Home again, home again, jiggity jig

Sorry I didn't post this earlier...I'm on my home computer and forgot the password to the blog! My traveling netbook has just been logging me in automatically for two weeks and I couldn't remember what email address or what password I needed. It's good to be home, but now I have to start thinking again...

We got in last night around 10:30 Eastern -- an hour before our itinerary said we should. So I think the travel agent added wrong. Ave Bauder picked us up in his van and he brought Steven and me home then dropped Steven's mom off before heading for home himself. By the time we got to bed it was well after midnight.

Ben's well and made it through the time alone just fine. I think this was a good rehearsal for him for when he goes off to college. He got to try out being on his own for a short time and was (mostly) responsible. Grass needed cutting when we got back, but then again, I hadn't put it on the chore list, thinking he'd see it was to his knees and just do it. Silly me!

But everything was clean (he did all his own laundry Sunday 'cause he didn't want to make me do it after being on vacation) and neat. No complaints at all!

We've talked to Kate several times today...I like Skype! She showed me her dorm room via her web cam; we'll get to see it live on Saturday. She's taking the bus to Buffalo and we're picking her up at the station. She needs drafting paper so we'll get that first then out to the Walden Galleria for some shopping and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Although I like their appetizers and desserts -- who needs an entree?

Steven gained four pounds over this vacation...I lost four. All that seafood I was eating! Now I'm thinking I need to learn how to cook seafood...

Our flight was uneventful, which is just how we like them to be. Going through the Vancouver airport was long and I'm glad we got there two hours early. By the time we made it through customs and security we only had a half an hour till boarding. Of course, it didn't help that we were traveling with a dangerous criminal. Everyone else had already gone through security and headed to the gate. Steven was the last one through. I'm over by a bench putting on my sneakers when I see the guard flag Steven over to the table where they go through your belongings with a fine tooth comb.

He was carrying two bags -- his knapsack and an overnight traveling bag. They searched the overnight bag...nothing. He looks at me and shrugs. Has no idea why they flagged him. But these agents are not known for their sense of humor, so he's being patient and just waiting. I see him talking to the agent, then he starts putting his stuff back in the knapsack. When he comes over I ask him what that was all about.

Remember that wine we had way back in Denali? To toast Michele and Steven's dad? Well, Steven had bought a small corkscrew to open it with. It had a small blade (less than an inch long) attached to it and it said "Denali" on it. When we left there, he tossed it in the bottom of his knapsack and forgot about it.

Well security didn't forget it. They confiscated it. The entire thing wasn't more than three and half inches from top to bottom, it was obviously a forgotten souvenier...but they took it. Honestly, there is no such thing as "flying the friendly skies" anymore. Between surly security agents and the lack of amenties onboard (including space to breathe, tiny bags of pretzels or peanuts -- and don't ask for a second bag!) it's got to be the most unpleasant mode of travel on the planet.

We took a car, a boat, a ship, a train, a plane and a horse-drawn trolly on this trip. I think the trolley was my favorite. It was rainy, cold and hard to see with the rain streaming down the plexiglass window. But the hard seats had hand-made quilts to cover with (one for each person), the driver and the guide were pleasant and friendly, and there was time and space to relax and enjoy. The train comes in second -- it was warmer, the views were incredible...and we got to eat in the dining car (which, by the way, had tablecloths on the tables, fresh flowers and just oozed elegance!). The plane? LEAST favorite, although I enjoy flying. It's the airlines and the whole process. They're doing their best to take the fun out of it.

But we are home! I'll get pictures organized and uploaded as I can. Unfortunately, school starts tomorrow for me and time is no longer my own :(.

Till later!
Cindy

Sunday, August 30th

I'm adding this from the Vancouver airport. An airport that is HUGE.  Took us over an hour to get from the front door, through customs, through security and an opportunity to sit down. We board the plane for Detroit in about 15 minutes and then off to Rochester from there.

I did post Friday and Saturday's entries below. Won't write much now since we're boarding soon. See everyone soon!!

Saturday, August 29th

Onboard ship – Inside Passage




7:36 AM

Fog this morning. I woke up a couple hours ago and saw the shore slipping past, but woke up at seven and can see nothing. The fog horns are blaring but it really makes you realize how much easier today’s navigator’s have it with their GPS systems. I can’t imagine trying to steer through this with no instrumentation. I can barely see the water below us it’s that thick.

Noon

Steven’s taken a seasick pill but I’m hoping I won’t need to. Since last night the motion has been a gentle rocking. Not bad…but constant. It’s gotten to him and I’m hoping I can keep it from getting to me. I only had two buttermilk pancakes for breakfast with a glass of apple juice to help that.
Had a massage this morning. My masseuse was one of the dancers from the show last night. She may be petite but boy, is she strong! I was expecting a wimpy little massage like we get at home with the soft music and aromatherapy candles. Wrong! This was more like the massages you see in sports movies where she beats your muscles into submission. I have to admit though, while my spirit isn’t as relaxed, my body sure is!

I also have to admit I’ve done no work on any of my books this entire vacation. I had visions of sitting on the deck and writing my heart out. But it’s far too chilly for deck-sitting and there have been so many things to do that I haven’t wanted to miss out on. Now I need a month to just sit at the cabin and digest all this.

But unfortunately, school starts Tuesday for me. Back to the grind and stress. Summer’s over. Till then, however, I intend to pull a Scarlet O’Hara and let tomorrow take care of itself. I’m having too much fun to let a little thing like school spoil it!

Steven went to a presentation on disembarking. We’ve been wondering how we get our luggage from here to the airport and checking in there and getting boarding passes and all that. Apparently we’re going to get a packet delivered to our staterooms this evening that has all that information in it. I do hope we get one more breakfast aboard the Statendam. We dock at 7:00 am in Vancouver tomorrow – but their breakfasts are really, really good!

5:07 pm

Have just finished the Walk for the Cure – supposedly 5K, but we only did 12 times around the deck which is 3 miles. Steven came in first (of course) despite the fact that it was a non-competitive walk. He just walks really fast. He lapped me at lap three and five (my time). His final time: 40 min, 30 sec. Mine? 56 min, 32 sec. Not bad at all!

The day has turned beautiful. It’s our last day and although we could have wished for less fog and clouds earlier in the trip, right now Canada is clear and the colors vivid. We’re going through our narrowest channel -- it’s only seven-tenths of a mile across – and we have to do it at low tide because it gets wicked currents later. But the land seems so close you could touch it!

Off to dinner!

9:53 pm
Dinner was certainly a show tonight in the staid Rotterdam Dining Room. The wait staff combined with the Statendam Singers and Dancers to put on quite the spectacular. They entered to music with several of the wait staff carrying mounds of napkins. In time to the music, a second waiter would flip the napkin off the mound, give it a flourish and place it on a diner’s lap. Our roll was already on the plate and another waiter came around and put a delicacy on the plate beside it. I have no idea what it was, but I suspect a seafood of some time. I ate mine AND Steven’s, since he doesn’t like seafood of any sort.

There was a dance for the salad where the lead waiters came out banging on the huge salad bowls and the others followed with bowls of vegetables to mix together. By this time everyone was wearing the chef hats that had been at our places when we sat down.

The main meal progressed quietly…but then it was time for dessert. Again a big production with dancing in the aisles and a big pop of champagne corks at the end that popped out long gold and silver streamers. Yes, I got one for the scrapbook! The dessert was Neapolitan ice cream covered with meringue. Delicious!

Afterward Steven walked down to see the variety show, but I just wanted to sit on our veranda and watch the sun set and read. First time the sun’s been out this whole voyage and I didn’t want it to end. He joined me about 20 minutes later saying the show wasn’t very good. We watched till the sun was long gone and then he wanted to stay out a bit longer and I was getting chilled without the sun. So I headed down to the casino to lose the ten dollars I hadn’t been able to lose this afternoon.

Checking back, I see I didn’t write about that. In brief: I stopped at the casino in my travels at one point early this afternoon and decided to play the same machines Steven’s mom had been playing. I lost three of the ten dollars I’d decided to play, so I went to a different machine. I hit it almost immediately and ended up with $12.25. I know to quit while I’m ahead, so I’d stopped.

But that ten was burning a hole in my pocket, so I went again. Sat down at the same game but a different slot machine. Put in my ten and within three minutes had hit for seventeen! I walked in with ten and walked out with twenty-seven. Figured that was as far as my luck would take me, so again – I walked away like a good girl.

There’s a string quartet that plays on board and we’ve caught pieces of their playing as we’ve walked by the very quiet, very private lounge where they play. Tonight we made a point to go listen. They’re quite good and there’s just something perfect about ending a sea voyage listening to Hayden and Vivaldi while sipping a pina colada. Yes, I know it should have been a cognac, but I’ve never had it and decided I’ve had enough firsts for one trip.

