ALASKA BLOG #2

ALASKA BLOG #2
19 June 2009
Hi Everyone,
Our Alaskan adventure is coming to an end after today’s “at sea” run from Ketchikan to Vancouver, BC. It’s nice the way they planned this trip with a day with nothing much to do and weather that denies even the hardiest any thoughts about sun bathing. At breakfast this morning, all the talk was about spending the day packing in readiness for tomorrow’s debarkation. Considering that packing at the end of a cruise isn’t much more than stuffing dirty stuff back into the luggage you brought, we can’t understand what all the fuss is about.
Doing “back to back” cruises provides a unique opportunity to 1) not get carried away about seeing everything the first time and 2) choose to see what you missed when you return. The first couple of days on the return trip was in glacier country where we found that once you’ve seen a glacier and enjoyed the moment you’ve pretty much done it all. Don’t jump to any conclusions about our not enjoying the second viewing. Glaciers are still one of the fascinating things in God’s creation that will amaze us each time we return. We did learn a little more about the glaciers we saw on our second visit. For instance; the glaciers in College Fjord where named by a group of explorers for their respective alma maters. When they had more glaciers than school names, they used the names of their wives’ schools. You better believe that that thoughtful action was worth its weight in brownie points when they got home.
The weather on our first visit featured sunshine and clear skies while our second time around was cloudy and rainy; more like normal for the area.
Our arrival at Skagway was accompanied by a little rain, a brilliant rainbow in the north and the Norwegian Sun moored close by. We saw it as an omen that the 7th month anniversary of our wedding on board the Norwegian Sun should begin so beautifully.
Our return to Skagway gave us a chance to clean up on the freebies. The local merchants, mostly jewelry stores, offer free incentives to cruise ship passengers to visit their stores. We decided it would be fun to see how many of the free items we could manage. It was a bit of a challenge but we collected every free item that was available. We are now the proud possessors of gold chains galore, choo-choo whistles, silver (?) bracelet charms of all sorts and a variety of gem stone pendants. In the process we also found some things that will become gifts in the future. All of this before we took the White Pass & Yukon Territory train to the top of the pass. The track was built in 1896 to help take would be millionaires to the Yukon gold fields. The train was a great investment for a group of Englishmen who have reaped its benefits over and over again through the years. Today the several trains on the line take thousands of passengers up and back to see where those crazy miners hauled there gear on foot before the advent of the train. Stories abound in Skagway of the Chilcoot Trail and the hardships suffered by the soon to be miners on their way to the gold fields. On foot, the miners climbed the steep pass in weather as cold as 40 degrees below freezing with loads so great that they could do well to stay on the trail two hours a day.
In Juneau we took the tram ride to the top of Mount Roberts which towers over the city. The view from the top gave us a marvelous view of the city and the five cruise ships that were visiting for the day. A great film on the role the Klingot Indians played in early Alaska was available at the summit along with the usual Souvenir store. A family of musician/singers entertained with what we called Blue-Grass music. Whatever its origin, we enjoyed watching and listening. A great attraction at the summit was a caged bald eagle. A ranger type man explained that the eagle had been injured beyond repair so it was allowed to be caged. We didn’t realize how big bald eagles can be until we saw this proud lady on display a few feet away. After our tram ride we made one more visit to the Red Dog Saloon for lunch and atmosphere from another era. The sawdust covered floor and the old time piano player/singer made us want to stay much longer but our boat was scheduled for an early departure.
Our return to Ketchikan was almost the adventure high mark of our cruise except it didn’t happen. Sea plan rides are a popular attraction for passengers from cruise ships and we headed for one of the vendors who could arrange something for us. We didn’t want the two hour extra special trip, that seemed to be the standard for the day, but rather a one hour spin that would allow us to experience taking off and landing on the water. The ever so friendly man we talked to agreed to our wishes but added that he needed to find two more passengers for the flight. We left our cell phone number and spent the next couple of hours exploring downtown Ketchikan. The time allowed us to tour the famous “Dolly House” on Creek Street; one of a row of former brothels. Dolly we learned came by ship from San Francisco in 1915 and immediately bought what became “Dolly House” for six hundred dollars. She managed to pay off her motgage in six months with the business she attracted. Dolly, known as Big Dolly because of her 5’11” 250 pound stature, managed her business until 1952. She lived in the house until 1972 when she moved to a retirement home to live out her years. She died at age 89, a rather wealthy lady for her time.
Several hours after our first contact regarding a plane ride, we were called and told to come immediately because our ride would be leaving momentarily for the “seaport”. We rushed to the ticket office only to be told that the flight we wanted wasn’t available but one that cost $135 more per person was awaiting our arrival. We decided that we didn’t appreciate the “bait and switch” game so we declined. The next time we are able to ride in a float plane we’ll try again.
We’ve enjoyed traveling with our good friends Paul and Marty Zarcone. Paul and Bill had fun playing bridge together several times and all but one night we enjoyed having dinner together. Good friends add richness to life and we have had our lives enriched by our two week cruise together.
Now, on to the challenge of getting everything we brought along back in the bags………….and oh yes, the other stuff we had to collect along the way.
Love, hugs and kisses to all
Dottie and Bill, Mom and Dad, Gram and Grandpa Bill