We are on our way home on the AlCan Highway. We were hoping to leave Anchorage early Friday morning – but there were too many issues to be settled and things to take care of and stuff we needed to do. So we ended up pulling out at around 3:30 in the afternoon. We did end up driving all the way to Tok at least.

On our second day, we have now passed Whitehorse and are heading to – rather wanting to get to Watson Lake tonight. Roxie is tired of the truck already. We are passing up all sight seeing on this trip – just what sights we can see from the truck.


The weather is just beautiful - sunshine, cool breezes and clear skies. Yukon is a beautiful place. Emerald green water some places and deep dark blue other places. We have passed so many huge lakes, several still covered in a layer of ice.

On the road just inside the Canadian border we saw a little blonde coyote. About 50 feet later we saw an ugly looking large wolf. He may have been after the coyote. Both were practically on the highway.

Tom is letting me help him drive. He drives a couple of hours and then I drive a couple of hours. We’ll see how long it lasts. The only caveat is that I cannot drive slower than 55 miles an hour.

I'll try to post a couple of photos tomorrow. We are leaving the AlCan and heading down the Cassier Highway. It is not entirely paved - but then we have traveled a lot of unpaved road today. We still don't know our route once we hit Prince George.

That is Tom Bender dancing with the natives at Saxman Village.

This afternoon we are in Vancouver at the airport waiting to get back to Anchorage. I am so impressed with Canada. We came through an inside passage last night - between Vancouver Island and the mainland, I won't be sure till I see a good map. IT was just lovely, so green and so many beautiful snowcapped mountains. Lot of gorgeous homes on the Island - all along the way as we got closer to Vancouver. Also, it gets dark here - really dark. The city of Vancouver is absolutely spotless and beautiful. So many lovely homes with great landscaping all through the city. The airport is huge and the waiting areas are spacious.

Tom and I are now sold on cruising. The first couple of days were tough for me - I am not fond of crowds -but we soon found our own spots and were able to relax. The room service is addictive and free so we really took advantage of that. We liked our little Indonesian steward - he called us Mrs. Annice and Mr. Thomas and came to clean the room twice a day. The water was so beautiful and relaxing - I can't wait to go on another cruise.

I will post a few more photos today. Can't wait to see our Roxie and get started home to Georgia.

Tom enjoys his third beer at the Alaskan Brewery.


Tom Bender at Ship Creek - a really famous landmark in Ketchikan.

We are leaving Chevak for the last time, never to return. Roxie is in the kennel on the ground beside Tom and is not a happy camper. This particular scene is one I always enjoyed.

Chevak seems so long ago.

We are on the last day of our Southeast Alaska cruise. There were not so many tourists up here this year signing up for these cruises so the prices really went down. I’m not sure we are getting a great deal but I think we are. We have a lovely spacious room with a deck. The food is never ending and the weather has been clear and sunny all week except for our visit to Ketchikan.

Roxie is staying at the kennel in Anchorage – she is pretty happy there. We are already anxious to see her – we are really obsessed with the dog. It’s comical.

Let’s see, the first day was “at sea”. The second day was spent in Sitka. We simply got off the ship and walked around there. The third day we visited Juneau – where Tom and I went to the Glacier gardens. This man had reclaimed an area that was destroyed by a landslide and just landscapes the whole place with rocks, streams, and beautiful plants. We rode to top of the mountain in a small vehicle in which Tom and I were sitting in the front seat and higher up than everyone else – pretty exciting and pretty scary. There was a great view Juneau and the harbor. Our ship actually looked small. Later we went on a tour of the brewing company where they make Alaskan Amber beer. They had free beer and I think Tom had three different ones. He said he was wobbly on the way out. The fourth day we spent in Skagway – on my gosh – nothing but tourist shops. We could’ve stayed on board. We did go to the historical museum which was housed in this old college building. It was nice – there were two dolls there from Chevak made by Ursula Pingayak. That afternoon we took the White Pass –Yukon train and it was worth the whole trip. Tom and I stood out on the platform the whole time in awe and taking photos. It was loads of fun and so beautiful. Lots of snow was at the top of the pass.

Yesterday we landed at Ketchikan. We went to the Saxman Native Village to see dancers (Tom joined them) and some really interesting and old totem poles. Later we saw the Lumberjack Show. I could not enjoy the show for worrying about those young men getting hurt. It was fascinating – swinging axes, climbing tall poles, dueling banjos with the chainsaws, and much more. Tom had a ball and the crowd was really into the show. Great fun.

Tom has been going to sauna and the steam room everyday. He knows every inch of this ship.

I shall post a few photos. Tomorrow evening, we fly back to Anchorage and pick up the dog and the truck and head home. We are not yet sure of the direction once we hit – well we aren’t sure of the route yet. We’ll know what it is once we take it.

We love this cruising. There are people on this ship who cruise a couple of times a year. My time on the internet is charged for on ths ship - so will have to put descriptions under the photos in a couple of days.


Tom in Sitka. He liked this statue of the old prospector.


The bear is not real or Tom would not be smiling.


Tom is on the pool deck on board. He spent a lot of time here because this is where there was 24 hour free ice cream and pizza.


I had Tom pose outside the ship before we boarded.




We each posed with a totem pole. Notice Tom is "Low man on the totem pole!"

As we came home from school on Friday, it was actually snowing here. I've never seen so much snow. I believe it will still be on the ground next August when school starts again.

Good news. Elizabeth is now certified in the state of Alaska and also has signed a contract with the Delta Greely School District Delta Junction is at the very end of the AlCan Highway - between Tok and Fairbanks. It is on the road system so she will be able to drive out of town if she wants.

Can't wait to get on that plane Saturday.