Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006
I missed the first day of training on Saturday, so while this is the second day of the class, it's the first day for me.
We met at Kapiolani park and started with a 10 minute warm-up jog followed by stretching and drills: skipping, gazelle, side-steps, butt-kicks, and high-knees. Then we went over to Noela and ran up and down the hill 8 times. I did wheeze a bit, and I was almost the slowest one there, but I did it, and no walking. Considering I haven't run in over a month, I'm ok with that. It's still a vast improvement from where I was a year ago.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
LAX->HNL
Sunday, August 13, 2006
We borrowed Mike’s suitcase so we wouldn’t have to carry so much on the plane given the new travel restrictions. We can bring our laptop and electronics, but no liquids, gels, toothpaste, etc. We need to return the suitcase, so dad said he would take it back with him when he and mom go to visit.
We left for the airport at noon and we were at the airport just under an hour later, to our amazement. When we were driving to Mike and Liz’s on the 405N, the south looked clogged up. Also, this morning, my brother went online and got a traffic report which said the 405 S was “jammed.” We took a gamble and took the 5S to the 10W/Santa Monica, to the 110 S/San Pedro, to the 105W. It worked great. No traffic at all.
Within an hour after that, we had dropped off the car, checked in and gotten through security. We couldn’t believe how fast we were in. We still had three hours until our flight and we were already in the terminal, so we got something to eat and I worked on my journal. Dad will be picking us up at HNL. It will be nice sleeping in my own bed, but I’m not looking forward to going to work tomorrow. At least Mike has a few days off so he can take care of all the laundry.
We borrowed Mike’s suitcase so we wouldn’t have to carry so much on the plane given the new travel restrictions. We can bring our laptop and electronics, but no liquids, gels, toothpaste, etc. We need to return the suitcase, so dad said he would take it back with him when he and mom go to visit.
We left for the airport at noon and we were at the airport just under an hour later, to our amazement. When we were driving to Mike and Liz’s on the 405N, the south looked clogged up. Also, this morning, my brother went online and got a traffic report which said the 405 S was “jammed.” We took a gamble and took the 5S to the 10W/Santa Monica, to the 110 S/San Pedro, to the 105W. It worked great. No traffic at all.
Within an hour after that, we had dropped off the car, checked in and gotten through security. We couldn’t believe how fast we were in. We still had three hours until our flight and we were already in the terminal, so we got something to eat and I worked on my journal. Dad will be picking us up at HNL. It will be nice sleeping in my own bed, but I’m not looking forward to going to work tomorrow. At least Mike has a few days off so he can take care of all the laundry.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Bro
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Up at 9:20 because the alarm was accidentally set to 9am. Checked out and went to Costco to look at a suitcase we saw thinking that it might work in case we have to check our laptop and other electronics. When we saw it, we realized it was smaller than we thought and soft-sided, so it wouldn’t work. We figured we would just buy a box, pack some clothes in it and put the laptop in Mike’s (mom’s gargantuan rolling) suitcase.
We left Anaheim Costco at 11:30 and got to Santa Clarita around 1:30. I couldn’t believe it took two whole hours. Our mistake was staying on the five until the 605. We should have gotten off the five as soon as possible. We went the 605 south to the 105 west to the 405 north. Basically the reverse of our route from the airport to Disney, and then the 405 to their place.
We made a stop for some lunch at a small pizza place and on our way out, they offered us free pizza! The second time in two days, how odd. So we took it and put it in Mike/Liz’s fridge when we got to their place at 2.
Their house keeps getting better each time we go. They’ve redone the bar area, the hall bathroom, and the patio. Everything is beautiful. I wish I had Liz’s decorating sense. She has the ability to make things look very elegant without looking stuffy. I should have taken pictures of the bathroom to use as an inspiration for our guest bathroom. One thing I do plan to try is change the orientation of the tub to go along the back wall instead of its current orientation. Then the toilet can go in the slot partially vacated by the tub. With clear glass shower doors, the bathroom looks so much larger. I really think their bathroom isn’t much larger than ours, but it looks huge.
I also like the idea where the tile they used on the shower/tub walls extends out past the shower doors and then comes down to about three feet up the walls of the rest of the bathroom. Those tiles are about 4” squares and match the floor which uses a mix of large (18”?) and small tiles of the same color/pattern. They used real wood maple for the cabinet and stained it to look like cherry wood and used what I think is granite for the countertop. With the recessed lighting, it’s just perfect for my tastes.
When we arrived, Mike was working in the garage. They had just swapped out a broken water heater for a new tankless model ($2500, ugh), and he was fixing the busted drywall where the water heater pipes had been moved around. He was just finishing up, so before long, we were all hanging out on the new patio and jumping in the pool.
It’s a lot of fun playing with the kids in the pool. They like the shark game where the shark (me) has to stay in the pool, and they can get out, but only for ten seconds at a time. Logan is the bold one. Danny and Logan’s friend Griffin are chickens. I can see Danny, as she’s still small, but Griffin’s a big kid. It appears that Logan is a bit of a sore loser as he gets a little salty when he’s the shark.
We had Armenian barbeque for dinner. They bought pre-marinated chicken and steak and skewered it along with onion and bell pepper. It was really good. They also barbequed whole tomatoes and an Anaheim pepper stuffed with goat cheese. Liz cut the top of the pepper off, stuffed it, and then used toothpicks to put the top back on to keep the cheese in. It must of come loose, because it seemed that the cheese partially leaked out. It went on the grill too and was rather good. This was all served with Liz’s margaritas which were pretty much exactly like the one’s we make, using the same mix, tequila, and grand marnier.
Up at 9:20 because the alarm was accidentally set to 9am. Checked out and went to Costco to look at a suitcase we saw thinking that it might work in case we have to check our laptop and other electronics. When we saw it, we realized it was smaller than we thought and soft-sided, so it wouldn’t work. We figured we would just buy a box, pack some clothes in it and put the laptop in Mike’s (mom’s gargantuan rolling) suitcase.
We left Anaheim Costco at 11:30 and got to Santa Clarita around 1:30. I couldn’t believe it took two whole hours. Our mistake was staying on the five until the 605. We should have gotten off the five as soon as possible. We went the 605 south to the 105 west to the 405 north. Basically the reverse of our route from the airport to Disney, and then the 405 to their place.
We made a stop for some lunch at a small pizza place and on our way out, they offered us free pizza! The second time in two days, how odd. So we took it and put it in Mike/Liz’s fridge when we got to their place at 2.
Their house keeps getting better each time we go. They’ve redone the bar area, the hall bathroom, and the patio. Everything is beautiful. I wish I had Liz’s decorating sense. She has the ability to make things look very elegant without looking stuffy. I should have taken pictures of the bathroom to use as an inspiration for our guest bathroom. One thing I do plan to try is change the orientation of the tub to go along the back wall instead of its current orientation. Then the toilet can go in the slot partially vacated by the tub. With clear glass shower doors, the bathroom looks so much larger. I really think their bathroom isn’t much larger than ours, but it looks huge.
I also like the idea where the tile they used on the shower/tub walls extends out past the shower doors and then comes down to about three feet up the walls of the rest of the bathroom. Those tiles are about 4” squares and match the floor which uses a mix of large (18”?) and small tiles of the same color/pattern. They used real wood maple for the cabinet and stained it to look like cherry wood and used what I think is granite for the countertop. With the recessed lighting, it’s just perfect for my tastes.
When we arrived, Mike was working in the garage. They had just swapped out a broken water heater for a new tankless model ($2500, ugh), and he was fixing the busted drywall where the water heater pipes had been moved around. He was just finishing up, so before long, we were all hanging out on the new patio and jumping in the pool.
It’s a lot of fun playing with the kids in the pool. They like the shark game where the shark (me) has to stay in the pool, and they can get out, but only for ten seconds at a time. Logan is the bold one. Danny and Logan’s friend Griffin are chickens. I can see Danny, as she’s still small, but Griffin’s a big kid. It appears that Logan is a bit of a sore loser as he gets a little salty when he’s the shark.
We had Armenian barbeque for dinner. They bought pre-marinated chicken and steak and skewered it along with onion and bell pepper. It was really good. They also barbequed whole tomatoes and an Anaheim pepper stuffed with goat cheese. Liz cut the top of the pepper off, stuffed it, and then used toothpicks to put the top back on to keep the cheese in. It must of come loose, because it seemed that the cheese partially leaked out. It went on the grill too and was rather good. This was all served with Liz’s margaritas which were pretty much exactly like the one’s we make, using the same mix, tequila, and grand marnier.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Disneyland
Friday, August 11, 2006
Up early to get there in time for 8am opening. Did the normal fastpass collection routine. The one odd thing was our second ride on Splash Mountain. Our first ride was normal although there were only the two of us and we were in the front. We got a little wet, but no big deal. The second ride was an entirely different story. We were again seated in the front, but this time with a family behind us. We thought this was a good thing and would help keep us dry by balancing out the boat. I guess it doesn’t work like that because we got wetter than any other time we had been on that ride. Through the ride, we got splashed on both sides fairly heavily, and then on the drop, everything else got soaked. I couldn’t believe it. Fortunately, I was wearing board shorts, but still. I had to spend the next hour or two drying out my top half. Not fun. We decided not to get a fastpass for that.
We had lunch at the new Café Orleans. We aren’t impressed. They charge the prices that used to be charged at Blue Bayou, but it has none of the atmosphere. I was competing with flies for my food. There’s no bread basket provided, the menu is very limited and overall, it just isn’t worth the prices. We had a monte-cristo, a crab sandwich, and the pommes frites appetizer. The fries were great, covered in garlic. Everything else was so-so, definitely not $15/plate food. We don’t plan on going back unless it’s just for appetizers.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel (Anaheim Inn and Suites) and took a nap. Back to the park around seven to ride a few things and then we went over to DCA to watch the Electrical Parade. We stood at the point closest to the park entrance/exit and part way through the parade, after I had my “fix,” we left and went over to Disneyland to catch the fireworks.
