenai Peninsula from Homer to Seward. The men “exited” the ice field via this glacier. Not a very glamorous name for what is a stunning glacier!
After the Kenai Fjords National Park was established, the Park Service began to spend some money on Exit Glacier. They built a good road to the vicinity of the glacier, later a good bridge across the wide, braided river that flows from it, and finally good trails were constructed including ones that go right up to either the toe or to the edge of the icy monster.
It was indeed a very nice highway to the glacier, and lined for most of the way by the magenta blossoms of the Fireweed—about at its peak right now. We drove through dark forests of spruce and hemlock, with alder and cottonwoods near the river. Still all gray and foggy, until….as we neared a viewpoint for the glacier, there it was—peeking through the clouds. By the time we reached the visitor center, the clouds had rolled away from the glacier and the valley. Amazing!
“Whitey” said he would accompany any who wanted to hike the 1.2-mile trail to the edge of the glacier; his wife would stay at the Visitor Center with the others. We decided “maybe” we could make the hike—at least we would start off with the group. We also had the ship’s videographer along, and later on the ship, we watched the video and had glimpses of us huffing and puffing our way up to the glacier. The video also showed our group busily waving our arms and swatting the mosquitoes as we walked along. The first part of the trail was an almost-level, wide, paved path. No problem there for us. Then, the pavement stopped, and we started going up hill. We kept going. Then we reached a series of steps in the trail and climbed past the deeply striated rocks that had been scraped by the receding glacier in earlier years. We kept going. Finally, the edge of the glacier came into view, and we definitely wanted to reach it, so…we kept going. All this in brilliant sunshine, although the clouds still covered many of the peaks around the valley.
At the glacier's edge, we had wonderful close-up views of the towering edge of the glacier, and of the water pouring out at its base. More “blue” was visible in this glacier than in those at Glacier Bay. It was half a mile across the glacier but distances were hard to judge from our perspective at one side of the ice. Way, way up above Exit Glacier was the HUGE Harding Ice Field that feeds it. Steep, steep mountains surrounded us. It would be tough hiking to tackle these mountains, but there were trail signs pointing in various directions from the Visitor Center.
After all the requisite photo ops, it was time to head back down. Very hard on our knees, going downhill, but we made it back to the bus within the allotted time. At some point, the guide and many of our party took a different route back, and saw a black bear, up close, enroute. All we encountered was the Alaskan mosquito—out looking for nice, plump tourists, full of blood. A lot of arm-waving seemed to keep them at bay—at least, we had no welts to show for our walk through the insect-laden woods.
A pleasant ride back to the ship, and we managed to get back on board under our own power. No doubt we paid at least temporarily, with painful knees, and back for our hike to Exit Glacier, but we think it was well worth it—and we have the pictures to prove it!
We opted to skip lunch, but munched on our room service fruit bowl, cookies and a pot of hot tea. Called Mark on the cell phone. Connection a bit spotty, but we communicated. He’s been watching the bridge cam and could see that Seward was full of clouds and gray skies. And, indeed it still was! The sun break we enjoyed at Exit Glacier started to disappear even as we returned to our bus, and back in Seward the clouds still hung low over the mountains. Well, maybe there was a bit more of the peaks showing above Seward and some “brightening,” but not the sunny day of our past port days. Our guides all say this has been a summer of wonderful weather, and we’re grateful we’ve had our share of it too.
Spent most of the afternoon just resting up, downloading the latest batch of pictures, etc. Barbara has filled up a one-gigabyte card, which is almost 500 photos!
Went up to the buffet at 3 p.m. as it was rumored that ice cream is served there every afternoon from 3-5. Well, the rumor was partly correct. There WAS ice cream, at 3:30 and after we sat at a table with our ice cream choice, here comes a nice man with a cart full of warm oatmeal and raisin cookies, and milk, if you wanted something to wash down those cookies. Oh my!
Sailaway and the naturalist’s commentaries always seemed to coincide with our dinner hour at 5:45 p.m. But, we finished our meal in time to hear the last of Alan’s comments and spot some Puffins all on our own. Also saw some Humpback whales spouting, but too far off to get a good look and they chose not to keep up with the ship. No beautiful sunset tonight; no rain, just cloudy skies without any color.
The big dance show tonight was entitled “Shake, Rattle and Roll” and was aimed at a younger generation than ours. We went in early enough to be in the front row which Glenn enjoys, but it makes me nervous. I keep expecting to have a dancer trip over my feet! No mishaps though, and the dancing was good, if the music was not our favorites.
