Visiting "Dan's" old stomping grounds

Time for a stop in the Berkshires before Boston. More Spencer research…

We actually got a tour of Daniel Jr.s original house. The house was eventually bought by an Italian family and two sisters live there today. Rosemary was so much fun- telling us stories of growing up in her large Italian family.

Alaska Adventure Day 14: Fairbanks – The end of our journey

We made our daily call home in the morning and John had news of the latest terrorist scare. The U.K. had uncovered a terrorist plot using liquids to explode a bomb on planes traveling from London to the U.S. So, Homeland Security had put an immediate ban on all liquids in carry-on luggage. Thankfully we learned this before our arrival at the airport. Already there were huge delays in the check-in lines as people re-packed their bags. So, with this bit of news, we started to re-pack our behemoth bags, putting everything into our checked bags. It certainly made the carry-on experience much easier and our bags much lighter. We just checked everything except our handbags.

Breakfast in the hotel was buffet- and we had visions of a horrible experience. It was great- oatmeal with raisins, walnuts and brown sugar, small cheese-filled Danish and fresh fruit with granola and yogurt. We just called it “brunch”.

We had a few hours before our “Riverboat Discovery” experience, so we decided to get the hotel shuttle and visit Fred Meyer’s (a local Walmart) to see where the locals shop. It was a huge store- with everything from 1 hour photo, to furniture, to jewelry and clothing, to food and Alaska souvenirs. They didn’t have any reindeer sausage, so we walked over to Safeway and Mom bought some reindeer sausage to take home.

Mom’s Interesting Facts:
* Peaches: $3.49/pound
* Bananas: 79 cents/pound
* Milk: $4.09/gallon
* Butter (Land o’ Lakes): $4.59
* Delicious Apples: $1.99/pound
* Fuji Apples: $2.29/pound

After dropping off the sausage to the hotel freezer, we took the shuttle to the Riverboat Discovery. This Alaska sternwheeler cruises along the Chena and Tanana Rivers for a 3 ½ hour cruise. A family run operation, the ship has 4 decks, can carry 700 passengers and offered free coffee and donuts. It proved to be a relaxing way to spend our last afternoon in Alaska.

While the experience was a bit “canned”, they did a good job of trying to educate and entertain. Cruising down the river, we got to see a variety of houses- some palatial, some much more crude. These were the ‘off the grid’ folks – who have to supply themselves with everything except electricity.

* A 1 acre waterfront property ranges from $50,000 to $100,000 and cost to build a home about $150/sq ft.
* The temperature ranges from 90 above to 60 below.
* The walls of homes are 16” thick and they use quad-glazed windows.
* Wells are 300-500 feet deep due to permafrost.
* The Tanana River is the largest glacier-fed stream in the world.

After watching a bush pilot demonstration, we cruised past Susan Butcher’s Dog Kennels. Susan Butcher (who recently died from cancer) was the famous 4 time winner of the Iditarod. She was loved by Alaskans and they truly are mourning her passing. It was so sweet to see her dogs racing and playing outside. Then, to see them get ready for the sled dog demonstration. I have never seen dogs so excited in my life- they love their job. And this time, instead of pulling a sled, they were pulling a tractor! Absolutely amazing.

The canned experience continued as they herded several reindeer to the banks of the river. Note- reindeer were introduced from Siberia and are the domestic version of caribou. From there, we saw the fish wheels (now regulated) which were designed to increase the daily catch of salmon from 12/day when caught individually to over 1000/day when using the wheel.

The boat stopped at the Chena Indian Village where we were sent in groups for a 4 stop tour of the village. They did a good job of explaining the housing and lifestyle of the Native Americans. At one stop, we saw the handiwork of Dixie Alexander. Her parkas, made of 45-50 muskrat hides and taking 6 months to make, cost $16,000. The inner ruff is made of wolverine, the outer ruff made of timber wolf.
There are 11 Alaska Native cultures in 5 distinct groups:
1. Inupiaq – lived in the northern part of Alaska. They used semi-underground dwellings because of the harsh climate.
2. Yup’ik – lived in the southwest. Men and women lived in separate sod structures dug into the ground.
3. Aleut and Alutiiq - lived in the south and southwest Influence of Russian culture was strong in these groups-in language, food and religion.
4. Athabascan Indians – lived along the major riverways of Interior Alaska. Prior to western contact, they were a nomadic people. Today many live a subsistence lifestyle. They focus on a respect for every living thing and the culture is matrilineal.
5. Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indians – lived in the southeast. Similar to Athabascans, children inherited rights through their mother.