Our suitcases are packed and ready to go…they need to be in the corridor by midnight. We have to be at the gangplank for disembarking by 8:00 tomorrow morning, so I will say good night!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Onboard ship – Ketchikan, Alaska port of call


7:21 am

I made it through the night! When the ship was still in the calmer waters of the Inside Passage last night, the movement of the ship was side-to-side. It felt as if we were passing through another ship’s wake from starboard to port – a really, really big ship’s wake. When we got back to the stateroom after desserts I had to walk uphill to get to the veranda. And when I left the veranda to go to the bed, I walked uphill again.

After we turned out the lights, I dozed for quite a while, not really dropping off to sleep. As a result, I knew the moment we entered the Pacific Ocean. Suddenly the ship was rocking from front to back instead of side to side. Up one wave…down a wave….up….and down….and up…and down. Like laying flat on a teeter-totter that doesn’t ever stop.

But thankfully the motion just put me to sleep this time. I lay there actually enjoying it for a while and when I woke up, it was nearly light. Since dawn was at five-something this morning, I rolled over and went back to sleep. Steven’s now out doing his mile walk and I’m still being lazy.

We’ve turned south along the shore and although rain is in the forecast, the sun’s peeking out over the mountains. Took some pictures (of course).

9:11 pm

Amazing how many days of magic we’ve had here. Do we make it ourselves? Or does it follow us? Or is it all coincidence? I’ll leave the philosophizing for others and simply tell the story…

Went into Ketchikan today around 2:00 just after we docked. Steven and I had booked a horse-drawn trolley tour through the city (pop. 8000); we called home and talked to the kids before getting on the trolley. They’re doing fine. Since we didn’t know anything about Ketchikan, this tour seemed a good way to get an overview of the highlights, especially since it was only 45 minutes long.

Our tour guide (Wind) is a Tlingit of the Frog Clan and knew a lot about Ketchikan since he was born here. The city is actually on an island that is mostly rock with only about 6 inches to a foot of dirt on top. Same narrow staircases here going up, but the longest is “only” about 170 steps.

The coolest part of the tour was the information that the salmon had begun their run. All throughout Alaska everyone kept talking about how things would be once the salmon began their yearly trek up the rivers. The females lay their eggs upstream very near where they themselves were born. Then the males swim upstream against the current and up over the waterfalls to get to the eggs. They do their thing and then die shortly thereafter.

Well, in Ketchikan, the salmon are running now! Later in the afternoon we walked over to Creek Street and stood on the bridge that crosses the river. I have never seen so many fish in my life! The stream was only about 30-40 feet across and didn’t look all that deep, but it was filled with grey salmon in every inch. In fact, if you could walk on the fish, you could easily walk from one side to the other without any problem at all. Thousands of them all looking as if they were simply sitting in the water, but their fins were going back and forth for all they were worth, just to stay in place against the current.

Further up was a set of waterfalls and periodically you’d see one flip up…but in fact, that was one falling down. One who hadn’t made it on the first try. The smell of fish was in the air, but it wasn’t overwhelming at all. And yes, there were dead fish in the water, too. Males who had tried and literally given it their all, but who hadn’t succeeded.

Creek Street, Ketchikan is one of the oldest streets and still has most of the original buildings. The city’s not that old, having been part of the gold rush. This street is really a pedestrian walkway on pilings…and the shops are on pilings over the creek as well. I have to admit, we’re about shopped out, but found here real Alaskan shops rather than the tourist traps down by the wharf. Actually, this was the real wharf all those years ago, but since they have to blast rock out to put in houses, the unused rock was put down in the harbor, so the city’s actually moved out closer to sea over the years.

Anyway, we had fun wandering in and out, making a few small purchases and talking with people who live here all year round and are more interested in selling Ketchikan than trinkets. At the very end of the street was one last building with an art gallery of native art on the first floor and a bookshop on the second.

Now those of you who know me, know I can never pass up a bookshop. I’d been in several in Juneau, all independently owned, and had been a little disappointed in the offerings. But as I walked up the stairs there were two posters on the angled ceiling, one of the Paul Taylor dance company, the other of the Alvin Ailey dance company. I knew this was going to be special as I’ve taken master dance classes with both in my younger days.

Now the bookshop is in the attic of this building, and there’s a loft as well. Lots of nooks and crannies and wonderful books around every corner. Native art tucked in here and there and in general, just a lot of good vibrations. The Tlingit people are artisans and over the past few days we’ve become pretty good at identifying the various representations of the animals. There’s a sunburst that I’ve wanted for my room at the cabin, but couldn’t find one that I could afford. They range from carvings of thousands of dollars to prints of several hundred dollars. All out of my price range.

But here in the shop I found, believe it or not, a T-shirt in the exact burnt orange that would be perfect in that room. I decided to get it and turn it into a pillow. But you have to see the clerk to get one, since all that is out is a model. By this time Steven has caught up to me, having found the Tlingit symbol for “thank you” and “welcome”. He’s decided to get it to hang in the cabin’s front hallway as a way of welcoming people in. We go up to the clerk (who turns out to be the owner) and request the T-shirt and we get to talking about the cabin and what we’re doing.

She asks where our cabin is and is surprised when we say “New York” – she thought we were Alaskans! What a wonderful compliment! She then asks whereabouts in NY and when we tell her Plattsburg, just south of Naples, she grins and tells us she was born in Canandaigua! She lived there only five years though before moving to Rochester. She went to Mercy, at which point I confessed to being a Kearney kid.

Well, we had a great time swapping stories and talking about Alaska and the Finger Lakes and Rochester…when she happened to tell us her maiden name: Maggie Boyle. Steven said the only Boyle he knew was Barbara Boyle in Waterloo; they’d gone to St. Mary’s together. She got very excited at that point – Barbara is her cousin!

We talked for over 45 minutes and would have loved to stay longer. In fact, we would’ve gone to dinner together if we didn’t have a ship to catch. She told us if we missed the ship not to worry, we had a place to stay with her. We also told her the next time she comes back to Rochester to please let us know so we could at least have our dinner then. We’re going to try and find each other on Facebook.

I tell you, it absolutely made our day. We floated back to the ship and have grinned all evening. Kindred spirits finding each other so many miles from home!

By the way, we’ve gone from the tundra desert of the north to a rainforest! Ketchikan gets more rain than any other city in the US. They get a little snow in the winter, but no more than 65 inches total. A LOT calmer winter than Rochester’s. Wind told us (on our tour) that they never cancel a game for rain, but they do cancel for sunshine. No one comes to the games and who wants to play with the sun in your eyes? They had a “drought” earlier this year…there was no rain for 28 days in a row and they were worried.

Later:

Ate at the Rotterdam again last night. These fancy meals have added pounds, I’m sure. I’m definitely ready to get back to the Wii.

Also went to the Filipino Crew Show late last night. I think I mentioned before the crew is entirely Filipino and Indonesian. Apparently they switch off weeks with one nationality doing a show one week and the other on the opposite week. They started with the Philippines National Anthem and then sang some songs and did some traditional dances. It was a lot of fun.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Onboard ship – Juneau, Alaska port of call
Woke up early (5:00 ?) and saw nothing but fog out the door. Got up to investigate and could see the mountain tops slipping by very slowly, but the water was totally covered by fog. The ship was moving even slower than the night before.

But somehow we’ve made it to Juneau early. We weren’t supposed to dock till eight o’clock and it’s now quarter after seven and we’re still. I can see houses on the mountain out the window.

Juneau is a city that has no roads in or out of it. It’s totally dependent on the water and the ships that travel it. And yes, it’s the capital of Alaska. But you can’t drive to it, you have to either fly in or take a boat in. The mountains I can see have rounded tops and trees all the way to the top, so these are lower than the ones in Haines.

Just peeked out on the veranda because a floatplane landed and of course, I had to watch. There are four big ships this size docked along the shore and several smaller ones. Looks like the shore will be crowded today! We’re off to get breakfast before setting out and seeing the sights. Will bring my laptop again in hopes of finding another hot spot or two.

For the record, I really, really miss home. No, that’s not entirely true. What I miss are the kids. I know Kate’s not even home, but it doesn’t matter. Ben apparently went to Darien Lake yesterday with the Saracino’s. I know they’re doing fine. I know they’re both flying on their own, something we’ve been preparing them for since they were born. But I still miss them!

