Day 500: Old time Skagway

In August of 1896 gold was discovered near where the Klondike and Yukon rivers joined in northwestern Canada. Skagway became the major gateway for the Klondike Gold Rush and tents lined Broadway Street as the town grew by leaps and bounds. But by December of 1896 wooden buildings replaced the tents and then, less than two years later, Skagway had boardwalks on both sides, brick chimneys, railroad tracks, and utility poles. 80 saloons, three breweries, and many brothels occupied the town.

Many of those original buildings have been restored to exact standards including historical paint schemes and sign fonts. As I meandered town today (wanted to get to the quilt shop again) I took some pictures in black and white. I did take one in color of such a pretty car.

Just imagine what life was like just over 100 years ago…

Day 499: Glacier Bay Birds

I’ve got my sea legs back thanks to the patch. I’m wondering if it was seasickness or just a little stomach thing. Hubby didn’t have problems even without the patch – and he’s one that has to take Dramamine before even a short one hour flight.

So I’m back to myself and the ship is back to Glacier Bay National Park today. Today’s weather for it wasn’t nearly as nice as when we were here just a few days ago. And for some reason, this time the seagulls were flying all around the ship when we were viewing the Margerie Glacier. So instead of taking more pictures of just the glacier again, I went with the birds and did some little fancy edging to the pictures.

Gotta make it interesting somehow!

Day 498: Blah

I don’t know what it was, but it could have been:

Knowing we're at the halfway point of our cruise.
My excitement from the quilts yesterday.
Me seeing I had 25 e-mails from work.
Hubby still not feeling well.
The rougher-than-usual seas.

Whatever it was, I got seasick last night. We had those seasickness patches with us but weren’t using them. Until last night. It wasn’t pleasant, it wasn’t fun, and it has left my day today totally messed up. So messed up that I forgot about another glacier viewing tonight.

I like the one single picture better I took today better than another glacier anyway. It's hard to see, but I like how the low clouds/fog formed on the mountain. Hanging low, kind of like me today.

Day 497: Full Circle

Today I was driving a Toyota Prius, a car that has some pretty specific steps that need to be taken since it’s a hybrid vehicle. (Nerve-wracking to say the least.) I had to drive that car in a tunnel. A 2.5 mile, single lane, shared-with-the-railway tunnel. A tunnel where you take turns. One end opens for a while, then they close that end and the other end opens. Back and forth all day. Not my idea of fun, but to get from Whittier, Alaska to Anchorage you have to go through this scary tunnel. And I had to get to Anchorage today.

When I started this blog some 497 days ago I couldn’t ever imagine in my wildest dreams a day like this would happen. Back then I started doing charity quilts and pillows and stockings to keep my mind off my issues and focus on doing good for others.

Today it all came full circle. Last year on a fluke I had e-mailed the Alaska chapter of Operation Kid Comfort offering help. Since then they’ve been sending me pictures on fabric of kids and their parents who are servicemen and women. I’ve been putting those pictures into quilts for those kids. As it so happened I finished some more of those quilts on Day 487 as we were getting ready to leave. But I didn’t mail those quilts like usual.

I held onto those quilts. Those quilts traveled across Oregon and Washington, into Canada, and have accompanied me on this cruise.

Until today. For today those quilts and I drove through the scary tunnel to get to the military base in Anchorage.

And I hand delivered those quilts. Dad is deployed in Afghanistan and not returning until November, but three little kiddos pointed out pictures of themselves with their dad in their own individual quilts. Mom was in tears as she hugged me, thanking me for making the quilts for her kids.

There aren’t many times I’m at a loss for words, but I’m not sure what else there is to say.

Day 496: College Fjord

A “Pastry Extravaganza Buffet” is a good way to start the day. The ship had a block of time when folks could take pictures of the desserts (no eating), but that picture taking time is a bad thing when you have a sweet tooth. I snapped pictures of the desserts I thought were the most spectacular and just knew I would be back to have some desserts later. When I returned the line was huge, snaking back and forth. I stood in line for a few minutes and gave up, figuring it would be slower later. Not 30 minutes later the line was gone. Hooray! Except…

The desserts were gone. Everyone had their fill and there was no more. And my oh-so-ready-to-be-satisfied sweet tooth was disappointed. Thank goodness we’ll be seeing another buffet like this one for our next 7 days. In the meantime, I can dream of good things to come.

And a great way to end the day? Cruising College Fjord. About every space between the mountains is filled with an overflowing glacier, all named after colleges. Glacier after glacier after glacier. Too many to get into the same picture, but I captured some. Many, many more are not pictured.

Day 495: Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay National Park is over 3.3 million acres of forest, inlet and shore, mountain peaks, and glaciers. Wildlife is abundant, and I just barely found myself a grizzly (or is it a brown?) bear on shore.

But we’re here for the glaciers. Unlike glaciers in the lower 48, those in the park are retreating and advancing. One of Alaska’ most photographed features is the Margerie Glacier.

