Tag: travel

Alaska – Sept 1 – Icy Strait Point

Hard to believe we started this adventure one week ago with the shuttle to Atlanta. Time flies when you are having fun.

In Juneau, we had 13 hours in port. For ISP, we had 5 and ½ and it was 7:00 to 1:30. ISP is a new port for us so I was not thrilled with the time. The village that the port supports is called Hoonah and is populated by only 1000 people, mostly Tlingit Indians. There are only two villages on this island called Chichagof Island.

Hoonah’s main industry was the salmon cannery until it closed in 1953. Cruise ships started coming in 2004. It is home to the world’s longest zipline (5330 feet long with a 1300 foot vertical drop reaching 60 miles per hour in speed). And the Indians share the Island with 4000 coastal brown bears.

We had breakfast the other day with 2 ladies who said they were signed up to go ziplining. One was 80 and the other 82. Wonder if they did it. One lady was worried that her hearing aids would fly off. They had already been warned to take off their glasses before zipping. You go girls!

We were going to go find some of those 4000 bears today. I signed us up with Hoonah Adventure Tours for their 8:30 to 11:30 Wilderness Adventure and Brown Bear Search tour. I was pretty excited about this tour.

We had room service breakfast brought at 7:00 as we were docking. By 8:00, we had walked off the ship and followed the directions to meet the tour group. There were 8 of us from the ship. We left promptly at 8:30.

Similar to whale watching, there appears to be some popular spots (streams) for bear activity and all the tour guides know where these stops are and are in contact with each other to help out the tourists. Otherwise you could drive around for hours and never see anything except trees and bushes. Very dense forests.

We stopped at 4 different spots and ended up seeing about 5 bears. The last stop being the most productive because they were out in the stream so we could get good pictures. The other bears preferred to hide in the shrubbery along the banks. I did get one really good video of a bear ripping up a salmon. Also got a couple of eagle photos.

The driver / tour guide told us a lot about this family as they are Tlingit and he is actually an elder in their clan. Interesting stuff – his mom could speak Tlingit, Russian, and English and taught school so she helped translate a lot of historical documents. He is the 12th of 14 children.

He went over his tour time helping us find bears so we didn’t get back to the ship until almost 1:00. There was not enough time to walk the nature trail that was close to the port. I would have liked to have done it too. But it was a good day, the rain held off, and it was around 55 degrees so I was comfortable with my jacket.

We set sail at 2:00. We ate a light lunch at the Lido buffet. Chuck wanted to play cards since he didn’t get to play at all yesterday. I found a nice spot to work on my travel journal. As I was writing and watching out the window, I spotted several sea otters and some seals. I was glad I had my binoculars.

Eventually I made my way back to the room and got cleaned up for the dinner hour. Chuck came in an hour later and I was pleased to see that he had won some money. We had a couple of drinks at the Oceans Bar, and listened to the Ocean’s Trio play some easy listening songs. During that time, we spotted a pod of orcas that appeared to be swimming together to catch some fish. Normally, they hunt alone. Not too long after that, we saw some dolphins. Chuck spotted what looked like a glacier but I was convinced it was just clouds playing a trick. Turned out it was the largest glacier in Alaska so Chuck was right. A really great day for nature.

Only low point was having to use the outhouse at the end of one of the trails during the tour. The women had to stand in line and then hold your breath while inside the one-hole facility. I was wishing the whole time I had not had that 2nd cup of coffee. The men just did what the bears do behind the building and the trees.

Got another bag of laundry ready to be picked up. Will have to check tomorrow to see if the charges are straightened out.

Had a nice table for dinner. One couple from England and a couple from Washington. We laughed quite a bit. We did manage to push ourselves away from the table before dessert. I have to say this was the fastest service we have experienced. We were done by 60 minutes.

After dinner, Chuck wanted to play cards and I wanted to do more writing. I got him for the 10:00 comedian show – Jeff Burghart. He did some cute jokes and good impressions. We didn’t stay for the crew show.

Tomorrow is a sea day so no alarm to set. Tonight’s towel animal is a turtle.