2:15 pm
Am sitting in the Juneau Public Library where the wireless access is free…but slower than dial-up! We’ve been out and about since early this morning, mostly shopping the tourist strip. Back to the ship for lunch and then out again. Walked a LOT further than we intended in search of a particular coaster, but we got it!
Called and talked to Mom and Dad (they’re fine), Ben (who’s totally enjoying having the house to himself) and Kate (who’s in the middle of auditions and classes and doesn’t have a lot of time at the same times we do). Good news on all fronts.

Onboard ship – Haines, Alaska port of call

Before I talk about Haines, a few words about our stateroom: Wow! And wow…and it’s really, really cool!

Seriously, though. In size it isn’t much different from a regular Holiday Inn hotel room. A narrow corridor gets you into the room; his and hers closets are on the one side of the corridor and the “head” is on the other. There’s a step up to the bathroom and all the doors are much more solid with firm seals you don’t see in hotels, though.

Our bedroom comes next with a king-size bed that is always impeccably made up by Novi and Arif with a fancy cover that goes over only the bottom third of the bed. No full comforter, but then again, one isn’t needed. I don’t care if this is Alaska, the rooms tend to be warm.

After that comes our “living room” which is the other half of the stateroom. A large couch is along one wall and opens into a queen-size bed in case I get mad at Steven. Means sitting on it is a bit stiff, but who’s complaining? Not me! Opposite the couch is a built-in desk with drawers for clothes, a HUGE mirror and a flat screen TV on the bedroom side. There’s a table in the middle which is bolted to the floor but can be raised or lowered to make a coffee table or a dinner table. We have one chair that doubles as a dining room chair or extra living room chair.

From there you get to the wall of window and the door to the veranda. The deck above us has verandas the width of two of what we have, but I’m not complaining here, either. Everyone below us has only windows. The travel agent made sure she booked us on the good side to see the glaciers and boy, did we see glaciers yesterday! Today I can look out over the city of Haines.

Haines is a port town like most along the Inside Passage. What’s cool about this one is that it hasn’t really been changed much by tourism. The big Holland America boats only stop once a week and provide tours to Skagway. All the other big boats go right past Haines and go up the channel to the tourist trap that’s Skagway. I’m glad we stopped here.

Population wise, it isn’t very big…about 1200 people. That’s smaller than Bishop Kearney was when I was there. I can’t remember how big the geographic borders are of the town, but she did say if you were to take the island of Manhattan and take off all but 14 people, that’s the same ratio of land to people that there is in the borough of Haines.

She? Who is she? That would be Diane, our tour guide on the historical tour Steven and I took this morning. Took about two hours and we went through Ft. Seward (once the first government military presence in Alaska, now a privately owned set of buildings that are being used for a variety of purposes. One is a bed and breakfast, another two have been joined together to make a hotel and restaurant, others are private homes or art studios. But there’s an attempt by all to keep the outside appearances intact. Very cool walk and great tour guide.

We decided to go local for lunch, even though lunch on the ship is free. We found a place up on a back street and boy, was it expensive for a diner! Haines is the “retirement community” of Alaska because it’s one of the most temperate areas, but it also is remote. That means everything needs to be brought in by barge. And that means higher prices. Still, the halibut fish and chips was wonderful and I could really, really get used to eating this fish.

The restaurant was a local hotspot and for $2.95 I could get Internet for an hour; for $6.95 I could get the whole day. Compare that with the ship rates of $25.00 for a half hour! Uploaded the blog posts and checked emails and spent time with the locals. Had fun!

Back in the room now, finishing Inkheart. Have ordered from Room service and should have fruit, cookies and cheese and crackers here soon. Ahh…this is the life!

Later
Ate at the Rotterdam again last night; Steven had some fun with the poor busboy. He kept “helping” him until the kid was laughing so hard he got the waiters laughing too.

We saw the second of the Statendam Singer and Dancers’ shows. The first one was better. The song choices for this one didn’t hang together as well and the dances weren’t as well executed (or choreographed). Enjoyed it, but not as much. Afterward we passed the “deck sale” – can’t have a sidewalk sale on a ship that doesn’t have sidewalks – and Steven found a nice pair of leather driving gloves and I picked up a scarf that matches my teal skirt (that I ended up not bringing on the trip).

Back in the room we watched a little of Mamma Mia! on TV, but the clouds had finally cleared and you could see the stars for the first time since coming to Alaska. We’re getting more hours of real dark here (approximately 5 of them a night) and we could see the Milky Way and Cassiopeia. Wished I had my star chart with me to identify more.

Just before we turned out the lights I looked outside one more time and saw not one ship passing us in the night, but three! Hard to tell what direction each was moving as everyone was moving very slowly through the channel. But definitely a bottleneck of cruiseships!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Onboard ship – Glacier Bay


12:20 am

Yep. You read that right. AM. Can’t sleep. The storm the Captain warned us about is here and is this ship rolling! Waves outside are about 12 feet or more high and whitecaps on every one of them. We went to the Captain’s toast last night to see what he looked like and think a less handsome Captain Steubing. Bald, fairly short, grizzled, with an accent that’s a cross between Dutch, German and Japanese. At that point, about 8:00 in the evening, the waves were cresting at about 11 feet.

We stayed for the evening’s performance by the Statendam singers and dancers and it was a very good show of this type. The accompaniment was recorded and the dancers only lipsynched, but the singers sang live. The Can-Can number the girls did was great and the costumes for all their numbers were fantastic. Spent half the time wishing Kate was here!

Spent the other half of the time amazed at how those kids danced when the ship was rolling as if we’re on a kiddie roller coaster. That doesn’t ever end. One’s stomach isn’t doing the flips of a ‘whee’ dip in the road, but rather a constant “oops”. After the show Darlene high-tailed it to her stateroom probably for the same reason I high-tailed it to ours. I made it in the room and managed to take the motion sickness pill when I’m afraid the seasickness won. Dinner was good, but I didn’t get to keep it.

What I didn’t expect was to feel immediately better, but I did. My head cleared up, the heat wave I was carrying with me calmed down…much better. But I was also done for the night. Steven and I crawled into bed and watched the first half of Catch Me if You Can on TV before turning it off ‘cause we were falling asleep.

But mine was a fitful rest. I say “was” because I’m giving up for a while. The ship has given some major lurches and I just can’t sleep. We had to take the stemware off the shelf earlier because it all slid and tipped over, but it’s a bit worse now. Don’t expect it to worsen any more than this, however. And by the time we reach Glacier Bay tomorrow, we’ll be back into calmer waters. That should be about 10:00 tomorrow morning.

9:40 am

I’m feeling better this morning, but had a breakfast of saltines and green tea this morning. When that stayed put, I had a blueberry muffin, a small pecan Danish and a croissant with my morning prune juice. So far so good.

Of course, the seas are much calmer now that we’ve sailed into Glacier Bay. I woke this morning early and saw one passing by my window. Cool sight to wake up to, that’s for sure. I like having the verandah staterooms with the entire outside wall a window onto the views.

We’ve slowed now so the park rangers can get on and the pilots for Glacier Bay as well. I understand why we don’t actually dock…the ship is far too large for going close to shore in these waters. So boats carrying needed personnel come to us instead.

But it didn’t occur to me till this morning that we don’t even stop for them. We keep going at a slow speed (5 knots? I’m guessing here), they pull up alongside and match speed and the transfer occurs. Stopping a ship this large and then restarting it would take a huge amount of energy each time, so it just isn’t done.

Steven said his mom made it through the night with absolutely no seasickness whatsovever. Nopi, one of our Stewards, said the seas were rough even for him. Steven felt better than he had on the littler boat we went on in the Kenai Fjords, but still got a little green. My bout of seasickness, from sweaty start to inglorious finish, lasted about twenty minutes. Have yet to speak to the others to see how they made out.

But last night’s high seas were certainly a topic of conversation at breakfast this morning! Steven and I went to the Lido deck restaurant for breakfast and that’s all anyone was talking about at the various tables.

I’m sitting in the Explorer’s Lounge again…and thinking I should’ve brought one of Diana’s books to slip in among the more staid fare…

4:55 pm
I have to tell you that seasickness medicine works by knocking you our! I slept for several more hours this morning, had lunch (a light one as I still wasn’t entirely myself) and came back to the cabin. Steven rented Arthur (big surprise) and we’ve been watching it in between seeing these magnificent glaciers. After the last viewing we ordered up hot chocolate and warm cookies to the room to warm up. Such a life!

We’re at the Johns Hopkins glacier now, but I missed why it’s called that. Have shot some video, but am sure Dave’s is far better since he has a better camera than I do. I’m using the Flip cam I got in June from BOCES. Putting it through its paces. Seems to shoot good stuff, but I’ll edit later.

The mountainsides here are all scarred from the glaciers’ movement. Not much vegetation grows on them and what is here is young in geological terms (only a few hundred years old, if even that).