We stayed in the park until 11:30 or so, when we realized the lines weren’t really shrinking and decided to go get some dinner. We had checked earlier in the day, and the sign on the menu posted in the front of the menu said they were open until 1AM. We know that wasn’t accurate in the past, but we figured that since this was a Friday in high season, surely it would apply today, if ever. We were wrong. When we got there at 11:45, they told us they were closed. We questioned about the posted hours, and the guy started to say something about how it varies depending on the season, etc. He shut up when I pointed out it was a high-season Friday. Stupid people. I think I’ll write a letter to tell them to take the hours off the sign as it’s full of &@*%. If the hours weren’t posted, we would have asked and all would have been well. Instead, we got screwed.
Instead, we ended up going to the Napoli Restaurant for pizza. We each had a slice and were preparing to leave the now-closing restaurant, when the guy behind the counter asked us if we wanted free pizza as they were just going to throw it away. Thinking another slice each may be nice, we said ok. They gave us an entire large pizza! We each ate a slice and then gave the rest away to people we saw around Downtown Disney. We noticed an interesting phenomenon. Men will always take pizza. Women are apparently too bashful or afraid of looking piggish to take it, even if the men they are with eat some. So the night ended with no Margaritas, but at least the pizza was good and was an interesting experience.
Up early to get there in time for 8am opening. Did the normal fastpass collection routine. The one odd thing was our second ride on Splash Mountain. Our first ride was normal although there were only the two of us and we were in the front. We got a little wet, but no big deal. The second ride was an entirely different story. We were again seated in the front, but this time with a family behind us. We thought this was a good thing and would help keep us dry by balancing out the boat. I guess it doesn’t work like that because we got wetter than any other time we had been on that ride. Through the ride, we got splashed on both sides fairly heavily, and then on the drop, everything else got soaked. I couldn’t believe it. Fortunately, I was wearing board shorts, but still. I had to spend the next hour or two drying out my top half. Not fun. We decided not to get a fastpass for that.
We had lunch at the new Café Orleans. We aren’t impressed. They charge the prices that used to be charged at Blue Bayou, but it has none of the atmosphere. I was competing with flies for my food. There’s no bread basket provided, the menu is very limited and overall, it just isn’t worth the prices. We had a monte-cristo, a crab sandwich, and the pommes frites appetizer. The fries were great, covered in garlic. Everything else was so-so, definitely not $15/plate food. We don’t plan on going back unless it’s just for appetizers.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel (Anaheim Inn and Suites) and took a nap. Back to the park around seven to ride a few things and then we went over to DCA to watch the Electrical Parade. We stood at the point closest to the park entrance/exit and part way through the parade, after I had my “fix,” we left and went over to Disneyland to catch the fireworks.
We stayed in the park until 11:30 or so, when we realized the lines weren’t really shrinking and decided to go get some dinner. We had checked earlier in the day, and the sign on the menu posted in the front of the menu said they were open until 1AM. We know that wasn’t accurate in the past, but we figured that since this was a Friday in high season, surely it would apply today, if ever. We were wrong. When we got there at 11:45, they told us they were closed. We questioned about the posted hours, and the guy started to say something about how it varies depending on the season, etc. He shut up when I pointed out it was a high-season Friday. Stupid people. I think I’ll write a letter to tell them to take the hours off the sign as it’s full of &@*%. If the hours weren’t posted, we would have asked and all would have been well. Instead, we got screwed.
Instead, we ended up going to the Napoli Restaurant for pizza. We each had a slice and were preparing to leave the now-closing restaurant, when the guy behind the counter asked us if we wanted free pizza as they were just going to throw it away. Thinking another slice each may be nice, we said ok. They gave us an entire large pizza! We each ate a slice and then gave the rest away to people we saw around Downtown Disney. We noticed an interesting phenomenon. Men will always take pizza. Women are apparently too bashful or afraid of looking piggish to take it, even if the men they are with eat some. So the night ended with no Margaritas, but at least the pizza was good and was an interesting experience.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Disneyland
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Up at 6:30 and got to the park around 7:45 for the 8:00 opening. We were in within minutes of opening. Note, the early entry gates get changed over to normal entry at the last minute, so stay in a line next to those and be prepared to jump over. We found that out today.
First up was a fastpass to Indiana Jones and a ride on Splash Mountain. There was no line for Splash at all while Indy clogged up in a heartbeat. The line was still empty when we came around after the ride, so they let us stay in the log and go again. The family who rode with us went again too, although the mom jumped out.
Next, we got a fastpass for Splash and rode Big Thunder. Wandered around the treehouse and then used our first set of Indy fastpasses. I think we cut off about 40 minutes of waiting with that, I love fastpass.
Mike needed a coffee, so we got him one and went for a ride on the Mark Twain while he drank it. He finished it before we got off, so he went and got new fastpasses for Indy while I waited in line for the Matterhorn. We had to wait about 20 minutes in the sun. Ick. This was followed by a ride in the nice air-conditioned Small World where both of us felt as if it were putting us to sleep. So to change it up, we went to Roger Rabbit.
There was actually a line so we got to check out the queue, but about 2/3rds of the way through the ride broke. We decided to wait a little bit, and we’re glad we did. It was neat to see the process. They had to evacuate all riders and then do a restart which involved a bunch of big keys and a screen that looked like a DOS prompt. They didn’t type anything in, so hopefully it was just information. Eventually everything came back on and you could hear the people further back in the queue cheer when they saw parts of the ride turn on. They let all the cars go through once and then we could get on. We noticed that they really seemed to hurry people into the cars, and we asked about it. They say when the cars get too stacked up, that’s when the ride breaks.
We were hungry, so we headed out of the park where we picked up our tickets for Fantasmic and then went over to DCA for lunch. Taste Pilots Grill was yummy as always, and while Mike got our food, I used our tickets to get us fastpasses on Grizzly River Run and Soarin’ over California. By the time we finished eating, it was time for Grizzly. We were concerned about our stuff getting wet, so we got a bag from one of the stores and put our phones, etc in it and put that back in the backpack. We did end up getting wet, but no where near as bad as most of the other times. We probably didn’t need the plastic bag, but it’s nice not to have to worry about the phones getting fried.
The Soarin’ line was huge and the fastpasses didn’t kick in for a few hours, so we did It’s tough to be a bug and then headed back to the hotel for a nap.
We turned on the TV and found out that there was a big terror attack foiled in London and now all the airports have gone to high security. Since the plot involved liquid explosives, no one can bring liquids onto planes and in some places, they aren’t letting people take anything on. Everything must be checked. We’ve heard that no electronics are allowed in cabin, so we will likely have to buy a suitcase to get our laptop home safely. Oh well, thank heavens we flew here yesterday and not today and there were no problems yesterday (other than the purloined cherries).
After a shower and a long nap, we went back to the park and headed to the Disney Gallery for our Fantasmic! Dessert Buffet. We went into the courtyard of the gallery where at 8:30, they collected our tickets. At 8:45, they started seating, calling people in the order in which they made their reservation, so Mike’s name was called first. Our seats were in the front row all the way on the left. Very good seats. I’m sure everyone wondered what Mike had to do to be number one.
The buffet was so-so. It had chocolate cake (with surprise rum-soaked cherries), cheesecake, mini-eclaires, macaroons, cheese and crackers, and skewered fruit. They had beverages, soda, mint juleps, iced tea, etc, but there were no hot chocolate or coffee. It turns out the container/dispenser broke just before. That sucks, but basically you are told to suck it up. Fantasmic! was amazing. The view was great and the show is awesome as always. Seeing it from such a vantage point, with no crowds around made the price worth it. I wouldn’t do it all the time, but it’s great as an isolated splurge.
The other slight bummer about it was that we were supposed to be able to stay on the balcony to watch the fireworks. We waited a while and eventually heard the announcement that “due to high winds at upper elevations, tonight’s presentation of ‘wishes’ is cancelled.” It was rather entertaining to hear thousands of people all go “aww” at the same time.
Up at 6:30 and got to the park around 7:45 for the 8:00 opening. We were in within minutes of opening. Note, the early entry gates get changed over to normal entry at the last minute, so stay in a line next to those and be prepared to jump over. We found that out today.
First up was a fastpass to Indiana Jones and a ride on Splash Mountain. There was no line for Splash at all while Indy clogged up in a heartbeat. The line was still empty when we came around after the ride, so they let us stay in the log and go again. The family who rode with us went again too, although the mom jumped out.
Next, we got a fastpass for Splash and rode Big Thunder. Wandered around the treehouse and then used our first set of Indy fastpasses. I think we cut off about 40 minutes of waiting with that, I love fastpass.
Mike needed a coffee, so we got him one and went for a ride on the Mark Twain while he drank it. He finished it before we got off, so he went and got new fastpasses for Indy while I waited in line for the Matterhorn. We had to wait about 20 minutes in the sun. Ick. This was followed by a ride in the nice air-conditioned Small World where both of us felt as if it were putting us to sleep. So to change it up, we went to Roger Rabbit.
There was actually a line so we got to check out the queue, but about 2/3rds of the way through the ride broke. We decided to wait a little bit, and we’re glad we did. It was neat to see the process. They had to evacuate all riders and then do a restart which involved a bunch of big keys and a screen that looked like a DOS prompt. They didn’t type anything in, so hopefully it was just information. Eventually everything came back on and you could hear the people further back in the queue cheer when they saw parts of the ride turn on. They let all the cars go through once and then we could get on. We noticed that they really seemed to hurry people into the cars, and we asked about it. They say when the cars get too stacked up, that’s when the ride breaks.