Interestingly, there are no Indian reservations in Alaska. Under a Settlement Act signed in 1971, 13 Native Corporations were formed and granted $96.5 Million and 44 million acres to settle their aboriginal land claims. Most Alaskan natives born prior to 1971 are shareholders in one of these corporations. They are for-profit businesses (the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation grossed over 41 billion in 2004). They benefit their shareholders by making money from their lands natural resources (oil, gas, timber) and pay dividends and also provide employment. No gambling casinos required!

Well, our riverboat cruise ended and it was time to head back to the lodge, pick up our bags and make our way to the airport. The airport was only a 5 minute drive away, and we were grateful to be departing from Fairbanks this particular day. We arrived to the NW check-in area and got a one page update on the “new carry-on rules”. Not only had they banned all liquids and gels, but they wouldn’t let us take lipstick! We did a last minute purging of our purses of all cosmetics and send our bags on their way.

With the “no-liquid” rule, we decided to finish off our water bottles of wine before going through security. We grabbed a seat and had our own private happy hour. Thankfully, both check-in and security were painless. No lines, no hassles…we were the only ones in the security lines and other than having to take off our shoes, we breezed through. Now, we had 2 ½ hours to spend in this very tiny airport. We had our last shopping experience in this land of a thousand gift shops. The gift shop could not even sell any liquids to be taken on the plane- this included jams and jellies, lipstick…. Oh how ridiculous.

We got a seat by the gate and watched as the TSA staff set up two long tables outside the check-in. We were in for yet another security check. And this was FAIRBANKS!!! The line started to form and we watched as everyone was subjected to another search of their carry-on. We were fortunate to get a TSA agent with a sense of humor. I told him my distress at having to meet my husband after a two week separation and an all night flight- with a few extra pounds from the cruise and no way to brush my teeth and no lipstick. Finally, we were in our seats- fortunately, with an empty middle seat between us and we settled in for our all night flight.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes in the MSP airport and I headed off to Cleveland. Back to reality…. Hopefully this will be the first of our annual “girl get-aways!”

Alaska Adventure Day 13: Denali to Fairbanks

It was hard to believe that we were on our last official day of the trip. We had a good breakfast (Mom had oatmeal with raisins and walnuts…Mmmm). Then it was back for our last trip on the bus – on to Fairbanks, a 3 hour drive.

The bus was abuzz with the news story of the Celebrity tour bus that had overturned in Juneau. One person was seriously injured and a number of people had broken bones and injuries. The other story was the closing of the road south to Anchorage. It was causing huge delays for both the tour buses and the railroad. We were fortunate to be heading north.

To keep the ride interesting, Scott and Nick had a little Alaska Trivia Quiz…

Interesting Alaska Facts:
* Alaska has 3 million lakes – 1.5 million with names. One of our guides said that since Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes, Alaska could be called the land of 300 Minnesotas.
* The State of Alaska is 2 ½ times the size of the state of Texas.
* It has 100,000 glaciers.
* Alaska has 5000-6000 earthquakes/year. 1000 of them are a 3.5 or higher. They have 11% of the world’s earthquakes and 50% of all U.S. earthquakes. They have had 10 earthquakes over 8.0.
* In the Good Friday earthquake of 1964 the earth shook for 5 ½ minutes.
* Alaska has 80 potentially active volcanoes.
* State Flower- The Forget Me Not

* State Sport - Dog Mushing
* State Fish – Salmon
* State Mammal – Moose
* State Mineral - Gold

Exploring Fairbanks:
We arrived into Fairbanks at noon and we dropped off in the center of town for lunch
on our own. We found a little Italian restaurant, Gambardella’s, and found-once again- that fine Alaska service. These restaurants have an influx of cruise ship buses arriving on the same day every week- and don’t seem to staff up for the crowds. As a result, you have to fight for service. We didn’t have much time to shop in downtown Fairbanks—but with a 2 block main street, there really wasn’t much shopping to do.

We were off to the El Dorado Gold Mine. The mine started back in 1902 and today they’ve made it a tourist stop—for those wanting “an authentic experience learning to extract gold from the earth”. We all agreed that it was more of a way to “extract gold from the tourists”. We departed on a replica of the Tanana Valley railroad out to the ‘mine’. The conductor provided narration on the mining operation complete with stops in a permafrost tunnel to see the rock formations.

Once we got to the “gold camp”, our hosts, Dexter and “Yukon Yonda”, explained how gold was panned and mined. We were there on a day when the yellow-jackets were swarming. I have never seen so many wasps in my life. They were literally crawling over Mom and even though she was completely still, one of them decided to bite her. Old Yukon Yonda heard her yelp and immediately called for the emergency kit (evidently they were used to dealing with multiple wasp bites on their tours). We took the little vial of something to combat the swelling and went to the Visitor Center. Mom convinced me to do the ‘gold panning’. Everyone was given a bag of dirt and led to a huge area to pan the dirt for gold. Of course, everyone got just enough gold dust (and an occasional tiny nugget) to make a locket or earrings. We, too, succumbed to the ‘gold fever’ and got a little locket with our gold dust inside. It was actually quite cute. We were definitely the “gold mine” for this family—just about everyone on the tour was wearing their new necklaces. (We also got the story of many wasp bites from everyone on the bus…)

On the way to the hotel, we made one last stop at the Alaska Pipeline (the Trans Alaska Pipeline System). A timely stop since the recent news story of the BP closure of the pipeline in Prudhoe Bay due to corrosion of the pipes. The pipeline was quite fascinating.

