20080908 – Ketchikan to Vancouver

Finally, we had a chance to relax all day. There were no schedules to meet other than meals. We were sailing all day. It was mostly cloudy and cool with limited visibility in the morning. Once we got just north of Vancouver Island, the weather cleared a little. We went on deck to try to see some orcas. There were a few when we went through a narrow passage. I got a couple of photos, but nothing exceptional.

The lighting was OK for some scenic photos. Here are a couple.

 

 

 

 

 

We filled out all of the surveys and customs forms in anticipation of disembarking tomorrow.

20090807 – Ketchikan

We reached Ketchikan at 2:00 after a cruise through narrow passages and scenic bays as we watched whales, orcas and porpoises cavorting in the water. Tom was at the dock to meet us when we arrived. It was really nice to see family at such an unfamiliar location.

Tom got us into the RAV4 and drove us to his cannery – Alaska General Seafoods. He showed us around the office and the cannery introducing us to the general staff and to many of the workers. As most of you know, Tom is in charge of personnel. He knows everyone. Today the plant was closed except for some minimal operations. But Tom explained how everything worked. He makes a good tour guide. The cannery produces canned and frozen salmon and well as various forms of caviar. For cleanliness, it is rated at the highest category in the world.

After the plant visit, Tom took us out to the property that he bought a couple of years ago. We walked through it. It is still totally undeveloped and very primitive. He has plans to do some clearing and building, but just a little at a time. The neighbor’s two very friendly dogs accompanied us while we walked through the lot. Tom claims that the dogs are bear deterrents. At least they make enough noise so that the bears know that someone is nearby.

After the property tour, we drove over to the nearby Totem Bight State Historical Park. We walked along a short trail and looked at many elaborate totems. We also visited a long house.

We then left the park and drove back to town. Stopping at a local restaurant, we had some appetizers and some Alaska Brewing Company beers.

It was then time to say goodbye to Tom as we boarded the ship in time for our 7:30 sailing.

It’s now a little past 9:00. We will get to bed early tonight.

20090806 – Juneau

My impression of Juneau is not positive. The few hours here did not let us get farther than downtown. The area around the cruise ship terminal is covered by jewelry and souvenir shops. The pier is lined with kiosks selling various tours. Ann, Ellen and I adventured as far as the capital and the governor’s house. The capital is a big building with no dome. I thought all capitals had domes. The governor’s house was impressive, though.

 

 

 

 

 

The harbor had three other cruise ships in it besides ours. This meant that there were about 6,000 extra people in town. It was pretty crowded. The harbor itself is picturesque with steep hills on three sides. There are lots of day-tour boats and float planes.

After we walked around town, I tried the free internet at the library. It was way too slow to publish my blogs. The librarian suggested that I go to a cafe a few blocks away with a much faster internet connection. So I went there after lunch. All I had to do was buy a coffee and I could use the internet all day. Such a deal!

We had another “formal” dinner tonight. It was the last time I needed to put on my suit on this trip. It was worth it, though, because we had an excellent meal. Before the trip my weight was down and climbing hills on my bicycle was not so hard. I’ll have to lose the pounds I put on during the last week before Cycle Oregon or I’ll be in big trouble.

After dinner, we went to the auditorium to watch a show. It was an all-male revue of old songs. We loved it.

It’s now 10:00. The ship is sailing to Ketchikan where we meet Tom Benson tomorrow afternoon. We are going to bed.

20090805 – Haines, Alaska

We got a decent night’s sleep. Our room is finally at a temperature that we can withstand. It’s too bad that each cannot be control independently.

We went to the breakfast buffet again. This seems to be the best option if we get there early. The buffet also gives more choices than the sit-down breakfast. We planned to meet the Bensons at 10:00 and it was about 8:30 when we were done eating, etc. So Ann decided to do a load of washing while I did a quick scouting of Haines. Our pier is fairly close to the town, so I was able to do a loop in less than an hour. I went past the library thinking that it had free wireless internet. I was wrong. Most things cost money here. So I decided to delay publishing this blog for another day.

I met Ann and the Bensons back at the ship. We left for our own walking of the town. We stopped at the cultural center/museum to get a feel for local history. Then we wandered around the downtown area bypassing the hammer museum (yes, it was a museum for hammers) and visiting the local supermarket. Then we went into the visitors’ center to ask about free wifi and not-free brew pub. There is no free internet and the brew pup was too far away. So we walked back to the ship and ate at the lunch buffet.

After lunch, Ann, Ellen and I visited old Fort Seward. Most of the buildings were still standing a in pretty good shape. They are now owned by private companies and individuals. Some are shops, some are condos and some are hotels and restaurants. Many of them have been restored. After this visit, we returned to the ship.

We actually relaxed for awhile. I thought that this was what we were supposed to do on a cruise, but there is so much to see that you can’t miss anything. When dinner time came around at 6:00, the Bensons knocked on our door and came in and chatted for awhile. We then went to the dining room where Alaska specialties were featured. We mixed and matched and had excellent food again.

After dinner, Ann, Ellen and I listened to a string quartet for awhile. Then we came back to our staterooms.

20090804 – Glacier Bay

We were up way early this morning. They adjusted the temperature in our stateroom from too cold to too warm and we sweated through the night. We were also anxious to see Glacier Bay and its glaciers, so sleep ended at 5:30. We fussed around in our room until 7:00 when we could go to the Lido Deck to get breakfast. The flu precautions were still in affect, so the buffet was blocked off with saran wrap and we had to be served by the counter staff. We were early enough so that we got through the lines quickly.

