Christmas in Panama - 2012

Would we like to come to Panama for Sophie-Claire’s second birthday and stay for Christmas?  Could we ever turn down such an invitation?  Of course we would come!

So on December 18 we caught an early flight out of San Antonio to Houston and then directly to Panama.  We didn’t count on how early we would have to rise in order to catch the first flight to Panama but it turned out to be 3:00 am.  Thankfully the San Antonio airport is not very busy and also United upgraded us to first class which meant we could get coffee and breakfast in their VIP lounge.  We had an uneventful flight to Panama and arrived at Chris and Gretchen’s apartment about 3:00 pm just as Sophie-Claire was waking up from her nap. 

In the short time since we last saw her she has grown in so many ways.  She has beautiful golden, curly hair and a sweet temperament to go along with her pretty looks.  I know we are biased but she really is a pretty little girl.  And while she can dress up and look like a little princess she is not just a girly girl but a busy tornado of activity that never stops.  She loves to play in dirt and water puddles and is not averse to getting her hands dirty.  She loves to watch trucks, cranes, back-hoes, and construction workers doing their jobs.  On the numerous walks I took her on she didn’t walk but ran everywhere.  She can walk up the steep steps to the slides in the playground and isn’t afraid of heights.  The higher you can make her swing go the better for her.  She seems to have endless energy.

Her nanny is named Eladia and she spends every week day with Sophie-Claire almost as a second mommy.  Eladia doesn’t speak fluent English so she teaches Sophie-Claire her ABCs, numbers, colors, and several songs in Spanish.  During the day Sophie-Claire seems to speak mostly Spanish and then switches to English when Mom and Dad return home.  Besides those languages she has watched the American Sign Language video for children and she can, and does, sign several words.

As you can tell from my bragging, Sophie-Claire was the highlight of our trip to Panama although we do enjoy her parents too.  Gretchen and Chris took off several days while we were visiting but when they did go to work Eladia was told she could come in later and we would feed Sophie-Claire her breakfast, take her for her first walk of the day, change diapers if necessary and generally play with her.  We enjoyed doing that.

December 20 was Sophie-Claire’s second birthday and we had a little family party in the evening.  After her dinner she was allowed a chocolate cupcake with two burning candles which delighted her.  Next she opened up her birthday presents, carefully tearing off the wrapping paper of each one.  She enjoyed all the toys, books, and videos she received.  After that we all decorated the Christmas tree which Sophie-Claire and their cat, Churchill, thought were for their benefit to play with.

There were other highlights as well.  Gretchen and Chris arranged to rent a small house in the mountainous region of El Valle de Anton (usually just called El Valle) where many wealthy Panamanians have a second home.  Our little house was remote and surrounded by a jungle of lush trees, plants, and flowers of all kinds.  The area has monkeys, sloths, parrots and other jungle wildlife but we didn’t see much.  That was because we had the bad luck of having a storm of wind and rain most of the time we were there – an unusual event since the dry season was supposed to begin in mid-December.  We lost power a couple of times but the strong winds and rain at night made for interesting sleeping.  However we did see some birds there we don’t normally see in Texas.

We hiked some muddy trails from the house we rented.  Sophie-Claire loved to throw rocks and sticks into the creek so that was a big part of our hikes.  We did visit the colorful open market in El Valle with a larger selection of produce than I would have guessed.  We visited the small local zoo which has a few of the remaining golden frogs that are dying out.  Sophie-Claire enjoyed the animals in the zoo and raced from cage to cage.  We went to the Chorno El Macho waterfall where Gretchen and Chris took the zip line across the waterfall. 

On our last morning we had plans to drive to the local hot thermal springs for a dip but as we started down our long, steep driveway we discovered that a rather large orange tree had uprooted and blown across the driveway in the night.  It was too big for Chris and me to budge so we walked downhill into the village to the caretaker’s house only he wasn’t home.  His wife had some of their visiting friends or relatives take us back and they brought machetes since they didn’t have a power saw.  We hacked away at the tree, cutting off smaller limbs and finally were able to push it off the driveway with five men.  By then it was just time to check out and drive back to Panama but we got some exercise.

We ate well in Panama.  In El Valle we had a delicious lunch at a very nice restaurant called Casa de Lourdes.  Rita had pasta with asparagus and mushrooms while I had sesame encrusted corvina which is drum fish.  All our dishes were delicious as was the wine.