Interesting Pipeline Facts:
* Oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay in 1968
* The first pipe was laid in 1975 and oil began flowing in 1977
* The project involved 70,000 workers from 1969 to 1977
* There are 800 miles of pipeline, 420 miles are elevated because of permafrost
* The construction required 832 state and 515 federal permits
* The projected cost was $900 Million – the final cost $8 Billion!
* It crosses 34 major rivers, 3 mountain ranges and can withstand a earthquake of 8.5
* It takes 9 days to travel through the pipeline at 4 mph – 1 million barrels per day travel through the pipeline (17% of the U.S. domestic oil production)
* The pipeline has an outside diameter of 48” and ½” thick walls.

The Pipeline Pigs are interesting (and the lack of the use of these pigs to detect corrosion caused the BP problem). There are 3 types of “Pigs”:
1. Made of Teflon, it cleans the pipeline by scraping the sides.
2. An electronic version with video camera sensors to detect corrosion. Run every two weeks 3. The corrosion detector – spreads an anti-corrosion agent on the walls.

We got to our last hotel about 6:00 and checked into our room at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge. We had a beautiful view of the river, a mini-refrigerator and we were on our own. We had our own happy hour. Amazingly, we had planned our wine supply out perfectly. We finished our last bottle- with a small water bottle filled for the following day’s flight. Dinner was at Pike’s Landing Waterfront Restaurant. We tried the tables on the river, but they had a pesky yellow jacket problem, too.

Interesting facts:
* Fairbanks- population 33,000 - is only 120 miles from the Arctic Circle
* We had traveled about 500 miles into the interior of Alaska.
* It’s often called “SquareBanks” because car tires freeze flat in the winter
* Also called the “Town of Midnight Sun” with summer daylight of 21 hours and 49 minutes.
* On June 21st each year, they have a baseball game at midnight without lights.
* Winter temperatures can reach 66 below- without wind-chill! The parking lots have electrical outlets for the cars.
* 85,000 people live in the “borough” (county), many living off the grid. Houses in the borough typically have only electric service provided. Most have their own 1500 gallon water tanks in their house (or have their own water tanks on the back of their trucks).

Alaska Adventure Day 12: Denali National Park

An early start for our 8 hour “Tundra Wilderness Tour” of Denali. We were loaded into an old Blue Bird school bus. We fortunately got one of the upgraded buses- complete with a bit of padding on the seats and small video screens that were used to project the image from the guides’ video camera – helpful when trying to view wildlife at a distance.

Our guide, Josh, was absolutely wonderful. Married to an Athabascan woman, he had an amazing knowledge of native culture, park history and wildlife. He made the 8 hours in a school bus fly by. Although, Mom did avoid the views over “Poison Point” – a frightening drive up a very narrow road with no guard rail. The name’s origin – “one drop will kill you”.

A Bit of History:
A man named Charles Sheldon first came to Denali in 1906 to hunt Dall sheep. He was so taken with the park and its wilderness that he came back the following year. He saw the mass slaughter of sheep by commercial hungers and had the vision of a refuge to protect the wildlife and the land. He went to Washington and in 1917, Congress passed a bill to establish Mount McKinley National Park. It was renamed Denali National Park in 1980 and the park was tripled in size.

Interesting facts:
* The park is 6 million acres- larger than the state of Massachusetts.
* The park is home to more than 650 species of flowering plants. Most of what we saw was “Fireweed” –with bright pink flowers. Alaskans believe that once the fireweed bloom reaches the top of the plant, winter is only six weeks away.
* The “town” of Denali has 1 gas station and 1 traffic light.
*There is only one road- 91 miles- into and out of the park.
* The park is patrolled in the winter by dog sleds.
* Winter temperatures on Mount McKinley can reach 95 below. Permanent snowfields cover 75% of the mountain.

Wildlife Sightings:
* Of the “Big 5” Grizzly Bear, Dall Sheep, Moose, Caribou, and Gray Wolf, we saw all but the wolf.
* Our only Moose sighting was dramatic – the huge moose ran directly in front of our bus. Males weigh up to 1600 pounds, females 1300 pounds. This was definitely a male!