There wasn’t much to see during the morning because of the fog and smoke from fires several miles away. We spent some time outside on deck to see what we could see. That included a couple of humpback whales who took one look at our ship and did a deep dive.

Naturalists boarded our ship and began lectures and running dialogs of our course. We saw good lectures about bears and about native people of this area. After that it was lunch time and it started to clear up.

After lunch we reached Margerie Glacier and its neighbor Grand Pacific Glacier. The ship drifted near the glaciers so that we could study them and take photos. There was some calving but nothing major. Margerie Glacier is a mile wide and 250 feet high. Some of the ice pinnacles were over 100 feet high. We were impressed by the beauty of the ice especially the aquamarine color.

After viewing this glacier, we moved on to Lamplugh Glacier. This glacier was smaller and had its own characteristics. There was a roaring river that spouted out of the face at its mid point. The pinnacles were more rounded and had interesting markings. Again, there was no significant calving so we didn’t see huge chucks of ice falling into the water. We heard lots of cracks that sounded like rifle shot, though. These were from small calvings.

After looking at this glacier, we set sail for our next port.

We had another really good dinner with the Bensons and two other couples. Coincidently, one of the women  lives in the Bay Area (San Jode)was born in western Washington, went to one of the Claremont colleges (Harvey Mudd) and new Mark Johnson, the Benson’s nephew.

It’s now 10:20. The temperature in our room has been sort of fixed and we are going to bed.

20090803 – College Fjord and At Sea

We woke up a little after 6:00, looked out our window and realized that we were heading up College Fjord. Our clue was the view of a glacier flowing from the mountain to the sea. The ship idled at the end of the fjord so that we early risers could get on the upper decks and take photos of a large glacier that marked the end of the waterway. It was spectacular. We heard several explosions and watched as the ice dropped into the water. This is called calving.

After we turned around and left the fjord, we ran into fog that continued into the evening. This gave us a chance to experience the amenities of our ship. We did some reading, some eating, some walking, some napping, heard a lecture about earthquakes and glaciers, ate some more and went to a Broadway show revue. This was formal night in the main dining room, so we had to dress up. It’s been so long since I put on a suit that I forgot how to tie my tie.

The food on board is especially good in the main dining room. Ann and I ate there for lunch and the Bensons joined us for dinner. We shared tables with other passengers both times. We had breakfast at the buffet. The stomach flu is going around, so the ship is taking special precautions to protect us. We have to be served all of our food – no touching allowed at the buffet. There are hand sanitizing stations everywhere with textual and verbal messages to use them.

The Broadway show revue tonight was lots of fun. There were singers and dancers in elaborate costumes. We recognized most of the songs, but there were some we had never heard before.

It’s now close to 10:00 and we are ready to go to bed. At the left, you can see that our bed is ready for us. It has warmed up a lot in our room. When we arrived, the air conditioning was set on low and we couldn’t change it. They fixed it today and now it’s a little too warm. I hope that we get a good night’s sleep.

20090802 – Seward, Kenai Fjords and Veendam

We were up very early today so that we could get to our fjord cruise by 8:00. Ann and I ate breakfast at our hotel – granola, fruit and coffee. We got on our bus at 8:00 and drove four miles to our Kenai Fjords cruise boat – The Orca Voyager. We were on board early enough so that we got an inside booth on the top deck. This gave us a good viewpoint until people outside stood in front of our window. This was OK with me because I was outside a lot to take photos. We saw lots of whales, different species of birds including bald eagles, otters, porpoises, seals, glaciers, water falls and floating ice. Rather than write about it, here are some photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got back to Seward at 2:00 and boarded our cruise ship – The Veerdam. We have settled into our room which will be our home until August 9. The ship appears to be very well-appointed with lots of places to eat and to drink and to relax. I will publish more when I get some free internet connections.

20090801 – Anchorage to Seward

We woke up around 6:30, got dressed and strolled over to The Snow City Cafe. This was advertised as the best breakfast cafe in town. It didn’t disappoint us. Ann had Eggs Benedict Florentine while I had eggs with French toast and bacon. We had tasty orange juice and real coffee.

After eating, we took a leisurely stroll back to our hotel taking some photos along the way. The weather was sunny and cool. At 10:00 we walked across the street to the Saturday/Sunday Market. This is a very large tent market with vendors selling everything from jewelry to doughnuts. There was some produce, too. Ann bought some odds and ends while I bought an Alaska cycling jersey.

Leaving the market, we got some sandwiches to go for our bus ride to Seward. We boarded the bus around noon and took off for our scenic tour. Jamie, our bus driver, gave us a running commentary about the countryside. We went past many lakes, rivers, mountains and glaciers. It was very scenic especially with the brilliant blue sky. We made a few stops along the way for photos and nature calls.

We pulled into our hotel around 5:00. We cleaned up and took a shuttle into town for dinner at the Chinook Restaurant. Katie and Jamie recommended it as the best seafood restaurant in Seward. It was good, but pretty expensive. (The other good restaurants were just as expensive). I had grilled halibut with pilaf. Ann had grilled salmon with broccoli. Ellen had salmon linguini. Ben had a mixed fired seafood plate. We all had a pint of the local ale except for Ann who had white wine.

We’re now back at the hotel getting organized for our Kenai Peninsula tour early tomorrow morning and boarding our ship tomorrow afternoon. It’s 9:15 and I am getting sleepy.