Ketchikan, Alaska and Victoria, British Columbia

Ketchikan was our last Alaskan stop on the cruise. Despite being one of the rainiest towns in Alaska, it was ultimately our sunniest destination.

The picture above is of Ketchikan's harbor. Below is a picture of Creek Street, which used to be Ketchikan's Red Light District. Now it is made up of tourist shops selling t-shirts, reindeer sausage, Native art and salmon. You can't see it in the picture, but the creek is literally teeming with salmon swimming upstream to spawn.

We took an early morning boat ride to the Misty Fjords National Monument, which is pretty much what it sounds like. It was beautiful.

I've included our trip to Victoria, British Columbia on this post because -- well, it just wasn't interesting enough to merit its own. For a while, I have wanted to travel to Vancouver Island (where Victoria is located) to visit Sooke Harbour House, an inn about an hour from Victoria whose restaurant is internationally renowned both for the quality of its food and its commitment to local ingredients. Almost all of the food served there is grown on Vancouver Island (much of it in Sooke Harbour House's kitchen garden), or caught in the waters nearby. Alas, our ship was only docked in Victoria for a short time, and a two-hour round-trip drive plus four-course meal was not in the cards. Instead, we took a leisurely horse-drawn trolley tour of the city. That's the legislative building, below.

We have now been back in California for a week and have settled back into real life. My fall semester begins tomorrow, so I am trying to get myself organized and mentally prepared for the new school year, which will be my last. I hope you've all enjoyed your summers and have interesting plans for the fall. We probably won't be up to much beyond work and school, but we'll try to keep you posted.

Glacier Bay National Park

On Thursday, we cruised through Glacier Bay National Park. It was pretty mind-blowing. First of all, glaciers. Big, blue, jagged glaciers making spooky creaking noises and sending showers of ice down into the water now and then. That's Margerie Glacier, above, behind me, and below, in all her glory. She puts Mendenhall -- or at least the view of him I had -- to shame.

Second of all, the air smelled amazing -- the way it smells when you've just walked outside after a big snow. I guess I miss that smell! New Englanders probably got sick of it this winter, but I'm deprived.

There were snow-capped mountains everywhere, dark clouds and light breaking through dramatically. Ice floating in the water, just in case you forgot where you were. The best part? Since we had balcony rooms on the ship, we could see everything drift by from the comfort of our bed, if so desired. Laziness without missing a single scenic view. Perfect!

Skagway, Alaska

Our next port was Skagway, Alaska (pop. 850, I think I heard).  Supposedly the little town hasn't changed much since the Gold Rush.  It might look the same on the outside, but the shops in Skagway are mostly tourist junk: Eskimo ornaments, t-shirts, knick-knacks, fudge.  I might have enjoyed it more had it not been pouring rain.  Or maybe not.

However, it was in Skagway that we boarded the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, which climbs almost 3,000 feet to the border of British Columbia, along the same route thousands of gold-seekers traveled on foot in the 1890's (the tracks would eventually lead you into the Yukon).  I was a little worried that the train trip would be lame.  I was wrong.

Photographs (my photographs, anyway) cannot quite capture the experience of being in a train on the side of a mountain, with the Class 6 rapids of the Skagway River churning in the bottom of the ravine far below you and an even taller mountain rising out of the fog on the either side of the chasm.  It was beautiful.

At one point, we could see the actual trail on which the miners walked.  It was probably not more than two feet wide. 

Becky spent most of the train ride out in the platform, taking pictures.  Hers are better than mine -- oh well.  

Juneau, Alaska

After sailing out of Seattle, we spent the first full day of our cruise at sea, occupying ourselves with spa treatments, cocktails, hot tubs, bowling, naps, and, of course, food (it was also Stacey's and my one-year anniversary!).  It was nice to offset our outdoorsy plans and the rainy forecast with some total relaxation.

Our ship pulled into Juneau on Tuesday afternoon.  It was a little surreal -- for almost two days, we'd seen nothing but open ocean and distant islands, and then suddenly we opened the door to our balcony and we were in a little harbor.  The mountains rise right up out of the ocean, and since the weather in southeastern Alaska is usually very rainy, everything was misty and foggy.  But we could smell pine trees and rain, which we miss after almost a year in dry, sunny California.

Susy disembarked for her Mendenhall Glacier hike, and Becky for her photography tour.  Stacey and I had booked a sea kayak trip, but it was cancelled due to white caps.  Instead, we went to Mendenhall Lake for a raft trip down the Mendenhall River.  Although it was a pretty tame raft trip, we had a good time.  It was particularly exciting because Mendenhall Lake is home to -- you guessed it -- Mendenhall Glacier, and at this point we had never seen a glacier before (more on that later).  You can see Mendenhall Glacier below -- it's the blue thing to the left of the big mountain.  The blue color has something to do with the ice reflecting every color except blue -- or something like that.

Below, the view from the raft looking back toward the glacier.

Further down the Mendenhall River:

We saw a bald eagle in a tree and a few Arctic terns, but other than that, not much in the way of wildlife.  The trip down the river confirmed the fact that Alaska smells amazing!  Maybe an affinity for crisp weather and pine forests (not to mention 37 degree water, which is VERY cold when it splashes into the raft and onto your hand) is ingrained in me by my New England childhood, but it felt somehow familiar -- something like Maine, writ very, very large.

Seattle

Stacey and I met our sisters in Seattle today.  We'll only be here about a day before our cruise leaves for Alaska.  Stacey and I were able to meet my friends Courtney and Tracy for lunch at Etta's, where we had a delicious Dungeness crab cocktail with green papaya and mint.  We tried to spend some time in Pike's Place Market, but it was hideously crowded.  I will be happy as long as I make it to Piroshky Piroshky before we leave.  It's a favorite from my last trip to Seattle -- even Anthony Bourdain stopped there for a sausage piroshky on a recent episode of No Reservations.  I don't know if it is authentic, but I know it is tasty.

Tonight we have dinner reservations at Brasa.  Tomorrow, after brunch at our hotel, we're off to the ship!