Our fifth wheel and the truck

Sunday, October 3, 2010

ALASKA !!!!!!

I have been hanging out for this week. Norm and I have never been on a cruise before so we are really, really looking forward to it.

Thanks to Kelli and Don who have so kindly offered to have the rig and the truck in their driveway for the next week and to take us to the pier and pick us up again. Such wonderful people.

Saturday morning Kelli dropped us off at the pier and we got all our luggage and stuff on board. We went for a walk around and then had some lunch. I love the ‘Free Style’ dining which means you can eat in one of four restaurants on board whenever you feel like eating. After sorting out the bags we went up on deck to watch the ship leave Seattle.

We went to the gym first thing Sunday morning and used some of the equipment. Sunday was spent at sea so we had lots of time to have a good look around. We made the mistake of going to the art auction and walked out with a fabulous piece of art. It will have to be shipped home as it is way too big to go on one of the walls in the fiver!

Monday morning saw us dock in the Alaskan town of Ketchikan. Amazing town - much of it is built over the water. We saw some salmon making their run up the streams and went to a native village where there were so many totems. I will have to post some of the photos when we get back - I forgot to bring the gizmo to download the photos from the camera to the computer. Although we went up the coast a bit to see bears none made an appearance so we lucked out there. Very wet and cloudy day today so it wasn’t a really good day for sightseeing. But who cares - never let the rain spoil an otherwise wonderful day!

We got up early on Tuesday morning as the ship was heading up a fioord to the Tracy Arm Glacier. What an incredible sight. The ship was able to get quite close to the glacier. We were surrounded by small (?) icebergs. The hot coffee (with liquor added) was enough to warm the insides very well! We proceeded north to Juneau which is the capital of Alaska and would you believe the only ways of getting into Juneau are by ship or air - there is no road in/out of Juneau!!

We spent the morning with our guide, August, as we did a trip around the town and then went up to the Mendenhall Glacier. Once again I run out of superlatives. The scenery is absolutely amazing. You take some photos and put the camera down only to find yourself lifting it to take more! The colours in the leaves are just gorgeous!

If we haven’t put on any weight on our holiday before we will certainly do so during this cruise! The Norwegian Cruise Line has what they call ‘Freestyle Dining’. It just means that you can choose to eat where and when you feel like it. No set tables or times! And the food is lovely - so many choices! I have tried to be good and eat salads but have to admit that I have slipped once or twice or thrice and it is only day three!!!!

Wednesday we arrived in Skagway in the morning and Norm and I took a tour with our guide, Missy, around town then went into British Columbia and then into the Yukon! Just magical scenery with snow covered mountains and pristine lakes. I can’t wait till Norm and I drive Alaska in the summer of 2012. Oh sorry forgot to tell anyone that this is now part of the plan!!!!

As the ship was leaving Skagway, we were farewelled by the locals in the traditional manner given to the last cruise ship of the season. Quite a few of them came down to the wharf to wave us off and give us the final goodbye BY MOONING the ship. For those of you who are a bit naïve (if there are any of you??) they lined up on the wharf, dropped their pants and bared their butts at us! It was just so funny !! I have some really good photos but they will need to be censored before I can put them on the blog!

A nice quiet day on Thursday with a late stop in Prince Rupert, British Columbia (Canada). An absolute gem of a town. We went for a walk around the town and then stopped at a park above the ship where some of the locals put on a performance for us. The singing was lovely and you couldn't imagine a lovelier setting. As the sun set, the water was like glass with a cruise ship in the background, it was just glorious.

We left Prince Rupert about 9.30pm on Thursday for the final haul back to Vancouver where we will disembark on Saturday morning. It has been an amazing experience that I will never forget and will just have to wait till 2012 to spend more time exploring Alaska!

From Vancouver it was a bus trip back to Seattle to have Kelli and Don pick us up - wonderful people!

2 comments:

  1. Great pics and embellished stories probably adding up, LOL. We're counting on you guys to lead the Dreamcatchers to Alaska in 2012. Claudia & Wayne

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  2. You are not allowed to encourage him guys. He may get even worse! And as for Alaska, we have had the appetizer and are so looking forward to the main course! We will be there!

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