Alaskan Cruise - Part Nein

In our last thrilling chapter, our heroes were left on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon.   Who knows what adventures await them as they make their return to Pomona, CA?   Let's tune in and see....

As I mentioned, our first stop the next day was Tillamook, to visit the Tillamook Cheese / Ice Cream factory.   (Warning!!!   Cheese puns ahead!)  Let me tell you, it was a Gouda thing we stopped.   I love a good factory tour, and this one was great.   At the end of the tour they had a line of cheese samples where you could help yourself, and I went back four times before I saw the sign reading "Please, only one visit to the sample bar."   I took that in stride and only went back three more times.   I was a regular Muenster!  Some of my favorite cheeses. such as the cheese curds, were only available there at the store, and were not available in Southern California.   This seemed pretty unfair - Cantal the cheeses be available everywhere?  Either way, it was a good place to Gruyere cheese cravings.   I Edam all until I was all feta up!   (okay, we're going out on a limb now...)   On the way out, I ran into Rick Moranis.  His handlers asked me if this was a good place to take Mr. Moranis, and I said, "Ricotta go right in."   I hope it wasn't out of his whey.

Anyone still reading?   Wow, that's remarkable.  Seriously, it was a great tour and the best part, beyond the cheese samples, was the fact that they had all the Tillamook ice cream flavors available for purchase.   I had blackberry and huckleberry....  yum.   Well worth the stop.

At that point, we began driving down the coast.   We were determined to visit as many tourist traps as we could find along the way, so the going was pretty slow.   Stop number one:   Sea Lion Caves, outside of Florence, Oregon.   This tourist stop has been in business since 1932, and despite the addition of an elevator in 1961, it hasn't changed too much in all those years.   In fact, one of the original familes still owns and runs the caves.  When we arrived is was very foggy and pretty late in the day, so I had my doubts that we'd see any sea lions.   The clerk in the gift shop, however, was very nice and promised us a full refund if we were unable to see any sea lions.   Well, with an offer like that, how could I refuse?   I put a blindfold over my eyes, paid the admission and down we went into the caves.  

Sea Lion Caves in the 1930's.  

Sea Lion Caves today.   As you can tell, the changes are minimal...

As it turned out, the fog lifted, I lost my blindfold and we did indeed see some sea lions on the beach below.   However, there were no lions in the main attraction, the caves themselves.   It was explained that the sea lions seek the refuge of the caves in the winter months, when the ocean is cold and stormy.  They stay through early spring, when the babies are born and raised, then head out of the cave at summer.   Below are some pictures I pulled from the internet of the caves when the sea lions have taken up occupancy.

We made it  to Florence and decided to spend the night there.   Three factors made us decide to spend the night in Florence:

1. They had a Kozy Kitchen there, which is one of my favorite small chains of diners,
2. There was a big scary bridge at the end of town that I didn't want to cross in the dark, and
3. BJ's Ice Cream.   Florence is the home of BJ's ice cream.   They had 48 different flavors to choose from, and even more flavors in salt-water taffy.  Despite the fact that I had just eaten a big meal at Kozy Kitchen, we made a stop at BJ's and tried a few different flavors.   The ice cream did not top the ice cream at Handels or Fosselmans (reviewed HERE) but it was still great ice cream and well worth a stop.

 

We stayed at a hotel with no air conditioning.   They said that no one needs air conditioning by the ocean.   They were wrong.   After an uncomfortable night of sleep, we began our journey anew.   NEXT:   We journey back in time and face off with prehistoric creatures!   Really!   You won't want to miss the next thrilling chapter in our drive down the west coast!   I cheddar to think about it!

Alaskan Cruise, Part Fief

Hello again, fellow Alaskan Cruisers!   In this installment, we take a trip through Glacier Bay National Park, one of the few national parks that people tour via a cruise ship.
The Glacier Bay Basin was declared a national park in 1980, but has been a destination for scientists and sightseers long before then.   The main attraction is, of course, the glaciers.  The glaciers present in the park have existed through at least the last four ice ages, concluding with the Little Ice Age 4000 years ago.   The glaciers in the park are remnants of that ice age, and several of them continue to grow and move through the valleys.
The area around the glaciers is nature in its rawest state.   The glaciers are still carving out the environment.   This is how the world looked right after the ice age...  Rocky, with moss and small plants slowly developing the soil and landscape.   In several thousand years, this area will be a forest, but now, it's still being born.   I found this look into the past both interesting and wet.   Yes, it was raining the morning we toured.   Only a small percentage of the passengers on our ship ventured out onto the rain-soaked deck to view this spectacle.   I was one of them, and got the following pictures:

Entering the park, you see small icebergs floating by.   These chunks of ice have fallen off of the glaciers in the park.  It looked a little like TITANIC, except that there were no star-crossed lovers to spoil the ambiance.

This land had glaciers on it relatively recently.   Vegetation is starting to grow.   Eventually this will be a full-grown forest.

Our first glacier comes into view.  Fortunately the fog would lift for a while so we could get pictures.   Very accommodating.

I think this was the Margerie Glacier.   I should have taken better notes.   If there had been a test, I would've failed Glacierology.

We got relatively close to this glacier.  There was a bear swimming in the water that became a cause celebre.   Yeah, like I traveled this far to see a swimming bear.

At one point a large chunk fell off, splashing into the ocean.   Naturally, at that very moment, I was facing the other way, as someone was taking my picture.  Figures.

At this point the boat is turning around.  It has amazing parallel parking abilities.  I hope the captain stuck out his hand.

I should mention that there was NO LINE for the buffet at this time.   Joe Cruise Tip:   To avoid lines, try to eat breakfast during the most dramatic part of the cruise.

There was one guy in the hot tub that came out to see the glacier.   We were all bundled up in thick jackets and he was wearing a towel.  What a show off.

I think this is the John Hopkins Glacier.   Well, most of you won't know the difference, so let's just say it is.  If John Hopkins wants to complain, I'm open to comments.

There are so many glaciers it's hard to keep them straight.  Many of them look the same, and they are all blue.  I'm sure they have a hard time remembering who is who...

More snow-capped peaks.  The glacier is off to the left.

It seems like this story is moving somewhat glacier-like.   In our next exciting chapter, we will travel to Ketchikan, see a non-swimming bear, and come face-to-face with an owl...  Stay tuned!