First Stop -- Vancouver 09-02-01
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| Our room at the Sheraton Wall -- 27th floor | ||
Its 1600 and we just got settled in at the hotel. We left SFO this morning on a 737-400 to Portland. We then took a Fokker to Vancouver. Have already shot one hour of tape.
The hotel is really cool. It has 3 towers of which ours is the tallest at 30 stories (we are on the 27th). It also has T1 connections in every room. You should have seen my face when I saw the cat 5 connection.
We
had dinner at a restaurant called C.
Mostly seafood. Very pricey, but very good too.
The desserts were inspired. We walked around Roberts Street for a while (downtown mall). What a mass of humanity -- most of it weird. I don't know how it will go on the ship as far as connections, but check the url I sent earlier often.
The restaurant is down by Granville Island, an area of bridges and yacht harbors.
09-03-01
Off to the Ship. They come grab our baggage at 0900 -- we go down at1200. You can watch for us on the "Bridge Cam" on the USS Princess Sun.
09-04-01
All day at sea. Past the Queen Charlotte Islands into
the open sea. The swells started to rock the the ship and all of a sudden the
shop had a long line of people buying Dramamine. By the time it kicked in we
were in the lee again. That was nothing, why in the summer of '76...
The day on board was fun even
though it was damp. Lots of beautiful scenery, islands, rocks and the like.
Brought back lots of memories. There was one character up on deck that kept
yelling "whale" every time he saw a log or some seaweed. Everyone
would rush to look and then be disappointed. He did this about a dozen times.
Keel-hauling was discussed among the passengers as a just reward for his antics.
I have the GPS hooked up out of our cabin patio. It allows me to keep a close
eye on the captain. It is kind of cool to discover that after dark we head out
to sea and circle or heave to, so as not to come in too early at the next
destination.
09-05-01
Ketchikan
-- Wet!! The town (or waterfront) sure 
has
grown. We didn't plan anything here since we were only going to be in town for a
few hours. We checked out the down town and then I went to hike up Deer
Mountain, the local peek (3000ft. in 2 miles, a hike I originally made with a
family friend in 1976). It was brutally wet. The trail was very nicely kept but
the rain water had it under 3 inches of water all the way. I met up with another
ship-goer who had gotten himself lost. He was worried he would never see the
ship again. We made it back with 10 minutes to spare. We were totally soaked --
but it was still worth it.
09-06-01
Juneau -- More rain. The town has not changed too much -- downtown at least. We had a full day here. A tour of a gold mine in the morning, a hike around the glacier in the afternoon (still sore) and a tram ride to the top of Mount Roberts. The mine was spectacular with very good curators and lots to see. Ziggy (to the left) is a long time miner and had lots of humorous tales to tell.
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| Wendy and Ziggy | At the Glacier | From the Tram | At the Shops |
We all had to don our Miner's helmets and walk into the tunnel Took lots of video so that should turn out all right. We got back to the ship just in time to go to the hike at Mendenhall (see picture). Another work out in a rainforest. Thankfully there was no rain though. I might actually lose weight if I keep on hiking like this. We got back into town in time to take the tram to the top and then view a film about the local native culture. Once back down we wandered through town until it was time to board the ship.
09-07-01
Skagway
-- You guessed it, its raining. It has 
not
dampened our spirit or fun though. We came prepared with the right gear. We had
the morning train scheduled, so we got up early and headed down to see. It was
fairly easy to find the old Sheba sign painted (with Eric's description) on the
rocks with the other ship banners. The train started to wind up the hill and the
windows promptly fogged up. I spent the rest of the trip out on the platform to
get good film. It got really cold, so much so, that it started to snow! What a
difference compared to the ride 25 years ago. The train doesn't go as far anymore either
which is too bad. What a lot of fun. We came down town and had some halibut
chowder and then I found this little internet cafe -- so here I am adding to the
trip.
09-08-01
09-09-01
College Fiord
09-10-01
Seward