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Sep. 4th, 2011
trip recap
Sep. 4th, 2011 01:46 pmHere's the short version...
Saturday: Got up at 4 am to make a 6:30 flight to Chicago. Made it just fine. Had enough time to make the connecting flight in a different terminal. Got to Vancouver, and went through customs. The guy at the booth asked why we were only in Canada for one day. Took a bus ride through downtown and boarded the ship. The weather was very warm - hot in the sun, and I didn't bring any warm-weather clothing. But that was only for a couple of hours. We set sail at 4:30. Went to bed earlyish. Probably 9:00 local time, but it was a long day.
Sunday: We were at sea all day. Couldn't actually see land all day, though we were in the inside passage. Explored the ship some more. Saw a presentation by the ship's naturalist. 55° and cloudy.
Monday: Had to be off the boat by 6:45 to make our excursion out of Ketchikan. Misty Fjords Boat Tour. First, a longish boat ride through an area that was nice. Then my camera battery ran out and discovered that my spare was dead. We passed the picturesque New Eddystone Rock, and an island with some Native pictographs, and then went into the spectacular Rudyerd Bay, a fjord with high cliffs, waterfalls, etc. We also saw a couple of whales and caught a glimpse of porpoises. It was very cold. 55° and cloudy, but windy on the boat. I discovered that I did not bring enough warm clothing along.
In the afternoon, we again set sail. We passed through the narrows outside of Ketchikan. Apparently, many whales were sighted, but we didn't see them, since we were at dinner. Later, Cyn and I were at the bow watching the sunset. After the sun was low enough that we could tell it wouldn't be a great show, we retreated to the warmth of the lotus pool room, and sat on deck chairs watching the sea. I saw a glimpse of a splash below. It was a humpback tail, and was followed soon by another.
Tuesday: Docked in Juneau. Cyn and I took a four mile hike in the rainforest on the hills at Mendenhall Glacier. I was sick by this point, but not so sick I couldn't do the hike. We saw a bear eating salmon in the stream by the visitor's center. We went back to the boat for an afternoon lunch, and then went out for an evening whale watching cruise. We saw six whales, and a bunch of sea lions and harbor seals. 55° and cloudy.
Wednesday: Skagway. In the morning, we rode the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad. A spectacular ride up the valley to the British Columbia border. In the afternoon, we took a wildlife viewing jet boat excursion. Saw a moose and a few bald eagles and nests. It was very cold, since it was an open boat. 55° and cloudy.
Thursday: We pulled into Glacier bay before noon. The weather was beautiful - 55° and sunny, but fairly calm. We saw Marjerie Glacier calve. Saw a few other glaciers as well. We had narration from some local park rangers. Headed out to open sea in early evening, and the seas got rougher.
Friday: Entered Prince William Sound just after noon. Entered College Fjord in the afternoon. It was cold, raining and Windy. 52°, I think. Most people were lined up indoors watching the glaciers, but I, and a few other hardy souls were out in the weather with our cameras. By the time we got all the way up the fjord (up fjords!) the rain had just about quit and the winds calmed a bit. We had to have our bags packed, since they were picked up around 8:00. We had only our carryons after that. Cyn and I spent almost an hour in a hot tub. We got to bed after 11:00.
Saturday: I was the last one up, at 6:30. We had breakfast, and then waited in the lounge for our 9:15 disembarkation. An hour and a half bus ride through the tunnel and along the water to the anchorage airport. We were there about half an hour until my cousin and her husband picked us up. They showed us some sights around Anchorage, including the lake where all the float planes dock, and the downtown. We had lunch at a place with local color and a mining theme. We stopped in to see what may be the world's largest chocolate fountain, across the street. Then we drove up to Hatcher Pass, in alpine territory. Then they took us back to their house for a while, before it was time to head to the airport. We got there about 1.15 hours ahead of time, took our time checking in and going through security, and by the time we got to the gate, we found they were boarding already. We took off 25 minutes early.
Sunday: I slept off-and-on for most of the five hour flight. We arrived in Denver five minutes early. Made our connection with time to spare. Took off five minutes early, and our two-hour flight got us to Milwaukee 25 minutes early. Odd. Our bags came out about the time I got to the carousel. We made it to our car and drove home. Got here around 10:30, and my mom drove home from here. The weather is nice - 65° - but after the freezing cold of Alaska, I wish it were warm.
I'm tired. I'll probably take a nap for a while, and go to bed at my usual time.
