F.O.B.
It's the last day of summer. It's been a cold one being up in Alaska the whole time. This week is our last week up in the great Northwest and thank God. Last week went by quicker because I had my San Diegan friends on board. Marianne and Eric came on board last Sunday and with them on board the week went by so much faster and smoother. It was the first time in a while I had friends sailing with me. We spent the afternoon roaming around Seattle seeing the public market, the first ever Starbucks, and the Seattle space needle. I love the public market in Seattle. In all the streetlamps there are potted flowers and along the roof tops of the marketplace are flower boxes. Street performers are lined up as you walk through and there are tons of eclectic and different stores along with your run of the mill tour shops. The main draw of the market is the fish counters. One in particular stands on Pike Street. I guess when you buy a fish here they throw it at you. There are tons of floral markets, fresh fruit and vegetable stands, bakeries, and meat markets. It's got an energy that's so refreshing after being so cooped up throughout the week. We went into the first ever Starbucks down at the Pike Place Market and it is unlike any of the other chains. It looks like the old grocer stores from the turn of the century with the glass jars, bean containers, and the rolling ladder that travels down the shelves of coffees. The original naked logo is still on display there. I've passed this many times on my walks, but today was the first time I ever saw it. How funny. After we headed down to the Seattle space needle via the monorail. It was the first time I've been in the area. I thought it was just a space needle, but apparently it's a whole kiddy amusement park. Pulling in on the monorail reminded me of the old park in Ohio formerly called Geauga Lake. It seemed like this area was built in the 50s or 60s as well. We didn't go up in the needle since the line was too long and it was a bit on the pricey side for just a trip up an elevator. We headed back to the ship shortly after. For the first time I attended the sail away party since they were entered in the raffle and I didn't have rehearsal until later. It was madness. So many people in one area and it got windy too. I had my opening night show that night and we just took it slow the rest of the evening. The next day was my workday since I had a show so it was business all day and a vacation for them. Tuesday we were in Glacier Bay. This was the first time all season I actually went out and viewed the Marjorie Glacier. It was raining and cold of course, but we were out on the front end of the ship looking at this massive piece of ice. The glacier was calving and it was sending off this sound of thunder. In all my seasons of being up in Alaska, I've never been outside and witnessed calving. This summer I saw quite a bit of it, but I was inside watching through a window. I've seen the glaciers pour out waterfalls and drop chunks of ice all from the comfort of the heated area. Being outside and hearing the sound is quite a different story. You can actually hear the glacier rumble as it moves down the mountain and then for such a small piece of ice there is a huge thunder. It's quite spectacular. I was glad I got to hear it for the first time.
We came to Juneau, Alaska. The state capital. I hear that Senator & Vice President elect Pallin said she could see Russia from her post here at the governor's house. Hmmm. I don't recall that view. It started off pretty rainy. For the first time THIS season as well we took the tram up to the viewing station on Mt. Roberts. It started really coming down, but we carried on up the trails to get some elevation. Although at that height with that weather we didn't have much of a view. The fog banks were pretty heavy. After about an hour or so of hiking in the rain, we gave up and took the tram down. We were pretty wet. Marianne wanted to have pizza at Pizza Roma in the Hangar. She remembered this local dive from her days in Alaska on the Prinsendam. They do have fabulous pizza and for a fairly reasonable price. While we were sitting there, the clouds seemed to just part away as the sunshine poured in. The forecast was for rain all day. It turned out to be gorgeous. They were scheduled for a dog sled adventure on the Mendenhall Glacier so I split with them and went on my own hiking adventure up Mt. Juneau. It was still pretty cold outside, but I was geared for it. Yet I started sweating the moment I started gaining elevation and really working my thighs. The trail was kind of rough. After the rain it was wetter, slippery, and muddier than previous and to be expected. What I didn't expect was to be the only hiker that day