Day 3 ~ Ketchikan

Posted on May 31, 2013May 31, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Vancouver to Ketchikan 535 Nautical Miles Speed 14.4 Knots

If Vancouver was considered our first port of call then Ketchikan is our first Alaskan Port of Call.

It’s still raining. That’s not too surprising because Ketchikan, besides being the “Salmon Capital of the World” is also the Rainfall Capital of the U.S. Ketchikan is located in what is sometimes called the “Banana Belt” of Alaska for it’s mild summer climate if you can tolerate the rain. They even have a Liquid Sunshine Gauge to measure the average rainfall which can reach 152 inches per year.

Ketchikan is located in the Tongass National Forest, part of a temperate rain forest that extends from Northern California through Southeastern Alaska creating a climate that allows for such majesty as the California Redwoods. Tongass is the earth’s largest remaining temperate rainforest with over 17 million acres of forest and protected wildlife preserve.

Ketchikan sits on its own island, Revillagigedo Island. This is such a tiny town it would only take about an hour to explore it on foot. Most of the island is a steep, craggy wilderness with the town hugging the shore. Most of the streets are built over a complex array of trestles and boardwalks.

From the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center to Misty Fjords there is so much to see in such a little town and so little time. We will only be in port for about 6 hours.

Speaking of Misty Fjords, this is a national Monument named for the weather conditions you are likely to encounter but the areas profound beauty has earned it the nickname of “Yosemite of the North”. Accessible only by floatplane or boat put the cost of this excursion out of our range for this trip. According to the passengers that did go, it was well worth the money spent.

When in the Salmon capital it’s important to know that there are 5 different Species of wild pacific Salmon. To remember the 5 types of Salmon just raise your hand.

Your thumb rhymes with Chum-Chum Salmon…
Your pointer finger can “sock” someone in the “eye” – sockeye Salmon…
Your middle finger is the tallest – King Salmon…
Slip a silver ring on your ring finger – Silver Salmon…
And your pinky – well that’s easy – Pink Salmon…

Ketchikan is sometimes called Alaska’s “First City ” because it’s the first major community travelers come to as they journey north.

Ketchikan was originally a summer fishing camp for the Tlingit (pronounced Kling-it). In 1883 a man by the name of “Snow” opened the first salmon saltery and a fishing town was born. When gold and copper were found in the surrounding mountains a supply center was needed and Ketchikan flourished.

Creek St, Ketchikan’s downtown section, is said to be the most photographed street in in Alaska! Now lined with shops and art galleries Creek St was once the town’s red light district.

Ketchikan was the first chance we had to learn about the cost of living in Alaska. Fresh produce is scarce and pricey and milk can run as much as $6.00 / gal. As we rode in the tour bus along Creek street we spotted a “Burger Queen”. Ketchikan has a Family Dollar or should I say $1.29 store. It lasted as a dollar store about 30 days before the cost of shipping in goods forced a price increase. But the best example was the local Subway where you could enjoy the foot long special for only $9.00. (if you have a local Subway you know that’s a $5.00 ft. long in the lower 48)

Even souvenirs are not immune. If you are a plus size expect to pay a surcharge of $3.00 per T-Shirt!

Ketchikan is home to The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show but we decided to explore the culture of the native Tlingit people with a visit to the Saxman Native Village.

Day 2 at Sea

Posted on May 30, 2013May 30, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Last night after leaving Vancouver the Island Princess turned to starboard at Point Atkinson passing into the Straight of Georgia. Had we been looking we might have seen Point Atkinson Lighthouse at the mouth of Burrard Inlet but we were either in the Princess theater or perhaps sleeping.

Once in the Strait of Georgia we are headed north to Alaska at last. Vancouver Island lies to the west along the port side while the mainland and off shore islands of British Columbia lie to the east or starboard. This is the beginning of the famous Inside Passage.

The Inside Passage stretches for over 1000 miles north providing an almost continuous protected route to Alaska. We are following the path of such notables as Captain Cook and naturalist John Muir.

Following our breakfast buffet at the Horizon Court on the Lido Deck we retired to the Lotus Spa for our massages. I’d like to say it was pure heaven but only if you sprinkle in a bit of pain. It had been many years since I have enjoyed a deep tissue massage and I had the knotted muscles to prove it. It took my masseuse a good deal of effort to work the kinks out of my shoulders and upper back…Ouch! but in the end I was moving better than I had in years. I may have to consider doing this more often.

