StaRed

“Blinded by the light…” That song came immediately to mind when I opened our curtains on the morning we arrived in Ketchikan. After two days of drizzle and overcast skies, it was almost a cornea-burning shock to see the pristine sapphire blue skies and blazing early morning sunshine that greeted us that morning. My first thought of Ketchikan? Storybook! This was quite possibly the quaintest town I’d ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. I couldn’t wait to see what she had in store for us today! Knowing we had to meet our tour guide at 7:00 AM, we made the short walk into town and were greeted with a sign by our kayak guide from Southeast Sea Kayaks. We had a half day kayak trip booked, and we were more than ready for it! Having river kayaked several times on vacations to Colorado and such, we were very excited to try sea kayaking for the first time. One of the main reasons we chose Southeast Sea Kayaks was because of their guaranteed small groups on their paddling trips. We were told at the time of booking that there would be a maximum of six guests per paddling trip, but upon check in we learned that they had a cancellation and there would instead only be us and one other couple with our guide today. Woo hoo!! The other couple who came on the trip with us was on holiday from Australia, and they were also enjoying a cruise. This was their first trip to the United States, and they were lucky enough to be touring the entire nation during a whirlwind six week stay. I quickly found that cruising has become one of the best ways to meet some of the most interesting people! After a ten minute boat ride out of the immediate port area, we came to where our sea kayaks were tendered back behind a small island, and we made our way into our kayak for two. From my seat I could no longer see the shore, nor the ships in port. It was as if we were truly in Alaska for the first time. No cars, no ships, no people, no Diamond’s International…this was just us, three other souls, and some of the biggest and most breathtaking landscape I’d ever seen. Our paddling trip was blessed with warm temperatures, glassy seas, and cloudless skies. We saw several bald eagles, lots of purple starfish, a lion jellyfish, and deer on the shore of one of the islands as we paddled around. Even a playful otter popped up not two feet from the edge of our kayak! He decided to hang around for a while and followed us as we slowly made our way around small islands and rocks. Our guide was simply a delight and she really taught us quite a bit about the local wildlife and the even about the town of Ketchikan, itself. Too soon it was time for us to head back, as we were only scheduled to be in port until noon that day. We had just enough time left for a nice stroll around town and got the opportunity to take in several of the gorgeous totem poles and one last look at the famous Creek Street. Even though we were back on the ship early, I knew we were going to be treated to some spectacular sights from the comfort of our balcony for the rest of the day. And speaking of treats, the ice cream machine was calling my name!

My dad actually took this photo, isn't it great?? It makes me so happy just looking at it.

We've done it twice now! It's magical and I swear I could do it every summer and never tire of it!

It hit me this morning that our cruise was more than halfway over. This amazing and wonderful surprise of a vacation has gone from something that I was almost dreading to begin, to something that I most certainly dread being over. While it was obvious that I had come to love cruising accidentally, it was with total certainty that I knew I would do this again as soon as was possible. It wasn’t just the amazing Alaska scenery that had wiggled its way into my vacation-loving heart; it was also the actual cruising experience. I simply loved being on the ship. I loved knowing that I was surrounded by the ocean that I adore. I knew we had some long-term plans that would keep us from cruising again in the next couple of summers, so for now I had to be happy with the few days that we had left. Our day of scenic cruising Tracy Arm Fjord was cold, cloudy, foggy and drizzly. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but if I learned anything in my research for our cruise, I learned that you can predict Alaska weather to be unpredictable. Due to the cold drizzle, the outside decks were practically deserted as many of our fellow cruisers chose to stay inside where it was warm and dry. I, however, wasn’t about to let a little drizzle stand in my way of a day of scenic cruising this beautiful fjord. So Scott and I bundled up in our warmest jackets with hoods and made our way to the very front of the ship so that we had the best view in the house. To my surprise and delight, Princess had a wonderful naturalist on board that began speaking over the loudspeaker and directing us where to look, what we were looking at, how deep the water is, etc. He was so interesting and so informative. While slowly gliding past dozens of small icebergs that were the most beautiful bright blue color, he relayed a story from the prior weeks sailing. Apparently Amy Tan, the author of the popular book, The Joy Luck Club, was on board the Diamond that previous week and she sat with the naturalist while he was giving his talk. He included her often in his talk, and she offered up some beautifully-worded descriptions of the scenery, as only an accomplished and talented author such as herself could do. Knowing she would really be able to put into words the unique and brilliant blue color of the icebergs, he asked her to describe their unusual color, and she replied only two words, “Windex blue.” I had to agree completely with Ms. Tan’s description, they were exactly like Windex blue. The fjord offered up sights I knew I would never see again: soaring and sheer rock cliffs, dozens of waterfalls, and adorably fat and lazy sea lions snoozing on icebergs. The crown jewel in the day was seeing Sawyer Glacier deep inside the fjord. How do you feel small while on a 100,000 plus ton ship? Compare yourself to a massive glacier, that’s how! Too soon it was time to leave and make our way back out of the fjord. The naturalist promised us an evening filled with whale activity because the area that we would be cruising was known for its abundant humpback population, and he did not disappoint. We saw dozens of water spouts, several tails, and even a few whales breached for us. Yes our time on the Diamond was coming to an end, and the days ahead would be shorter and shorter as we slowly made our way south again, but they were sure to be ones for the memory books. And speaking of days ahead, I was so excited for our planned morning of sea kayaking that we had scheduled for Ketchikan. I just hoped the weather cleared… To be cont'd...

