We Did It!

We did it... 7 weeks away, 9,541 miles traveled on the bike over interstates, back roads and sometimes no roads at all, lots of heat, a little rain, altitudes of 10,947 feet with a week in the middle to cruise Alaska. Some days ran together, and without these notes to remind us much would soon be forgotten, and what we recall would soon be exaggerated.

We started in Sarasota on July 2, and traveled to Ormond first and then to Savannah for family/friend visits and grandson hugs. Then it was toward Memphis for some Blues by way of Birmingham before continuing west through Arkansas and Oklahoma where we found the worst weather of the trip in the form of heavy rains all day and spent the evening watching reports of floating cars and flooded homes in Oklahoma City 30 miles ahead.

In the next 10 days we rode to and hiked a mile into the Grand Canyon, did the hike up river and back in Zion, rested in Vegas and rode toward the Sierra Nevadas and through Yosemite and the Cascade range and Mount Shasta in California. We went a couple hours out of the way to ride the Columbia River Gorge crossing the Bridge of the Gods and did some sightseeing in Seattle before the cruise.

The weather for the cruise was sunny and warm by local standards providing perfect views of whales and glaciers and huge chunks of floating ice along the way. We would recommend this cruise, but don't blame us if the weather is less than perfect!

After Alaska, it was back on the road, and more mountain views in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming where we visited Yellowstone and the Tetons before traveling through the Bear Tooth Highway, a road through the high tundra of Montana and Wyoming where we saw fields of wildflowers juxtaposed against a background of snow and ice.

We only spent a few hours in North Dakota, but much of that was slipping and sliding on roads of bare dirt and gravel as we made our way to Sturgis. Over 3 days we spent time in Deadwood, and Keystone, and rode to Mt Rushmore and through tight switchbacks of the Needles Highway in South Dakota. We saw corn fields from Minnesota to  Indiana from both interstates and back roads, and they looked the same from both perspectives. We listened to country music in Nashville til well past our normal bedtime, and rode through not too heavy rains the day we returned to Savannah to see the boys.

As we travel we are somewhat removed from the world, taking time to watch the weather but seem to stay a few days behind on real news. We were happy that we only learned later that, while in Yellowstone, we had shared the space not only with bears and bison but also with escaped convicts from Arizona. While we were gone life went on, Lindsay Lohan went from self imposed rehab to jail, was set free and back into rehab... nothing changes.

We stayed in a couple of rustic cabins, a suite in Vegas, modest quarters on the ship, and a bunch of rooms of varying quality and comfort along the way. Many days were packing and loading, riding and unloading again. Most days we were lucky and remained dry, some days were too hot, a few were too cool, but each day on the road offered something new to see. Some days offered more challenges than we would ask for, but we met each and made it safe and sound. Since our first trip, we have always said that ours is the best way to see the country, with views unobstructed, and a schedule of our choosing. A person can see more from the back of a motorcycle than could ever be seen from a car or RV or tour bus. And you can get a real sense of your surroundings, as when a Buffalo pauses 2 feet away as he crosses your path and you can only wait and hope that he moves gently away to allow you to pass through his domain. We didn't see the bear, but spoke to riders who did and saw pictures as proof.

We are talking about a New England ride next...They have bears there too!!!

The reports have become fewer as we approach home. We arrived in Florida Tuesday, stopping in Ormond for a couple of days before getting back to Sarasota. The past few days have taken us from Illinois where a rain shower slowed our progress on Thursday, forcing us to take shelter under an awning of a service station along with some kids hauling their belongings in a pickup truck and open trailer. After 1/2 hour we were on some back roads heading toward Evansville Indiana, following the directions I had printed at the hotel that morning. A stop at the local dealership, then off to find a room for the night. Another fairly uneventful day.

