Thursday, June 28, 2007

Multnomah Falls


Multnomah Falls
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
Today is our last full day of vacation. We are visiting Teri's friend Kandi, who lives just outside Portland Oregon. We spent the day seeing a few sights. We drove up the Columbia River Highway which overlooks the Columbia River, on our way up to Mt. Hood. There were several really pretty waterfalls along the drive. This one at Multnomah Falls, is one of the most scenic and is most photographed. It is really pretty. Camilla, you would love this!
We drove up to Mt. Hood from there. It was really beautiful and sunny on our drive up, which was rather surprising, since it was so cloudy down in town. We saw the mountain the whole drive up, and as soon as we got there, the clouds moved it and I didn't get a picture! Trust me, it is wonderful.

Tomorrow, we head home in the afternoon, so this is my last entry on the travel blog. I hope you have been enjoying it and looking at the pictures.

If you decide to go to Alaska, and I would again in a minute, make sure you have a great camera. The wildlife calls for great patience and a better camera!

Parting View


Mt. McKinley
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
Our last day in Alaska was spent in Denali. We went out to view the Dog Sled demo, which we thought was going to be kind of cheesy, but it turned out to be pretty interesting. We saw the dogs, so a demo of them pulling the sled (but no snow). It was pretty good. We drove in the park 1 last time, before our drive back to Anchorage. As we drove back, we kept seeing the rare peaks of the mountain, so we pulled over for a view in both the North and South view State Parks. It is pretty cool that Alaska has State Parks just to view the mountain. We got a great view from the south view park. We were pretty lucky to get so many views of the mountain on our trip. It is a rare site we have been told.

We got back to Anchorage about 10pm, with plenty of day light left, so we took a walk along the parkway onlong the shore. We then went to the airport to check in for our 1 am flight to Portland. Anchorage is the most inefficient airport I have ever been in. There was only 1 securty check point and 9 people working the 1 line. It took forever to get through security. I discovered though, that they checked both my bags!

We arrived in Portland to visit with Teri's friend, Kandi for a few days. We are headed up to Mt. Hood today, so look for more pictures later.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Fairbanks


My own Highway
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
Today we took a day tour to the North Pole and Fairbanks. It is about 2 hours north of Denali. We drove on up to the North Pole and had a nice visit with Santa and his elves. I think we both made it on the "nice" list for this year!

We cruised on into Fairbanks and stopped by the Alaska Pipeline for a quick visit. Then it was off to the Ice Museum. On our way, we came across the Johansen Expressway. I can't believe it. Our own highway! They spelled it correctly too. We also noticed about a week ago, so one named Johansen is running for the representative here in Alaska. No one has called me Johnson here either!
Fairbanks is a reallly small city, and not much going on here. We toured town and tried to go to the Large Animal Research Center at the University, but it was closed. We wanted to see the Musk Ox. Teri is still bumming about that!

Tomorrow, we will be spending the day in the park and then heading for Anchorage and the airport. We have a 1am flight to Portland. We will be spending the time there until Friday. Watch for updates on Wednesday or Thursday!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Denali


Denali, aka Mt. McKinley
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
Today, we finally made it to Denali National Park. We arrived for our 6:15am shuttle bus to Wonder Lake. An 11 hour trip. Our morning started out pretty exciting. We left our B&B and within about 100 yards of the house, we came across a moose in the road. We enjoyed watching it, but we didn't have our cameras ready!
We took off on the tour and within just a few miles, we spotted more moose. They are everywhere in the park. We also happened across a black wolf, fox pups, playing just outside their den and so much more. I didn't get pictures of everything, since I need a much fancier camera, with a telephoto lens! I did get video of them though, since the video has a great zoom lens! We happened across grizzly bears and caribou, dall sheep and so much more. The best part for me though, we seeing the mountain. This is often not visalbe for visitors. We count ourselves lucky to have seen it. Just a few hours later, it was covered by clouds so we were not able to see it again, at Wonder Lake. For those who can't see my photo too well, it is the whitest part in the pictures. It is hard to see, but it is there. (I really need that great camera.
Next time I come, a really great camera is called for. Don't come without a zoom lens and lots of patience! Wildlife photographers must have the most patience! It is not easy to get that perfect shot!

Teri and I have decided that the best things of all, have been the cheapest to do. Our time in the last 2 National Parks.