Gretchen and Chris both cook and love good food and wine so all our meals at their house were great.  One evening we went out to eat at one of the best seafood restaurants in Panama called Casa del Marisco.  The owners were originally from the Basque region of Spain but settled in Panama years ago.  Their new restaurant is very modern and the food is delicious.  Rita and I both had fresh grouper; mine was encased in garlic and almonds.  Then we went to a rooftop bar in Casco Viejo, or the old town, named Tantalo.  We sipped mojitoes while viewing the skyline of Panama in the warm tropical air.

Another day we had delicious Indian food at Sabor de India, a restaurant in the downtown area of Panama.  We selected several spicy dishes, naan, and rice and shared them along with refreshing Foster’s India Pale Ale.  In fact, we had enough food left over we took it home for another meal later on.

On Christmas Eve we got away early and drove about an hour’s drive to Soberania National Park where we went to the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center first.  We were looking for birds and we climbed their 100-foot tower but didn’t see much except a sloth and a brown hawk.  The reception center had nectar feeders out and there we saw several different kinds of beautiful hummingbirds.  Next we walked down Pipeline Road, one of the premier bird watching places in the world.  We saw several blue morph butterflies which are bigger than some birds.  We saw some birds but not a bumper crop.  I’ll list birds seen in Panama at the end of this story.

Christmas Day we first opened our stockings while Sophie-Claire was getting acquainted with this gift-giving tradition.  Churchill was first to open his package of a catnip toy.  Sophie-Claire discovered an apple in her stocking which occupied her for quite some time.  Gretchen made a nice breakfast of bacon and gingerbread pancakes.  Then to the task of opening all those other packages, most of which were for Sophie-Claire.  She did an admirable job and really enjoyed her presents – mostly books, videos, trucks, and Lego blocks.  During most of this we Skyped with Rachel and Deana – it was not as good as having them there but the next best thing.

In the afternoon we dressed up somewhat with Sophie-Claire in her beautiful red Christmas dress as the belle of the ball.  We had turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and rolls.  We had a bottle of champagne then another bottle of wine.  For dessert we had both pumpkin and pecan pies.  A delicious meal!

All good things must come to an end and so did our visit.  On Friday, December 28, we said our good-byes to everyone and headed back home via Houston then on to San Antonio.  We left Panama in about 90 degree heat and arrived in San Antonio where the temperatures were in the 30s and winds blowing strong out of the north.  We stopped at BJ’s Brewpub for a light dinner and beer then a grocery store stop for milk and bananas so we could have breakfast in the morning.  Cruising home late at night on a back country road I was stopped by the Comal County sheriff’s deputy for speeding 70 in a 60 mph zone.  There was no other traffic around and it was 11:15 at night.  Why would a sheriff’s deputy be sitting on the side of the road at that time looking for speeders?  At least he just gave me a warning ticket and we arrived home about midnight.  All was fine at home and we slept soundly but sadly missed the noises Sophie-Claire makes when she wakes up.

Unusual birds spotted:

Green parrots (maybe Mealy Amazons?) and parakeets

Crimson-backed tanager

Yellow-green vireo

Antwren

Black-chested jay

Keel-billed toucan

Squirrel Cuckoo

Long-billed hermit, white-necked Jacobin, sapphire-throated and green violet-ear hummingbirds

Panama flycatcher

Great tinamou

Kiskadees

Caprock Canyons Hikes - Oct. 5-7

This marks the fourth year in a row that we have hiked with the West Texas Trail Walkers on their annual Columbus Day weekend hikes.  The first year was in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, then Guadalupe Mountains National Park and last year in Fort Davis State Park.  Next year is in Big Bend National Park and we have already made our hotel reservations.  This year the three-day hikes were in Caprock Canyons State Park and it was the first time for us to visit this scenic area on the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains of West Texas.

Our friend from Saudi Arabia days, Jo Ann Stewart, has joined us on all these hikes and she joined us once again this year in our annual tradition.  Jo Ann drove up from Houston and spent the night at our house on Wednesday, October 3.  Thursday morning we woke early to get a good start on the long drive.  We stopped for breakfast at the Old German Bakery in Fredericksburg and then we drove in a northwest direction on some highways I hadn’t driven on previously. 

In Brady, where we have been before, we headed north on highway 283 through Santa Anna, Coleman and Baird which were mundane as was the countryside.  We took Interstate 20 a short distance to Abilene where we headed northwest to Anson, east to Roby, then northwest to Rotan and Clairemont.  In the wide spot called Clairemont we saw two bright rust-red buildings made out of local clay blocks with no signs or historical markers to explain their pasts.  A Google search found that this town is officially listed as a ghost town.  At one time it was the county seat of Kent County but the railroad bypassed it and the water dried up so the courthouse was moved to the town of Jayton in 1954.  One of the buildings was what remained of the courthouse after a fire destroyed the original and the other building was a jail that still stands with its iron cells intact. 

