We Went to Alaska

Saturday, August 14, 2004 We left Langston with HC and Polly Edmonds' around 9:30 a.m. The photo below on the left is the Edmonds' front entry They won't be seeing it again until August 25. Next, we headed for Huntsville by way of JC Penney's in  Scottsboro where H.C. got new shoes, Orlis found a shirt  and I bought a jacket.  We stopped at McDonald's for a  sandwich and continued on to the Huntsville airport. We  used a kiosk for the first time to get tickets, checked our  luggage and went to Gate 8. When we passed through Security, everybody was allowed to continue except me.  I had to be hand scanned, had to remove my shoes and  belt, then finally they decided my big clunky earrings  were the culprit and allowed me through. During the entire process, I was trying to get Orlis, HC  or Polly to take a picture, but they were busy acting as  if they did not know me. We boarded our plane and  arrived in Atlanta in less than an hour. Next we boarded  another plane, a 767 wide body jet, and took off non-stop  for Anchorage. We watched a couple of old movies and ate a terrible airplane meal; we enjoyed both because we were excited and hungry. I dozed off for awhile and awoke around 10 p.m. C. S. T. The sun was shining brightly through the clouds as it was when we arrived in Anchorage at 12:30 a.m. It was 9:30 p.m. Alaska time. We were shuttled to the Captain Cook Hotel where our trusty tour guide Gary was waiting at the curb to greet us  with Glenda, Larry and Anna. They (Gary and Glenda Bass and Larry and Anna VanMeter) had arrived in Anchorage a day ahead of us. By then it was 2 a.m. by my watch, but it was still not dark. Sunday, August 15, 2004 I guess night came later, but when I awoke at 5 a.m. Alaska time, it was daylight. Hmm.... The Captain Cook Hotel is an upscale (classy) hotel. I don't know how many stars it has by its name in the travel brochures, but I bet they don't mention that there is no air conditioning.  We were on the fourth floor and had good cross ventilation, so we were not too uncomfortable. But the others, including our trusty tour guide, were on the fourteenth floor where all the heat from below accumulated. And believe it or not, it was hot and humid in Anchorage. It was so hot that Glenda threatened to sleep in the lobby the second night. As I indicated, the Captain Cook is a very nice hotel. But if you stay there during the summer, be sure to get a room on a lower floor. Before we arrived, the Basses and VanMeters had rented a 12-passenger van for the day so that we could explore Anchorage and surrounds. We started the day with breakfast at the Snow City Cafe where we feasted on  Dungeness crab omelets, salmon patties,  HUGE pancakes, Reindeer sausage, etc.  Tour Guide Gary had found an excellent  van driver who just happened to be a member of our party, Larry. We took the  highway toward Seward.  High up on the  rugged terrain along Turn Again Arm we  saw Doll sheep. As we traveled along the  Coast, our trusty tour guide told us to be  constantly on the lookout for wildlife and  whales. Other than the Doll sheep, the only wild thing we saw was our driver.  But when we complained our tour  guide resigned. Now here we were out in the wilderness, eight tourists from Alabama all alone and at the  mercy of the Great Alaskan Frontier. The view of the mountains was breathtaking. Anna said she wanted to stand up sing the Doxology. We didn't let her sing, but we all gazed in awe at the beauty around us. Luckily, Driver Larry did not resign but drove us on to Seward where we stopped for a brief  respite and enjoyed the quaint seacoast town. I was surprised that there were so many RV parks along the waterfront. We had lunch at Ray's, a restaurant located at the harbor, where we all enjoyed wild Alaskan salmon  and pasta while we watched the fishing boats unload. One small fishing boat unloaded 20-30 huge fish, mostly salmon, but I did not get a good picture.  We thought about visiting the Sea Life Museum, but were so full of salmon that nobody really wanted  to exert the effort (or pay the $14.50/pp fee). So we traveled back to Anchorage.  Having eaten two huge meals, we decided to meet in the Burtons' room for a snack before bedtime. Monday, August 16, 2004 We arose early, packed and went up to Basses room for donuts and coffee. Then we set out on a  self-directed walking tour of Anchorage (Our tour guide had resigned and was now just another  tourist). We saw an Imax movie about Alaska then walked along streets where gorgeous flowers  and plants grew profusely. There were mini-gardens everywhere.  We stopped  for lunch at the "Brewhouse" and had grilled salmon sandwiches, salmon pasta and salmon chowder. Orlis  had a hamburger. After lunch everybody except  Larry, Orlis and I went to see a movie on the history  of Alaska. Having already checked out of our rooms  and still suffering a bit from jetlag, we slept in the  hotel lobby until they returned. At 2:45 p.m. we boarded the Alaskan Railway Train to Whittier. The train took us along a scenic  route where we saw glaciers, wild salmon, and an area that had been hit by an earthquake in 1964  that registered 9.2 on the Richter scale. We saw more Doll sheep too. After 4 hours on the train, we boarded the cruise ship at Whittier. Following the life jacket drill, we rested, ate a so-so buffet and watched a so-so comedian that actually made us laugh. We turned in around 11:30 p.m. At sometime during the night I awoke to go to the bathroom. Now, the ship cabin was arranged  somewhat like our bedroom but smaller. Also, the cabin's exit