The seasickness medicine makes me feel woozy; Steven said he’s feeling it too. It’s a 24-hr tablet, so it should wear off soon. I hope.

Iceworms. Never thought there could be such a thing, But the ranger’s telling us about these creatures about the width of a penny and about 8 inches long that only come up to the surface of the ice on cloudy days when it’s cold enough for them to come up to feed. They feed on the pollen dropped by the wind. Talk about weird!

Ragged edges on top means that part of the mountain stuck up over the top of the glacier. Rounded edges means it was under the glacier and have been sanded down by the ice.

The Tlingit are the native peoples that live here. We’re a force of nature and have co-opted the weather with carbon emissions and ozone changes. How many boats and ships are allowed into Glacier Bay? It’s something the Parks Service struggles with. They’re charged with keeping the integrity of the waters and the purity of the natural process, a charge they take very seriously in these times of climate change.

9:09 pm

Had dinner at the Rotterdam restaurant again tonight, which meant dressing for dinner. The seas are MUCH calmer this evening … in fact, I think we stay in the sound all the way to Haines. That’s okay with me since my first ocean foray wasn’t stellar.

Went to see Antonio Scalci, a show pianist and the entertainment for the night. Will have to tell Heath about these gigs. He was okay, but at his best with a Ferrante and Teischer piece (sorry, can’t remember the name of it).

Steven borrowed Inkheart, which I’ve seen, but he hasn’t. It was good, so we’re settling down to watch it and get an early bedtime. By 8:30 tomorrow we’re docked in Haines and want to be right out there!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Onboard ship – College Fjord


We passed College Fjord around 6:00 this morning. I’m glad I woke up to see it. Took lots of video, since the professionals were still sleeping. Will upload later. Steven took the mile walk around the Promenade Deck and I joined him for his last lap. Breakfast at the Lido deck was extensive! Every breakfast thing you could think of, including prune juice. Yes, I drank it.

Steven and I then took a short tour of the ship. I’d found the sky deck before and took him there before coming back to the cabin. We have the whole day to do absolutely nothing and at the moment, I think we’re at a bit of a loss. I brought books to read and may end up just curling up on the couch here and getting comfy. The air temperature isn’t terrible, but it’s sweater weather for sure. Later I’ll go out and sit on the deck to read, but right now, that’s a bit too chilly if you’re not moving about.

Have just gone through the daily events calendar of what can be done onboard ship. There’s a culinary demonstration at nine-thirty that looks interesting – might take that in. At eleven is a port and shopping talk that will give maps of the various ports of call we’re to make as well as coupons that can be used there. They’ll also go over duty-free rules, which is good. I have no idea what they entail, to be honest. I always avoid buying anything in Canada because I don’t understand duty taxes. Time to learn!

At four this afternoon is a big bingo party. I’m pretty sure we can talk Steven’s mom into that! The movie of the day is Observe and Report; we’re thinking of taking that in this evening. The ship certainly doesn’t lack things to keep one occupied! There’s also a spa special combining a few of the individual body part massages.

Okay, when the review website I went to before the cruise said Holland America excels at pampering their guests – they weren’t kidding. The two men who make up our cabin each day greeted us in the hall by name as we left the room this morning and when we got back from breakfast, there were fresh flowers on the table and not only was the bed made, but the room straightened as well (although my separate piles of papers to deal with had been all neatly stacked into one!). I was just looking at the bottle of Sierra Mist that Steven had bought and packed in his knapsack, thinking that I hadn’t seen an ice machine yet. The bucket is sitting right here on the desk beside me. Just as I’m thinking that, a noise comes from the bucket. Suspicious, I lift the lid and sure enough…the guys filled it with ice already! Nipo is one and I didn’t catch the other’s name. But I will. This kind of service? Deserves that I at least know their names!

11:15 am

The canapé demonstration was interesting and fun, although Steven was bored. I told him he didn’t need to follow me around, but he said he was fine. I enjoyed seeing the different ways one could prepare things that one has in one’s fridge, although mostly I don’t have pate hanging around.

Lost two dollars in the slot machines whiling away time before the 11:00 presentation on tips for the shore excursions. Steven, of course, spent one dollar and won four! Dave and Dar were also at the presentation. I didn’t stay, as you can tell by the time stamp for this entry. The guy came across as one of those slick salesmen types and the literature that was handed out all had to do with jewelry. I rarely wear jewelry and decided it wasn’t going to be a fun use of my time. And I did NOT come on this cruise to be bored. Steven said he actually felt good that I didn’t want to stay, even though he did. Now, he said, he won’t feel guilty about leaving events I’m interested in and he’s not.

So I’m sitting in the Explorer’s Lounge, which is sponsored by the New York Times. In fact, we had a NY Times highlight broadside delivered to our cabin this morning. There’s a café here (had to pay for the can of Coke -- $1.95. Not as bad as Disney, but still one would think the drinks would be as free as the food for the price we paid). There are lots of computer stations and WiFi if I want to pay $25.00 for thirty minutes of access! There are prints of vintage NYC on the walls (I’m sitting under a photo from the NY Times photo archives of the dressing room for the record-breaking performance of A Chorus Line when it became the longest-running Broadway musical).

One can also borrow books and DVDs – or just take a book off the shelf and read it here. There are comfy overstuffed chairs and it’s fairly quiet. Good place to bring my book and read – or to catch up on my journaling!

And of course, the scenery slips past almost unnoticed now. We’ve moved a bit further away from land, it’s cloudy and one can only glimpse the shoreline and mountains through the breaks in the low level clouds. We’re in Prince William Sound and will be in the Pacific around 1:00 this afternoon. The captain has warned us there’s a gale blowing that we’ll hit tomorrow morning after midnight with 12-foot waves. Should be FUN! Up to this point, it’s been relatively smooth sailing. I probably should buy some Dramamine though, just in case…

In fact, we’re just about at the point (can see it from here) where the Exxon Valdez made its mark on history. This morning, however, we were closer to shore and could see over a dozen fishing boats with their lines set and ready to catch fish. They troll for fish here, although I don’t know exactly what that means. Will have to look it up when we get home.

I do miss the kids. I try not to think of how much very often because I know they’re busy doing their own thing. But today is harder because we couldn’t get a hold of them if we wanted to. Yes, the ship does offer carrier service for the cell phones, but we’d get roaming charges. In fact, we think we’ve been roaming all along and didn’t realize it. Which means our phone bill when we get home is going to be far greater than we thought. The kids know we’ll call on Wednesday when we hit port, but even then I suspect we’ll have charges. I know in my heart they’re doing fine, but that doesn’t stop a mother from worrying!

4:46 pm
Lost $30.00 in the Casino this afternoon, Steven won $4.00. Figures. There was a Jackpot Tournament that cost $20.00 to enter and Steven’s mom anted up her money and qualified for the final round! They had set up a bunch of slot machines for the competition and she had to have one of the top six scores in order to progress. She was number three on the list.

At 4:00 this afternoon, the six finalists were set up at their respective machines and the cheering began. Lori and I were there with her and we kept hollering, “C’mon, Grandma! Push that button!” Soon the people on either side of us were cheering for “Grandma” too.

The scores on the machines were hidden, so no one knew the scores. He went down along the line, calling out each score and writing it down. The second and third place winners would win a T-shirt and the first place winner would win $500.00. Our noise had attracted quite a crowd.

The first three scores called out weren’t very high. Nothing over 60,000 points. Then he got to Steven’s mom and she had over 90,000 points. He read the next two…and none of them could top her high score. She won! He gave her a T-shirt, a hat…and $500!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Travel to Seward and board SS STATENDAM; Room 202


Okay, this has been the most confusing and hectic day so far. We were up at 6:00 to be in the lobby by 7:45 to board a bus. But what bus was the first confusion of the day. We knew we were going to the ship eventually, but we’d upgraded to include a 6-hr tour along the Kenai (pronounced “Kee-nigh”) Fjord. I thought we were taking the boat from Anchorage down to Seward, around the fjords and back to the boat. I was wrong.

We took the bus to Seward (2.5 hrs and I fell asleep for about 10 minutes and dozed for a dozen more) and THEN got on the six-hour tour. Steven got seasick within an hour, but a couple Dramamine and a short nap and he was fine. I got a little queasy shortly after (I think it was sympathetic as the woman in the booth beside us was using a barf bag and Steven looked green. Then a guy lost it over the side of the ship…). A single Dramamine and an hour out on the very cold deck, however, and I was fine.