We were hungry, so we headed out of the park where we picked up our tickets for Fantasmic and then went over to DCA for lunch. Taste Pilots Grill was yummy as always, and while Mike got our food, I used our tickets to get us fastpasses on Grizzly River Run and Soarin’ over California. By the time we finished eating, it was time for Grizzly. We were concerned about our stuff getting wet, so we got a bag from one of the stores and put our phones, etc in it and put that back in the backpack. We did end up getting wet, but no where near as bad as most of the other times. We probably didn’t need the plastic bag, but it’s nice not to have to worry about the phones getting fried.
The Soarin’ line was huge and the fastpasses didn’t kick in for a few hours, so we did It’s tough to be a bug and then headed back to the hotel for a nap.
We turned on the TV and found out that there was a big terror attack foiled in London and now all the airports have gone to high security. Since the plot involved liquid explosives, no one can bring liquids onto planes and in some places, they aren’t letting people take anything on. Everything must be checked. We’ve heard that no electronics are allowed in cabin, so we will likely have to buy a suitcase to get our laptop home safely. Oh well, thank heavens we flew here yesterday and not today and there were no problems yesterday (other than the purloined cherries).
After a shower and a long nap, we went back to the park and headed to the Disney Gallery for our Fantasmic! Dessert Buffet. We went into the courtyard of the gallery where at 8:30, they collected our tickets. At 8:45, they started seating, calling people in the order in which they made their reservation, so Mike’s name was called first. Our seats were in the front row all the way on the left. Very good seats. I’m sure everyone wondered what Mike had to do to be number one.
The buffet was so-so. It had chocolate cake (with surprise rum-soaked cherries), cheesecake, mini-eclaires, macaroons, cheese and crackers, and skewered fruit. They had beverages, soda, mint juleps, iced tea, etc, but there were no hot chocolate or coffee. It turns out the container/dispenser broke just before. That sucks, but basically you are told to suck it up. Fantasmic! was amazing. The view was great and the show is awesome as always. Seeing it from such a vantage point, with no crowds around made the price worth it. I wouldn’t do it all the time, but it’s great as an isolated splurge.
The other slight bummer about it was that we were supposed to be able to stay on the balcony to watch the fireworks. We waited a while and eventually heard the announcement that “due to high winds at upper elevations, tonight’s presentation of ‘wishes’ is cancelled.” It was rather entertaining to hear thousands of people all go “aww” at the same time.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Vancouver, Disneyland
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Got up at 7 for an 8:15 bus to the airport. It was a shuttle that comes right in front of the hotel next door. We were led to believe by the brochure that it took half an hour from there to the airport. When they bus finally arrived, 10 minutes late, the driver took us about five blocks away and dropped us off on Robson street, right in front of where a couple of homeless people were hanging out. Lovely! She said that she just takes people to where the main bus picks them up and a large green bus should be coming shortly. The only other girl who was on our bus made a comment about being told that it was a fifty minute trip from her hotel which was about ten minutes from ours.
We were a little ticked at this point and spotted a taxi. Since we hadn’t yet paid the shuttle company ($13/head), we hopped in the taxi. Just before that, while Mike was talking with the taxi driver, some homeless guy hit me up for money. Just where I want to be stranded! So I bolted for the cab when Mike waved me over, and we were on our way. 15 minutes and $30 later, including tip, we were at the airport. Good decision. We offered to the other girl to share our taxi, but I guess she had already paid, so she said no. Too bad for her. I hope no one bothered her and she caught her plane ok.
At the airport, we did all the standard stuff to get in, and then we had to go through customs where some nasty woman took our cherries. We didn’t mind if she wouldn’t let us go further with them, but she wouldn’t let us retreat to eat a few either. She said once we got that far, it was too late and she walked off with them. It’s not like we hid them or anything, we told her about them. We asked if we could eat just one because they were really good, but no deal. So we told her she should eat them. I bet she just threw them away. At least she let me keep my apricot.
So, we ate our breakfast, sans cherries in the airport and eventually got on our plane. It was a 180 minute flight, and it went by quickly. We read a magazine, did a crossword and some sodukus and then we were landing. Everything else went very smoothly. Got our bags, the Dollar rent-a-car bus was right at the curb when we went out and there was almost no wait to get our car. We plotted our route (the directions I got from Dollar were faulty it turned out) and drove to Disneyland.
At the hotel, it was after 4, so no worries about checking in. Our room is decent. A King bed and a decent size. The air conditioner is pretty strong too, thank goodness, because it’s hot outside. Probably high 80’s. We made a Costco run, and then went into the park about 7.
Rode the newly redone Pirates of the Caribbean and it was ok. Really just a few changes. I kind of preferred the old one, but I can see why people would expect to see references to the movie in the ride now.
We also rode the Jungle cruise, which was really fun. We had a high energy guide which really impressed me because it really seemed like it was her first run of the day when she surely had done many before that.
We tried to hit Big Thunder, but half-way through the line, the ride broke down so we bailed on that. After wandering around a bit, we got some ice cream, watched the piano guy for a while, and went home.
Got up at 7 for an 8:15 bus to the airport. It was a shuttle that comes right in front of the hotel next door. We were led to believe by the brochure that it took half an hour from there to the airport. When they bus finally arrived, 10 minutes late, the driver took us about five blocks away and dropped us off on Robson street, right in front of where a couple of homeless people were hanging out. Lovely! She said that she just takes people to where the main bus picks them up and a large green bus should be coming shortly. The only other girl who was on our bus made a comment about being told that it was a fifty minute trip from her hotel which was about ten minutes from ours.
We were a little ticked at this point and spotted a taxi. Since we hadn’t yet paid the shuttle company ($13/head), we hopped in the taxi. Just before that, while Mike was talking with the taxi driver, some homeless guy hit me up for money. Just where I want to be stranded! So I bolted for the cab when Mike waved me over, and we were on our way. 15 minutes and $30 later, including tip, we were at the airport. Good decision. We offered to the other girl to share our taxi, but I guess she had already paid, so she said no. Too bad for her. I hope no one bothered her and she caught her plane ok.
At the airport, we did all the standard stuff to get in, and then we had to go through customs where some nasty woman took our cherries. We didn’t mind if she wouldn’t let us go further with them, but she wouldn’t let us retreat to eat a few either. She said once we got that far, it was too late and she walked off with them. It’s not like we hid them or anything, we told her about them. We asked if we could eat just one because they were really good, but no deal. So we told her she should eat them. I bet she just threw them away. At least she let me keep my apricot.
So, we ate our breakfast, sans cherries in the airport and eventually got on our plane. It was a 180 minute flight, and it went by quickly. We read a magazine, did a crossword and some sodukus and then we were landing. Everything else went very smoothly. Got our bags, the Dollar rent-a-car bus was right at the curb when we went out and there was almost no wait to get our car. We plotted our route (the directions I got from Dollar were faulty it turned out) and drove to Disneyland.
At the hotel, it was after 4, so no worries about checking in. Our room is decent. A King bed and a decent size. The air conditioner is pretty strong too, thank goodness, because it’s hot outside. Probably high 80’s. We made a Costco run, and then went into the park about 7.
Rode the newly redone Pirates of the Caribbean and it was ok. Really just a few changes. I kind of preferred the old one, but I can see why people would expect to see references to the movie in the ride now.
We also rode the Jungle cruise, which was really fun. We had a high energy guide which really impressed me because it really seemed like it was her first run of the day when she surely had done many before that.
We tried to hit Big Thunder, but half-way through the line, the ride broke down so we bailed on that. After wandering around a bit, we got some ice cream, watched the piano guy for a while, and went home.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Vancouver
Tuesday, August 8. 2006
This was our last full day in Vancouver, so we made the most of it. We got up early and caught the first “Big Bus” to Granville Island to eat breakfast. The bus was about 15 minutes late, so we weren’t too happy with that as we could have slept later.
After Granville, we caught the Big Bus over to Stanley Park where we went to the Vancouver Aquarium. We spent about three hours there. It was interesting, and some parts were extremely well done, but it’s not like the Monterey Bay Aquarium where we spent all day. A lot of fish would have a name posted, but no other information. Since we like to read the signs, it was a little disappointing.
The highlights were the Beluga Whales, the Amazon Tropics area, and of course, the Sea Otters. I could have watched the otters all day. When we first got there, they were sleeping and two were side by side and looking like they were holding hands. Later, they were all awake and playing, chasing each other around and wrestling. The Belugas were neat in that we could go below and watch them through a big glass wall. It’s surprising how much blubber is on those. You can see the fat jiggle around while they swim. It’s fascinating and somewhat revolting at the same time.
After we left the (very crowded) aquarium, we caught the Stanley Park trolley around the park. It’s a free trolley and mostly goes around the perimeter. We got off at “Sequoia Grill at the Teahouse” which was mentioned in one of Rachel Ray’s shows. We couldn’t remember which show “$40/Day” or “Tasty Travels” but after looking at the menu, we were pretty sure it wasn’t $40/Day. Rather pricy, also, as it turned out, they were only serving drinks at that time (4pm) and they wouldn’t start serving food until 5. The girl at the reception area said “What do you expect? We’re just a restaurant.” Meaning, in jest, how dare we be surprised that there’s no food.
The last Big Bus to Granville was just past 4, and we knew we missed that, but we figured if we caught the next one, and jumped off at stop 17, then walked over to stop 5, we may be able to catch the one from before. We told the driver our plans and he radioed ahead for another bus to hold up as he was almost on their tail and since he was running early, he would have to sit at a stop for a while and ruin our chances. So at one stop, we hopped off that one and onto another. Then that driver radioed the bus we needed to catch at stop 5 and warned him that we, and two other people, wanted to catch it. It all worked out because we got off that bus near the art academy, hurried around the corner, and within a minute or two, the last bus to Granville came around the corner. Yay! It was all rather exciting and we were very happy it all worked out.
