May 26, 2009


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!"

1 comment:

Elizabeth Bender said...

I love that dad has on the same pair of jeans in every picture that you take. Love you.