Alaska – Aug 31 – Juneau

Today is a very long port day: 8:00 am – 10:00 pm. The weather calls for rain but you never know. In 1880, two prospectors – Richard Harris and Joe Juneau – struck gold in this area and thus started the Alaskan gold rush. Juneau was first named Harrisburg, then Rockwell, and finally Juneau. In 1906, the capital of Alaska was moved from Sitka to Juneau. The city is between Mount Juneau and Mount Roberts. It is home to Mendenhall Glacier and is known for whale watching.

Last year, we did a whale watching tour and had a great time. Today we hope to take the tram up to Mount Roberts and hike some of the trails. Depends on the weather. We may just end up taking a city tour.

Update – After a breakfast in the dining room where we sat with one couple with whom we had lunch with the other day and then another couple from New Mexico, we put on our rain gear and headed out. It was raining but not too hard. We bought tickets for the Mt Roberts tram to take us up. We went through the clouds to the top. Since it started to rain a little harder, we decided to only walk the ½ half mile loop trail from the nature center. We had thought about taking the trail from the trailhead in town and go up but it is 2 miles and the weather was just not cooperative.

The nature trail was a nice easy trail with only an elevation change of 150 ft. The rain was not too annoying. The longest trip which would be 6 miles round trip to Roberts Peak that was a 1900 ft elevation change and estimated to take 6 – 7 hours. We were certainly not equipped for that trail – not to mention the distinct possibility of bears. Mt. Roberts was mined for gold from 1897 to 1944. The rock that was dug up looking for the gold makes up the land that most of Juneau is built on at the Gastineau Channel. Before it closed, the mine produced over $80 million in gold.

After the hike, we watched the movie explaining the history of the Tlingit people. Their clans are the Eagles and the Ravens. They traded with Russians and then with Americans. They were almost wiped out from diseases brought in by the Russians.
After the movie, we paid a visit to Ms. Liberty, the injured bald eagle. She had been shot and was blind in one eye and one wing injured so she has to stay at the facility. They estimate her to be 17 years old. She graciously posed for a picture.

Once we came down, we walked back to the ship and had some lunch from the Lido. Finishing, we donned our rain gear again and took a trolley tour around the city. There were 2 stops (Fish hatchery and capital museum) that you could get off and then wait for another trolley but it was late in the day so we opted to stay on. He did let us off for pictures at whale park which depicts a huge sculpture of a breaching whale. Periodically, water flows out around it and spews up. We did see two eagles sitting on top of a utility pole.

Back to the ship, I stopped by and got the information from the medical visit. Wasn’t as bad as I had feared. The visit and the medicines came to less than $170. There were instructions with the bill on how to file it with your medical or travel insurance. I will give it a try when I get home. However, money well spent. Chuck says he is not in any more pain. I also tried to get our laundry package straightened out. I showed them that I paid for the unlimited laundry but they keep charging me by the piece which is much more expensive. Luckily, I had the copy of my order form. I will look again on Sunday to see if it is cleared up. Last stop was the Future Cruise consultant to pick up a form that lets you put down a nominal deposit (typically a $100 or $300 pp deposit) without booking a specific cruise. You have 4 years to pick a cruise.

We were notified that the air conditioning would be worked on today and I noticed that the room was a little stuffy. I hope it cools off pretty soon or I will have a hard time sleeping.

Now it is time to get cleaned up and get ready for our Pinnacle Grill reservations. The PG is Holland America’s upscale restaurant which costs extra to dine in. However, we each got a free meal in the PG as part of the promotion that we booked. The dinner was fantastic. I had the jumbo shrimp cocktail, the king crab legs, sautéed mushrooms, and cheesecake. Chuck had the shrimp cocktail and the cedar-planked halibut with crab cakes and shrimp with whipped potatoes and cheesecake. We were so stuffed, we waddled back to our room. I meant just to rest until I could go to the main show which was an Alaskan nature movie set to music. I saw it last year and it was very good. Alas, I did not get up from my food coma and missed it.

Tonight’s towel animal is a frog.