After a brief stop for photos of the jail we were hungry and looking for food.  Unfortunately we were in the wrong area to find much.  Internet searches didn’t turn up much and most of those were found as closed up businesses.  So in the town of Spur we found a Dairy Queen where we shared a small plate of tacos and had drinks to wash them down.  We continued north to Dickens, west to Ralls, north to Floydada, and then on into Plainview and the hotel where we had reservations.  On a recommendation we had dinner at the Dixie Tavern (not really a tavern – no wine or beer) and had so-so steaks.  The staff was friendly and the food satisfied us so we couldn’t complain too much.  After dinner we drove around downtown Plainview, which like most of the small towns we passed through today, was drying up.  At least Plainview has a small college and an Interstate passing through it so the whole area isn’t dying like the small towns.

Friday was the first of our hikes but it didn’t start until noon so we had time for a leisurely breakfast at our hotel.  The day was cool but very nice as there were no clouds in the sky.  We left Plainview about 10:30 am to drive to the Pole Canyon Ranch which is actually inside the Caprock Canyons State Park boundary.  Rita’s back was acting up so I hiked the short 5K (3 miles) hike with her while Jo Ann went on and hiked the 11K (6.5 miles) hike.  The hike took us down a mostly dried up river bed then up some banks with nice views of the red dirt hills in the near distance.  Rita did fine and we finished in time to take our sandwiches, made from the breakfast buffet, to the porch with rocking chairs for a pleasant lunch.  Jo Ann finished about 1:30 pm and after getting our hiking books stamped we headed in the car to the town of Quitaque (pronounced Kitty Quay) which is on the edge of the state park.  From there we drove east to the town of Turkey, the home of Bob Wills, and had a look around.  Finally we drove back to Plainview where we had dinner at a chain restaurant called the Cotton Patch.  A bit tired, we turned in early for an early start the next morning.

Saturday morning we set our alarms for 5:30 am, gobbled down a quick breakfast and were away in the dark about 6:45 am for an early hike start in the center of Caprock Canyons park.  A cold front had blown through in the night and the day was cold, cloudy and windy but dry.  On entering the park we saw bison from the official Texas State Bison Herd grazing near the park headquarters.  Jo Ann hiked the 11K hike which had some steep climbs while Rita and I hiked the 5K hike called the Lower Canyon Trail.  We crossed the same muddy creek about six times to the check point then retraced the trail back to the start area.  However, we had great views of red cliffs with white crystal rock veins which stood out boldly.  After our small lunch we headed back to Plainview through Silverton and Tulia.  We decided to check out the next day and drive back to Wimberley rather than stay to Monday as originally planned.  Dinner tonight was at the West Texas Wood Fire Grill which was the best steaks on this trip and since the restaurant did not have a liquor license, they gave us complimentary glasses of wine with our meals.

Sunday was another early morning hike so we checked out of the hotel after a quick breakfast and headed to the park for our last hike.  We saw mule deer on our drive to the park and more bison close up as we entered the park entrance.  Rita did not feel like hiking today so I hiked with Jo Ann on the 11K hike called the Canyon Rim Trail.  We had good views overlooking the canyon and finished about 11:00 am.  We said our good byes to the hikers we’ve come to know over the past four years and headed home.

We were hungry and in the town of Matador found that all the cafes there were closed for Sunday.  We headed east to Paducah and found a café named Double GG open.  It sounded like a cattle brand.  It was 1:00 pm and they closed at 2:00 pm so we considered ourselves lucky to find a place to eat.  Then we had some of the best chili cheese hamburgers with “real” fried potatoes that tasted delicious.  Now we considered ourselves double lucky.  The staff was very friendly as were the other customers in the café. 

From there we headed south to Guthrie, Aspermont, Stamford, Avoca and then stopped in Albany, a pretty town with an imposing courthouse.  We stretched our legs walking around the town square and reading the many historical markers.  Finally we headed south to Cisco, Rising Star, and Brownwood where we stopped for a small dinner as it was getting dark.  We continued through San Saba and Llano, arriving home about 9:30 pm after another long day’s drive.  Jo Ann spent the night at our house and after we all had a great night’s sleep we had a late breakfast Monday morning before Jo Ann headed back to her home in Houston.

It was a very nice weekend of hiking and we look forward to next year in Big Bend.

Summary of Trip to Idaho & Alaska - August 2012

Just a final word (or two) on our trip this summer of 2012 to Idaho and Alaska with a few other states thrown in (Montana, Washington and Oregon). 

