And we are off! Almost! Bruce and I have made it a habit of taking off to see the world at this time every year. Two years ago we flew to Venice, Florence and Switzerland, last year we flew to Rome and Lucca and now we are off to Seattle and Alaska. ‘Life is grand!’ I know many won’t believe it, but I truly would be happy at home, too. I am grateful every day for these wonderful opportunities that keep coming my way! So here we are off to a completely different experience! So excited!

July

So excited to get back to Seattle and too embarrassed to say how many years it has been. It was great to get picked up by Rob and Colleen and I had visions of the past with excited cousins happy to see each other again. First stop- Colleen’s mom Joanne’s. It was great to see her and reconnect. I couldn’t wait to show Bruce the view from her apartment, but sadly it has disappeared behind a myriad of skyscrapers. Next stop REI because ‘someone’ couldn’t find her waterproof pants for Alaska! $125 dollars later the pants were bought. We walked around downtown which was crazy busy with people and I must say Seattle has gotten busier and much louder since I’ve been away. We ate a lovely early dinner at The Pink Door, a restored and renovated speakeasy with a view of the water. Yummy and fun to be with family. We headed off for the Ballard Locks, which is a must for Seattle. I’ve gone on every visit. It may sound strange but there is something soothing and mesmerizing just watching the water slowly rise and fall as the boaters sit patiently waiting for the gate to open so they can be on their way. Just a little bit of time out from the world...do not a bad thing. We wandered through the amazing botanical gardens, and I was in search of the giant hydrangea ‘trees’. Of course there were none...but I swear they are somewhere in this city! They were so big I couldn’t believe they actually were hydrangeas! And of course we dreaded down under to watch the salmon running up the ladder. Believe it or not it is very stressful as we (or at least I do!)hold my breathe and lean into the powerful current \240silently root for each \240 one as it approaches the gate to move up to the next level. There is an audible cheer when one finally beats the odds. Great day!

Salmonnrunning

Monday July 2

Monday

I love Seattle! Started the day with tea and just chilling and chatting. Walked down to work with Colleen and got to peek into Chihuly’s studio because the door was open. Way cool...although he wasn’t there...just another warehouse building, but of course in the water! It was great to see where Colleen works, I always live to check out where people, especially family, spend their days. We walked across the street and met BRUCE and Rob for breakfast at Voulas and Tony’s...and yum! Colleen went back to work for a bit and we headed downtown for the Seattle Underground Tour. Lots of fun and filled with facts that I never knew, such as - if it weren’t for the prostitutes, the city might not have made it! Rob was great! He suggested checking out the ‘gum wall’. Yes...that IS exactly what it is.! Actually, it is a whole alley in which the brick walls are covered with gum that has been chewed! Every single of color, shape, flavor you can imagine! DIS.GUS.TING. Yes we did add our token:)

Enough of that and off to the Crumpet Shop for a lemon and ricotta crumpet followed by a trip to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shop. Unfortunately, we drove by ‘Fran’s Chocolates’, which would have been awesome to go to. As if this wasn’t enough food, we headed backwards down to the waterfront, to meet Colleen for lunch at Ivers. Interestingly we weee right next to the Chihuly studio, just on the other side. Home and relaxing on the deck for a perfect end of the day. Colleen and I went to Zumba at the Y, which is never a bad choice. We all ended the day watching taped World Cup.

Tuesday July 3

We started this beautiful sunny Seattle morning on the deck reading and chatting with a yummy breakfast made by Rob on the deck. Lemon curd yogurt is a must but don’t expect it to be low cal! \240Like a little bit of dessert to wrap up the first meal of the day. Late morning start to pick up Colleen and head off to a Tacoma. Lucky us we have views of Mt. Rainer most of the way. First stop the LeMay Car Museum. Way cool with every car imaginable represented.

Bruce loved it all but I started to get glassy eyed about halfway through the four floors. Colleen made a comment about whitewalls and I was immediately th use back to the days of sitting on the hot tar scrubbing away at marks that were unremovable! I can feel the texture of those whitewalls now! That and washing baseboards were my least favorite chores! It was fun to picture famous stars, gangstahs and even Mamma tooling around in some of the models. Each one looked spit spot shiny, ready to roll of the showroom floor.

We stopped at Harbor Lights for lunch performing a typical tourist move and choosing the first restaurant on the water. The food was mediocre and the martini was vodka straight from the bottle...warm! The local strawberries smothered in Devonshire cream was to die for!

Off to check out the Glass Museum, but by this time we were a bit museumed out and also didn’t want to pay the fee, so we walked over the glass decorated bridge, checked out the beautifully restored court house and hung around the waterfront both admiring and criticizing the myriad of boats.

On the way home it was shopping! Sigh and ugh! I spent half of my Saturday desperately \240looking for my rain pants to pack and couldn’t find hem anywhere! I bought some here and then, (emarrased) found them in my bag so we had to stop and return the new ones. On the other hand I did NOT pack any leggings so we stopped at Cosco so I could get some. This is so not how I like to do things! I honestly think that I packed all wrong for this trip!

The rest of the day ended perfectly with time spent on the deck and with wine and snacks followed by a taped World Cup game.

July 4th

Happy Birthday America! We are indeed so blessed. Just the fact that I can jump on a plane and fly across the country to see Rob and Colleen is enough to be grateful for. I got up early to squeeze in a morning run around Green Lake and my mind was filled with memories of that dog Curly dragging my butt DOWN the hill and me having to drag his butt back up the hill three miles later. It was a spectacular , sunny cool morning and a lovely day \240for a run.

Back at the house, it was again a deck morning sunny and warm surrounded by hummingbirds and colorful flowers. What a great way to start the day. After another yummy breakfast followed by lemon curd yogurt we were off. This leaving of the house at 11:30 is totally new for me! And thinking everyday is Saturday is not wearing off!

