Category: Going Places

More Tahoe

If you came here on Friday for Mineral King, I’m sorry. I temporarily ran out of things to show and tell on the subject. I hope you aren’t too disappointed to find Lake Tahoe . . . same mountain range. . . does that count?

We took a short hike, along with what felt like hundreds of strangers, many of whom spoke other languages. Obviously, Lake Tahoe is much more accessible than Mineral King. Ever had to say “excuse me” to pass someone on a trail in Mineral King? Maybe if it was narrow and someone was carrying a large pack. . .

No, we didn’t climb that. I think it is Mt. Tallac.

This is along the trail to Eagle Falls, and ultimately Eagle Lake. (There is one of those in Mineral King. There are probably lots of Eagle Lakes.) This one required a permit for a day hike! In spite of it being late October, there were still some wonderful places of colored leaves.

The falls were barely trickling under this bridge when we were there. This is probably quite spectacular in the spring. We chose not to go on toward the lake, because there was a giant one behind us. Besides, we hadn’t applied for a permit. A permit to day hike! Kind of irritating, if you ask me. (You didn’t, and I don’t blame you, considering my attitude toward such things.)

This is the view of Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe as seen from the Eagle Falls and Eagle Lake Trail.

Emerald? Looks more Cerulean to me! (That’s an art word for blue. It isn’t quite as fun to say as “indigo” which is a fancy word for “navy” or “alizarin” which is a fun word for red.)

Lake Tahoe

Fridays are for Tahoe?

Is it possible that I have run out of things to write about Mineral King? It is true that my interaction with the place is lessened once the cabin is closed for the season. I might have shown you all the best photos already. Recycling photos is a little boring. . . a cop-out method of writing blog posts, in my opinion. (Oh great – now I won’t ever be able to do a recycle or you will call me on it!)

So, for a little while, Fridays will be for Lake Tahoe. We’ll see how long I can stretch out the photos from a beautiful fall weekend. And of course, these are photos from which I may be able to paint some day, so it had to have been a business trip, right?

This is my favorite. I love that little edge of light on the side of the trunks.

I took this photo because it struck me as interesting that these colors are gorgeous in nature and gaudy on manmade objects.

Hey Laurie, did you notice these leaves on the ground in your yard? They are at the base of your back porch!

Lake Tahoe in Autumn

Final Tuesday Cruiseday

Yep, I think I’ve taken this as far as possible. There was one other port, a quick stop in Victoria, Canada, and then a few more days at sea. (Why don’t people say “at ocean”? It is more accurate.)

The ship employs people to do stuff like this to keep passengers entertained.

I am more entertained by sitting here with my Glay-see-uh colored knitting.

I’m also very entertained by walking in circles on the uppermost decks. It is 1/3 of a mile around the whole shebang.

We often passed by this movie screen where this marmot or groundhog kept shouting “Alan”. (I have no earthly or oceanly idea. . .)

Look at my cute little Mama! She was still overwhelmed by the size of our floating hotel/mall/restaurant! This was at the docks in Victoria.

That city is a knock-out – the architecture, the gardens, the sunshine – Wowsa!

See what I mean??

That green sail boat was offering a “3 hour tour”. No takers in our crowd. They need a new slogan. (We all grew up watching Gilligan’s Island.)

Hydrangeas at the Empress Hotel just captivated me.

Shop windows in the Empress captivated my sisters.

steve

This fireman statue captivated my bro-in-law, the chaplain to the Visalia Fire Dept.

Trail Guy and I had a few maps, and this was a piece of architecture I just HAD TO SEE. It was wonderful on the outside, but our time was short, so we opted out of the inside tour.

Totem poles, historic structures, fancy-pants architecture – Victoria has it all.

This wants to be painted. (On canvas! I wouldn’t paint the rocks!)

I really do go nuts over beautiful architecture. I don’t make it to cities very often, and am in awe when I do go.

Back on board, we circled the decks several dozen more times.

We entertained ourselves by watching Dave Letterman play miniature golf.

Golf is boring, but being with my family takes the edge off.

Around and around and around on the upper decks. Good thing that I love being outside and the color blue.

Finally, the cruise ended. We were instructed to put our luggage in the hall the night before. This is my trusty Samsonite, which has accompanied me to China twice. I can always find it in the sea of black rolies, always. It looks HUGE when stored in my workshop at home; next to other people’s suitcases, it is a cute little old thing. Doesn’t it make you smile? It does me! (Or are you smiling because I am finally going to be quiet about this cruise?)

Will Tuesday Cruisedays Ever End?

Yep. Next week. Promise!

After Juneau, we went to a place called the Tracy Arm Fjord. It is a narrow canyon of water with the Sawyer Glay-see-uh at the end. The ship cruises slowly up the canyon at some crazy early hour in the morning, and if you have any sense, you’ll disregard the fact that you were out exploring Juneau at 11 p.m. and get your arse out of bed at 5 the next morning to see this beautiful side trip. Further more, if you have any sense at that time in spite of being dangerously low on sleep, you’ll dress warmly for heading outside and upstairs into the icy wind.