We both had some good luck at the now-familiar slot machines and quit while it was still in our wallets. You can get very tired of the same 13 slots night after night! But, they do surprise us with a nice “bonus” win now and then.
DAY 9 Friday, July 17, Kodiak Island
We awoke just as the ship was slipping into its dock. No sunshine—all fog and clouds so we could not say whether Kodiak is surrounded by high mountains or not. Yesterday, the town of Kodiak broke a weather record when it reached 70 degrees. No danger of breaking such a record today!
We are now as far west in Alaska as we will go. Having Kodiak included in this cruise itinerary was a major incentive to make this third cruise to Alaska. This is where modern Alaska’s history began. In 1763 a Russian fur trader came to Kodiak and reported that it was prime sea otter country. In 1784 the first European settlement in Alaska was established farther south on the island. It was a bloody accomplishment, with the Russians massacring hundreds of the local “Alutiiq” natives. Locally, this battle is known as the “Wounded Knee of Alaska.” From then on, the Russians were in control and often abusive to the natives. The major Russian player, Alexander Baranov, arrived in 1791 to take control of the colony and the “Russian America Company.” Another of those pesky tsunamis came along, and nearly wiped out the town. Baranov moved the entire colony north to what is now “ Kodiak Town.” So, there was a lot of history for us to absorb in one day in Kodiak!
We were booked for the “Best of Kodiak” tour today ($89 each) and it was an early start to the day—our bus was waiting for us at 7:15 a.m. These tour buses were not repainted former school buses—they were the real thing. They had two buses waiting for this excursion, but only filled up about half of each bus. That was good, because the leg room in the bus was designed for small, short legs! We each took a seat to ourselves with access to the window. Our driver and the guide were both local ladies—at least they had lived here for over 30 years, and were long-time friends. They had a friendly, low-key approach to narrating about Kodiak which was very pleasant.
The description for this excursion: “View Cannery Row as you drive into the city. Stop at the Baranov Museum, then visit the Alutiiq Museum for Alaska Native culture, cross the bridge to Near Island to visit the Alaska Fisheries Research Center with an aquarium and “touch tank,” then a short drive north to Fort Abercrombie, finishing up with a performance by the St. Innocent’s Academy.”
Cannery Row was bustling with activity—they are still bringing in fish to Kodiak. One cannery was very unique—it was housed in the last WW II “Victory Ship” constructed! The ship was hauled up here from the “mothball” fleet to provide a cannery facility after the 1964 tsunami had wiped out the existing Cannery Row. And, it’s still functioning!
Fishing is definitely the economic base of Kodiak. The harbors (they have several) are filled with fishing boats; canneries line the road in town; the big orange ball floats and crab rings seem to be stored behind every store or warehouse, and often we saw a small collection of them in the backyards of homes.
Our guide pointed out that Kodiak is pretty quiet at this hour of the morning (before 8 a.m.) but she promised we would see a lot of bustle later in the morning as the canneries started up and people were out and about.
The staff at the Baranov Museum had obligingly come to work early so we could view the contents of this pretty white building which didn’t look like the oldest Russian building in North America. When it was built in 1808 as a storehouse for fur pelts, it was a log structure. Later, the Russians added an exterior of vertical boards; then much, much later it got horizontal redwood siding, now painted a pretty white. At some time, it was turned into a private home.
Inside the museum it was easy to see the building’s layers of siding; some of the logs were still exposed, as well as the later vertical siding. Besides looking at, and photographing various exhibits, I had a chat with the curator. I told her we were trying to take note of early Russian artifacts since a resident at our apartment complex was an emeritus professor of Russian History and we knew he would be interested in what this museum had. She pricked up her ears at this, and quickly gave me her card, saying that the museum’s archivist would very much like to be in touch with the professor. We gave her our e-mail address and promised to pass her request on to the professor.
Soon, our guide called “Time!” and we were off to the next tour stop. This was a small, but elegant museum devoted to the history and art of the Native Americans of Kodiak—the Alutiiqs. A brochure said that “this Museum is governed by the Afognak Native Corporation.” Maybe so, but our tour guide mentioned that this museum, the bridge to Near Island from Kodiak town, and the marine laboratories at the Kodiak Research Center on Near Island were all funded by Exxon, as part of their reparations for the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill. So, Exxon has at least been forced to put significant money into the area’s infrastructure.