Trip highlights would be:

Stanley, Idaho, and the Sawtooth Mountain range

The Lewis & Clark Highway (US 12) from Lolo, Montana, to Kooskia, Idaho

Coeur d’Alene and Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho

The Italia Trattoria restaurant in Spokane, Washington

The fertile Wenatchee Valley and Yakima Valley in Washington

The pretty town of Walla Walla, Washington

The Hamley Steakhouse in Pendleton, Oregon

The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City, Oregon

Eating freshly caught salmon and halibut and salmon and halibut and……….

The many beers we sampled from small, local micro breweries

Denali National Park and getting to see Mt. McKinley on a clear, sunny day

Spotting wildlife (grizzly bears, moose, caribou, and Dahl sheep) in Denali NP

Alaskan sourdough pancakes

Crossing the Arctic Circle in Alaska

Chinooks seafood restaurant in Seward, Alaska

Kenai Fjords National Park with sea otters, humpback whales and orca whales

The many glaciers of Alaska but mainly Holgate and Hubbard glaciers that we saw

The Royal Caribbean seven day cruise

The views of Juneau from the top of Mount Roberts

The well preserved historic town of Skagway, Alaska

Tracing the gold trail from Skagway into Yukon Territory, Canada

The many whales sighted up close at Icy Strait Point near Hoonah, Alaska

Creek Street in Ketchikan, Alaska

Vancouver, Canada, and especially the Capilano Suspension Bridge

Some things I learned:

Alaska is beautiful – in summer.  I don’t think I could stay one long, dark, cold winter there.

There’s little difference between a caribou and a reindeer.  Some say reindeer are domesticated caribou.  I’m guessing the rein in reindeer mean they are trained to respond to reins.

There are many places along the Oregon Trail where one can view the original wagon ruts.

Prices are still high at the Pendleton Woolen Mills outlet/retail store.

There’s not much to see at the Grand Coulee Dam.

Vancouver must be one of the world’s most livable cities.

The one dollar coin in Canada is called a “loonie” and the two dollar coin a “toonie”.

Before their trip to the moon, NASA astronauts did some preparation for their mission at the Craters of the Moon National Park.

In Alaska people can purchase and carry rifles, shotguns, handguns or big knives without a permit.  We saw several with knives.

Jack London was one of the hopeful gold miners who crossed the White Pass into Yukon Territory.

The native Tlingits thought William H. Seward was stingy (he didn’t throw them a party after they threw one for him) and defamed him in a totem pole.  They painted his ears and nose red which indicates stinginess.  

And I’m sure a lot more that I can’t remember right now.

Things we didn’t see that I wished we did:

Wolves in Denali National Park

Beluga whales in Captain Cook Inlet

The northern lights (Aurora Borealis)

Inside Passage and Vancouver, BC - 2012

We departed Ketchikan Wednesday night, August 29 and set our clocks ahead one hour thereby losing an hour.  Thursday was a day of rest at sea with no scheduled stops.  After breakfast, Jeanne, who had been taking care of our dining needs, gave us, and a small group, a tour of the kitchens on the 4^th and 5^th floors – the Cascades Dining room where three-course dinners are served by a head waiter and assistant waiter.  This is where we ate most of our dinners and occasionally breakfast.  It was a great tour and we were pleasantly surprised how clean the kitchens were.  It was a relaxing day.

As scheduled we arrived at the opening of the Canadian (British Columbia) portion of the Inside Passage about 4:00 pm.  I went to the bow and saw two humpback whales and three seals in about an hour.  At 5:00 pm Rita and I attended an interesting talk given by a husband and wife of the Royal Canadian Police.  The talk and slides was mostly about the history of the Yukon and the role of the Mounties as gold was discovered there.

At 7:00 pm we went to our last dinner in the Cascades dining room and just as we sat down at a window table the curtain was raised and we were treated to the antics of three orca whales just off the starboard side where we were seated.  About 15 minutes later we saw more orcas and yet again a third time as they entertained us throughout dinner.  Finally we returned to our cabins and re-packed our suitcases for tomorrow’s departure.

I woke at 6:30 am Friday morning and looked out our port hole to see that the captain was exactly on schedule as he said we would be sailing under the Lions Gate Bridge then and we were.  The ship docked in Vancouver at 7:00 am and we had breakfast before getting our hand luggage and assembling in the Colony Club.  We opted to depart at 9:30 am and all went on time.  Canadian Customs was brief and friendly and we found our big suitcases quickly and were out to the taxi stand in no time. 

