Northern Lights in Alaska

The Northern Lights are alive and well in Alaska! 

For the last several months as I cruised above the Arctic Circle I kept my eyes on NOAA's 30 minute Aurora forecast. You can find the website here. I was in Iceland and Norway in June, July, and August of this year and the 24 hour and almost 24 hour sunny days stopped me from seeing them. A couple weeks ago in Greenland my inability to know how to take a picture of them stopped me from seeing them. But I still kept my eye on the forecast and things worked out in my favor this month.

Two nights ago as we were pulling into Whittier, Alaska they started to make an appearance. Then again last night there was a brief moment where they popped up again. Here's an important thing to know - your camera can see them much better than your eyes can. If I saw something looking a bit greenish I'd hold my camera up and by golly, there they were. 

Just like being able to experience Greenland by way of cruising Prince Christian Sound, visiting two coastal villages, and seeing it from above all in one week made my Greenland trip complete, being able to see Northern Lights on the last leg of my 4 month long journey has made my Super Sensational Solo Summer Adventure complete. And it's not even over yet!

I don't think I'll be complaining about my iPhone camera anymore. I can't choose a favorite photo so you get to see them all. 

Whittier, Alaska

Hello from Whittier, Alaska!

What a beautiful day. Since it's usually rainy when we're here I decided to spend my day exploring. And exploring I did! When I messaged my husband to tell him I had a great and interesting day he wanted to know why. So I wrapped it all up in one text.

He can see the pictures on his iPad and now you can see the pictures, too.

Our hotel is closed for the season

New ramp at the car rental/harbor store/liquor store

With walkers for those who need them

Orange and white building where everyone lives

View from the school's playground

Little shops and cafes at the end of the marina

Sat at a picnic table at the edge of the water at the end of the marina

Saw otters going into the fish cleaning stations and digging out the scraps. Then they played follow the leader afterwards. This one's a video!

Saw the train come in

Should I go on? I have to because I forgot to tell him a couple things. I scootered my way towards the tunnel...

and saw there is a new pier being built. It's a joint venture between Norwegian Cruise Line, Huna Totem Development Corporation (I think they are the ones who built Icy Strait Point which is nothing but a tourist trap made just for cruise ships), and the City of Whittier. This new pier is only phase one and is located at the end of the bay so I suspect the area around it will become another man-made fake cruise port.

I used up both batteries today (on mostly paved roads, even) so I know my adventure was a long one.

Almost home

Tomorrow we're in Yakutat Bay and will see Hubbard Glacier. Update:We have passengers traveling by train to the ship who have been very delayed because of a mudslide. They won’t be arriving to the ship until almost midnight (poor folks!) so we will be skipping Hubbard Glacier and Yakutat Bay tomorrow. You can read and see photos of some of my previous visits to Hubbard Glacier and Yakutat Bay here and here. 

Tomorrow I have some simply amazing photos I took last night that deserve their very own blog post. I have another chance to take more of these special photos again tonight so come back tomorrow for what is the icing on the cake when taking a trip up north. See you then!

Glacier Bay, Alaska

Hello from Glacier Bay!

John Hopkins Glacier

Some guests found today a little disappointing and I would agree. Usually the highlight of Glacier Bay day is our trip up to Margerie Glacier. That's where the ship hangs out for an hour so we get a good chance to see glaciers calving. But we didn't even get in sight of the glacier, with the reason having to do with seals on the ice. We only went as far as John Hopkins Glacier and spent our hour there and, while it's pretty, it's certainly not worth an hour visit. Gotta keep a schedule, though.

While the weather wasn't the best, I still was able to get some photos of our day. And yes, the water is that color from the glacial silt.

I've taken much better photos in some of our past visits. You can check them out here:

A Day in Glacier Bay National Park 

The Royal Princess in Glacier Bay 

Glacier Bay: Cruising Alaska on the Royal Princess 

At one point in listening to the naturalist today I realized I'm not the target demographic for cruisers to Alaska these days. It happened when he said something like, If we were Game of Thrones we'd be north of the wall. Uh, what? I had to text my millennial daughter to find out what he meant. If you didn't have a clue like me, here was her response:

So why not just say that for the rest of us? Or just say we're in a land with few people? Oh, well. I still enjoyed the day, tucked out of the wind on my balcony.

Tomorrow we're cruising College Fjord. I won't be back to post pictures because I have plenty of them already, but I will be back on Saturday for my turnaround day in Whittier, Alaska. See you then!

Skagway, Alaska

Hello from Skagway!

Today we were docked at the forward Railroad Dock, right alongside the slide area. Before our trip to Skagway last year the hillside gave way and tore up part of the dock. Some of the debris even hit one of the Princess cruise ships. They are still working on the situation and have two different plans for the ships docked along the hillside. For those ships docked aft (at the back of the dock) they are running shuttles back and forth for the passengers to get past the danger zone. For ships docked forward (like us today), they have to run their tenders (water shuttles) to get passengers to and from shore. No walking off the ship like the good old days.