Back in more familiar territory, we made a short day of Friday as we stopped in Nashville as planned to spend a little time on 'music row'. Being early in the day, rooms were not yet ready at the downtown hotel, so we took time to walk the few blocks to Broadway for lunch and shopping. There is a 2 or 3 block stretch full of honky tonks where local and imported talent play continuously throughout the day and night. Debbie met up with more bikers doing laundry, (you know you are in Nashville when you find a guitar pick in the dryer).  We were a day early for the professional bull riding competitions so later we went out to check out the music. We have been here enough to know our favorite places, and ended up at Tootsie's, a fun but tiny place where bar stools are at a premium and most of the patrons stand shoulder to shoulder. We stayed long enough to claim a spot at the bar and drank from tall brown bottles til after midnight, quite a feat for folks our age. Aside from the singers we were entertained by the hardest working bar girl in the place who never slowed the entire night tossing bottles high in the air, and sending bottle caps flying in all directions.

Saturday took us through Chattanooga and along the Ocoee River where we passed hundreds of whitewater rafters and kayakers making their way over these rapids where the 1996 Olympic kayaking was held.We took time for lunch as we waited out the rain before setting out on the winding road that runs along the river where we had light rain all the way to North Carolina. A stop in Murphy to celebrate a birthday with Debbie's brother Tom and then on to Savannah to check on the grandsons. Since we have avoided most big Cities, Debbie wanted to bypass Atlanta as well, so we called on the GPS for directions. The bossy lady offering turn by turn directions helped us do that, but took us on a roads so rarely used they don't even show up on the atlas we carry. So once she got us to a point we could pinpoint on the map we stored the GPS and fended for ourselves. The last hour of the ride into Savannah was wet but safe and we surprised the grandsons by arriving a day early.

We are safe in Fl. Will update later

Still heading home

3 Days ( or is it 4 ) out of Sturgis and the motorcycle sightings have become more scarce, and people have resumed waving when we pass... this is a tradition that is abandoned near major motorcycle gatherings. We have somehow continued to avoid rain despite the daily predictions on the weather channel, USA Today, Internet and Al Roker. The ride the last few days offers little to report. Minnesota was flat and nothing but corn fields interspersed with olfactory evidence of nearby cattle ranches, however upon crossing the Mississippi into Wisconsin, the landscape immediately changed to tree covered hills. The one thing missing all day was any sign of civilized life except for the occasional truckstop. We met 2 other couples at the Dairy Queen in La Cross who had taken backroads that day. They assured us the corn fields look just the same from a 2 lane road as they did from the interstate. When we arrived at our intended resting place for the night, we found but one hotel, which fell far below standard so we continued on another hour and settled for a spot just slightly better.

Dinner was at C J's Italian restaurant, which is apparently the nicest place in town. I can say that because we rode around and found few alternatives to this which came highly recommended by the lady who checked us in. If that were not evidence enough soon after we arrived, the lone waitress began combining tables to accommodate a party of 15 soon to arrive. I immediately pegged these as the local insurance agency employees who were being treated to dinner by company reps... I can smell these gatherings as they begin to form, and in a small town like this can distinguish the agents from company folks by the shoes they wear. (company people have shiny shoes, locals carry a layer of dust)

Thinking back, I failed to mention an unusual happening several days ago while riding near Mt Rushmore. As we rounded a curve there was a family of large birds, I will call them pheasants because it sounds good, but I actually have no clue. In any case 3 of these feathered creatures were strolling casually across the road. As we slowed taking great care to assure their safety and ours, a tiny bird flew in from the left and made a perfect kamikaze attack on Debbie's helmet, leaving a few feathers as evidence of the incident. We think the little guy is ok but didn't stop to see for sure.

Today we made it into Illinois, and Thursday will be Indiana. The small town paper today reported on the front page that there is one liquor establishment for every 454.5 residents...not much to report? I predict that tomorrow there will again be little excitement, which when you are riding a bike, is not always bad. I did take time to visit the local dealership here to have them verify everything is in good condition for the rest of the ride.

The other news of note is that today, Wednesday is Jace's first day of kindergarten, time flies!