I think in another life I was a sailor. I love being on the water. The waves splash up and the boat bucks and sways and I go right along with it. I stood at the rail for a long time, bundled in a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, a fleece and my windbreaker. I wore my driving gloves, which got soaked very early on as it was raining for nearly the entire journey. But that was a good thing. Seems the marine life doesn’t like it when its hot out and they stay too deep in the water to see. But when it rains, they come out to play.

We saw a sea otter floating on his back, just taking his ease. The captain brought the boat up close and he just looked up at us as if to say, “Hey, good to see ya!” Totally unafraid of us or this big boat.

We also saw puffins! All the pictures I’ve ever seen of them have been of them standing on rocks. They live in the nooks and crannies of these granite islands that rise up out of the water, The sides are sheer for often over a hundred feet, then trees and mosses grow up the sides from there. One definitely feels one’s in another world…another planet…

Anyway, the puffins were out in force and they flew all around the ship and dove off the cliffs…they’re cute and fun to watch. Later a few of them caught up to us. The ship was doing about 20 knots and they kept pace with us for several yards. But then they got bored…so they passed us!

The highlight of the trip was stopping in front of the Aialik Glacier. I don’t know how long it is, but it’s nearly a half a mile wide where it meets the sea. We stopped about a quarter of a mile out and the captain turned off the engines. He said we were here not to just experience the visual beauty of nature, but the sound of nature as well. He also said we should listen to see what the glacier had to tell us today.

I was very surprised at the groans and creaks the snow-turned-ice makes as it, quite literally, moves within the glacier. The snow pounds the rocks inside it into a fine dust that gets deposited as the first layer of new land. The pieces it can’t break up, it drops in its wake. There were two large rocks, one in the center and one off to the left that looked like the glacier had given up on them. They’re currently in the process of emerging from the glacier.

We saw several pieces “calve” off the glacier. You’d hear a loud crack, see a piece of ice start to lean, and then watch it slowly fall or slide into the water. Because we were so far away, it was hard to tell the size of the pieces, but the largest one we saw go was probably the size of a school bus. It landed in the water and a second later we heard the slap and thunder of it hitting the water. This one piece made a wave and we watched it move all the ice floes as it came toward us. Because we were a quarter mile away, by the time it reached us it was a ripple, but one large enough to give the boat a gentle rocking!

On our way back to Seward we spotted a super pod of Orca whales (killer whales). Two pods had come together for breeding purposes and they were flirting and playing with each other. Very cool to watch their dorsal fins rise up and then to see the sleek black bodies and the one white patch come into view as they peeked up to see if we were gone yet.

I forgot to mention the porpoises that met us early in the trip. A group of about seven got curious about the boat and came over to play hide and seek with it. They jumped in and out of the water in front of the prow for several minutes before going off to see something else. The captain said they have short attention spans and that was pretty obvious.

The trip got a little long, but they did feed us lunch (Caesar salad wraps) and made us chocolate chip cookies for a snack.

Unfortunately getting onto the Statendam proved to be the biggest hiccup we’ve had so far. We had to catch a bus at the end of the dock where our excursion had dropped us off; the bus would take us to the Statendam dock. By then it was raining steadily and we got pretty wet getting to the harbormaster station where we were to pick up that bus. No signs directed us to a bus, so we sent Steven out on a reconnaissance mission. He found out the bus currently loading was the one we wanted, but it was going to be too full. The next bus should be along shortly, however.

And true to his word, the next bus pulled up within three minutes. We headed over to it – along with everyone else. Darlene, Lori and I were with Steven’s mom; Dave and Steven were slightly ahead of us. Suddenly about 10 people cut between us and we got separated. More squeezed in and I knew we weren’t all going to fit on that bus. But Steven’s mom was dragging by that point and just couldn’t summon the energy to push her way forward, even with our help.

The upshot was that the bus filled up without us. Steven and Dave waited back and the bus driver assured us the next bus would be there within minutes. It was and we were set to be the first on it. But it pulled up short and once again people cut ahead and once again we were split up. Steven was with his mom this time and they made it onto the bus. Dave, Dar, Lori and I were cut off and we ended up on a separate bus. That part of the Holland experience needs a LOT more organization.

Going through customs and security really wasn’t much trouble, nor was getting onboard. Shortly after we arrived there was a lifeboat drill and we all had to put on our lifejackets and report to our respective lifeboats. Women and children were to be in the front, men in the back. Lori looked at me as we waited and said, “This feels weird.” I knew exactly what she meant. In this day and age of equality, why should women be put forward before men? Children makes sense. Neither one of us could quite figure out how we felt about it, but it felt very odd.

Once done with the drill, dinner was next on the agenda as we were all hungry. Steven’s mom was exhausted, so she stayed in her cabin to take a nap and the rest of us went to the Rotterdam, the fancy restaurant on board. I had Cocoanut Nutmeg soup (served cold) and it was delicious! Steven had a watermelon salad that came in a large martini glass. He got prime rib for dinner (big surprise) and I got Leek and Broccoli Flan (huge surprise). It actually came out much like a quiche and was quite good. It was served with wild rice and cooked spinach, which I normally don’t like. But there were two dollops of pesto on either side of the flan (presentation is everything!) and the spinach with the pesto was actually quite good!

For dessert? What else but Baked Alaska???? I had it with hot chocolate over the top and it was soooo good. I only had a few bites though as I didn’t want to push my stomach too far after the day it had been. Steven didn’t mind having to help me finish it off at all.

We did some minor exploring afterward, but since we’re all so exhausted, I headed to bed (okay to the cabin to write this journal) and Steven didn’t stay out much longer. He’s now in bed snoring and I’m finishing up!

A note about the ship: it’s easy to forget from the inside that you’re on a ship. It looks and feels much like a fancy hotel. But then the floor tilts a little and you remember…I’m not on land anymore. Even as I sit here typing, the ship will tilt and lurch and I think. “am I drunk?” We’re going to get our sea legs, I know. But I’ll bet we’ll all be walking funny when we walk into that Vancouver airport!

updating

Okay, this is the first time I've had internet since Denali, so there's a lot to post. I'm going to put each one in a separate post, however, to make it easier to read. Here's the first one:

Travel to Anchorage

Have already been in touch with Kate; she was almost to Fredonia when Steven called. It’s now almost 9:00 here so she should be pretty well unloaded by now.

Today was a day to sleep in, but as usual, we were up early anyway. We had breakfast at the same Courtyard Café and I had a cheese blintz! Never had one before and it was good!

Steven and I checked our emails, uploaded pictures and updated the blog from the lobby of the Chalet and soon we’ll be boarding the train for Anchorage. I was able to send an email to Tielle St. Clare and we might be able to get together for drinks tonight!

Hard to believe it’s only been since Tuesday that our adventure began. We’ve seen so much already. I may sleep on the train, or read a book (I’m leaving a book behind here, not because I’ve read it, but because it’s boring. It’s one I found when cleaning out the closet – and there was a reason this one never made it to the shelves! Ah well…one way to lighten the load!). Steven’s got his stuff to do as well and said what I’m thinking. That the scenery will be more of the same. Beautiful to see, but one’s senses can only take so much at a time. There’s a good case for traveling slowly!

*****

Oh, my. We’re on the train headed south to Anchorage. We wondered why a trip of 160 miles would take 8 hours and now we know. We are wending our way through the mountains at about 20 miles an hour. Very slow, and very beautiful.

I said to Steven about how the mountains were deceptive and how they really didn’t seem all that much higher than the ones in our area. I now stand corrected.

We’re going through a canyon with the mountains directly on our right and left. We’re still following the Nehana River, so the mountains on the left are a little further away. Think the Susquehanna river valley where it goes past Lewisburg on the way along Route 15 to Harrisburg…only triple the size of the mountains and change the trees to white and black spruce.

We’re passing Panorama Mountain, one used by climbers to practice on before tackling Mt McKinley. It’s only about three times shorter than McKinley, but McKinley’s base is sixteen times the width. Since we’re at the very bottom looking up and can see how huge this one is, it’s mind-boggling to think of a mountain that spreads out sixteen times more!

I don’t have enough words in the language to describe the immensity of these mountains. Since we’re so close to the tree line, what we’re mostly seeing brown rock with streaks of grey from the anduvial flows of shist. And that last sentence should show you how much science I’m learning!



So much hasn’t changed here in eons. I know scientists would disagree with me, and would cite all the earthquakes and glaciers as evidence, but I look at these mountains with the braids of the river winding through and around the canyons between and can almost see Ansel Adams with his tripod in the water framing up a picture. I half expect Teddy Roosevelt to plant his booted foot on a ridge and survey what he wrought, although its to Harding we owe our thanks. Bush pilots still fly to homes that have no running water or electricity and gold miners still pan for gold. The bear hold sway with the moose, fox, caribou and wolves.

