Tag: Alaskan Cruise

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”.

Save

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

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?

Alaskan Cruise

A California Artist Goes Cruising

Remember I said it was probably time for a break? I made a paper cutting mistake while working on The Cabins of Wilsonia. I painted an entire painting of the Kaweah Post Office upside down.

I wasn’t kidding. You thought I was just bravely soldiering on, pushing through the obstacles, keeping my nose to the grindstone, and blogging away.

Nope. I was on a cruise ship.

Me on a cruise ship? Yep. With Trail Guy, my sisters and their husbands and my incredibly generous little mama.

gg-bridge

Weird. I don’t even own a microwave or dishwasher, and we live without electricity at the cabin, cooking on a wood stove. Suddenly, there we were, immersed in a life of luxury, excess, ease, servants, entertainment, and with more people than live in Three Rivers. Mountain people on the ocean. Cabin people in an entirely different sort of cabin.

ship

I have a ton of thoughts about it all and haven’t decided if they belong on this blog. Guess I’ll go on about it for awhile, and if my readership plummets (if I can remember how to check the numbers), then I’ll shut up.

Here’s the deal: everyone needs to see and do new things to keep from becoming boring, stuck, stale, and same-ole-same-ole. So, I will share a bit of our trip with you on Tuesdays.

cruiseship

That’s it – Tuesdays will be Cruisedays, for awhile, at least until I run out of photos, ideas or readers, that is.

Anyone want to say something about this subject?

Alaskan Cruise