Traditional Park Photo


Traditional Park Photo
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
I thought I better update our Kenai Fjords adventure just a bit more. I am not real sure anyone is looking at this, but just in case, I thought I would explain more of our adventure.

We arrived at Seward and walked, what we thought to be just a few blocks, but actually turned out to be over a mile, pulling our REALLY heavy suitcases. We got to our hotel and dropped off the suitcases, just to run back into town. On our way into town, we scouted out the laundry facilities, luckily, just the next block from our hotel.

we stopped by the visitors center on our way to the harbor for our cruise in the Kenai Fjords. We reserved a boat tour (our last time on a boat this vacation!) where we went out into the fjords for 6 hours. It wasn't an overly crowded tour, which was a nice switch from everything on the cruise up. We saw whales on our way out and several birds. Puffins were the most exciting to see. We also saw what we thought were loons, but turned out to be something called Murres (I think). We worked our way past many glaciers that came right down to the water. Our goal, the Aliaka Glacier. We went right up close, about a 1/2 mile. The boat turned off the engines and we just floated for about a 1/2 hour. The glacier, creaked and growled and made noises like fireworks. It was so amazing. Then, chuncks fell off, called calving. It was spectacular.

From there, we were off to another area of the park, where we once again came across whales feeding. It is an amazing site. They are hump back whales. We saw the mother whale and her baby. We also came across dolphins. I think they are called Dall Dolphins. They look like the killer whales. We were to go our in the front of the boat to make as much noise as we could, so the dolphins would 'play' with us. It was pretty interesting.
Next stop, an island that is inhabited by nothing but birds. It used to be a military outpost, but the birds were so bad, it is no longer used. (The smell!)

Time flew by, the tour was over. Teri and I agree, it was the best thing we had done so far. An because of our Tour Saver coupon, the cheapest too!

Oh, we got our laundry done and visited with many of the other tourist while our wash was going. I think it is the only time I have actually enjoyed doing laundry.

This morning, bright and early, we caught a bus for Anchorage where we rented a car for our drive to Denali. We arrived safe and sound, ready for our next adventure.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Seward/Kenai Fjords

We have had the best time here. This is definately a great place to visit. We went on a Kenia Fjord boat tour yesterday, which was 6 hours long. We saw whales, birds, dolphins and the glaciers calving! They were so awsome!

I am currently trying to update and load pictures on, quick before we catch the bus to Anchorage. I have no time, so got to run! More later!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Hubbard Glacier


Hubbard Glacier
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
Our last 2 days of the cruise were stops at Icy Straght and Hubbard Glacier (which wasn't a stop).
We got off the ship for a quick day in Icy Straights. I wish we wouldn't have wasted time there. We choose to go on a bear safari, which turned out to be a huge waste of money. Teri had wanted to go salmon fishing, but they were full up! So, we decided to go and see bear instead. It turns out, all was got to see where bugs and bear pooh! Waste of time and money.

When we got back, it was my turn to not feel good. It turns out that I got really sick. I was lucky enough, even though I am obsessive about washing my hands and not touching door knobs with my bare hands, I got the Norwalk virus. I got to go to visit the ships medical, and was confinded to my room all day on the last day of our cruise. I watched the glacier from the window, while Teri went up on deck to take pictures. (She was supposed to be confined too, but she went out, since she was fine!) I wish I was able to see move than what was out my window. That would have move than made up for the non bear safari!

I am feeling fine today and off on our latest adventure. We have arrived in Seward today and will head out to the Kenai Fjords shortly. We have a big day of tours and laundry planned today! Hopefully, I can post the pictures later today of the Kenai Fjords!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Historic Skagway


Historic Skagway
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
This is the 3rd stop on our cruise this week. We finally got good weather too! Skagway is about 6 blocks long and since there are 4 cruise ships in town, it is REALLY crowded here. The normal population of the town is only about 800.

We toured town for a couple hours, doing some shopping. Then we hopped on our train ride on the White Pass & Yukon Rail. We took the train up to the White Pass, in BC, Canada. It was a wonderful ride and the beauty is amazing! If you come this way, you should take the trip. I hope that my pictures capture even half of the beauty.

We leave tonight for the Icy Straights, before heading to Seward on Friday, where we get off the ship for a final time. I don't know if Icy Straight will have access for me to put on the pictures, so maybe nothing until Friday!