First stop UW! Can I just say WOW! What a beautiful campus with the mountain, in all its glory, right there. I would have registered right then and there! The best part, besides Mt. Rainer, was seeing the scene of The Boys in the Boat and also spotting my first Bald Eagle! Actually... TWO! Just a quick peek into what the next two and a half weeks will have in store for me...Alaska, where the eagles are as numerous as pigeons! Dream come true! When I get back to teaching perhaps I will focus a theme on Alaska! Just a thought!

Crows w hummus

Home ready for 4th

Pete’s

Joanne’s

Thursday July 5

It was extremely hard to leave Seattle. I tried to be ‘oh, so cool’ about it but anything to do with family has a little hiccup. Leaving at 5AM gave me no time fur hysterics and I pulled it together....but I was sad. Soon enough we were on the plane bound for Alaska! Woohoo! Not many people I know can say that! Thank you Bruce Reeh! I saw my first glimpse with about 45 minutes to go. (Well, except when I flew over the Arctic Circle on my way to China!) It all seemed totally surreal. Our first stop after finding out that we couldn’t check in was the Fire Island Rustic Bake Shop. Of course I had read the reviews prior to coming! We started inside and moved out as soon as a table opened up. 75 and sunny! What the heck! I so have the wrong wardrobe! Next on the agenda....the Anchorage Trolly Tours. We were hoping to get a little background and history of Anchorage, but it was ridiculous! I call it the ‘WOW’ tour! Definition: Every time the corny tour guide says anything remotely interesting, the oldER people all say ‘WOW’! Seriously, my worst tour ever. Off to Humpy’s Ale House to drown our expectations. Bruce was happy to be back. Quick stop and drop at the local grocery for some staples and the check in at the ‘glorious’ Clarion Suites. That sounds bad...but...you’re never \240in the room, right??? I mean, we had a fridge and a micro, AC...and it was a suite. Ok! Loose term! Would I stay again...I guess... all the bacon you want fo \240breakfast! \240Quick nap and unpack the we were off to explore Kincaid Park and Point Woronzof. We truly TRIED to stay up for sunset at 11:30, but we were beat and anyways they closed th Park at 10! See anything wrong with that?

Friday July 6

Feast of champions! One always dreads the ‘free breakfast’ included in the price of the hotel...but at least this one included all the bacon, sausage and eggs you could eat! Non my choice but the old’free is for me’ prevailed. And then we were off - out of Anchorage! We drove of toward Girdwood following the sea all the way. First stop was Potter Marsh where there was a whole lot of nothing but seagulls! A woman that knew it all told us where the moose/bear had been/were...but apparently they had left! Still and all beautiful boardwalk through the marsh, and of course it was sunny and 75, not a cloud in the sky! Great day to be alive. We headed straight to Girdwood (doesn’t it sound like an awful place?), and stopped at the Alyeska Resort to take the tram to the top of the mountain. As we parked and walked toward the resort Bruce asked, “Why didn’t we stay here?” Ahem...because I booked it! It WAS absolutely beautiful, a bit of a step up from the Clarion Suites. As we walked around the resort searching for the Alyeska Tram, we couldn’t help but admire the beautiful landscaping and colorful flowers. There was even a pond for paddleboarding, but I didn’t try:( Even though we both qualified as seniors, we were not the SENIOR seniors. Figures, just like retirement, I just get there and they up the ante! Cheapest price went to those 70+! However, a nice family from China grabbed us and scalped us tickets- so politely! And the guy actually walked us all the way to the tram gate so that we could trust that the tickets were good. Never in America!

It was just like Switzerland, going up the gondola surrounded by beautiful, majestic mountains! We just smiled and relived it all.

We regrouped and had our packed lunch sitting on the bench at the bus stop and then headed for a hike up Winner Creek Trail which would include a wooden bridge over one gouge and another one that had to be traversed with a hand pulled tram. I was gearing myself up for this big HIGH adventure advertised as you will feel the power of the water below shake beneath your feet. Yep...we got lost and hiked the Blueberry Trail. Oh, well...I was actually sad to miss it, but glad to not have put myself through the stress.

Back down at the Alyeska Hotel we went to the bar where I promptly had four glasses of the most exquisite ice water that I have ever tasted! That washed down the biggest, sweetest shrimp in the world dressed in lemon, aioli and cocktail sauce. Yum and yummer!!!!

Heading back yo Anchorage was more of the most spectacular scenery of towering mountains having their feet kissed by the sea. Sigh...

Bruce stopped my the dude of the road and I climbed over rolling logs to reach the ‘glacier’ water running off the mountain...NOT the best idea, as I balanced somewhat precariously with my Poland springs water bottle trying to get the drops as the aSter rained down! Couple miles ahead there was a pipe coming out to fill ‘er up!

Saturday July 7

Today was a day I had been looking forward to and it was perfect that the sky was almost a Colorado blue and the temperature hit 81. After our breakfast of champions, bacon, bacon, bacon sausage! We packed our backpacks and headed off to bike the

Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. I hat a perfect day for a ride and what a perfect ride! Rolling hills with just enough of a challenge to make it interesting.