We arrived at the Sunset Inn & Suites hotel about 10:00 am and were happy to find our room was available to us.  We had stayed here last year and find the hotel friendly and nicely located.  We unpacked then, while I downloaded several days of photos, Rita took a short nap.  Around noon we found an ATM for Canadian money then walked to the Aquatic Center for a boat taxi to Granville Island.  The open markets on Granville Island impressed us last year and did so this year as well.  We had lunch on an outside deck and walked around the many shops.  Rita even found a quilt shop! 

For dinner we visited a restaurant we enjoyed last year on English Bay Beach.  The Boathouse restaurant has excellent seafood and I had a trio of fresh halibut, salmon, and ling cod baked on a cedar plank, their signature dish.  We had scenic views of the beach and setting sun.  With the meal we had a bottle of British Columbia Sandhill sauvignon blanc which I have to try to find here in Austin.  We also had two large desserts which our friendly waitress said were made in-house – they were decadent.  Finally espresso to top off a great meal.  We walked back to our hotel down lively Davie Street.

Saturday I decided that the hop on – hop off sightseeing bus would be ideal for us as Rita was not up to a lot of walking.  We did a lot of walking in Vancouver last year, much of it in the rain.  Today was bright, clear and sunny with a maximum temperature of 72.  Besides that the sightseeing bus stopped just a half-block from the hotel.  I purchased an additional side trip to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  So we boarded the bus about 9:30 am and did a loop through Vancouver, seeing much we had seen before – Granville Island, Library Square, Royal Drill Barracks, Chinatown, Gastown (with statue of Gassy Jack), and hopped off at the steam clock in Gastown.  At nearby Canada Place, where our cruise ship docked yesterday, we boarded another bus that took us across the Lions Gate Bridge to North Vancouver and the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver’s top attraction. 

The scary bridge is 450 feet of wobbling planks 230 feet high above the Capilano Canyon floor and river.  It sways, bounces, hops, and throws one off balance.  It is also fairly crowded with tourists.  We managed to cross and then took a nature trail among the tall trees on the other side.  But we had to re-cross the bridge once more to return.  It was fun.

We returned to Canada Place and walked to another brewery we enjoyed last year – the Steamworks Brewery on the edge of Gastown.  We split a good sandwich but each had our own tasty beers to drink.  After lunch we hopped back on another sightseeing bus to Stanley Park.  Unknown to us, we could (and did) depart on another bus that just goes around Stanley Park in about an hour.  Finally we re-boarded another sightseeing bus that took us down crowded Robson and Burrard Streets to our hotel.  It was a nice day of sightseeing beautiful Vancouver.  We walked to Thai Basil restaurant for a spicy Thai dinner before re-packing for the airlines.

Sunday we bid goodbye to Vancouver with an early departure.  We set our alarm clock for 4:00 am to get a taxi at 5:00 am to the airport.  Our flight left at 7:30 am and we had to check in two hours beforehand.  We cleared US Customs at the Vancouver airport and caught our flight to Denver.  We had a small lunch at the Denver airport then caught our next flight to Austin.  We arrived in Austin about 6:00 pm, stopped to have a Tex-Mex dinner and then shopped for groceries because the refrigerator was empty at home.  It was a great trip but we were happy to shower in our own bathroom and sleep in our own bed tonight.

Cruise from Seward to Vancouver - August 24-29

August 24, 2012 - Friday morning we slept in at our hotel and had a leisurely start to the day.  Check out time was noon and we couldn’t board our ship, Royal Caribbean’s “Radiance of the Sea”, until noon so we had breakfast then remained in our room (weather outside was cool and cloudy) and whiled away the morning.  Eventually we checked out and took a taxi to the dock where the ship was waiting for us.  Security and check in went fast and smoothly so we were onboard quickly. 

We checked out our room first – nice with queen sized bed and window on the starboard (right) side of the ship.  It is similar to a large RV with TV, refrigerator, and snug bathroom.  Then we went up to the Windjammer café, which was the only one open for lunch, and had a good snack.  I have to watch out for that dessert table!

We went back to our room, where our luggage had arrived, and unpacked.  Then we set out to explore the ship which is very similar to the one we sailed on last February in Panama.  We returned to our room, put our feet up and watched a movie on TV.  At 7:30 pm we had our mandatory life boat drill on the outside decks.  After that we went to the Cascades Restaurant where we had our delicious three course dinner with wine as the ship set sail at 8:00 pm down the Resurrection Bay into the Gulf of Alaska.  After dinner we went to the Aurora Theater to see a stage performance of the orchestra, dancers, singers, and a comedian I had never heard of before – but he’s been on Johnny Carson and Jay Leno’s shows.  To bed rather late (for us).

