Seattle and finally---home!

Thanks to everyone who has followed our adventure this summer. I wish I could post every photo that was taken, but that would crash the network! This will be the last post, as we are home and somewhat into a regular routine. I went back to work yesterday. It will take me at least a week to catch up with everything I missed. My co-worker Amanda kept our offices running smoothly and averted any disasters. Aubrey is back to his busy routine, as well.

Seattle was beautiful. We made all the tourist-y stops and enjoyed our time there. We had planned to go to the aquarium on June 12. It is open 364 days/year and closes one day for a fundraiser, which this year was on June 12. We even tried to buy tickets to the fundraiser; but all tickets were sold. Oh well!

If you notice that in these photos we appear to be tired, we are. We didn't feel tired until we got on the plane to head home. I guess the go-go-go for 18 days caught up with both of us. Anyway, we are thankful to be safely home and are glad that no major catastrophe happened while we were gone. Our neighbor Joyce had a mild "cardiac event" but is doing well, and most of my pond fish mysteriously died. Our kids and neighbors checked on everything at home while we were gone; and grandson Ben took great care of our yards.

It's great to be in Texs!

A&J

Fairbanks Photos

These photos go with previous blog page. They didn't upload properly.

JS

Fairbanks, 6-10-09

Today was spent in Fairbanks, without train travel. We went on a paddlewheel cruise where we stopped at an Athabaskan Indian "camp" and at the late Susan Butcher's sled dog training facility. She was a 4-time Iditarod winner before dying from leukemia 3 years ago at age 53. Yesterday afternoon we went to a gold-mining camp where we panned for gold.

The Athabaskan Indian camp was really interesting. Very primitive, even for Alaskan standards.

I never realized how much effort it took the gold-hunters during the gold rush. After the tour, we were given a small sack of dirt, called a poke, and learned how to pan for the gold. Afterward, they weighed it on scales. Together we had approx. $45 worth. Of course there was an area where we could immortalize our gold findings in a piece of jewelry. (I got a pendant and chain.)

Last night we rode the shuttle downdown and had great Italian food at Gambardella's. Then it was time to pack up (again!) for our flight to Seattle.

While we were standing around at the gold mine, I noticed Gloria off by herself. I dared Aubrey to go speak to her, wanting to get a pic of them together. He walked over and started talking to her and she dissed him so bad! She spoke a word or two then walked away. I think he scared her. So, regrettably, we don't have any photos; some things are better left unseen!

On the way back, the bus driver stopped at the Alaskan pipeline so we could get some photos of it. This is Aubrey touching it.

Off to Seattle!

A&J

Train from Denali to Fairbanks, 6-9-09

Today we took a jet-boat ride 17 miles upriver to a trapper/gold miner's cabin. He showed us his trapping equipment, some skins that he trades/sells, and we got to pretend-mine for gold. Everybody got a few flakess; not enough to retire on, but it was fun to actually do the panning. The old man lives in this "cabin" and his teen-age grandson is spending the summer with him. The big mitten I have on is what he wears to run his traplines in the winter, I believe they are beaver fur. He wears lots of regular gloves underneath the fur.

We had a 4-hour train ride to Fairbanks. Gloria & Leonard sat across the aisle from us today. He read his book and she stared straight ahead. They are such a fun couple, we hope to travel with them again! Fairbanks is not in the mountains. Big surprise to all of us! All we've seen for 10 days is mountains and this is a rolling hill-looking area. The lodge itself is a disappointing sight to everyone. It is not a lodge at all; more like a Fairfield Inn that was bought by Princess and they slapped the word "lodge" on it.

I'm sure everyone is tired of looking at my Tech visor. I thought I would wear this one for a day or two until I could find an Alaska visor. Today I finally found one. I have probably been in 200 or more gift shops. So I finally will get to wear a new visor tomorrow! However, the Tech one has been a conversation piece, especially from fellow Texans, people from Indiana (Bob Knight--they either hate him or love 'im) and curious ones who want to know what university it represents.

I apologize for not having more photos from today. The internet service is sketchy here and I can't get anymore photos to download. Will try again tomorrow.

A&J

Denali, 6-8-09

Today was spent at beautiful Denali Princess Lodge. The indoor photo is the upper level of the main building. The lower level is every bit as beautiful. Aubrey went flyfishing with a guide again, this time for Arctic grayling. Said he had a great time and the fish were biting like crazy.

Hey everybody, Aubrey here. As you know, I'm seldom at a loss for words, but this country is beyond description. When I was first able to see Denali (Mt. McKinley), it was without a doubt the most stunning and unbelievable sight that I have ever seen. I understand why the natives considered it a sacred place. Now, as Jacque said, the fishing was great today. Traveled with a guide and another couple by van about 25 miles to a back country area called "Fish Creek". Appropriately named, huh? Fishing started a little slow, but once I got the hang of it, and about the time we had to leave, it went crazy. I caught around 20 Arctic Grayling and had a great time in some beautiful country. I even forgot to worry about the bears that the guide cautioned us to watch for. Now, back to Jacque. . .

