This day calls for a day at leisure, but we have scheduled a Jet Boat Adventure for later in the afternoon.

There is a program scheduled by the Rangers that sounds interesting, so we go. He talks about a typical day in Alaska and with humor, covers such things as waking up late to get to a noon appointment on time only to discover when he gets there that it is really midnight. Hard to tell when the sun doesn’t set! What to do if you encounter a bear, stuff like that. It was good. Then he had a nature walk scheduled so I went along for that, since it’s another pretty day, though cool.

These little flowers related to dog woods are familiar from my childhood years in Maine.

Back at the lodge I check email and enjoy the fire in the big stone fireplace in the great room. This is a very homey spot and folks gather to play cards and visit. There is a big deck facing where they say the mountain is – it’s still not visible – and no one called last night to say it was.

Our Jet Boat Adventure is in Talkeetna which is over an hour away by bus so we head out for that after a late lunch. Dinner will be late! The last shuttle bus heads back to the Lodge at 9. There are three rivers at Talkeetna and I think we were on them all, but I am not sure, maybe only two. the word “Talkeetna” means where rivers meet. We saw evidence of beavers along the shore and we saw eagles.

The boat was going a little too fast for a good shot of this one,

but this is pretty good of a nesting eagle.

The salmon were not running yet and we did not see any bears. No moose either. The boat IS pretty noisy, but fast and fun!

We stopped to visit a replica of a trapper’s camp a short hike up from the river, there were LOTS of mosquitoes. This is the first time though that we have been really bothered by mosquitoes! I have repellent wipes that take care of the problem.

The building on stilts is the cache where food is kept safe from bears. There are stove pipes at the tops of the log supports to keep bears from climbing in. The stuff growing on the roof helps to insulate and absorb moisture and prevent leaks. Inside the cabin were furs of all the varieties of animals, our guides laid them out on the hitching post rail for identification.

Before getting back to the dock, we were treated to a glimpse of the top of Mt McKinley poking through the clouds, perhaps we will get the call later that it is all the way out!

We made it back in time to catch the last bus home, only to discover that another couple who had gone on a flightseeing trip were delayed and we had to wait for them at least a half hour. Not really enough time to chance finding food in town, but will we be able to eat at the Lodge, getting back around eleven? The bus driver called to check and found out one restaurant stayed open til 11:30. The poor bus driver would have a late night too, we noticed that the couple who were late did not even tip her!

Walking back to our room at nearly midnight, it was a bright as afternoon. Weird.

Day Eleven

It’s another gorgeous day and we board the Midnight Sun Express for Talkeetna. Princess has their own UltraDome railcars that have full domed glass ceilings for ideal viewing of the natural beauty of Alaska. Breakfast is offered in the dining car downstairs, but we ate earlier at the hotel so just have coffee at our table in the dome. Someone yells “Moose” and sure enough there is a moose ambling across an open field. There are so many flowers! Wild roses line the edges of the tracks and the forests. Ponds are filled with yellow lilies and bog bean blooming white. Lupine accents with blueish drifts. An occasional dwelling or small town pops up and is gone again. The guide keeps up a commentary as we go. He talks about how large the vegetables grow here with so much daylight but says not too many people garden because the moose are such a problem. I can relate. For us it’s raccoons and deer but moose are so much bigger!

When we arrive in Talkeetna, it is time for lunch. We will have plenty of time to explore this little town before the bus takes us on to the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.

Talkeetna’s population is only 873, many of it’s buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places and it is said that the TV show, “Northern Exposure” was based on Talkeetna. Could be.

There are too many touristy junk shops though. There are also lots of tour opportunities based here and if you want to climb “the mountain” you have to register here with the Rangers.

By mid afternoon we are ready to get on the bus for the Lodge, our home for the next couple of days. The McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is beautiful. It is situated secluded in a wilderness area with a perfect view of the mountain if you are lucky. When we arrived it was “not out” which means it was hiding in the clouds which apparently is what it does 3/4 of the time! Even without the mountain, McKinley, Denali, The Great One – whatever you want to call it – this place is gorgeous. There are 2.5 miles of walking trails and we hike one of them to a spot overlooking the river. Breathtaking!

Mt McKinley is hiding behind those clouds.

Forget-me-nots are the state flower and this lovely drift is on the way to our cabin complex similar to the one you see in the background.

