Epilog

"Comes the morning
When I can feel
That there's nothing left to be concealed

Moving on a scene surreal
No, my heart will never
Will never be far from here

Sure as I am breathing
Sure as I'm sad
I'll keep this wisdom in my flesh

I leave here believing more than I had
And there's a reason I'll be
A reason I'll be back"

Eddie Vedder, "No Ceiling", "Into the Wild"

And we made friends, too!

Although we've never mentioned it, there were some pretty interesting people on board our ship. Alex Trebek, for example. (Although we didn't actually make friends with Alex.)
We did become friendly with two couples, one from Salt Lake City and one from Las Vegas.
In fact, during our overnight in Vancouver, we were walking around the Canada Day celebration (with 50,000 other people) when we bumped into the SLC couple, who happened to be staying at our hotel (the Westin). Late that night, we ended up visiting their room with a bottle of champagne to watch the fireworks outside, over the harbor.
Just yesterday, we received the above picture via email, taken one day during lunch with friends at the pool bar. The pic made me laugh because I can see by my shirt that I am still in what I referred to as "my pajamas and boat slippers" (a pair of blue Keds). It was my habit early every morning to throw on a pair of sweats, this blue fleece and my slippers before heading out onto the deck for coffee and a view. I remember the day in the picture, because at 1:30, I still hadn't gone back to the suite to get dressed ---- everything was just so exciting. (I kept saying to Anthony, "I'll go get dressed in a few minutes....")
Anyway, the pic was a nice reminder of how much we enjoyed the people on our cruise --- almost as much as the scenery.

Mayor Stubbs

Early on during my planning for this trip, I came across a very interesting story --- the official mayor of Talkeetna is a cat, named Stubbs! Apparently, he achieved notoriety last fall, during the presidential election when a fellow Alaskan politician was running for national office. I found countless articles and links, suggesting that if John McCain had wanted a running mate from Alaska, he may have been better off choosing Mayor Stubbs, who has been completely vetted (by an actual veterenarian).
I learned that Stubbs hangs out in town, so on our second day in Talkeetna we went into Nagley's (store) and I simply said to the proprietor "Have you seen Stubbs?". "He's probably upstairs" she answered, turning her attention back to a guy buying a quart of oil.
Sure enough, we went upstairs, past the postcards and fising equipment and there he was. Apparently, on his lunch break.

Best Bacon on the Planet - Hands Down

Roadhouse bacon (at our favorite breakfast table).

Sweet!

Anthony mentioned in an earlier post how dorky our full-body coast guard survival suits were. What he did not mention was how he made it work --- especially with the doo-rag. (All he needed was tats and an earring.)

"I'm on it!"

As you can probably tell by this blog, Anthony was always within reach of his toys (camera, cell, netbook). While I'm sure to appreciate this when I'm 85 years old, looking over our great adventure, there were times...

For example, he's never mentioned that during the train ride from Anchorage to Seward he took 200+ pictures. (No lie.) And, while his enthusiasm was (somewhat) charming, I must say that it was like being in the car with Tater. He literally ran from window to window to window. The only time he sat next to me was to show me pictures. (?!?) Naturally, I refused to look at them, saying I'd rather look at what was passing by my window now than at what was in my window 3 minutes ago. And so it went...

One evening while we were enjoying drinks and the view from the Observation Lounge with some fellow travelers, I raised my arm to point out something particularly beautiful saying, "Can you see..." and --- BAM -- up he jumps, calling "I'm on it!" over his shoulder as he raced out the door with his camera, leaving me to enjoy the site (glacier, whale, whatever) alone. All 5 of the people around me started laughing and -- I must admit --- so did I.

It was (sometimes) a great pleasure to watch him enjoying this trip so much.

Random Thoughts ...

We'll be adding random thoughts about our sights over the next week or so, as we go through photos and think back.