Alaska – Aug 30 – Cruising Tracy Arm

The morning trend continues. Awake at 6:00, coffee at 7:00. Today we will be cruising into Tracy / Endicott Arm. The bow will be open at 9:00 and we are supposed to be able to see the glaciers at around noon. The current sky looked gray and the TV said the temp was 50 degrees.

Unfortunately, Chuck’s ear is still hurting so I am not sure what he plans to do.
Breakfast in the dining room again. Tablemates were a couple from Idaho and two women friends traveling together both from the Seattle / Tacoma area. It was interesting that they were all retired medical professionals – 3 nurses and one paramedic. I tried the kabota figs and had the French toast. Very good.

Put on my jacket and rain slicker to brave the outdoors. First tried the sea view pool area and it was raining so much that we had to stay under the shelter but the windows were foggy so not good for picture taking or using the binoculars. Next, we tried the promenade deck which was much better. We could walk from side to side, staying under shelter, but being able to lean out if needed. Still cold but bearable. Of course, it was made even a little more bearable by the coffee with Baileys I bought. Servers also came around with small bowls of salmon chowder which was very good and very warm.
The rain let up after a while. The ice chunks floating by were amazing. Some were the size of dinner plates and others liked like the size of cars or bigger. Some were so blue like a sapphire. I thought the water had a nice blue green look to it. Never saw any seals floating on it but there were many birds who floated by on the ice chunks.

There were a number of small tour boats that raced by us to get to the Sawyer glacier. We got as close as we could but the ice was getting worse so the Captain didn’t want to take any chances. I think I got some decent pictures. However, nothing like as close as we got to the glaciers in Glacier Bay last year.

About 12:45, I stopped by the casino to get Chuck for lunch. He seemed to be holding his own at cards. We got to the dining room just a little after one but they left us come in any way. We had a great table that afforded us some close up views of the mountains and waterfalls. I was surprised at how close the Captain could get us to the shoreline. No bears were sighted.

After leaving Tracey Arm we headed back out with the destination to Juneau. By now, Chuck is flinching and groaning from the pain in his ear. He said pain would come and go but when it hit, it was bad. I think he just wanted to lie down but the stewards arrived to clean the room so we went up to the Lido Pool. He finally decided he would see the ship doctor when they re-opened at 3:00. Did turn out that his ear canal was red and swollen. I regret us getting in the pool yesterday since I know he always has trouble with his ears. He got antibiotic drops for that ear, wax removal drops for his other ear, and advil for the pain. Not sure how much that bill will be. I will try and see if I can submit it to our medical insurance or our travel insurance when I get back. For now, the charges, whatever they are, will be billed to the room. I hope the drops work fast as we still have a number of days to go and he will be pretty miserable if the drops don’t work.

Back to the room stewards. They are both very friendly guys and have done everything we asked – pieces of fruit, delivering the laundry, ice for the ice bucket. However, I can remember the days that we would go to breakfast and by the time we would be back, the room would be cleaned. We called them room ninjas. Over the years, the stewards have been given more and more rooms to clean so the result is that our room being one of the ones at the far end doesn’t get cleaned until about 2:00. I assume that they get a couple of hours off and then will start over again, turning down the rooms for the evening. Our room didn’t get turned down until after 9:00 last night. Just makes it hard to come and go. But, I was glad for the interruption today as it seemed to prod Chuck into seeking medical attention. The ear would not have cleared up on its own.

After taking the medication, Chuck went back to the casino and I changed for dinner. Sat with another couple from Arizona. They were from Tucson so it was interesting to remember information about the city. A lot has changed since I lived there but it has been 38 years.

We finished around 8:00 and Chuck decided he was done for the evening and wanted to go to bed. Luckily the stewards had already turned down our room. I caught the last part of the evening show – Jason Black. He was a talented pianist and should have played more than talked. I got a cup of Chai Tea Latte and read in the Explorer’s Lounge for a while before calling it a night.

The towel animal was a seal. Tomorrow is Juneau.

Alaska – Aug 29 – Ketchikan

We actually had fairly pleasant weather in the Rain Capital of the World today. The average annual rainfall of Ketchikan is 200 inches. Ketchikan was founded in 1885 as a salmon cannery site. There seems to be a fair amount of fishing boats but I would guess that tourism is the number one industry now.