* We saw a Grizzly (brown) Bear and her cubs on a hillside next to our bus. (In the summer, when the bears are getting ready for their winter hibernation, they can eat up to 200,000 berries per day. How do they know this? Naturalists (usually the new ones) have to count the seeds from the bear poop!)
* Other Bear facts: Females can be 375-500 pounds. They have 1-3 cubs. The cubs stay with the mother for 3 years. Since the female will not mate during those three years, males often try to kill the cubs.
* Caribou – we saw them grazing in the treeless tundras and saw a huge male just outside our bus. (Although, with 950,000 wild caribou in Alaska, we thought we’d see herds of them)
* Dall Sheep – we can claim to have seen them, but they looked like little cotton balls high up on the ridges
* Multiple sightings of Tarmigans, the Alaska state bird. In the summer, its plumage is brown, in the winter it turns snow white. They are arctic grouse.
* Countless Snowshoe Hares and Ground Squirrels
* Eagles…everywhere

We got back to the Visitor’s Center in time for the Sled Dog demonstration. Getting to see these adorable dogs – and see a sled dog team in action was great. We also did a walk through the new Denali Visitor’s Center – a chance to see a display of the various animals in the park (carved out of epoxy resin and very realistic). From there, we caught the bus back to the hotel, had our happy hour and found a new restaurant, the “Roadhouse “, just a short walk from the hotel. It was much better and MUCH cheaper. We also discovered that they serve breakfast – a real, not buffet- breakfast.

Alaska Adventure Day 11: Anchorage to Denali National Park

We had a 9:30 departure so we had time for a hearty Alaska breakfast. Scott and Nick had recommended the Snow City Café, a few blocks from the hotel. The place was bustling with both tourist and locals (always a good sign). Service was typically Alaskan…slow, but with a smile. When we saw reindeer sausage on the menu, we knew that eggs, toast, hash browns and “sausage” were a must. The sausage was great- a bit like an Italian sausage/polish sausage- not your typical breakfast sausage. The toast was sourdough-with homemade strawberry jam.

It was then back on the bus for our 6 hour drive to Denali. Our first stop was at Miller’s Ice Cream Shop in Houston – offering ‘the best ice cream in Alaska’. It was pretty darn good- we had a huge scoop of some kind of espresso/chocolate chip ice cream.

Driving through Alaska is not only scenic- but there are NO billboards. It’s a state law! We drove through the little town of Palmer, known for its’ world record veggies: a 17 pound carrot, a 300 pound pumpkin and a 116 pond cabbage. Everything is big here in Alaska. Palmer also had a WalMart recognized as the leader in sales of Duct Tape in the entire Walmart chain. We also noticed that Alaska doesn’t have “Dollar Stores”- but has “$1.25 Stores”. The town of Healy, with an average income of $60,000, made it the wealthiest in Alaska. Their coal plant has the cleanest burning coal in the world.

Finally we got our first look at Denali National Park and some distant- but fairly clear- views of Mt McKinley (“Denali”, the “High One”, to the natives), part of the 600 mile long Alaska Range. Mt McKinley, base elevation of 2000’, towers to 23,320 feet, the highest mountain in North America.

It was almost 4:00 before we got settled in at our hotel, the McKinley Village. After the ship and the hotels in Alyeska and Anchorage, this was fairly spartan- definitely a “lodge” feeling. We were given our 7:45 AM start time for our tour in the morning- and quickly realized that we’d have to find something for breakfast - or have the over-priced hotel buffet breakfast. We grabbed the shuttle into “town”. The trip, with several stops took almost 30 minutes- and we were dropped at the sister hotel “in town”. Basically ‘town’ was a combination of hotels-with large gift shops- and a strip of small gift shops. We found a small grocery store and bought some juice and muffins for breakfast and quickly grabbed the shuttle back. The dinner options at the “Village” were a high priced restaurant menu or a bar menu. We opted for a halibut dinner at the bar—and were presented with 4 huge, heavily battered filets. We made a bit of a mess pulling the breading off and eating the fish.

Alaska Adventure Day 10: Alyeska to Anchorage

Sunday morning and I was ready for my Sunday newspaper and some real news after being on the ship for a week. Well, the newspaper stand (not open until 9:00 AM had the Anchorage paper- not exactly the NY Times) and we turned on the TV hoping for a Sunday morning of news shows. We managed to catch the end of “Meet the Press” and then searched the channels for more news. What we found was a selection of old 50’s sit-coms…”I Love Lucy”, Andy Griffith.

Breakfast options were minimal…either the coffee bar with muffins wrapped in plastic or the over-priced dining room (with $17.00 breakfast buffet). We opted for ordering ala carte and had a nice breakfast. We had the entire morning free- departing at 1:30 pm for Anchorage. The options were, again, minimal. There was the hotel shuttle into “town”. “Town” consisted of a jade shop and a few small stores.