The beach was adjacent to the path and Denali, in all her glory, as well as the Alaskan range was within our sites for the entire way out. We rode and stopped to take in the amazing nature for three hours. Perfect sunny Saturday! Stopped at the Snow City Cafe for lunch as it was highly written up in the guide books. Cute T-shirt’s and funky atmosphere but the food was not outstanding. We had popped in earlier to get a baked goodie (they had gluten free!) as it was right next to Pablo’s Bike Rental...our main focus. Had to to off lunch with ice cream at Moose à la Mode. Didn’t need it, \240but just the point if you know what I mean. We wandered around admiring the beautiful, and I mean beautiful flowers of Anchorage. Begonias are huge and are so many different colors, their curling leaves and fluffy petals caught my eye at Rob and Colleen’s and I have an awakened love of them. We ended up at the Anchorage Museum and lucky us...it was Bank of America Day and if you were Bank of America card holder it was free! Save me $18 each any day. I didn’t have my card, but the girl suggested I pull up a bill online. Voilá! The museum was awesome! Bruce was disappointed because there were two exhibits he wanted to share that had been removed. Me? I loved it! They had such amazing exhibits on all the tribes and just historical life in general. The native people were quite inventive , hence survival. Meandering the gift shop I got a few ideas for future reading and then we sat outside, basking in the perfect Saturday afternoon sunshine surrounded by all the colors Anchorage had to offer. We were getting tired but hated to give up the perfect weather so headed out to Ship Creek which was at the mouth of the bay and a perch for shipping containers. We sat on a bench with our backs to the containers and set our eyes to sea, looking for Beluga whales! Finally, exhaustion forced us to call it a day and we headed back to watch The Saint on our one channel tv as we debriefed the blissful, sunshiny day.

Quick flight to Fairbanks where the men have hair longer than women and many have beards are as long as their hair! It was a short flight but we had a BIG BUS for four guests and the tour guide and then we arrived at The River’s Edge Resort and RV Park. Too early to check in, so we called a cab to head downtown and hence we met Luther who regaled us with his life story interjected with bits and pieces about Fairbanks, “You must eat at Big Daddy’s BBQ!” Then proceeded to tell us that the margarita is the drink of choice of many Fairbanksans. “Big Daddy has won the annual state contest for the best brisket in the state of Alaska.well one day Big Daddy’s brother had a few too many Jose Cuervo margaritas and in the morning threw the chicken in the trash. It was a hoot! People talked about that one for years!” Luther cackled away at that one! He might even have slapped his knee! Ha! It was great. Luther btw acknowledged his drink of choice is PITURES of margaritas chars by shots and beers! Hello! Welcome to Alaska! His MO is to order the picture and as long as no one else came along and wanted a blended drink, he happily carried on. He probably switched to shots or beer when the blender was in use by others. Luther highly recommended Big Daddy’s but also said that there was a good Eye-talian place, too.

We bid luther goodbye as he dropped us off at the Marriott to get coffee! Ha! We checks out Yukon Quest which told the story of a 1000 mile mushing race told through the perspective of a female musher. Cool story. Then off we went to discover downtown Fairbanks. After stopping for tea at McCafferty’s awesome Coffee House, we kind of determined that we had already experienced the best that Fairbanks had to offer. Sigh...next stop...drum roll, please.,.Big Daddy’s BBQ! All the other places looked a bit too sketchy to try. Ribs and brisket were awesome and we could tell it definitely had a local bent...long hair, tattoos and beards. Fun! The bartender recommended the Garden Deli \240over the bridge to get staples. Let’s say dinner was going to be Pringles and Swedish fish! Reminds me of the Keflavik area of Iceland...pretty bare. Interesting that so many people say Alaska is expensive, but just coming off Iceland, these prices do not phase me... back to our resort to check in and meet up with our tour guide, Kip, to get the skinny on what was to come. There were only four of us at this session but it still took 20 minutes just to understand the luggage tags! We could only take an overnight bag with us into Denali National Park, so we neede a red tag and a blue tag. Well, of all things we did NOT need/want to buy was another bad, but off we trekked to Fred Meyer to get a bag. Of course there was no simple duffel bag (the bag had to be soft sided), so Bruce ended up with a beautiful turquoise blue beach bag! LOL! We spent the next hour trying to fit everything we could possibly need in the next three days. Bruce ultimately busted the zipper and had to tie it together with his luggage strap. Pack is a four letter word and I have do had my share of it! I WILL become minimalistic someday! Wine and cheese get together to meet everyone...and dine for the day!

Wine and cheese extravaganza.

Denali bound! I love that this little short sentence is now part of me...reminds me of Tibet and Jungfrau, even though I did not see Katmundu or Everest. I believe that I have a love for mountains, especially the big ones that stand alone, Pike’s Peak, Mt. Rainer and our local Mt. Washington.

Pack is a four letter word! It seems that I have spent the last few years packing, unpacking or looking for something We finally got everything organized and the bags were out the door by 6:30am. Not sad to arrive at the Fairbanks Train Station to get out of dodge, so to speak. That seems a bit harsh and I need to think about what it all means. I do know that I expected quaint and the town seemed industry based, old and tired. The people that we met that were from Fairbanks seemed to be happy and love the town. We were excited To see our glass domed car - just like the ones advertised on Alaskan commercials, \240and the smell of \240BACON was in the air. This could be called the Alaska/Bacon trip with the amount \240of bacon served up.

Everyone is older and I said hi to everyone at the station because I couldn’t \240tell if they were in our group or not! Hahaha! My red hair stands out among all the greys:)

Finally, it was time to board and we clamored into our seats under the dome. I have to admit I got a thrill when the train whistle sounded. I do have a love of train travel. hold on - we go downstairs to dine! Cloth tablecloths and full place settings - no plastic, full breakfast washed down with a yummy Bloody! NOT a bad way to see Alaska! Being a lover of train travel, I so enjoyed listening to the train whistle as we passed through remote towns, and I do use that term lightly. An added bonus was that since we were the caboose, we could go out on the back of the car for fresh air, photo ops and just watching the miles pass by as the track disappears behind us. The wonders of train travel, gotta love it! Our train guide, Ryan was perfect...just the right amount of facts, stories and chatter. Some quick bullets for me

-Moose dropping Competition

-Forest fires

-Salmon netting - 20 per day

The ride was uneventful and we only saw one moose in 3.5 hours, but I can’t tell you the number of trees! Lol

We finally arrived at the Denali National Park visitors center for an hour or so then we all piled onto the light blue school bus for our 7 hour trip to Kantishna Lodge. We stopped at the Savage Ranger Station and learned the sign language for bear, moose and sheep as well as ‘I’m cool’! The reasoning...they expected us to be silent and not yell when we saw wildlife. \240Ha! And then we are off for a 90 mile, I did say school bus ride, on unpaved road. Spectacular scenery green, green \240and more green, \240surrounded by the Alaskan range plus the Outer Range. Billions of blueberry bushes reminding me of Mamma and ‘Blueberries for Sal’. Hopefully this leads to bear sightings!

