2:56 p.m. - 2007-06-07
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Thursday, June 07, 2007
I realized when I blogged about our Alaska cruise that I really didn't say much about the scenery.
It was beautiful. We had lots of snow covered mountains and green hills and islands to watch.
We did see some eagles and even some whales.
Ketchikan was the first port we stopped at. It was such a clean and attractive little town.
We also stopped in Juneau and Skagway....all the little ports were so nice...clean, inviting, friendly people...it was a pleasure to spend some time there.
we saw a lot of waterfalls as we were travelingon the cruise ship.
We went up Sawyer Glacier but unfortunately, due to the many icebergs falling, we could not get as far as we would have liked so we did not see the glaciers at their most magnificent.
We did see lots of the small icebergs And.....we saw a ferry boat which probably had 100 passengers come through the icebergs and pass one that was as big as the boat.
Once our Captain was sure that the ferry could get out of the iceberg fields, we left the area.
One day my husband went to our room on the 10th deck. He was going to open up the balcony door and as he turned, he saw a flash of black and white and he realized there was an Orca whale right by the ship. Before he could grab the camera, it had already turned and gone back underwater.
During lunch one day, we were on the cruiseship in port. Across the port from us were two other cruiseships. Suddenly we saw the "blow" and then a tail came up. It was a humpback whale, right in port!. We also saw the blows and tail of about 2 other whales during our trip. We never could get a picture. It happens so fast that you don't have time to get it in view of the camera.
On our last day at sea, we must have been traveling through a breeding area because we saw so many little "blows" and little black fins all over for about 1/2 hour.
We also saw some mountain goats on a mountain side. In Oregon we saw elk several times.
Here is what I wrote to family and friends as we left Seattle....
"Since disembarking from the Norwegian Star in Seattle on Saturday, we have been working our way East and then West and then South and then East again. We drove to Mt Hood, Oregon on Sunday. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast and rainy. There was a lot of fog in the mountain area.
When we started for the Mt Hood Timberline Ski Lodge, it started snowing. The lodge is just as impressive as it was when I visited it about 20 (gasp) years ago when I was on a business training trip for American States Ins. It made such a huge impact on me that I wanted Husband to see it too.
That reminds me, when we were in Seattle, we saw the SAFECO BALL FIELD...(Safeco Ins. was my last employer...now I know why they wouldn't give me a raise the last year saying I made too much money!!) I recall that the Ball Field was either built or paid for by Safeco that very year. It is a HUGE stadium for the Seattle Mariners.
Anyhow, we were thrilled to get into part of a tour by the Park Ranger at the Lodge so we heard something about the history. I had forgotten some of it so I was glad to remember some of the facts and in fact, learned some new details too. The only disappointment was that the sky was so overcast and the snow clouds so heavy, we couldn't see Mt. Hood at all!
Then we started back West to Portland where we had been that morning and started down hwy 101. The Pacific Coast Highway....it wasn't long before we were gasping at the sight of the Pacific Ocean framed by humongous rocks and looking down from a mountain side to see the ocean waves crashing against the rocks below! It was everything I had remembered and more....
Another thing we discovered is that rododendrons grow WILD in Oregon. We saw them everywhere. They looked like trees in every shade of red and pink.
I knew I had a real attraction to water but I have to say - seeing those waves and rocks really shook me up! I felt like *I had found my home and I think if husband had decided to throw me out of the truck....I would have been a happy girl... I would still be standing there watching that water....
We continued South down the coast all the way into California. It was a wonderful ride the whole way.
We finally turned East and away from the water. After husband made sure I "touched" the Pacific with my fingertips before we left.
We turned away from the coast in Redding, Ca. now. We headed towards Utah...
...haven't been able to get a place to stay ,since Monday, which had Internet, believe it or not....But we did find casinos...again.!
We stayed at Circus Circus Casino in Reno, Nv.. The room was beautiful but the Internet didn't work and so...we spent our time and money in the casino. At first, it was good but unfortunately, the slots didn't stay lucky so we lost. I did have lots of fun playing nickel slots on several new themed machines and I enjoyed working the bonus rounds when I won. BUT I kept forgetting to cash out my winnings instead of playing until it was all gone.
The next night we stayed in Wendover, NV at the Nugget. The room was just over $50 with tax but we had a first. The room we dragged our luggage into had NOT BEEN CLEANED. The maids were next door but didn't speak English and didn't seem to mind that our room was dirty. I called the Front Desk and Husband went back to the lobby and we got a new room. Apparently our luck was left in the first room because the Internet wasn't available and the slots didn't help us out much either.
The last night we were in Sidney. The motel is one of the most expensive we had this trip, but also one of the dumpiest, We were so tired that we got a take out at the new Dairy Queen....may I say, in my personal opinion, that it SUCKED!!!! But the good news is we have the Internet and there are no casinos to take our money again. AND, we are only 2 hours behind Indiana time now instead of 4 hrs so we might get to sleep by 1 AM this time.
The next day we drove from Sidney all the way home...955 miles and 15 hours.
Seeing the wide panorama of our country from the front seat of our truck with all its varied mountains from dirt hills to fir covered, painted rock, and snow peaked mountain tops is almost more than your eyes can take in. Even though some of the land is filled with scruffy little weeds and plants and lots of land has NOTHING to see; it can make you realize how big the US really is...and how small we are.
We were talking about what it must have been like for the pioneers to get to the top of a hill and see nothing but mountain ranges before them....or the Salt Flats in Nevada. What brave people they were...I wonder how well we would do in the same situation?
So glad we live in our times......a 955 mile trip would have taken months back then...and no casinos to gamble in to pass the time!!!
