Trip report, Alaska Part 5

Monday, May 11, At sea

We spent the morning off the west side of Vancouver Island… The high point was orca on both sides of the ship as we passed the north end of the island.

Tuesday Morning May 12, Ketchikan Alaska

Its early, the ship is docked but not quite awake…
Low clouds, damp, very much what one expects in Alaska. We gained an hour last night, so it seems later than it is… what a bonus, sleep in and still get up early.
We are off kayaking today…

It turned out we were the only ones on the tour… they had had a group of 4 earlier, and a group of 9 later that day, but for the 9:00 tour we were it… So Tina and I shared a double and our two guides (one in training) each used singles… They provide full gear, rain wear, pfd, and a splash skit. They have poggies (cute neoprene hand protectors) for the paddles… fast boat out 3 or 4 miles to the “mother ship” where we got in the Kayaks… the tide was way down… a minus tide, so it was very much a tide pool trip via kayak… we saw a bald eagle an its nest, a couple of sea lions, and many, many star fish… Tina found the kayaking much easier than the sit on top we used in Jamaica. We walked about town for a little while before returning to the ship… The sail out is interesting… the channel is narrow so you get a good view. We passed through an area known for its hump back whales but they didn’t cooperate… possibly they are on strike until Kodak or Nikon raise the wage for photo model animals.

We found that bald eagles are known to swoop down and gather house cats and small dogs (aka rats in dog suits) for dinner… I am planning on supporting whatever group is working to re-introduce bald eagles to San Mateo County… It would make my life better.

Wednesday, May 13, Tracy Arm and Juneau

We started the day early, at 6:00 or so as the ship cruised the Tracy Arm… a narrow glacial fiord. It was full of burgy bits and growlers (small ice bergs, they are accepted technical descriptions tied to size) as well as pad ice, formed when fresh water freezes on top of ice water… in a sense thin pack ice, seen only at the beginning of the season… (the cruise season, aka summer) We could see both of the glaciers at the top, one fast receding, the other still apparently healthy. There was a smaller expedition boat in the area, and we met the Golden Princess, a sister ship on the way out. The Golden provided a sense of scale… she was tiny in proportion to the fiord… The weather was remarkable… clear, bright, virtually no clouds. They tell us it is never like this…

it is still cold, probably near 20 degrees. Its comfortable when there is no wind and you are in the sun. The seas are calm, but this doesn’t stop our fellow passengers from taking Dramamine, wearing the patch and talking about how rough it is… “I really felt the ship moving last night” was overheard this in 4’ swells, mostly less…

The best passenger question (upon seeing ice bergs) was “is this near where the Titanic sank?”… Clearly both geographically and historically impaired…
As we left Tracy Arm we spotted another orca. A bit after 11:00 we saw porpoises from our balcony.

After lunch we sat on the balcony, and watched the ship dock in Juneau. There are a couple of Holland ships here, as well as a Norwegian ship, complete with the graffiti that they call decoration. As I write this they are setting lines and assembling the gang plank… the tour buses, vans and taxis are starting to gather for the tourist hoards.

I doubt Governor Sarah will meet us at the dock… (she didn’t)

We braved the lines trying to get off the ship (note, really long lines, ridiculously long lines, guests getting restless, guests getting angry, staff getting angry, bad customer service all over again…) then walked over towards town and the Mt Robertson Tramway… a aerial gondola ride to the top of the hill behind the ship… maybe a 1,000 foot up or so… cost per adult $27.00 a person… no thank you. Further into town past the Diamonds International stores, past the Tanzanite stores, past the stores selling Spanish ceramics… past the stores selling tee shirts, and more tee shirts (several with signs stating they were Alaskan owned to differentiate themselves from the cruise ship chain stores) , and lots of Russian dolls… down to the old down town and the Red Garter saloon. We found a store named “Once In a Blue Moose (complete with a sign “Our founder was born in Juneau in 1928” where Tina bought a couple of things… I found a book store. They had a book on Alaska Bearing sea fishing which included a chapter on a boat my brother sailed on… It later sunk, (brother not aboard, but friends were) with some loss of life… the book made it sound heroic… my brother left because he didn’t trust the way it was run, and has stories of bad judgment, pride, and panic all of which contributed…
We thought about a drink at the red garter, but the crowd and the Disneyesque style drove us away… I doubt any self respecting local has been in the place on cruise ship day for years… so, back to the ship for a pleasant afternoon relaxing with a good book and a couple of drinks…

Thursday, May 14, Skagway

We docked early in Skagway… I got off at about 6:30, the first one off… I had to wait while the crew got the scanners and such set up… It was a Keystone Cops performance… one person would put a sign up, a second would move it and put something else there, then the first would move the something else and put the sign back, repeat… finally they say “we are ready” but the gangway is blocked by the ship’s photographers… Finally I am off…

Tina remained happily in bed.

