Tuesday June 18, 2019

We got off the ship this morning and recovered the truck and trailer. Parked at an RV park for the night and trying to catch up on the blog now that we have reliable internet. More on this later!!

Saturday June 8, 2019 – SEA DAY

A multitude of activities are planned on a sea day so there is something for everyone to keep passengers entertained.  For us it’s usually a relaxation day.  We sleep in, have a late breakfast (or early lunch), do a little laundry, work on the blog a little and maybe watch a movie.  Today’s movie was “On the Basis of Sex” about the beginning of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s rise to becoming a Supreme Court Justice.

It was Gala Night with the option of dressing up and attending a formal dinner in the dining room.  Our table partners, as we’ve mentioned before, are from Perth, Australia.  They are fun people and bring a unique Australian accent and humor to the table.  Our waiter, Dia, from Bali is also a character. All of us enjoy the back and forth humor, joking and kidding.  Dia says he is going to serenade JY on her birthday.

An incident that happened back in the beginning of our cruise:  While on our first excursion in Ketchikan it was a rainy day so we wore our rain gear and took a backpack with warm jackets.  When we got on the bus Peter put his pack in the overhead compartment as the bus driver said it would be safe.  When we finished our tour of the Saxman Village an elderly lady fell and had trouble getting up.  Ever helpful Peter helped her off the bus, onto the tender and up the ramp back on the ship. He was distracted because of helping the lady and forgot the backpack on the shuttle bus.

Later that night while we were watching the evening entertainment Peter suddenly realized he’d left the backpack on the bus.  He was “aerated.”  We learned this word from our Australian friend, Jackie. (We think it means upset or irritated.) The next morning we went to Guest Services to see if anyone had turned the backpack into Lost and Found.  We were told they would look into it, but made no promises.   The pack was found and the ship was notified. It was flown to Anchorage six days later which was great because we needed the warm clothing for our dog sledding excursion in Anchorage.  Perhaps there is some validity to Karma.   We appreciated the m/s Maasdam’s customer service.  

As you know Alaska is the “Land of the Midnight Sun.” Because he couldn’t sleep, Peter was awake around 3:00 in the morning. He was restless so he quietly got dressed and took a walk outside on deck. It was raining but looked practically like daylight.

Sunday June 9, 2019 – HAINES

Our Haines tour started early Sunday am. (Cute comment Rita. Yes it was “brief.”)  Our tour guide drove to a location on a crescent shaped beach where we could see most of Haines in the background along with our ship, Holland America’s m/s Maasdam.  (Holland America sells t-shirts that say, “We have more dam ships than anyone”)

Haines is another of Alaska’s small towns. It’s only been recently that cruise ships have been docking there. It is the historic capital of Tlingit culture and art, the site of a of the frontier Gold Rush and  home to  Alaska’s first permanent Army base.  It’s also known as a world class recreation destination, a community of artists and a “slice of authentic Alaska.”  Due to its quintessential Alaskan look , the town has been a favorite for film makers. Disney’s 1991 movie “White Fang” was filmed there along with Gold Rush, a reality show on the Discovery Channel.

From there we took a 10 mile scenic drive through the heart of the “back country” where there are reportedly hundreds of people who live off the grid.  This means they have no running water, no electricity and no postal delivery service.  They have been providing for themselves for years.  Our tour guide said that she and her husband lived that way for almost 20 years but civilization is catching up.  They now have running water and electricity.  She said that now that she is getting older she has warmly greeted civilization as living off the grid can be very difficult as we get older.

Our scenic tour was right along the bank of the Chilkat Inlet.  There is abundant fishing and crabbing here as all five species of salmon migrate here from the ocean to spawn.  The Crabbing is so good that people who use crabs for a food source throughout the winter have to stop after a while because they catch so many that they get sick of eating them throughout the winter months.  A moose or two is the prized food source for the winter along with some bird, deer and maybe a bear.  Domesticated animals are also a food source and people have root cellars for keeping vegetables and fruit throughout the winter months.  Firewood is also another important material that has to be gathered throughout the late spring, summer and early fall if that is a main source of heating.  We passed some houses with huge piles of firewood neatly stacked in shelters with a roof.

Another destination  on tour was a visit to the “Extreme Dreams” studio of John & Sharon Svenson, next to the inlet,   They are both very talented in their own media.  The morning we arrived at the studio John was making clear glass marbles with little glass flower inside. 