A sea day is either boring (if you don’t like cruising) or relaxing. In our case the rainy, raw weather followed us out of Vancouver. This is when the cruise director and his staff can really shine. It’s up to them to have enough activities to keep even the most restless of their passengers amused. On the Island Princess activities included a spinning class, yoga and zumba.

Shopping is also a big pastime. They even devote a channel to this subject on the ship’s TV lineup. Another big draw is gambling. The casino hosts a $500 Slot Tournament and later on a $60 Texas Hold’Em Tournament. There’s also bingo and a ballroom dance class. Today’s lesson the Cha Cha. Around 3pm, if the Cha Cha wasn’t for you, a line dance class was being offered in the Universe Lounge, one of the entertainment venues.

Round out the activities with a presentation about the Glaciers by the naturalist on board, an afternoon trivia game or an afternoon tea in the Bordeaux dining room.

Dinner tonight was one of the 2 formal nights planned for our 7 day cruise. This was the one time we saw the photographers in the dining room taking formal portraits.

Our night wrapped up with the evening show “Motor City” which as you have probably guessed was a salute to MoTown. It was a great show.

For the night owls the partying continued with a 2nd presentation of Motor City , more gambling tournaments, a dance party, a comedy show and movies under the stars. Never a dull minute.

A trip of a Lifetime

Posted on May 25, 2013May 25, 2013 by Dusty Roads

How does one start to tell a tale of a trip of a lifetime? Maybe I should just say that this was the 2nd trip of a lifetime for me. The first was The Big Island of Hawaii.

Now I can add a cruise tour to Alaska as my 2nd “Trip of a lifetime”.

This didn’t just happen overnight. This trip was in the planning and discussion and saving stages for over 2 years. We finally said lets just do it before the glacier’s melt!

A big part of it was the saving part.

This was, without a doubt, the most expensive venture I/we have undertaken yet but Alaska is so big the task of putting together a vacation there seemed overwhelming. So after my sister and I hammered out the basics of what we wanted to do and see I turned the problem over to the professionals at AAA.

The trip I am about to describe to you is the result.

The first decision was do we cruise to Alaska or fly in and vacation like we usually do on our own. Since this was my sister’s Dream Vacation I let her choose. She had only 2 requests; to see the glaciers and to spend 3 days in Denali National Park. A cruise tour would accomplish both goals.

We settled on a “shoulder season” because it’s less expensive and money was certainly a factor. In May the animals are just coming down out of their wintering grounds and having babies. In September they have the northern lights (aurora borealis). We chose to go for the animals. We also chose to go south to north to give the northern locations a chance to warm up a bit more. In Alaska a couple of days can make all the difference. As it turned out spring was about 2 weeks late this year so we had a lot more snow and cold weather than is usual for this time of the year.

I think by far the hardest decision was which cruise line to use. They all cruise to Alaska these days, even Disney, and they all offer some combination of land and sea. I was leaning toward Royal Caribbean but Sandy liked Holland America. In the end we went with the travel agent’s recommendation of Princess Cruise Lines.

I drove from my home in Massachusetts to my sister’s in New York on Saturday May 11. I left my 3 cats in the capable hands of my long time pet sitter, still this is the longest I have ever been away before. My fingers were crossed that there’d be no complications for Diane to deal with.

That Saturday night we took our mother out for Mother’s Day dinner and then headed back to my sisters for an early night. We had an early cross-country flight from Albany Airport into Vancouver in the morning. By arriving a day early we sacrificed the airport transfer but got a day in Vancouver before we had to board the ship on Monday.

Our flight was uneventful and we spotted a rainbow as we flew into a misty, wet Vancouver. Our hotel , The Best Western Sands, was a block from the waterfront and very nice.

I had been to Vancouver once before many years ago and I remember the residents being very friendly, warm and helpful. That hasn’t changed at all. I still think it is one of the most friendly cities I have ever been in. What I do think has changed is the fabric of the city. We saw a great melting pot of people of many different nationalities and ethnicities. This only serves to make an already lovely city more cosmopolitan. Vancouver has really come into its own.

