Juneau

No roads in, no roads out, so you arrive here by water or air. And this the capital. Pretty interesting, but not surprising for a state with lesss than 400,000 inhabitants. In area, it could contain California, Texas and Montana, but no one lives here. Harsh, the interior, akin to Australia where all the living takes place along the coast. We docked this morning and boarded our bus for Auke Bay where we started our whale watch. We were lucky and saw several humpbacks and a few babies, one of which was kind enough to breach. Very, very cool. I was struck by the affinity that humans have for whales. We were all so thrilled whenever we saw them. It must be that they are so very huge but so peaceful and just want to go about their business - as should we all. After the whales, we moved on to the Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forrest. It was wonderful but a little worrisome since 100 years ago you would have been able to touch the glacier from the Visitor's Center and it's now quite a walk and a lake's distance away. It's quite thrilling to see the hunks of ice floating in the lake, espeically when you see those impossibly blue pieces of ice comprising the recent glacial calves. Taking leave of common sense, I started to scramble up a rock hill near the glacier(climbing wall, anyone?) after seeing Larry buzz up without issue. Once committed (couldn't go down), I realized I was stuck. Darned swinging camera! Larry came back for me, took the camera and offered a hand up, the dear man. A friendly enough man looked us over and said, "Well! I live here and I've never seen anyone come up that way!" Indeed. There were several nice walkways and a good hike to an impressive roaring waterfall, but we didn't have enough time on our stop for that one. Back to the ship, lunch, shopping in town, and our evening activities rounded out the day.

Down to the Sea in Ships

After a lovely coffee and scone from Starbucks, we roused ourselves to pack and to catch our little Vancouver tour bus for a jaunt through Stanley Park (Correction: it's BIGGER than Central Park) and several downtown points of interest. Finally, we and countless others lined up Friday afternoon for the 2 hour process of getting aboard the Radiance of the Seas, bound for Alaska's inside passage. Once aboard, we lost no time settling in to our well-appointed stateroom containing all the comforts of home. The best is the sliding glass door with an unobstructed view that opens onto our private balcony complete with deck chairs and small table. Too cold to lounge but really fun to see the ocean, islands, snow-capped mountains and occasional and really cool marine life. I am SO hoping to see whales. Larry and Jackie showed us all around the ship, we had lunch and dinner (but of course) and headed to the theater for live entertainment featuring 2 fine young singers. We sailed through the night and all day Saturday when we continued exploring the ship, playing cards, and feeding the slot machine. Jackie won. There was a really great live show after the formal dinner - okay we stopped short of tuxedos and ball gowns but we did look nice - after which we needed to gamble some more. Up early Sunday morning to see the ship dock at Ketchikan and to be on the dock a bit after 7 A.M. to begin a short bus ride to our little harbor boat. We saw totems, lighthouses and many bald eagles and the eagles' nests. The birds are majestic and wonderful. Did I mention that when the wind whipped, it was damn cold on that boat? I had to break out my Yellowstone in Winter hat and neck tube and still had to seek refuge inside the boat a few times. It has yet to hit 60 degrees, but maybe tomorrow. It was more temperate when we returned to Ketchikan (with a population of 8 thousand it's the third largest city in Alaska) for a little walking tour. We avoided the cruise line-owned tourist shops and hiked to a fast-flowing river, a city park and a fish hatchery. Back on the ship through metal detectors and wands with the resultant human bottleneck. Heavy sigh. Back on board, for too much lunch and the obligatory mile stint around the walking track to make room for dinner. What?? I've taken to eating a lot of vegetarian Indian food in hopes of continuing to be able to zip my pants. We saw "the Diamonds" after dinner this evening. Remember "Silhouettes on the Shade"? I LOVED that song in 8th grade. Those guys still have it going on with wonderful tight harmonies, on pitch, and on the beat. And so to bed for a good night's sleep.

HEY! From Vancouver

Wednesday was a long one. Left home at 5:30 P.M. and got to the hotel at 5:30 P.M. in our rental car. It was a challenge to get from the airport to the hotel, but we made it with only a minor glitch or two. Our hotel, The Sylvia, is in a truly lovely area that is not overly crowded with cars and which butts up to the beach and the wonderful Stanley Park. We quickly changed clothes and took a hike along the sea wall before we walked up a busy street to find dinner. We saw a likely spot with outdoor seating and noticed a fish and chips special for $10 with fresh halibut. Sold! We were seated outside with Ron awaiting a cup of coffee when we looked over the menu and realized this was NOT the place for us. I was contemplating what I would find the least offensive and this for dinners that ran around #30 each. Ron and I discussed it and when the waiter returned, we told him coffee was it and there would be no dinner. He was remarkably kind so we finished our coffee, gave him a nice tip and got the hell out of there! Went up the street to Knight and Days where I had a lovely chicken wrap and Ron something to his liking and the whole thing was $20. There you go. Once back at the hotel, we realized we would not oulast the sun and so settled into our beds for the night. Awoke this morning to the sun already up, just past 5 A.M. with a soft light on the bay. I opened wide the window and leaned out a bit for a photo. My dearest Ron went to Starbucks for coffee and scones and we lounged around, taking stock of the day. We left around 7 A.M. for Lynn Regional Park where we walked several miles, crossing a suspension bridge and following 2 or three trails to see waterfalls, a 30 foot pond, another bridge over a ravine and very beautiful scenes throughout. We met a few hardy souls but were finishing up several hours later as the tour and school buses started to arrive. Congratulating ourselves on our cleverness, we headed back to town, retracing our steps and going again to Stanley Park. It's akin to Central Park in NYC, just scaled down in the number of people and buildings that you see. We walked around Hidden Lagoon in its entirety which took about an hour and saw several nesting swans, a racoon, and countless ducks and other birds. Very wonderful. More from the ship. Jackie and Larry arrive tonight and we take off on a bus tour of the city in the morning.