We got to Granville at 5, and had reservations for the Pacific Cooking Academy at 7. We wandered around and picked up some bread, cheese, pastries, cherries, and an apricot for tomorrow’s breakfast. By 6:30, we were tired, so we went by the academy to see if they could take us, and they did. Dinner was nice, but more expensive than I would expect, just like everything else in Vancouver seems to be.
After a three course dinner, we caught the #50 city bus back home where we packed everything up for tomorrow’s flight to LA and went to sleep. Around 3:30 in the morning, I was awakened by the sound of someone using the shared bathroom. No biggie, but through the power of suggestion, I soon had to go. After waiting for what seemed like forever, I never heard a flush or the sound of their door shutting. I finally checked for a light under the bathroom door. Seeing no light, I unbolted our door. No shriek or sound from the other side, so I reached my hand in and turned on the light. Still nothing, so I stuck my head in and while there was no-one there, the door to the other room was wide open and the toilet was unflushed. Aaaahh, and ewww.
I quickly pushed their door shut, went in and locked everything up. A few moments later, I heard them bolt their door. I hope they were embarrassed. How they could forget that the bathroom was shared is beyond me, but I’m sure they remembered after that.
This was our last full day in Vancouver, so we made the most of it. We got up early and caught the first “Big Bus” to Granville Island to eat breakfast. The bus was about 15 minutes late, so we weren’t too happy with that as we could have slept later.
After Granville, we caught the Big Bus over to Stanley Park where we went to the Vancouver Aquarium. We spent about three hours there. It was interesting, and some parts were extremely well done, but it’s not like the Monterey Bay Aquarium where we spent all day. A lot of fish would have a name posted, but no other information. Since we like to read the signs, it was a little disappointing.
The highlights were the Beluga Whales, the Amazon Tropics area, and of course, the Sea Otters. I could have watched the otters all day. When we first got there, they were sleeping and two were side by side and looking like they were holding hands. Later, they were all awake and playing, chasing each other around and wrestling. The Belugas were neat in that we could go below and watch them through a big glass wall. It’s surprising how much blubber is on those. You can see the fat jiggle around while they swim. It’s fascinating and somewhat revolting at the same time.
After we left the (very crowded) aquarium, we caught the Stanley Park trolley around the park. It’s a free trolley and mostly goes around the perimeter. We got off at “Sequoia Grill at the Teahouse” which was mentioned in one of Rachel Ray’s shows. We couldn’t remember which show “$40/Day” or “Tasty Travels” but after looking at the menu, we were pretty sure it wasn’t $40/Day. Rather pricy, also, as it turned out, they were only serving drinks at that time (4pm) and they wouldn’t start serving food until 5. The girl at the reception area said “What do you expect? We’re just a restaurant.” Meaning, in jest, how dare we be surprised that there’s no food.
The last Big Bus to Granville was just past 4, and we knew we missed that, but we figured if we caught the next one, and jumped off at stop 17, then walked over to stop 5, we may be able to catch the one from before. We told the driver our plans and he radioed ahead for another bus to hold up as he was almost on their tail and since he was running early, he would have to sit at a stop for a while and ruin our chances. So at one stop, we hopped off that one and onto another. Then that driver radioed the bus we needed to catch at stop 5 and warned him that we, and two other people, wanted to catch it. It all worked out because we got off that bus near the art academy, hurried around the corner, and within a minute or two, the last bus to Granville came around the corner. Yay! It was all rather exciting and we were very happy it all worked out.
We got to Granville at 5, and had reservations for the Pacific Cooking Academy at 7. We wandered around and picked up some bread, cheese, pastries, cherries, and an apricot for tomorrow’s breakfast. By 6:30, we were tired, so we went by the academy to see if they could take us, and they did. Dinner was nice, but more expensive than I would expect, just like everything else in Vancouver seems to be.
After a three course dinner, we caught the #50 city bus back home where we packed everything up for tomorrow’s flight to LA and went to sleep. Around 3:30 in the morning, I was awakened by the sound of someone using the shared bathroom. No biggie, but through the power of suggestion, I soon had to go. After waiting for what seemed like forever, I never heard a flush or the sound of their door shutting. I finally checked for a light under the bathroom door. Seeing no light, I unbolted our door. No shriek or sound from the other side, so I reached my hand in and turned on the light. Still nothing, so I stuck my head in and while there was no-one there, the door to the other room was wide open and the toilet was unflushed. Aaaahh, and ewww.
I quickly pushed their door shut, went in and locked everything up. A few moments later, I heard them bolt their door. I hope they were embarrassed. How they could forget that the bathroom was shared is beyond me, but I’m sure they remembered after that.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Vancouver
Monday, August 7, 2006
We didn’t leave the hotel until almost noon because we had so much sleep to catch up on. We stopped at Starbucks and then bought tickets for the “Big Bus, hop-on, hop-off bus tour.” The tickets are good for two days and the busses hit all the major tourist attractions. We plan on this being our main mode of transportation for our stay.
Our first stop was Granville Island where we looked in many of the shops, wandered the public market, and had dinner. We also watched some of the musical entertainment and saw dozens of sailboats motoring by. The weather yesterday and today has been beautiful. Warm and sunny. It’s a far cry from the first day that we were here a week ago.
We spent all day there and finally caught the last tour bus home at 5:00. It took about an hour, but it has a recorded dialog and was scenic, also since the weather was nice and the bus was open-topped, we were happy.
Back at the hotel, we took a nap and then went for a walk down Robson street (the shopping street) and eventually stopped at a Thai restaurant for dinner. We got the two-person prix-fixe menu which was quite good, although my Margarita left something to be desired. We took the left-overs back to the hotel as we have a fridge and there’s a kitchen for us to heat it up in.
We didn’t leave the hotel until almost noon because we had so much sleep to catch up on. We stopped at Starbucks and then bought tickets for the “Big Bus, hop-on, hop-off bus tour.” The tickets are good for two days and the busses hit all the major tourist attractions. We plan on this being our main mode of transportation for our stay.
Our first stop was Granville Island where we looked in many of the shops, wandered the public market, and had dinner. We also watched some of the musical entertainment and saw dozens of sailboats motoring by. The weather yesterday and today has been beautiful. Warm and sunny. It’s a far cry from the first day that we were here a week ago.
We spent all day there and finally caught the last tour bus home at 5:00. It took about an hour, but it has a recorded dialog and was scenic, also since the weather was nice and the bus was open-topped, we were happy.
Back at the hotel, we took a nap and then went for a walk down Robson street (the shopping street) and eventually stopped at a Thai restaurant for dinner. We got the two-person prix-fixe menu which was quite good, although my Margarita left something to be desired. We took the left-overs back to the hotel as we have a fridge and there’s a kitchen for us to heat it up in.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
End of cruise, Vancouver
Sunday, August 6, 2006
We got up at 7:15, got dressed, and by 7:45, we were out of our room, never to return. They needed us out by 8, and the breakfast places closed at 8:30, so we had to get moving although we would have rather slept in. In turns out all the haste was for naught for us though. We docked at 8:45 and our disembarkation time wasn’t until 10:45. They were running late because we weren’t actually let off the boat until 11:30ish, so we found a quiet corner and slept for a few hours after breakfast (waffles, yum).
After our tag was called (Purple, 12), we were off the boat inside of 10 minutes. Customs was a non-event and we soon found our bags. A staff member asked us if we were planning on catching a taxi. We replied that we were, and she pointed at an enormous line and said that was the line for taxis and it would take about an hour and a half. Then she offered salvation, she told us that since we didn’t have much stuff, we may want to consider going past the bus docks and up a ramp to the main street level. She said hardly anyone will be there and it will be easy for us to catch a cab.
We had nothing to lose, so we started to follow her advice. Near the bus area, we ran into Aunty Miki and the rest of family who all got off before us due to their 2pm flight. We said our goodbyes and went on our way. We owe that staff member a huge thanks as her advice was right on. Inside of five minutes we had a taxi and about 10 minutes and 10 dollars after that, we pulled up to our hotel, the YWCA Hotel on Beatty street.
The hotel is great! While simple, it’s clean and not ickily pretentious as that Howard Johnsons we stayed at our first day in Vancouver. We checked in, and got the ymca member discount without even showing our card as “I have an honest face.” We dropped our stuff off and headed to Chinatown where we encountered a festival.
We wandered amongst the stalls, watched a bit of entertainment and eventually stumbled on a walking tour that was about to start. For five dollars each, we got a 45 minute tour where we got a little bit of Chinatown history and sampled some food. We tried Chicken wings at a Vietnamese restaurant, had a formal Chinese tea in a tea shop, and a pork dumpling (manapua) and another roll that I can’t remember. A great deal overall. Our guide’s name was Ken, and along with another participant, John, a native of Vancouver, we were the first people they had take the walking tour all day.
Some of the highlights, besides the food, and the really cool tea experience, were the world’s narrowest building at 1.8 meters (~6 feet) wide and the Chinese Benevolent society. I got a kick out of the Wong Benevolent Society in that in order for then to help you, you had to be of Chinese ancestry with the last name of Wong. There was another group for a different last name across the street and nearby was the generic Chinese one that we went in to.
We went back to the hotel for a bit and got our coats as it was starting to get dark, and then we headed to Gastown. This was a mistake. Gastown seems like nothing more than a tourist trap. Lots of stores selling kitchy stuff and overpriced restaurants. Besides being pretty and having the “musical” steam clock, there isn’t much else there. The real problem is that it’s near the main “druggie” street. I guess all the services for drug addicts are nearby and the police don’t bother with them, so they come down to the area where all the tourists with money are and accost them for money. It gets tiring to see people coming that are all strung out and determined to hit you up for money. One or two isn’t a big issue, but they’re everywhere. So we beat it out of there fairly quickly and took tour-guide Ken’s recommendation and tried a Chinese restaurant on the third floor of the mall we started the tour in. It’s obviously designed for large groups/family style, but we still enjoyed what we got. I gather that there was wedding in the other half of the large divided hall, so we got to listen to some Chinese karaoke.