Our driver instructed us to cry ‘whoa’ for Dall sheep, moose or bear sightings. It was quiet for awhile and then...

Sable Pass...a mother grizzly with two one year old cubs! Just like Blueberries For Sal with momma bear groveling got food with two babies scampering along up over the hill. She was beautiful , light golden brown, a great hair color indeed.

A Grizzly is a brown bear that lives in the interior Alaska whereas \240a Brown Bear lives near the sea and is much bigger due to a diet of salmon vs blueberries. Both bears are the same species proven by DNA.

Arctic Fox! Wow! Trotting right along the side of the bus. Awesome!

Falcon sitting on the ridge.

Arctic ground squirrels

Motto of Denali: “Migrate,hibernate or tolerate!”

Snowshoe hare!

Food chain is very obvious.

Three more Grizzlies.

Chiming bells for gratitude

Mama bear and two spring cubs less than 40 lbs of fur ball frolicking and wrestling.

Three more bears! Bruce almighty spotted them! Two one year old cubs frolicking in the snow. One was trouble and mom gave chase more than once!

Bruce pulled through again at the last rest stop when he spotted three caribou at the top of a ridge. Saw a bull caribou as we passed Denali. Of course Denali is so broad -54 miles around! Immense! And we could only see up about 10,000 of the 22,000 feet! We passed by Reflection Pond made famous by Ansel Adams and the on our last leg up to the Kantishna Road House, we saw a cow moose about 75 feet from the bus, at the end of Wonder Lake. \240We rolled in just in time for an 8pm dinner. Loooonnnngggg day:)

Tuesday July 10

We woke up in Denali! WooHoo! We both slept deep...must have been the twelve hours of traveling from yesterday. Breakfast was a lot of stuff and more of the BEST BACON! The air is crisp and clear, so wonderful to breathe and have I said how delicious the water is? I am totally addicted to it. We have half sunny skies and I am optimistic we will see Denali as we head out for Wonder Lake in about an hour. Great day for a gentle hike up Blueberry Ridge at Wonder Lake. The silence was truly golden and even though her majesty, Denali, was hidden behind low clouds, the huge base was fairly visible and we could conjure up the power and immensity . The entire base was covered in sparkling snow, much of the sky was blue and there was a smidge of reflection in Wonder Lake...a beautiful sight! We had two hours to hike around the lake before we had to head back for lunch at the lodge. We saw the hiking group we had tried to get in, but it had filled, and we were very grateful to be able to spend time on our own with complete quiet- except for when we were singing and dancing to discourage any black bears that might be around! Ha! Great excuse to dance and sing out loud!

FYI...the mosquitoes are horrendous! I got bit right through my clothing and even through my heavy, wool socks!!! Ankle biters for real! Thank you Logan for insisted on the mosquito netting for our faces. Haven’t had to resort to that yet, but surely glad to have them. I did try putting vodka on the itches since we had no anti itch lotion!

After lunch, I sketched and Bruce read, cups of teas were had and then we sat on the squeaky wooden swing on the bank of the river watching and listening to the gurgling water flowing by. Pretty perfect summer day in Denali, AK! Bruce went for a massage and I moved to the front porch rocking chair after the ‘goal panners’ moved in by the river...there we no shouts of ‘eureka’...definitely an Alaskan vocabulary word. Finally the mosquitoes drove me in to the lodge to sit by the fire. This was definitely an unwind day.

Happy hour was fun and we connected with Ken and Jane, who seen the most normal in our group and had dinner next to them, also, which was great. I think, as with anything, it takes a few days to figure out your people and then the trip gets better. Not a lot of wildness in the group - as in none! Back to pack and get to bed early as breakfast was being served at 5:30am!

Wednesday July 11

Finally, awake at midnight for the setting sun... beautiful orange/pink sky, light rain and a white rainbow. The biggest and clearest that I have ever seen. Up early for bags out at 5:20 am and breakfast at 5:30. Then we had to hang around til 6:20 to find out the call on flying or not with such heavy rain still coming down. The ones taking the 90 mile bus ride back were out went out the door at 6:20 and we headed back to our room to just lay down and rest until our 8am departure to the airfield. LITTLEST PLANE EVER! Like putting wings on my mini! We had to wear headsets and got to hear all the chitter chatter. The pilot said five would two hours of fuel. Not sure about that ‘soul’ business! Flying this low through the park really gave a better visual of how immense it is here and we had pretty heavy cloud cover. I am thrilled that I actually was not nervous at all!

Unfortunately, the clouds were so low that we couldn’t even see the base of Denali. I \240actually found the trip to be pretty relaxing with the drone of the engine and the muffled sound of the pilots voice coming through the headset. Even the dipping of the wings for viewing did not phase me. THEN we started dipping and turning and flying low to catch sight of caribou and a group of bears running along the ridge lines. WAY. COOL. We saw the bus from ‘Into the Wild’.DENALI!