August 25 – We slept very well and had room service coffee in bed while looking out at the foggy, cloudy Gulf of Alaska.  We cleaned up and had a large, filling breakfast in the Cascades.  Both last night and this morning we were seated with friendly people from various places – Nebraska, Montana, New Jersey and South Africa.  Our wait staff is from all over the world.

Rita attended a shopping seminar in the morning on what items are best to buy in upcoming ports and which stores are the best.  Then we had lunch at a hot dog stand where six different wieners were served.  Rita had a German bratwurst while I had an Austrian beef and veal sausage.  Next Rita went to a diamonds and gem stones talk.  While she attended that I shot pool on a table leveled by ball bearings and computers to sense the roll of the ship and adjust the pool table accordingly.  The table remained level and the balls did not roll but I was distracted by the obvious movement of the pool table.

In the afternoon it was announced that we were nearing the Hubbard Glacier, one of Alaska’s largest.  We sailed into the Yakutat Bay and through numerous ice floes that broke off from the glacier.  The ship pulled up much closer to the glacier than I imagined he would – about 500 feet – which is close for such a big ship.  We remained there for over an hour and occasionally would hear a loud thunder and see a chunk of ice break off and splash into the bay which is called calving.  It was cold and everyone on deck (practically the entire ship) was bundled up warmly.  Finally the ship turned around and headed back into the Pacific Ocean.

Rita and I headed to Starbucks and had hot caffe mocha.  Then we came back to the room to rest a short while and dress for dinner which was formal dress tonight.  We had another very good meal – we’ll worry about the extra calories when we get back home.  

August 26 – More unusual and exceptional weather today.  We docked in Juneau, Alaska, about 8:45 am while we were eating breakfast with new acquaintances from England and Iowa.  Juneau, which gets about 90 inches of rain a year (and much of it in August), was bright and sunny with not a cloud in the sky.  Once more, local shop clerks assured us that this was most unusual weather.  We’ll take it!

Our first order of business was to board the Mount Roberts tramway, an excursion we had signed up for online months ago.  The steep ride up is an 1800 foot ascent to the top with panorama views of Juneau and the Gastineau Channel.  At the top of the tramway are gift shops, artisans, nature walks, restaurant and a bald eagle named Lady Baltimore who was being rehabilitated.  All the facilities are owned and operated by the Tlingit Indians.  

When we descended back to Juneau we inquired about a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier but we felt we had seen enough glaciers and begged off another one.  Instead Rita did her shopping up and down Franklin Street.  Normally Rita is not heavy into shopping but the ship’s shopping guru had passed out coupons for a free bracelet and shops that gave free gifts and/or charms for the bracelet.  So Rita went in several shops for her free “gifts” and used me as an excuse to leave without looking at all their diamonds or whatever.  Unfortunately Juneau (and I hear other Alaskan ports) are looking much like Caribbean ports where ships dock with numerous jewelry and diamond stores.  

We stopped to read historic markers several places and viewed the insides of the Red Dog Saloon and the bar at the historic Alaskan Hotel.  We ate delicious fish and chips along with local brewery ales at the Flight Deck, sitting outside in the warm sun watching sea planes take off in the channel.  We continued walking and viewed the non-descript Alaska State Capitol building and the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church that was built in 1894.  Finally we returned to the ship for a quick catnap before dressing for dinner, which was delicious as always.

August 27 – Another day, another port, different weather!  When we docked early in Skagway there were some parts of a blue sky but they soon disappeared as the clouds came in.  It was cooler than yesterday but the real culprit was the wind gusting at around 30 or 40 mph (my guess).  There was a 90% chance of rain predicted but it did not materialize before we returned to the ship.  So we bundled up and started the day with an excursion arranged and paid for in advance.

Luckily the bus for our tour was on the dock adjacent to the ship and as we filled the bus we departed about 8:00 am with our guide and bus driver Matthew who had a great sense of humor.  He slowly drove through Skagway, which looks like a movie set of a frontier city, and pointed out various historical buildings.  The town hasn’t changed much in 100 years and is well preserved as the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (US Park Service).  More than a hundred original buildings have been restored in Skagway and with the wooden planked sidewalks I expected a gunfight any minute.  Matthew recounted much of the town’s early history, mostly with relation to brothels, which he said were places where broth was made.  He pointed out one building as the first B&B in Skagway – Bakery and Brothel with hot buns on all floors!

Our first stop was the Gold Rush Cemetery a little ways out of town.  The first graves were of “Soapy” Smith, a con man whom most of the town hated, and Frank Reid, the man who killed him but also died in the gunfight.  Soapy Smith was killed immediately and hated so much they left his body in the street for three days.  I guess it started to smell.  The town folk would not bury him in the cemetery and put his grave three feet outside of it.  Frank Reid was shot in the groin and died twelve days later.  You should Google their story on the Internet.  There were many other graves in the frontier cemetery.