Why does the ice look so blue? When light hits highly compacted ice, long wavelength colors (reds) are absorbed and short wavelength colors like blues reflect back through the ice to our eyes. You might even catch some black. Makes for an interesting look.

The glaciers can move over five feet a day so seeing a glacier calving is common. It sounds like the crack of a bat when it’s about ready to fall. You have to be fast to snap a picture, but I did manage one.

We also viewed the Lamplugh Glacier. This one even had caves in it.

When you get a close up look at icebergs, they're pretty darn amazing. One might be a big chunk and the next one a group of pieces that have found their way to each other.

Even more amazing is that a cruise ship can pass through this:

Day 494: Skagway

The population of Skagway is 968. During the summer season it doubles, but back during the height of the gold rush the population of Skagway was as high as 30,000.

In comparison to Ketchikan’s 152 inches of rain a year, Skagway averages 27 inches.

The White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad – built during the Klondike Gold Rush – is an “International Civil Engineering Landmark” and shares honors with the Eiffel Tower, the Panama Canal, and the Statue of Liberty.

Since we’ve ridden the railroad more than once we skipped it this time around. We did lots of other things. I went swimming again, all alone in the deserted pool. We went into town to find the quilt shop.

When I walked in I realized I had been in there on my last trip. That didn’t stop me from buying some penguin fabric at 50% off.

We hunted down a Thai food place that was supposed to be delicious (and devoid of tourists). Several of the ship’s crew members were eating in there. While I snapped a picture our egg roll appetizers I neglected to take one of our sweet and sour chicken as we dug in before I even thought about it.

But the picture that did me in? It wasn’t the beautiful view on the way up to the Yukon Territory.

It wasn’t the bear that was so close to the window that I couldn’t get a picture of the whole thing.

It was this one right here. Oh God. Take a step. Oh God. Take a step. Oh God. Take a step. But boy, such a beautiful picture!

Why all the Oh God-ing? Well it would be because that picture came from standing in the middle of this bridge:

This afternoon was the time to overcome my fear of heights. I walked all the way to one side of the suspension bridge and all the way back across the same bridge. No one to hold my hand, no one to cheer me on. Just me and my fears. (Did you know suspension bridges move when people walk on them? Yikes.) But whew, check that one off my list!  

Day 493: Juneau

Juneau, the capital of Alaska, is only accessible by land or water. You can’t drive to get here! It’s the largest state capital by land area and the only one that borders a foreign country.

Today we originally planned on finding a quilt shop and riding the Mt. Roberts Tramway. But with today being a rainy, cold day we decided to not go ashore. (Knowing we’re coming back this way next week made the decision easier.)

Instead, yesterday’s pool again called my name, and the library has some very comfortable chairs.

Free room service and lots of newer movies on the television made for a nice afternoon since the view out the balcony wasn’t so warm looking.

Day 492: Ketchikan

Some facts about Ketchikan:

• It’s known as Alaska’s “First City” because it’s the first stop when cruising the Inside Passage.
• With 7,000 people it’s Alaska’s sixth largest city.
• It’s the “Salmon Capital of the World” with five different species of wild Pacific salmon found in the surrounding waters.
• Ketchikan is home to the largest collection of totem poles in the world.
• It receives over 152 inches of rain a year.

Having visited Ketchikan several times before, we didn’t feel the pressure of having to get up and off the boat immediately.  We had a beautiful early morning look out our door.

Everyone else left the ship right away, leaving the pools completely deserted. Lucky me, getting to have this gorgeous place to myself! 

We did venture into town for a Lumberjack show. I snapped several pictures but the best one was of the log roll. What looks like snow really is water splashing.

But the even better picture occurred while I was sitting there. Look to the sky, grab the camera and hope for a good shot. I think I got it.

Day 491: At Sea

Today was our first full day at sea. What does one do when you are on a cruise ship all day? As you can imagine, it had something to do with food.

It started with a beautiful morning on the balcony and some room service. I've never seen melons chopped so small!

Then we headed out to watch a fruit carving. What talent! But I kept thinking, I could use those in my juice.

Today was a special British pub lunch. Bangers and mash were on the menu but we opted for the fish and chips with mushed peas. It was all so delicious - even the peas. I cleaned my plate.

It was formal night for dinner. Since we ate in the main dining room it was a four course meal. My choices:

Appetizer - Crabmeat quiche.

 Soup - Chicken wonton.

Main entree - Seared halibut on a bed of swiss chard.

Dessert - Strawberry cheesecake.

I made sure I did not clean my plate. What a load of food!

We then stopped by as they were putting the finishing touches on the champagne waterfall. We passed on partaking.

I did partake in their Mai Tai drink special of the day when we attended the comedy show.

Then as I was loading all the pictures into the computer tonight, hubby spied a humpback whale right off our balcony.

A very full (and filling) day.