Anchorage, Alaska: September 5, 2005
After months of anticipation we were finally on our way. We drove our car to the Sea-Tac Airport and boarded the Princess Cruise Line bus which dropped us off at our ship in Vancouver, BC. Delton was excited because Alaska was the only state of the 50 that he had not set foot in. He had waited for many years to make this happen.
We had several other family members coming along to make this very special. Delton’s mom Josie; brothers Ron, Larry and Max; sister-in-laws Linda and Rita; uncles and aunts Robert and Ruth Isaacs, Dorothy Bailey, and Tommy and Betty Keenum joined us in Vancouver. The aunts are all Josie’s sisters which made it special for her. Joni loves the water so cruises are always fun for her, although she would have liked the weather to be a lot warmer.The ship left the port on Monday afternoon, August 29th, from Vancouver with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, College Fjord and Whittier. From Whittier we rode a bus to our final destination of Anchorage. This is a one way cruise so we took Alaska Airlines back to Seattle. As always the most enjoyable parts of the cruise are the eating and entertainment; aside from the excursions. We had a lot of each and despite a lot of walking on the excursions managed to gain a few pounds.
When in port the some of the ladies wanted to shop, so the guys reluctantly tagged along. There were not very many hardware stores for the guys, mainly jewelry, t-shirts and the typical tourist traps. Other than dinners together and a few shows everyone seemed to have their own glitch for doing things. The sisters like to shop and they drug Robert and Tommy with them. Larry and Max with their wives had their thing going. Ron was gracious to hang out with us in whatever we did. We like to hike!
Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway are all located in the Inside Passage of Alaska. Ketchikan got its start during the 1897 Gold Rush Era but for the past several years its mainstay industry is tourism.
The brothers and sister-in-laws wanted to see the salmon run so we headed up to Creek Street. The tide was going out so all of the salmon were hiding behind rocks to wait for calmer streams. We saw hundreds of large salmons. All the girls but Joni quickly tied of this, so shopping began. Since Creek street use to be the old “Red Light” district for the miners we had to take that in. At the Dolly House Museum we had a little lady entertain us as we strolled by. Then the gals, except for Joni, drug us off for more shopping. Joni preferred hiking and looking at the sites.
Juneau was also founded because of gold. The gold mining industry was halted in 1944, but continues to play an important part in their economy, as does fishing and tourism. Joni, Ron and I decided to take the Mount Roberts Tramway which was just a block from our ship. We were able to see bald eagles both going up the tram and coming down. On top we had a great view of the city and bay area. It was a beautiful site. There were also trails going further up the mountain which we explored.
We stopped at Father Brown’s cross which is at 2,050 feet with a great view and then went on up the mountain for another couple of miles and over 3,000 feet elevation. We enjoyed the hike and exercise. After coming down we explored the city.
Skagway got its start because of gold, but in a little different way. The gold was discovered in the Yukon Territory and Skagway was the passage to get there. Two routes were taken to get to the Yukon. One was straight up and over the mountains and the other was up the valley. Both were very hazardous. After a few years a narrow gauge rail line was built up the valley.
We took the White Pass Scenic Rail ride to the top of the White Pass and learned a lot about the history of this area. At the top you could still see the trail that the miners used. There was a movie made about the other trail, but I cannot remember the name of it. My mom, brothers and sister-in-laws all made this trip with us. It was great sharing this experience together.
After Skagway we headed to open waters in the Alaskan Gulf. We had two stops along the way, first at Glacier Bay and then College Fjord. Both bays offered great views of active water front glaciers. We were able to hear the thunder created by the splitting ice and see calving take place.
Calving is where ice breaks off the glacier and forms an ice berg. We had a great sunny day at Glacier Bay. On the way out of the bay we were able to see our first bears and also some whales. They were quite a ways off so it dampened the excitement. The next day at College Fjord was overcast and cold. However, the glaciers were something to see.
Our last port was Whittier. We moved our luggage off the ship and checked our bags into Alaska Airlines. From Whittier we took a bus ride to Anchorage. It was a beautiful ride up the bay with more whale sightings. One of the buses in our group had a run-in with an RV. The bus lost one of its mirrors and had a few excited passengers. They are still looking for the RV. He was in a hurry to get wherever he was going. In Anchorage, we mostly did the tourist stuff and some shopping. At the end of the day, we took a bus ride to the airport and caught our flight to Seattle. This ended a great trip and loads of fun.
