ALASKAN CRUISE- 2004

On the warm and sunny day of August 28th, 2004, Carol and I left Atlanta on a Boeing 767 and within an hour or so arrived for a short stop in Detroit. Soon, we were back in the air and a few hours later we were enjoying our first trip ever flying over the snow covered mountains of western Yukon Canada en route to Anchorage, Alaska.

In our final approach to the Anchorage International Airport, I noticed the beauty of the city below as it stretched for miles with tall buildings downtown. Once we had our luggage from the carousel, a quick stop to pick up our rental and we were on our way. Now to see Alaska first hand!


After a city tour of Anchorage, we drove north to our first destination, Denali Park--home of the world famous Mt McKinley. After checking into our neat cabin just outside the park, we proceeded to unpack--it had been an exciting but long day--time for sleep and rest.


For the next couple of days we drove up to Fairbanks and over to North Pole, Alaska. We could not resist the temptation so after some searching, found a gift shop that sold postcards and sent one to each of the grand kids--all saying "Here's Papa John and Mimitutz at the North Pole where Santa lives".

Back to Denali. One drives a very short distance into the park--probably a mile or so--arriving at the visitors center. That's as far as you can go in your own vehicle. There are a couple of ways to actually enjoy the beauty and vastness of the park. Either go in on foot with very limited resources or take a park bus. We chose the bus--like there was a choice--I wasn't going to be walking the same path grizzly bears call home!

After getting our bus ticket, we were on our way. By the way, the buses will travel to designated checkpoints, turnaround, and return to the center. You decide how much time you want to spend in the park and buy a ticket accordingly. We chose the bus to Toklat--some 53 miles into the Park. This was pretty much an all day trip considering the buses travel about 20-30 MPH on winding dirt roads and will stop to view and gaze at wildlife. Plus, there are rest stops facilities along the way-somewhat crude compared to the lower 48 standards.

A couple of last comments about Denali. We had the pleasure of having a very large grizzly walk on the road just feet in front of our bus--talk about seeing nature up close and personal- and without notice, the grizzly left the road heading toward a river. Also, we never actually saw Mt McKinley. Our young tour guide said he had not either because of cloud cover. I had taken many photos of the park but unfortunately lost the digital camera memory card!

On August 31st we returned to Anchorage for the night. The next day we took a bus to Whittier where we boarded "The Spirit" Carnival Cruise Ship and were on our way to: Prince William Sound; Sitka; Juneau; Skagway; Ketichan; and leaving the ship in Vancouver, Canada.

Just so you know, I served in a church leadership position that required I not have a beard. So, for the first time since the 70s, I had only a moustache. I felt naked--but it still was a good time in my life!

Before you view the photos, here's some interesting facts about Alaska:

49th state--statehood achieved Jan 3, 1959

Brought from Russia 1867 for $7,200,000 or 2 cents an acre

2007 Population was 676,987

One fifth the size of US for landmass

33,900 miles of shoreline

5% of landmass covered by glaciers

39 mountain ranges

Mt McKinley is 20,320 feet high

Some record low temps Anchorage -34; Fairbanks -62

Following are some of our photos. I hope you enjoy!

Here we are on September 1st, 2004 in Whittier, Alaska, boarding Carnival's Cruise Ship--The Spirit. BTW-this was our second cruise on the Spirit--see my story on Hawaiian Cruise-April 2003.

Carol, Moose, and I. I'm the one on the right--LOL.



Here we are with a gold prospector. Of course, gold played a very important role in the history of Alaska.

The Spirit at sea.

Post Card of the four major Ports of Call!

Ditto

Another post card.

Alaskan Map Post Card

Alaska as seen from outer space.

Another map of the great state of Alaska.

This photo is of the train that tourists choose when traveling the state. The photo is taken in Anchorage.

A local downtown Anchorage gift shop.

The city of Anchorage from a distance.

Map of the bus routes from the visitors center at Denali Park.

Moose in the Denali park.

Post card of Denali.

Mt McKinley in the background--what a beautiful photo!

On our way from Denali to Fairbanks.

Fairbanks, Alaska Post Office.

I loved this sign: Alaska-The Last Frontier.

Downtown theatre in Fairbanks.

Fairbanks

On our way from Fairbanks over to the "North Pole" where, as I mentioned earlier, Tutz and brought, signed, and mailed post cards to the grand kids.

A map showing Whittier--which was a military base during and after WW II. This is where our cruise ship was docked and we departed from. To arrive at the dock, our bus had to navigate a single lane tunnel bore thru the local mountain.

Boats docked at Whittier.

Carnival cruise ship docked at Whittier.

Whittier harbor and dock from a distance.

After "The Spirit" left Whittier, our first full day at sea was in the Prince William sound where the captain actually came so close to one of the glaciers, you could feel a drastic drop in temperature the closer we came. Not to mention, that no matter where you looked, there were icebergs everwhere in the sound. This was very exciting for the two of us!

Here we are leaving one of the glaciers--the wake left by the ship is very noticeble.

Here are three photos taken by ship photographers and we in appropiate attire based on the event. That's me "sans" beard--I'm with the lovely and talented Mimitutz! Don't remember the caliber of the carbine--it was a stage prop anyway.

Carol and I trying to stay warm on deck.

A chocolate moose. This was the Gala Buffet on the Spirit. Anyone who has cruised knows all entertainment on board centers around great food!

Here we are at Sitka-our first Port of Call. This small town has still a lot of Russian influence. Sitka was the headquarters for the Russian-American Company which colonized and exploited their new found possession. Sitka was the site of the historic transfer of Alaska from Russia to the US and Alaska's first capitol until 1912 when it was moved to Juneau. By the way, the official transfer of Alaska to the US took place October 18th, 1867.

A unique Sitka church.

Raven Totem Pole in Sitka taken by proffesional Ron Niebrugge

Sitka waterfront

Another professional photo by Ron Niebrugge of Sitka

The next few photos are of the state capitol-Juneau. This is the only US state capitol one can not drive to. There are no roads from any where else in Alaska or Canada to this city. One gets there either by boat or plane. Also, keep in mind that 1 out of 4 Alaskans have their pilots licenses.

As I mentioned earlier, I lost the camera memory card for this part of our cruise. So, the following photos were borrowed from Ron Niebrugge--he gets full credit!

Juneau

Our third Port of Call and my favorite location was that of Skagway. And just as this post card says, this was the gateway to the goldrush. The architecture of the buildings remain pretty much in tact as they were in the late 1800s when gold was discovered in the mountains not too far away.

Another post card.

Here we are as we head out to Skagway.

The Spirit docked at Skagway

Photos of Skagway

Our fourth Port of Call was that of Ketchikan. Carol and I thought it was ok, but a lot of tourist gift shops with same international names we see in St Thomas. Here are the photos.

Here we are leaving ship.

The two large poles are at the center of the "lumber jack" competition

After we left Ketichan, we spent another day at sea and arrived at our final destination of Vancouver on September 8th. These two photos taken from our hotel room toward downtown. We had been to Vancouver before so not many photos taken. We left the next day for home.