door was located on the wall where  our bathroom door is located. However, instead of being in the bathroom, I found myself in the very brightly lit ship hallway. There I stood without the little card that opens the door, in my little nighty and little else! I tapped lightly on the door. Realizing that Orlis is a very sound sleeper, I tapped a little harder. Unable to rouse him, I began to panic and banged on the door. By this time doors all up and down the hall were open with heads sticking out. Half asleep, I stumbled across the cabin and struggled to open the heavy door. Finally I got the door  open, stepped through and quickly released it. The moral of this story is: Do not drink anything for  at least two hours before going to bed your first night on a cruise ship  (In case you are wondering,  yes, I made that one up. But it could happen..). Tuesday, August 17, 2004 Around 5:30 a.m. we (Fay and Orlis) were up and out on deck to see the sites. The ship cruised up College Fiord to the Great Harvard Glacier where we were taken very close to the huge mountain of ice. There was ice floating in the water all around, but I didn't hear any breaking off the way it did in the Imax movie. It was very, very cold. We had breakfast with our former tour guide Gary and his supervisor, Glenda. We enjoyed a leisure meal while savoring the scenery. Tuesday evening was one of the Ship's two  "dress-up" occasions so we went to dinner with  H.C. and Polly and had a delicious meal of  dry-aged New York strip, fillet mignon and all  the trimmings. The excellent service in the  dining room made us all feel very, very  pampered. After dinner we were joined by the  Basses and VanMeters who had opted out of the dress-up affair. We enjoyed a show then  strolled through a night club where Larry, Anna  and Polly danced. The rest of us watched. After a very busy day, we retired for the night. The beauty and the splendor of the Harvard Glacier had amazed us. Little  did we know what was in store for us over the next few days. Wednesday, August 18, 2004 We (Fay and Orlis) awoke early and went straight up to deck 14 to see the scenery. This is the only place on the ship that has coffee at 5:30 a.m. The coffee was weak and visibility was 0. To make matters worse, it was cloudy, foggy and raining. About the only thing of interest was the ice sculpture at the entry.  Without saying anything negative, I wondered how much of Glacier Bay we would see. At 7:00 a.m. we went to breakfast in the dining room. We like being "served." As soon as we finished eating we went to visit the Basses and VanMeters and watch Glacier Bay from their balconies. The  weather had improved and the view was spectacular. The Glacier Bay Park Ranger came aboard to explain  about the glacier to us. At lunchtime we went down to the pizzeria to get pizza but were told "no takeout" and that we would have to  call room service to have pizza in our room. I was "volunteered" to call room service and when I started to tell the room service person what we wanted on our pizza, I was told, "No vary, no vary." For some reason  that escapes me now, I ordered 8 California style pizzas . They consisted of what looked like a pancake baked with small dollops of mashed avocado, sun dried (really dried) tomatoes and little else. The men said that next time we had pizza, they would order. Oops! I was reminded that because of my aversion  to cantaloupe, nobody was allowed to eat it in my presence and that, coincidentally, certain other people in our party felt the same way about avocado that I felt about cantaloupe. I'm not calling any names, but the  comment came from a member of our party who had just resigned as a tour guide.Next, the men requested an early supper. Well, I'm not mentioning any names, but some folks would gripe if they were hung with a new rope! And I'm not talking about the girls.  (That pizza was really bad.) The Sun Princess left Glacier Bay late in the evening and set out for Skagway via Icy Strait and Lynn Canal, an area that is said to be populated by the Orcas or Killer whales. Despite the vigilance of our men,  we did not see any whales.  Yet, we were not disappointed. Glacier Bay had provided us with enough excitement for the entire trip. It was bitterly cold on the balcony, but our men  endured the elements to be on the lookout for glaciers and alert us whenever anything exciting appeared on the horizon. For me to stand in that cold north wind to see anything at all, it would really have to be super spectacular. Actually, the wind calmed and the weather was quite nice. We lounged on the balcony and enjoyed the scenery as we marveled at the sheer force of nature before us and at the beauty that God had placed on this earth. Early in the afternoon we arrived at Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers. For me, this was the highlight of the trip.  Here we were able to see and HEAR the "calving" process of huge icebergs  breaking off the glaciers and crashing down into the bay.  I was so  amazed at the sound and the sheer size of the huge icebergs  crashing from the glacier into the water that I just stood in awe. I  completely forgot about whether the weather was cold or not. Thursday, August 19, 2004 When we awoke we were in Skagway.  We had breakfast, disembarked the ship and set out on foot to tour the city. Near the harbor, we admired the majestic mountains as we walked about a half mile to town.  When we  arrived in downtown Skagway, we found a six-block stretch of shops for tourists, restrooms (thank you), a couple  of restaurants and very little else.

