Party Like It's 1999 !

Where were you on November 6, 1999 ??

Whenever we were in port, I could get a usable cell signal. When we were in transit, the ship's repeater would connect to some form of Maritime Mobile network and my phone would time warp ...

Who let the dogs out? Who? Who?

The 200 dogs and their handlers spend the summer (?) camping on the Juneau Ice Fields for our travelling pleasure.

Tracy Arm Ice Flows

Shot during our catamaran tour to Sawyer Glacier last Saturday.

Uwe's Kingdom

Sunday afternoon, we took a brief galley tour with our Chef Uwe Poehlman.

We're next to depart Ketchikan

And our last Alaskan port. Within the hour, we'll cross into Canadian waters and 550 more miles of the Inside Passage.

Ketchikan - Sail In

Arriving at the rainiest city in America - 160 inches a year. Again, we're looking fortunate as only a drizzle is expected.

At 1:30, we'll be taking a floatplane to tour the Misty Fjord Natl Monument.

If it's Tuesday, This must be Skagway ...

No ... wait ... It's Sunday - but it is Skagway. I guess losing track of time is a sign of a great vacation and this has been fabulous.

Skagway = 1898 Gold Rush. It was the closest sea access to the Yukon gold fields - after a 33 mile hike to the Yukon River (3 month hike), you would then BUILD a boat and sail it 550 miles. Oh, and it was chilly.

Our day was bright and sunny.

PS: NO net access til we sail tonight and slow satelite after - videos may have to wait til Ketchikan or Vancouver.

Dog Tired, but Still Touring

We returned from our morning adventure with scarcely an hour to change for our afternoon excursion. Boarding a helicopter, we flew over the Juneau Ice Fields of the Tongass Natl Forest and viewed 4 of the glaciers it feeds. After landing on the last, we were treated to a dogsled tour where Geri/I each took turns riding the sled. Over 200 dogs summer on the glacier, many of whom had participated in this winter's Iditerod race from Anchorage to Nome.

Back aboard the Mariner for dinner, after which Geri relaxed while I wandered Juneau for an hour. Still wired from our day, I joined a few passengers on the Observation Deck to watch as we sailed away at 11pm.

Tomorrow - Skagway.

Cruising Tracy Arm

Up at 5:30 for a 7am departure for a 5 hour cruise up Tracy Arm to visit Sawyer Glacier. The passage is too tight for the Mariner, so they arranged a catamaran to ferry 120 of us up the ice filled fjord with a naturalist narrating. We saw more eagles than we could count, a mother seal and cub, dozens of 4-5000 ft waterfalls and my first whale sighting.

The cat was so agile we could back so close into the waterfalls that the water landed on our decksbow and they 'fished' out chunks of the calved ice to show us its density and clarity. The deep blue color of freshly calved bergs is hard to describe or capture.

While we cruised the Arm, our ship continued to Juneau. We joined it early afternoon.

Private Dessert

The matre' d of the Cordon Blue restaurant sat us tonight without a reservation and to return the favor, we vacated the table before our dessert.

They delivered our final course to the Connoisseur's Club where we'll enjoy our coffee in leather club chairs in front of the fireplace.

Life is good ...

Paw-sing Here ...

... for a moment before our heli departs.

Arrival: Juneau

Tho not on the Mariner. We did an AWESOME catamaran tour of Tracy Arm and saw glaciers, waterfalls, iceflows, seals and my first ever whale (pics to follow).

Now off to heli to a glacier and explore it by dogsled!

Sea to Sky

Today's Sitka excursion began with the lifeboat tender from our anchored cruise ship to the Sitka docks (hopefully, the only reason I'll ever ride in a lifeboat!). We started with a 6-person hard-bottom inflatable raft for a 45-60 minute transit to a volcanic island. The outbound trip was a little rough, but filled with wildlife sightings including eagles, otters, a porpoise and whale. We were required to wear Coast Guard Survival suits (very chic), balaclavas and goggles. Our pilot/guide was extremely knowledgable and a little aggressive. This I appreciated, while Geri did not ...

Once we reached the island, we transferred to small ATVs and proceeded up former logging trails to the volcano's crater for 45-50 minutes. Those puppies are pretty rugged and hard to tip over, though I tried my best.

Lunch was provided at the peak and the return trip down the mountain was much quicker as I gained confidence (got stupid?) with the vehicle.

The weather turned for the worse for our raft return to shore - yes, rafts CAN fly as we frequently left the surface. By then, Geri had relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

The weather turned for the worse for our raft return to shore - yes, rafts CAN fly as we frequently left the surface. By then, Geri had relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

Back aboard ...

... on the foredeck observation lounge for our 'sail away' reception. Juneau tomorrow.