Heading Home

On Sunday we took time for more rides in Blackhills... to Keystone, another typical old west town on the way to Mt Rushmore. Then the Needles Highway which is a narrow road which winds through tall thin rock formations hence the name. This road is nothing but hairpin turns and one lane tunnels up and down the mountain, making it fun to ride, but less enjoyable for the passenger. At one point we were following an idiot who was riding with one hand, taking pictures and video with the other. Fortunately he went off in a different direction before I had a chance to share my thoughts on his riding style. We continued on through Hill City and back to Deadwood

Today we left this all behind and headed east on I 90, bypassing the Badlands in order to get to our home for this night in time to get laundry done. At a remote gas station somewhere between Sturgis and the end of the earth, we were treated to a short display of biker stupidity. The station was configured such that there was ONE dedicated entrance and ONE dedicated exit. As I finished gassing up, I heard a distant ranting and saw a biker trying to enter the exit...blocked by a rusty pickup truck. By the time I saw him he was off his bike, challenging the unsuspecting traveler to exit his vehicle for a showdown. The driver stayed safe inside his truck, while the screams went on for a couple of minutes before his wife or someone convinced him to ride away before someone hauled him away.

We are due for rain, and according to the local experts Tuesday should be the day. We have not looked at much news or weather in 6 weeks but it appears that the Midwest and south have been getting rain since we left home, so I suppose there is no reason to think it will change just to make our trip home more comfortable.

The next few days will take us through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, then back home by way of Savannah. To date we have traveled about 7,000 miles, and are still more than 2,000 miles from Sarasota based on our planned route. Another week of hotels and highways and this trip will be another memory. So although the most scenic rides are behind us we will have to remember to enjoy each of the next few days while they last.

Sturgis....

Part of our plan was to ride into North Dakota just to add that state to our list that we have ridden into. The map indicated that this was one secondary road that ran from Miles City where we spent the last night all the way into North Dakota... after about 130 miles we would turn south toward Sturgis.

Google maps indicated this should take 4 1/2 hours, it took us over 6 hours. Neither Google nor the maps warned us about 10 miles of dirt and gravel road in and near the town of Marmarth N. D. On one of these construction delays the route was so convoluted that a pilot vehicle was required to lead while we followed the trail of dust. I know we only passed through a small portion of North Dakota, but I see little reason why a person would voluntarily bring themselves and their families here to live. From the time we left Miles City in Montana until we reached some form of civilization near Sturgis we passed through only one town of any size, Bowman population 1,600. Otherwise it was cattle ranches and hay farms but no homes or other structures could be found with the exception of one bar, a snack stand and a few silos scattered over the 300 mile ride.

We have taken time to visit downtown Sturgis, ridden through the Black Hills and into Deadwood, the town where Wild Bill Hickok lived and died. In Sturgis, Debbie recognized and lady selling water on Main Street who we met a few years ago here and reminded me that her son lives in Clearwater. So when I asked if she had a son there, she refused to sell me water until I explained how I knew her.

The event does not officially start until Monday but the crowds are already substantial, making me believe we made a good choice to be here early and leave before it gets too crazy. Sunday we plan to ride to Mt Rushmore, Custer park, maybe back to Deadwood before we head closer to home on Monday.

Beartooth Pass 10,947 ft

Today, Thursday we took highway 212 aka the Beartooth Highway, which is listed as one of the most scenic drives in the U.S. and is one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower 48 states, ( closed during the winter months ).  The road itself is the highest elevation highway in Wyoming (10,947 feet) and Montana (10,350 feet).

We have spoken with folks who had come through and experienced rain and hail along with the cold temperatures that come with the elevations, and when I walked outside this morning, fog and clouds prevented me from seeing much more than the 1/8 of mile to the end of town. By the time we found breakfast the skies had cleared and I began to feel better about our chances for a good day.

So we layered up our clothes, T shirts, long sleeves, fleece and leather jackets and chaps, heavy gloves and masks in anticipation of 35 degree temperatures and headed east of town and began to climb toward the Summit at Beartooth at 10,947 feet, then back down to the town of Red Lodge at 5,500 feet. The ride began with a gradual climb and nice wide curves. A few miles in, we had a brief stop for some road construction, after which the slope increased and the switchbacks became more frequent and severe. A couple of stops when the overlooks looked safe for some great views and hopefully good pictures.  At our first stop we talked to a couple of Canadians who remembered us from dinner and breakfast, ( don't know what we were doing to be so memorable ) and we would see them again several more times on the ride up.