We are docked at the old railroad dock, along the south side of the bay. It extends along a steep cliff. There a tradition of a particular, specific graffiti on the rock face. On the cliff are painted the names of ships who have called here, along with the lines logos, and usually the name of the captain. Some commemorate a captain’s retirement, listing all the ships he brought here. Most carry the date or at least the year they were painted. Collectively they have become a popular history of many ships, now gone, who have been to this place. The cliff is eroding, as cliffs will do, so some have been lost. Among them I find two, dated 1928 and 1929. I suspect these have been repainted. One dated 1979 is for the Prinsendam, later lost, sunk in gulf of Alaska after a major fire. She was the last ship to send an SOS in Morse code. I photographed many, concentrating on those ships on which we have sailed.

Off to the station/ticket office of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad… Of course it was closed until 7:50, so I walked about… Skagway, above and beyond its various diamonds and tanzanite stores, particularly above is a spectacular late Victorian wooden town… false front and Queen Anne commercial buildings, along with a few exotics like the Arctic Club, a faux stick building… now the cities visitor center… The original railroad station is now the National Park’s visitor center, while the railroad is in a newer building next door. Down side streets are even more buildings… Its clear some of the main street buildings have been extensively rebuilt. It is possible that some are really reproductions (at least one is) but the effect is a complete intact town. Most wooden boom towns burned, some several times. Apparently Skagway didn’t.

After walking around, I buy a train ticket for as far as they are going, the town of Bennett, with a bus return. I wanted to do the train both ways, but that wasn’t an option. On board the ship the same trip was mated with a corny lunch for twice the cost… On the train, assigned to a car built for the Sumter Valley railroad in Oregon about 1900, then up the hill… there was some snow in shady spots at sea level… we passed through one significant slide, then over the border and into the Yukon… The train turned back at Frazer. A water stop, and the location of the Canadian border station. A work train pulled up soon after, loaded with a snow plow and a front end loader along with bridge timbers and ties to work on the line beyond, towards Bennett and Carcross which was scheduled to open in less than a week, but that opening will be delayed due to snow and a major washout. The landscape around Bennett was firmly in the grips of snow and ice… the lake frozen over, and while spring was coming to the Yukon, it wasn’t here yet. The tourist busses were present in the parking lot… lots of tourist buses… A woman was parading about in a 1890’s lady of the evening… Just for us tourists.

The bus ride down was quick… we cleared US customs without a border agent coming on the bus… into town to the railroad station.

I walked back up along the railroad tracks… the tracks used to go up the main street but now run along the south edge of town… Towns generally don’t face the railroad, then back up to it, and Skagway is no exception… its back yards, power plants and the camp grounds that serve as housing for the temporary workers. along the way I find the high school operated fish hatchery, and an abandoned track with a steam engine, two cars and a pile of additional bits and pieces, once displayed in town, now set aside for future use. In the mean time they rust, and trees grow around them hiding the failure to care for them…

A bit further on I find the passenger car yard… among the cars there was a favorite, Lake As…. Built in Newark California in 1884 for a small railroad near Lodi (the Lodi of “Oh Lord, Stuck in Lodi Again”) then passed through several other lines before being sent to Alaska in the early 1930’s…. Its much rebuilt, probably beyond reasonable restoration to what it originally looked like, but it has survived. It has a grace and lightness when compared to the newer, heavier cars that sets it apart. Equally strangely all three passenger cars owned by the little railroad survive today, two in museums in California, and this car.

Just beyond are the shops of the railroad. They are modern, the original shops having burned in a disastrous fire in the 1960’s. They are the shops of a working railroad, with work equipment, projects, spare parts and scrapped equipment all spread about. I take photographs and explore, and find an employee to talk to. A friend has a tourist railroad on Kauai. He purchased 5 flatcars from the White Pass to build his passenger cars on, and now they need some spare parts. His operating crew don’t have a contact. Separately, I found wood frame passenger trucks in the scrap pile, and an thinking that they might be useful for a project or two in California… contact information in hand I walk back to town.

Town has changed since my walk about this morning… The streets are now crowded with tourist… tourists with video cameras blocking the sidewalks, tourists with bags, tourists with shopping maps. The buildings are still here, but the magic of the town is lost in the crowd…

Back to the ship, a bite to eat (cruising is all about the constant eating… ) as the weather deteriorates and the wind starts to blow. There are several stories about what Skagway means… but all agree it’s about the wind… The wind does not disappoint.