so far to make the trip. My fresh muddy footprints were the only ones on the trail. This made me a little nervous. After all a well traveled trail keeps the noise up throughout the day and scares off the wild life. Bears. I came across a fresh back footprint of a bear. After all, a trail for humans makes it even easier for bears to follow as well. I kept on thinking maybe the bear would be back resting since prime hunting was in the early morning or later in the afternoon near dusk. I saw a second and third later on in the trail as well as wolf prints. Granted wolves travel mostly in packs and hunt at night I started to get a little weary of moving on. The trail itself is flanked by thick growth on both sides enough to mask anything until the last minute. As I got higher, the fog was still getting thicker. The clouds had not yet moved beyond the mountains. I had to turn around since the locals warned me not to hike into the fog. I made it about half of the way. When I got to the bottom it took a few more hours for the clouds to clear the peak. By that time, it was too late to hike up since the whole trip takes about 5 hours. By the end of the day, the weather was absolutely beautiful for a wonderful sail away. It turns out they couldn't get to the dog camp on the glacier because of the fog as well. They did get to land on the glacier and take in the crevaces and mulans. The next day was Sitka, Alaska formerly occupied by Russia in the 1800s. Maybe this is what Pallin thought was Russia. Hmm. We got on a nature boat and traveled out into the Sitka Sound in search of wildlife. The sail was gorgeous. Again the forecast was for rain, but the sun was blessing us with its rays through the clouds and there wasn't a drop of rain. On the trip we saw some sea lions just basking on some rocks with a bald eagle standing watch, a whole raft of sea otters just sleeping, eating, and playing, a smack of jellyfish just off the stern of our boat (I mean the water was thick with them), nests and loads of bald eagles, and then about 15-20 tails of humpback whales. The whale sighting was unusual since you usually have to be lucky in timing to catch a feeding. Here there were loads of them just surfacing, blowing air out the blowholes, and then diving for the feed showing their tails. One even breached, but I missed that one. It was a fabulous morning of wildlife viewing. One of the guides thought he even saw a bear on the coastline at one point, but I never caught it with my binoculars. After the sea portion we were dropped off at the raptor center where we could get some up close views of bald eagles, owls, ospreys, and the like. This center is where they take injured raptors and rehabilitate them for release into the wild again. It's centers like these that restored the bald eagle population enough to be able to take them off the endangered species list. Some of the birds can't be released into the wild however because of their extensive injuries. The bones are hollow to make them effective flying machines, so when these pieces break severely enough, they can't be healed. There are other reasons for keeping them captive for their safety as with Sitka's case (name of the bald eagle we saw in the classroom that day). Sitka's handler brought her out for us to see in the staging area of the raptor center. She was injured enough that she lost one of her digits (comparable to our thumbs). Without this digit she couldn't catch salmon or other prey and hold on to them. Essentially, she'd starve in the wild. This digit is also useful for balance on branches as well. It was better they'd keep her at the center and train her for educating us. Some birds are restored to health as much as they can to be placed in other rehabilitation centers around the country for us to learn from. After the raptor center I headed back to the ship for some rest. I never woke up so early during the week before. The next day in Ketchikan was a workday as well. Show night and all. In Victoria we just walked around the city. I'd been there several times and so had Marianne, but it was new for Eric. We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at a Canadian chain called Milestones. So good!! The weather wasn't all that great at first, but once the sun went down, the clouds cleared a little. There was a prediction for rain, but we managed to refute that prediction as well. Today they left in Seattle. A week sure goes by fast. If I could've had friends on board all summer that would've been amazing, but exhausting. This is the ship's last week in Alaska. I'm excited to say goodbye. There are some hikes I'd still like to conquer before I leave so I hope the weather is nice. The odds are slim though since this is the first week of fall.