Since the hotel was located at the base of the Alyeska Ski Resort, we opted for the Alyeska Tram that takes you 2,300 feet up the mountain in a 7 minute ride – and at the end– scenic views and a seriously overpriced restaurant (Reindeer hotdogs for $10). We were up and down in a matter of an hour and decided that, with nothing else to do, we might as well eat lunch. We split a sandwich, talked a bit with the waitress and then found a comfortable couch to read a book while we waited for the coach to leave.

Finally, on the road to Anchorage. The drive was a short one, about an hour and a half, and we longingly looked at the city skyline in our view. But, we were on a schedule and were dropped off at the Alaska Native Heritage Center – for a 2 hour stop! The Center is on a 26 acre site facing the Chugach Mountains and was designed to provide visitors with an introduction to Alaska’s native peoples. We walked in and found a native dance presentation going on in the main building. What is it about native American culture that I find so totally uninteresting? The dances are too much stomping and grunting for my taste, so I suggested we take a walk around the lake outside where they have put together exhibits of native villages.
With time on our hands, we watched a video on humpback whales, combed the gift shop and finally decided to use the time to call home!

Anchorage Today:
Anchorage was incorporated in 1920, still a young city, and grew largely due to the construction of the Alaska Railroad. Nearly everything was built in the last few decades. Today it serves as the center for oil development and a hub for government, banking, transportation and communication. The median age of the population (43,000) is 32.4 and most are from outside Alaska. (Alaska Native people represent less than 8% of the total population!) It is a gorgeous city- on the shores of Cook Inlet and surrounded by the Chugach Mountains. It was at the epicenter of the 1964 earthquake – the largest ever recorded in North America. The downtown was devastated –the ground beneath buildings dropped as much as 10 feet.

Exploring Anchorage
We were dropped off at the Marriott Anchorage at 6 PM, found our room (with a beautiful view) and headed out for dinner and shopping.

The downtown is compact and the streets are lined with hanging flower baskets (blue lobelia and marigolds to reflect the colors of the state flag). The streets are laid out on a grid pattern making it very easy to get around. Our first priority was shopping – there is no sales tax in Anchorage and based on the pace of our land tour so far, we wanted to take advantage of every opportunity. Then, it was eating. Eating out in Alaska is always a bit of a shock- the prices are New York City prices. A simple entrée typically runs from $20-40. We checked out all of the popular tourist restaurants and finally settled on a local dive, Phyllis’s Café and Salmon Bake. They were having a special on king crab legs- 1 pound for $19.95- complete with boiled new potatoes, and some really bad corn on the cob. I guess you had to try the crab legs – but, as always, they’re a lot of work…

Alaska Adventure Day 9: Seward to Alyeska

While we weren’t due to leave the ship until 9:30, our coffee arrived at 5:50 AM!! I guess they were anxious to get everyone up and going—especially since they had to completely turnaround the ship for the new guests arriving that afternoon.

We had a lovely large breakfast- omelet, bacon, Danish… our last free meal! With time on our hand, we took another walk around the ship, enjoying our last few minutes of complete luxury.

Seward Today:
The scene outside the ship was gorgeous. We were docked in the Seward harbor, at the head of Resurrection Bay and at the foot of the Kenai Mountains. Seward historically was a fishing town. Today, it’s a small town with hundreds of fishing boats, small wood frame houses and a huge part of their waterfront dedicated to RV parking!

Seward was hit hard by the Good Friday earthquake in 1964 when a massive earthquake hit Anchorage and the surrounding area. The villagers watched the water in the harbor drain away and immediately realized what was going to happen—a tidal wave—a tsunami. They ran for high ground and the loss of life was minimal when the 100 foot wall of water struck.

Exploring Seward:
It was time to leave the Summit and we shuffled off the ship to our awaiting motorcoach. We met our “Tour Director”, Scott, and our bus driver, Nick. Our luggage was being taken by another bus directly to our hotel in Alyeska, so all we had to do was get on the coach and follow directions.

Within a few minutes, we were at our first stop, the Alaska Sealife Center, a marine research, rehabilitation, and education center opened in 1998 and funded in part by the oil-spill reparation fund established by Exxon after the Valdez oil spill. The center gives scientists the ability to study sea life including the stellar sea lion, porpoise, sea otter, harbor seals, and fish – as well as local seabirds- rock puffins, cormorants and kitty-wakes. At the bird center, Seymour, a juvenile puffin, was making friends with everyone who walked in.

We loaded back on the bus and were dropped off in the ‘town’ of Seward for a quick lunch. We discovered that when the cruise ships drop off their busloads of people, the normally laid-back restaurants of Alaska are stretched to their limits. Service becomes glacially slow and the “lunch and time for shopping” becomes “a LONG lunch and a sprint through the stores”. We ate at Ray’s Waterfront Restaurant and, of course had to try the halibut, one of many halibut meals to come. Mom tried the local ale, “Glacier Brewhouse Blond Ale”.