At 4:30 the ship sails.

As we pass through the Lynn Canal we see hanging glaciers, waterfalls, and sea lions hauled out. There are clouds and fog clinging to the high peaks making the views even more dramatic.

We are now pointed south… towards Seattle and home. We still have two full days to go, but we are now headed home.

Friday, May 15, At sea, 54.45 north, 134.13 west

Today its overcast, breezy, and cold. The seas are calm, a 5’ swell with no white caps. The passengers are taking their time wakening… the pool deck and other public areas are deserted. Of course the Lido, home of the buffet, is crowded.

We find that this ship is short on public space that looks outward… There is no enclosed area looking forward. At the stern there is “Skywalkers” bar, set high above the deck, much like a tail wing on a souped up car, accessed via a glassed in ramp, the whole thing having a strong resemblance to a hamster cage. It has a wonderful view to the rear but today it’s closed for a private event. It feels funny to be at sea and not have a view of the sea… particularly forward…

Tina and I are taking the “Grand Tour” today… 12 people, 3 hours, visiting the bridge, the engine control room, the crew space, the kitchen…

We can report on that later…

Sunday May 10 - Puget Sound

Seattle is waking up slowly. I have my coffee, T is still asleep… Sea gulls calling outside… the occasional ships horn. You know you are near the water.
Tina is up by 9:00… we go downstairs for breakfast then take a last walk up to Pikes Market…

Back to the hotel, get our luggage, check out, and grab a taxi for the pier… There is a long line of mostly taxis trying to get onto the pier… unload, and confusion abounds… Its not clear where to line up or where to take and drop your luggage. We drop our bag, pass through security to find no lines… check in, on to the waiting area… after a short wait they open the doors and you board… not nearly as structured as previous sailings on other lines…

On board we immediately go downstairs to the pursers desk to register for the “grand tour” a several hour ships tour that Princess has just started offering… There is a rumor that the first person on the list gets on, all others are subject to a lottery… Strangely, they first say they don’t do it on this ship and never have (but we understand they did it on the recent Mexican itinerary??), then maybe, come back later, then, yes we will on the 15th, but we don’t have a sign up sheet yet… They take our names then tell us where to write the letter with comments???? I think the pursers office has been taking customer service tips from United Airlines…

Up to the room, then after a phone call back downstairs to sign the tour list (our names are on the list, but we still have to sign… and we are not the first name… but were first to ask to be on the list.. we argue… get frustrated then abandon hope and head upstairs to find some food and to explore.

Back downstairs to the room… one of our bags has arrived… we unpack then sit on the balcony and watch the confusion below as the masses arrive… To be fair it’s on of the first cruises of the season, but it is clear that the employees don’t have full control of the situation. On the other hand, everyone (except customer service) is friendly… They are not unfriendly, just not helpful (what a concept... the unhelpful folks are the designated customer service professionals)

Down for the life boat drill, back upstairs to leave the “personal flotation devices” then up to where several groups are meeting for sail away… A beer, a glass of wine, the ship pushes off, away we go… watch the scenery, talk to friends, stop at the cabin before dinner… the last bag has arrived…

Then down to dinner…

Afterwords we check the promenade deck, and it happens, we find the highlight of our cruise (it seems strange to know absolutely that you have seen the highlight of your cruise the first evening, but I did… Off the port stern, a ship appeared out of the fog in broadside… It was a Burke Class US Navy destroyer… At 8 miles or so I couldn’t identify the specific ship, but I had intelligence… There was a specific US Navy destroyer active nearby, doing lazy circles while the crew was inspected… It was DDG 86, the Shoup, the ship our son is on… No, we didn’t see him… he would have been below decks… but for a moment we could see his ship and know he was nearby.
Back to the cabin to grab the binoculars and camera… then up to deck 15 to look for him again… at first no sighting… then, from behind a Norwegian Cruise ship following I see the destroyer… Its now either head on or tail on, falling behind… I watch for about 10 minutes until she is gone in the mists.

Back to the cabin, try to sign onto the ships internet, fail, then go downstairs where the internet staff reset my password… on to the internet… send Brian a message, then upstairs to write this…

All in all a great day.

Seattle, Off to Alaska, part 3

So, its early, way too early to be standing in line at the airport… The sun isn’t up yet.