Woke up before the alarm at 6:00. Read for a while and then got dressed to go get coffee. It was much busier at the Explorer’s Café than yesterday at 7:00. I guess more people are finding it. I could see that the day was gray with some very low hanging clouds.

We docked prior to 8:00 and the gangplank was located on our floor very near the elevators we take which was very convenient for us. We were going to eat in the Lido for breakfast but it was very crowded. Since we had no big plans for the day, we opted for the main dining room. Sat with some nice couples from Texas and Wisconsin. I had apricots and an omelet. Chuck had his American breakfast again. While we were there, we watched the Celebrity Millennium take the berth in front of us. That ship dwarfed the Zaandam. I wonder how many people it holds. We could see a big outdoor screen on the top deck showing underwater scenes.

We went outside and decided it was cool enough for jackets and our rain gear. Chuck opted for shorts and a t shirt and only needed his rain jacket. I wore my fleece jacket. When we disembarked I realized there was a heavy mist so I put my rain jacket on too. We got on the free downtown shuttle and took it a short way to the Married Man’s Trail which supposedly is the same trail men used to sneak into and out of the “sporting houses” of the Creek Street red light district.

By the time we got to the start of the trail, it had stopped misting and the sun was coming out. I was warm so I took off the rain slicker and the jacket. We climbed up the trail through some enormous fir trees. It was lush. However, the flowers that were so huge in June were non-existent now.

The trail led to the Cape Fox Lodge and we took another trail back down to the creek. I had hoped to ride the funicular down but it was not operating. The creek was flowing fast. In June last year, there were no fish at all in the creek that we could see and the water level was low. Today there were a lot of salmon both live and dead in the stream. Gulls were picking at the remains.

I had hoped that the shuttle would take us to the Totem Bight State Park but it only went to the Totem Heritage Center that we saw last year. It was interesting but didn’t feel we needed to do it again. I didn’t want to wait for the regular bus that could take you there and didn’t feel like paying for a tour. So we took the shuttle back to the ship and stopped and looked around at the Tongass Trading store. They had very good end of the season sales but neither of us needed anything.

Got back to the ship and I took my laptop back to the Visitor Center hoping I could use the Internet to upload some of these documents. No luck. Maybe Juneau or Anchorage. I did have very good cell service so I caught up on emails and a couple of text messages. Even tried using my telephone as a hot spot but still no luck. Phone seemed to work but the computer couldn’t pick the service up. Not sure if it is a problem with the computer or just operator error.

By the time I got back on it was time for lunch. I had a grilled cheese, chips, and a salad. Chuck had the grilled chicken sandwich from the Dive In burger place on the Lido deck. They had the cover over the Lido pool area except for one small opening to let in the slight breeze. It was so nice that we decided to get in the hot tubs.
They were great. Very hot. I can’t stand the ones that feel like bath water. We then tested the pool water and it was not too cold. There were only 4 of us in the pool. After the pool, I took one more turn in the hot tub before getting out to dry off.

Coming back to the room, I opted to get cleaned up and change so I could watch the sailaway at 4:30. Chuck opted for a nap. The laundry was returned so I got that put away.
I came back to the Explorer’s Café and got a Chai Tea Latte and sat in one of the comfy chairs to watch the sailaway. Seems like a number of boats and seaplanes were returning this afternoon. Some of those planes flew very close to the ship. The skies were gorgeous blue with big fluffy clouds. So very different than this morning.

Came back to the room and got the evening’s laundry ready for pick-up. Met up with Chuck and went to the Ocean’s Bar. Dinner that evening was with a couple from Louisville Kentucky and another couple who currently live in Denver but had lived all over the world due to his job as a computer consultant. They had some very interesting stories. I had the crab cakes, roasted zucchini soup, coconut shrimp salad, and a fig and yogurt dessert. We finished up at 8:00 so Chuck decided to play cards and I went back to the Explorer’s Café to read and have some hot chocolate.

I got him at 9:45 so we could go watch the comedian/magician perform at 10:00. As we sat down, he said his ear was hurting so he went back to the room. I watched the show and realized that I had seen him before on a previous cruise, either the Hawaii one or last year’s Alaska cruise. He was kind of corny but I liked the magic. I hope Chuck’s ear clears up or a visit to the medical center will be in order.

