Alaska - May 2009

North to Alaska

May 2009

Onboard the train to Denali

Like all adventures, this one starts with leaving home. Wednesday morning, we were picked up by friends who kindly agreed to deliver us to the airport. Our departure was signaled to all the neighbors by the Schnauzers, Baxter & Sadie, announcing their dismay at our departure. You would think they were being beaten with a stick the cries were so loud and plaintive.

The flight to Anchorage was uneventful. We were picked up by a van from the Clarion Suites which was a very pleasant hotel. We walked around town for a little while.  Spent the night, ate their complimentary breakfast and got on their shuttle to be taken to the Railroad Station to make the trip to Denali Park. The train was very nice; two decks with us sitting on the upper deck, the dining area was on the lower deck. We had seats with a table between us and another couple. The problem was unless you were lucky, you could end up riding backwards. We were lucky. The other couple was grousing because they did not like to ride backwards, so they wandered off into another car and found themselves another seat.

The weather was beautiful as we rolled through the Alaskan countryside. The most dangerous thing was to get between Laura and the side of the train on which they spotted wildlife. She was vicious. The bruises will fade in time.

We did see several moose off in the distance, two caribou running along the track, many beaver lodges but no beavers. There were also trumpeter swans out on some of the small lakes. We did have a juvenile bald eagle fly over. No bears were seen by us although several were spotted including one that resembled a log.

Our hotel from a distance - Denali NP

The trip from Anchorage to Denali was an 8 hour trip, we were shuttled to the Princess Lodge and went off to our rooms. We checked the room and our luggage had been delivered so it was off to look around the resort. We caught a ride out to a trailhead and hiked out about 30 minutes looking for wildlife. We did find a few of the Alaskan unofficial state bird – the mosquito.

The next morning we had breakfast with a mountain climber who had climbed Mount McKinley. He had some very educational slides showing the stages of the climb. Afterwards, we split up – I went back to the room to collect our carry-on luggage while Laura went to the tour office to book us on a tour of a Sled Dog kennel. While I was walking down to the room, I heard a woman calling out, “Moose on the river, Moose on the river.” It was like Paul Revere announcing “The British are coming”, people were jumping up and heading for the viewing areas over the river. When I caught up with Laura, she headed out at a clip to see for herself.

We rode about 6 miles from the lodge to Jeff King’s Husky Homestead. It was pretty cool. There were about 50 huskies tied out in a large open area. They were being worked. We watched them do some of the training. The funniest thing that I saw was a pup being exercised in an 8 foot high wooden hamster wheel. He was just running like crazy.

They talked about how the dogs were bred, then trained and how only so many were kept by Jeff for his teams. The culls are sold off to other mushers for their teams. They told us that their three daughters were tasked with naming the litters. When they were young there were litters that were named after the Disney characters, then states of the union, famous authors like Hemingway, cameras like Kodak, Canon & Fuji, condiments ala Ketchup, Mustard and Mayo. The last pups were named after the moons of Pluto. Laura got to hold a 12 day old pup and one that was 4 weeks old. She finally got here puppy fix for the trip.

We then were bundled back on the train for the 8 hour return trip to Anchorage. On the way back we were lucky to spot Mount McKinley or as the Alaskans call it – Denali. Nothing too exciting happened on the return to Anchorage. We overnighted at the Captain Cook Hotel which was only about 10 blocks from our previous hotel and about 4 blocks from the train station. The next morning we were loaded back on buses to go to the train depot to catch another train. This time we were going to Whittier to meet the ship. The train was not as nice as before. In fact, we spent over an hour waiting for them to correct some computer problems with the train. The weather deteriorated becoming very overcast and by the time we got to Whittier, it was raining. We did board the Sapphire Princess and got our selves organized

Joining the Ship

The trip to Whittier was not too exciting. It was a gray overcast morning and by the time we reached Whittier, it had started raining. It was off the train, run across the street and into the ship’s terminal; all the time attempting to keep from falling down in the slick places or loosing your hat in the wind.