United Airlines are at their very best… (clue, sarcasm to follow) We get in line with the other people who have checked in on line but need to check bags… the line is not that long… but it never moves, you can scan your boarding pass but there is no one to take your bag… people are freaking. The man ahead of us stomps over to anther united counter where they ignore him… people at getting close to bag check cut off time… the apparent supervisor walks by, ignores us (apparently a required United job skill…) After what seemed like forever, but in retrospect was probably only 7 or 8 minutes the apparent supervisor returns and a clerk shows up… bags are checked, the supervisor tells people there are more check in stations… she acts as if its our fault… We must rush! Have I told you I love to fly?

Bags checked it’s off to security where a woman is arguing with the “greeter”… Her bag is too large to carry on, she must check it… she claims that she doesn’t’ have enough time… that her bag isn’t any bigger than others (it was bigger) the line backs up… the greater calls for assistance from a gate agent (why can he find a gate agent when we couldn’t) a man walks by, not seeing said greater… greater calls him back, tells him he has violated security… the greater goes back to arguing with the woman…

The crisis transferred to the gate agent, the greater checks our ID… on to the bag scanners, take off your shoes, pile your bags, computer out… through the metal detector… wife forgot to take her bracelets off… Finally through security and off to our gate… at least there is a Peet’s nearby… the monitor in the gate area is inviting us to take a customer service survey… not always a good idea. One flight attendant is missing, we can’t board our flight yet…take down the “minutes to boarding sign”

On to the plane… at least the flight isn’t full…

United offers one service I haven’t seen on other airlines… One of the audio channels is the air traffic feed…. You can listen as they direct your plane along the taxi ways, and clear it for takeoff… I enjoy it.

The Taxi ride into downtown Seattle was a breeze… and cost less than expected, the hotel (The Inn at Harbor Steps) has our room ready. We take a minute to relax, now off for a walk.

This is fast becoming a vacation.

Off to Alaska part 2

So we fly in about 12 hours… maybe we should start to pack… its not that we haven’t thought about it… we just haven’t started… we have big piles of clothing on the bed, there are lists… but we are probably not checking them as closely as we should…

We will survive… even if Tina forgets her strapless bra again… there is history here… she has forgotten it before… the solution involved a search of malls in South Florida… not this time… please…

Tina and I are brain dead… This doesn’t change the fact that we have to get up in 8 or so hours to catch our flight… At least there isn’t anything I have to do tomorrow beyond getting to Seattle… T and I will probably find food (good food, it’s Seattle) check out the flower festival at Pike’s Market, then find dinner…

We are very food centric…

In the mean time I am dealing with a “condition…” I have vasticulitis … an inflammation of the vascular system resulting in hemrogining under the skin… I have spots on my ankles and legs, and some really scary spots… My feet hurt and my ankles itch and my doctors tell me I am too healthy for this… At least Kayaking is not hard on feet.

North to Alaska

Tina and I are off early Saturday for a quick vacation… kind of a catch and grab…

We are flying to Seattle, spending then night, then boarding a cruise ship for a Alaskan Cruise, Seattle-Ketchikan-Juneau-Skagway-a quick stop in Victoria to satisfy the Jones Act then back to Seattle…

The trip is a recession special… as a result of the bad economy, people aren’t traveling, so cruise ships are sailing with fewer guests… and the price drops… T and I have good jobs, at least for the foreseeable future, so we are not feeling the crisis like so many others, so we can take advantage of the bad economy.

We have been to all the ports before… This time we are expecting to travel a bit slower, taking time to look about. I am sure we will visit Pike’s market in Seattle… In Ketchikan we have a kayak trip lined up. This is a big deal for Tina… she is not miss adventure travel. She has only kayaked once before, in Jamaica… In Juneau we will do very little… probably take the tram up high for the view. Skagway I will take the train as far into the Yukon as I can… Tina will not.

The stop is Victoria is late, 6:00 pm to Midnight… so we will probably visit a tapas restaurant we found on a previous visit and walk about a bit…

Our son turns 21 on the 16th. We are trying to rendezvous so we can buy him a legal beer…

So we fly in about 36 hours so I guess I should think about packing.. or not.

Bad weekend or Chasing Tony (two completely separate concepts…)

AKA the good, the bad and the very, very ugly…

So, the daughter and I flew to Seattle early Saturday… Virgin America, flight 740… as expected, a great flight, a great airline… The co-pilot was proud of his new sunglasses… the cabin crew happy and joking… all was good. Clearly part of the good.

Brian, aka the son, picked us up at the airport in his jeep, large tire, long way up, grab a handle and jump into the seat…It’s a young man’s vehicle. Off to the north. On a whim we go off looking for Archie McPhee… (I have written about Archie McPhee before…) We find the store a few minutes before they open, they let us in… all is good, some postcards, a shopping bag (devil ducks) and a book, Steph gets some stuff. Hers comes in a Willowbee & Kent Travel Co bag, very Archee…
We check out and head north to reclaim the Saturn.

