Aug 27, 2009 - Sea Day - Ketchikan to Vancouver BC

Thursday, 08-27-09, Sea Day (Last Full Day) Our last full day...sad day...it will be sad to go tomorrow. Not that I haven't missed some people at home, just that it means this nice cruise is almost over. Well, after I made that comment last night about this cruise being a little too smooth....I had to eat my words. I awoke early this morning while it was still dark, to some pretty good rocking. I didn't even look to see what time it was and went back to sleep. This was one of the only days I "slept in". When I got up later to go to the...

Aug 26, 2009 - Ketchikan AK, 2pm - 8pm

Wednesday, 8-26-09 - Ketchikan (As I write this, I see we just crossed back into Canada....we're not in Alaska anymore.....so sad.....) Last night the Captain mentioned that we might have a little rough night on the sea. He was expecting 30-40 knot winds and was using the stabilizers. It was very smooth and I had totally forgot that he had even mentioned it. I woke up this morning and hadn't noticed a thing. Our cabins are almost mid-ship which I think help with any movement. Call me silly, but I think this cruise has been almost a little...

Aug 16, 2009 - Ketchikan AK, 7am - 3pm

Sunday, 8-16-09 - Ketchikan AK Bright and early!!! We were up by 6am....yes, that's right.....you who know me KNOW the only way I see 6am is by still being UP then.....NOT getting up!! We had a tour to do this morning and had to be out on the pier by 7:35am. We went to a Lumberjack Show, which I thought would be kind of hokey so I didn't go see it last year when I went by myself. Afterwards, I met lots of people who thought it was fun. Well, today I found out it WAS FUN!! It was kind of a typical lumberjack competition but it was fun and...

Aug 7, 2009 - day40

Day 39 It’s a bit after five in the morning. I’m sitting on the back deck of the ferry. The mountains are sticking up out of the sea, covered with dark green pines, shrouded with mist in the distance. The sky is cloudy, multiple shades of grey with the sun glowing through them. It is a soft morning light that makes things look sharp and clear. The sea in the narrow passage we are moving through is very calm, the wind making it look like frosted glass. The heat lamps over my head almost make it too warm. Everyone is asleep. Greg is out on...

Jul 28, 2009 - Ketchikan, Alaska

More great weather for our first port of call where we take a tour of the town and surrounding area. Salmon are the big thing around here and they can be seen gathering in their thousands to make their fascinating journey up the rivers and streams to the place where they hatched. Through some miracle of natural navigation they have found their way back from the deep sea to the very place they were born where they will reproduce and then die. Easy picking for the bald eagles, which we saw plenty of, and the bears, which we didn’t.

Jul 20, 2009 - Ketchikan, Alaska

Today looked bleak due to the weather. It was cloudy, chilly, and rainy. We finally headed ashore (Mary was getting stir crazy) and walked through the town of Ketchikan. After some shopping, we boarded the bus which took us to our float plane. The whole boat ride over, the driver kept saying that it was not flying weather.... SO! The float plane was awesome!! The views were spectacular. We saw everything from natural waterfalls, 3,000 foot peaks, prestine landscapes, and orcas. We even landed at the water in what is called the ampitheater...

Jul 8, 2009 - Day 27...Wrangell and Ketchikan

I tried to get back to sleep at about 5am....Cath came to my tent at 5:45am...We needed to get off the ferry and go straight to the little boys selling garnets. There is a ledge that back in the 1800's, it was wholly owned by women. The state has since donated the ledge (full of garnets)to the boy's club. They are the only ones that can mine this part of the mountain. You can only get there by float plane or boat, and, when it is high tide. Cath and I disembarked and headed for the little stand (see pic) and bought garnets, individual ones...

Jul 1, 2009 - Ketchikan

We woke up docked in Ketchikan eager to start the day. We flew on a sea plane over the Tonga National Park and Misty Fjiords. It was simply breath taking. We were fortunate it was't raining because they get 12-14 ft of rain a year. It was over cast but it added to the drama of the scenery. We had a smooth landing on water that was like glass. The lake we landed in was the most pristine place we have been. Even better than New Zealand. The lake was part of the fjiords where a boat met us to take us through the park back to Ketichikan dock....

Jun 10, 2009 - Cruising from Vancouver to Ketchikan

June 8 On the Monday morning, we didn’t have a whole lot planned. We were able to stay in the hotel until midday and that was the time the cruise embarked. Elizabeth headed off to the art museum while I finished the packing, paid the bill and went and bought some stamps for the postcards we were sending to our parents. I had decided not to go to the art museum because I wasn’t really interested and it was not worth paying the extra for me to go and be bored! Besides, I got all the other stuff done which meant at midday we were able to head...

Jun 7, 2009 - Ketchican

Last stop, and then its back to the open sea, on our way to Vancouver. Today we decided to take a “Nature Tour” and find out a little about the local ecology. We had a great guide and driver, a very nice young man, local Native American, just out of the Army, whom had spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was introduced as a former tank commander less anyone should be concerned with his driving skills. In proper military fashion he informed us as to where the emergency exits, first aid kit and 45 (as in gun) were located just in case he...

May 31, 2009 - On board and headed to Misty Fiords Nat'l Monument & Metlakatla

As you can see, our ship was dwarfed by the big Coral Princess ship that was in port at the same time as the Cruise West's Spirit of Yorktown. Cruising the inside passage on a small ship is the only way to go! When we got up Saturday morning, the sun was shining, and our first day of sailing to the Misty Fyords has been sunny & perfect -- very unusual weather as it should be rainy. As you can see from Peyton's photographs, it is beautiful here. There were several Doll porpoises that provided our entertainment for part of the morning,...

May 31, 2009 - ALASKA!! Finally!!!!

Hi Peeps!Sunday, May 31, 20098:20 AM- Alaska TimeJust arrived in Ketchikan after a 37 hours ferry ride from Bellingham, Washington. The weather from Bellingham was perfect- not a cloud in the Alaska Sky!  Ferry was large- 419 feet from bow to stern. Held 136 vehicles! They loaded the commercial trucks first and then we loaded as passenger cars and trucks and motor homes. The ferry had 6 lanes of vehicles on board with an estimated ceiling of about 30-feet.Once my car was loaded, I went to the upper fantail deck to set up my tent and...