We ran into riders from all parts of the country, Canada, and France today, all headed to Sturgis, all doing the same ride through the mountains and all reciting the same weather reports. However mountains in the high tundra have a weather system all their own and do not listen to the weatherman, nor pay attention to surrounding conditions... so despite our fears, the weather was again perfect, as were the road conditions, with the exception of 200 yards which was unpaved and under repair. So again since we left Sarasota on July 2, we have had one real rain day back in Oklahoma.... we hope it continues another 10 days or so until we get home.

The rest of the day was straight flat roads, with little to write about, but in the interest of full disclosure, I will share our lunch experience today. After stopping at a peaceful looking roadside park to eat, we loaded up and I pulled out taking a short cut across a parking lot of deep gravel. It was then that I felt something inside my left pant leg rapidly making it's way up to and past my knee. I was not sure what critters are native to southern Montana, but in a millisecond everything from bees to lizards to snakes and Gila monsters ran through my head and I began to impede his upward movement with my left hand, while trying to control the bike with my right. My brain knew that neither of these efforts could possibly succeed, but my survival instincts had taken over and in a few more seconds I was rolling on the ground pulling a grasshopper from my pants. Later Debbie likened the experience to Ray Stevens' song 'Mississippi Squirrel Revival'. So now I must check, each time I mount the bike, to assure that no living being has infiltrated my clothing. No damage or personal injuries resulted, and even the hitchhiking insect was freed to live another day.

Tomorrow, we will arrive in Sturgis... maybe we will have lunch in the safety of a vendor tent...

3 days without internet... here is an update on our progress since Missoula

Sunday night we spent in Missoula Montana, leaving us about a 5 hour ride to the north entrance of Yellowstone, which lies almost at the boarder of Montana and Wyoming. At breakfast Monday I read of two fatal Grizzly attacks in the past week, one somewhere in Yellowstone, and one at a campground in Cooke City, where we will be staying after we leave the park on Wednesday.

As we rode along interstate 90, we passed through the Sapphire Mountains and had a view most of the morning of the Anaconda range to the South. About 50 miles prior to reaching the park we began to follow the Yellowstone River, and stopped for peanut butter along the banks. From an overlook we happened to see some whitewater rafters far below heading downstream.

The first point of interest after entering the park from the North is Mammoth Springs, which has a hotel, a couple of restaurants, several natural travertine terraces, and elk. Lots of elk, they roam freely, crossing streets and spending the day sunning on the lawns of this area which is set up much like an old small town. There are signs warning of the dangers of approaching the wildlife, but these are hard to avoid.

We rode about ½ way down to the middle of the park and checked in at Canyon Lodge and Cabins. Our accommodations consist of what they call a cabin, which appear to be little more than clusters plywood boxes on piers of concrete block, each cluster containing 4 ‘cabins’. We do have our own bathroom, 2 twin beds, and one wall that backs up to the cabin next door. We have stayed in other cabins, here and elsewhere, but so far, this one seems to be the most primitive of them all.

Despite the news of recent bear attacks, Debbie is still determined to come face to face with a grizzly or black bear, and on our first day we came within a few minutes of doing just that. We had ridden further south in the park looking for a place to eat, when at a gas stop another guy on a bike told us of a grizzly just 2 miles down the road and whipped out his digital camera as evidence. We followed his directions, but by the time we arrived the bear had apparently moved on.

The road in Yellowstone consists of two interconnected loops, one in the north and one in the south, and wildlife is everywhere. In just the first afternoon, we saw the elk at Mammoth, got pictures of bull elk, saw bighorn on distant cliffs and got up close and personal with bison (buffalo). I just read that we are not supposed to come within 100 yards of wolf or bear, and 30 yards of elk, coyote, deer, bighorn sheep and bison. The problem is that no one explains these rules to the animals and bison in particular tend to go where they want, when they want, often slowing or stopping traffic while they cross the roads or simply use them as their own personal walking trail. Twice on the way from dinner traffic was stopped for this reason. On the first encounter as we sat in traffic the animal walked slowly up the road towards us, choosing to cross over no more than 3 feet in front of us. We could only sit and wait for the cars ahead to move as he eyeballed us as he passed. A few minutes later, we came just as close as we had to squeeze past another traveling down the middle of our lane.

Once in our cabin for the night we found the walls are thin and our neighbors occupying the other 3 cabins in our pod, a family visiting from a place rice makes up a great portion of the diet, were unduly noisy… but it took but one heavy handed fist against the common wall and there was not another sound the rest of that night or the next.