After lunch, we all gathered at the pier to go on the Resurrection Bay Wildlife Cruise, a 3 hour narrated tour into Resurrection Bay and the Kenai Fjord area. We were on the watch for wildlife and weren’t disappointed. We saw eagles, cormorants, kittiwakes, puffins and the endangered Stellar Sea Lions lounging on a huge rock. We even got another chance to see a humpback whale. The waters were 1000 feet deep.

Off the boat and back on the bus for the trip to the train. We were covering all the modes of transportation today! The Wilderness Express, part of the Alaska Railroad, runs from Seward to Fairbanks. Our stretch on the train was the 3 hour ride from Seward to Alyeska, touted as the most spectacular stretch of scenery on the entire line.

While the White Pass railway was a narrow gauge railway, this was a single gauge. The cars were double decker, domed cars with panoramic views and it was true luxury. The upper floors were equipped with large leather reclining seats and a full bar. On the lower floor was a full dining room. We were on the ‘late seating’ for dinner, so we ordered a glass of wine (and then used our handy “stash” of wine left over from the ship to continue our “happy hour”).

Dinner was wonderful—a gourmet treat! The prime rib was the best ever (oh, if only E.D. could have been here for this one!) and my halibut was wonderful.

Interesting Facts:
* Alaska has 620,000 people and 100,000 glaciers.
* 1 in 60 Alaskans own planes/ 1 in 16 have pilots licenses
* Gas prices: Anchorage: $2.77/ Seward: $3.04

We got into Girdwood about 9:30 and got back on the bus to go to the Alyeska Prince Resort. We got our room keys, got to our rooms and found our luggage waiting for us in our room. The hotel was lovely and our room was luxurious. But at 10:00 PM, we were exhausted and sank into our lovely plush beds.

Alaska Adventure Day 8 Hubbard Glacier

Our last day at sea and we were feeling a bit glum. It’s easy to get used to this life of luxury….coffee served in the morning, lunch and dinner at your bidding, multiple courses…

The ship started to enter the Hubbard Glacier at about 8 AM. After breakfast, we tried to squeeze in with the hoards of people congregated at all the windows. We stood by a couple who had claimed the only working window as their private viewing spot and would act put out if anyone tried to take a photo from “their window”. Frustrated with the “attitude”, we realized that we had a better view of the glacier from our balcony. So, we headed back to our room, wrapped our deck blankets around us and watched the amazing sight of this humungous glacier.

The glacier, at the northern edge of Yakutat Bay, stretches over 90 miles—and the ice cliff face is 6 miles wide, 300 feet high. It is the longest tidewater glacier in North America and one of the fastest moving in Alaska. You had to be outside to truly appreciate the glacier- it was not only the spectacular sight of such a huge ice cliff, but the sounds! Softened by the warmer sea air and eroded by seawater, huge chunks “calve” or crack and crash into the bay. It’s like a thunderstorm- you hear this loud crack and then seconds later, huge blocks of ice fall into the sea. The ship was only 1000 feet from the cliffs- and it was truly an amazing thing to behold.
Interesting Facts:
* Tidewater glaciers spill down out of the mountains and run all the way to the sea.
* Piedmont glaciers are two glaciers that have run together into one.
* Hanging glaciers are glaciers that are draped over hillsides but don’t come all the way down to the bottom of the hill.
* Mountain (alpine) glaciers are confined by surrounding mountain terrain.
* Valley glaciers are mountain glaciers confined by valley walls
* Cirque glacier sit in basins near ridge crests and are usually circular.

Well, since it was our last day on ship, we had to attend the Disembarkation Presentation. We got all the info on departing the ship the following morning and had a farewell from the entire staff.

The Cruise Director gave us a few interesting facts about the ship:
How much food is consumed on our 6 day cruise:
* 24.236 pounds of beef
* 5,040 pounds of lamb
* 7,216 pounds of pork
* 4,600 pounds of veal
* 1,680 pounds of sausage
* 10,211 pounds of chicken
* 3,156 pounds of turkey
* 13,851 pounds of fish
* 350 pounds of crab
* 2,100 pounds of lobster
* 25,736 pounds of fresh vegetables
* 15,150 pounds of potatoes
* 20.003 pounds of fresh fruit
* 3,250 gallons of milk
* 1976 quarts of cream
* 9,235 dozen eggs
* 5,750 pounds of sugar
* 3,800 pounds of rice
* 1,750 pounds of cereal
* 450 pounds of jelly
* 2,458 pounds of coffee
* 1,936 pounds of cookies
* 2,450 tea bags
* 120 pounds of herbs and spices
* 200 bottles of champagne
* 200 bottles of gin
* 290 bottles of vodka
* 350 bottles of whiskey
* 150 bottles of rum
* 45 bottles of sherry
* 600 bottles of assorted liqueurs
* 10,100 bottles/cans of beer

