Skagway

An old gold rush town, Skagway is now a favorite stop for the cruise boats.  There are four in port today with passengers spilling out into the streets in hopes of finding a bargain.  Not thwarted by a steady drizzle they shop in the belief that somewhere in one of the dozen or so jewelry stores there is a gem stone so reasonably priced that it must come home.

Our party of six charted a different path.  The day started with both good and bad news.  We reserved two cars from Avis because one would not handle all six of us.  I brought along short range two way radios because cell phone use is expensive in Canada (it’s another country) to help coordinate.  Apparently Eva was very much looking forward to using the radios.  When we arrived at Avis the person at the counter told us she had a Ford Expedition she could rent to us for less money than we were planning to spend on two car rentals.  It was great news hearing all six could be together, but it meant we really did not need two way radios.

The scenery along the Klondike Highway, the only road out of Skagway, is unmatched anywhere.  Rocks vaulted or exploded high into the air flank the road separated by a continuous body of water that goes by different names depending upon where you are in the journey.  The water creates a giant reflecting pond to reinforce the beauty of the landscape.  While it rained in Skagway, once we crossed the White Pass the rain abated and the sun made what we saw even more breathtaking.

Glaciers and Whales and Bears (Oh My)!

Let’s get the money shot right up front.  It’s from Matt’s camera.  Liz, our captain and guide, steered our boat near a mother humpback and her calf.  I was following the calf, who appeared to venture too far for Mom’s liking.  She made a demonstrative call for her charge to get back within an acceptable distance.

We also witnessed an activity unique to these humpbacks called a bubble net feeding group.  A group of whales, we estimate about twenty, work together to capture more fish.  They get below a school of halibut or some other fish species and on a pre arranged signal they swim in a large circle while blowing air out of their blow holes creating a huge column of bubbles.  This gathers the fish into rising column of air.  On another signal the group of whales all surface together and open their mouths taking in as much as 12,000 gallons of water and fish.  Using their two ton tongues they push the fish up to the roof of their mouth and the water is filtered through their baleen.  In a half hours time we watched this collective feed itself four times, eating an estimated 500 hundred thousand pounds of fish.

 While in Juneau one of the must stops is the Mendenhall glacier.  We hiked down a trail to a massive waterfall.  The hike was much shorter 100 years ago.  Glad we were here to enjoy it.  Several of the trails around the glacier are very “bear active” this time of year.  Jesse recorded some video of a cub climbing a tree but out bandwidth is a bit thin to share.

Welcome to Juneau

This is not a missive about teen pregnancy.  This is the capital city of Alaska, only accessible by air or by boat.  The roadways in Juneau get you from place to place in the city, but not out of it.  The ship is maneuvering its way through Stephan’s Passage and we are scheduled to arrive at about 11 AM Alaska time.  Overnight the ship changed its clock.  Our time is now 4 hours different than those of you contemplating lunch (as I write this). 

Already we are presented with some of the natural beauty of the state.  Clouds float over the valleys between the peaks.  Glaciers inch towards the water.

Our plans include a whale watch and exploring the Mendenhall Glacier.

@ Sea

We left behind brilliant sunshine and temperatures in the mid eighties to take a boat ride into broken fog and fifty degree weather propelled by a breeze.  However, that is part of what gives Alaska its beauty.  Already we can see early signs of wildlife following our boat.  There were a few members of the dolphin family off the starboard side.  Some passengers insisted they were Orcas but we did not see the colors clearly.

We won’t arrive in Juneau until Monday morning at 11 (Alaska Time).  Meanwhile no one is using their cell phones.   Instead we are watching people carve fruit into something unusual and taking ballroom dancing lessons and possibly playing Bingo.  We are also being fairly leisurely about our day.

Jan Out Does Herself

For my thirtieth birthday Jan hired a classic limo to pick us up and take us to dinner at a swank downtown Albany restaurant.  My birthday is in October.  Traveling into the city it was already dark and fireworks erupted over the Empire State Plaza.  I turned to Jan and said, “you’re really good.”  It’s been a family joke since then.

On board the Golden Princess at Pier 91 in Seattle to celebrate my 60^th birthday (early) the Blue Angels flew over several times.  I told you the lady is good at it.

Seattle (again)

All members of our Alaska party are in Seattle.  Actually, all members or our Alaska party are in our hotel room in Seattle waiting for a pizza to be delivered.  Meanwhile we are snacking on fresh fruit, breads and those who drink wine are doing that too.

Tomorrow we get on the boat and head to Alaska.

Sunrise Crater Lake