It was quick work to check in and find our cabin. We are on the Plaza deck which was the 5^th level. The highest level for passengers is the 15^th deck with the exception of a nightclub called “Skywalkers” which is located in the stern and juts out over each side. So we were in the hold, but since it was a “free” cabin, who can complain. The benefits of being a travel agent.

At sea

We spent the afternoon unpacking and wandering about the ship. We visited the buffet for dinner. The ship got underway at 9:30 pm Saturday.

Sunday was a day at sea, sailing down the College Fiord, more wandering about the ship. Laura had a several page questionnaire that she had to complete to show that she had learned something about the ship - like how many glasses were in the Champagne waterfall (401) and how many eggs does the kitchen use in the week (57,000). That is one big omelet. But this is how she earned her free trip.

We also attended a free Champagne Art auction. It was alright and we did manage to keep from bidding on any of the art. I really liked one of the pieces that the opening bid had to be $25,000 but it would not have fit in with any of our other art.

Sunday was also the first formal night, so we put on our fancy duds and went off to one of the dining rooms. It was a very nice dinner with lots of choices. We were seated with a couple from England and a couple from New York. We were right next to the window so we could keep watch for whales. None sighted so we returned to our cabins with the hopes that tomorrow would be a better day.



Glacier Bay - glacier is calfing

Monday was our day to visit Glacier Bay. We were up early. Well, early for us. Alright, it was 7:30 am. But we did have time to have breakfast and then wander around the ship, running from side to side looking at the shoreline for wildlife. I saw two mountain sheep. That’s my story and I’m sticking too it. Others said all they saw was piles of snow. Laura claims to have seen a moose running through the woods.

Eventually we worked our way up to “Skywalkers” and found seats facing forward so we were able to assist the Captain in navigating down the Inland Passage. As we got near the entrance of Glacier Bay; there were sightings of Pacific Humpback whales, Laura saw a whale tail and several plumes of water from the whales. We also observed several smaller Menkie whales.

We walked for awhile on the weather decks but found that the wind was blowing too hard and too cold for any comfortable viewing so we returned to the enclosed areas to watch the ship move up closer to the glaciers. It was amazing to watch the 400 foot cliffs of ice shed chunks of ice and snow. Sometimes there was a crack; other times with a roar like thunder.

Glacier Bay

For lunch today, we had a small cup of reindeer chili and rockfish chowder. Laura found the chili to be a little too spicy for her taste and I found the chowder to be too strong of a fishy taste and odor. But not to worry, gentle reader; there is plenty other things to eat on board.

The late afternoon was spent watching more scenery glide by and then a search of the ship for each other. I slipped my leash and Laura spent about an hour looking for me. It sounds worse than it was, I had returned to the cabin for personal reasons and when I returned Laura was no where to be found. She had gone back to the cabin to look for me while I was up on the deck looking for her. So I returned to the cabin and she had gone back up on deck to look for me. I stayed in the cabin and eventually she found me.

Dinner was served in another of the dining rooms. With the exception of the two specialty restaurants; all the menus are the same. Only the décor is different. We had the “Surf and Turf” which was 3 small prawns and tenderloin of beef. We finished off the bottle of wine that we had ordered last night. We then retired to the cabin to prepare for our excursion to Skagway but that is another installment.

Skagway & Juneau

Our first stop on the voyage south was the town of Skagway. It was a quaint little town only 5 by 20 blocks in size. I would estimate that at least half of that were tourist shops working hard to relieve the cruise ship passengers of as much money as they can in the shortest period of time possible. We walked the main area and found by comparison shopping that for the majority, the further they were located from the ship’s berth, the lower the price of the trinkets. We did not have much time for shopping as we had booked a trip on the White Pass Railroad for the afternoon.

view from the train

That was an enjoyable trip up the mountain, following the trail that the 49er’s had used to reach the Yukon gold fields. The train was pulled by diesel locomotives but the passenger cars were of the 1890-1900 era. The cars had seats that flipped over so you could face forward each way. They were heated by an oil stove in the “front” of the car.