Coolest ride ever! Quick van ride to the Denali train station our first stop tea followed by a hike, which included a lot of singing and laughing. I was singing old favorites as well as kindergarten songs, partly to warn bears of our presence in their territory (yes, there was signage!), and partly to stop Bruce from telling any more ‘killed by bear ‘ stories. ‘Specially loved the one that the bear had to be shot ten times in the heart to stop it! So

Much for, ‘when you see a bear don’t run, wave your arms and make a lot of noise. Sheesh! We finished up the last bit of our hike walking on the railroad ties, just like just like kids, still singing away to, ahem, scare the bears away. One problem with this strategy...it NOTIFIES \240moose that you are in their territory and apparently moose are worse than bears! ESPECIALLY

if she had calves with her. Yep...you guessed it! We were within sight of the train station when old eagle eye Bruce, thanks...I’d probably have been run over...there she was, a big cow moose and her two calves! Stopped and silenced we two immediately. We picked our trees to hide behind in case she saw us and came running. We waited her out and she meandered the other way, her babies following along. We got around the corner and two dumb-ass people were 10 feet away snapping pictures! What the heck! Then there were people all over the place. No one got trampled today. A ranger came and made them back off, but he practically had to pull people away. So, I guess the moral of the story is quiet or noisy...pick your poison.

Back on our domed train for a six hour trip to the Knik River Lodge. The service on the train was great, the view was still very green and we only saw two sets of Trumpeter swans -although beautiful they were, two spots of bright white

surrounded by green. This trip is getting me ready for Ireland!

Best view of a moose, thundering across the spring green clearing with a short stop and turn around to look at US thundering by on the train! It had National Geographic all over it! I smile just thinking about it. There is nothing like the awesomeness of nature.

We had a lovely, delicious dinner on the train, the setup is perfect, even a little vase of flowers and the food was delicious. Our stop, Wasilla was next and off we went onto the coach for an hour ride to the Knik River Lodge, quaint little cabins with a stellar view. A mom moose and two babies were by the side of the road. I guess it’s true...they are out there! We made half of our group down at the lodge and chatted it up out on the balcony...pretty awesome way to end the day. Didn’t make it to sunset...traveling by sitting around and being waited on can be so tiring!

Thursday July 12

Easy morning AK breakfast wasn’t til 9 instead of a 5:30 seating. Eggs and reindeer sausage for breakfast. Then we caught up on laundry and waited for the coach bus. The views here are wonderful but there is not much else to do unless we wanted to pay $600 each for a helicopter tour! In between the groups that did take the helicopter tours we took our coach bus to Hatcher Pass and the Independence Gold Mine, about an hour away. Pretty cool as almost all of the original buildings were still represented in some fashion, though many looked as if the Big Bad Wolf had been to town looking for little piggies! We had a boxed lunch and back to the Lodge got an afternoon of cards and wine on our deck. I DID go for a short run...what was I thinking??? About a mile out I noticed bear and moose tracks! It was my fastest run back! Caught between a rock and a hard place...make lots of noise to deter bears but don’t make any noise...THAT attracts moose! PR for sure coming back...also singing at the top of my voice. \240Final dinner of yummy halibut, the other famous Alaskan fish. Great day in the 49th state!

Friday

We had an early, quick breakfast, the usual eggs, reindeer sausage (think

kielbasa!), yogurt and fruit, then off for a short walk along the way of fresh moose tracks. Then ‘on the road again’...the song was actually blasting on the bus. We stopped for a last look at the glacier and it was magical misty morning view - postcard perfect! Of course eagle eye Bruce picked a moose out in the faraway lake!!!

Next stop...the Alaska Native Heritage Center! I loved this! Each Alaskan Tribe has their culture represented with a traditional house, which were set up around a beautifully landscaped pond that had all types of Alaskan wildflowers, especially enormous Fireweed (the state flower) growing all around it. The best part of this was that high school students did all the presentations. Besides being a tourist stop, the main purpose of the center is to teach children that were raised in the city more about their cultural heritage and also, to give the children from the remote areas a chance to continue practicing in a way they were raised. It reminded me of Plymouth Plantation, but no one was playacting. It was awesome! One of my favorite spots!

We learned, from Kip, how to use our hand to remember the five types of salmon:

Chum

Sockeye

King

Silver

Pink

Last lunch with this crew of people at the 49th State Brewery. Great location and great pub food. I am tired of making small talk with everyone. NOT a complaint, just an observation. Then we walked around downtown Anchorage tourist shopping and meandering m. I had hoped for another bike on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, but the weather wasn’t great, we didn’t have enough time and we were both exhausted, so we checked into the Hilton, got all stocked up then off

Federal Visitors Center to watch

‘The Day the Earth Shook’, a documentary on the 1964 earthquake...slept through most of it! Lol

Saturday July 14

Pack and unpack! It’s getting quicker???? I organized and packed everything last night...then I needed something this morning. Unpacked...repacked...had to go back in again! You would think that by now I would have this one down! Ha!

YUMMY breakfast! I still feel guilty because it was buffet style and I got the standard bacon and eggs...passed on the reindeer sausage, which I found out only had 2% reindee! I turned around and there was a whole fruit buffet with cottage cheese!!!! Woohoo and happy is me. They let me take a banana (first in forever!) to go with little packs of peanut butter! Plane food! And off to the airport again:) I asked Bruce what to expect in Juneau and I quote, “I’ll let you form your own opinion.” Oh,  boy! At least there will be a small cruise ship waiting to take me away! I must say that I really enjoy traveling with Alaskan Air. My said ‘plane food’ that I packed got a bit smooshed so peeled that banana open, spread on the PB with a spoon and then ate the banana out of the peel with my spoon. I liked it!