Tuesday we headed south on highway 89 through Grand Teton National Park and into Jackson Wyoming for lunch. The area from the North entrance to Yellowstone down to Jackson may, to me, be as beautiful a place as you can find anywhere. Shortly after leaving the South Entrance we had views of the Teton Mountain Range for the entire hour ride to Jackson. We followed the road along the Snake River and shared the road with as many bikes as RVs… bikers tend to become more prolific as you get closer to Sturgis this time of year.

On the ride down we had crossed the Continental Divide, the divide that separates rivers that drain to the Pacific from those that drain to the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic. On our return we were looking for the sign in order to get a picture. As we climbed, we both saw the sign suddenly come into view, and I slowed quickly, pulled off the road onto the gravel turnout and applied the brakes again. As we came to a stop the bike lost traction in the loose gravel, I lost my footing and we were suddenly standing next to a bike laying on it’s left side. 5 seconds later we had lifted it back up and were checking for damage…. mine was a scrape on my nose from my glasses, hers a bruise on her left foot.

Wednesday was our last in the park and we spent it riding to The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Old Faithful, several water falls and geysers before heading out via the Northeast entrance toward Cook City where we will stay tonight. Lodging choices here were slim, and so months ago I had made reservations at the Super 8 Motel here. I now recall that we met a couple from Montana on the cruise and they were familiar with Cook City and assured Debbie that this was the best of only a handful of motels in town…it didn’t matter because when we arrived we were happy to have a room as everything was sold out. We walked 1/8 of a mile to the other end of town for dinner as recommended by the man at the front desk. Our hosts are 2 of only less than 100 folks who live here year around… about 200 live here in the summer months… there is no cell service in town, our room does have Internet, but we were unable to make long distance calls so Debbie had to use the owners phone to call and give an update on our safety.

Tomorrow we will ride the Bear Tooth Highway, the highest road elevation in Wyoming (10,947 ft) and Montana (10,350 ft)

Back on dry land... Saturday and Sunday July 31 & Aug 1

I woke up at 5 am because Captain Lars said that the sunrise would be worth it. He did not mention the fog we would pass through, leaving the spectical of the sun rising behind Mt Rainier to my imagination. Disemarkation from the ship went smoothly, we chose to carry our bags allowing us to be among the first to leave around 8:15. Today would be as much about taking care of business as riding and it began with a cab ride to the hotel where we found the bike just as we had left it.We began separating clothes into two piles there in the garage... one would travel with us while the second we would carry as we walked the 5 blocks to the Fedex store to ship them home.

Then we headed south a few miles to Renton, where I finally got an appointment for the oil change that never happened before we left on the cruise. They also cleaned all the road grime so at least we will look good for one day. So between the leaving the boat, sorting and mailing clothes and the bike service it was 1:00 pm before we really got going. Our route took us a little more South of Seattle avoiding the interstate for a couple of hours. I expect we would have had great views of Rainier had the fog lifted in time. The air was cool but dry until about 4:00 when light showers cooled us down even further as we approached the town of Ellensburg...home of the University of Central Washington Fighting Wildcats. When we found that this was the only town within an hour, we decided to cut the day short and find a laundrymat since we were out of clean clothes anyway. We had wings and burgers next door while the washer did it's thing. By the time we were done, the skies were clear, but we decided to call it a day.

We began seeing more bikes and at our first gas stop Debbie found some heading to Sturgis. Two weeks ago we crossed the Cascade Range in California and Saturday and Sunday we crossed again in the Northern Cascades as we rode through Washington. I had read of this ride in a book about Scenic Byways but could not imagine how riding on an interstate would be very appealing. But this feels less like a freeway as it rises gently along with the mountains, no switchbacks needed, then drops to follow various large lakes and rivers. This pattern was repeated numerous times during the day.

The license plates here read "Evergreen State" and it is a well deserved nickname as we could smell the Pine, Spruce, & Fur trees that covered the landscape. The winds were fairly calm today, but that is not always the case here based on the windmill farms we passed this morning.

