December 2, 2016
I have not been back to my hometown of Omaha at Christmas for many years. I cannot remember the last time I actually had a “White Christmas”.
So, I have decided that my next trip will be to Omaha for a 2016 Christmas and I hope there will be snow, just for Old Time’s Sake.
I will travel to Omaha on December 23.
Stay tuned.
September 12, 2016
I am now back at Home Base, Austin, Texas. I had a great time and I hope you enjoyed reading about it.
After decompressing for a while, I will start planning my next trip.
Don’t be surprised if it is another cruise. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Stay Tuned.
September 11, 2016
We arrived back in Seattle at 6:00 AM. I was off the ship by 9:00 AM. My return flight to Austin wasn’t until 11:00 PM tonight.
There is no way I was going to spend 14 hours sitting around the airport so I decided to rent a car and spend the day sightseeing in Seattle.
Back in 1963, when I was in high school, I saw a movie starring Elvis Presley. The movie was called It Happened at the World’s Fair. It took place at the Space Needle in Seattle. I have always wanted to go to Seattle and see the Space Needle, so that is what I did.
I already told you about this:
View from the top of the needle:
I ate lunch in the restaurant at the top of the needle. The restaurant rotates very slowly, so the people stay the same, but the view changes.
There was a science fiction museum next to the Space Needle. I went in and got to sit in the Captain’s chair of the USS Enterprise.
The same museum also has some exhibits on various horror movies.
Now I am heading back to the airport. Next stop Austin, Texas and home.
September 10, 2016
We are spending most of today “At Sea”. I already showed some of the things there are to do on board the ship, so I won’t repeat.
We will arrive in Victoria, British Columbia about 7 o’clock this evening. We will only be here about 4 hours. This is the only stop we will make that is not in the United States. British Columbia is in Canada, for those who were absent that day in geography class.
Canada has very strict laws against gambling, so they are going to close the Casino at 1 pm this afternoon when we get into Canadian waters. Bummer.
After that, we sail back to the good old United States of America, arriving in Seattle about 10 o’clock on Sunday morning. Then it is back to Austin for me and planning my next trip.
Here are some pics of Victoria:
I have been to a lot of places around the world, but this is the first time I have been to Canada:
On the walk into town, I ran into this guy looking for a free meal:
In the harbor at Victoria, there were lots of houseboats like this one:
My ship is in the middle of these 3 ships. The Captain had to back into the parking spot – a little more difficult than your typical parallel parking:
Tomorrow, the cruise is over and we are back in Seattle.
September 9, 2016
Today is the day we turn around and head South to Seattle. We won’t be making any stops today, just “At Sea”, like it says on the schedule.
We just have to stay on the ship all day long with nothing to do ……Except …..
Hang out in the Casino
Try 7 kinds of gelato
Buy some jewelry for Someone Special
Take a walk on deck
Admire the view
Have some pizza and ice cream
Buy some souvenirs
Try one of the 3 buffets
Read a good book
Listen to some classical music – yes I have class
Do some more eating
Sit and watch Alaska go by
Did I mention all the food is free?
Except this stuff is not free
September 8, 2016
At the harbor in Skagway, the mountains are covered with a sort of graffiti. Apparently it is a tradition when a ship docks in Skagway for the first time, the ship’s crew is allowed to document that event by painting a sign on the side of the mountain with the ship’s name, date of arrival and the Captain’s name.
I was surprised to hear that because everywhere I went in Alaska they were obsessive about preserving the environment. They are very strict about littering, especially around the rivers and streams, but, I guess a tradition is a tradition. These signs went on for miles. Here is a sample:
We were only going to be in Skagway for about six hours, so I had to decide what to do. I narrowed the choices down to these two:
1. A four hour train ride on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. This train starts at sea level and then climbs at a very steep grade. In about 20 miles it rises around 3,000 feet. The tracks are right on the edge of the path and you get some very impressive views of the valleys and rivers and waterfalls and tunnels and bridges and trestles along the way.
2. The Ghosts and Good-time Girls Walking Tour. A sumptuously dressed madam will greet you with a garter and walk you through Skagway’s streets and alleys telling stories of luscious “good-time” girls such as Klondike Kate, Pea Hull Annie and Diamond Lil. These girls followed the men who came to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890s. The tour ends with a champagne toast at the world famous Red Onion Saloon and Brothel Museum. There you will explore the halls and bedrooms of this celebrated brothel, observing relics and images of the girls who worked upstairs.
Care to guess which tour I took?
No cheating. Scroll down
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You are wrong! I took the train ride. Everyone knows I don’t drink champagne.
Here are some pics:
Lot’s of people like to hike up this mountain and camp out. The railroad set up this old caboose about halfway up the mountain for hikers who want to spend the night:
September 7, 2016
JUNEAU, ALASKA
When It’s Springtime in Alaska
by Johnny Horton
When I pulled into Juneau, the city was a boom
so I took a little stroll to the Red Dog Saloon
As I walked through the door the music was clear
the purdiest voice I had heard in two years
The song she was singing made a man’s blood run cold
when it’s springtime in Alaska, it’s forty below
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It’s not really that bad, but, the further north we go, the colder it does get. When I signed up for this cruise, I was advised to bring a jacket and some warm clothes. It was 102 degrees in Austin when I was packing and I almost didn’t pack a jacket and a sweater. Boy, I am glad I did.