And still the mountains stand, the lower tops rounded, the peaks triangled and dusted with snow. In fact, it’s snowing on a mountain peak to my left right now. We can see the snow falling on top of the mountain while here below we’re warm and snug.

At one point Steven said something about how much clearer the atmosphere is. It’s because of how high we are. I’m not sure of our current elevation, but when the tree line is just a little above your head, you know you’re pretty high. None of us have had any trouble breathing, although the air is dry and I’m using the Chapstick on a regular basis.

You know how kids pile dirt up when they’re playing? They mound it, making tall piles that slope from a point. Then they pour water on the pile and it flows down in rivulets making ripples in the surface of their “mountain”. Then imagine a huge giant doing the same thing and you’ll get an idea of what these mountains look like. Throw a few rocks into the kid’s pile and you have the pieces of rock that occasionally jut out from an otherwise smooth surface of pulverized rock and dirt. Add a good strong wind to smooth our the edges and voila! Alaskan mountains in miniature.
They speak a lot here of glaciers, as if this is the only place on earth where the glaciers carved their mark. But in fact, the kettle ponds, formed from melted glacier water, are just small versions of the Finger Lakes. Alaskans poke fun at Texans thinking their state is big…well we New Yorkers could have some fun with their kettle ponds!

I’m amazed at the number of people who stand beside the train tracks and wave. In the bush, it’s understandable. Only two trains go through each day…one headed north and one headed south. In the winter a single train runs north on Saturday and south on Sunday and nothing in between. It makes sense to come out and wave and get at least a modicum of human interaction.

But even in Wasilla people stood in parking lots and at the ends of roads, waving at the train as it passed!

9:16 pm

Have arrived at the Hilton only to discover Internet access is $2.95 for 15 minutes and twenty-five cents for every minute after that! This trip cost $5000…are you telling me I can’t get free internet at that price??? I can go to the nearest McDonald’s and get free WiFi. And I have to PAY for it? At the HILTON??? I am SOOOO not impressed.

1:30 AM

Yes, I know it’ technically Sunday, but since I haven’t gone to bed yet, I’m counting this as still part of today. I just got back from meeting up with Tielle and we had a great time! We talked shop a little, then Steven joined us and we talked Alaska in general, then he left us when our talk turned to shop again. She’s such a sweet person and of course, it’s always fun meeting up with another Scribe! For the record…we closed the bar.

Friday

I didn't have internet yesterday, so both days are posted in separate posts. Here's the link for Thursday.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Denali Wilderness Tour (bus through the National Park)

To say that I’m overwhelmed is an understatement. I really wished I had the computer with me for the return trip from Denali, but in all honest, it would’ve done me little good. The only vehicles allowed in the depths of the park are Bluebird- or Thomas-built schoolbus type busses and they’re not known for their suspension systems. The road itself is paved only about half way along. Then it becomes a very well-kept gravel road that twists around the tundra’s mountains in curves and bends that are more suitable for the Dall Sheep that roam up there than for a schoolbus! Mom, you never would’ve made it. The road is just wide enough for two busses to pass with only an inch between their mirrors. One of the other drivers put his arm out, elbow bent, and ran his hand along our bus, we were that close!


And the drop offs! Mom, you never would’ve made it. I hope the pictures we took show the depths of the valleys. Going around and over Polychrome Mountain (so named because of the many colors of the rock) even made me a little nervous sometimes. Definitely above the treeline at that point…nothing around but rocks and wind.









Although the wind gave us no trouble that we could feel today. In fact, once again we had a gorgeous day to be in Denali. We’ve heard so many times from the natives here that they’re just amazed at the beautifully clear skies we’ve had these past two days. Our bus driver today (Barry) said he’d never seen the entire mountain, top to bottom, two days in a row. Ever.

But I’m ahead of myself. Let me go back…

We began our day at 5:00 am and were in the lobby by 5:45 for our 6:00 bus tour. We got danishes and large hot chocolates to take along since we’d been told the box lunch provided wasn’t the best (our informants were right. More on that later). Armed with breakfast and other snacks, we boarded the bus and headed into the park.




Our first animal sighting came within fifteen minutes – a female moose eating a willow bush right beside the road. Let me tell you, moose are BIG creatures! We took pictures and moved on.

The taiga (the lower permafrost) slowly gave way to the tundra, which is still permafrost but is higher in elevation. I’d always thought of vast, snow-covered expanses of nothing when I heard the word “tundra” but apparently that’s only in winter. Since this is the end of summer here (we would call this early fall at home), the tundra is still green with some of the vegetation starting to turn color. The tree line isn’t a straight line across the mountains as it appears to be from a distance, however. It meanders up and down depending on the side of the mountain (south side vegetation grows higher up than north side does) and the amount of water it gets.

Speaking of water…The mountains here in the foothills of the Denali range apparently don’t have snow year-round. The snow that graces them now just fell three days ago in the first snowfall of the season. Wasn’t that nice of it to do for me? Just so I could say I’ve seen mountains with permanent snow? Of course, that was before I saw the TRUE mountains of Denali…

Mt. McKinley – which I’m going to start calling by its real name, Denali. Denali means “the great one” in the Athabascan language and really, only those of us in the lower 48 call it by it’s political name. Anyway, we saw Denali several times before getting to the aptly named Road’s End. Each time he’d tell us how far away it still was and each time it was still the most impressive sight to see. At first it just looked like one of the other mountains in the foothills, only white in color. By the time we got 32 miles away from it at Road’s End, it dominated the skyline and there was no doubt who was boss on that range.

(and one more to prove we were there:

We saw lots of other animals, in fact, more than the bus driver had seen in one trip ever before. At two separate times we saw grizzly bears just walking down the middle of the road to greet us. Once on the way out and once on the way back (not the same bear). Steven got a good shot of the first bear, but only got the second one’s rear end as he walked into the bush just as he took the picture.

I was the first to spot the red fox on the rocks, but by the time Barry was able to stop the bus the fox had slipped over the ridge.

We saw caribou twice. On herd was spread out over a ridge and into the river valley; there were several female and one male on the ridge; the ones in the valley we think were all female or very young males. The second was actually just a group of three wandering along the valley of one of the “braided” rivers. They’re called braided because the path they take through the permafrost changes, often carving branches that meander around the valley before rejoining the main river. Seen from above (which we did several times), the rivers look “braided” together.

We saw magpies, which was cool because I’d never seen one bfore. They’re actually very elegant looking – at least in flight. Never saw one on the ground. But the black body with the white stripe on the tail is very striking. We also saw several snowshoe hares and one weasel.

But our best sighting of all had to be the wolves. Apparently there are only about 85 wolves in the entire 6 million acres of Denali National Park. Today we saw at least eight of them. The numbers varied depending on who you were asking, but I saw six myself – two adults and four puppies playing together on the hillside and two others hunting rabbits closer to us. In fact, the hares near the road were hopping all over the place looking to hide since they’d scented the wolves. We didn’t stay long enough to see if one of the wolves caught any hares or not though.

I fell asleep on the bus on the way back, but only for about 15 minutes. Too much to see! It’s been an amazing trip so far – truly incredible sights. Wonderful!


Dave, Dar, Lori and Steve's mom got back to the hotel shortly after we did. The boys and Lori went in search of a liquor store and I uploaded the rough draft of these posts. Then we all got together and drank a toast to Michele and Steven's dad, knowing they both had a hand in the beautiful day. What made it even more special was the wine they found...the name of the winery was St. Michelle!


Dinner here at the hotel in their casual dining room (the formal one is WAY too expensive for the likes of us peons). Resting after a long two days of exploration. At least tomorrow the bags don't need to be out till 9:00 am and we don't need to be on the bus to the train till 10!


Shoutout to Reenie who's following me! The rest of you leave a comment so I know I'm not just sending this into the cyberspace vacuum!

Thursday -- On the train to Denali

(Didn't have Internet yesterday, so posting Thurday's events a day late!)

Luggage went out at 5:45 for a 6:00 pick up; Steven’s in the shower and I’m catching up with the journal and getting ready to go to the lobby. We’re leaving here around 7:15 (it’s 6:23 now) and headed for the train to Denali!

On train to Denali

Some observations:
The hills we’re going through look much like the hills at home. The big difference is the trees. Pockets of aspen dapple the hillsides interspersed with black spruce and birch. It makes for varying levels on the surface of the hills as well as splotches of color rather than the more mixed foliage of NY.

The word "poplar" is like saying a tree is an "evergreen." There are LOTS of poplars and Aspen is one of them They have a single root system, which means a stand of poplar are actually all one tree with several shoots off it.

The “na” suffix in the Athabasan language means “water”. Hence Tehana River, Nehana River, etc.