The grounds have many statues of wildlife and this one is near a waterfall on the way to our room.

We register our request to get on the mountain call list in case the mountain comes out while we are asleep and go to bed. It is late, but as bright as midday.

We enjoyed our last breakfast aboard the Diamond Princess and boarded the waiting bus for the trip from Whittier to Anchorage. Our bus driver was very informative and interesting. We had to drive through America’s longest highway tunnel, which is also a railroad tunnel! Yes! you have to take turns, not only with traffic going the other way, but with trains! It’s very narrow, just wide enough for the trains it was originally made for, but there are occasional places of refuge in case of disaster.

Out of the tunnel, the scenery is amazing. We see inland glaciers, which if I remember correctly are called “hanging” while the ones we saw from the ship are “tidewater”. I hope that’s right!

We stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The animals here are rescued animals that have been injured of orphaned and are not able to be returned to the wild. They have large enclosures but tend to pace the perimeters in a sad, mindless way.

The setting is a beautiful valley surrounded by majestic mountains, but it is marred by dead trees and deserted crumbling buildings. The bus driver explained that the 1964 earthquake, the largest earthquake ever recorded in North America devastated the area. It lasted nearly 3 minutes. The ground slumped 8 feet and buildings were buried by incoming tides. The unstable soil was inundated with salt water and the trees died. They call them ghost forests.

Our next stop is the Alaska Native Heritage Center which was a place I could have spent a LOT more time at! Outside there are authentic full size dwellings of each of the native cultures situated around a lovely small lake. Each one contains items that were used by the people and a member of the tribe was there to discuss what we were seeing and to answer questions.

This is a Yupik dwelling place. The day was chilly but as I stepped into this home it was noticeably warmer. The guide said that with the whole group in residence in the winter it would maintain a comfortable 60-70 degrees. There is fire pit in the center with beds around the outer edge and an escape door out the back in case a bear comes in the front! If that happened they could spear the bear through the opening at the top.

I have always felt sorry for the people that lived in the frozen North but after this trip, I think they have it down. Everything is adapted to the lifestyle and while I would not want to live that way, they seem to have it all figured out and are quite comfortable. The Tlinget people do not even have a word in their language for “hungry”!

Inside the main center are more learning spaces, a theater, a hall of cultures where native artisans were working on their art, a gallery and of course a gift shop with native art for sale and a restaurant.

Princess has us booked into the Captain Cook Hotel which is VERY nice! We enjoyed browsing the upscale boutiques and galleries before dinner. I saw wonderful art, but how well would it integrate into our lower 48 decor?

The last day. Sad to see it come to an end, but tomorrow we start the land portion.
By afternoon we will cruise into Prince William Sound and on to College Fjord, but now it looks like open sea. We spend the morning lounging around, attending a presentation by the chefs: “Culinary Demo and Galley Tour”. The food really has been good considering how many people they are cooking for. Not excellent, but quite good! I’m sure I have gained some weight in spite of lots of walking. Today’s Sweet Buffet Extravagance will not help!! They do have a full schedule of fitness training in the spa area, but – no, I didn’t go…

“Alaska’s Supersized Bears”, today’s presentation by the naturalist was very interesting and we feel fortunate to have seen 3 black bears and 7 grizzlies so far on this trip! They are SO big and awesome, A grizzly’s claws are as long as your finger!

Today we decided to sample the Pizza and Burger spot near one of the pools, for cheeseburgers and fries – very good! You should see this Sweet Buffet Extravagance they’ve laid out today. It’s a feast for the eyes as well as the tummy! Only problem, (problem?) – it’s ALL chocolate. I had chocolate cheesecake and it was to die for. So a couple of hours later I had another piece with coffee! Hey, I’m sure I’ll burn the calories glacier watching on the freezing cold deck, later.

By late afternoon we enter College Fjord. The scenery is awesome. Our naturalist narrates and points out animals along the way. I was not quick enough to get the jump, but here’s the tail!

We see whales, sea otters, seals, eagles and other seabirds.

We are able to get up closer to these glaciers and you get an idea of their immensity with this large fishing boat along side.

Seal mothers like to be close in to the glaciers as the floating ice

makes the hunting harder for the killer whales because it messes with their sonar.

These smaller floating pieces are called Burgy Bits. Really.

Some of the ice as it melts becomes quite sculptural!