We came to Juneau, Alaska. The state capital. I hear that Senator & Vice President elect Pallin said she could see Russia from her post here at the governor's house. Hmmm. I don't recall that view. It started off pretty rainy. For the first time THIS season as well we took the tram up to the viewing station on Mt. Roberts. It started really coming down, but we carried on up the trails to get some elevation. Although at that height with that weather we didn't have much of a view. The fog banks were pretty heavy. After about an hour or so of hiking in the rain, we gave up and took the tram down. We were pretty wet. Marianne wanted to have pizza at Pizza Roma in the Hangar. She remembered this local dive from her days in Alaska on the Prinsendam. They do have fabulous pizza and for a fairly reasonable price. While we were sitting there, the clouds seemed to just part away as the sunshine poured in. The forecast was for rain all day. It turned out to be gorgeous. They were scheduled for a dog sled adventure on the Mendenhall Glacier so I split with them and went on my own hiking adventure up Mt. Juneau. It was still pretty cold outside, but I was geared for it. Yet I started sweating the moment I started gaining elevation and really working my thighs. The trail was kind of rough. After the rain it was wetter, slippery, and muddier than previous and to be expected. What I didn't expect was to be the only hiker that day so far to make the trip. My fresh muddy footprints were the only ones on the trail. This made me a little nervous. After all a well traveled trail keeps the noise up throughout the day and scares off the wild life. Bears. I came across a fresh back footprint of a bear. After all, a trail for humans makes it even easier for bears to follow as well. I kept on thinking maybe the bear would be back resting since prime hunting was in the early morning or later in the afternoon near dusk. I saw a second and third later on in the trail as well as wolf prints. Granted wolves travel mostly in packs and hunt at night I started to get a little weary of moving on. The trail itself is flanked by thick growth on both sides enough to mask anything until the last minute. As I got higher, the fog was still getting thicker. The clouds had not yet moved beyond the mountains. I had to turn around since the locals warned me not to hike into the fog. I made it about half of the way. When I got to the bottom it took a few more hours for the clouds to clear the peak. By that time, it was too late to hike up since the whole trip takes about 5 hours. By the end of the day, the weather was absolutely beautiful for a wonderful sail away. It turns out they couldn't get to the dog camp on the glacier because of the fog as well. They did get to land on the glacier and take in the crevaces and mulans. The next day was Sitka, Alaska formerly occupied by Russia in the 1800s. Maybe this is what Pallin thought was Russia. Hmm. We got on a nature boat and traveled out into the Sitka Sound in search of wildlife. The sail was gorgeous. Again the forecast was for rain, but the sun was blessing us with its rays through the clouds and there wasn't a drop of rain. On the trip we saw some sea lions just basking on some rocks with a bald eagle standing watch, a whole raft of sea otters just sleeping, eating, and playing, a smack of jellyfish just off the stern of our boat (I mean the water was thick with them), nests and loads of bald eagles, and then about 15-20 tails of humpback whales. The whale sighting was unusual since you usually have to be lucky in timing to catch a feeding. Here there were loads of them just surfacing, blowing air out the blowholes, and then diving for the feed showing their tails. One even breached, but I missed that one. It was a fabulous morning of wildlife viewing. One of the guides thought he even saw a bear on the coastline at one point, but I never caught it with my binoculars. After the sea portion we were dropped off at the raptor center where we could get some up close views of bald eagles, owls, ospreys, and the like. This center is where they take injured raptors and rehabilitate them for release into the wild again. It's centers like these that restored the bald eagle population enough to be able to take them off the endangered species list. Some of the birds can't be released into the wild however because of their extensive injuries. The bones are hollow to make them effective flying machines, so when these pieces break severely enough, they can't be healed. There are other reasons for keeping them captive for their safety as with Sitka's case (name of the bald eagle we saw in the classroom that day). Sitka's handler brought her out for us to see in the staging area of the raptor center. She was injured enough that she lost one of her digits (comparable to our thumbs). Without this digit she couldn't catch salmon or other prey and hold on to them. Essentially, she'd starve in the wild. This digit is also useful for balance on branches as well. It was better they'd keep her at the center and train her for educating us. Some birds are restored to health as much as they can to be placed in other rehabilitation centers around the country for us to learn from. After the raptor center I headed back to the ship for some rest. I never woke up so early during the week before. The next day in Ketchikan was a workday as well. Show night and all. In Victoria we just walked around the city. I'd been there several times and so had Marianne, but it was new for Eric. We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at a Canadian chain called Milestones. So good!! The weather wasn't all that great at first, but once the sun went down, the clouds cleared a little. There was a prediction for rain, but we managed to refute that prediction as well. Today they left in Seattle. A week sure goes by fast. If I could've had friends on board all summer that would've been amazing, but exhausting. This is the ship's last week in Alaska. I'm excited to say goodbye. There are some hikes I'd still like to conquer before I leave so I hope the weather is nice. The odds are slim though since this is the first week of fall.
posted by Chris | 12:34 AM
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