Day 13 - 6/14/08

As we cruised into Vancouver, the ship went under the Lions Gate Bridge. This bridge was designed by the same engineer who built the Golden Gate Bridge. This one bears a great resemblence.

Vancouver is a lovely city. They are in the midst of a great construction boom. The bus driver joked that the city bird is the crane. Vancouver will host the winter olympics in 2010.

I couldn't resist taking a picture at the airport.

Gas prices in Canada are listed in "cents per liter." Here the price is 148.6 -- the equivalent of $6.88 per gallon.

Under the new security rules, we were in long lines and had to go through both Canadian and US customs as well as airport security. The security people were well organized, though and the time went quickly. Literally thousands of people passed through the airport coming from cruise ships--there were at least 2,000 from our ship alone and we saw at least one other ship docking at the same time we did.

Everything on the trip went efficiently like this. We had no discouraging slip-ups or unnecessary delays. AND, our luggage which we hadn't seen since we put it in the hallway last night, arrived safely and on time in Chicago 12 hours later.

The American Rockies, outside Denver.

Denver airport. The roof of the terminal looks like a village of tents.

These "crop circles" outside Denver fascinated me. Someone told me they had something to do with irrigation. I don't know, but they were cool to see.

What more fitting end to our marvelous journey than seeing sunset at 30,00 feet!

We loved everything about our trip, and can't wait to go back!

Day 12 - 6/13/08

We spent the entire day cruising Canadian waters outside Britsh Columbia. Hour after hour of scenes like these. No more snow-covered peaks.

The sight of this sailboat was so beautiful against the blue water.

We didn't see any more whales or other wildlife, but were told they are sometimes spotted in these waters.

When we weren't watching the scenery, we began repacking and organizing for heading home tomorrow. Our suitcases had to be in the hallway outside our room that evening. Coming to the end of the trip we realize we're in overload with all we've seen and done. We can't wait to share with others!

Day 11 - 6/12/08

Our last stop in Alaska was Ketchikan. While the Salmon Capital of the World, Ketchikan is also home to a couple totem pole parks. Native Alaskans feel very strongly about their totems and are determined to educate non-natives about the poles and their meaning. They are equally determined that their future generations will not lose the skill for carving the poles.






These are street scenes from the tourist area in Ketchika.

We saw this sign on the side of a building. Ketchikan gets more rain annually than both Portland and Seattle. Compare Ketchikan's 12.5 FEET of rain annually to Fairbanks' 11 INCHES!

Non-tourist Ketchikan.

This totem was commissioned by a

man to celebrate his

50th wedding anniversary.

This eagle totem was given to the city by a reknowned totem carver.

Gas prices in Alaska were comparable to what we were paying in Illinois when we left.

Float plane parking lot

The area around Ketchikan is actually classified as a temporate rain forest.

The flowers were spectacular!

We visited Totem Bight Park. Just one of the parks in Ketchikan featuring totem poles.

Each totem pole tells a story or history.




















A clan house at Totem Bight Park. During the winter an entire clan lived inside. The structure is quite large and has two levels. Women sat around on a bench on the main level. Men sat in another area. Older men and children sat on a bench on the lower level, hear the central fire pit. Each person and family had their own place. The benches on the lower level were hollow and each family had a place for their belongings.

The totems in the park are reproductions. The original poles were not preserved and many were lost. The guide told us the colors on the original poles were made by women chewing fish parts. Obviously there is a shortage of volunteers to do this nowadays, so paint and preservatives are used on these.

Close up look at a dog sled

Our last excursion was the Great Alaskan Lumberjack show. This was more of a show than a contest, but the young men who participated are actual competitors. They are mostly college students. There was a lot of kidding and corny jokes, but it was great fun. A really great way to end our trip!

Contestants stand atop this horizontal log and chop the log in two-chopping between their feet.

Ax tossing -- harder than it looks.

This is the double-saw competition. the men in silver hats are the American team and the men in red shirts are the Canadian team.

Here contestants chop a vertical "tree trunk" for speed. There is another young mad on the other side of the area doing the same thing.

For this contest competitors notch the tree jam a flat board into the notch and use that board as a platform for chopping. Think of cutting down a tree while standing on a diving board.

This young man is a champion in the pole climbing events.

For this contest the competitors run the length of the pool on the floating logs.

What is a lumberjack competition without log rolling?

Like we have driveways, many places here have skids for pushing float planes into the water.

There were a lot of eagles in Ketchikan as well. They fly overhead all the time like crows do at home.

Day 10 - 6/11/08

Downtown Juneau, the capitol of Alaska.

I got this view of the Juneau ice fields from the highway.

This is skunk cabbage. Bears eat it when they come out of hibernation.

Bears sometimes wander into the towns, even in metropolitan areas. Rangers remove the bear, tag it and set it free up in the mountains. If a bear is caught 3 times it is considered a danger to man and is "stopped" permanently.

We went on a whale watching excursion and had a great time. The naturalist told us we saw more whales than they usually do. I quit counting at 8. They were all humpback whales.

When you're looking for wales you try to spot the water spout from the blow hole. That's the small white fog in this picture

When whales get ready to dive, they arch their backs and flip up their tales. This is the most we ever actually saw of one.

The naturalist told us the markings on a whales fluke are as distinctive as fingerprints. There is a website you can check against pictures you have of whale flukes and identify the whale you saw. The knobby things on the outside points are barnacles.

Here's a distant view of the Mendenhall Glacier.

More awesome scenery...and bald eagles.

Another view of the ice fields. What looks like tire tracks is actually margin lines where two glaciers have merged together.

In one spot along the shoreline sea lions were sunning themselves. From the distance they looked like sausages piled up.

Look at the big guy in the middle of the picture.

The white dots in the middle of the picture are bald eagles sitting in the trees. I didn't enlarge this picture to give a sense of size.

This lighthouse is no longer in use and is being converted to a bed and breakfast.

Sadly this picture is a bit blurry. It is a harbor buoy with an eagle sitting on top and 2-3 sea lions lounging at the base.

Our next stop was the Mendenhall Glacier. This is located just outside Juneau. Imagine having a glacier in your back yard!

This waterfall was next to the glacier. The tiny specks at the base are people.

Rangers retrieve chunks of glacial ice from the river at Mendenhall and display it.

It reminded me of a cracked marble--you see the cracks inside but the exterior is unbroken.

It was so awesome to touch a chunk of ice that was snow 200+ years ago.

I also got to touch glacial silt. it was gray and had the consistency of flour. It reminded me of the dust that sifts out when you empty the vacuum cleaner bag.

Alaskans have their own way of doing things.

Scenes from the tourist area of downtown Juneau

This statue is a tribute to the hard rock gold miners of Alaska