After leaving the restaurant, we got dessert in the ongoing festival downstairs. We ordered a skewer of chocolate covered strawberries. They had the strawberries already skewered and sitting in a container. A young girl, about 10 years old, picked one up, and headed over to a chocolate fountain. She paused and asked if I wanted to do it myself. Sure! So she told me to spin it as I put it in and pulled it out, then to shake it off. She held up a small container for me to put it in and then asked if I wanted a white chocolate drizzle on top (also sprinkles, but I said no to that). She then repeated the whole process with Mike. The whole time, her parents were watching her every move and they looked sooo proud. I got a kick out of it. She did a great job.
We got up at 7:15, got dressed, and by 7:45, we were out of our room, never to return. They needed us out by 8, and the breakfast places closed at 8:30, so we had to get moving although we would have rather slept in. In turns out all the haste was for naught for us though. We docked at 8:45 and our disembarkation time wasn’t until 10:45. They were running late because we weren’t actually let off the boat until 11:30ish, so we found a quiet corner and slept for a few hours after breakfast (waffles, yum).
After our tag was called (Purple, 12), we were off the boat inside of 10 minutes. Customs was a non-event and we soon found our bags. A staff member asked us if we were planning on catching a taxi. We replied that we were, and she pointed at an enormous line and said that was the line for taxis and it would take about an hour and a half. Then she offered salvation, she told us that since we didn’t have much stuff, we may want to consider going past the bus docks and up a ramp to the main street level. She said hardly anyone will be there and it will be easy for us to catch a cab.
We had nothing to lose, so we started to follow her advice. Near the bus area, we ran into Aunty Miki and the rest of family who all got off before us due to their 2pm flight. We said our goodbyes and went on our way. We owe that staff member a huge thanks as her advice was right on. Inside of five minutes we had a taxi and about 10 minutes and 10 dollars after that, we pulled up to our hotel, the YWCA Hotel on Beatty street.
The hotel is great! While simple, it’s clean and not ickily pretentious as that Howard Johnsons we stayed at our first day in Vancouver. We checked in, and got the ymca member discount without even showing our card as “I have an honest face.” We dropped our stuff off and headed to Chinatown where we encountered a festival.
We wandered amongst the stalls, watched a bit of entertainment and eventually stumbled on a walking tour that was about to start. For five dollars each, we got a 45 minute tour where we got a little bit of Chinatown history and sampled some food. We tried Chicken wings at a Vietnamese restaurant, had a formal Chinese tea in a tea shop, and a pork dumpling (manapua) and another roll that I can’t remember. A great deal overall. Our guide’s name was Ken, and along with another participant, John, a native of Vancouver, we were the first people they had take the walking tour all day.
Some of the highlights, besides the food, and the really cool tea experience, were the world’s narrowest building at 1.8 meters (~6 feet) wide and the Chinese Benevolent society. I got a kick out of the Wong Benevolent Society in that in order for then to help you, you had to be of Chinese ancestry with the last name of Wong. There was another group for a different last name across the street and nearby was the generic Chinese one that we went in to.
We went back to the hotel for a bit and got our coats as it was starting to get dark, and then we headed to Gastown. This was a mistake. Gastown seems like nothing more than a tourist trap. Lots of stores selling kitchy stuff and overpriced restaurants. Besides being pretty and having the “musical” steam clock, there isn’t much else there. The real problem is that it’s near the main “druggie” street. I guess all the services for drug addicts are nearby and the police don’t bother with them, so they come down to the area where all the tourists with money are and accost them for money. It gets tiring to see people coming that are all strung out and determined to hit you up for money. One or two isn’t a big issue, but they’re everywhere. So we beat it out of there fairly quickly and took tour-guide Ken’s recommendation and tried a Chinese restaurant on the third floor of the mall we started the tour in. It’s obviously designed for large groups/family style, but we still enjoyed what we got. I gather that there was wedding in the other half of the large divided hall, so we got to listen to some Chinese karaoke.
After leaving the restaurant, we got dessert in the ongoing festival downstairs. We ordered a skewer of chocolate covered strawberries. They had the strawberries already skewered and sitting in a container. A young girl, about 10 years old, picked one up, and headed over to a chocolate fountain. She paused and asked if I wanted to do it myself. Sure! So she told me to spin it as I put it in and pulled it out, then to shake it off. She held up a small container for me to put it in and then asked if I wanted a white chocolate drizzle on top (also sprinkles, but I said no to that). She then repeated the whole process with Mike. The whole time, her parents were watching her every move and they looked sooo proud. I got a kick out of it. She did a great job.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Alaska Cruise Day 7
Saturday, August 5, 2006
Today is the last full day of the cruise, and it’s a cruising day, so we just slept in until 10 or so when we got up in time to get ready and go to the “disembarkation talk” given by activities director Eric at 11. The rest of the day just floated by. Mostly we sat on the balcony watching the scenery, packed up, ate, and worked out. We saw quite a bit of wildlife today. We were eating lunch in the buffet when Nicole, Conrad, and Lana joined us. Nicole spotted some dolphins and we all watched those until they went away. While we stood there talking, I spotted a humpback whale. We all got a pretty good view of it, we even saw the underside of its tail, which was huge. We waited for it to come up again, but we were sailing into a fog bank and soon we weren’t able to see much of anything at all. Later on, while sitting on our balcony, Mike and I saw Orcas. Quite a few, mostly in packs. So now, we’ve seen at least glimpses of all the animals I was hoping for. Well, except otters, but I’ve seen those before.
We ended the day with the last of the two formal dinners. The food was ok, but it seemed to have declined as the trip went on. What was funny though, was that since Mike and I missed the last two dinners due to our shore excursions, everyone was asking us where we’ve been, etc. Even Nester, our waiter (Nestor Molina) commented on our absence. We had lobster for the entrée, and it was ok, but slightly overdone.
We had already taken care of the gratuities (the recommended amounts, plus an extra 40 each for Nestor and Meriam, and an extra 10 for the assistant waiter), so we thanked Nestor for the wonderful job he did, and eventually I did the same for Meriam. One interesting thing that she said was “Thank you for being so nice to me.” That seems like an odd thing to say, but I really did make an effort to be friendly with her. I wonder how other people treat the staff.
Since tomorrow is the end of the cruise, we bundled up and sat on the balcony to finish off our wine. The two bottles we brought on turned out to be just right. We took our time and after the last drop was gone, reluctantly went inside to take care of things. We laid out our clothes for tomorrow, packed and labeled our bags and put them outside the door. It seems strange to leave your things in the hall like that, but that’s what they tell you to do. We turned out the lights after midnight.
Today is the last full day of the cruise, and it’s a cruising day, so we just slept in until 10 or so when we got up in time to get ready and go to the “disembarkation talk” given by activities director Eric at 11. The rest of the day just floated by. Mostly we sat on the balcony watching the scenery, packed up, ate, and worked out. We saw quite a bit of wildlife today. We were eating lunch in the buffet when Nicole, Conrad, and Lana joined us. Nicole spotted some dolphins and we all watched those until they went away. While we stood there talking, I spotted a humpback whale. We all got a pretty good view of it, we even saw the underside of its tail, which was huge. We waited for it to come up again, but we were sailing into a fog bank and soon we weren’t able to see much of anything at all. Later on, while sitting on our balcony, Mike and I saw Orcas. Quite a few, mostly in packs. So now, we’ve seen at least glimpses of all the animals I was hoping for. Well, except otters, but I’ve seen those before.
We ended the day with the last of the two formal dinners. The food was ok, but it seemed to have declined as the trip went on. What was funny though, was that since Mike and I missed the last two dinners due to our shore excursions, everyone was asking us where we’ve been, etc. Even Nester, our waiter (Nestor Molina) commented on our absence. We had lobster for the entrée, and it was ok, but slightly overdone.
We had already taken care of the gratuities (the recommended amounts, plus an extra 40 each for Nestor and Meriam, and an extra 10 for the assistant waiter), so we thanked Nestor for the wonderful job he did, and eventually I did the same for Meriam. One interesting thing that she said was “Thank you for being so nice to me.” That seems like an odd thing to say, but I really did make an effort to be friendly with her. I wonder how other people treat the staff.
Since tomorrow is the end of the cruise, we bundled up and sat on the balcony to finish off our wine. The two bottles we brought on turned out to be just right. We took our time and after the last drop was gone, reluctantly went inside to take care of things. We laid out our clothes for tomorrow, packed and labeled our bags and put them outside the door. It seems strange to leave your things in the hall like that, but that’s what they tell you to do. We turned out the lights after midnight.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Alaska Cruise Day 6
Friday, August 4, 2006
Today, we arrived in Ketchikan at 2. Our shore excursion tickets said 11am, but since we didn’t arrive at 2, we were a little confused. After wandering around in the masses for a bit, looking for someone holding a sign with “Best of Alaska, Orca Cove Kayaking”, we finally found a pay phone and called them. It turned out that our tour was really scheduled for 3:30 and someone would be over shortly to meet us. When we left the phones and headed back to the dock, sure enough, a teen-age girl was there holding a kayaking paddle and the sign that we were looking for.
We were the only people she was picking up, so we walked back to the shop right away. The shop was about a five minute walk away (she hit at least one hanging store sign along the way with the paddle). At the shop, they took our jackets and had us put on water pants and jackets along with pfds. While getting ready, two other people, a mother and son (Olga and Mike) joined us. We also had the mother of the guide, who would meet us on the boat at the cove. With that, we got in a small speed boat and were soon zooming our to orca’s cove.