The Alutiiq Museum was small, but had some very fine exhibits. I was intrigued by a photo of a woman who had a "temporary" tattoo on her chin—done to honor her grandmother who had the same tattoo—permanently. The woman in the photo looked very much like some of the Maori women from New Zealand that I have met—same type of facial tattoo. Is there a connection???
The Alutiiq museum exhibits included lots of evidence of their people's abuse by the Russians. There must have been a lot of intermarriage between the natives and the Russians—lots of Russian surnames in Kodiak today.
Back on our school bus, we headed a short way out of town to visit Fort Abercrombie. The drive took us through beautiful Sitka Spruce forests—with all the trees' lower branches heavily draped in graceful moss. On this foggy day it was easy to see why moss would do exceedingly well on this island!
Sited on a headland on the northeast side of Kodiak Island, Fort Abercrombie was established during World War II, as the Japanese invaded a few of the westernmost Aleutian Islands and were expected to keep coming toward Alaska's mainland. Luckily, this never happened and the big 8-inch guns trained on the harbor waters were never fired in anger. One of the artillery bunkers is now a museum—telling the story of the war in the Aleutians from both sides. The array of wildflowers around the bunker and at the edge of the old gun emplacements were probably the best part of this stop. We just missed the Chocolate Lily—one of Alaska's wildflower "stars." Our guide led us right to a plant whose blossoms were all dried up. But Columbine, Lupine, Bog Orchid, Geranium, Hare Bells, etc. were all happily blooming and their flowers were enhanced with the little water droplets from the fog. Still, there was way too MUCH fog—we could hear lots of seabirds and Loons calling on the rocks below the point, but couldn't see them or anything else beyond about fifty feet. What was even more disappointing was our guide's comment that "Yesterday we broke all records for warm weather on Kodiak Island." With sunshine, of course. We were victims of that old tourists' curse "You should have been here yesterday!"
Next stop on our tour-- the Alaska Fisheries Research Center. According to our guide, this use of the Valdez disaster reparations money is paying off. She said the Center is quite profitable. Not sure just who now pays for their marine research. They had a small but excellent area of exhibits for the public. The complete skeleton of a whale hung high above us in the lobby. The showpiece here was a very large circular, tall aquarium full of local marine life. So colorful—especially the sea stars. And interesting to see an Alaskan King Crab "on the hoof." We were also invited to pick up, or at least touch some of the inhabitants of the "touch tank." Our guide said this Research Center is very popular with the school field trip crowd, and I can see why.
Our last stop was t see local St. Innocent’s Academy's performance at the impressive "Gerald Wilson Auditorium" located next door to Kodiak High School. Our tour group was in a small theater, but apparently the entire seating section revolves around to join a larger theater. (More Exxon Valdez money here? I never found out.)
The students from the Academy gave us a great dance and song performance. According to the program, the Academy is a church school, run by the Eastern Orthodox Church for at-risk young men and women. Only established for a few years, their original main goal was to help local young people in danger of succumbing to drugs, alcohol, etc. But now, the students are mainly from the Lower 48. One thing about being on Kodiak Island—you are pretty far removed from a lot of the modern world's temptations. Even more interesting, the Eastern Orthodox priest who is head of the Academy is an Italian!
Even without knowing much about the kids who were playing instruments, singing and dancing for us, it was obvious that they had found a creative outlet for their problems and were very talented. These were mostly the older students, young adults, some of whom were married with babies. Apparently the younger kids had gone home for the summer. Our guide said they live at the Academy in dormitories and work in construction, house painting, as waitresses, etc. to support the school. They even have their own coffee house in downtown Kodiak.
As we filed outside to board our bus, the entire troupe and their headmaster came out too, played music and invited us to join them in some Virginia-Reel type dance. We all left with very positive feelings about what St. Innocents Academy is doing to rescue young lives.
After the tour ended about 11:30 a.m. it was back to the ship for us. We felt we had seen a nice cross-section of Kodiak, and found no need for more walking around the town. Our sore knees, hips, feet, etc. were still recovering from yesterday’s hike to Exit Glacier. We tried the dining room for lunch, and it was very pleasant. MUCH less noisy than at night when the room is full.