We enjoyed the scenery that passed by as we made our journey up and down the mountain. We saw the cemetery outside of which “Soapy” Smith was buried.

We returned to the ship after making a quick stop to buy a bear dog toy that Laura had spotted. Afterwards, we returned to the ship and relaxed prior to dinner and evening programs.

Laura says the bear is for Baxter but we will have to see what the future brings.

It turned out to be a quiet evening. After dinner we had planned on going to an Old Gold Miner’s show but got to the lounge in which it was playing just as it finished. The later entertainment was the Crew Talent Show, so we took a pass and returned to the cabin. On the TV, they were showing quite a few new movies, so we watched “Bedtime Story”. It was very entertaining.

Juneau

The ship had left Skagway at 8 pm and while we slept, it journeyed to Juneau. We arrived there and were tied up ready to discharge passengers at 6:30 am. Needless to say, we did not leave then but we had been awake since about 5:30 am when the thrusters came on to maneuver the ship to the pier. We ate breakfast and were down the gangway on our way to town by 8 am.

Juneau is larger that Skagway. It is the state capital. We saw the capital building – one of two capital buildings that do not have a dome. We went into the Red Dog Saloon for a Coke. On the walk into town, many of the shops were not open so we checked them out on the return trip. The port visit was very short to start with and we had a trip to the Tongass Rain Forest and to the Mendenhall Glacier. The rain forest lived up to its name. Of course, we had been dealing with light rain to heavy mist since we had arrived in Skagway, yesterday.



Rain Forest - Juneau

The tour of the rain forest was really only into a corner of the 17 million acre park. Mostly we toured 16 acres of an individual’s property that he had reclaimed from a massive mud slide and had planted with rain forest plants plus local annuals. It was very pretty.

Mendenhall Glacier

The trip to the foot of the Mendenhall glacier only took about 15 minutes. The weather changed quickly. Our tour guide stated the majority of people lived in the Mendenhall Valley and that it only received half of the rain that the town of Juneau, only miles away received. It was pleasant not to be dripped on but even still, it was chilly.

Laura continued her search for bears. The closest she had come was a pile of fresh black bear scat on the walkway from the Visitor’s Center.

The ship left port at 6 pm. We rested for a short time and then headed off for dinner. After dinner, we went up to the Explorer’s Lounge where they were having a Tribute to Big Bands. The ship’s band played for about an hour. Afterwards they had a Comedian/Illusionist by the name of Gary Carson who entertained us for an hour. We had drinks in the lounge while watching the shows. Laura tried a “Flamingo” which was a martini made with Apple Schnapps, Melon Liqueur and Cranberry Juice. She liked it well enough to have another.

We returned to our cabin and watched “Taken” with Liam Neeson. It was an action packed movie. Then it was lights out until morning and our arrival in Ketchikan but that’s another installment.

To Ketchikan and home

Getting ready to board seaplane

Our arrival at Ketchikan was at a little more civilized hour of 10 am. Ketchikan is billed as the Rain Capital of Alaska with over 250 inches of rain in one year. We were lucky, while the sun was not shining; the weather to start was just a light cloud layer.

As we disembarked, Laura found a tour booth that was offering flight-seeing tours of the area. It was on her list of things that she wanted to do. I was not interested so I agreed to meet her at the end of her tour at the Visitor’s center. 15 minutes past the agreed upon meeting time, I saw a map and learned that there were two Visitor Centers so I set off for the other which was about 3 blocks away. Sure enough, Laura was there waiting for me.



Ketchikan

We set off on a tour of the various shops selling trinkets to the tourists. We found a place selling cans of smoked salmon and made arrangements to have a supply shipped home. We found an outside market in which they were displaying local art work and in which a local bird rescue group had an immature female Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk and a Screech Owl on display. That was fun to see them up close. We wandered around the town, making our way to Creek Street which was the red light district in the early 1900, we then walked back into town as the skies clouded over and the rain started to slowly fall.

