Trip of a Lifetime

This blog is about our trip to Alaska, the Trip of a Lifetime. We have long spoken about such a trip but the timing or the finances were never right. When Tom's father passed away and left a sum of money we were left with the decision of what to use it for that would honor his memory. Certainly not a piece of furniture or home repair. Those things pass out of service and are left curb-side. We wanted a memory that would be with us forever.







And so idea of a trip to Alaska was formed! On a visit to the AAA office in Appleton, I inquired about such trips, explaining that we just were not a "dinner and dancing with the Captain" sort of couple. Existing on a ship that could pass for a small city along with several thousand other passengers, and dressing formally for dinner just did not hold appeal. The brochures from a company named Cruise West caught our eye. As Goldilocks said, this one was "just right!"



My intention was to maintain this blog as we continued on our travels. I failed to take into account the fact that most of the areas we were in had no internet connections available (also no TV or phone!) ... so the remainder of the blog will be an "after the fact" accounting. I hope you enjoy it!

PHOTOGRAPHS WILL BE ADDED AS SOON AS I GET THEM LOADED AND EDITED...............









Monday, August 30, 2010

Hearing Nature

You have only to listen.  The glaciers and whales spoke today.

At the glaciers, we heard the loud cracks as they were about to calve. Glaciers are very talkative!  They grumble and creak like old men.

At dinner, I spotted whales and suddenly everyone evacuated to take photos!  Of course, the staff are used to that, and sent up dessert.  I didn't get any National Geographic shots, but the humpbacks were very close.  I heard one of them screech!  It was so incredible to watch them spout and then flip their fukes up as they dove.

The Orcas were a surprise to the staff. Orcas do what is called a "spy hop" where they poke their head up and look around.They apparently are not usually found that far up the fjord. By the way, rock cut by glaciers is a fjord; otherwise, it's just a gully!  The ones we saw today were huge walls of granite.

We had a photography lesson tonight in the lounge.  Sean O'Connor is the guest photographer. His company is called Freesolo Photography.  He travels to all kinds of crazy places. He explained some photography basics and framing composition.  It was probably far too simplistic for most of the people there.  I think most were advanced of my skill level.  His slide show didn't work and so most of the presentation was about his personal photography projects.  I was still basking in the success of my venture into "S" land,  so it was still interesting to me but I noted that he did not seem very organized in his presentation.

When Tom and I returned to our room there was a plate of chocolate bark with golden raisins on a plate that read "Happy Anniversary" written in chocolate, and a can of whipped cream wrapped in a white linen napkin.  That was so sweet, and so special!  Tom had told them that this was our anniversary trip.
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