Summit Facts
* Tonnage: 91,00
* Length: 964.6 feet
* Width: 105.6 feet
* Depth: 26.3 feet
* Guest Capacity: 1950
* Crew size: 999

Time to pack so we headed back to our room. The ship left the calm waters of Yakutat Bay and headed towards Seward. The boat started to rock and roll and trying to pack a suitcase became a major challenge. As the ship continues to roll, so did our stomachs! We thought maybe some lunch would help and got lunch at the Waterfall Café. But, when we got back to the room, it only got worse. I went to the Guest Relations desk to get some medication for sea-sickness. They were handing them out like candy! We managed to finish packing and both of us laid down to see if a little rest would help. When it came time for our last dinner, we decided that it just wasn’t in the cards. (It turns out that the dining room was almost empty that night!)

We called Room Service and got some cheese and crackers, some tea and a bowl of chicken soup. Not exactly our normal dinner fare on the ship, but it hit the spot.

Alaska Adventure Day 7 Icy Point Strait

More croissants with our morning coffee and breakfast in the main dining room. We dined with two couples from California who entertained us with stories of their dogs. The husband was a dog person, and his wife, definitely not a dog lover—especially their dog, who she called “Cujo”. The dog evidently bites people—her children and grandchildren hate the dog. Her grandson suggested that she “put something in the dog’s food”. When she said, “Oh, honey, I couldn’t do that”, his response was, “I could”.

We docked at Icy Strait Point at 7 AM, but we weren’t in any hurry to tender in to the little town of Hoonah.

A Bit of History:
Located adjacent to the largest Tlingit settlement in southeast Alaska, the city of Hoonah was supported by the Hoonah Packing Company Cannery, built in 1912. When the cannery closed, the town was dying until the cruise ships came in and they have allowed the town to survive with a few tourist shops, fishing expeditions, whale watching, and grizzly bear searches. Hoonah means “Protected from the north wind” and it was the first sunny, warm day we’ve had on the trip.

Icy Strait Point Today:
Celebrity touts this stop as your “private island” experience- giving you a chance to “catch the allure of real Alaska”.

Exploring Hoonah
The cannery today is a museum showing the processing of salmon and housing local gift shops. One of the shop keepers was an Australian woman who met her Tlingit husband on the Internet, moved to Hoonah, and is now their “token Australian”. She told us that life in Hoonah is very expensive – milk at $6.50/gallon. The locals all go to Juneau to shop.

Salmon Trivia
* They spend 1- 7 years in the open ocean (salt water) before returning to their birth stream (fresh water) to spawn- then die.
Types of Salmon:
* King Salmon (Chinook) – The biggest, averaging 30 pounds
* Sockeye Salmon (Red) – Rich red color flesh, average 6-10 pounds
* Coho Salmon (Silver) – Average 8-12 pounds
* Pink Salmon (Humpy) – mainstay of commercial fishing, averaging 3-4 pounds
* Chum Salmon (Dog) – Traditionally used to feed sled dogs, average 7-18 pounds

We took a walk along the waterfront- put our cedar chip into the fire (some kind of Tlingit tradition) and Mom found some rocks and driftwood.

It was a nice little stop but didn’t hold our attention too long. We tendered back to the boat and had lunch in the Cosmopolitan Restaurant—fish and curry. With a free afternoon, we decided to try the Thallasotherapy Pool. It was wonderfully relaxing….our first real relaxing day so far.
It was our second formal evening—and we were ready for our lobster tail! We decided to splurge on another bottle of wine and enjoy our dinner: shrimp cocktail (of course!), cream of asparagus soup, Caesar salad, and broiled lobster tail. Dessert was Baked Alaska.

We had a different act in the Celebrity Theater – the “Award winning duo of Jason and Nolan Livesay”--- twins who play the violin and tried to make playing the violin for an hour interesting with little “twins” banter. Hardly worth the investment of time—but, amazingly, the audience gave them a standing ovation.

The midnight buffet was still to come, but we were pooped! So, we set our alarm and took a short nap. At 11:45 PM, we got to do a viewing of the buffet before people started to dig in. It was spectacular—huge ice sculptures, amazing patterns created with food, fruits and vegetables carved into birds and flowers, bread with amazing braids and a massive dessert table.