Animals we saw ...
Bear
Moose
Dahl Sheep
Seals
Otters
Sea Lions
Whales
Eagles
Seagulls
Ravens
Dogs
1 Cat

and how we got there ...
Commercial Jet
Sea Ship
Private Plane -Ski -Float
Helicopter
Hi-Speed Catamaran
Train
Lifeboat
Dogsled
Hi-Speed Raft
ATV
Bus/Minivan/Taxi
Feet

Don't Call them "Eskimos"
When the first explorers reached the Athabaskan Inuit in central Alaska, they asked whether there were any tribes north, along the Artic Ocean. "Oh, yes - those eskimos", which was apparently an insult meaning "those uncouth who eat their blubber uncooked." -A

Terry Breen
Regent arranges for speakers on their cruises and ours was Terry Breen, an anthropologist and travel writer. She delivered formal presentations in the ship's theater most days (which were recorded and looped on the cabin TV) and spoke live from the bridge while arriving/leaving port and sailing through special segments (broadcast live on the Observation Deck/Lounge). Her historical, cultural and geologic talks were a wonderful way to prepare and relive our activities. -A

Couldn't get MJ off my mind
No, it wasn't just the non-stop news coverage - when the elevators arrived at a lobby, the sound they played was exactly the first 2 notes of Thriller ... -A

Icebergs
A freshly calved glacial iceberg has the most amazing, unearthly blue color. At the moment we approached this, I swore it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

The pressure exerted by the glacier's weight compresses the ice until it's 100% transparent (you can read a newspaper thru it). This specimen was "fished" out of Tracy Arm by the naturalist aboard our catamaran.

We were in our cabin while sailing away
from Hubbard Glacier when I heard a
loud thump.
I shot this just before a large chunk
of ice went by bearing swatches of
our hull's dark blue paint.
-A

Our Ship - The Mariner

A few random photos of the Regent Seven Seas Mariner
(click on any photo for a larger view)

Breaking News: Palin resigning as Alaska governor

We did stop in Wasilla and I may have said a few disparaging things ... but honestly, we had nothing to do with this.

9:50pm EWR

Almost home ...

11 am at YVR

Ready to shuffle thru Immigration and Customs mazes to our flight home.

This, after a harrowing taxi ride thru Vancouver traffic that included much tire/brake smoke to avoid a collision. WTF ? We survive the wilds of Alaska, only to risk death at the hands of a MM (mother in a minivan).

If all goes well, we arrive at EWR 10pm.

Canada Day, eh?

We arrived inVancouver July 1st, Canada Day (Canuck's 4th of July) with huge crowds and spectacular weather.

The video not only shows the beautiful harbor scene outside our hotel, but catches our ship, the Regent Seven Seas Mariner, pulling out of port on its way back North to Alaska.

Alas, without us this time ...

Sleepless in Vancouver

The observation deck was my favorite place to be whenever we sailed into/out of port, so once again, we were up at 5am to watch the Mariner approach Vancouver.

We approach the Lion's Gate Bridge behind the Volendam, the ship we were sailing near since Ketchikan.

Below, passing under Lion's Gate and approaching the Port of Vancouver and our final docking and disembarcation.

Our last night aboard ...

... and dinner at Prime 7. We've saved the best restaurant on board to celebrate our trip and it did not disappoint. But first, to the Observation Lounge for cocktails and to watch our captain negotiate Seymour Narrows, a turbulent, half-mile wide gap that can only be sailed at slack tide.

I often walked the outer deck after dinner and Geri caught me in a wistful moment - I'm sorry to see this trip come to an end.

Tomorrow - Vancouver.

Canadian Inner Passage and Vancouver Island

We left Ketchikan Monday night for our last segment, crossing from Alaskan waters into the Canadian Inside Passage between the BC mainland and Vancouver Island. 550 miles including all 280 miles of Vancouver Island and Seymour Narrows.

'Spectacular' has been overused over the last 12 days, but it applies to this transit.

Tuesday night, our final dinner on board. We'd arrive at the end of our cruise Wednesday morning, sailing into the harbor in Vancouver.

Who IS that behind those Foster Grants?

No joke - this pooch was hangin' in the window watching tourists walk down Creek Street in Ketchikan. We watched him for 5 minutes to make sure!