Saw Mt MiKinley! Puts us in the 30% club of those who actually can see the mountain on the train. Beautiful day and sunny! Jennie, our bartender on the train, said she’d been doing this tour for three years and in all that time had actually seen the mountain only about 15 times. And the sight of the entire range was even rarer. She said, “You know the view is spectacular when the crew is getting out their cameras!”

And it truly was a magnificent sight. At first your eye almost slips over it, mistaking it for a low cloud near the horizon. We were about 70 miles away at that point. As the train draws nearer, the mountain plays peek-a-boo with you, hiding behind trees and lower –much lower – mountains, finally emerging across a valley in all its splendor. Because the day was so clear you could see the blues and greys of Denali’s crevasses and the brilliant white of the summit against a deep blue sky. I know I repeat myself, but…magnificent.


I got to thinking as I stood waiting for Steven to iron out a small wrinkle in our schedule. He had gone inside the Holland America office beside the Mt. McKinley Chalet where we’re staying and I stayed outside to soak in the view. I thought to myself, “what great scenery they have here!” and then realized the absurdity of the sentiment. Everyone has scenery. The Finger Lakes has incredible vistas and beautiful colors, as does Rochester and Phelps and everywhere else.

But what is nice is to see different scenery. The mountains immediately around us have no snow at this time of year, but we’re told we only have to wait a few weeks (there was frost on the ground when we left the hotel in Fairbanks this morning!). It’s evident, however, where the tree line begins and ends as the trees all stop at a fairly uniform height on all the mountains. Above it is only brown where nothing grows. The dirt is exposed, as are the bones of the earth. They’re rounded from millennia of winds and snow sanding them down and creating some wonderful shapes and curves. It’s still a little surreal to think that just a few days ago I was in such a vastly different landscape looking at very familiar scenery.

A note about the Chalet. The place is beautiful and the scenery, well, see above for notes about the scenery. The rooms are not as big as Sophie’s Station in Fairbanks, although there are two of them. The “living room” is in the front with a couch and a rocking chair. There’s a writing desk, but no chair to go with it. The bath doesn’t actually have a tub, but has a shower that takes up the same amount of space. The bedroom has one queen (I think – it might be a full) and one twin, so Steven and I are going to have to fight for the extra pillow.

When we first got here, there was no heat in the rooms. Each room has it’s own thermostat and I went around and turned all of them up to 75. So far each room has made it to the low 60’s. They’re cheap with the towels (although of good quality, there are only three), but the soap smells really good. And did I mention the views? J

There isn’t any wireless here in the rooms; I’ll check the lobby later when we go for our Step Through Time hike. There are several hikes available, all tours. We diecided to do this one tonight and see where they go and then if possible, do another one tomorrow after our Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour.

Speaking of which, Steven and I were booked for different tours tomorrow! I was to go on the 6:40 am one with the rest of the family and he was to go at 7:30 all by his lonesome. We spoke to the desk clerk and now we’re together…for the 6:00 AM tour. I’m sort of glad it’s so early as the animals are more likely to be out and about in the morning. But I’m afraid the Denali summit may not yet have gotten up for the day.

(I’m actually writing the rest of this on Friday, August 21, 2009; was too tired to write last night, but to keep the journal accurate, I’ll write here)

Steven and I wanted to take a hike through Denali National Park so we signed up for one of the excursions that allowed for that. Dave, Dar, Lori and Steven’s mom all went to the dinner theatre at the hotel but since it sounded a lot like the Hoop dee doo Revue at Disney, we decided we wanted something closer to nature.

Heidi was our tour guide and it turns out there was only one other person going on the hike with us. Her name was Lori, an easy one to remember for sure! Heidi informed us that the trail we’d signed up for was closed because of the rain and snow they’d had two days ago so we’d be taking the more difficult trail if that was okay with us. Otherwise we could stick to the lower trails.

No way! We’d debated about the tougher trail and were glad to get an opportunity to challenge it. With only four of us total, it should be a good hike. Four and a half miles up, around, down, up again, down again...more ups…more downs….all in one, big four-mile loop.

Heidi was a GREAT tour guide. She told us all the berries in the park are edible and we stopped for blueberry snacking periodically. I’d never had blueberries fresh off the bush before. They’re small since they’re wild blueberries, but they were like little bursts of blueberry flavor! She showed us a squirrel den (several squirrels live together underground and trick the fox and wolves that want to eat them by going in one hole and coming out of one of the many others), and we saw trees rubbed raw where moose scrape their antlers off.

We also saw incredible vistas standing on precipices waaaaay up high. Highest we got was about 2000 feet up. Sugarloaf Mountain is right across the valley from our hotel with Camelback beside it and Fellows next to that. Between them you can catch a glimpse of Deborah Mountain in the distance (snow covered completely!). Our hotel backs onto Healey Mountain and the river that flows at its feet is the Nehana. The ridge we were climbing it too small to have a separate name. I used to think we had a cabin in the mountains. Now I know we have a cabin in the hills!



We left at 6:00 at night and got back to the hotel a little after 10:00 – and yes, it was still light! Have I said yet how cool this is to have so much sunlight for so long a time? It’s played havoc with my sleeping habits, but then again, so has jet lag. I don’t care. I’m having far too much fun to care about getting sleep!

of Riverboats, Pipelines and Gold Mines...

6: 20 am

Grrr...I had some trouble with my laptop on the last leg of the journey and it looks like it didn't save the final entry. To recap the arrival in Fairbanks:

We landed just fine and right on time at 9:00 pm local time. That means we traveled a total of four hours back in time. We managed to find our tour bus that would take us to the hotel, met breifly with our tour director (Toni -- she seems really nice) and got the information for Wednesday. Steven and I collapsed in bed around 10:30 local time (that's 2:30 AM for those of you back East!). Slept well for the most part, but it never got darker than about 4 o'clock on a winter's afternoon in Rochester!

We're touring Fairbanks today -- will keep you posted! Till later...love you all!

6:09 pm – back at Sophie’s Station Suites

Yes, that said “suites”. Not sure why we need an entire suite for a two-night stay, but it IS nice. A kitchen bigger than Mom & Dad’s, a living room, bedroom big enough for not one but TWO queen-sized beds and a full bath! I’m sitting at the bar that borders the kitchen and living room to type this.

We began the day early – Steven and I were both up by 5:30, still on Eastern time rather than Alaskan. By 8:00 we were in the lobby, ready to board the bus for our tour of Fairbanks…and what a tour it was!

We began with a riverboat cruise along the Chena River (prounounced “Shee-na”). The riverboat, the Discovery III, is a real paddlewheel drawing only 38 inches of water. Good thing too, since the river is only about six feet deep in its deepest places. There were three tiers of seating with the pilot house above that, so this was no small boat!

But it wasn’t just a riverboat cruise. We pulled away from the dock and turned around and there was a plane ready to do a takeoff off the water (and a landing, of course); he radioed to the boat and talked to us about life as a bush pilot in Alaska. Very cool.

Down the river a bit we paused by a kennel that trains Iditarod dogs. In fact, the man who spoke to us from shore was part of the winning team of that race several years in a row. They had three new pups who were very cute. Then they hooked up a team and they pulled a modified ATV around the track. Did you know that at full tilt they can do over 20 miles an hour????

Further along we came to an Athabascan village. This living museum was set up to teach people about the Athabascan tribe of native peoples. It was wonderful! Our tour guide on this part was a native college girl who really knew her stuff. She’s planning to be an elementary teacher in a school that teaches her native language first and English second. The tribe is being very active in preserving their culture while still enjoying the benefits of technology. A balancing act to be sure!

The riverboat had free homemade donuts and gave away samples of their specially prepared salmon. I don’t generally like salmon, but this was really good! They also had something else available and Steven and I both decided we couldn’t resist. So yes, we can both now say we’ve eaten reindeer! We had reindeer hot dogs and found they’re tougher than regular pork or beef dogs. And spicier! Steven says that’s to cover up the real taste of the meat. Could be, but it was good J.

Also learned the difference between reindeer and caribou. Our tour guide was surprised we didn’t know the difference: reindeer can fly! Actually, the only difference are reindeer are what they’re called when raised in captivity and caribou are what they’re called if they roam free. Same animal, different names for different ways of being raised.

Back on the bus and our driver (Steve) took us for a tour of Fairbanks, pointing out some of the interesting stuff along the way. There isn’t much here; the city’s probably about as big as Auburn, only spread out a little more. Still, there’s a lot of pride in the tough spirit it takes to live in this climate. The “make-do” attitude is prevalent and we saw it everywhere we went. Doesn’t matter if you don’t have what you need – make do or make it from scratch.