Tonight’s offering in the theater is another song and dance review, “Dance! Dance! Dance!” It was very good, but we could have done without the strobe lights aimed at the audience – they DO want us to see the show, don’t they? I would have liked to go to the comedy showtime after, starring the two previous comedians with all new material, but we need to pack up for leaving as the bags need to be out by midnight.

What a trip!!

Today we will cruise into Glacier Bay and will be joined by National Park Service Rangers who will give informative talks and offer commentary. They arrive and leave the ship via a small boat. Due to the focus on the glaciers, events and activities that may distract are not scheduled. Even the boutiques and the casino is closed!!

We learn that when John Muir discovered Glacier Bay less than a century after Cpt. Vancouver sailed through it in 1794, it had retreated 40 miles and today that is 60 miles.The resulting colonization of plants and animals is fascinating. It takes years after the ice retreats for plants to take hold and eventually turn into forest, so you see different ecosystems. There are whales, harbor seals, porpoises, sea otters, brown and black bears, wolves, mountain goats and over 200 species of birds.

Being trained spotters the Rangers were able to point out things we would have missed otherwise. At one point the male Ranger pointed out a Grizzly on the side of a mountain. It was very light colored so he talked about how they actually can look quite blond. It was very hard to see even with binoculars, but it was moving, and then he said ” Oh wait! It’s a mountain goat!” This cracked up the female Ranger who was so happy that it was him and not her that announced it as a Grizzly and it was referred to as the Grizzly Goat from then on. As the day progressed we did see 7 grizzlies though, close enough to be positively identified. I got some photos with the binocular camera but they seem to have disappeared. I remember deleting some to make room for more and on the little screen I’m sure they looked like not so pretty scenery. We also saw sea otters, whales and eagles.

We did get lots closer than this, but were not allowed to get too close to the glaciers because the seal mothers and babies would be disturbed. I can’t remember if it was 5 or 7 miles, so you can imagine how huge and magnificent these things are!

We did see them calve, huge pieces dropping off into the sea with a tremendously loud noise like cracking thunder.

The blue color is due to the highly compacted ice.This photo is a closeup taken with the binocular camera.

The dirty looking parts are an accumulation of dirt and rocks from avalanches, rock slides and the scouring of the rock face, which is ground as fine as powder and is called glacial silt. As the glaciers calve and melt the glacial silt is suspended in the water and gives it a unique color.

I was cold and windy on deck, I was glad that I had packed layers but wished I had a scarf, too. There are windbreaking glass areas and inside viewing areas as well, but the best photo ops are outside. We disembarked the Rangers and left Glacier Bay a little after 3 in the afternoon; it was an amazing experience!

Activities resumed with such things as ceramics, afternoon tea, trivia games, dancing classes, fine art auction, golf simulator, ping-pong tournament, etc. I checked my email and worked on the community jigsaw puzzle – something for everyone!! The evening’s performance in the main theater was another song and dance review ” Do You Wanna Dance” – great as usual!

Another beautiful sunshiny, blue sky kind of day. We have not had rain since Vancouver. Everyone says it is unusual but we are happy! Today’s bus ride takes us into Canada so we need to bring passports. We will go from a temperate 70 degrees into freezing cold and see where the goldrushers walked into the Yukon Territory with their required 1000 pounds of goods. This meant at least 10 trips up a treacherous mountain pass and many did not make it. I wouldn’t want to do it once with no pack!

On the way we were so fortunate to see these black bears foraging on the side of the road – a mother with her two cubs! This was not too far out of Skagway and she was quite unconcerned about the bus.

Notice the lupines, there are so many flowers here.

Continuing on we progressed through about 5 different climate zones til we were in this inhospitable area much like where the men crossed the mountains. I didn’t get a picture of the actual pass as it was gone before I got the camera ready. And just think – this is SUMMER – they mostly did it in winter when they could take advantage of frozen lakes and rivers to aide their passage!

The area is not without natural beauty with many waterfalls and ponds which freeze clear to the bottom so contain no fish.

Back in Skagway we opted to get off the bus in town and visit a couple of museums to learn more about the history of the area and actually see the display of the goods required for the aspiring gold seekers to attempt entry to the Klondike. It’s amazing to me that any of them made it and sad to realise that very few that did, achieved the level of success they expected.