We returned to the ship around Noon, had lunch and took a nap. When I awoke it was 3:30 p.m. We  had dinner at 6 and enjoyed "C'est Magnifique" in the Vista Lounge as the ship cruised out of Skagway bound for Juneau. There is always something to do on the Sun Princess. I do not recall a single instance of being bored on the entire trip.

Friday, August 20, 2004

We awoke in Juneau to see a foggy blur with visibility about 0. We met with Basses, Edmonds and VanMeters for a buffet breakfast on the Lido Deck and left the ship at 9:30 for a tour of Mendenhall Glacier, a salmon hatchery and an outdoor salmon bake. 


We boarded a tour bus with The Crazy Russian as driver/guide who took us to Mendenhall Glacier.









As we approached the glacier, we saw huge icebergs that had calved off the glacier. Some looked to be about the size of a pick-up truck. But, looks are deceiving. Only about an eighth of the iceberg is visible above the water.


Near the glacier we were shown countless salmon swimming in a stream. Some of the salmon were dead. 


The park ranger told us that these salmon had laid and fertilized their eggs and were now near the end of their 3-4 year life cycle and were actually in the dying process.

Next, we were taken to a salmon hatchery where the salmon are caught, their eggs extracted and fertilized. The hatched fingerlings are kept there until they are large enough to return to the stream where they will swim far out into the Pacific and remain there for 3-4 years or until they are ready to spawn, at which time these salmon will return to the same waters from where they were released. There they will complete the final cycle of their lives.


Following our tour of the hatchery, we were taken to an outdoor salmon bake where large planks of wild salmon were being roasted over hot coals and alder wood. It was the most delicious salmon that I had ever eaten. Hmm, Orlis and Larry ate ribs and chicken.


After eating all we could hold and more, we strolled up a hill to a beautiful waterfall. 

There was an old deserted gold mine nearby to remind us of why most of the early settlers came to Alaska.


Next, we took a bus to downtown Juneau where we stopped for a photo op at the Red Dog Saloon. 




Please don't ask me if we went in. The photo of the piano player is only a place holder. Don't pay any attention to it.

We returned to the ship just in time to leave for Ketchikan.






Saturday, August 21, 2004

We disembarked at Ketchikan and strolled along the picturesque streets. In the waters around the cruise ship, there were dozens of sea planes taking off and coming in. I guess that during the winter, this is probably the residents' only means of transportation.

Ketchikan really caters to the tourists, but needing no more tee shirts, we returned to the ship where I found a quiet corner, read my book and rested.

We enjoyed an elegant dinner of lobster, steak Wellington, etc. as we cruised out of Ketchikan toward our final port of call, Vancouver, Canada. As we entered the Georgia Straits and Gulf Islands area of the Inside Passage, we were alerted to the fact that whales had been sited ahead.

Soon we started to see huge black fins swirl up and break the surface of the water. 

These were the fins of the mighty Orcas or Killer Whales. And WOW! They gave us quite a show. 

Hey, I know the photos are a bit blurry, but the whales were a long way from the ship. And I was really excited.



Sunday, August 22, 2004

We awoke at 6:30. In my mind's eye, I could still see the gorgeous Alaskan landscape with its giant snow capped peaks.  