Also, the further north we get, the more spectacular the scenery. At noon today, we arrived at the capitol city of Alaska, Juneau. Here are some of the sights from the deck of the ship. Notice the pieces of ice floating in the water. Yes sir. That is pretty cold water.
THE MENDENHALL GLACIER
In the Tongass National Forest is the Mendenhall Glacier. It is Alaska’s most accessible glacier. Glaciers are formed by falling snow which turns to ice and accumulates seasonally. Slowly and steadily, gravity pulls the ice down valleys like the valley in this National Forest. It grinds everything in its path to powder as it moves.
On the way to the glacier, we pass through a spectacular garden. A unique feature of the garden is called the “Upside Down” Trees. How these trees came about is a story too long for here, but what they have done is uprooted hundreds of trees and planted them upside down with the roots sticking into the air. They then make flower baskets out of the root system. Here is what they look like:
Now for the glacier:
Most scientists believe the earth is warming up due to human’s polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Some people think it is a hoax and just naturally occurring heating and cooling of the planet that has been going on for millions of years. I tend to side with the scientists, but you can judge for yourself.
Here are pictures of the Mendenhall Glacier from 1958 to 2010. If you look at the right side of the pictures of 2003 and 2010 you can see a waterfall. That waterfall was completely covered by the glacier in the first two pictures.
If you are interested in learning more about this glacier, here is a website:
The next tour I took in Juneau was to the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. If you like to eat salmon, and you should because it is very healthy, chances are the ones you buy in the supermarket come from a salmon farm or a hatchery like this one.
This place hatches millions of salmon every year and releases them into the ocean. Most of them get eaten by predators, like bears, but some of them eventually make it to your dinner table.
Here are a couple of pictures:
September 6, 2016
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
The ship arrived in Ketchikan this morning at 6:30, right on schedule. This is what the city looked like from the top of the ship:
Right off the ship, there was a moose:
See my balcony?
I had scheduled a boat ride out into the ocean to see some Eskimo totem poles and American Bald Eagles in their natural environment. It was a little disappointing. We did get to see both of those things, but we had to use binoculars to really get a good look. I took some pictures, but they are unimpressive, to say the least.
This was the Captain of our boat. He was dressed like Captain Obvious of the TV commercials and he had lots of jokes. About 45% of them were actually funny.
Here is the best picture I have of an eagle. It was much more impressive looking through binoculars:
Here are some totem poles. Again, they were more impressive through binoculars. However, the stories Captain Obvious told about each of them were very interesting:
Me on the deck of the boat:
Captain Obvious (His real name is Rob Holston):
He played some whale songs on his trombone, but they weren’t interested, so we didn’t get to see any whales:
He asked if anyone wanted to pilot the boat, so I volunteered. I even got to wear a Captain’s hat:
I had to look out for whales:
BACK ON THE RUBY PRINCESS:
Relaxing at the pool while reading Dr. Anna’s book:
September 5, 2016
Woke up this morning and it was raining hard. I could not even see the ocean from my balcony. The Steward said it would clear up and the sun would be shining in a couple of hours, but it doesn’t really matter. There are plenty of things to do inside the ship (Did I mention they have a Casino?). They also have two buffets that are open all day long.
They also have a Fitness Center where I am heading right now to get a good workout, then to the buffet to cancel the workout.
We will be at sea all day today. We arrive at our first stop tomorrow morning at 6:30 am. That is Ketchikan, Alaska. I have signed up for a tour of lighthouses because I think they are interesting. I also am going up into the mountains to see an eagle preserve. You get to see eagles up close and personal in their natural habitat. I think that might be interesting.
Here are some things your can do when it is raining:
CASINO
WATCH A NATIVE ALASKAN CARVE A TOTEM POLE: This guy started carving a totem pole on the first night of the cruise. Every night he did some more carving. It was fun to watch him chop away at the tree, but the most interesting thing was the stories he told of how the tradition of carving totem poles started thousand of years ago with the various “clans” in Alaska and how it has continued to this very day.
WATCH THE CRUISE CHEFS SHOW HOW THEY MAKE THEIR FAVORITE DISHES
GET COFFEE (OR HOT CHOCOLATE)
EAT ALL KINDS OF PASTRIES
September 4, 2016
Last Thursday, I turned 71. I have been to a lot of places and done a lot of things in those approximately 25,933 days, so it is pretty hard for me to get excited about anything at this point ……. but, I am very excited about what is going to happen over the next 10 days.
I am leaving for the airport to fly to Seattle in a few minutes, then its board the Ruby Princess, and then Anchor’s Away!
Stay tuned.
SAME DAY -ADDENDUM
You know why I know this is going to be a GREAT cruise?
Here is why:
Whenever you take a cruise, they always have a meeting right after you are at sea where they give you a briefing on what to do if there is an emergency. Everyone is assigned a “muster” location where you have to report for further instructions.
Guess what “muster” location I have been assigned?
THE CASINO!
That is so cool. I can shoot some craps as the ship sinks slowly into the Pacific Ocean. Talk about “Crapping Out”!
Eat your heart out Leonardo DiCaprio.
BYE BYE SEATTLE