We find and recover the car… We follow Brian in the jeep to his apartment. It’s a navy bachelor pad, limited furniture but neatly folded clothing… Brian wants to show me his guns, but only finds the shotgun… says the rest must be at Johnson’s (a fellow sailor)

Off south to find lunch… Elliot’s on the waterfront… we in the Saturn, Bri on his motor cycle. Elliots is bit of a classic tourist waterside fish house but somewhat respected in town… Raw oysters, fried calamari for Steph, Salads and such for lunch. Then good byes and we head south, he north.

Brian hadn’t told me that the guns were missing… (he told me he must had left them at a friends…) He returned home to call the police and file a report...

Meanwhile, an hour south I note a clicking noise… a few miles further I need to check the engine… lots of oil, nothing loose I can find… still further the noise is significant… sounds like a broken spark plug. No signs of a leak, so continue on to Portland, the sound growing…

Portland, home of Apizza Scholls… Tony Bodain has featured the restaurant on his show… We arrived just after they opened at 5:00… on the first page of the list, I ordered a beer, Steph water… the wait staff were about as tight as they get… an hour later we are seated. They have two store fronts next door to each other, but only the adult beverages can transit the passage between the two, we had to go outdoors then in the next door.

From the press you might expect a hatty tatty restaurant, but it’s a neighborhood joint catering to families, many with babies or grandma in her walker… We had a Margarita pizza with anchovies… the greatest crust ever, nice red sauce, fresh basil and great anchovies…

Then off to Wallmart to buy a socket set to check the car further… nothing found…then a decision, drive north to return it to the garage which “fixed” it. We stopped at Powell’s bookstore, but I was too distracted to buy anything (this is a big statement… I never stop at Powell's and don't buy a book)

46 miles into Washington, 100 miles from our destination the engine blew… NASCAR dramatic hand grenade style, connecting rods our the side of the block… Clouds of oil smoke, running over parts dropped on the road... so at 10:00 at night, we are stuck on the side of the road in rural Washington.

About 50 minutes later a tow truck arrived… I love AAA… two locals had stopped to check on us along the way. The driver loaded the car… then drove us to a Portland Airport Hotel… we checked in… used the internet to buy airline tickets… arranged for the 6:00 shuttle, then laid down for 4 hours of sleep…

Up early, shower, downstairs for coffee and a muffin, Orange juice and bagels offered.. shuttle to the airport, checked a bag, through security then find the gate and wait. Portland has free wireless internet… coffee and email, a good morning (it can’t be great at 6:00).

United Airlines home… good flight, good crew, but they keep offering special services… special seats. I get tired of the up charges… The legacy airlines are just not keeping up. At least the Virgin America ear phones work on United, so I got to listen to the air traffic control on the way south…

Home by 10:00 am … check email and read the paper, but by 4:00 I am used up and take a nap… get up for dinner then back to sleep… I figure I slept about 13 hours…

Now Monday evening… I need to start packing for the next trip… The guns have been located, stolen by a “friend..” (or not)

Things are at least starting to look up.

Randy

It it’s the weekend it must be Seattle…

So, over each of the next three weekends I will visit Seattle at some point. At no time during this will I be in Seattle (or for that matter the state of Washington) during the week… This weekend I am flying north to retrieve our old Saturn that we loaned our son Brian… He is in the Navy, stationed on a destroyer, the Shoup, home ported in Everett just north of Seattle.

I drove the car up last September. Then I needed to be in Portland, so the extra three hours wasn’t much of a stretch… This time it’s fly in Saturday morning, buy Brian lunch, then drive south. According to Google it’s just over 13 hours of driving but we plan of taking a little longer. I like the drive, the isolation, and the chance to listen to music undisturbed. Of course, the Saturn only has a cassette deck… so my musical choices may be limited…

Steph, our daughter is accompanying me… We plan to stop at Powell’s in Portland (the world’s largest book store… I like books, I have too many, by late Saturday I am likely to have more…) We are thinking about stopping for pizza at Apizza Scholls… Tony Bordain has eaten there and christened it the best (at least in Portland…)

Then find a room somewhere in central Oregon. The next day we will head south. Lunch somewhere near Yreka or Weed… We should be home for dinner… It’s the first road trip of the summer… There may be two or three more… I hope so.

It will probably rain much of the time… It should be beautiful, I am hauling cameras, there may be photos. Stay tuned.

I am taking the fedora... it's special... there are stories behind the fedora...