The Cruise

The Holland America cruise from Seward to Vancouver, BC, was wonderful. If I were wealthy, I would live on cruise ships, changing ships now and then and going to different ports all the time. (sigh)

All of the food was really good, but I mostly ate soups, salads, rolls and butter, and desserts. On previous cruises, I have eaten bacon and watermelon for breakfast every day. On this cruise, I reluctantly omitted the bacon.  They always had two soups for lunch and three soups for dinner, one of which would be a cold soup. They had big bowls of matchstick-cut jicama and radishes, and I ate plates full of both at lunch and dinner. There weren’t as many different desserts on this cruise, but a choice of 10 different desserts, including ice cream, was perfectly adequate. Susan and I ate every meal at the lido restaurant (buffet), and it was basically the same menus as what was available in the regular dining room – except we didn’t have lobster tail at the buffet like they had one night in the dining room.

The entertainment was fun -- comedians, singers, dancers, lots of music. Susan went to movies while I went to the live shows.

We didn’t go on any excursions. Susan walked around the towns we stopped at. Sometimes I didn’t even get off the ship. I had been on excursions at every port when my sister and I went on an Alaska cruise several years ago. One thing I didn’t do then that I wish I had was to take the tram to the top of Mt. Roberts in Juneau – so I did do that this time – and it was great.

We rode the Amtrak Cascades bus to Seattle. There was also a train available, but it reached Seattle after dark. http://www.amtrakcascades.com/

Just south of Vancouver, I saw mile after mile of greenhouses. A Google search produced the following information: http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/aboutind/products/plant/grnh_veg.htm On that Web site, it said, “Crops grown in a greenhouse can yield up to ten times as much as crops grown in the field.” Who knew??!!

Our cabin steward left a sting ray.....

an elephant......

a dog.......

and....is that a monkey?

Our cabin, looking toward the window

and looking toward the door.

I meet a new friend atop Mr. Roberts,

and another friend -- a hoary marmot.

I love just looking out the window.

Susan ordered a midnight snack from room service.

And breakfast from room service.

She accidentally ordered two breakfasts.

I don't know what she ate. I was at the buffet eating watermelon.

A floating fuel stop for planes and boats in Vancouver.

 Seattle is next.

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte

Seward

We left Anchorage on May 24, taking the train to Seward. The train station was not far from our hotel, within walking distance – but not if you are dragging suitcases. The train ride to Seward was great. It slowed down or even stopped completely when there was wildlife or glaciers to view http://alaskarailroad.com/

When we got to Seward, we took the free school-bus-type shuttle to our hotel. Seward <http://www.cityofseward.us/>, named for William Seward (Seward’s Folly), is a lovely town of around 3,000 people. It was 50ish and rainy the 3 days we were there. It is on Resurrection Bay, with a city park (with camping) along much of the waterfront. There were at least 20 motor homes from Great Alaskan Holidays in the campground http://www.greatalaskanholidays.com.

One of the things we had planned while in Seward was to go on a boat trip out into Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords National Park. We saw seals, sea lions, otters, goats, and a whale spout, but we didn’t see the whale. We enjoyed the all-you-can-eat prime rib and baked salmon buffet http://www.majormarine.com.

The tsunami from the Anchorage earthquake destroyed the Seward harbor, but not the town, which is on higher ground. Major Marine has a web cam of the harbor http://www.majormarine.com/webcam/.

We stayed at a place that had good reviews, but I must admit that it looked iffy when we got there. Once inside, I knew I had made a good decision when I made my reservations at A Swan Nest Inn. http://www.sewardvacationproperties.com/.

One of the gathering rooms.

Our room had an actual skeleton key.

Handmade bed and gorgeous multimedia art work.

Looking down from my loft.

Susan looks up toward the loft.

My spacious loft.

One of the things I wanted to do in Seward was visit Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park http://www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisit/exit-glacier.htm, but we didn’t get to do that. Because they had had so much snow during the winter, the path to Exit Glacier was a snow-shoes-only walk.