After about a ten minute fast and bumpy ride, we pulled up to a larger boat moored in a cove with a number of kayaks on lines floating out behind it. We were transferred to the larger boat where we met our guide, yet another Mike. So we have three women, and three men, and all the men are named Mike.
They gave us water skirts to put on which are used to seal water out of the kayak. I got in first, and since Mike was the “captain,” the one who had control of the rudder, he got in the back seat of our two-person kayak. We paddled around a bit while waiting for the other two kayaks to get ready.
I think we were on the water for about three hours, in that time, we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife (just salmon, starfish, ducks, and seagulls), but loads of absolutely beautiful scenery. Lots of little coves and inlets which were quiet and serene. Pretty much the whole time we were out there, there was a gentle drizzle. It makes it hard to take pictures, but it does look pretty. As long as we kept moving, it wasn’t too cold, but I did notice that when we were done, my hands didn’t want to straighten out and they just felt like ice.
On the boat, there was a nice surprise. They had set out a spread of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, crackers, and hot chocolate. We all sat in the wheel house and chowed down. It was heaven, just the right way to end the trip. There’s a funny story about the salmon that the tour company owner told us. Apparently, he’s friends with the owner of the salmon company and was selling his cans on the boat. The cans had the label of the salmon owner and soon, people from all over the place were calling him to get more after having gotten some on the boat. I guess he made the salmon more as a hobby, not as a full-blown commercial business, and he didn’t like getting calls directly from consumers, so they made a different label specifically for the tour company.
The weather was taking a turn for the worse, and they needed us to go lest the fog create problems, so we were soon ushered back to the little boat and blazing home. The lady who drives the small boat, Kim, brought along her little dog who’s some type of mutt. She says he always wants to come, but hates it while the boat is really going, specifically when the boat hits waves or wakes and gets really rough. Yet, when we pulled into the dock and the doors were opened, he ran straight to the front of the boat to watch us pull in. A different type of hood ornament.
Back at the store, we returned to our normal gear and took a walk around Ketchikan. Along the way, we looked across the street and saw the Ketchikan fire station with two guys hanging out in front. We walked over and Mike introduced himself as a fellow fire fighter. They let us go in and see their trucks, including a ’26 SeaGrave. They also took us upstairs where they gave Mike some patches in a self-addressed envelope so he can send them some of his. Mike also bought a T-shirt. We all talked story for a bit and we eventually went on our way. Just as we were leaving, the ambulance got a call and Mike took a picture of the station and the ambulance as it was leaving.
We continued our way to Creek Street, buildings built to hang right over the water. Along the way, we came to the site where the ambulance had gone (an injury of some sort) and the fire truck pulled up, so Mike took a picture of the truck too. Creek street was once where the bordellos were, many years ago. There were ladies with names like Dolly and Blind Polly. Now, it’s a tourist area with quaint shops and restaurants. Unfortunately, it was after 8 and everything was closed, so we took a few pictures, saw a seal or two, and made our way back to the boat in time for the 9:15PM final boarding.
Obviously, we had missed dinner, so we decided to wait for the special, one-night-only, midnight buffet! We thought we couldn’t wait that long, so we placed a room-service order which never showed. It was just as well as it turned out we weren’t that hungry after all. So at 12:15AM we joined the masses to go stuff our faces. I don’t understand what all the fuss was about, we both thought it was highly overrated. Yes, there are ice-sculptures, and things are nicely presented, but people are pigs, and unless you were one of the first in line, everything was more or less demolished.
The food was basically appetizers, or pupus, while Mike and I were looking for a proper dinner. I took some things, but most of it was rather tasteless, so I didn’t eat much. We also made the fatal mistake of not getting dessert right away. It turns out that items, once gone, are not replenished. When we went to the dessert table, most trays were empty, and those that were still there, didn’t appeal to me, both in what they were and in that they looked rather handled. So we skipped dessert and just went back to our rooms and back to bed.
Today, we arrived in Ketchikan at 2. Our shore excursion tickets said 11am, but since we didn’t arrive at 2, we were a little confused. After wandering around in the masses for a bit, looking for someone holding a sign with “Best of Alaska, Orca Cove Kayaking”, we finally found a pay phone and called them. It turned out that our tour was really scheduled for 3:30 and someone would be over shortly to meet us. When we left the phones and headed back to the dock, sure enough, a teen-age girl was there holding a kayaking paddle and the sign that we were looking for.
We were the only people she was picking up, so we walked back to the shop right away. The shop was about a five minute walk away (she hit at least one hanging store sign along the way with the paddle). At the shop, they took our jackets and had us put on water pants and jackets along with pfds. While getting ready, two other people, a mother and son (Olga and Mike) joined us. We also had the mother of the guide, who would meet us on the boat at the cove. With that, we got in a small speed boat and were soon zooming our to orca’s cove.
After about a ten minute fast and bumpy ride, we pulled up to a larger boat moored in a cove with a number of kayaks on lines floating out behind it. We were transferred to the larger boat where we met our guide, yet another Mike. So we have three women, and three men, and all the men are named Mike.
They gave us water skirts to put on which are used to seal water out of the kayak. I got in first, and since Mike was the “captain,” the one who had control of the rudder, he got in the back seat of our two-person kayak. We paddled around a bit while waiting for the other two kayaks to get ready.
I think we were on the water for about three hours, in that time, we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife (just salmon, starfish, ducks, and seagulls), but loads of absolutely beautiful scenery. Lots of little coves and inlets which were quiet and serene. Pretty much the whole time we were out there, there was a gentle drizzle. It makes it hard to take pictures, but it does look pretty. As long as we kept moving, it wasn’t too cold, but I did notice that when we were done, my hands didn’t want to straighten out and they just felt like ice.
On the boat, there was a nice surprise. They had set out a spread of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, crackers, and hot chocolate. We all sat in the wheel house and chowed down. It was heaven, just the right way to end the trip. There’s a funny story about the salmon that the tour company owner told us. Apparently, he’s friends with the owner of the salmon company and was selling his cans on the boat. The cans had the label of the salmon owner and soon, people from all over the place were calling him to get more after having gotten some on the boat. I guess he made the salmon more as a hobby, not as a full-blown commercial business, and he didn’t like getting calls directly from consumers, so they made a different label specifically for the tour company.
The weather was taking a turn for the worse, and they needed us to go lest the fog create problems, so we were soon ushered back to the little boat and blazing home. The lady who drives the small boat, Kim, brought along her little dog who’s some type of mutt. She says he always wants to come, but hates it while the boat is really going, specifically when the boat hits waves or wakes and gets really rough. Yet, when we pulled into the dock and the doors were opened, he ran straight to the front of the boat to watch us pull in. A different type of hood ornament.
Back at the store, we returned to our normal gear and took a walk around Ketchikan. Along the way, we looked across the street and saw the Ketchikan fire station with two guys hanging out in front. We walked over and Mike introduced himself as a fellow fire fighter. They let us go in and see their trucks, including a ’26 SeaGrave. They also took us upstairs where they gave Mike some patches in a self-addressed envelope so he can send them some of his. Mike also bought a T-shirt. We all talked story for a bit and we eventually went on our way. Just as we were leaving, the ambulance got a call and Mike took a picture of the station and the ambulance as it was leaving.
We continued our way to Creek Street, buildings built to hang right over the water. Along the way, we came to the site where the ambulance had gone (an injury of some sort) and the fire truck pulled up, so Mike took a picture of the truck too. Creek street was once where the bordellos were, many years ago. There were ladies with names like Dolly and Blind Polly. Now, it’s a tourist area with quaint shops and restaurants. Unfortunately, it was after 8 and everything was closed, so we took a few pictures, saw a seal or two, and made our way back to the boat in time for the 9:15PM final boarding.
Obviously, we had missed dinner, so we decided to wait for the special, one-night-only, midnight buffet! We thought we couldn’t wait that long, so we placed a room-service order which never showed. It was just as well as it turned out we weren’t that hungry after all. So at 12:15AM we joined the masses to go stuff our faces. I don’t understand what all the fuss was about, we both thought it was highly overrated. Yes, there are ice-sculptures, and things are nicely presented, but people are pigs, and unless you were one of the first in line, everything was more or less demolished.
The food was basically appetizers, or pupus, while Mike and I were looking for a proper dinner. I took some things, but most of it was rather tasteless, so I didn’t eat much. We also made the fatal mistake of not getting dessert right away. It turns out that items, once gone, are not replenished. When we went to the dessert table, most trays were empty, and those that were still there, didn’t appeal to me, both in what they were and in that they looked rather handled. So we skipped dessert and just went back to our rooms and back to bed.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Alaska Cruise Day 5
Thursday, August 3, 2006
Today was likely the highlight of our trip. We arrived in Juneau at 8:00AM, and Mike and I got our walk-up call at 9. We eventually staggered out of bed, got ready, had breakfast (waffles, yum), and made our way off the boat.
The weather looked rather forbidding. It was cold and rainy with low cloud cover. At 11:20, we found the lady to get us started on (JU10A) the extended helicopter and glacier trek. It was to be a tour of a helicopter ride to and from Mendenhall glacier, along with four hours of hiking around on it. The lady told us she needed to gather up the other participants and then she would check to see if it was on or cancelled due to weather. I was determined to not be too disappointed if it was cancelled as I would rather that than fly in scary weather. She took our tickets and recorded our weights.
Eventually, we heard her call the shop on her cell and we were delighted to hear a surprised “Oh, really?!” Within a minute or two, we were on a van out to the airfield. We got to the place and as soon as we walked in, it was an assembly line. The lady at the dock must have phoned in our weights as they had all our gear laid out and labeled with our names.
The provided everything: pants, jackets, polar fleece (if we wanted), boots, leg coverings, gloves, and harnesses. They also gave us backpacks containing a bagel, salmon-flavored cream cheese, an energy bar, and a bottle of water. There was another bag labeled with our names into which we shoved personal things that weren’t coming with us (the boots and sweaters, etc we had just taken off in exchange for theirs).