This has been an amazing trip and we are really enjoying it. Teri is feeling a bit ill today. I think it was the fish she ate for dinner. Other than that, all is going great. I won't use the ship computers anymore, since they cost 50 cents a minute and are really slow! It would cost a fortune to post anything!

Hope you are enjoying our trip. See you soon.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Mendenhall Glacier


Mendenhall Glacier
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
This morning we pulled into Juneau about 8am. The weather was not that great, but who cares. It is beautiful here. We went on a Photo Safarie to look for whates and bald eagles. We saw plenty of them. I don't know if I got a good shot of the whales, but we sure saw them. Eagles where EVERyWHERE!!! I have never seen some many in my life.
From our boat part of the safarie, we headed to Mendenhall Glacier where we continued on a hiking rour. The glacier is amazing! i don't know if the pictures do justice to the site. If you ever get the chance, you have to see this place.

After returning from our tour, we have been walking around Juneau seeing the sites. We had a tour of the State Capitol Building and the State Muesum.

There has been a mist most of the day, but it hasn't put a damper on the day at all!

We have been having a great time on the cruise. We are meeting lots of fun people and visit with some many new people every day. Our dinner table is very diverse. Each coast and in the middle of th courntry as well.

Next stop, Skagway1 Keep checking for photo updates. The libraries are a great place to work from!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Ketchikan


100_2258
Originally uploaded by GailJ.
We finally made it to Alaska! This is our 1st port. We are here for several hours. Today we took a tour of the Saxman Totem poles and the Creek street, where the "madams" made all their money. It is a nice little town, very sceanic. We only have a few hours before leaving for our next stop.

We took about a 3 mile walk to find the eagles, but can't see them.
Got to run!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Cruising

Just a quick note to let you know we made it on board. We are cruising today. We got a late start yesterday. Our ship, was supposed to leave at 5pm yesterday, but there were several bus loads of passangers was late. We finally set sail by 7pm.
We spent most of our time exploring the ship. It is huge!!! Our room of course is super small. I think my bathroom at home is bigger. It is pretty nice though, so that is good.

Today, we are just enjoying the activities on board ship, and of course, the food. There is no shortage of food here. I don't think we will go hungery at all.

Tomorrow, we will be docking in Ketchican, our 1st Alaska port. I hope to find a library to update from, since the ships internet is slow and expensive!

Until tomorrow!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Vancouver, BC


Steam Clock
Originally uploaded by GailJ.




We arrived in Vancouver on Wednesday late in the afternoon. It took an hour to drive to our hotel, because Vancouver has no freeway system. We drove in rush hour traffic to get only about 25 miles. We quickly checked in our room and we took off to see the sites. Stanley Park with the totem poles was our 1st stop. A wonderful place overlooking the city and surrounded by water. We took a bus back to the hotel and that took about 1 hour too. Our hotel staff was wonderful and very helpful in finding things.
Yesterday, we rented a car and drove to Victoria. We had to get on the ferry to cross the water, since Victoria in on Vancouver Island. We made our way to Butchart Gardens which was lovely. I did not get to meet up with Kathy, since she could not get off work. Darn, next time!

Today we will be heading off to the cruise ship. We are not sure what to expect, but from what everyone tells us, we are in for a super time.

I have posted the pictures from Vancouver. Vancouver is a very beautiful city. I would like to come back and see more of it. They are getting ready for the 2010 Olypics, so there is a lot of construction going on. It is really nice anyway!
Keep watching and following along!

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Small World

It is a really small world. Today, because of a conversation I had with my co-worker Kerry, I got in touch with a college friend, Kathy Nolan. Kathy and I were friends at UW-La Crosse. After graduation, she headed west to Yellowstone National Park, where she met and married Les.
Now, here is the small world. Speaking with Kerry yesterday, he told me he is headed for Yellowstone. A grad student who is in the department, grew up out in the Yellowstone area, and low and behold, she knows Les and Kathy.

Well, Les and Kathy are now at Olympic National Park, right near Victoria, Canada. My 1st stop on the trip! Vancouver/Victoria where we plan to visit The Butchart Gardens. On a whim, I called Kathy and we are planning to meet there, with any luck. It will be so great if we can actually meet up and visit for a while!

This is all because we talked about our up coming vacations. I am very excited to meet up with Kathy., who I haven't seen since 1993!