On the last one he made before we walked in he added a gold nugget.  He greeted us and showed us around his studio and there were some impressive pieces of art from other artists who show in his studio.  Peter asked  how he made the marbles and John showed him the process. The artist gifted the flawed but beautiful marble to Peter.  

From the studio we took another scenic drive back to the ship: and drove through the decommissioned army base right on the edge of town.  When it was decommissioned the Army was going to tear it down however a group of Army vets from the east coast (of the Lower 48) bought it sight unseen.  They turned it into a hotel, some B&B’s, summer homes for themselves and a carving shed for the local totem pole carvers. 

Our tour bus took us back to the dock where we boarded a shuttle into town and did some sight seeing on our own including  the “Hammer Museum.” The only other Hammer Museum  is in Lithuania. Maya asked about the significance of this. It appears that there is no particular significance.  A man in town has been collecting hammers all his life and no two are alike.  He was collecting them in his home until his wife said enough is enough you’re going to have to collect them someplace else.  So he started the hammer museum.  There are 2,000 different hammers on display and reportedly another 7,000 in storage waiting for a bigger building.  Actually it is an impressive and interesting collection.  

Monday June 10, 2019 – TRACY ARM & JUNEAU

The ship arrived at Tracy Arm Fjord/Glacier about 6:30 am and there were very few people who got off so the Captain did not stay there very long.  We arrived in Juneau around 2:00p and we had to tender in  as there were 5 other ships already docked.  Our excursion did not start until 5:00 pm so we had lots of time. This was an excursion we highly anticipated.

 We went to the library not far from the tender dock to work on the blog and grab something for lunch.  Our wine steward had told us about a Felipino festival  close by serving this cuisine so we looked forward to having some lumpia, one of JY’s favorites. Unfortunately we ran out of time. A couple of points of interests: Whenever we dock in a port with a library with free WIFI, many of the crew are there also for the same reason  we are.  Also as you probably know, most ships crew are Filipino or Indonesian. On our ship there were about 50 people from Bali.

We were concerned we might not do the Helicopter Flight to the top of the Mendenhall Glacier and dog sledding due to the fog, It cleared up somewhat and we were able to do the highlight of our cruise.

Our helicopter held 5 people and it took 15 minutes from the heliport to the dog sled camp on the glacier.  There were probably 200 sled dogs in groups of 20 to 30 with each group having its own musher and sled.   Our musher Suz  introduced us to all of the dogs pulling our sled.  Peter rode the runners on the back sled and JY sat in the front sled.

The glacier was  a little challenging for JY as she was not allowed to bring her walking stick. But it was so worth it.  As you can see from  the photos, being on a glacier was an other wordly and beautiful experience. (And cold of course.)

 The dogs were anxious to get started and pulling on their harnesses.  Suz  pulled the stake out of the ground and pulled in the anchor break and off we went like  being shot out of a cannon.  We made a wide loop around the camp on the surface of the glacier.  Our sledding experience lasted about 30 to 40 minutes and was a blast.  When we got back to base camp we got to visit and play with the dogs.  Suz our musher introduced us to several dogs that had run the Iditarod.  Peter asked Suz if she knew Lance Mackey who won the Iditerod  4 times in a row.   She indicated he is a nice guy but its not a good idea to get between he and his dogs. While on the ship we watched a documentary about Lance Mackey. 

We were also introduced to a new sled dog puppy only 2 weeks old.  He was precious.  On the helicopter ride back to the heliport we spotted a group of 6 mountain goats on a hillside above the tree line.  †

Tuesday June 11, 2019 – FREDRICK SOUND

Fredrick Sound is our passage to Wrangle.  The glacier geologist gave a talk on fjords and sound which proved to be very interesting.  A fjord is a valley created by a retreating glacier filled with sea water whereas a sound is created when sea level rises or the earth sinks.     As a general rule a fjord runs perpendicular to the coast while a sound generally runs parallel to the coast.  This sound is a highway for ferries and other vessels carrying freight and supplies to various islands and isolated communities in the region. In the middle of the sound there is a lighthouse on Five Finger Island that separates Stephens Passage and Fredrick Sound for navigational purposes.  It is also the last lighthouse in Alaska to be automated.  It is a great place for whale watching and there were two excursions that left from the side of the ship.  One group of passengers went on a fishing trip while an other went whale watching.