Archive for June, 2006
*Alaska Trip Journal Entry 8*
Slept in on the last day. Ate as much for breakfast as I could. I doubt I’ll ever see buffet breakfast again unless I get on another cruise or something. Also, the night before I got a lot of pool fix since the Radiance of the Seas has two pool tables that are regulated by a gyroscope to keep the tables levelled. It’s a novel idea but an auto-levelling floor would’ve been much better since although the tables remain levelled, the player is constantly moving along with the ship.
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*Alaska Trip Journal Entry 7*
“Ketchikan”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchikan was the last stop (not to be confused with “The trip’s over and we’re docked in Canada, get the hell off the boat!” stop). A big departure from Hoonah but not in a bad way. It was pretty cool. It was neat that they had long stairways that were considered streets. I visited Dolly’s house and took a tour through it. Got to see the wonderful shower curtain with floral patterns on it, made from condoms. Yeah.
Anyway! Across from Dolly’s, there was a book shop. Found a few books to buy (blank journals, actually). Creek Street was the area where the two places, and more stops, were located. Wooden walkways from stop to stop over the water. Pretty nice sight. Of course, we went there while the salmon weren’t spawning so it was pleasant. From the locals, it’s been said it reeks over there otherwise. The usual weather in Ketchikan is similar to Hawaii but a lot rainier. Not to mention that the mosquitos there are huge. I mean, HUGE.
After the little walkabout, my family and I took a “Duck Tour”:http://www.akduck.com/ and while in the water, we passed by a hangout spot for bald eagles. Back on land we toured around town and our tour guide, Katrina, went over the pink, silver, king, sockeye and chum salmon. The fact I remember the five types of salmon and the tour guide’s name is a testament to her presentation. It was lively and fun. There was wi-fi in one of the large shopping areas but I didn’t bring down my laptop. The spot was nice too.
Ate hotdog and fries after the Duck Tour. The fries were pretty good. The hotdog was good too but kind of reminded me of Costco dogs.
The end of the day marked the near end of our cruise. Bought a new watch just before we had to board the ship.
All times are in Hawaii Standard. “View all of the Alaska Trip Journal Entries”:/archives/category/alaska-trip-journal/
*Alaska Trip Journal Entry 6*
Day 6 was the best part of the trip for me. We headed to an up and coming tourist spot called “Icy Strait Point”:http://www.icystraitpoint.com/ and a visit to the town of “Hoonah”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoonah located nearby. Accessible only by “Bush Planes”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_plane and boat, Icy Strait Point/Hoonah was very small, rivalling Skagway. In fact, where we were able to dock in Skagway, we had to get to Icy Strait Point by “tender”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship%27s_tender. It was a fun ride to get to the town.
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*Alaska Trip Journal Entry 5*
The first spot of civilization that resembled the cities I’m used to seeing; space a commodity and every building tightly packed. Roads laid out in a seemingly haphazard way, yes, “Juneau”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneau was stiffling but still fun to wander through.
We took a bus ride to “Mendenhall Glacier”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Glacier. It was an alright ride, but what made it pretty good was the amount of sightings of bald eagles we saw on the way to the glacier. The glacier itself was a pretty nice sight, but what accentuated it was a waterfall nearby. Unfortunately we were pressed for time and couldn’t make the trek closer as some folks were doing. Instead, we hung around the main viewing area and took a couple of photos.
Once we got back to Juneau, it was a frantic rush to do some shopping. There were two bookshops that, if I had more time, would have loved to peruse their selection. Old books and such… Ah well.
All times are in Hawaii Standard. “View all of the Alaska Trip Journal Entries”:/archives/category/alaska-trip-journal/
*Alaska Trip Journal Entry 4*
With docking procedures complete, we were able to make our way to the first town since weighing anchor in Seward. I didn’t really do much the night before, just hung out and played my Nintendo DS, so I was up and chipper quite early. Ate breakfast and got ready for an all day adventure.
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