After coffee on the Lido Deck we went to the dining room for breakfast with the rest of our group. Next, Glenda, Polly and I saw some culinary demonstrations performed by two of the ship's chefs. Our seating was not the best in the house, and the sound was worse.



Further, the chef was from Germany and had a funny way of pronouncing his words.



But when he said he was going to show us how to prepare "fried prunes," he immediately had my full attention (I try to eat them every way I can). When he floured the prunes and started browning them in sizzling olive oil, I was a little bit surprised. Then when he added garlic and tomatoes, I could not believe my eyes. I turned to Glenda and said, "I don't believe I want any prunes cooked like this." She laughed and said, "He's cooking prawns, not prunes." I don't know why he didn't just say "shrimp."

Next we toured the ship's galley where the food is prepared. After the tour we wasted some time looking at baubles then had a great lunch in the dining room. Now it was time to pack and make ready to leave our floating temporary home. Our cruise was almost over. We would arrive in Vancouver Monday morning and disembark the ship for the last time. Our baggage would be picked up outside the cabin at 6 p.m.


Monday, August 23, 2004

Since the Basses and VanMeters would be staying in Seattle for two nights following the cruise and we would be staying in Vancouver, we said farewell after breakfast and disembarked the Sun Princess as scheduled.

 We were transported to Sutton Place, a five star, triple diamond hotel in downtown Vancouver. And yes, it was air conditioned. I do not know how our travel agent, Larry Bowen with Advance Travel of Scottsboro managed it, but I am glad that he did. Our hotel accommodations were absolutely perfect! We had the concierge reserve a tour of Vancouver for the afternoon and a tour of Victoria and Butchart Gardens for Tuesday.

On the Vancouver tour, we saw Granville Island, a very upscale section of the city where several celebrities have homes and where movies are frequently made.

Our tour guide told us that The Woman on Rock statue was used by large ships as a tide marker. These ships would not enter the harbor until the water touched her elbow.  

We learned that Vancouver is the world's third largest film making city and were shown several houses and streets that were settings for various movies. 

We saw Stanley Park with stops at Totem Pole Park and Prospect Point.

A reflection of the culture of the original inhabitants can be seen in the many replicas of totem poles throughout Vancouver.

At Queen Elizabeth Park we saw a spectacular view of the city, the Sunken Gardens, and the Bloedel Floral Conservatory.

We were shown Shaughnessy Estates, a very exclusive residential area of multi, multi, million dollar homes. We toured Robson Street, a high fashion shopping area, Gastown, a historical area and China Town.

  

We saw the Lion's Gate Bridge, a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge that was designed by the same architect that designed the Golden Gate Bridge.

  

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Our tour of Victoria started at 8:a.m. We boarded a tour bus and were taken to the harbor where we were loaded on a ferry (tour bus and all) and made the hour and a half journey across the sea (No, I do not know the name of the body of water we traveled.) to Victoria. In Victoria we wasted a lot of time trying to get oriented to the city's layout so that we could find our tour bus on time.

Then we were hungry and decided to have lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We spent half our remaining time waiting for our table and the other half eating.

Actually, we saw quite a bit of Victoria including the downtown section, the Empress Hotel, more totem poles, and the Royal British Columbia Museum.

  

We did not have time to go inside the museum.

There was a neat retirement home with a sign that read "Day is for Resting, Night is for Sleeping."

The benches in front of the building were appropriately designed as mattresses.

  

Next, we boarded our tour bus and were taken to the Butchart Gardens.

Words cannot describe the beauty of these gardens. I have never in my life seen a more beautiful sight than Butchart Gardens.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

We arose early, packed our bags and had breakfast at Denny's across the street from the hotel. Our flight to Atlanta was scheduled for 1 p.m. Because we were concerned about the amount of time we would need to get our boarding passes and clear security, we checked out of the hotel early and took a taxi to the airport.

We boarded the plane at 1:30 p.m. and had an uneventful flight to Atlanta where we changed planes and continued on to Huntsville.

Our little Blazer had waited faithfully for us in the airport parking lot (for $108 in parking fees).

We made the trip from Huntsville to Langston in about an hour. We arrived home shortly after Midnight.

It was already August 26, 2004.

We had been gone a very long time. And while it was too dark to see our house, I was happy to be home. This has been a memorable journey that I will not soon forget.