One thing I forgot to mention was that when we arrived at McKinley Lodge yesterday, my new and largest red suitcase had a big "L" tear in it. Thank goodness none of my clothes had fallen out during transit. (I'd hate to leave unmentionables all over Alaska!) Evidently the luggage gorilla had a good day! We had to fix it somehow--and Aubrey was so ingenious. He bought a sewing kit at the gift shop to get a needle. Then he used dental floss as thread and tied individual "sutures" to close the rip. Dr. Steve would have been so proud of his stitches! Then we coated the knots with super glue, borrowed a roll of duct tape from the maintenance department and he taped up the whole mess. It looks every bit as bad as you can imagine--but it has held so far!

There are so many photo ops here on the compound. Last night we went to the Music of Denali Music Theatre. Had the best baby back ribs we've ever eaten and, of course, fresh salmon. The play was about the first expedition to climb Mt. McKinley. Pretty good entertainment. Today there is 20 hrs of sunlight. We had signed up for a whitewater rafting trip this afternoon but it was cancelled due to lack of participants. It's all about the dollar on these trips!

Tomorrow mid-afternoon we board the train for a 5-hour ride to Fairbanks. We spend 3 days/2nights there. So far we have a gold-panning adventure and a steamboat paddlewheel trip upriver. If there's fishing to be done, Aubrey will be ready! He is so hooked on fly-fishing, he spends his spare time "casting" into thin air, much like a golfer "air-golfs".

Love to all.

A&J

Mt. McKinley, Train Ride to Denali, 6-7-09

The photos of Mt. McKinley don't do it justice. The sun was extremely bright this morning; so Aubrey got some great shots. Yesterday in the clouds it looked more like a mirage.

We boarded the glass-topped train this morning early. This one was a double-decker with the dining car underneath the viewing car. We've enjoyed every person we have met on this trip--except for today. We were assigned a table with Gloria & Leonard from Ohio. They were like travelling with 2 lumps of coal. Neither one had anything to say and didn't get excited about anything along the way. All around us was the most incredible sights in the world; and Leonard read a book. We, on the other hand, had a great time, visiting up and down the car, Aubrey hanging out the viewing deck outside to get these photos, etc. We escaped Gloria & Leonard to eat lunch with a really nice couple we met today. Something about the rocking motion of the train puts me to sleep every time. I think I slept about 30 minutes of the 4-hour trip.

The "lodge" at Denali is unbelievable. It's more like a city. There are probably 50 buildings in the compound. Our room for the next 2 nights is near the river. Tonight we're going to a dinner theatre for a historical musical and a BBQ ribs/salmon dinner. (I know--strange combination.) Tomorrow morning we have a natural history tour for 4 hours. Aubrey has booked another guide for a fly-fishing adventure for all afternoon. I plan to get a massage while he's gone. We've been doing so much sitting and rubber-necking the past 2 days that my back and neck are giving me trouble.

Hope all is well. We've enjoyed hearing from everyone and learning about the rain.

Love, A&J

A&J

The photos are out of order; but I don't know how to change them. The pic of me was taken last night approx. 11:30pm. Note how light it is outside. It doesn't start to get dark until midnight. The photo of the glacier is taken at College Fjords. There are massive glaciers that cannot be appreciated until you see them. This looks like it just flows right into the ocean; but actually is about 300 feet tall at water's edge.

The iceberg photo is an iceberg that we thought looked like a bear floating on its back, head to the left. OK, maybe we'd had too much to drink; but at the time it made sense!

We got off ship this morning at 6:30 AM and got onto the glass-top train. It's a great way to travel. Full meal and bar service for the 5-hour trip. Then onto a greyhound-type bus for an hour into Talkeetna, population 700. The town is 5 blocks long. Those crazed souls that attempt to climb Mt. Everest fly out of Talkeetna for their adventure. Mt. McKinley is 40 miles away. The city airstrip is photo above.

The lodge where we are staying for tonight is the second photo. Beautiful Mt. McKinley Lodge. The mountain photo is taken from the outdoor deck, facing west. Mt. McKinley is hidden behind the clouds, but when the clouds clear for a few seconds, what a sight! It absolutely dwarfs all the other peaks.

Tomorrow we start our train trip into Denali National Park for 3 days.

Love to all, J&A

College Fjords, Alaska

So sad that this is our last night onboard. It has been much colder and cloudy, with icebergs the size of buses. One was packed with seals floating around. We saw a pod of 6 killer whales this morning. That was pretty cool sight! It's been so foggy that we haven't taken many photos today, so no posting of pics.

We "disembark" at 6AM tomorrow morning. I wonder what they'll think of me in my jammies and fuzzy house shoes! We have to pack differently tonight. We can take one bag each that will stay with us the next 5 days; the other 4 bags will be waiting in Anchorage in 5 days.

I hope this won't be our last opportunity to blog. Surely the lodges inland will have internet access. In the meantime, I'm packing up my laptop for travel tomorrow.