Sitka

We just got back from a raft trip to a volcanic island off the coast followed by an ATV ascent to the top (pics to follow). We're wadering the town for a while before tendering back to our ship.

Originally settled by the Russian fur traders, this church is its most famous landmark.

Abandon Ship!

No, we're not sinking - We anchor, not dock, at Sitka and the lifeboats are used to transfer passengers to shore. Today, rafting and an ATV ride to a volcano.

Hubbard Video

First Day at Sea - Hubbard

Today (Thur 6/25) was a transit day to Sitka with a trip down Disenchantment Bay to visit Hubbard Glacier. Hubbard is a 17 mile wide, 76 mile long tidal glacier, one of the largest in Alaska. It's very active, currently 'surging' again and threatening to close off the mouth of Russell Fjord and isolating the Tlingit eskimos of Yukatak (I'm sure I spelled something wrong). All this info thanks to a glaciologist on board who narrated our approach and visit, as well as some native eskimos we took on board to describe their relationship with the glacier.

We were very lucky to get in as close as we did (approx 2000ft away) as the ice flows usually prevent a close approach. The captain spun the ship 720 degrees to provide panoramic views.

As you might expect, pictures don't do justice to the experience, but several follow. I've also captured some videos, but we're now limited to rather low-bandwidth satellite internet access.

We'll be in Sitka by the time we arise - more to follow.

Below-500 foot high face (1000 more below sea level)

I hope you're all enjoying hearing from us, but we'd love to hear from you too!

Each posting is followed by a 'Comment' link - let us know what you think!

Home for the next 7 days

Our cabin from the balcony.

The ship is fabulous - contemporary and luxurious. We were handed champagne upon boarding as we wandered the ship to orient ourselves before heading to our cabin where we found the bags we checked w/ Alaska RR at 5:30 this morning.

The welcome reception starts at 6pm as we sail out of Seward. We're already 3 sheets to the wind ourselves!

Welcome Aboard!

Welcome to Seward

And the Regent Mariner

All aboard!!

Not a bad way to travel...

5:15 at Alaska RR

One hour from boarding our train (1st class car, of course) to Seward from which we depart for Seward.

Bandwidth is everything

Now that we've got our best internet connection of the trip, it's time for some videos -

From Quirky & Fun to Underwhelming

90 miles from Talkeetna to Anchorage this morning. Although it rained for the entire drive, the weather cleared when we reached Anchorage. After dropping off the car and checking into our hotel, we headed downtown to wander.

Considering it's the largest city and the busiest transport center in Alaska, Anchorage was rather dull.

No matter, we board the Alaska Railroad's "Coastal Classic" tomorrow morning at 6:16 am bound for Seward. The 4-hour trip passes through some spectacular scenery across the Kenai Penninsula and we'll be enjoying the view from the domed observation cars. We'll have time to wander Seward and its seaport before boarding the Regent Seven Seas Mariner.

We sail at 7pm.

What about Morristown?

4379 miles, to be exact.

Guess what time it is?

1:22 am 6/23/2009!

Leaving Talkeetna for Anchorage this morning after a breakfast (back at the Roadhouse, of course, red roof above) of Sourdough Hotcakes made from a 1902 starter.

Looks like a rainy day, but we've been extraordinarily lucky so far and can use some down time.

Much like Pittsburgh ...

...Talkeetna* sits at the confluence of three rivers (the Susitna, the Chulitna and the Talkeetna). And, just like P'burg, we can only pronounce one of the three.

There are other similarities as well:

To be honest, this is my favoite town so far. It is tiny - 400? - but we feel like locals in only two days (got flagged down on the street by group of people we met yesterday and invited to drinks/party). We decided to stay in our own place (upstairs from the cafe) and eat dinner on our sun porch overlooking Main St instead.

Tomorrow, Anchorage!

Geri

*native Americaan word for many rivers

Byers Lake - Evening Wrap-up

Hmmm ... Coffee, Burgers and Knives? This ain't Starbucks ...

We really burned up the trail - 5 miles in under 2 hours trying to keep the mosquitos from eating us alive. Every time we stopped, they swarmed. Geri said I looked like Pigpen every time I stopped to take a piture.

Interesting suspension bridge - Geri didn't appreciate my jumping up and down on it as she crossed. Something about broken cables.

Our overnight in Talkeetna

We're spending tonight in Talkeetna.
See those windows over the restaurant? That's our room! We're going truly native tonight.

Byers Lake

Checked out of McKinley Lodge and got in a 5 mile hike. Could only stop and take pictures where it was windy. You were right, Janice - the 'skeeters are large, numerous and nasty!

Up Close and Personal with McKinley

These speak for themselves (oh, and I've got 80 more!)