We continued on up the South Klondike Highway which went along the historic route of the White Pass Trail.  Miners, who are called stampeders here, were required by Canada to bring a year’s worth of provisions with them which weighed about 2000 pounds so they had to make 30 to 40 trips up the trail before they could enter the gold fields.  Another parallel trail called the Chilkoot Trail, was more difficult but still used by several stampeders.  Eventually some made it to Dawson City in the Yukon Territory where the gold fields were located but very few found gold.  More people made money off the miners than the miners made.  One was Nordstrom who started as a shoemaker in Skagway and ended up with the Seattle based department store.

We stopped occasionally to view waterfalls or scenic sights and drove across the border into the Yukon Territory of Canada at the top of the White Pass.  Here we ran into heavy fog but Matthew drove a little further than usual into Canada where we could get out and have some nice views at an alpine lake.  We never went through Canadian customs or immigration.  We turned around and re-entered Alaska after our brief entry into Canada.  But before the tour began we had to show him we had our US passports with us just in case US border control wanted to see them (they didn’t).

We returned to Skagway and asked to be dropped off at the edge of town.  We set out on foot to explore the town, going in and out of several interesting shops.  We visited the original log cabin built by Captain William Moore, the founder of Skagway which means “land of the north wind” in Tlingit language.  We stuck our heads into the Red Onion Saloon but it was too crowded to get a table.  After a while we became cold and hungry so we headed back to our ship and lunch followed by a rest in our cabin.

At dinner this evening we had a treat as we were eating about 7:30 pm.  All the waiters and waitresses (about a hundred) started lining up as Greek music came over the speakers.  Soon everyone was clapping their hands and the wait staff was waving napkins in tune to the music.  They all gathered on the wide stairway (it’s a two story dining room for hundreds) to form a sort of choir and serenaded us with “Oh sole mio” to the delight of their audience.  It was great fun and the announcer granted that there may be some accents other than Italian since the wait staff is from about 50 different nationalities.

Later we attended a party for Crown and Anchor members which we now belong to since we are on our second cruise of the year – we cruised with Royal Caribbean last February out of Panama with Gretchen, Chris and Sophie-Claire.  There were speeches, snacks and champagne which was nice.  One couple in the audience was noted for having over 1000 nights of cruising – about 4 years of cruising!  While we aren’t dedicated ship cruisers yet, we are enjoying it more, especially the unpacking all our suitcases, not moving rooms, free room service, big comfortable rooms, lots of good food, and waking up in a new port most mornings.  It’s more important in places (like Alaska ports) where one cannot get easily by car – only fly in or cruise into town.

August 28 – After a great night’s sleep we woke up in Icy Strait Point at Hoonah, Alaska, our stop for today.  We are about 50 miles west of Juneau at the entrance to the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.  Skies are gray with a lowering fog and some raindrops on our window.  We had leisurely cups of coffee from room service and took our time getting up and out.  Our captain announced that it was about 50 degrees outside and a good chance of more rain on the way. 

After a hearty breakfast we departed our ship and were transported to Icy Strait Point by tenders – the first and only time on this cruise.  We arrived at the Hoonah Salmon Cannery plant which is owned by the Tlingit Indian tribe.  The cannery was begun about 1904 and today is turned into a nice museum and shops.  We looked around the shops then set out on a nature trail hike along the water.  The trail went into dark woods with tall, dense evergreen trees.  The only wildlife we encountered in the woods was one squirrel.  

When we returned to the strait, however, we saw three humpback whales at close quarters.  As we were to discover, the same three whales, and some harbor seals, swam up and down the coast for about a mile, turning around and re-tracing their route several times.  They put on a great show all day long and we were told they were “bubble fishing”.  From time to time you could see them create bubbles in the water then come up and breach with their mouths open to get the herring they were after.  It was an amazing sight and difficult to photograph.  I may rethink about a better camera.  While several people paid hundreds of dollars to go on whale watching boats, we saw them for free from the shore and pier.  We also saw those whale watching boats and kayaks chasing after the whales for their customers.  

We explored the museum and gift shops some more then headed back to our ship for lunch.  After lunch Rita went to our cabin to nap while I watched the whales some more.  Heavier rain did arrive and a cold wind as well.  About 4:00 pm our ship hauled up its anchor and we sailed south for tomorrow’s port.