Tonight is our last night of unbelievable food. We both feel so pampered and spoiled-- much worse than grandbabies at grammy & grandpa's.

Love to all,
A&J

Glacier Bay, Alaska 6-4-09

This was a full day of cruising Glacier Bay. Some beautiful sights to behold! The first photo is of Mount Cooper. We saw several small "calves" fall from Marjory Glacier in the second photo. The piece of ice leaning to the right in the center of the photo was one that everybody wanted to see fall, but of course it didn't. They make a rifle-cracking sound when they break loose.

We saw more whales, seals, and Aubrey saw a grizzly bear on the shore. I missed the bear. Last night during dinner, an Orca surfaced and waved a fin at us.

Also had to do laundry today so we wouldn't be taking a week's worth of dirty clothes with us when we disembark Saturday. Our group of staterooms has a room with 4 washers/dryers, and 2 ironing boards. It was probably futile to iron since we have to pack them up soon.

Tonight was the second formal night so Aubrey got to wear his tuxedo one more time before he turns back into a pumpkin. He did look quite debonair sitting at the blackjack table in a tux!

There were 5 National Park Rangers onboard for today's cruising. They spoke about the glaciers, wildlife, etc. Part of the day we spent on our balcony watching, and at other times, we went to one of the public decks. There is one TV channel that broadcasts announcements, lectures, etc. so we don't miss anything if we're not in the area. These rangers got onboard by driving their small boat at the same speed as we were going, climbing up a rope ladder to get aboard, and the driver then pulled away. Aubrey watched them leave yesterday afternoon and got some cool photos.

One more night then it's on to the Wilderness Express train,

A&J

Skagway is a very quaint village of 714 residents until the cruise ships dock. Their sidewalks are made of wooden planks and all the buildings look like props on Gunsmoke. Weather again was perfect for spending all day outdoors.

Aubrey's fishing guide told him yesterday that during the winter months, all of the buildings are boarded up and it looks like a ghost town. Summer cruise trade is their only business.

Tomorrow we cruise through Glacier Bay, where the glaciers/icebergs are calving. The cruise director said to expect some spectacular sights. There will be National Park Rangers onboard tomorrow to give lectures and answer questions. The first session is at 7AM--guess who plans to be there! And guess who doesn't!

We are at sea full-time until we reach Whittier to get off ship :-( and get on the Wilderness Express train :-) for our 6-day trip. I do love cruising because we only unpack once for the whole trip.

Tell Cooper that we're proud of him for learning his phone number.

Love to all,

A&J

Juneau, Alaska 6-2-09

Today was another full day of fun. Aubrey was up by 6AM to watch the ship dock in Juneau. Can't remember if I mentioned that his original bush-plane fishing trip had cancelled. After picking his bottom lip off the floor, he hired a fishing guide for the day. They didn't fly in, but he got to fish for and catch trout, so he's a happy tired camper.

I did a separate excursion today. We first spent 4 hours whale watching, which was incredible. I started out trying to take a photo of every whale. Then I figured that everyone had seen enough National Geographic specials of whales; so I spent the rest of my time just enjoying them. Some came very close to the boat. We also saw lots of seals and more eagles. Then off to a very remote resort for looking at freshly caught salmon which were cooked on the grill for lunch. After lunch, we went to see Mendenhall Glacier. I am not sure what I thought a glacier would look like. The size was breathtaking; and Mendenhall Lake was full of icebergs that had calved from the glacier. The icebergs were larger than a bus. The water in the lake stays a constant 38-40 degrees.

Weather has been perfect again today. The locals are saying that they've had more sunshine the past week than during a normal whole summer. It was quite warm today, especially since everyone had dressed in layers for the morning boatride. By noon I had shed my coat and turtleneck shirt.

We are sitting on the balcony watching as we leave Juneau. We are due to sail through the night and should arrive in Skagway tomorrow morning (Wednesday?). The days have begun to run together! This morning we had "Happy Anniversary" balloons taped to our suite door.

Thanks for reaching about our adventure.

A&J

Hello from Ketchikann, Alaska! We finally got to go ashore today after 2 days of cruising. Went on a wildlife cruise on a 32-ft. boat and saw bear, seals, and bald eagles; but no whales! Disappointing, but what a day! This is truly God's country. They average 160" of rain/year but today was beautiful and sunny, approx. 60 degrees.

After our excursion (what the day trips are called), we walked Ketchikan. Very quaint town of 1300. They do have a school, a hospital, Safeway, and even a Wal-Mart. Most of the stores on the main street are full of kitchy souvenirs and canned salmon. Aubrey adventured on his own to a fishing ladder that is built to the side of a waterfall so salmon can get up Ketchikan Creek to spawn.

We have met 2 other couples from Lubbock. One of the women is a pediatric nurse at Covenant. We signed up for "anytime dining" so we eat dinner at a different table each meal. We have met people from Florida, Maine, Illinois, California, Colorado, England, and there are lots of Orientals onboard.

Hope all is well in Texas. ]

Love, J&A