There was no Deck 11 harbor viewing as it was now definitely raining. Instead, a nap for Barb. Glenn woke her up to say that the ship was pulling out (about 5:15 p.m.) and the naturalist was doing his sailaway commentary. We saw a few seals on low rocks as we headed away from Kodiak, and some little dark, round Sea Otter heads could be seen in the water near those rocks. But, no Puffins to be seen. Even Naturalist Alan gave up on wildlife watching before we headed for dinner. One other interesting event was watching our pilot, who guided us around Prince William Sound for the past three days leave the ship by climbing down the swinging rope ladder and landing on the tug boat that was staying close to the ship. A tricky operation! The pilot had the help of a young woman on the tug who helped haul him aboard. For this night and the following day and night we sailed straight across the Gulf of Alaska. No need for a pilot to guide us around any rocks out here in the deeper Gulf—just good radar, I guess.
We spent some time in the casino after dinner—profitable for Barb, not for Glenn. So, we headed back to the cabin for movie-watching, napping and otherwise relaxing. Around 11 p.m. I noticed bird activity outside our cabin window. Went up to investigate and found at least one hundred (probably Shearwater) birds sailing over, around, in front of and in back of the ship. Sometimes they would fly low over the water, and then zoom upwards again. It looked like they were enjoying the interaction with our ship.
DAY 10 Saturday, July 18, 2009 At Sea
Crossing the fearsome Gulf of Alaska proved to be a piece of cake! Just those nice little "wavelets" according to our TV channel that gave sea conditions. Never sunny, always clouds and some fog, but that apparently made for calm seas, and it was a worthwhile trade-off: no seasickness instead of a pretty or windy day with big waves.
We didn’t do much of note while At Sea. Went to two lectures—one by Alan the Naturalist on bears, mostly. Followed by a very good program on “Navigation” by “Mario” our handsome Chief Officer in charge of navigation and security (I think). Too much time on our hands of course led to time in the casino. Bad for Glenn, but not so bad for Barb.
We had front row seats for the show tonight—"Tony Cherry," an aging singer from the Bobby Darin era, who played upon the fact that he is from South Philly, has gangsters in the family, etc. He did sing many familiar and nice songs from the 50’s and 60’s though.
DAY 11 Sunday, July 19, 2009 Icy Strait Point (Hoonah)
Yesterday, Alan the Naturalist, said we would most likely see whales early today—like 5, or 5:30 a.m. So, we asked for a wake-up call for 4:45 a.m. Dashed up to Deck 11 and watched for whales under gray, lowering skies. Very calm water so IF there had been any whales we certainly would have seen them. Called Mark from Deck 11, and the connection was very good on the cell phone. Way out here? How do they do it? A few others were also on the whale lookout up there, but after about 90 minutes we gave up and headed for the buffet for breakfast. It being Sunday, I enjoyed their Belgian waffles with fruit, eggs and bacon. Really not as good as Avamere’s but good enough!
I had a chat with “Katie” from the Simi Valley. She said before the trip she had checked out my website and was impressed with all I had on there. Said she felt like she knew me even if we had never met. She and her two daughters are going on lots of excursions on this cruise. It's the first time in Alaska for one of the daughters. Talked to her later and they were successful in seeing whales on their excursion while at Icy Strait Point. Supposedly Icy Strait is good Humpback whale country, but we saw only one, briefly, as we left later in the day.
We took the tender over to this made-for-the-cruise ships destination about 10:30 a.m. and spent a very pleasant three hours or so. The local Tlingit Indians in nearby Hoonah (perhaps along with other tribal groups) took a defunct fish cannery and turned it into an interesting place for the cruisers to see Alaska as it used to be (the cannery) and enjoy some excursions in, or around the area. Only one cruise ship per day is allowed to visit Icy Strait Point. Like the private cays in the Caribbean that some cruise lines own, the cruisers are restricted to specific areas, so there is no general wandering about. However, it was possible to walk along a road or take a shuttle into the village of Hoonah, about a mile away. Knowing that this island has the highest density of Alaskan brown bears in all of North America also keeps the cruisers in line!
While ashore, we walked the short Nature Trail until it went in the dark, bear-filled woods (not really), then watched the crazy people ride the mile-long zip line. It takes 90 seconds to drop down from the top of a 1300-foot ridge on cables and land at the cannery. Oh yes, and the price of this thrill? $149. (Hmmm, what does that work out to, per second?)
We walked back to the cannery buildings along the shore. Found several nice wildflowers including Alaska’s state flower, the Forget-me-not. We toured the museum part of the cannery, and at one point relaxed by the "Crab Station" with a big mug of "Alaskan Ale." We saw a couple Eagles doing some kind of a courting flight out over the bay before they flew back into the dark Spruce forest. This was a "tender" port, but with only our little ship allowed to use this destination today, there was no waiting to board the tenders at either end. Our ship was anchored about a mile away—directly in front of the village of Hoonah.