The town is about half made up of jewelry stores as has been the case of the other towns we have stopped at, too. The other half is mostly touristy junk shops with at least one saloon with the requisite “brothel girls” and photo ops.

Back on the ship, we attended afternoon tea, which is offered every afternoon and is somethng I have wanted to try. A formal high tea served with a musical background – quite elegant!

After dinner we attended the evening’s theater offering which was another comedy show starring Kevin Jordan a former LA police officer who has been on Comedy Central. He was SO funny! One of the lounges had a local entertainer doing a musical journey of folklore, songs and poetry of the area. We could only see a little of that as they overlapped. There is so much to do sometimes it is hard to choose!

Our tour for this day is the Tram to the top of Mt Roberts which was a disappointment. We had an all day pass but once was enough and could have been had for way less money on our own. The usual gift shop, native arts and artisans, nature trails that were inaccessible due to slippery snow pack. The views were fantastic though, from the observation deck.

This is our ship, the Diamond Princess from the top of Mt Robers. It looks small from way up here!

The day was overcast but no rain. We have been so lucky with the weather on this trip.

Back on the ship early, we had lunch and attended the afternoon presentation by Libby Riddles: “Sled Dogs and Adventure”. She was the first woman to win the grueling Iditarod Sled Dog Race in 1985 by continuing on through a deadly blizzard in order to maintain her lead, a feat that helped to capture the attention of the nation and put the Iditerod on the map. She has been mushing dogs for 30 years and has a kennel of 40 Alaskan Huskies from her winning bloodlines. She has written three best selling books, “Race Across Alaska”, “Storm Run” and “Danger the Dog Yard Cat” for children. Her talk was very interesting.

We decided to have dinner at the buffet again in order to be able to attend the evening’s performance of “I Got The Music”, a song and dance show. The talent and the costumes were excellent. The early shows are presented at 8 and a repeated at 10, but we preferred to make it to the early one, leaving the rest of the evening open for whatever we wanted to do. Looking around the theater you can’t tell you are on a ship. It’s big. The big comfortable chairs are on a slope, so the view from anywhere is good. The lighting and stage could be in any city’s theater. The cast of 13 dancers and singers were phenomenal – could have done without the waiters pushing drinks, but they are everywhere and we are getting used to them.

Tomorrow: Skagway.

Day Five
When we woke this morning the ship was already berthed in Ketchikan; we were scheduled to visit the Rainforest and Wildlife Sanctuary. The average yearly rainfall here is 160 inches – that’s over 13 feet!! So everyone was happy to see that the sun was shining and the sky was blue. It was a short bus ride to the sanctuary and our driver, a year round resident married to a native woman entertained us with stories about the area and life in general in this locale where children can catch salmon by the tail.

In the sanctuary, we split into two groups and after listening to his instructions on what to do if we saw a bear – followed the young man who would be our guide. While we never did see a bear, we did see it’s fresh poop and later learned that the first group had actually seen it! Our guide was so knowledgeable and interesting, describing all of the plants we were seeing, how they grow and their uses. You could tell he loved what he was doing. We saw eagles, ravens and some kind of wren along the approximately one mile trail.

This photo was taken with my Meade Capture View, a combination camera/binocular which should be very helpful on this trip! Thank you, Karen!!

Back at the starting place there was an old saw mill and we saw how they used to harvest the logs into boards. We met a man who carves totem poles and watched him work for a bit; he was happy to answer questions. Then we visited with the lady who rehabilitates injured birds and were able to see up close an

eagle and an owl. There were also some reindeer there with thier antlers in velvet. Of course there was also a gift shop where the usual touristy junk and native art was available as well as free cookies and drinks.

Outside along the porch were two Himalayan Blue Poppy plants!!!!! They were in bud and one was ready to burst open so I could see the brilliant blue of the petals. If only it were a day later it might have been open! I was pretty happy anyway!

On the way back to the ship, our driver deviated from his route to show us the Saxman Native Village and Totem Park which was a tour in itself. We were not able to get off the bus, but did at least see the totems. There are more totem poles in Ketchikan than any other city in the world.

Back on the ship for lunch at the buffet, we were able to just relax and look at the scenery. After lunch I went to an ice carving demonstration where two men very quickly transformed two blocks of ice into sculptures, one a leaping dolphin and the other an angelfish. It only took about 15 minutes! They worked on the edge of a swimming pool so all of the mess went into the water with a little help from the kids in the pool. The sculptures then were moved to the area that was being set up for the On Deck Fish Barbeque.

