I have wanted to go to Alaska for a long time and when Steven was assigned there, I knew it was THE TIME. The arrangements were made, the day arrived, and we were off to Vancouver where Louise and I would be on the cruise for seven days, with Steven and Lindsay and girls for five days, then Steven and I would fish for the final week.
We were delighted with the Island Princess. It had a wow factor from the glass elevators in the atrium to the art work at each set of stairs. The 900+ foot long liner held 1975 passengers and 900 crew members. We got our walking in with 2.8 laps on the prominade deck = one mile. We toured the galley and learned that we had 130 cooks at our disposal preparing each day 1200 lb poultry, 250 gal soup, 4200 pastries, 2000 lbs fresh fruit and all kinds of other delicious food. We enjoyed the nightly entertainment, the opportunity to meet new people, and the outstanding scenery.
We enjoyed being together for seven days. Things were at a leasurely pace but I found it took me about three days to internally slow down -- get rid of the schedules and just relax was the theme for me. The Alaska cruise is not one to get a tan by the pool. I swam in the inside pool but the weather was nice but cool. When we were near the glaciers, it required a good coat and hat but the beauty made up for the inconvience of a coat.
Our land fall locations were Ketichakan, Juneau, and Skagway. We saw some spawning salmon in Ketichakan and wandered around town. There were five cruise ships in town that day so there was potential for plenty of people (like 10,000!). In Juneau we took a local tour bus to the Mendenhall Glacier. The deep blue color of the interior ice is a result of the oxygen being pressed out of the ice and it then reflecting the blue. It is beautiful. We also walked to the state capitol building.
Skagway has a colorful history due to the 1898 gold rush. The outlaw Soapy Smith and his gang ran the town for a while until the hero Frank Reid shot Soapy -- unfortunately Frank also died as a result of the shoot out. It is now more peaceful but the history of the gold miners lives on. The Mounties would not let a miner into Canada unless he had 1000 pounds of supplies with him and there was only one way to get the supplies up to the border (20 miles? away up the mountain) and that was on his back 60 pounds at a time. The trail (photo below) was packed with those seeking their fortune (note the end of the train at the left of the photo). If someone got out of line, it might take 2-3 hours before he was let back due to the mass of humanity pressing to the gold fields. How inhumane! A narrow gauge railroad took us to the Canadian border. It was a fun and senic ride.
The glaciers in Glacier Bay and Prince William Sound were astounding! We were able to see some calving of the glacier (ice breaking off into the water), seals on ice flows, puffins, sea otters, and hump back whales. The glacier photo immediately below is one mile wide and 250 feet tall. The glaciers install an awe of the beauty that is all around us each day. It trully was a special opportunity. We were very fortunate with the weather. All of our landfall locations were met with good weather even though Ketichakan only has 25 non-rainy days a year.
As we sailed into Prince William Sound and looked toward the mountains, the clouds parted and stayed that way for the two hours we were there. As we left, the clouds gathered over the mountains. Almost like a Disney experience ......
It was such a delight to be with Steve and Lindsay and their sweet girls. The main reason we travel is to be with our family and it was well worth it. We took hikes around the neighborhood (keeping an eye out for bear and moose), played dolls with the big sister, and helped the little sister learn to crawl forward (she got it together about ten days after we left). Lindsay and Steve made our trip a very enjoyable visit.
We enjoyed seeing Elmendorf AFB. It was while we were there that we learned about Steve's deployment. Our hand of love goes out to sweet Lindsay and we will support her in any way that is needed while he is gone.
Louise left after about five days to get back to get ready for school. She missed a visit by Mortimer (see below). He was very entertaining and left us laughing in tears.
The Alaskians watch the Fireweed flower very carefully. The blooms work their way up the plant until their reach the top. They know that not long after it tops out the terminal dust (snow) is on its way.
I wanted to walk on a glacier so Steve, Louise, Brynn, and I headed off for the Matanuska Glacier about two hours NE of their home. We were down the road about fifteen minutes when Steve said -- look! IT was Mt. McKinley shimmering in the distance. Google Earth indicates it was 125 miles from our location. The weather was kind to us again.
Matanuska Glacier was a fun experience. We had to hike 0.5 mile --at least -- to get on the glacier. Brynn was a trooper and walked the whole way without a complaint. We had fun walking on, tasting (Louise and Steve), and photographing (about a zillion photos) the glacier. I really liked the reflecting light off the backside of the spires onto the glacier.
Fishing week finally arrived. Monday found us on the Kenai and Quartz Creek having the time of our life. Steve got a Dolly Varden trout on his second cast and it kept going that way for the rest of the day. We figure we caught >60 trout as we worked our way through the spawning red salmon on their way up the river. It was a day that we will long remember. Tuesday was our halibut day where we caught our limit of four but we had to fight waves (no seasickness) and a 27 foot tide (2
nd highest in the world). The halibut, by the way, sure taste good. Wednesday and Thursday were silver salmon days up beyond Willow (NW of their home) in the Montana River. It was a great adventure.
We had a great time on our trip. The experiences were fun, the scenery absolutely beautiful, and the family interactions memorable. We are so thankful for our lovely family. They are what life is all about.
Erik thought it was great fun to catch grasshoppers and throw them by Amy. She attacked the hoppers with a vengeance.
As I mentioned, the chickens wander around and we have found that their egg laying habits are a bit on the nomadic side. Erik found these two in our compost pile and yes, they became target practice. Erik was the great hunter in our garden by keeping the grasshopper population under control with Soren's BB gun (thanks Soren).
It was great fun having the children at our home for three days. I know the head of maintenance at the Casco ice cream factory by Richmond so we went there on a tour. We watched the Cascos being made as well as the Fat Boys (I eat less of those because of that name). We did enjoy a Christmas variety Casco (peppermint candy in the chocolate covering) as they came off of the production line. The ice cream forming process is automated but the Cascos are hand dipped eight at a time and then are packaged.
Who knows -- maybe the factory tour hats are being converted for bee catching. The cage in Erik's hand contained the Monarch caterpillar that we found out in Benson when we were on our way home from the ice cream factory.
I stopped on my way home from swimming early Tuesday morning to gather some wheat stalks that had been missed during harvest. At breakfast, I asked the kids what was in their bread. They said flour and I said where did that come from? Wheat was their answer. This old farm boy wants to make sure his city slicker grandchildren know a few things about farming. They rubbed the heads of wheat between their hands to harvest it. We later planted a few seeds in cups and then ground the remaining seeds in our mill. We took it home to show their folks.
We made puzzles, played in the back yard, visited my folks, went fishing, rode bikes, got the mail, picked our Gala apples, and just generally had fun. 