Our driver from the airport, named Brenda, yay, gave us the rundown on Juneau, the only state capital you can’t drive to and showed us how to form the state of Alaska with your hand. Ask me and I’ll show you! Driving into town, there were eagles on practically every other light post!!! What??? Sometimes two or three! Ridiculous! But the salmon were starting to run here and so the eagles have landed. There were so many that I actually called them pigeons! Brenda was great and showed us all the local places verses the ones owned by the cruise ship companies, so of course we went local...first stop, just by chance, the Amalga Gin Distillery. BEST G&T ever! Hence the flurry of family texts on the Sullivan🍀s Vodka topic! We went to the

Ben Franklin Store where I bought a tin cup to hang on my backpack for emergencies or vodka tasting and then headed to the restaurant, The Flight Deck for fish tacos and a salmon burger as we watched the sea planes take off and land right in front of us on Juneau Bay! Naturally the company was called ‘Wings’:) I loved that show! 

The ravens are wicked awesome...dignified crows:) They look as big as eagles and are called ‘trickster’ because they can change their bird call. 

Last, last stop...60N coffee/tea shop. I tried my first chaga tea - Ági Chaga - a chaga latté...yum!

Finally, time to head to the check in point and got to board the Wilderness Explorer! Our cabin is right behind the bridge, sweet spot to be because there is no people traffic, which is precisely why Bruce chose it. I learned something new...Muster! Maybe I knew it or at least heard it before but didn’t retain it. Ha!

Con te Partiro (my go to song)was the first song I heard on a small ship cruise in  southern Alaska ! Woohoo! No wildlife except for a few salmon, but it will happen for sure!

It is very different being on such a small cruise ship...as you get to meet many people very quickly. Dinner was amazing and off to the tiny room!

Sunday July 15

One more week in Alaska! It’s hard to believe two weeks went by already. Restful sleep on board with the gentle rocking and humming of the motor below. Nice indeed! Dreary, rainy day in southern Alaska. So ok with all of that. We had an early pre-breakfast before brunch. There was a humpback whale sighting announced by the captain and we all scampered out onto the rainy deck but I missed him:( Still in all, a promising way to start the day. Whale, whale! That was my cry! Yep. I stand corrected. The person next to me said, “It’s a sea lion.”

Me, “How do you know?” “Christian (a guide) told me.” Whew! I’m not the only landlubber!

Off to orientation for our off boat adventures at Fox Creek, Shaw Island and Chichagot Island. Bruce wasn’t feeling great so I piled on all my rain gear, since there had been a steady rain all day, and headed off for my first excursion-  a shore walk. There were eight of us with our guide Jess, who was phenomenal! We just slowed it way down and looked at everything! I ate sea lettuce and sea kelp right out of the water...but don’t try it at home! We stayed on the shore for the first bit then followed some animal paths into the meadow where the grasses and plants were armpit high-saw big hairy bear scat! The ugliest poop I have ever seen, but no bears. Whew! Off into the lush rain forest and it was simply amazing with all the different foliage and range of colors, never mind the variety of leaf shapes and sizes. The wild flowers were starting to bloom which added just enough color here and there. The steady rain pitter pattering down through the trees was awesome and the surrounding quiet added to the magic. Just taking the time to look at the size of the rain puddles on the leaves and grasses made me savor a simple bit of life. My mindfulness bell on my phone went off twice and made me really take the moment for what it was! Took the skiff back to the boat and Bruce was waiting so off to tea we went. He spotted a whale with the binoculars, but I couldn’t see it. We did see a sea lion from shore! I don’t mind the rain, and it really added to the atmosphere on the shore walk, but there are not too many places to go on this tiny ship when you can’t sit on deck, so we ended up back in our tiniest room ever which is the size of a bed and a sink to read and paint til the cocktail and news time - that’s when the activity director comes and tells you what has happened today and what to expect for tomorrow. After another delicious dinner of prosciutto wrapped cod or honey mustard drizzled pork, we pick up the Park Ranger in prep for heading into Glacier Bay National Park. I’ve set my alarm for 5:30 am to see these amazing phenomenons!

Monday, July 16

Glacier Bay at 6am! We hopped up at 5:30 to squeeze in a cuppa tea before we saw the glaciers. Majestic is definitely the word of the day as we gazed at the sheer force of Margerie Glacier. I could stare at the points, cracks shadings and the color mixture, that bright ice blue intermingled with the chocolate brown, all day. And then... the calving of the glaciers began and was it ever awesome! (I seem to use that term a lot!) It was kind of like thunder and lightning...you see it before you hear it and it is a loud grumbling roar as the ice slides down and smashes into the water where a cloud of spray erupts on impact. The glacier speaks! The color was the cool ice blue you imagine, layered with ribbons of brown, reminding me of fudge ripple ice cream, just blue instead of white. Parts of the glacier were completely dark representing the rocks and stones that the glacier picked up  along the way. Sad news, because of weather we would not be kayaking or doing any other ‘ops’ today. But Dan reassured us that we would not be disappointed and we were so not! Six brown grizzlies foraging around the alluvial plain. Look it up! Ha! We went to 

Johns Hopkins Inlet with another glacier, 

Lamplugh Glacier. Stunning! (I’m running out of descriptors and no Google to help me out!) we passed by a group of about ten otters just bobbing along! So cute!

Delicious Greek style lunch and Caitlin met me with my own gluten free pita bread! Yum! It was pretty dense so I ate it pizza style. After such a big lunch with wine it was nap time! Chilly, damp day in southeastern Alaska, a nap is just what was needed. Next, we were viewing Marble Rock terns, seagulls, one lone eagle and hundreds of Stellar sea lions all barking away. When the seagulls got started it was truly a party scene.

After an another amazing dinner, we docked at Bartlett Cove where we said goodbye to our National Park Ranger, Chelsea - who named us the ‘more’ group because no matter what we saw, we wanted more. It sounds bad out of context, but basically she was commenting on our eagerness to see and explore. We got to go ashore and explore 

Bartlett Cove as we walked through the coastal rainforest! It was a bit nerve wracking because we were limited because of a grizzly sighting. The visitors center was  a wealth of knowledge and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Back aboard, we settled down to watch the ‘sunset’, even though it was hours away. Goodnight, Alaska!

