Chapter 12: Alaska!

While I was having my crappy summer of cancer treatment, my friend Darla hatched a plan that we go on an Alaskan cruise when I felt better.

It took us four years, but we finally got around to it. We cruised up to Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway on the Golden Princess. Per my usual vacation luck, we could not go into Victoria because of heavy winds. It sure seems to me that something that is 108,865 tons (empty) and 950 feet long should be able to dock in a bit of wind but it didn't happen.


The cruise ship was huge and there was lots to do while we were at sea. We had a peek-a-boo view from behind the escape pod on the right. If there was any problem at sea I was not going to go down to the muster area. When that life boat dropped to the pick-up area, I was already going to be in it!

The towns we stopped in were fun to look at and it was all about shopping for jewelry and trinkets. Darla and I took an area excursion at each town so we could see a bit of the surrounding area.

It appears that the cruise companies and local towns have partnered to up-end the tourists and shake all the cash out of their pockets.

Here our cruise ship got a good parking spot on Main Street in Juneau so the shoppers can get right to it.

This is the view from a restaurant in Juneau we ate at called "The Hangar". Although this is one of the smaller cruise ships, the little sea plane sure is dwarfed. Beep, beep, little guy.

On the left is the most photographed building in Alaska. It's the Arctic Miner's Hall, a precursor to a miner's union. There are over 10,000 pieces of driftwood nailed on the front of the building.

This is a “One Sided Suspension Bridge” on the Yukon Highway outside of Skagway. As you can see, it’s placed over a gully that is actually a major fault line. The plan is that one end of the bridge is lightly attached to the ground and when there is an earthquake, the bridge will swing out of the way and not be damaged. Crews will reposition it and put it back into to service without having to build a whole new bridge. I see that there could be a repositioning issue if the fault is not the same width after the earthquake as it was before.

Darla & I took a tour out of Skagway that went into Canada. This is the sign on our return to Alaska on the Klondike Highway.

We were supposed to cruise down Tracy Arm to see some beautiful sights of Alaska. Of course, the fog caused a detour to Endicott Arm instead. It was pretty, but I hear Tracy Arm was better.

Here's some sea lions lounging their day away on an iceberg. I believe the exact color of the bergs is "Windex Blue".

This is the Land of the Midnite Sun. This picture was taken at midnite. St. Mary's lighthouse was just smack in the middle of nowhere. It was wierd to know that the lighthouse had a lighthouse keeper living on that island for almost 100 years.

This bald eagle that had one of his back claws caught in a trap. Since it works like an "opposable thumb", the eagle can't catch enough food to survive so he's become an educational display. He and his two owl buddies were very affectionate.

I thought this was a joke, but I guess it isn't. After thinking about it, I suppose it does get that cold up there (or down there).

In Skagway, Creek Street was where all the action was as you can see by the t-shirt below.

The married Man’s Trail was created to allow the married men to get to Creek Street without being spotted going through town. The “ladies” soon discovered that the married men had muddy boots from the trail and charged them more. The men learned to take extra boots and keep the muddy boots hidden in the bushes to avoid the “secrecy” charge. Eventually the married men banded together and built stairs and a boardwalk over the muddy path to make "heading upstream" an easier process.

These dogs belong to an electrician. They like to hang out of windows or pile on top of the truck to watch the action around them.

Anyway, fun was had by all. Now we are off to the cabin for the Fourth.