On May 27, we boarded Holland America’s Statendam for our 7-day cruise to Vancouver, BC http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/Statendam.

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte

When Did it Begin and End? Plus Anchorage

 Recently my brother asked about the beginning and the end of the trip. We left Bristol on May 10, and we got back to Bristol on June 7. We left Forest City, IA, in the motorhome on May 12 and arrived in Anchorage on May 23. The Holland America Cruise from Seward, AK, to Vancouver, BC, was from May 27 to June 3. The Amtrak trip from Seattle to Minneapolis was June 5-7, and we flew home that evening.

After we left Denali National Park, we drove down to Anchorage to spend our last night in our cozy motorhome. It was a fabulous trip, and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to do so many things I had always wanted to do. Several people have asked me if I would make the trip again, and my answer is “Maybe.” After I have done most of the other things I want to do, then I would consider it.

When we left Forest City, the odometer had 9 miles on it. When we got to Anchorage, it had 3,850 miles. There were many individual places I would like to revisit and stay for a time, get to know the area better, and do some hiking. I’ve always loved walking, but after working at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park, I found that I really like hiking. A few years back, I read Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods,” which I highly recommend. It is his story of hiking the Appalachian Trail – and here I am living right next to the AT. Hmmmm – maybe something for my bucket list?

We stayed in The Historic Anchorage Hotel, and I highly recommend it. It was built in the early 1900s, and it survived the 1964 earthquake. It is worth your time to read more about the earthquake and look at photos (easy to find on the Internet), which was the largest quake ever in North America, something like 9.3. We went to the Earthquake Museum and saw a movie, complete with moving chairs to simulate the shaking of the quake. We also went on a tour of the city. There were lots of things to do in Anchorage, but our time was limited. 

We left early the next morning by train for Seward.

The Historic Anchorage Hotel.

Dinner in Anchorage. We never missed a chance to eat.

The grizzly at our hotel.

Bears are really big.

A grizzly stands guard at the corner.

Mikayla made our stay so pleasant.

I had expected an ordinary room -- we had a lovely suite.

Luxurious beds, linens, and pillows after the motorhome -- ahhhh.

Susan relaxes in our sunny suite.

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte

Denali National Park

We spent 2 nights at Denali and could easily have spent a week there. I have read (but don’t know if it is true) that only 1 person in 3 sees Mt. McKinley because it is so frequently shrouded in clouds. One reason for this is that it Mt. McKinley is large enough to create its own localized weather.

The evening we arrived, it was clear, but you can see Mt. McKinley from only a very few spots. The next two days it was cloudy. Then after we left, it was clear again. That was disappointing. Maybe there will be other trips to Denali. Probably not.

I slept over the driving section, and Susan slept on the sofa.

Oops, better close the blinds.

The kitchen, dining room, and living room.

Got milk!

The film at the visitor center at the park headquarters was so beautiful that I bought a copy and also a CD of the music (so you, too, can watch the DVD with me). They had a fabulous exhibit that included the flora and fauna of the park. http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/the-denali-visitor-center.htm

We attended a sled dog demonstration. They actually use the sled dogs in the winter to patrol the park. It is easy to see that the dogs “love their jobs.” When they got ready to select the dogs for the demonstration, every dog went nuts, barking and jumping, seemingly saying, “Pick me, pick me.”

Charlotte and Aurora

Susan and Aurora

Relaxed sled dog

Tense sled dog

Going sledding

Mush!

As we left Denali, we felt sort of sad. Our next stop was Anchorage, and we would be turning in the motorhome. It had been our comfortable and cozy home for 10 nights.

Camping at Denali

Our home

 

 

 

It was a great place to camp. The store, showers, and laundry were about 50 yards away, and the shuttle bus stop only about 100 yards from us.

We are almost finished with the camping, but the trip is far from over.

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte