Alaska's First City

As I mentioned before, sometimes parents need a little get-away ...

Now that our children are grown, we are helping care for *our* parents in their golden years. (Hubby's Dad is 89, my Mom is 86.) Because of their failing health, we figured this was our last year to take a major vacation for awhile.

So ... I'll take up here where my last blog left off and give you a brief sketch of the third major leg of our journey to Alaska. Ketchikan was our next port of call ...


The first thing you notice when sailing into port are hundreds of fishing boats -- all sizes, shapes and colors -- and most with a name painted on the side. Names as simple as Maggie or Suzie Lou and others more creative -- Six Pence, Fishin' King, Sea Pearl, Alaskan Star, and more. What an intriguing sight they made against a backdrop of towering mountains!


When we stepped on shore, we hurried to meet our tour guide for the popular Duck Tour. That's my hubby standing by the amphibious bus. After everyone was on board, the "duck" rumbled to life and drove us around to get a general overview of the business and residential areas.


We spotted houses on such steep hills, it takes a major stairway to get up to them! Our guide lived in one of those homes and told us if at least two residences are situated up those hills, it officially is declared a street and given a proper name. You can see below how mountainous the area is. The building in the foreground is the Ketchikan High School.


She also grinned, "When you have 50-75 stairs going up to your house, it only takes ONE time of forgetting your car keys and having to trek back up all those stairs again! After that, you learn to take them down the first time."

The house with a totem pole was located on a lower level closer to the main street. Our guide told us this totem pole was given as an anniversary gift by a man to his wife. He must have loved her very much -- the price tag on this hand-carved pole was $60,000!


The second part of our tour was in the water. After driving around town, Captain Kai turned toward the harbor, went down a ramp and drove the bus right into the water. We could hear the boat motor take over soon after. Being out on the water gave us a different view of the town and got us right in the middle of the action!


Seaplanes buzzed like bees overhead, fishing boats puttered by on their way back to shore and eagles skimmed the water to catch fish. All those windows on the duckmobile made it possible to feel up close and personal with all the activity around us. You can see our cruise ship in the background.


In the photo below, our tour guide Erin is holding some bull-whip kelp, a plant that grows in Alaskan waters. It does, indeed, look like some kind of huge whip! Erin just leaned out the door while we puttered along and snatched it up to show us. The plant has many uses, including basket making.


Out on the water, we passed this boat of fishermen who were just tying up in the harbor. Our captain pointed out the way their boat was listing to the left as it moved toward shore. He said this meant they'd gotten a huge catch of salmon.


Once back on shore, we hiked up a street in the middle of town and visited a little park for a rare treat. There, we were privileged to get up close to a male adult eagle who is part of an education effort in Ketchikan.

Thor was injured a few years ago when he stepped into a trap. It tore off one of his back talons and destroyed the feathers of his right wing. He is unable to fly or hunt, so the Wildlife Rescue Association cares for him year round. A healthy 8-year old, Thor has learned quite a few tricks and is very responsive to his keeper.


Not long after visiting Thor, we had to head back to the Oosterdam. There's a good bit of nostalgia involved in saying goodbye and sailing away from one of the United State's most beautiful spots. I'm glad we had the experience of going to Ketchikan, and I hope someday we can go back again. What a lovely place to experience Alaska!

We visit Sitka, Alaska

Sitka, Alaska was a very lovely spot ...

... and probably my favorite port call on our cruise. It was a beautiful, historic town that seemed to say, "We're glad you're here!" The smaller shops, quiet neighborhoods, friendly folks and quaint buildings were a nice change of pace.

A couple boys and their dad were manning a Sitka version of fast-food -- hot-dogs and cold drinks on the main street corner. Instead of hot-dogs, we got reindeer-dogs! The meat had a robust flavor and was quite good, too.

In front of a hardware store, a young woman named Traci sold children's books she'd written. At her feet sat a beautiful dog named Tango, a duck-tolling retriever who is the main character of her colorful books.


Traci explained how Tango has retrieved some pretty important things -- including boys, rafts and more. He obviously loves his mistress, because he wouldn't leave her side for a moment. We bought a copy of her two books and her sign them for our grandsons.

Just down the road, children were climbing on a concrete whale at the local park. Odd to us, but perfectly fitting here, where whales can be seen in Alaskan waters. Across the way, you can see other children having a home-made cookie sale in their front yard. We bought a giant oatmeal raisin treat from a little salesman who was more than happy to take our dollar.


Many of the other folks from our ship had gone on outbound excursions -- fishing trips, hiking, biking and sea -plane ventures. We were happy to putter around town awhile and take photos of Mt. Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano, in the distance.


Before leaving Sitka, we huffed and puffed our way up the hundred or so (?) steps to a spot that overlooks the bay. There, we read about the history of the town and took a few photos before going back down to board ship.


The orange and white life boats in the photo below (they're in the background) returned to pick us up after our time in Sitka. They had delivered us to shore earlier due to low tide. The Oosterdam's gracious crew members made dozens of trips from ship to shore to ferry over 1800 guests back in time for a tasty supper on board ship.


If you're ever in Sitka, be sure to see the Russian dancers at the local theater and stop by the museum and gift shop. Take that hike up the hill and enjoy scenery like this ...

Sitka - and the lovely scenes surrounding her - will remain in my heart.

A Dream Come True

Back from Alaska ...

As parents whose nest is empty, we recently fulfilled a long-held dream ... our very first cruise. What made it even better was visiting Alaska, the "Last Great Frontier."

What a beautiful place it is! The sky seems clearer, the air cleaner, the ocean bluer. Being there was like being in a different world altogether... especially when leaving the humidity and triple-digit temps in the southeast for the northwest and cool temps in the low 50's!

It's not every morning you get to sail past icy-blue glaciers that loom 250 feet above the ocean and extend another 100 feet beneath its surface. We were overwhelmed by their beauty and stood in in awe of the way their Master Designer "tucked" them effortlessly between snow-capped mountains.

It's difficult to judge their size from a distance when you don't have a reference point. I would have guessed we were 500-1000 feet away. With nothing between our ship and the glacier to give us perspective, none of us knew we were miles away from it.

How does one describe such a massive presence? How does one capture its color and splendor? Not even the best camera can do justice to these rare beauties, yet dozens of us stood in cold rain with our cameras trying to do just that.

Back inside, I stopped in the Crow's Nest - a window-wrapped lounge on the top floor of the ship. Dave, the guest guitarist, was strumming the song, " How Great Thou Art. " He looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "What else is appropriate when an awesome glacier is just outside your window?"

He was right, you know. A glacier puts things in perspective, even if only for a few moments. It's a testimony of how small we really are in comparison to a glacier. It's a reminder that years were invested in the formation of that great big "chunk of ice."

It's also an opportunity to pause and reflect on the One who formed the glacier and how He holds all things -- big and small -- in His hand. It's good to know we have a great big God that can handle all our concerns.

Visiting Alaska was a dream come true for hubby and me. I've got lots of photos to share -- from Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and other spots of interest. I'll be writing more about our trip in the days ahead and hope you'll ...

... stay tuned.