August 29 – We docked in Ketchikan, Alaska, this morning and after breakfast we met our tour on the pier for a 9:30 am departure.  We had a short tour on a bus or truck dressed up as an old trolley.  Items pointed out were the oldest church (Episcopal – 1902), the fish ladder (to help salmon up a steep area of a stream), the pretty City Park, and finally the Totem Heritage Center in an area named Saxman.  Here we departed the trolley for a brief explanation of the collection of totem poles collected from Tlingit and Haida villages.  We also saw the clan house of the beaver sub-tribe.  Tlingit people are divided into two major tribes, raven and eagle, but each clan can have sub-tribes such as bear, beaver, etc.  

Eventually the bus departed once more and dropped us off at Creek Street (by request) which was the red-light district starting in 1903 until outlawed in the 1950s.  Some of the brothels, Dolly’s House and The Star, are on the National Register of Historic Places.  One sign proclaimed that the salmon went up Creek Street to spawn once but the men went several times.  We walked along Creek Street, which is actually a pier over Ketchikan Creek, and then up Married Man’s Trail which was a secret entrance to Creek Street supposedly used by men who wanted to remain anonymous.  We saw salmon in the creek working their way to the spawning area when the rain started.  When we started it looked as if the weather was partly cloudy with some blue skies and we were told it would improve.  It didn’t.  That is not all that surprising as Ketchikan gets on average a little over 13 feet of rain a year.

We walked to the downtown area and into a shopping mall that had a quilt store Rita wanted to visit.  It was a good way to wait out the rain.  Soon we walked back onboard the ship, had our lunch and after a brief rest headed back out with our raincoats this time.  Of course, it didn’t rain again.  We re-visited some of the areas we had seen in the morning but this time walked to the salmon ladder and the salmon spawning area.  We did see several large salmon in Ketchikan Creek.  While walking back to the area where Married Men’s Trail met up with Creek Street, we saw tourists pointing to the shrubs next to the walk we were on.  I asked them what they saw and they said a bear.  I asked if we were safe and they didn’t respond so we continued down the steps to where they were located.  Then about six feet away from us in the shrubs I saw the small black bear and told Rita to hurry.  It was exciting but you’d think the tourists would have advised us to stop where we were.

We returned to the ship ready for an early departure around 5:30 pm.  Tomorrow we do not stop at any more ports but sail the Inside Passage.  We arrive in Vancouver Friday morning.

Kenai Fjords National Park - August 23

When I checked the weather forecast Wednesday evening the prediction was 100% chance of rain.  When we woke up, the weather forecasters had it right – it was raining.  On top of that it was cold and windy.  This was our first real inclement weather of the trip.  As we checked in for our boat tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park they informed us that if the captain thought it was unsafe to sail to the glaciers he would return and we would get some of our money refunded.  It wasn’t a promising beginning.

Our ship’s name was “Glacier Express” run by the Major Marine Tours Company.  We departed on time at 11:30 am heading south out of Seward on Resurrection Bay with snow covered mountain peaks on the left on Resurrection Peninsula and more mountains on our right with clouds obscuring the tops of the peaks.  As we neared Fox Island the captain spotted sea otters and slowed the boat for us to get a better view.  A little farther we saw a group of six or seven orca whales that would occasionally rise up out of the water.  The water was getting choppier as well.  

As we neared Cheval Island the captain announced that it was going to get rough as we were approaching the entrance into the Gulf of Alaska.  We did get larger swells but the captain said it wasn’t as bad as he expected and that we were safe to press on.  We passed No Name Island then turned north again into the Aialik Bay and into the Holgate Arm.  Here the sea was calmer and we were served a lunch of all-you-can-eat salmon and prime rib.  A park service ranger was on board and she would give us lectures on the land, glaciers, birds and animals.  We saw puffins, red-necked phalarope and many other sea birds.  We also saw Steller seals and harbor seals lying on rocks of the islands.

Eventually we reached our destination, Holgate Glacier, where the captain took the boat close in next to the glacier and cut the engine so we could hear the calving or ice breaking away.  The wind was strong and we were cold so we bundled up with all the sweaters, gloves and coats we brought with us.  After everyone took dozens of photos the captain turned the boat and we headed back the way we had come.  As we approached the Chiswell Islands the captain spotted five or six humpback whales feeding in the area.  We watched for some time – one even breached the water, jumping high and doing a twist before diving down again.  I did not get any photos of the humpbacks as you have to be lucky to be prepared to take a shot when it happens.  It was more fun just watching them anyway.  

As we re-entered Resurrection Bay we were served dessert and while sitting at our table we saw another pod of orca whales swimming alongside the boat.  We finally docked about 6:00 pm and headed back to our hotel.  Tomorrow we board an even bigger ship to sail for a week along the Inside Passage.