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Good tidings to everybody,
I recently got back from a cruise to Alaska that I took with other family members...returned July 24th to be exact. We flew up to Seattle first since the cruise ship was docked there. The cities that we visited were Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria in B.C. Overall it was a good trip, although it got a bit boring at times lounging around the cruise ship waiting for the next port to come. This was compounded by the fact that the demographics of the ship were heavily against me. The 20-40 age group was woefully unrepresented so there wasn't really that much "partying" going on. All of the bar/lounge areas were dead after 10PM as most people were already in bed, LOL.
I really enjoyed Seattle, I think it's a neat city. It was rather hot there though! Each day we were walking around it was in the upper 80's. After we left it proceeded to break records past the 100 degree mark I believe! Wow...
For me, the highlights of the trip were taking a helicopter ride onto a glacier in Juneau and getting to walk around. The ship cruised through Glacier Bay, but seeing the glaciers from an aerial viewpoint gives one a unique perspective on how big they are. Walking on one made me think I was on a different planet, heh. I thought Sitka was the most scenic of all the ports. I liked how there were all of these little islands all over the place. We took a boat cruise around to view the wildlife and it was all very pretty. We saw lots of sea otters, a whale, sea lions (I think?), jumping salmon, lots of jellyfish (didn't know they liked the cold waters there), plenty of eagles, and even a bear. I didn't realize how expensive real estate was in Alaska. It seemed like each place we toured around all the houses there started at $300,000 and got plenty more expensive than that depending on the view or proximity to the water. That sounds like la la Los Angeles prices to me. [Image Can Not Be Found]
In Ketchikan, we all did a zip line tour through the rain forest which was a lot of fun. Heh, even my mom participated in that which I got to give her credit for! When I got back I spent the next week diving back into work stuff tring to catch up on everything. So, what did I miss here? [Image Can Not Be Found]
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What, you didn't get to see Wasilla??
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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hee hee
That was going to be my question! [Image Can Not Be Found]
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Sounds like a great trip, Lakerz! As a person who loves the cold and hates people, I've always wanted to visit Alaska. I'd move to Barrow, but I kinda doubt the high-speed internet is very reliable up there.
Photos?
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
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Nope, I'm afraid the cruise ship would only go as far North as Juneau, hehe, so didn't get the chance to say hi to Mrs. Palin. Even still, I swear I could see clear across to mother Russia during the trip! [Image Can Not Be Found]
I prefer cooler weather as well Steerpike, but I can't imagine what it would take to survive a winter in Barrow. One nice thing about Sitka is the temperant weather. They said it rarely goes below 20 degrees in the winter and rarely about 75 in the summer months. Still rains a lot there though, although we lucked out during the trip as it barely rained at all that week.
I did take a lot of pictures, but they all still reside only on the camera memory card. I've spent so much energy on work related matters since my return that I have not had the chance to upload them. Once I do I'll upload the best ones and share them here with those who are interested in seeing them.
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I'd love to see pics, esp. of Sitka. Never been but seem to know lots of people who have. I got to go to King Salmon, Alaska for work once. Just stunning country. Spent a lot of time being flown around by a crack bush pilot in a Beaver DeHavilland plane outfitted with floats instead of wheels, landing in small rivers and lakes to get our shots. Welcome back lakerz.
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We used to fly up to Northern Alberta to go fishing in one of those. Not nearly as exciting as Alaska, but plenty weird nonetheless. We used to fly over the oilsands where there's an odd combination of visbile oil, desert dunes and open surface water. The flights were always a bit harrowing as the planes were inevitably overloaded. It always reminded me of this WWII spy thriller:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.....all_novel)
Looking forward to your pics lakerz.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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Well shoot....the pictures are still on my camera memory card because I somehow managed to lose the battery recharger, and my battery is totally dead. Sigh, guess I get to buy a new charger now. <yay> [Image Can Not Be Found]
Those planes must be a hoot to ride around in Scout. Maybe a bit scary too? I admit to getting a bit nervous during our plane ride back to Long Beach airport from Seattle. I forget what model plane it was, but it smaller than I'm used to being in. Anyway, on our descent to touching ground, there seemed to be all this turbulence all of a sudden. It felt like the plane was veering left and right, and when the wheels did touch down I swear it felt like the plane was going to go into a slide/spin. I was very happy to get off 10 minutes later!!!
Helmut, the oilsands you describe must looke pretty strange to anyone who isn't familiar with them. Heh, talk about *not* a good place to crash a plane. Those trips would have made me very nervous.
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