Naturalist Alan later explained that the Pacific Princess would sail through Icy Strait (just around the corner) not once, but four times on this cruise! We sailed through it to get to Glacier Bay, just eleven airline miles away, then through it again when we left Glacier Bay and headed for the Lynn Canal and Skagway—just to the northeast. Back through the Strait when we left Skagway and headed for Valdez. And, now, we would sail through it on our way to Juneau, our next port. We did see at least one other cruise ship in Icy Strait as we came into Hoonah this morning—a busy intersection in the marine traffic world.
We had a late lunch on the aft deck. It was slightly “brighter” but never a sunny day. Barb took a nap after lunch, then it was time for dinner.In the evening, some gambling—not successful. Later we went to the Cabaret Lounge for the evening's performance. There were dance production numbers, but not OUR kind of music. Beatles, Beach Boys, etc. with weird costumes. There were a few decent "Rat Pack" numbers (Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.) but all in all, not worth it. The sight lines in the Cabaret Theater are terrible unless you are in the front row, and we weren’t.
More gambling, with net losses for both of us. It rained some as we left Icy Strait Point, then reverted to “wavelets” and gray skies. No pretty sunset tonight.
DAY 12 Monday, July 20, 2009 Juneau
From Icy Strait Point to Juneau is 36 air miles, or 70 nautical miles. Our ship must have really dawdled all night, to reach Juneau about 6 a.m. Glenn watched the ship’s progress up Gastineau Channel, but I slept until 6:30 by which time the tenders were being lowered right past our window.
The Pacific Princess was the first cruise ship to reach Juneau this morning, but we still were anchored out in the channel. Later, we could see why. Before long, we were joined by the Holland America’s Amsterdam, a medium-size ship carrying 1400 passengers. Just a bit later, here came the Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Sea, a considerably bigger ship (2100 passengers). Later, those two were joined by the Golden Princess, biggest of all in this day's cruise ship derby (2600 passengers) and which we have sailed on to both the Mediterranean and Hawaii. But wait! There’s more! Later in the morning, here came yet another ship, Holland America’s Zuiderdam (1800 passengers). By noon, there were five cruise ships in Juneau harbor. Suddenly the town’s sidewalks near the ships were clogged with the passengers, all clutching their coupons and eager to buy, buy, buy! This was a bit of a shock to us, after recently visiting the ports in the Gulf of Alaska which seldom see even one cruise ship a day.
After breakfast, we, too, headed for the tender and a short trip to the tender dock, located smack in the middle of the action, just a block from the “Red Dog Saloon.” I was clutching MY coupons, gleaned from an Alaska coupon book picked up at Pier 91 in Seattle. Mostly, we walked about snapping photos of the various sculptures and murals representing earlier Juneau—its Native American traditions and the gold miners who put Juneau on the map. Being the “early bird” cruise ship, we had Juneau pretty much to ourselves for the first hour. We cashed in a couple Red Dog gift shop coupons for two very nice ceramic coasters with views of Skagway and Ketchikan. Free seemed a very good price for them. Then, we entered the red swinging bar doors of the Red Dog saloon to repay their generosity by ordering a couple over-priced beers. No more over-priced than beer on our ship, however! And, the amazing variety of “stuff” in the Red Dog kept us busy. The longer we looked, the more we saw. A huge stuffed Brown Bear head, of course, but who would have expected Wyatt Earp’s gun to be hung on the wall here in Alaska? A fun place and the sawdust on the floor was actually quite comfy to walk on. Good beer, too.
Our “shopping” completed, we headed back to the tender dock and our ship. We had an early departure from Juneau— 3 p.m. In the meantime, there was an interesting talk given at 1 p.m. by Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the grueling Iditarod Sled Dog Race in March, 1985. She now breeds and races the new “Alaskan Huskies” which, as she explained, are really mongrels, but bred for endurance and speed. It was an interesting talk, and she credited her perseverance in slogging on during a terrible blizzard, with temperatures plunging almost to 100 degrees below zero, to her winning the race.
We ate a late lunch in our usual spot, out on the aft deck, enjoying views of Juneau, the float planes taking off, and fishing boats coming and going. Nothing too unusual about Juneau—until you look above the town and see those incredibly steep mountainsides that rise up behind it. What a dramatic setting! Juneau claims to be the only U.S. city where its residents can look up and see mountain goats clambering over the cliffs, high above their heads.