Tuesday July 17

Had to get out of the room early...made my cuppa tea for my thermos, tucked my book under my arm and headed off to the top, aft deck. SUCCESS! No one was there, there was no wind, the seas were like glass and I happily settled in to “Bear Town” - thanks Colleen! I was also sporting the green fleece you lent me! At 7am, stretch class started and I jumped right in. It was 30 minutes of yoga poses! We donned our rain gear again and headed our for a coastal shore walk. Again, we were thwarted by a bear sighting, and then further hampered by streams to deep to forge. Some people were disappointed, but I loved experiencing the silence of nature as well as taking time to look more closely at what was nearby. Plodding through streams in my tall boots was such fun and something we never get to do as grownups and forgot how much fun it use to be. I remember wearing red rubbers and also the black rubber boots that snap buckled all the way up.  It the only way they became waterproof was by putting plastic bread bags over ones socks! Just standing and watching the huge Dungeness crabs scuttle by was awesome. My kindergarteners would love tide-pooling here! We saw a school of salmon at the mouth of the stream, eagles on the tops of trees/soaring overhead, and harbor seals...life is grand! We were left on shore as the skiff dropped us and returned to the boat, and do we had nothing to do but to just breathe and be in nature!

FI  NA LEE! It is warm enough to sit on deck with a book and a cuppa tea...sigh. It is not exactly sunny but we see some blue sky and we have filtered sunshine. Bruce just keeps layering down, and our fellow travelers comment that he must be getting ready for the beach. He has worn shorts just about every day, but is sporting Long-johns underneath! 

Glass of wine and a yummy lunch of gluten free alternatives! I love it. As soon as I walk in to a meal, Caitlin is waiting to tell me what my options. Gluten free pasta and pasta salad. Also the marble brownies on the table were gluten free...score! Marty and Carol from Bedford, MA invited us to eat lunch with them, which was very nice indeed...the masshole table!

The afternoon was spent kayaking among the harbor seals, salmon and the biggest most colorful jellyfish you ever have seen. Honestly, some of them must be at least a foot in diameter. The best part of all was being completely surrounded by the quietness and stillness of the Alaskan scenery. It’s getting easier for me to spot eagles, seals and even ripples or bubbles in the water...whew! I’m amazed at how quickly others see them. Sometimes I have to be given explicit step by step instructions on where the wildlife is. The rain held off until it was time for reading on the deck in the afternoon, too bad. My Mindfulness bell continues to remind me to be grateful.

After dinner the excitement began! We were sitting on the upper aft deck, with just John and Meg, chatting away and watching the beginning of sunset through puffy clouds, when we heard the unmistakeable sound of a whale spouting! It was a humpback slowly and gracefully swimming along side! We got to see the tail which is always my main goal with humpbacks. The excitement did not end there...not ten minutes later there was a small pod of orcas off the bow! WOOHOO!

July 18

We actually saw a sunrise! There were low clouds on the horizon so it was delayed, but still and all a sunrise! The warmth on my face was such a gift, yet it didn’t last long. We made our tea and headed off to the lounge to  drink it. Luckily Bruce had told me that during the orca whale sighting last night I yelled out, “I love you orcas!” Well, when we came down for our tea, Sarah says, “Brenda, how excited were you to see the Orcas last night?” And the whole room broke out in laughter! LOL! I guess I was like Kar with her ‘shopaholic’ announcement on the ferry to...Block Island?!?!?

The morning started with humpback sightings before breakfast! Really???  We headed off on our skiff adventure in full rain gear as it had already started. What fun to be on the water so early and how lucky were we!!!! Sea lions, otters and a bear, oh my! We saw a black bear foraging in the grasses and then he headed to the shore turning over rocks, looking for clams. This was awesome! He finally noticed us and there was a bit of a staring contest before he meandered back into the woods. As if on cue, a bald eagle came soaring above us! sigh...

On the way back to ship we saw a raft of 26 otters all chillin’ as they floated along not a care in the world. There simply cannot be anything cuter than an otter floating on his back! Adorable! Another mid morning tea and books was how we idled the rest of the morning away. And then I would glance out the window and see an otter or a seal floating by:) I spent the next two hours before lunch just reading. What a gift after the last year that I had. Lunch was ridiculous! It was a Mexican theme and EVERYTHING was gluten free at this meal:) I wonder if it had anything to do with me chatting up the chef last night and putting in a plug for how great the gluten free food was:) It never hurts to butter the way, so to speak! Dessert was lime macaroons to go along with the Mexican theme...might just have to add some flavoring to my chocolate dipped recipe!

Afternoon:

We had another mom and baby orca sighting, which apparently is pretty rare at this time, so we were lucky indeed to see orcas two days in a row. Next, as the orcas went on their way we had a man overboard drill, which was a bit LONG in rescue, but interesting. Tip: Don’t be the one to hi overboard!

And then!!! Drum roll please! A pod of humpbacks!!! WooHoo! Dive after dive with their amazing flukes flipping up at the end of each gently wave of that enormous graceful body. Oh, the flukes we saw! And the wave of flippers as one would slowly sink beneath the surface. These acrobatics were accompanied by a chorus of oohs, ahhs, and sighs from the audience of us! Ben (crew guide) put a microphone in the water and we could hear the whales speaking! How cool is that! Ben explained what was going on...all the whales would dive down deep. at the same time, when one whale would communicate and all the whales would shoot up, opening their mouths and taking in 15,000 gallons of water and whatever was in it in one huge gulp, then they would break the surface at the same exact time, slowly and gracefully rollback into the water and show their flukes. Then they would all meander at the surface for a while til it was time to try again. We saw them perform this hunting ritual four times. It was so awesome! Apparently this is a more efficient way to hunt and eat but it doesn’t happen very often. We must have been there a half an hour, when a crew member said that it was time to move on. Perhaps there are rules??? We all spent the bulk of the afternoon on deck with binoculars ready at hand, just in case, even though it was chilly.