Alaska Adventure Day 6 Sitka: Russian America Capital

A 9:00 A.M. docking. We ordered coffee AND croissants today….a wonderful chocolate croissant from the Cova Café. Since we were scheduled for a tour this morning, we all gathered in the Rendezvous Lounge until our tour was called. Very efficient – and gave us a chance to be one of the first off the boat- since Sitka requires a tender service to get to land.
A Bit of History:
The Russians were the first to arrive in the area in 1741. They were lured by the fur trading possibilities—otter, seal, blue fox. They could harvest boat loads of pelts in a few weeks and then sell them for a fortune to the Chinese Empire.

By the end of the 18th century, sea otters were disappearing, hunted almost to extinction. The Russians traveled north of Sitka- into Tlingit Indian territory. In 1802, the Tlingits attacked, killing most of the residents. In 1804 the Russians returned with reinforcements. For six days, they fought the Tlingit in the Battle of Alaska. The Tlingits were defeated and did not return for over two decades. The Russians built a stockaded city, New Archangel, and made it their American capital.

By the mid-1800’s sea otters were mostly hunted out and Alaska had become more expensive than rewarding to Russia. Russia was in dire financial straits and negotiated with U.S. Secretary of State William Seward to sell Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million.

Sitka Today:
As the only city on the Inside Passage fronting the Pacific Ocean, cruise ships have to tender in and the seas can often be rough. We lucked out and the tender ride was not choppy. Sitka today seems the most “normal” of all of the cities we’d visited to date. It had a population not focused entirely on tourism and cruise ships. The primary industries are commercial fishing, government and tourism. With 14 miles of road and a population of 8,800, it had a nice small town feel. (And, at a population of 8,800, it’s the 5th largest city in Alaska—1-Anchorage, 2-Fairbanks 3-Junea 4- Ketchikan, 5- Sitka!)

Climate:
Another rainy climate – 100 inches of annual precipitation. They average 75 days of sun, 75 cloudy days, the rest are rainy. Average temps in the summer- 57 degrees, 41 in the winter.

Exploring Sitka:
Our tour bus took us to the Alaska Raptor Center, formerly known as the Raptor Rehabilitation Center. Knowing Mom’s feelings about the baby-loon killing eagles at Viola Lake, I wasn’t sure how receptive she’d be to the rehab of hurt eagles. But, she made no anti-eagle comments…. The center opened in 1980 and treats about 200 wild birds a year, most of which are returned to the wild.

Interesting Facts
* Eagles can spot a fish from over a mile away.
* They dive at 100 miles/hour
* Ravens are extremely curious birds and need constant stimulation or they will die.
* Totem Poles- Only the carver can tell the story of the pole.

Back on the bus, and we were taken to the Harrigan Centennial Building to watch a performance of the New Archangel Dancers. A company of 6 women- they even play the men’s parts – perform Russian, Moldavian, and Ukrainian folk dances. It had a feel of an amateur production – but the crowds loved them- and they tour internationally. Go figure….

Our next stop was the Sitka Historical National Park, with a 30 minute movie explaining the history of Sitka and a focus on the Tlingit culture and history. We got off a few cell phone calls home. We got to drive by the house where James Michener lived when writing the novel, “Alaska”.

After a quick tour of the city, we were dropped off at the city center in front of St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral. But first, we had to make a visit to the Finnish Lutheran Church across the street. It turns out that the Russians used Finnish labor to build their cathedral, but those stubborn Finns would only do it if they could build their own place of worship. The church was founded in 1840 and was the first Lutheran Church on the West Coast of North America. (The first pastor of the church, Uno Cygnaeus, later achieved fame in Finland as founder of the Finnish Public School System). The church burned in the fire of 1966 and only a few artifacts remain- the pulpit, original chandelier, communion rail, kneeler and platform, the painting “The Transfiguration of Christ” and the 1844 Kessler pipe organ. Today, there’s not much more than those artifacts in the church! You know how those Finn’s love simplicity in décor!

Across the street, St Michael’s Cathedral is a reproduction of the original (1844) which was destroyed in a fire in 1966. The residents of the town saved all of the contents of the cathedral- the beautiful icons, chandelier, and wooden doors. The icon, the “Sitka Madonna” is considered to work miracles- particularly healing of the eyes. he most amazing part- the congregation of 88 are primarily Tlingit. Imagine converting Tlingit Indians to Russian Orthodox!

As we headed through the city, the rain started to come down- in buckets. We made a fast dash to the tender—only to find a long line waiting. Fortunately, they had the hot chocolate fairies there to give us something warm to drink while we waited. We got onto the ship, and stopped at the Cova Café for a few pastries and tiny sandwiches.

Dinner was wonderful- Shrimp Cocktail, Chicken with Velvet Corn soup, Boston Lettuce with Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese, Rack of Baby Lamb Provencale, and a birthday cake for Naomi for dessert.
After dinner, we got good seats for the Celebrity Theater performance, Encore. It was another great show.