Today, the clouds were hanging low on those steep mountain sides, and it threatened to rain, but never quite got to that point. NOT a good day to ride the tram up Mt. Roberts. At times, even the station at the top of the tram was hidden in the clouds. We heard later that those who went on the whale-watching trip, somewhere north of Juneau, were well-rewarded. Lots of whales, and they were doing their “bubble net” trick where they form a circle, and blow bubbles that effectively force the fish inward for easy eating. Clever whales! We have concluded that the only way to see the whales up close is to pay for an excursion. Is there some sort of conspiracy between the cruise lines and the whales? Alan the Naturalist keeps promising we will see whales from the ship, but so far almost none have been seen by us in the areas he cites.
As our ship pulled out and started south down the Gastineau Channel, we could see the remains of the rich and famous Treadwell Mine complex, across from Juneau on Douglas Island. The Treadwell gold mine was the largest mine of the Alaskan Panhandle and, in its time, the largest gold mine in the world. During its operation from 1881 to 1922 over 3 million troy ounces of gold were extracted and at its peak it employed over 2000 people. Then, in 1917 a spectacular disaster destroyed the mine. T hree of the mines had been excavated to a depth of more than 500 feet below sea level. They suddenly began leaking, and all the miners had to be evacuated. Hours later the mine collapsed. At the climax, the collapse sent sprays of water up to 200 ft in to the air from the mine's entrances. About all that remains of the mine today are a few crumbling buildings and the "glory hole"—now filled with sea water. The Glory Hole just looked like a small bay as we went past.
As we sailed away, back down the Gastineau Channel, and then past 200-miles-long Admiralty Island, we went up on Deck 11 to see Southeast Alaska on what was a more typical day for Southeast Alaska. It never rained on the ship while we were up there, but it was chilly, with a brisk wind. We could see rain squalls or low clouds, “caught” in the mountains all around us. At one place, where three channels met, there were lots of fishing boats. Alan said the converging currents from the 3 channels brings along the fish, making for a “hot spot.” We saw trawlers, gill netters, and who knows what other kinds of boats all together there. The only bird of note was a Bald Eagle flying not too far from the ship—it was also near that fishing “hot spot.”
After dinner we gave the casino the opportunity to return some of our money, but it was not in a generous mood. So, we headed back to our cabin for the evening. All gray looking out our cabin window, but still far from dark at ten p.m. The movie “Madagascar II” was on TV this night—since Mark and Karen would soon be heading for the real Madagascar we thought we should see it. Funny movie, but we learned very little about Madagascar!
DAY 13 Tuesday, July 21, 2009 At Sea Heading for Victoria
While eating breakfast in our usual spot, on the aft deck by the buffet, we noticed that the gray skies of the past few days were gradually thinning out, and patches of blue sky were appearing. By noon, we could see the cloud bank far behind us to the north, while WE were back under sunny skies. Everyone looked much cheerier too. People were even sunbathing around the pool, but no one was actually going in the water.
After breakfast, we spent some time in the Internet Café—it’s obvious that we can’t use up all our 500 free minutes, even though the connections are excruciatingly slow. Later, I sent off a second general e-mail with some photos via the laptop in our cabin—that took over half an hour just to attach the photos and send, even though I had already composed the message.
The casino caught our attention for awhile, but it just grabbed our money so we didn’t linger long. After lunch we attended the last lecture by Alan the Naturalist. He did an excellent job of summarizing Alaska’s history of booms and busts. His conclusion: right now, oil is barely hanging on as Alaska’s major resource and income stream, but should the price of oil turn down, the Sourdoughs have only one money-maker to tap—us cruisers. I had surmised that already. Maybe Sarah Palin is resigning as Governor of Alaska in a few days because she sees the handwriting on the wall? Depending on the cruise ships for your major source of income could be iffy. No one on this ship HAD to be here—this is all discretionary spending and even this crowd may only be here because they booked the cruise before the economy soured. Interesting times ahead for Alaska!
Tonight was our third and last Formal Night. Barb has run out of colorful tops to wear with her black pants, and Glenn brought only one sport jacket so our tablemates had to put up with us in familiar garb. No one seemed to mind! Before dinner, we had another Captain’s Party—this time it was for him to say “Farewell” but since he is heavily Italian in background and accent (from the isle of Ischia near Naples) I guess he was actually saying “Arrividerci” to us. So we had two nice Rum Punch drinks and fancy hors d’ouevres before dinner, courtesy of the captain. After dinner we went to the aft deck to enjoy the sunset at about 9:30 p.m. All golden and pretty.