The water was really this teal color. Really!

The icebergs really were this blue. Really!

Brrrrrr, where are we going?

Cool! Is that it? Can we get any closer?

Oh. Don’t want to be a sequel to that movie. Guess we won’t hear or see any of that famous “calving”.

That’s okay. I have a telephoto feature on this little camera.

This was Michael’s favorite part of the whole cruise. He spent the rest of the trip lamenting the fact that we didn’t get to be close to shore. The reason was that the casino couldn’t open unless we were miles out to sea. I finally told him to take it up with the captain.

That was a small craft which was able to get closer to the glay-see-uh because it could navigate safely through the icebergs. I think it could, because I didn’t hear any news stories about sinking ships in Alaska. Of course, I didn’t listen to any news. Why would I? Part of a cruise’s magic is to escape!

Cruisedays, Tuesdays

This is Chapter Six of Fun Things I Will Never Do Again (Unless Someone Else Pays) or “My Alaskan Cruise”.

Juneau might have been my favorite stop. This could be because we were there the longest of all the ports. After visiting the Mendenhall Glay-shee-uh, we went up Mt. Roberts.

Mt. Roberts has a tram, which costs $31 and zips you to the top of a mountain above Juneau. Not us – we are Trail Guy and Mrs. Trail Guy.

We meandered through the streets of Juneau, following a map I got back in the 1980s when I thought I might move to Alaska. (I was an idiot, but let’s not think about that too much.)

juneau

These folks in Juneau really take advantage of the long days of sunlight during the summer. We loved seeing the results of the gardening efforts.

steps

Steep streets, steps everywhere.

I was pleased and amazed to see this very place, same view, in the overpriced book that the cruise ship sold about the various ports of call on our journey.

falls

When we got out of the neighborhoods and closer to the trailhead, this was the view.

stream

This is probably just a stream. Looks bigger than the Kaweah River!

typo

Hmmm, that would get your attention in the winter. (There’s a typo in the sign. . . just sayin’.)

steep

It was steep, muddy, uphill and 2.5 miles to the top where the tram is. There are more trails at the top, but we were muddy and sweaty and done. However, we started pretty close to sea level, so this sort of hike wasn’t nearly as huffy-puffy as hiking in Mineral King.

view

Nice view of Juneau below!

really-nice-view

Really really nice views up there!

little-ship

Hey! There’s our ship!

I told you these cruises are all about the ship, right? We had a tiny sense that we were out there on our own during our long day in Juneau. I’d like to go back and stay a week or two.

Oh – about the tram? We spent $20 at the top of the tram, and showed our receipt, which worked as a ticket for a quick and thrilling descent back to the port.

Juneau

More Tuesday Cruiseday

Chapter Five of My Alaskan Cruise, or Cruising is a Fantasy Life, or Fun Things I Will Never Do Again (Unless Someone Else Pays)

Our third and final day with feet on Alaskan soil was spent in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. It is disconnected from the rest of the state unless you fly or use the ferry system (or arrive on a cruise ship. . . maybe you could canoe or kayak too).

This day will be divided into 2 parts, because although there were 3 parts to the day, the 3rd part was not photographed. It was a walk through the town at about 9:30 at night. It was light enough to take pictures, but the light was flat.

busride

Just your average view on your average day on your average bus, going to see an average glacier, by the name of Mendenhall, a non-average sort of name.

lupine

HEY! We have these in Mineral King and in Three Rivers!

trail

Trail Guy was pleased that there were trails. We walked about one easy mile to Nugget Falls. It was a walk, not a hike, because there was no food in our packs, just cameras and binoculars (and maybe some knitting.)

family

Who are these people? Just a bunch of Tulare County hon-yocks. That’s Nugget Falls to your right, and the Mendenhall Glacier to the left behind us. (or “Glay-shee-uh” as the ship’s naturalist said.)

blue-glacier

Check out those blues! Blue is God’s favorite color. It is mine too. Doesn’t make me holy or anything. Just means I have one tiny thing in common with God.

more-trail

Hey Trail Guy, it’s easier to hike on flat stuff at sea level, ain’t it?

waiting

The bus was delayed due to a Fourth Of July parade. No worries. Waiting is seldom a problem for me. See that yarn? The color is called “Hawaii”. Nope, I think it should be called “Glay-shee-uh”.

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Alaskan Cruise

Another Tuesday Cruiseday

This is Chapter Four. Thank you for returning. Today we will visit Icy Strait Point, a made up destination for cruise ships.