A Sunny Day

Posted on May 6, 2013May 6, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The weather remains cool (50’s) but sunny. The local weatherman says we need rain and that we are running about 10 degrees below average in temperature. The Right Whales are feeding off Cape Cod and it seems every weekend there’s another benefit walk for something.

The cats continue to drive me crazy. Last night after I went to bed I was awakened by loud growls. As I ran to the living room to break up the fight, Smokey at my heels, Rocky bolted to a cardboard box and Buddy flopped onto his side next to it. They both looked at me like they were the most innocent creatures in the world. Clearly it was a “mock battle”.

Not so this morning at 6am when Buddy decided he wanted Smokey’s window seat. (Sigh) That was a real fight, if one-sided. Poor Smokey! I wish I knew who removed his claws! We could pull off a few fingernails and see how they like it.

What will happen when I’m away on vacation and not around to play referee?

But back to yesterday. Since it was a nice sunny day I headed out to take some pictures. I’ve been neglecting some of my favorite spots and it was time to see what was going on for spring.

Lake Rico was busy with families picnicking and kids fishing. Since I didn’t want to intrude I moved on to the Herring Run. I’d seen some great pictures from some of my friends but when I got there the only wildlife was a few grackles.

I hung out for about an hour but nary a sea gull came to visit…lots of people but not much else.

Next stop the Grist Mill Pond in Plymouth.

Mr. Majestic was feeling his oats chasing the Canada Geese up and down the pond. Mrs. Majestic was still on her nest.

At one point he climbed up on the bank and after clearing the area of his pesky nemesis he performed what can only be called his victory dance!

Then off he sailed, head held high, obviously quite pleased with himself.

Ospreys and Eagles …Oh My!

Posted on April 20, 2013April 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Time to head to the docks or should I say a dock. I’m heading out on an Eagle/Osprey cruise. I last went on one of these trips on a cold day in February 2011. Of course I picked the coldest day of the year to go at that time. https://aroundustyroads.com/2011/03/04/eagles-on-the-connecticut-river/

This time the weather seems a bit warmer even with the stiff breeze.

The cruise leaves from the dock at Eagle Landing State Park which is located in Haddam across the river from the Goodspeed Opera House.

I am always impressed by how personable and knowledgeable the crew of Riverquest is about the sights along the river and the birds that can be seen. They are the ones who first pointed out Gillette Castle and gave a thumbnail history. They also knew the ID and history of the impressive building that turned out to be St. John’s. Plus they have “eagle” eyes when it come to spotting birds!

Today the cruise is billed as an Eagle and Osprey tour and we certainly got to see Osprey. We also got off to a quick start with the eagles. Barely out from the dock 4 birds were spotted circling very high up. Binoculars came out and a discussion ensued but finally it was determined that there were 4, possibly 5 juvenile eagles soaring on the thermals.

Juvenile eagles are not as distinctive as their more mature counterparts. They start out brown and progress through stages as they age. An eagle expert can tell the age of a juvenile by how much “mottling” the feathers show. They don’t get the trademark white head until they are 5 years old.

We started watching Osprey right at the dock. A pair are trying to build a nest on the center tower of the swing bridge but are having a tough time because of the wind.

As we headed down the river it seemed like every buoy or marker had a pair of Osprey trying to build a nest. It was clear that there is a thriving population of Osprey on this section of the Connecticut River.

We also saw double crested cormorants, a peregrine falcon buzzed the bow of the boat, and even a red-shouldered hawk (as opposed to a red tail hawk) took to the thermals watching for prey. Common mergansers with their funny “bad hair day ” crest floated on the river while Black Backed gulls patrolled the skies.

We passed a mute swan and spotted a loon. And then we saw the large eagle nest on an island ahead of us. The captain brought the boat in as close as he could but even then it was pretty far away. At least it wasn’t hidden by leaves yet so we had a clear line of sight and there they were. Two adult eagles , fully mature, with their white heads gleaming in the afternoon sun. As one moved off the nest to a nearby tree we could just make out the head of a baby eagle above the edge of the nest.

The pictures aren’t great because of the distance but lack of pictures didn’t dampen the excitement of seeing these gorgeous birds in the wild.

All in all it was a successful and enjoyable trip down the Connecticut River and I will continue my quest for that iconic photo of an eagle in the wild. Maybe I’ll get a chance in Alaska!