One nice feature of assigned dining rather than “anytime” dining is that we got to take part in the traditional farewell ceremony—the parade of the Baked Alaska dessert. No more real sparklers on the meringue-covered ice cream—just a battery operated “candle” but still a fun event to watch. We also took farewell photos of our tablemates, and all agreed that we had been a compatible group and nice to know. Those two "mystery" tablemates never did appear. After the first week, a new head waiter finally removed the extra chairs, much to our satisfaction.
The show tonight was a repeat for us—in fact, probably the third time we have seen “Words and Music”, a tribute to Broadway shows, but it’s still one of Princess’ best productions, IMO. It transferred well to the small stage on this ship too.
We dawdled in the casino after dinner, and managed to barely miss the Champagne Waterfall and free glass of champagne up in the Pacific Lounge. Dang! We got back to our cabin about 11:30 p.m. and now it was truly DARK when looking out our cabin window. The sun did not set until 9:30, but the long twilights of those northern latitudes were no longer with us.
DAY 14 Wednesday, July 22, 2009 Strait of Juan de Fuca and Victoria
Hmm, the Internet weather forecast for Victoria was “sunny” and partly cloudy, but when we woke up we were back to gray skies and seas, albeit, CALM seas. We had survived the perilous journey down the Pacific side of Vancouver Island with hardly a rock or a roll! Now, we were just entering the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
We had breakfast with our dinner mates, Don and Delores, then up to the Pacific Lounge to chat with Alan the Naturalist, who continues to insist that we might see whales (Killer Whales) at any moment. Ha! Alan! You jest! Still pretty cloudy over Cape Flattery, and the Olympics but it cleared off as we headed east toward Victoria. We called Mark, cell phone worked just fine. The Internet still worked in Victoria too, but was oh! so slow.
We started the re-packing, or as better described, the “stuffing” of the suitcases. No concern about wrinkles at this point—just, “will it all go back in?”
The fog banks beneath the Olympic Mountains rolled or evaporated away as we sailed closer to Victoria, and by the time we entered the harbor it was a glorious, sparkling July day. The ship’s crew and a sturdy tugboat shoved the Pacific Princess up snugly to her dock by about 3:30 p.m. We finished up the required passenger disembarkation questionnaire forms and deposited them at the Purser’s Desk on our way out to the shuttle bus. For $6.50 each we could ride the shuttle into downtown Victoria all day long. For us “all day” was about 1 ½ hours. That was all our knees, feet, hips, and backs could take. But oh my how lovely Victoria looked! In its full summer glory, with the hanging flower baskets on every lamp post, flower beds everywhere, and the green-leaved vines that cover the front of the Empress Hotel were all shiny and fresh.
The shuttle let us off in the retail section of “ Government Street” about four blocks from the Empress and the Inner Harbor. It wasn’t just the passengers from our ship that were crowding the sidewalks! EVERYBODY had come to Victoria for a July vacation apparently. But they were all in a holiday mood, and happy just to be strolling along, licking a “gelato” ice cream cone, and like us, snapping photos all along the way.
For us, this was a chance to revisit some places we have really enjoyed in Victoria—all centered around the Empress Hotel where we have stayed several times, including a wonderful 50 th wedding anniversary celebration there with Mark and Karen in December, 2000. I looked fondly up at the “Concierge Gold Level” floor and recalled the delicious breakfasts, and snacks throughout the day that the Empress served up for us in the Concierge Gold Lounge.
After strolling through some of the hotel’s public areas, and their “conservatory” with its marvelous Indian totems, we walked through their gardens, past a beautiful fountain. Crossing the street, we visited Totem Park adjacent to the Natural History Museum. Then, a block away we had nice views of the Parliament building with its huge copper dome. Turning north, we walked along the waterfront, where a bagpiper was piping, and artists were displaying their wares. Everywhere, were those “signature” hanging flower baskets on the old-fashioned twin light poles. More photos of the Empress Hotel, then a rather warm walk back up the four blocks where the shuttle bus was conveniently waiting. We had worn our fleece jacket/vest because there was a brisk, cool breeze blowing out by the ship. Didn’t need them downtown!
