Skagway

Skagway
September 13, 2010

Beautiful morning. We finally got moving at 9:00 because that's when the grocery store opened up (we're all already too used to 24 hour service). Picked up some cereal and milk, juice, donuts (for energy) and went back to the room to relax in front of the TV. Our train was to leave at 12:45 so there was no hurry. When we got to the depot, there was already a train there but it was going to British Columbia. since Jacky and I had not brought our passports, we decided to wait for our own train.

We took the train that followed the White Pass &Yukon Route. Our train went up 20.4 miles to White Pass Summit and turned around and came back. Technically we were briefly in British Columbia, Canada, but we were never allowed off the train so did not have to have passports. The tracks followed the Skagway River from Lynn Canal (Inside Passage of the Pacific Ocean where Skagway town is located)  up along White Pass Summit at 2,865 ft elevation. If we had continued on, we would have followed the river to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
Basically this was one of the two main trails of the Klondike Gold Rush. This particular trail started in Skagway. To imagine thousands of men and women struggling up the pass, scrambling over the boulders, hauling their required ton of provisions, was truly incredible. Jacky and I went back through town and the museums there when we returned from the summit. We cannot imagine doing what they attempted to do 100 years ago. There were incredible views on the trip; bridges for the trains that spanned gulches and streams, the distance as the train climbed, even the view of Lynn Canal where our ferry had let us off. The fall colors were just beginning and we were told, again, how unusual the beautiful weather was.

Lynn Canal and Skagway

Old bridge not used anymore (thankfully)

Our bridge

On the left hand side is the original trail of the gold rush 'stampeders'

The railroad was built in 1898 to help get the prospectors over the mountains. The people were actually headed to Dawson's Creek in the Yukon Territory. Two years later the gold rush was over. The railroad struggled for years but was revived in 1988 for the tourist trade.

Jacky and I took a walking tour of Skagway after we got back. You already know about the museums. Skagway was a booming town in 1898 with the railroad going right down the main street. There were 80 saloons in town and not much else. Today most of those buildings are still standing and being used (most are no longer saloons though!). the 100 year old buildings have been kept up and repainted to their original colors. many of those buildings now house gift shops of one type or another but the feel of the town is not that much different than 100 years ago.

This is for you, Anna

We walked to the Skagway cemetery to see some of the famous inhabitants of the town. Many unknown headboards and many, many who died young. One stone mentioned the town marshal who was killed at age 33 a few days before his son was born.

A half mile past the cemetery was Reid's Falls. It was a little disappointing; the water level was way down. but it was a pleasant 2 mile walk from town and we got our exercise. Starting tomorrow, it will be 3 days on a ferry so we needed to stretch our legs while we could! Speaking of ferry, it leaves at 7:00 am so I'm going to try to stuff everything in my suitcase tonight. Wish me luck!

Reid's Falls

 Skaguay

Ferry to Skagway

Ferry to Skagway
September 12, 2010

This morning we had a little time to kill so what do we do??? Shopping!!!! Juneau has oodles of shops, open even on Sundays right now because they're expecting 3 cruise ships. Don't want to be closed with all those people roaming around! Three cruise ships is pretty mild I hear; usually during the summer its 5-8 ships a day. That's a lot of tourists!!! Even so, most shops didn't open until 10:00. Jacky decided to go to WalMart and pick up some meds for me - still have a really bad cold and coughed all night - and also to pick up another bag to put all the stuff we keep buying in. Yes, we all know we're supposed to leave room in the suitcase coming over for things we buy but it never quite works out that way. Lee was saying she's been known to wear three hats on the plane, one on top of the other, to get them home. Most of the other people on our tour are having the same problem. We're all thinking we'll be wearing several layers of clothes on the plane because they won't fit in our suitcase! I just hope its cold when we leave.
Finally it's time to board our next ferry -'The Fairweather'. It is a smaller ferry than our last one and is known as the 'fast ferry' because it goes to Skagway nonstop in 2 1/2 hours. It is a catamaran meaning it doesn't
 have a round hull as you can see from the picture.  Another ferry makes stops along the way and it takes 6 hours.

We were glad to climb on and get on the way. I must admit, I might have snoozed a little on this trip. It was beautiful scenery, a narrow passage with mountains rising on either side. However, I still was feeling pretty puny so closed my eyes for a minute and all of a sudden we were 15 minutes away from town!

Skagway is, in Lee's words, a quaint little Disney town. It lies nestled at the base of numerous mountains. There are no houses lining the shores, or electrical cables, or buildings of any sort. It is kind of fair-tale-ish. What started as the Klondike Gold Rush is now a town filled with tourists in the summer and 800 people the rest of the year. I likes the boardwalk sidewalks, and of course all the little shops along the way. I'll try to avoid them tomorrow.