Probably took 1000 pictures. I'll try to fix up some to show the highlights this week. And then get back to the Utah pics.
Saturday: Got up at 4 am to make a 6:30 flight to Chicago. Made it just fine. Had enough time to make the connecting flight in a different terminal. Got to Vancouver, and went through customs. The guy at the booth asked why we were only in Canada for one day. Took a bus ride through downtown and boarded the ship. The weather was very warm - hot in the sun, and I didn't bring any warm-weather clothing. But that was only for a couple of hours. We set sail at 4:30. Went to bed earlyish. Probably 9:00 local time, but it was a long day.
Sunday: We were at sea all day. Couldn't actually see land all day, though we were in the inside passage. Explored the ship some more. Saw a presentation by the ship's naturalist. 55° and cloudy.
Monday: Had to be off the boat by 6:45 to make our excursion out of Ketchikan. Misty Fjords Boat Tour. First, a longish boat ride through an area that was nice. Then my camera battery ran out and discovered that my spare was dead. We passed the picturesque New Eddystone Rock, and an island with some Native pictographs, and then went into the spectacular Rudyerd Bay, a fjord with high cliffs, waterfalls, etc. We also saw a couple of whales and caught a glimpse of porpoises. It was very cold. 55° and cloudy, but windy on the boat. I discovered that I did not bring enough warm clothing along.
In the afternoon, we again set sail. We passed through the narrows outside of Ketchikan. Apparently, many whales were sighted, but we didn't see them, since we were at dinner. Later, Cyn and I were at the bow watching the sunset. After the sun was low enough that we could tell it wouldn't be a great show, we retreated to the warmth of the lotus pool room, and sat on deck chairs watching the sea. I saw a glimpse of a splash below. It was a humpback tail, and was followed soon by another.
Tuesday: Docked in Juneau. Cyn and I took a four mile hike in the rainforest on the hills at Mendenhall Glacier. I was sick by this point, but not so sick I couldn't do the hike. We saw a bear eating salmon in the stream by the visitor's center. We went back to the boat for an afternoon lunch, and then went out for an evening whale watching cruise. We saw six whales, and a bunch of sea lions and harbor seals. 55° and cloudy.
Wednesday: Skagway. In the morning, we rode the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad. A spectacular ride up the valley to the British Columbia border. In the afternoon, we took a wildlife viewing jet boat excursion. Saw a moose and a few bald eagles and nests. It was very cold, since it was an open boat. 55° and cloudy.
Thursday: We pulled into Glacier bay before noon. The weather was beautiful - 55° and sunny, but fairly calm. We saw Marjerie Glacier calve. Saw a few other glaciers as well. We had narration from some local park rangers. Headed out to open sea in early evening, and the seas got rougher.
Friday: Entered Prince William Sound just after noon. Entered College Fjord in the afternoon. It was cold, raining and Windy. 52°, I think. Most people were lined up indoors watching the glaciers, but I, and a few other hardy souls were out in the weather with our cameras. By the time we got all the way up the fjord (up fjords!) the rain had just about quit and the winds calmed a bit. We had to have our bags packed, since they were picked up around 8:00. We had only our carryons after that. Cyn and I spent almost an hour in a hot tub. We got to bed after 11:00.
Saturday: I was the last one up, at 6:30. We had breakfast, and then waited in the lounge for our 9:15 disembarkation. An hour and a half bus ride through the tunnel and along the water to the anchorage airport. We were there about half an hour until my cousin and her husband picked us up. They showed us some sights around Anchorage, including the lake where all the float planes dock, and the downtown. We had lunch at a place with local color and a mining theme. We stopped in to see what may be the world's largest chocolate fountain, across the street. Then we drove up to Hatcher Pass, in alpine territory. Then they took us back to their house for a while, before it was time to head to the airport. We got there about 1.15 hours ahead of time, took our time checking in and going through security, and by the time we got to the gate, we found they were boarding already. We took off 25 minutes early.
Sunday: I slept off-and-on for most of the five hour flight. We arrived in Denver five minutes early. Made our connection with time to spare. Took off five minutes early, and our two-hour flight got us to Milwaukee 25 minutes early. Odd. Our bags came out about the time I got to the carousel. We made it to our car and drove home. Got here around 10:30, and my mom drove home from here. The weather is nice - 65° - but after the freezing cold of Alaska, I wish it were warm.
I'm tired. I'll probably take a nap for a while, and go to bed at my usual time.
Probably took 1000 pictures. I'll try to fix up some to show the highlights this week. And then get back to the Utah pics.