Somehow, I came down wrong on my right foot as we left the bus, and ouch! it hurt. Probably another small foot joint that has arthritis, but it left me limping as we walked back through the Immigration shack to the ship. No problem getting through immigration—we just flashed our ship card and that was that.
We “almost” finished packing the suitcases, then headed for dinner about 7 p.m. It was “open seating” in the Dining Room and the waiters seemed to have the “slows” so it was after 8 p.m. when we finished up. We dined with a couple older than us who have been Everywhere—twice. Even to Antarctica, twice! And, that was their very best trip they said.
After dinner we stuffed the last “stuff” in the suitcases, set them outside the door and soon they were whisked away. We are now down to the basics, including sleeping in our underwear! We have to vacate our cabin by 7 a.m., but our Platinum status will allow us the privilege of using the Pacific Lounge until our disembarkation number is called. Showers, and to bed just before 11 p.m.
DAY 15 Thursday, July 23 Goin’ Home
We asked for a 6 a.m. wake-up today, as we must be clean and out of our cabin by 7 a.m. Party’s over! However, they gave us a very nice breakfast in the dining room, where all was peaceful and quiet, as compared with the buffet which we knew from earlier cruises would be a zoo. We enjoyed visiting with our table mates. Like just about everyone on the ship who is near our age or older, they have been on a zillion cruises to everywhere. Makes us feel like rank beginners. One couple regaled us with the tale of their cruise around Cape Horn, including a visit to Antarctica. Apparently they flew to the Falkland Islands, and boarded a small Lindblad ship there. THEY got on the ship, but their luggage didn’t. The ship appealed to the local authorities to help find the passengers’ luggage, but that would have required communication between Argentina and Great Britain and this was bad timing. The two countries had just wound up the Falkland Island War and they were barely speaking to each other, let alone cooperating. The passengers cleaned out the Falkland Island stores of clothing and new luggage since they were headed into a very COLD place in Antarctica. It was a couple weeks before their original stuff turned up. The good news was that the foul-weather gear they bought in the Falklands was much better suited for use in Antarctica than what they brought with them.
After breakfast, we headed for the Pacific Lounge at the front of the ship where we had good views of downtown Seattle, but they were gray views. Overcast again, and not ready to burn off in the mid-morning. Found a message from Karen on the cell phone, offering to pick us up. Called her and said thanks a bunch, but we’d be rather dull company and since we had our HUT tickets, we’d just stick with the game plan. A visit with her on Saturday sounds better.
We also called Mark. He said he has saved a lot of the “bridge cam” views of our cruise and we can download them when we get home. That will be an interesting addition to all the digital photos we’ve taken. Had a last chat with tablemate Joan, then at 10:30 a.m. we disembarked the Pacific Princess for the last time. Riding through downtown Seattle in the shuttle bus confirmed the wisdom of our decision to fly and use the ship’s transfers between the airport and the ship.. We would probably have made it on our own to the pier and back to Keizer, but the stress level would have been extremely high.
My foot continued to hurt when walking, but we slowly made our way to the Horizon check-in point. I asked for wheelchair service to the plane and at PDX and that was a big help. We were in the air just long enough to be served a glass of red wine (Glenn) and Pale Ale (Barb). We also had good looks at Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. Both are in need of a new coating of snow. Mostly rocks on Rainier, and St. Helens was almost completely free of snow.
We landed at PDX just a few minutes too late to catch the HUT shuttle, so went over to the waiting area and enjoyed the sunshine and cool air for about an hour and a quarter. Portland is supposed to be having weather near the 90’s but it certainly didn’t feel that hot in the shade of the waiting area at PDX.
On this Going Home Day we used a variety of transportation modes: we were on the ship, on a bus to SEATAC, on a small cart out to the Horizon plane, and Barb was in a wheelchair at PDX. From PDX to Salem, we rode the HUT shuttle (now equipped with electrical outlets and wi fi, but we were too pooped to drag out the lap top). Finally the Buick which had waited patiently at the Red Lion Hotel carried us back to Avamere and our apartment. We appreciated another "perk" of a retirement apartment: the maids had come in and "freshened up" the apartment yesterday. It looked lovely and yes, it now looked like home.
We probably won't make another trip to Alaska, by ship or plane, but we appreciated this chance to see a little more of the " Great Land." It's a beautiful state to be able to claim as one's birthplace!
Barbara Halliday,
August 25, 2009
Keizer Oregon
<<Main Cruise Page/Photo Album Links