We ate at a local Thai restaurant as a change in all the salmon we had been eating. It was very good...and spicy! It must not have been quite hot enough because I still couldn't stop coughing. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. We're staying at Sgt. Preston's Lodge right in the middle of town. It's a very nice place, but no free Internet access. For those who don't know, Sgt,. Preston was with the Canadian Mounties. When the gold-diggers would come up unprepared for living up in Alaska and died early on, the Canadian Mounties set up a station around Skagway to make sure each prospector set out with a minimum amount of food and clothing to give them a chance at surviving. We'll learn more about it tomorrow.

Seattle

Seattle
September 18, 2010

Well, this is totally out of order but I thought I'd get today done while I'm thinking of it. Tomorrow we go home so today was the last day of our vacation.We are south of Seattle in Tukwila, Washington. We decided after battling I 5 yesterday to get to Mount Rainier and back, we didn't want to worry about driving in the traffic. Luckily, Seattle has a brand new Lite Train - only one year old. It was fantastic - $2.50 for anywhere on the line which ran from the airport to downtown Seattle. It also took only 35 minutes for the ride which was quiet and smooth; no traffic, no parking fees!

We took the train down to Pine Street which was just a few blocks from famous Pike Market. We were caught up immediately in the hustle that was going on. Right away was a fish stall. Packed in ice, huge fish stared at you, piles of salmon colored prawns, piles of clams...There were fish we had never seen before. I don't know how you would cook a lot of them but I wanted to! Every fish stall had a 'hawker' out front trying to lure you in. They promised shipping to anywhere. A lot of people were interested too!

                                                      

 For those of you who aren't crazy about fish, I have beautiful symmetrical displays of food! How can you not want some when everything is soooo very colorful?

Not hungry right now? I have a feast for the eyes then...It's a good thing I don't live close. I'd be here every day I think.The smell of all these flowers was wonderful (especially compared to the fish across the way).

After visiting the market - and getting a couple of peaches for lunch - we made our way to the waterfront where the Seattle Aquarium was located. Follow the families with small children...Look out Anna! Stroller City! This aquarium was very nicely done. It had a wonderful octopus who was sleeping. At feeding time, he was supposed to turn a brick red color. I couldn't tell, too many people in front of me. We enjoyed the wonderful bright colors of the salt water fish, and especially loved watching the fur seals and the otters. The otters were extremely difficult to get a picture because they are so very fast! But I got lucky :D

Lobster looking at you!

I

We left the aquarium and ate our peaches on the wharf over looking the water. A pigeon wanted me to share but he found other scraps. It was such a beautiful day, we decided to risk another drive on I 5 and go back to Mount Rainer. Yesterday it rained hard and today looked so much better. However, that account will have to wait for another day. It's 10:30 at night and our plane tomorrow leaves at 8:00 am.  I need to sleep! already packed. My suitcase was #3 over weight and we had to do some quick changes. It is now # 48 + . Let's hope it stays under # 50!!! I''ll catch you  back up to date soon. Night!

Whales!

 Whales!
September 11, 2010


Today started early. We picked up the shuttle at 7:00. This hotel is actually in Mendenhall which is outside of Juneau by about 14 miles. Once we got in town, we boarded a small ship called 'Adventure Bound' to tour 'Tracy Arm'  45 miles away. Tracy Arm is a 32 mile long fjord that is known for its glaciers and has the largest ice bergs in Alaska. The trip to the fjord was cold so we all stayed inside but the scenery was breathtaking. Everywhere you looked and everywhere you went was different and spectacular.

We found a pod of Humpback Whales along here and stayed to take pictures and have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. These whales were all around us feeding. They would come up, blow, and sink down again. You would only see them blow, their back and dorsal fin. Occasionally they would dive and then you could see their tails. Everyone wanted to see tails! We stayed there a long time. Even people on the boat who had been whale watching in other places said this was the best they had ever seen. The whales make you seem so small. so insignificant. In the photo, make sure you look at the background too - awesome.

Do you see all the fogs and clouds? Some of the time we were totally fogged in. Couldn't see a thing! But , as the captain said, we had bigger things to see and off we went to Tracy Arm.Once we got to the fjord the scenery changed again. It wasn't foggy any more for one thing! As stated before, the fjord is 32 miles long. The scenery was different again. We did stop for waterfalls - beautiful!

Eventually we made it to the end of Tracy Arm. This was South Sawyer Glacier. It was beautiful! There was a colony of harbor seals floating on the ice chunks. They were all very laid back but didn't really want us to get too close. We were able to watch the glacier calve before we left to go to it's twin glacier, Sawyer (no south).