On Sunday we entered and passed through a portion of Idaho, crossed Lake Cor D'Alene one of many boating destinations in the Northwest. The upper portion of Idaho is only about 70 miles wide but it took well over an hour to cross due to speed limits of 45 & 55 due to road repairs here. Because we stopped early on Saturday we are a coulpe of hours behind schedule but will reach our cabin in Yellowstone sometime Monday afternoon as planned. We will, I expect, be without internet for a couple of days while in the park, but will catch up on the other side.

Alaska ... a long post but the only one about the cruise

After 21 days of following our own schedule, stopping, eating, sleeping when and where we choose, things will certainly change for the next week as we join 2,500 others on board our ship. On Saturday morning I made a last minute change and arranged to leave the motorcycle parked in the hotel garage rather than the public garage near the port. This was more for convenience than safety, and we saved almost ½ over the cost of the original plan. We repacked, adding the clothes that Lynne mailed us from home, and stored leather, rain gear and other non essentials in the saddlebags for the week.
This was my first cruise…Debbie had cruised before but slept through much of her trip as a result of a Dramamine overdose, so we had little basis for comparison than our own expectations. We made these reservations in January and did some research on the ship… The Norwegian Pearl, checking out our cabin location relative to the nearest dining and entertainment. As we began the boarding process on Saturday, meandering slowly through the rope maze, hauling our gear wearing heavy leather jackets, we feared somehow that the E-Documents we had printed according to the instructions would be insufficient and we would be left to take photos as our ship sailed away. Early in the process we were told to attach the luggage tags that had been mailed to us…. it was then I noticed they indicated that we were to be on the Norwegian Star rather than the Pearl, as we had planned, and our anxiety levels increased further. So we continued slowly like so many immigrants passing through Ellis Island 100 years ago, had our passports closely studied, and were finally accepted aboard where lunch was waiting on deck while the cabins were readied. We chose this cruise line, in part because it was more casual than some others, with ‘freestyle dining’ and no formal nights, allowing us to utilize some of the clothes we have carried cross country on the bike, and we were relieved to find that the switch from the Pearl to Star did not change this… otherwise we would have quickly gone through the few nice things we had shipped out.
Sunday we were at sea all day, and spent the day finding our way about the ship, lost big at bingo and enjoyed some of the entertainment on board. As I sit in the library writing it is now Friday (Day 7) and looking back we have been lucky to have warmth (relative) and sunshine most of the cruise, which is unusual in this part of the world. Much of southeastern Alaska receives between 180 and 220 days of rain each year, and the typical sunrise was at 4:45 am and sunset around 9:45 so there was plenty of time to take in the views.
On Monday we made our first stop in Ketchikan Alaska, a town of about 8,000, a 5 minute bus ride from the port. It didn’t take too long to cover most of the shops in town including 1 of the 5 Harley shops in the state… Since we had enjoyed the Duck Tour in Seattle, we decided to do another here. The main learning point was that if a place only has 2 roads and access to the ocean, it may not become more interesting on a 90 minute tour regardless of the mode of transportation.
Tuesday was Juneau, which like Ketchikan is an island, with an interesting down town and a dealership that actually sells bikes… (The others we will see are just clothing shops) Juneau, we were told is the largest of all the state capitals, and is the only one accessible only by air and sea.

After leaving Juneau we headed south a bit into Tracey Fjord… apparently a Fjord is any glacier-carved inlet which is connected to and part of an ocean. The goal today was to view Sawyer Glacier. The passage was narrow and lined with snow capped mountains, glaciers and ice chunks along the 2 hour trip, and Captain Lars warned us that how close we get would depend largely on how much ice was blocking our passage. The Captain was always very non committal regarding what we would see in his daily speeches over the loudspeakers which he delivered using his best Tim Conway impersonation (Mr. Tudball character from the Carol Burnett Show), probably because the weather is usually so uncooperative… but we were never disappointed.
People were lined 4 and 5 deep along the upper deck during this portion of our trip and we were fortunate enough to claim a spot at the bow, right on the rail for the best views...we, like most others stood amazed at the views for 3 hours. We saw several whales along the way… I wouldn’t know one whale from another, but most people referred to these as Orcas so that is what I will call them too. Pictures of the glaciers, like much else we have experienced, do little to reflect what we actually see. As a testament to how fortunate we have been this week, the Captain would later tell us that in the 5 years he has made this trip, he has never before gotten nearly as close to Sawyer Glacier than what we did this week.