We signed the standard waivers, and soon we were headed out to the waiting helicopter. Six tourists to one helicopter and we were assigned seats based on our weights. Mike got the window behind the pilot and I was next to him.
The helicopter ride was the part that had me most nervous. It’s hard to forget there’s just a rotor holding you up and should the engine fail, you’ll fall like a rock, but eventually I told myself that worry accomplished nothing, so if I’m going to die, I should at least be enjoying myself when it happened, so I did. The rest of the helicopter ride was a blast. The pilot took us on a little tour around, going into nugget valley and showing us nugget glacier and a big waterfall. It was amazing.
Eventually, though, we made our way to Mendenhall Glacier and landed. Someone met us at the door to the helicopter and motioned us out and over to the “base camp,” a large yellow tent that we never got to go into.
Here, we hit another assembly line where they gave us ice picks and strapped crampons on our feet. Then, we were on our way. We would go a short distance, and then our two guides, Dave and Dawn, would stop and give us a lesson in something. We learned how to go uphill (dig toes in, take small steps, use ice pick in front of you), downhill (stomp feet down like having a childhood temper tantrum and keep ice pick behind you), and sideways (keep ice pick uphill from you and crab walk). The general rule seemed to be that unless you are going uphill, keep as many crampons in the snow as possible. The group, (of 11 tourist and two guides) would get periodically spread out and then they would stop us to talk about things until everyone caught up.
It seemed that everyone was pretty fit and there were no obvious laggards, although one fellow who was extremely tall seemed to have a harder time than others overall. Maybe this is one case where being lower to the ground is helpful as it really seemed fairly easy to me.
At one point, they told us we could walk into an ice cave in groups of one or two to look around. It was a narrow enough crevasse that people wouldn’t be able to pass each other. Eventually, Mike and I went and it was very narrow, but sooo cool. I bent my head around the corner and saw water falling from the ceiling and the whole inside was that beautiful blue color. Still, the water had to go someplace and we were standing in the river it was forming and I guess some of it topped over the edge of my right boot and my foot was rapidly wet and cold. The guides told me not to sweat it, that it would warm up soon and they were right. After five minutes or so, once we got moving, I never thought about it again until the end when we took off all our gear (ewww).
The rest of the four hours that we actually spent on the glacier was maneuvering through crevassases and over ridges. They took us on a route they had never done before as they wanted to scout it out and no one in the group had any objections.
At one point, a fellow from (I think) Costa Rica, was holding up his camera and saying “photo, photo.” I guess he was trying to get a group picture. He stepped sideways and stumbled into a stream. While I was horrified at the moment, I didn’t fail to notice that while he let his body go into fridged water, he did all he could to hold that expensive camera out to the side to keep it from getting wet. He didn’t entirely succeeded, but after we (the guide and I) pulled him out of the water and he dried off his camera, it still took pictures. He showed no concern for himself at all, just the camera. In the end, we all gave our cameras to Dave and had him take a few group shots.
While the whole trip was amazing, there were two highlights that just blow my mind. At one point, to get over a vertical drop, we clipped onto a “zip-line” of sorts. We don’t let go and coast though, rather, we lean back with our weight on the rope and walk somewhat horizontal to the ground, putting our crampons flat into the vertical wall while descending sideways.
The other highlight was that they let us try out ice climbing. They ran down two ropes and each guide acted as a belayer for a rope while we went up one by one. In each hand we had an ice pick and our harnesses were attached to one end of the rope. We were told to swing the pick as high as we could over our heads and use our legs to climb up to it. We were to stick our butts out and look down at our feet, concentrating on jamming the toe picks into the ice and keeping our feet level.
Mike went first and had no problems at all. Some of the others of our group can’t say the same thing. Two of the women in particular only went half way up and then wanted to come down. Just before I went up, I watched a fellow who really looked like he had done this before and I took cues from him. Particularly swinging my arms independently instead of putting them both at the same height like some were doing. It seemed like only seconds until I was at the top of a several story tall climb and sitting back in my harness, I was lowered down. At the bottom, Dawn asked me if I had ever done that before. I replied no, and she told me that it looked like I had. Neat, I didn’t look clueless! Bonus! Still, I wish I could have gone again, as does Mike. Heck, we were both about twice as fast as some of the others, shouldn’t we get to go again?
In all too short a time, we were back at the helicopter where they took our ice picks and crampons and had us board. We waved to Dawn and Dave as the helicopter took off and soon they were gone. The ride back was over in about five minutes. I guess we got the scenic route going out to the glacier, and now they were in a bit more of a hurry.
Sure enough, there was another group waiting to leave when we arrived. We were told that ours was the first group of the day that got to go. All the ones scheduled before ours were cancelled due to the weather. For us, though, the weather was great. The clouds lifted and all was well. I can’t believe our good fortune yet again. This was one of the more amazing experiences of my life. I will never forget it.
After all this, we were driven back to the boat where we boarded and dropped things off and then headed back out to the town. The first few blocks of Juneau are a little depressing as they are so obviously made for tourists, but go up a hill, and you are at a more real-looking place. We even found a place that we gather was Juneau’s “Down to Earth” where I found my Ginger Snap cookies that I like so much.
After wandering around a while, we got hungry, so we went back to the boat and headed over to the sushi bar where they actually had all the good kine sushi along with wasabi, shoyu, and ginger. Yum. After quite a bit of that, we got a small pizza and took it up to our room where we opened our second bottle of clandestine smuggled wine. We ate it on the balcony as the ship left port.
Tomorrow is Ketchikan. We don’t arrive until 2, so Mike and I are planning on sleeping in.
Today was likely the highlight of our trip. We arrived in Juneau at 8:00AM, and Mike and I got our walk-up call at 9. We eventually staggered out of bed, got ready, had breakfast (waffles, yum), and made our way off the boat.
The weather looked rather forbidding. It was cold and rainy with low cloud cover. At 11:20, we found the lady to get us started on (JU10A) the extended helicopter and glacier trek. It was to be a tour of a helicopter ride to and from Mendenhall glacier, along with four hours of hiking around on it. The lady told us she needed to gather up the other participants and then she would check to see if it was on or cancelled due to weather. I was determined to not be too disappointed if it was cancelled as I would rather that than fly in scary weather. She took our tickets and recorded our weights.
Eventually, we heard her call the shop on her cell and we were delighted to hear a surprised “Oh, really?!” Within a minute or two, we were on a van out to the airfield. We got to the place and as soon as we walked in, it was an assembly line. The lady at the dock must have phoned in our weights as they had all our gear laid out and labeled with our names.
The provided everything: pants, jackets, polar fleece (if we wanted), boots, leg coverings, gloves, and harnesses. They also gave us backpacks containing a bagel, salmon-flavored cream cheese, an energy bar, and a bottle of water. There was another bag labeled with our names into which we shoved personal things that weren’t coming with us (the boots and sweaters, etc we had just taken off in exchange for theirs).
We signed the standard waivers, and soon we were headed out to the waiting helicopter. Six tourists to one helicopter and we were assigned seats based on our weights. Mike got the window behind the pilot and I was next to him.
The helicopter ride was the part that had me most nervous. It’s hard to forget there’s just a rotor holding you up and should the engine fail, you’ll fall like a rock, but eventually I told myself that worry accomplished nothing, so if I’m going to die, I should at least be enjoying myself when it happened, so I did. The rest of the helicopter ride was a blast. The pilot took us on a little tour around, going into nugget valley and showing us nugget glacier and a big waterfall. It was amazing.
Eventually, though, we made our way to Mendenhall Glacier and landed. Someone met us at the door to the helicopter and motioned us out and over to the “base camp,” a large yellow tent that we never got to go into.
Here, we hit another assembly line where they gave us ice picks and strapped crampons on our feet. Then, we were on our way. We would go a short distance, and then our two guides, Dave and Dawn, would stop and give us a lesson in something. We learned how to go uphill (dig toes in, take small steps, use ice pick in front of you), downhill (stomp feet down like having a childhood temper tantrum and keep ice pick behind you), and sideways (keep ice pick uphill from you and crab walk). The general rule seemed to be that unless you are going uphill, keep as many crampons in the snow as possible. The group, (of 11 tourist and two guides) would get periodically spread out and then they would stop us to talk about things until everyone caught up.
It seemed that everyone was pretty fit and there were no obvious laggards, although one fellow who was extremely tall seemed to have a harder time than others overall. Maybe this is one case where being lower to the ground is helpful as it really seemed fairly easy to me.
At one point, they told us we could walk into an ice cave in groups of one or two to look around. It was a narrow enough crevasse that people wouldn’t be able to pass each other. Eventually, Mike and I went and it was very narrow, but sooo cool. I bent my head around the corner and saw water falling from the ceiling and the whole inside was that beautiful blue color. Still, the water had to go someplace and we were standing in the river it was forming and I guess some of it topped over the edge of my right boot and my foot was rapidly wet and cold. The guides told me not to sweat it, that it would warm up soon and they were right. After five minutes or so, once we got moving, I never thought about it again until the end when we took off all our gear (ewww).
The rest of the four hours that we actually spent on the glacier was maneuvering through crevassases and over ridges. They took us on a route they had never done before as they wanted to scout it out and no one in the group had any objections.
At one point, a fellow from (I think) Costa Rica, was holding up his camera and saying “photo, photo.” I guess he was trying to get a group picture. He stepped sideways and stumbled into a stream. While I was horrified at the moment, I didn’t fail to notice that while he let his body go into fridged water, he did all he could to hold that expensive camera out to the side to keep it from getting wet. He didn’t entirely succeeded, but after we (the guide and I) pulled him out of the water and he dried off his camera, it still took pictures. He showed no concern for himself at all, just the camera. In the end, we all gave our cameras to Dave and had him take a few group shots.