See the steep blue ramp? Gotta take a tender over there and use that coming and going if you want to go to Skagway when you're docked in RRF (Railroad Forward).

So I stayed onboard today. I had several reasons:

The thought of the long, long tender lines

Knowing I will be here next week when we'll be docked in the prime spot, the Broadway Dock

A cool and breezy day making a rougher tender ride

And...I'm not as strong as I thought I was.

Here I was all bragging yesterday about being stronger, but two miles scootering on the wooden walkways didn't do my body good. As I found out in the middle of the night, a Charlie horse in my left calf combined with a sciatic nerve that all of a sudden decided to make an appearance on my right side made for a rough go of it. Dealing with both at the same time while sleeping on a twin bed? It was not pretty. There were a few moans and groans and maybe even some whimpering as I tried to find a less painful way to sleep. As I was mostly unsuccessful during the night time hours I decided to spend the daytime hours keeping a low profile in the cabin. 

I did make my way to Crown Grill for dinner and had a filet mignon, the first red meat I've had in months. As I made my way out, the Puppies in the Piazza was starting up. I watched and listened a bit. I'm still not sure about the whole the puppies need socialization thing. These guys were 15 weeks old and pretty hyper, with one tearing up a stuffed animal before greeting the first passengers. I watched the handlers give them handfuls of ice cubes to chew. It wasn't warm at all, so does it maybe calm them down?

On my way back to the cabin I heard Steve Hites' voice coming from the Explorers Lounge so I stopped in and listened to his show. He's a storyteller who adds song with his presentation about Alaska. It was interesting watching and listening to him (and the audience reaction) as I think storytelling now isn't appreciated as much as it was when we first saw him almost 20 years ago.

Tomorrow we're in Glacier Bay. It'll be an early morning and a long day. I wonder how I'll feel about it now that I've been to Norway and Prince Christian Sound in Greenland. See you then!

Before I go, here's today's quick video of Skagway taken from Deck 15.

If you're interested, I've written about Skagway several times before:

5 Things to do in Skagway 

Dogsledding in Skagway 
A trip to the Yukon Suspension Bridge 
Skagway: Cruising Alaska on the Royal Princess 
Skagway: Cruising Alaska on the Golden Princess 
The Royal Princess in Skagway 

Juneau, Alaska

Hello from Juneau!

Today was a day where I did have a definite plan. Of course, it started with the up and attem early morning sunrise picture. No injured bird scaring me today, thank goodness.

It continued with my early morning breakfast view.

Then a little nap back in the cabin. (Shh...don't tell anyone.) But before noon I was headed off the ship for my planned lunch. 

I remember very vividly being here in Juneau last summer. It was our first cruise after Covid, the first cruise using my scooter in many, many years, and was the first port where I left the ship. My anxiety level was high, not knowing how far my battery was going to last or if the old drive belt would break. I didn't know how long my body (mostly my bum) could last on the wooden walkways or even if I could manage being around crowds once again. I did sort of okay that day but not as well as I hoped. I got at the end of the pier and felt like I needed to get back to the ship. It was on that day in that place where I smelled BBQ and saw a whole bunch of crew members lined up at a Filipino BBQ cart. I told myself if I ever came back I was going to be bold, stay a little longer in port, and eat BBQ. 

Today was the day, and boy do I feel stronger (physically and mentally) than I did back then. I made my way all the way down the wooden walkways until the pier almost ends. The cement ramp on the right takes you to the Marine Park where you find a couple of different BBQ carts.

I picked the one with the Filipino crew members crowding around it. In my experience if it's full of crew members it's the place to go.

I sat there on the pier while the rain sprinkled down and munched on my pork on a stick and chicken on a stick. Can you say leftovers?

Unlike last year when I was done by the time I reached the end of the pier, today I had plenty of energy left. I studied totem poles, wondering what each level was meant to represent.

I checked out the flower pots and barrels. So many different colors and varieties. Some made it through the summer better than others.

And because I haven't been in forever, I made my way to Juneau Drug. The best reason to go to Juneau Drug? The 25 cent popcorn! Fresh and hot with plenty of salt. I still might not be able to taste much but I could taste the buttery salt. Oh. My. Goodness.

One of my favorite things I ever did in Juneau was when we walked the Nugget Falls Trail. You can read about my visit here. 

By the time I finished my rounds several other cruise ships had made their way into port. The Ruby Princess even left their dock, went out and anchored, and started running their tenders for passengers. Looks like Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas with their 5,000+ passengers needed the space more. 

Can't even fit the whole ship in the picture

With almost 25,000 cruise ship passengers expected to be in port by the time the day is done, I'm glad I had a plan, stuck to it, and got in and out while I could. 

Here's a quick video of Juneau as seen from the Grand Princess. Before the town got all cluttered up with other ships, that is.

Tomorrow we're in Skagway, Alaska. See you there!