Wednesday we stopped in Skagway where we had made reservations for the White Pass / Klondike Railway trip. Again a clear day with no need for jackets (too bad we didn’t know this before we left the ship). The railway built in 1896 / 1897 during the gold rush took us up the mountain to about 3400 feet along the Klondike River and into Canada. In Canada we boarded a bus to take us back to Skagway.  At the border crossing back into Alaska, a customs agent boarded our bus just as Debbie snapped pictures of the border office.  She was curtly instructed by the agent to ‘delete those pictures’ as none are allowed at government installations. The agent apparently did not wish to deal with unnecessary paperwork as she ignored Debbie’s response and allowed us through.  On the way back to the ship the bus stopped at "Liarsville," a small town with a replica of a gold mining camp and taught us how to pan to gold.
Thursday we spent most of the day at sea, arriving in Prince Rupert British Columbia around 4 pm. We started the day in a dense fog, which lifted just before we arrived at port. The town was divided into two sections… (a) Downtown and (b) Cow Bay…. Downtown consisted of 17 Vietnamese restaurants, 1 thrift store, 1 Seven Eleven which apparently doubled as a Post Office, 1 Safeway food store and 1 ‘mall’ that included a drug store, 2 gift shops, 2 small discount stores and 1 sporting goods store.
The area of Cow Bay was located just a 5 minute walk from the ship and included 3 seafood restaurants, 1 gift shop and an art gallery… after walking the entire town it was clear why the ship spends no more time here than they do. The only real highlight of this stop were the eagles (the bird, not the band) several of which sat high in the treetops in a park just across the street from the dock. As we ate dinner outside overlooking the local marina, the temperature dropped 20 degrees within minutes, so we finished quickly and hurried back to the ship to beat the dark clouds rolling in. We would travel through the fog all night, and on a couple of occasions during the night we would hear the ship’s horn give off one or two long blasts, warning nearby vessels of our presence, and causing some concern among the passengers, including my wife.
Friday morning as I ate my breakfast while Debbie slept in, another 2 whales showed themselves not 100 yards from where I sat.
During the week there was plenty to keep anyone busy. Two main dining rooms plus 2 buffets, an outdoor grill, a steak house, Japanese, French, Italian, Mexican, restaurants and a couple of others offered all we could ask for in the way of food… some were better than others...but the service was great and you couldn't walk 50 feet without passing hand santitizing station. At the buffet there was even a crew member from Jamaca who sprayed everyone's hands as they entered, just in case someone might be less than diligent. Entertainment was split largely between a lounge at the rear of the ship and a theater all the way up front… when one show ended, we would hike all the way up front for the next. We would repeat this process several times during the day and evening, rarely finding our way to the cabin much before midnight. (I know that seems early to some but…) A couple more weeks on the ship and we might actually be able to find our way around without having to find a map or backtracking or following someone we hoped might be going where we wanted to go.
I mentioned we lost at Bingo, but we also played or watched several game shows, Not So Newly Wed Game (we watched), Trivia we won! (Says more about our fellow passengers than ourselves), entered a raffle for a free cruise (lost). We saw several shows including 2 Frankie Valley tributes (ask your parents), an amazing juggler (better than it sounds), a 70’s music and dance show called “Band On The Run”, an Improv group (ask your kids) SCTV aka Second City…. very funny, and listened to several bands on board throughout the week. At times it was warm enough to sit on deck in shorts but we rarely changed out of jeans. Most nights we sat alone but on Thursday the lounge was filled and a lady sitting alone invited us to share her table... it did not take long to figure why this woman, who was on the cruise with 300 others including her husband, was sitting alone .... after that we went back to sitting alone.
Would I do this again? I am not sure, it would certainly be a less enjoyable week without the weather we have had. Standing on deck in the rain hoping to spot any form of wildlife or cruising up Tracey Arm Fjord in search of a glacier we could not get to would make for a long week. Without clear skies we would have no idea of what the area has to offer… But like many who we talked to this week, it was on our list, and we did it, and saw and did more than we had hoped for.