By the time we woke up the next morning, we had already been docked in Skagway for two hours. Knowing we couldn’t pick up our car until noon, we really had no reason to rush out of bed. When I flung the curtains back that morning, I was a little disappointed to be greeted by overcast skies. I then corrected myself, with a firm shake of the head, “Overcast skies…really? I’m in Alaska, baby! Who cares if the sky is a little cloudy?!” The man on the balcony next to me was a little alarmed to hear me talking to myself, but frankly, I didn't care. Dragging my “I-can-sleep-later-than-a-teenager” husband out of bed, we decided to just stroll around town for a bit after breakfast and kill some time before heading on over to Avis to pick up our car. We planned to drive the Yukon Highway into Canada and stop at Carcross Desert and Emerald Lake and wherever else we decided to slam on the breaks along the way. As avid four wheeler riders who enjoy riding the sand dunes, we were very intrigued to see this desert that is referred to as “The Smallest Desert in the World,” smack dab in the middle of the Yukon, no less! Walking through Skagway I was amused to see many of the exact same shops that I saw in Juneau…and curiously they were just as crowded here as they were there. Isn’t it all the same stuff?? Anywho! We also found some absolutely charming little mom and pop stores that we happily browsed in while strolling the streets., along with a cute little ice cream shop that I made a mental note to stop in after we returned the car that afternoon. Hey, a girl has to plan her meals! Armed with our passports and our camera, we picked up our car and followed the easy directions out of town and onto the highway. After a quick stop at the border, hence the passports, we quickly climbed higher and higher into the gorgeous spiky mountains. All of a sudden, we hit a wall of fog like you wouldn’t believe, and literally could not see five feet ahead or five feet to the sides of us. Then just as quickly as the fog swallowed us up, it spit us back out into the blazing sunshine, revealing a landscape unlike anything I had ever seen. Gorgeous blue skies, grey and brown mountains with snowy peaks and shadowed crevices, green mossy covered rocks along streams, and tiny little pools of crystal clear water. “FAKE” was the word that came to my mind. It was so stunningly beautiful it looked fake. But it obviously wasn't, and I truthfully felt like I was looking at a painting that God had made just for us. We pulled off to the side of the road to walk around a little bit and to take the first of roughly a million pictures. We joked that little gremlins and hobbits were surely going to pop out from behind a rock and wave at us, because that is exactly what you would expect to see in a fairytale land. Knowing we had about an hour and a half drive ahead of us, we decided to continue the almost deserted highway toward Carcross. The entire way it was like watching a tennis match, looking left then right then left then right, so that we could take in the constantly changing landscape. We saw snow gauge poles mounted along the sides of the road, and they stretched up to an amazing 12 feet tall. Can you imagine snow that deep?! WOW! Carcross was just as promised, a small one square mile area of sandy dunes in the middle of the mountains. It is actually a false desert that was created by glacial lakes retreating and leaving behind the dunes, and it was a stark contrast to the surrounding landscape. Our next stop was Emerald Lake, and it surely lived up to it’s name! The lake was the most beautiful emerald green color, with rings of lighter and brighter green colors rimming the outer edges near the shore. It was a perfect turnaround point for us and after spending time taking pictures and taking in the gorgeous sights, we decided to make our 75 mile trip back to Skagway. We had until 8:00 PM before we said goodbye to Skagway, so after we returned the car we decided to hop back on board for a quick nap before dinner. Why is it that you sleep SO GOOD on a cruise ship? After waking from our late afternoon snooze, we woke up craving fish and chips and decided to search it out in port rather than eat dinner on the ship. We made our way to the Skagway Fish Company located right near the dock. It was obvious from the looks of all of the bearded men that were seated at the bar that locals frequented the tiny restaurant…and boy could we understand why. After an amazing meal of halibut fish and chips so fresh it was practically still flopping on our plates, we reluctantly waddled our way back to the ship. While we were anxious to get back to our “home”, we were sad to leave yet another fabulous little Alaskan town. Skagway and the amazing Yukon Highway offered up never-to-be-forgotten sights and experiences that we would surely remember our entire lives. Silently gliding away from the dock at 8:00 pm sharp, we bid Skagway a fond farewell. Possibly the only thing keeping me from being too terribly sad was the knowledge that tomorrow would surely hold even more eye candy. Tomorrow…Tracy Arm Fjord! To be cont’d…