We returned to the ship bearing more souvenirs and retired to our cabin to get ready for the Captain’s Circle Cocktail Party and the second Formal Dinner. The cocktail party was not much to write about – watered downed drinks and a chance to shake hands with the Captain and senior staff. The dinner was good. Laura finally got her lobster; I had some pan fried rockfish. Our table mates for the evening were from Arkansas and Louisiana. We enjoyed their company.

After dinner we went forward to the Princess Theater to watch the floorshow put on by the singers and dancers. The theater was packed. We stood and watched for a while until the feet revolted and we went down to bed.

During the night, the clocks were set forward an hour so now we are on San Diego time. Having lost an hour of sleep we slept in until 8 am and then went to one of the dining rooms for breakfast. This was a new experience since in the past we have gone to the breakfast buffet for our breakfast and sometimes for lunch.

Today was an at sea day so we have been cruising along. Not much to see since there is a cloudy sky and a low bank of sea fog. I went to a Veteran’s meeting after breakfast; only 5 veterans showed up for the meeting; four of them were Air Force veterans and I was the lone representative for the Navy. I guess all the Navy vets had enough of ships at sea. Laura went to a cooking demonstration and then to play Bingo. I took my book and sat in the Atrium reading and listening to the musicians. It was a relaxing morning. Laura returned to the cabin and started packing for our disembarkation in Vancouver, BC tomorrow morning.

The day continued to be a slow one. Laura returned for another attempt to win at Bingo. I read and people watched from the atrium. After our last dinner, we went to a show featuring a musician who had played with the Beach Boys and a lot of other bands from the 60’s. He told humorous stories about his musical career and the people he had played with as well. There was a lot of audience participation with his songs which he encouraged; if fact several times he just got up and walked around the stage or drank water while the audience continued singing the song. His show ran until 11:15 so it was a late night for us.

The next morning I woke up at 6:20 am. It was a good thing that I did because I had forgotten to set the alarm clock and we were scheduled in a priority departure group that was supposed to meet at 7:25. We ate a quick breakfast and then carried all of our luggage up to the next deck and down to the lounge where we were supposed to meet. The worst thing about a cruise is trying to get off the boat at the end of the cruise. When they released us, it took almost a half hour to get to the gangway. Everyone in the group was trying to get off and to make it worse passengers were trying to get off elevators and move against our flow to get to their departure stations. We had the pleasure of standing next to a young couple whose small male child was screaming at the top of his lungs “Daddy’s turn, not Mommy’s turn, Daddy’s turn.” The travel gods smiled upon us and Daddy finally picked him up and he quieted down. Even better he was not on our airplane.

We cleared customs – “Have you traveled in any foreign countries on this trip?” “Yes, about 45 feet in Canada, Thank you.”

We were put on a small commuter jet to Portland. We had great views of Mount Rainer, Hood, Saint Helens and Adams. The weather in Portland was bright and sunny with a temperature of 80 degrees. It was gorgeous. We rented a Hertz car and drove over to Vancouver to pick up Inez, Laura’s mom to go to the river to see the new cabin. For those who have not heard the story previously, Laura and her sister, Mary have a cabin on the Washougal River. For years, it was a small trailer. This year, they decided to replace it with a real wood cabin. So Mary had been working very hard arranging for its construction and then outfitting it so it may be used when family go to the river. It was great.

Our new cabin

It is small but there is room to sleep 5-6 people. It will have running water someday. Electricity is set to be hooked up soon. It is still a work in progress but will be a cute little cabin when Mary finishes her plans.

We were back on Alaska Airlines and on our way to San Diego by 8 pm. We arrived and were picked up by Kim and James. We finally arrived at our home about 11:30pm to the joy of two schnauzers. They were very happy to have us back. Now we have the day to get everything washed and put away before we head back to work tomorrow. All adventures have to end and so have ours. George & Laura