Tonight’s towel animal was a hermit crab.

Alaska – Aug 28 – Cruising Vancouver Island

The itinerary called today “a scenic view of Vancouver Island as you sail past it”. The program called it a Sea Day. What it actually turned out to be was a day so foggy you didn’t know where you were. There could have been an island or sea out there but I had to take someone’s word for it. But, scenic cruising or regular sea day – didn’t matter to me. I like sea days. You can do as much or as little as you want.

I did manage to sleep until about 6:00. I read until almost 7:00 and then got up to go to the Explorer’s Café for a latte for me and coffee for Chuck. I did sleep well and understand why Chuck likes the inside cabins so much. Very dark and very quiet. Only light was the light coming in from the hallway under the door.

However, because we are in an inside cabin and I didn’t turn the TV to the ship channel, I did not realize it was not going to be a “scenic” day until I was getting our coffees. The fog was so thick and swirling around. Then I heard the captain blow the fog horn for the first of many times today. It was an ear splitter.

We tried walking on the promenade which is one of our favorite activities. But I t was way too windy and cold so we only did one lap. Decided that breakfast in the dining room was a better option.

Shared a table with a gentleman for California and a couple from Tasmania, Australia. They were all very well traveled and were very enthusiastic about European river cruises. Might be nice to try one of them one day. They both agreed that the Budapest to Amsterdam trip is the one to go on if you think are only going to do one river cruise. I had the apricots and an eggs benedict along with my favorite – the raisin bun. Service was slightly slow but we were not in any hurry.

Typical activities for a sea day – art presentations, shopping, future cruise presentations, Microsoft workshops, slot tournaments, etc. People were even in the pools and hot tubs. You could see the steam rising from the pools and tubs. We spent most of the day people watching and talking with other people. I did go to Guest Services so they could log me into the Navigator account on my phone. I kept getting an error message when trying to register. I always forget that for some reason Holland America puts a space between the Mc and Cannon so I was not typing in my name “correctly.” I was also able to call the Pinnacle Grill and get our reservation changed from 5:00 tonight to 7:30 on the 31st.

I thought the oddest thing I saw today was a woman carrying what looked like a two foot Barbie-type doll with the hinged joints at the elbows, knees, and feet. However, that sight was topped by then seeing a man posing the doll (which was in a one piece bathing suit) in various poses along the edge of the pool and taking pictures with a professional type of camera. Selling on Ebay? Performance Art? Weirdo? I guess I will never know. Never did see the woman who had been carrying the doll again.

Had a salad for lunch, did some more people watching and the fog was beginning to lift some, and then decided that a nap was in order. Did I mention I like sea days?
Slept for about an hour and then got cleaned up. Tonight is one of the 3 Gala nights so you are supposed to step up your attire for dinner. Chuck looked very nice in his dress shirt, slacks, and sport coat. I wore one of my “former” work dresses. Since we flew in, we left the tux and the gowns at home. However, I saw several men in tuxes and the women in long gowns. Very elegant. Listened to the piano player in the Ocean’s Bar for about 30 minutes and then went to dinner. We passed on having our picture made.
Sat with 2 other couples both from California. One couple from San Diego have been traveling the United States in an RV since January. Their son is living in and taking care of their house. They said they are tired of California and were considering other states to live. They ruled out the South because of the humidity although they have a daughter who lives in Nashville. Idaho and Utah are their current favorites. I would want to stay a winter there before making final plans. I’ll take humidity over bitter cold any day. I had the shrimp cocktail, carrot soup, yellowfin sole filet with cheesecake for dessert. The service was fine up until the dessert which took forever to come out.

After dinner, Chuck played cards while I worked on this journal and then we went to the show – Variations – which was performed by the Zaandam singers and dancers. Not really sure what the theme of the show was but I thought they performed OK. I thought the men sang better than the women. Chuck said it all sounded the same to him.