Accent wise people don’t seem to have a very different accent from upstate New York. A little harsher in the vowels perhaps, but not much. You can tell the Athabascan native speakers, however, as their English is slightly stilted and much more musical. A very pretty accent!

Lunch was at Gold Dredge #8 and, as far as I’m concerned, the worst part of the day. No choices in the meal – only beef stew, and not very good stew at that. Buscuits were late coming out, although they were warm and there was only water to drink. If you wanted anything other than that, you had to buy it. On the upside, this was the only downside to the entire day!

Went to the Eldorado Gold Mine next, with a stop along the way to see the Alaskan pipeline. Know why its not underground? They can’t put it in the permafrost because of the heaving the ground does. It would rip apart within months if it were even sitting on top of the permafrost. In fact, the roads here are often like riding over corduroy because of the shifting that goes on as the sun thaws, then refreezes the top few inches. Our bus driver called them the “woo” parts of the road because you go “Woo!” when you go over them.

(edited to add video of pipeline)

The gold mine was a lot of fun. We were expecting something of a 1950-era, tired, tourist-trap type place, but that’s not what this was at all. The Eldorado is a working mine that they open to tours at specified times. You take an open-car train around to the mine, including a stop underground to see a presentation on that aspect of the history of mining. Then around a little further and another presentation on panning for gold and a little further on is a presentation on the above-ground operation of what we’d seen underground.

(edit to add video link. Watch panning for gold here. If the video doesn't come up, try again later. It's still processing as of this edit)

The train lets you off at the gold slue and that was the most impressive part of all. A long slue is built into the hillside, dirt is put into a hopper at the top and water is released from a trough above it. The water pounds down into the hopper and carries the dirt along the gold slue, which has bars across the bottom to catch the gold. Gold is heavier than the dirt and most of the rocks, so it stays behind since it’s carried on the bottom. I took videos and will upload them if I can.

Then we got the opportunity to pan for gold ourselves. We were all given a poke sack of dirt and directed to the troughs of water where pans awaited our dirt. I have to admit, I had a riot trying to learn how to swirl the water and dip the pan to let the “wave in and the same wave out” that would carry the rocks away. The helpers all kept telling us, when we would say, “I’m afraid I’m going to wash the gold right out,” that we just had to trust the gold. It would fall to the bottom. Honest.

And they were right. It did. Nothing like the thrill of seeing that first glint in the bottom of the pan! Even though they were “only” flakes, it was still VERY cool. Steven and I each collected about $12.00 worth of gold, Steven’s mom collected about $19 worth and Darlene took the prize at nearly $25 worth.

Back on the bus to come back to hotel, and not a moment too soon. Jet lag set in and I had trouble staying awake to watch the scenery go by. I love the black spruce that look like bottle brushes sticking straight up off the hills. Where there is black spruce, there is permafrost. Walking on it is like walking on a sponge. The Athabascan village is built on the permafrost and we all remarked on how springy it was. And the scent! They have a warm, dusky pine scent…not the sharp tang of the pines in New York.

Steven and I had planned to take in the Museum at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks tonight, but we were just too tired. Instead we went for overpriced drinks and appetizers at the hotel’s lounge. Just got back and wanted to finish this post before heading to bed. It’s now 1:17 am back East, but here it’s just 9:17 and the sun hasn’t set yet. The sun goes “down” (as in lower than the horizon) for about five hours a night, but since it doesn’t go far, it’s twilight all night long. I love it!

Okay, tomorrow we’re on the train for Denali and a new hotel. Hopefully I’ll have free wi-fi there as well. Till then…

Cindy

Starting out

Wanted a way to let everyone know how we're doing while up here in the Great White North, so I created this blog. You can leave comments if you want to send us a message and I'll read them when I have Internet access (which we have for free from Sophie's Station, our first hotel of the trip).

So without further ado, here's the journal entry I wrote yesterday in the airport and on the plane!

4:55 pm Seattle time
I’m sitting in the food court in Seattle, Washington. Can’t get wi-fi, well, can get it, but have to pay for it. That stinks. Internet in Rochester is free. But have to pay here? Good thing I don’t really care.

Why don’t I care? Because I saw mountains with snow!!! We went over the Rockies and that was really, really cool. Also saw Mount Olympus from the air and it was impressive!

GTG. Moving to gate. Will write more later.

5:14 pm Seattle time

Okay, have found our gate, made sure the slips we got from the machine are actually boarding passes and settled for a while. The flight boards in about 40 minutes and takes off at 6:20 pm. So I have some time to get caught up.

We left home this morning at 7:15 Eastern and picked up Steven’s mom in Waterloo. Kate came with us so she could drive the car home after dropping us off. We drove to the Rochester airport and waited at the curb for Dave, Dar and Lori (only about 5 minutes). Kate needed to follow John back to the apartment and help with the movement of cars to appropriate parking lots, then she left for home from there.

When we got to the security checkpoint Steven went through first. The woman at the first desk looked at my boarding pass and made a comment about the fact that I must be with him and she pointed in Steven’s direction. I said, “for better or worse!” and she chuckled. We all went through with no problems, although Mom needed to get frisked because of her titanium knee.

We left on time and made it to Dulles in Washington, DC without incident. Took about an hour. I was certainly ready for a stretch afterward and that was the short hop! Steven mentioned he’s the one with the least flying experience, having been on a plane only once before when he was 12. He giggled at takeoff (my favori8te part of flying) and enjoyed looking out the window.

We only had about an hour layover in DC, so we got something light to eat (Auntie Anne’s pretzel for me; cinnamon pretzel sticks for Steven) since the next flight would be just under six hours long. There would be food served, but you had to purchase it. Nothing for free anymore on these flights!

There were some delays boarding the flight for Seattle as the plane’s inner air temperature was hot. The pilot wanted to wait to get too many people on till the air conditioner had a chance to kick in. But once the boarding started it went smoothly.

Unfortunately, there were several small children and at least one crying baby on this six-hour flight, including a little girl behind Steven who kept kicking his seat. At least the movie was good – the newest Star Trek. I read Bleachers by John Grisham (it was okay, but too filled with football jargon for me to get into it) and left the book on the plane (on purpose). We landed in Seattle 20 minutes early, so we must have had a good tailwind.

Mostly we had the window shade down on the flight, but after the movie Steven put it up to peek and we saw the mountains below us. At first I thought they were the Rockies, but there wasn’t snow on them. But a little while later (after going over a flat area) we hit the real Rockies and saw snow. Not a lot of snow, but enough.

And then we got closer to Seattle and saw three mountains that poked up into the clouds. One was Mount Olympus (the one closest to us) and I’ll have to look up the name of the others. We flew over part of Puget Sound before landing.

We’ve eaten dinner now (Steven had bourbon chicken and orange chicken and I had cod fish & chips) and are waiting for the next flight. We should board shortly. This flight, the last leg of the journey, will take about three and a half hours and one more hour back in time. Very cool!

11:20 pm Eastern time

I know the time isn’t correct for this time zone, but I’m too tired to try and figure out the right time. As you can see, it’s late at home and I’ve been up since 4:00 this morning. Sun’s bright here as we are above the clouds and still headed west. We’ve passed over Ketchikan, although it was beneath the clouds and I’m on an aisle seat, so I can’t see anything anyway.

I do want to say something about take-offs. They are my favorite part of the flight. The plane taxis out to the runway, taking its time and puttering along. I could fall asleep to the gentle bouncing along, like a baby’s cradle rocking me to sleep. And then the turn onto the runway itself, getting ready for the long race down the tarmac. The plane’s engines get louder and your body is pressed back into the seat as the G-forces take over. Faster and faster the plane bolts down the runway until suddenly there’s a small lift – and the ground swiftly falls away.

(We’re passing over Sitka right now…I have to say the clouds over Sitka look just like the clouds over Ketchikan…)

I’m afraid turbulence isn’t something that bothers me. I don’t like roller coasters, but there’s just something fun about the sudden ups and downs in an airplane. I have to resist the urge to call out “Wheee!” when my stomach flies into my throat…


Grrr...I had some trouble with my laptop on the last leg of the journey and it looks like it didn't save the final entry. To recap the arrival in Fairbanks:

We landed just fine and right on time at 9:00 pm local time. That means we traveled a total of four hours back in time. We managed to find our tour bus that would take us to the hotel, met breifly with our tour director (Toni -- she seems really nice) and got the information for Wednesday. Steven and I collapsed in bed around 10:30 local time (that's 2:30 AM for those of you back East!). Slept well for the most part, but it never got darker than about 4 o'clock on a winter's afternoon in Rochester!

We're touring Fairbanks today -- will keep you posted! Till later...love you all!

Cindy