While the whole trip was amazing, there were two highlights that just blow my mind. At one point, to get over a vertical drop, we clipped onto a “zip-line” of sorts. We don’t let go and coast though, rather, we lean back with our weight on the rope and walk somewhat horizontal to the ground, putting our crampons flat into the vertical wall while descending sideways.
The other highlight was that they let us try out ice climbing. They ran down two ropes and each guide acted as a belayer for a rope while we went up one by one. In each hand we had an ice pick and our harnesses were attached to one end of the rope. We were told to swing the pick as high as we could over our heads and use our legs to climb up to it. We were to stick our butts out and look down at our feet, concentrating on jamming the toe picks into the ice and keeping our feet level.
Mike went first and had no problems at all. Some of the others of our group can’t say the same thing. Two of the women in particular only went half way up and then wanted to come down. Just before I went up, I watched a fellow who really looked like he had done this before and I took cues from him. Particularly swinging my arms independently instead of putting them both at the same height like some were doing. It seemed like only seconds until I was at the top of a several story tall climb and sitting back in my harness, I was lowered down. At the bottom, Dawn asked me if I had ever done that before. I replied no, and she told me that it looked like I had. Neat, I didn’t look clueless! Bonus! Still, I wish I could have gone again, as does Mike. Heck, we were both about twice as fast as some of the others, shouldn’t we get to go again?
In all too short a time, we were back at the helicopter where they took our ice picks and crampons and had us board. We waved to Dawn and Dave as the helicopter took off and soon they were gone. The ride back was over in about five minutes. I guess we got the scenic route going out to the glacier, and now they were in a bit more of a hurry.
Sure enough, there was another group waiting to leave when we arrived. We were told that ours was the first group of the day that got to go. All the ones scheduled before ours were cancelled due to the weather. For us, though, the weather was great. The clouds lifted and all was well. I can’t believe our good fortune yet again. This was one of the more amazing experiences of my life. I will never forget it.
After all this, we were driven back to the boat where we boarded and dropped things off and then headed back out to the town. The first few blocks of Juneau are a little depressing as they are so obviously made for tourists, but go up a hill, and you are at a more real-looking place. We even found a place that we gather was Juneau’s “Down to Earth” where I found my Ginger Snap cookies that I like so much.
After wandering around a while, we got hungry, so we went back to the boat and headed over to the sushi bar where they actually had all the good kine sushi along with wasabi, shoyu, and ginger. Yum. After quite a bit of that, we got a small pizza and took it up to our room where we opened our second bottle of clandestine smuggled wine. We ate it on the balcony as the ship left port.
Tomorrow is Ketchikan. We don’t arrive until 2, so Mike and I are planning on sleeping in.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Alaska Cruise Day 4
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Today was Hubbard Glacier day. We got up early to shower and eat. Around 9, we started to get interesting views outside our window. We ordered in hot chocolate and coffee and sat on our balcony to watch the world go by. Eventually, we came to a stop in front of two glaciers: Hubbard and Valerie. Hubbard is the one that’s really impressive, huge in size and very pretty. It’s also the one that was doing the most calving. At several stories tall, any chunks falling off make a big splash. At one point, a huge chunk that went up almost the whole height of the glacier fell forward, like a door that’s come free of its hinges. Very cool. I’m glad we got to see one big calving. I found the noise of the calving to be fascinating. It was almost like gunshots in the distance.
Today was Hubbard Glacier day. We got up early to shower and eat. Around 9, we started to get interesting views outside our window. We ordered in hot chocolate and coffee and sat on our balcony to watch the world go by. Eventually, we came to a stop in front of two glaciers: Hubbard and Valerie. Hubbard is the one that’s really impressive, huge in size and very pretty. It’s also the one that was doing the most calving. At several stories tall, any chunks falling off make a big splash. At one point, a huge chunk that went up almost the whole height of the glacier fell forward, like a door that’s come free of its hinges. Very cool. I’m glad we got to see one big calving. I found the noise of the calving to be fascinating. It was almost like gunshots in the distance.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Alaska Cruise Day 3
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
My birthday! Oddly enough, I didn’t remember that today was my birthday until after we had gotten up early, worked out, and taken showers. We were both a little forgetful. We ate breakfast in the main dining room, which proved to be a big disappointment. I thought they would know how to do eggs benedict, but I think Cinnamons has ruined me for all others. The eggs were rock solid, and the hollandaise was lousy. I pulled off the eggs and ate the ham and English muffin, but it was basically just for food, not because I wanted it.
Today, we were in Sitka. We took a shore excursion to Tongas Forest National Park which was very nice. It consisted of several hiking loops in the park with a bathroom break in the middle. The hikes weren’t too strenuous, just a little up and down. What really impressed us both was the quality of the trails. They were cleared and well maintained. Most of the trail was covered in gravel or wood stairs. Someone spends a lot of time working on them. We’re told that Sitka has 12 miles of roads and 15 miles of trails. For a town of 4600 square miles, they only have roughly 8000 residents. Very small town with a lot of room. The town only has two stoplights.
At one point on the tour, between trails, a man ran past us and said “there’s a grizzly.” We thought he was joking as the rest of his group was still out in front. It turns out he was running to get his camera, not to get away. It was actually a brown bear, about 800-1000 pounds, hanging out in a field. Every so often, he would pop his head up over the tall grass and check us all out. All I have are a few pictures of a little head above the grass. Still, it was really neat to see.
We had three guides on the tour and there was some dissention among them. One is rather familiar with bears and was willing to take the largish group along the planned trail while another didn’t want to go, yet she didn’t want to do a different trail with only two people (the ones that were willing to change course), so the reluctant ones came along and basically implied that we were all stupid. The first tour guide (Laura?) gave us all a rather stern lecture before we continued stating that we were to stay within one arm’s length of the person in front of us. Also if the bear stands on it’s hind legs and sniffs the air, that it’s ok, but when he stands on all fours, lowers his head, and walks towards us, then we’re in trouble. She said when that happens, don’t run, instead, talk loudly, and make yourself look as big as possible. It was all for naught as the bear never moved from his spot and we were soon long gone. It was quite a thrill all around.
On the bus ride back into town, we also saw an eagle sitting in the top of a tree and flapping its wings. The guides pointed it out stating that it had made a nest there.
After the tour, we had a little time before we had to catch our tender back to the ship, so we wandered around. Didn’t accomplish much except take a few pictures of totem poles
(they’re everywhere), and establish that the prices are outrageous.
On interesting thing is that the tour gave us bars of chocolate. It came with the story that the chocolate was made by a former forest ranger who wanted to spend more time with his kids, so he took his hobby and made it into a business. It’s a big success, and the guides seemed rather proud of him.
We got back just in time to change and head down to dinner. Mike told the waiter it was my birthday and at the end of the meal, I had four tables plus about 6 wait-staff all sing happy-birthday to me. I think I must have turned crimson, but it was a nice gesture.
My birthday! Oddly enough, I didn’t remember that today was my birthday until after we had gotten up early, worked out, and taken showers. We were both a little forgetful. We ate breakfast in the main dining room, which proved to be a big disappointment. I thought they would know how to do eggs benedict, but I think Cinnamons has ruined me for all others. The eggs were rock solid, and the hollandaise was lousy. I pulled off the eggs and ate the ham and English muffin, but it was basically just for food, not because I wanted it.
Today, we were in Sitka. We took a shore excursion to Tongas Forest National Park which was very nice. It consisted of several hiking loops in the park with a bathroom break in the middle. The hikes weren’t too strenuous, just a little up and down. What really impressed us both was the quality of the trails. They were cleared and well maintained. Most of the trail was covered in gravel or wood stairs. Someone spends a lot of time working on them. We’re told that Sitka has 12 miles of roads and 15 miles of trails. For a town of 4600 square miles, they only have roughly 8000 residents. Very small town with a lot of room. The town only has two stoplights.
At one point on the tour, between trails, a man ran past us and said “there’s a grizzly.” We thought he was joking as the rest of his group was still out in front. It turns out he was running to get his camera, not to get away. It was actually a brown bear, about 800-1000 pounds, hanging out in a field. Every so often, he would pop his head up over the tall grass and check us all out. All I have are a few pictures of a little head above the grass. Still, it was really neat to see.
We had three guides on the tour and there was some dissention among them. One is rather familiar with bears and was willing to take the largish group along the planned trail while another didn’t want to go, yet she didn’t want to do a different trail with only two people (the ones that were willing to change course), so the reluctant ones came along and basically implied that we were all stupid. The first tour guide (Laura?) gave us all a rather stern lecture before we continued stating that we were to stay within one arm’s length of the person in front of us. Also if the bear stands on it’s hind legs and sniffs the air, that it’s ok, but when he stands on all fours, lowers his head, and walks towards us, then we’re in trouble. She said when that happens, don’t run, instead, talk loudly, and make yourself look as big as possible. It was all for naught as the bear never moved from his spot and we were soon long gone. It was quite a thrill all around.
On the bus ride back into town, we also saw an eagle sitting in the top of a tree and flapping its wings. The guides pointed it out stating that it had made a nest there.
After the tour, we had a little time before we had to catch our tender back to the ship, so we wandered around. Didn’t accomplish much except take a few pictures of totem poles
(they’re everywhere), and establish that the prices are outrageous.
On interesting thing is that the tour gave us bars of chocolate. It came with the story that the chocolate was made by a former forest ranger who wanted to spend more time with his kids, so he took his hobby and made it into a business. It’s a big success, and the guides seemed rather proud of him.
We got back just in time to change and head down to dinner. Mike told the waiter it was my birthday and at the end of the meal, I had four tables plus about 6 wait-staff all sing happy-birthday to me. I think I must have turned crimson, but it was a nice gesture.
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