The card table was full after the show so we decided to call it a night. We set the clock back one hour tonight so there is an extra hour of sleep. We are due to arrive in Ketchikan tomorrow at 8:00. No big plans for the day. The weather forecast is scattered showers but you never know. We might get lucky and it will just be cloudy.

Our towel animal tonight is a lobster.

Alaska – Aug 26 – Second Travel Day

Even though the bed was comfortable and everything was quiet and really didn’t even hear the airplanes, I had another night of restless sleep. Fell asleep just fine but kept waking up. When I was sleeping, I was having very weird dreams. Probably from eating the pickled zucchini chips at dinner.

So, I got up at 4:00, an hour earlier than planned. Took my shower, got dressed, and made some coffee. Was just sitting there on the couch enjoying my coffee when I heard Chuck stirring around. He said I wass probably going to regret getting up so early with the time change to Seattle today. He was right. By 7:00 Seattle time (10:00 Atlanta time), I was beat.

We went down to the lobby for breakfast at a little after 6:00. There were already some people in there. The airport shuttle driver from yesterday afternoon is back this morning. Wonder how many hours a day he works.

The free breakfast offered was very good. I had fresh fruit, cottage cheese, bacon, raisin toast and coffee. The coffee was much better than the room coffee. I could have built a breakfast bowl with the scrambled eggs as a base. Apparently, they have different ingredients on different days for their breakfast bowls. Would be interesting to know what their California Dreaming breakfast bowl is.

Got to the airport in plenty of time. Shuttle service was fast and efficient and all the riders were going to Delta. TSA pre-check was pretty fast though I had to take the laptop out of my bag which I have not had to do in the past. Our gate was A gate this time so we could have walked from security but we took the train. We did walk from one end to the other in the concourse just because we are going to be sitting for 5 hours.

The flight left on time and was uneventful. I like the Delta Comfort seats. Little more leg room, decent snacks and free alcohol drinks. I watched Spielberg’s Ready Player One movie. I thought it was a very good movie. Was also able to watch a couple of episodes of Mom and The Middle. Next thing I knew we were touching down.

It was chillier than predicted in Seattle so my blue jean shirt felt good. We got our luggage and called the Sleep Inn hotel for a pickup. The room is nice: king bed, refrigerator, and comfy chair. Though it was only 2:00 in Seattle, my body said it was 5:00. I got the cruise luggage tags put on the bags for tomorrow.

We took an Uber to Wally’s Chowder House. We enjoyed it so much last year that I wanted to go back. They have the most beautiful baskets of petunias outside.  I had the New England clam chowder in a bread bowl with a side salad. Chuck had 3 Halibut fillets. Everything was as good as I remembered.

Back to the room to get clothes ready for tomorrow. Got the confirmation that Seattle Express will be picking us up at 10:45 in the morning.

Alaska – Aug 25 – First Travel Day

Got up at 6:00 after a restless night. Did the last mention chores – getting cat food bowls ready, running the dishwasher, and printing instructions for the cat/house sitter.
We left the house at 12:15 since we needed to run to the bank. Ever since Regions Bank left our hometown, the closest branch is about 15 miles away in the next town. I thought we had enough cash for the trip but Chuck didn’t think so. There was a long line at the ATM but they moved quickly.

Got to Groome’s Transportation about 1:15. We have taken Groome’s to the airport a number of times. I like being able to sit back and enjoy the ride to the airport. Left promptly at 2:00. Traffic was typical Atlanta.

Got to the airport at 4:15 and was able to call the Hyatt Airport South for a pick-up. I like being able to stay overnight in Atlanta before a flight. I would have been a nervous wreck if we were trying to get to a flight.

The hotel is nice. Our room has a small living area with a couch, desk, refrigerator and sink separated from the bed/bathroom area with a half divider. The TV can swivel between the 2 sections.

We had a couple of drinks at the bar in the lobby and then walked around the corner and ate dinner at a Ruby Tuesday. Split an entrée called the Southern Sampler – BBQ meatballs, pimento cheese, deviled eggs, and pickled zucchini. Excellent.

Need to catch the 8:15 / 8:30 hotel shuttle back to the airport in the morning. Our flight is supposed to board at 10:30 and leave at 11:00. Fingers crossed.