At 2:30, I took a tour of the galley with Chef James. I loved that he had a full sized double window with a view of Alaska to work under. The kitchen was much larger than I had anticipated,  it for sure there was no wasted space. Chef James and two assistants create 300 meals a day, approximately 79 for guests and then the 30ish crew members eat the same food we do. There is also a pastry chef, who we did not meet, I am not overly impressed with the desserts but there are always gluten free options, thank you very much! Late afternoon, I packed up my book, binoculars, painting supplies and a glass of wine and got a good hour on the third aft deck before many people discovered it. Riding in the now is fun, but that is where everyone congregates, do if a little peace and quiet is I the menu, aft deck it is. I think it is always important to keep an eye on where one has been. It, too, is part of the journey. The day winded down in a beautiful cove, many did an open paddle board and others just hung out on deck. So far, I am not affected at all by the fact that I have not experienced ‘night’.

Thursday July 19

Woke up to some kind of alarm going off in our room - ugh! Had to get dressed and blearily find someone to help. It sounded like a smoke detector only quieter. Got one of the mates who came in and finally figured out that it was the alarm clock sittings the floor! We unplugged it on day one to make room on the counter! Felt like an idiot! Next we ran out of tp! Another trip out - all before - jub6am. I picked up some fixings and we had our tea in bed on this cold dreary morning. Breakfast was yummy as usual and we enjoyed chatting with our table mates, but after, we erased our names off the activity board...neither of us was too interested in bushwhacking through the rainforest. Later I went for a kayak and it was awesome! Harbor seals and gardens of jellyfish, but give the surrounding forest time and it will come alive with all sorts of sounds! It was so calm and clear I could swear I was in a lake! Being alone in nature does something for the healing of the soul as well as quieting the mind.

Made it back in time for lunch and highlight of that - Strawberry Lemonade Vinaigrette over arugula and berries! Delicious!

We had a late afternoon tour and got switched to a guide that was not our most favorite, but we decided to make the best of it and off we were on a skiff tour. It was not raining and we were bumping along on the ocean - life is great! We had heard about this but now we got to witness it from our balcony...a jellyfish caught a fish in its tentacles and then the next thing we saw was the little fish swimming in the top of the bubble of the jellyfish! Way cool!

I finally figured out why I’m not painting...we have had no sun and while it is extremely beautiful, low clouds turn the water gray and in between are dark spruce trees. When we get a smidge  of sun, all the green colors do pop out.

Well...here’s one for the books...I sat next to quiet john for dinner and when I asked, “How the heck do you sit in a kayak for 6 hours?” He responded with, “Depends!” What. The. Heck. The world has just gone up a whole nother level!

Ben, one our favorite guided, gave a talk after dinner on the intelligence/emotions of animals:

Jellyfish have no brain! They just exist.

Sea otters hide their favorite rocks in little pouches in their armpits to crack/pet open shells.

Orcas will share food amongst their pod so none go hungry. 

When a baby orca dies it will be carried by the mom for days. It will also get passed among all the others in the pod so that they too, can say goodbye. Sad. Ben recommended the book, Beyond Words.

Saturday July 21

Landed in Sitka...where eagles hang out on the masts of sailboats. TRUTH! 

Sad to say goodbye to all, crew and fellow guests, but ready to get off the boat. We walked down to the Totem Pole National Park and wandered the one mile path that told the history and importance of totem poles. We could connect by phone to learn about the different poles...way cool! So much respect for this native people and culture that I know so little about. I can’t seem to get enough information, but again, it is too much to intake. Kindness, respect and responsibility are core values and we seem to be lacking that so much these days. Where eagles soar! One cool thing about Alaska is eagles and they remind me of the native people. I had seen a golden eagle but never a bald eagle, at least close enough that I could identify it. They are beautiful, strong and proud looking - stately if you will - yet they have one of the sweetest calls I have ever heard. As we walked through totem park, I told Bruce that I heard an eagle and sure enough, he spotted them! I’ve got some nature in me after all! I loved all the animals, but will miss the eagles most of all, and I am not even a bird person!

By the time we finished our walk we had stellar skies! Bright blue with not a cloud! After two weeks of low gray skies, we just wanted to be in the sun! So lunch was at the Westmark  because there was an outside patio with full sun! Woohoo! So we sat looking out at the bay with snow capped peaks...and where eagles soar overhead.we milked it and stayed as long as we could without being obnoxious  and left a good tip, then off to find our Super 8 motel. There is a first for everything! It actually was great! After a shower and regroup- I finished the book, Colleen...loved it! I’ve passed it on to Bruce but I know there will be no talking to him once he starts! Back out we went to bag some rays! I love Sitka! The mountains meet the sea, tiny and quaint.

Walked around town to check it out and the whole town shuts down at 5! On a Saturday!!! It truly is a wonderful looking place. Next, we hear Michael and Paul yelling at us from their hotel to meet them for a drink. One block later we run into Esme and Roy, then Richard and Paula! We can’t escape the boat people! Dinner was at The Pub overlooking the snow capped mountains and the bay...sigh...

Dianne and Dave were there! We can’t escape!!! Hahaha!

And then...just like that...our Alaskan adventure is over as we sit in the tiniest airport ever! What an amazing trip to what I agree is ‘the last frontier’. I am truly lucky to have had this experience! Now back to reality...a new baby coming to visit and a big wedding to celebrate! Life is grand! Thank you, Bruce Reeh!!!!