The wave was incredible. It rocked the ship but the seals never batted an eye. We checked the temperature on the boat - it was 48 degrees. I'm not sure what the wind chill was though when we were on the go! Everyone  adored the seals. We got quite close to these two. Can really see the speckles on them. I was surprised at how much variation there was amongst the group. don't you just want to reach out and cuddle?

Many, many pictures of seals, glaciers, whales and scenery. When we got to Juneau, we ate salmon at 'The Twisted Fish'. It was wonderful! Then we took a city bus back to the hotel. Quite a taste of Juneau!

Juneau

Juneau
September 10, 2010


Woke up to Jacky seeing a spout out our window. I scrambled out of my bunk, amazed I didn't knock myself out. I, too, saw a spout and the dorsal fin and back of a whale as it dove back down. Anxiously awaiting its continued action, we were sadly disappointed when it did not reappear. However, it did cause us to get moving a little quicker today. Cold cereal in the lunch court and then to the windows. Today we were traveling between mountains. They were quite close, and the water had calmed completely down. We were able to see a couple of seals as they calmly swam from one island to another. We also saw another whale. This one never did spout, I saw its dorsal fin rise out of the water and then sink, followed by the tail. You really had to watch, these animals are not engaging in fun displays but are eating and moving quietly through their day. Patience is the word around here. Wonder where I can find some of that...

We disembarked at Juneau around 11:30. Then came the wait for the shuttle (first one filled up, had to wait an additional 45 minutes). We did eventually find our Best Western Hotel. Up here, many of the hotels provide free shuttles, which is good because most of us come in on ferries or trains or buses and have no personal transportation. But of course you are at the mercy of the shuttle drivers then! We found that our time in Juneau was spent mostly waiting, waiting to be taken some where or waiting to be picked up! We did spend a good amount of time in Juneau proper visiting their tourist trap. I've rarely seen so many gift shops. There was a bit of difference here though - many of these shops were jewelery stores or fur shops.Fur is definitely big here. We all picked up a few things. Found a salmon shop too, picked up a whole bunch of their stuff! Made reservations at their restaurant for tomorrow night at 'The Twisted Fish'. Picked up the shuttle to go back (again first one was full so we had to wait for another one) and got some laundry done. Looking forward to tomorrow.

First Ferry

Ferry to Juneau
September 9, 2010
 
Lulled to sleep by the ship's engines. Everyone slept very well last night. I poked my head up a few times, hoping to glimpse the green smoky shape of northern lights but I didn't want to leave my little cave under the top bunk. No big hurry in the morning - no where to go and nothing to do today!
The Kennicott ferry is part of Alaska's Marine Highway System (yes, really!). This particular ship is 382 ft long, 85 ft wide and has nine decks. there is capacity for 499 passengers with 320 berths. Jacky and I have a lovely cabin with 4 berths - 2 sets of bunks. There is a sink as well as a private bathroom and shower. Some cabins have a public bathroom/shower and others do not have a cabin but can set their tent up on one of the decks (inside so they don't blow off). There's a cafeteria, movie theatre, gift shop, game room and many observations area. Alas, no internet access! All around us is water, water, water.

We are traveling through the Gulf of Alaska and on the map it looks like we are skirting the shoreline. But there's no sign of land from here! I have been keeping an eye out for whales. Got excited over a couple of dead trees floating in the water (who knew they could be so far from land?). Arthur and Lee saw whales this morning at breakfast but they must have decided to keep it for those who actually got up. Those of us who snoozed, losed (Yes Mom, I know that's not a work but it rhymed). I'm still hopeful...Beautiful place for northern lights too if the Alaskan sky would just accommodate us. The excitement so far today consisted of watching another ship go by. I even have pictures! (I didn't think you wanted pictures of dead trees). Lunch was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, courtesy of the  Whittier grocery store. Meals get expensive if you have to buy them all!

The afternoon passed quietly...very quietly. We did eventually dock at a small fishing village called Yakutat. I could say that name all day. It was fun watching this big ferry squeeze into the tiny port. It had to back up where there wasn't room to swing a stick. We were all suitably impressed with the captain's skill. Everyone else got off the ship to stretch their legs. I decided to stay on as it was raining pretty good and I have just started a nice head cold. I must say, it was amusing to watch passengers hurry back on 5 minutes after they had disembarked, but now soaking wet. We were there 4 hours so I was able to finish the book I was reading as well as watch the Alaskans take care of their catches. This was a working fish dock so that was educational as well.

We did eventually start off again, but once we were out of the harbor, the waters got a bit more playful. The ship rolled side to side most of the night. Apart from making for some interesting walking behavior, we were able to turn in early so, in turn, we could get up early to maybe spot a whale.