Alaska
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ALASKA
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I really didn't know what to expect when Rocio announced that she had been planning a trip to Alaska. I knew it was going to be expensive but when I realized that Alaska is more than twice the size of Texas, well, you get an idea of the area you have to cover. She had put together a combination cruise and land package through Holland America cruise lines that ended up being better than any brochure could have ever illustrated. We had perfect weather and got to see more than some people ever get to see when they go. Some of them told us they never could see the mountains because of the clouds or couldn't see any wildlife because if the rain. We however, came home totally satisfied that we had really seen all that Alaska has to offer. We flew from Houston to Vancouver, Brittish Columbia - just a little over 4 hours by air. From there we transfered to the Port of Vancouver and boarded the Westerdam ship operated by Holland America. We sailed at 5:00PM and took in the sights from the deck as we made our way through the Inside Passage. On board ship, we ate, and ate, and ate!! Each time we'd go for dinner, we'd promise not to over stuff ourselves. But we broke our promise at every meal. We couldn't turn down the salmon, halibut and crab legs, or the soups, or the meats, or the desserts. We ate, walked the decks, slept, ate, walked, and slept, then made ourselves stay awake for a show or two. Then we ate some more. Now that little picture on the left might not look too interesting, but it means alot to me. We were so lucky to get to see the Humpback Whale. These huge mammals were diving, blowing and breeching for well over an hour one morning. We were all bundled up, ready with our binoculars and cameras. At 20 knots, we didn't get to stop and watch, but we must have seen more than 15 whales as well as Dawls porpouise. It was spectacular to see. In that picture, I caught two tails and a blow from another whale. Too bad the picture doesn't have a happiness meter on it! We stopped in Juneau after two days sailing and toured the capitol city. Juneau is only accessable by sea or air. There are no roads from the interior that lead to Juneau by land. They say that more than half of the residents of Alaska have either an airplane or a pilots license. It seemed like there were seaplanes everywhere. We toured the Mendenhall Glacier that afternoon. Glaciers are formed by snowfall that gets packed down over the years and eventually gets packed into solid ice. The weight of new snow pushes down through the mountains in rivers of ice, scraping and grinding, taking stones and rocks and everything else along with it. This glacier moves about two feet a year before reaching the lake. The water from the melting ice was milky grey from the silt of powdered rock. As a result, no sunlight can penetrate the water, no plants can grow in it, and therefore no fish live in it. Salmon and other fish find their way up other rivers and streams where the water supports life. We boarded the ship and sailed to Skagway the next day. Thankfully we were off the ship after this and didn't have to eat so dang much anymore. We were rested and stuffed, and needed to get out and burn off some calories. Next Page |