Indiana to Alaska and Back

We have been told that our presence in the Pacific northwest is causing strange weather patterns to exist in this beautiful section of the world. Mary Ann's friend, Robin Brown who lives near Seattle, said that Seattle doesn't normally experience this many nice days in a row. The Norwegian Cruise Line cruise director couldn't stop talking about the high 60's to low 80's temperature and the fact that there was no rain. The locals at each port of call marveled at the lovely weather that they were experiencing. All in all warm, sunny, no rain, no wind, no bugs and lots of food.

Each port of call had it's own particular beauty, charming settings, and things to do. In Ketchikan, we went out on a crab boat. For you Deadliest Catch fanatics, the F/V Aleutian Ballad was featured in season #2. The trip was informative and the American Eagles were unbelievable. The ship is associated with the local native American tribe and sailed in tribal territory, so they were able to attract approximately 30 eagles to the boat by throwing fish overboard. Their demonstrations and stories were excellent.

Our next port of call was the capital city of Juneau. The city is nestled along the shoreline of a very nice and small piece of land with the mountains requiring a boat or plane to access the city - there is approximately 45 miles of road with a bridge to connect both sides of the waterway. We were picked up at the midship hatch of the Norwegian Jewel and went on a 5 1/2 - 6 hour cruise up the Tracy Arm fjord and reached the Sawyer and South Sawyer glaciers before the Norwegian Jewel cruised up to join us. The glaciers were really something to see. We probably got within a couple hundred yards of "calving" glaciers (that's when pieces of the glacier break off). The landscape on the entire tour was amazingly beautiful.

We then went to Skagway. Skagway was the "jumping off point" for tens of thousands of gold hungry miners in 1897-99. It's position on the water was perfect for reaching the gold fields some 500+ miles away in the Yukon Territory. Life was rough and the trail was rougher. Miners were "required" to haul 1 ton of goods up one of two trails before they were allowed into Canada. The trip was + or - 50 miles. MULTIPLE trips back and forth were required to haul the 2,000 pounds of goods. We took a bus ride up to Fraser, BC (population 12 - all Canadian customs workers) and took the White Pass Railway back to Skagway. It was a sweet trip. We toured one of Skagway's more profitable businesses when we toured the Red Onion Saloon. Whiskey prices were inflated and the miners were charged $5 for female companionship upstairs (for 15 minutes). The ladies got $1.25 of the $5.00.

Our last port of call was at Victoria, B.C. We enjoyed our boat ride out into the bay where we saw one large Orca whale. Again the weather was gorgeous and the scenery never stopped amazing us.

On board the ship, the entertainment was excellent. The ship's musical group consisted of 5 - 6 gals and the same number of guys. They were good. I mean good. The magician was a true entertainer. His humor was as good as this mind-boggling tricks. A married Russian couple displayed truly amazing acts of balancing, strength, and flying ability while suspended on ropes or drapes. The bands, singers, etc. around the ship were also good.

The food on board was excellent if you picked the right stuff. However, I am known to make better clam chowder and beef stroganoff.

Seattle:

Pike Place Market - the Market is so big they offer tours

Chewing gum wall at the Market

Space Needle - Built in 1962 for the Seattle World's Fair

Puget Sound taken from the Space Needle

Norwegian Cruise Ship departure out of Seattle:

Stars of the show on our cruise ship balcony - All Aboard for Alaska

Skyline of Seattle as we depart on the cruise ship

First meal on board with our good friends Joyce & Danny who joined us for the cruise

Ketchikan:

Our first Port of Call - Ketchikan, AK

American Eagles everywhere

Notice the eagle nest - a record nest size is 2 tons that was supported by a steel tower

Eagles flying everywhere

Brown king crab on the Aleutian Ballad - excursion out of Ketchikan

Captain Derrick Ray - one of the Season 2 stars of "Deadliest Catch"

Aleutian Ballad from Season 2 - with Terry & Travis

Ketchikan's small inlet was a major runway for the sea planes

Celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary on June 10th on board the cruise ship

Juneau:

Waterway between Juneau and Tracy Arm Fjord on our excursion out of Juneau

Waterfall up close

Beautiful waterfall

Many icebergs "calved" from glaciers - did we think about the Titanic???

The blue icebergs have recently "calved" from the glacier

Hundreds of harbor seals (moms and pups) "basking in the sun on an iceberg" very near the glaciers

South Sawyer Glacier

Now that is blue - find this section in the picture above

The crew plucked this from the fjord - it is crystal clear

Sawyer Glacier - "sister" to South Sawyer Glacier

Our cruise ship followed us part way into the fjord where we docked to board the ship

Skagway:

White Pass Railway trestle north of Skagway

Engine of train on a curve - terrain choices are straight up or straight down

Friends together at salmon bake, show and gold panning at Liarsville, AK

Home at last - LOL

Steve 3, Mary Ann 5 - flecks of gold that is!

Red Onion Saloon - famous brothel in downtown Skagway

Leaving Skagway on the cruise ship - beautiful landscape, as usual

Singers/Dancers on the ship - they were good - very talented!!

Some of the crew at the farewell show

Victoria, British Columbia

Lighthouse on island near whale siting

Male Orca whale - the only one we saw - it is said to be a 38 year old transient whale (not a member of a pod). Baby whales typically stay with their mother's pod for life.

Orca whale known as T113

Mercy sakes! A wonderful surprise around every curve and over every hill. I HIGHLY encourage each and every one of you to take the time to travel in this beautiful country of ours. The diversity of the landscape is awe inspiring. The wildlife is amazing.

We were shocked to see a herd of male big horn sheep as we crested the hill on our way from Yellowstone to the Idaho border. There had to be at least 10 if not 14 young males (no fully wrapped horns in this bunch). They hopped over the guardrail like it didn't exist.

The drive along the Columbia River was excellent. A lot of sights to see along the way. We got a glimpse of Mt. Hood as we neared Portland, OR. We stayed at a campground that was renovated from a trailer park. Total REN had to be around $28.00. LOL

We "saw" Mount St. Helens in 1988 (eight years after it's eruption). All we could see was anything within 150 feet of our hood ornament. Boy, was it foggy and cloudy that day. We saw thousands of pine trees that were sheared off at the base by the power of the eruption's blast. This time we saw the mountain (well, 90% of it). The forest has grown back amazingly well. The landscape has trees that are 10'-30' tall. An amazing recovery. Some of the areas seemed to be rendered incapable of growing trees again. Probably changes in the pH and subterranean soil now on the surface. This is my scientific analysis.

We drove right by Mt. Rainier on the way to Seattle. We saw unimpressive glimpses of the mountain due to low clouds. Once we settled at the campground in Bothell, WA we started our sightseeing of the area. The second day here we decided to drive to Mt. Rainer. The weather was gorgeous and the mountain was strutting it's stuff. With excellent competition, this national park may be the most beautiful we've seen. We really loved it. It took all day for us to see it all. Some of the roads will be closed until July due to the deep snow. The one visitor center area had 52' of snow this winter (which goes up to just a few weeks ago when the got a huge storm).

We are getting excited about our cruise. A great bit of news just last week. Our good friends from Brookston and the Thorntown campground have arranged to join us on the cruise. What fun!

Big Horn Sheep on road outside of W. Yellowstone, MT