We went to a lecture “Gold! Gold! Gold! in the Klondike” about the gold rush through Skagway and the dastardly deeds of the villainous Soapy Smith, then stayed for the late afternoon movie, “National Treasure Book Of Secrets” which meant we could not make our assigned dinner seating so we went to the buffet again. The buffet serves the same menu, but of course in the dining room it is served to you all nicely presented in a gourmet fashion on the plate in courses. In the buffet you are able to sample more things though – so it’s a trade off. Eating at the buffet freed us up sooner so we were able to get to the theater in time to actually get good seats for the evenings presentation of Comedy Showtime. The comedian was Cary Long who was hilarious and has been on the Jay Leno Show.

After a stroll on deck, weird that is is still light this late, we stopped to check photographs and email before retiring for the night. They are constantly photographing you in hopes that you will purchase them. I don’t plan to!

This was a full at sea, just cruising through the beautiful scenery. Some people reported seeing dolphins jumping, but I didn’t see them. We attended a video presentation and tour of the public areas which was very interesting. There were so many fun things being offered that it was difficult to choose what to do. One I would have enjoyed was offered by the culinary artists who turn ordinary fruits and veggies into edible artworks. They were just beautiful and used to decorate the buffet tables. But the tour overlapped it so I didn’t attend, hoping that it might be presented again. It was not. There was one about Alaska Ports and Shopping that we checked on, but by the time we got there it was standing room only so we didn’t stay long. Jewelry shopping seems to be quite the focus! The theater really is big, but we are learning that you need to be there a half hour early to get a seat!

For breakfast and lunch we tried different restaurants and were seated with new couples, one from Turin, some from England as well as Americans. The food and the company was really good! The ship is full of folks from everywhere, both the passengers and the staff. There are lots of young people from all over the world working for the summer. What a fun opportunity for them! They are super polite and focused on serving, but are obviously having fun too and anxious to talk about where they come from.

After lunch there was a presentation by a naturalist on “Glaciers and Whales” that was very interesting. That was presented in the theater and was followed by a movie – “27 Dresses”. Since I had not seen it I decided to stay on for that. It was pretty good, but a long time to sit still so I was happy when it finally ended!

Dinner that evening was the first formal one, so we got all dressed up and went to our dining room only to discover that we were the only ones from our table to show up. Looking around, there were quite a few empty chairs. There are so many options for dining that many people just choose to stay casual, I guess. Again, the food was great and our waiter was very attentive. After dinner we strolled around amongst all of the elegantly attired guests, checking out the boutiques and the various clubs, each with it’s own entertainment offerings, various types of music and dancing. There was a fine art auction, much jewelry for sale, even a jigsaw puzzle in a quiet corner near the library in case you wanted to just get away from it all!

Walking back to our room, we checked in at the Internet Cafe and found that time on the internet would be very expensive at $.75 a minute and it would be sporadic as it apparently depends on satellites. You could purchase larger plans for less per minute, but I don’t need it a lot, just to check in occasionally will be fine.

Tomorrow: Ketchikan!

Today we boarded the Diamond Princess. It’s huge! Like a floating city really, with shops, library, clubs and restaurants, spa, a theater, pools, places to play golf, jog, and more!

After finding our room (larger than expected, and very efficiently planned) and settling in- our luggage was already there – we attended the obligatory safety drill. Then we decided to explore. Starting with the top 4 decks of public areas, it was really amazing the amount of space and things to do there were!

Since we had signed up for early dinner (5:45) seating, we dutifully reported to our assigned restaurant and met our dinner companions – two very nice couples who were also on their first cruise. The service was impeccable and the food was quite good. We excused ourselves a few minutes before 8 to go to the theater for the evening’s presentation of “Piano Man”, but found that it was already full. So we explored the remaining decks of public areas. All of the bar spaces had entertainment or activities happening and we stopped at one that had a Trivia game going. That was fun!

Then we walked out on the deck to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Strait of Georgia and were ready to return to our room and settle in for the night. We discovered that the TV had continuous broadcasts of activities available on the ship and information about the next days offerings as well as educational facts about the next port of call along with things to do there. A few regular channels were also available, like CNN for keeping up with world events, and the volatile weather conditions back home.

The bed was very comfortable and and before we knew it it was time to get up!