In 1999, the Tlingit folks in the town of Hoonah on Chichagof Island decided to turn an old cannery into a tourist destination. They spent the next 5 years planning, buying property, spiffing it up, learning about the cruising industry, courting cruise lines and turning a former factory into a terrific place to spend a day, with things to do and see, places to eat and shop, and all of it staffed by very genuinely friendly and helpful people.

cannery

They only allow one ship in port at a time. The ship uses its lifeboats to go ashore. We had only noticed these while walking underneath them on Deck 7, the Promenade Deck.

life-boats

cannery

We spent some time walking along the shore, looking at the water and then walking a trail. I was amazed to see the same flowers as we have in Mineral King – fireweed (above), columbine, cow parsnip were among the familiar wildflowers.

columbine cow-parsnip

Trail Guy and I had the unique privilege of meeting one of the people who had the vision for this wonderful destination, the son of a Norwegian captain and his Tlingit wife, a native of Hoonah.

johann

Johann spent some time explaining how it all came about, and he showed us the house where he grew up. He also showed us the retaining wall that looked as if it was made of layers of rock or old wood. Nope! Look at this: (hint – think cannery)

cans We walked the 1-1/2 mile into the town of Hoonah. The town is only participating in the tourist thing at a small level, but we enjoyed the rainy walk along a nice sidewalk that followed the water.

Look at the size of that ship!

big-ship

No, really, look at that! Can you see the tiny orange dealies on the side all in a row? Those are the life boats.

We didn’t mind the rain, and with that nice sidewalk, it wasn’t muddy. In spite of the exploring, the trip recount keeps being all about the ship. You have to be careful on these cruises to thoroughly enjoy your brief stops, because it really is all about the ship.

Next time, I think I will go by ferry, part of the Alaska Marine Highway. I bet the folks traveling that way look at our giant ship and sneer. They might be every so slightly envious, but they are probably seeing much more of Alaska than we did. (P.S. I just talked to someone familiar with the Alaska Marine Highway and that would be a SUPERB way to see Alaska!)

Alaska Alaskan Cruise

Another Tuesday Cruiseday

Cruising isn’t a very efficient way to see a place. Within the 10 days of the cruise, we had 4 days with our feet on land, and 3 of the 4 were in Alaska.

I loved Alaska when I spent 3 weeks there in 1977. I thought it was so fantastic that if I ever returned, I would never leave.

Seventeen-year-olds know precious little, but I digress.

Our first port was Ketchikan, Alaska.

ketchikan

ships-in-port

We rode the city bus 12 miles north of town to Totem Bight State Park. This is where the cruise lines want you to go, but they prefer if you hire a van or one of their buses. Haha, we spent $1 each on the city bus. (The blue line, if you are planning a visit).

“Bight” is pronounced “bite” and it is a bite out of the shoreline. (So why is it spelled funny?) I think the poles look so interesting and would sort of like to have one in my yard.

totem-pole-section

Tide pools were the added benefit of the park. Didn’t see much in them, but it was fun to be along the water.

totem-pole-top

Totem poles tell stories. They are not idols, but are diaries or journals. If I had one in my yard, it would contain pencils, a cabin, and a zillion cats. Oh, and yarn!!

Next to Totem Bight is another totem park called “Potlatch”. It is more extensive, has a store, a carving room, a workshop room where children visit and work on a group totem pole, little cabins, a canoe, benches, totem poles (of course!), no entry fee, flush toilets, and fewer visitors because they don’t seem to be part of the cruise line network. It was better than the state park in terms of more to see, and it felt more authentic.

After we got home, I learned this is a salmon berry. It might be because the seeds look like salmon eggs.

We should have come to this park first. It was so very interesting!

We were blessed with a brilliant and sunny day in Ketchikan. Rain is their normal weather.

Isn’t this the coolest canoe ever? Can you imagine carving this with primitive tools? They must have had carpal tunnel syndrome.

ketchikan alaska

Tuesdays are Cruisedays

trail-guy

What are you looking at, Trail Guy?

There is a tiny little puff of water out there. It is a whale, but you probably need binoculars to see it.

This deck was quaint. I had wanted to sit here to knit, but unfortunately, it was a smoking area. During the day time there were blue cushions on these chairs – very attractive. Sometimes we could circle the entire ship at this level, but if the water was rough, the forward of the ship was closed off. When we asked why, we were told that if someone went overboard, no one one see them!

Oh. There’s a whale. The big deal was seeing one clear the water, something called “breaching”. Another big deal, although more of a medium deal, was seeing the tail, called a “fluke”. It was a fluke if I saw one, because they were sort of far away.

Sunrise? Sunset? Can’t remember. Continually I forgot if I was fore or aft, starboard or port. The sides and the ends of the ship reflected each other, so I was constantly looking out the window to see which way “the water was moving”. Yes, I know, the ship was moving, not the water. So, you now understand why I can’t even tell the difference between sunset and sunrise?