So, as you recall, we left our heroes spending the night in glorious Ritzville, Washington (population 1,673, if you count the insects). The next day, we woke up bright and early to begin our drive to Seattle, and the start of our cruise. After a delicious breakfast provided by the Best Western Hotel (fortunately their vending machines were not bolted to the wall and easily tilted) we drove down the I-90 and made it to Seattle with very little time to spare.
We had reserved a parking spot in the parking lot across the street from the boat, and the website for the lot had said they had a shuttle bus that would deliver us and our luggage straight to the boat. What they didn't mention was the cut-off time. The shuttles had stopped running by the time we got there. This was not a good thing, as my traveling companion packed like she was moving to Alaska. Between the two of us, we had five suitcases, a laptop computer, two grocery bags full of snacks for the cruise (including a 12-case of Pepsi) two more travel bags full of books, DVD's, games and other travel necessities, sweatshirts and two pillows, in case the pillows on the boat were not broken in. We parked the car and emptied out our luggage, and just stared. Somehow we had to get all this luggage across the lot, up the elevator, across the street, down the elevator, and across the port to the luggage check point... within 30 minutes. We loaded up as well we could - I strapped two bags around my neck, loaded one suitcase on top of another and wheeled two of them behind me, while my partner carried the rest. We looked like walking closets. As we loaded up, we noticed the one thing we were going to have to leave behind, the bag of baked goods we had bought at Heaven on Earth Bakery in Oregon. They looked so good sitting in the trunk, and I desperately looked for some place were we could hang that one extra bag, and bring those delicious looking pastries onto the ship. Alas, it was not to be. I took one last longing look at the pastries in all their decadent glory, closed the trunk of the car, and began the journey to the dock. We struggled. We fumbled. The elevator shook as it took us up. But, we made it to the dock. The picture they took of us boarding the ship looks like we're getting off a World War II troop ship from Africa. I wish I had bought that photo.
And so began our cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl. The first two days were spent at sea as we made our way to Juneau. The Pearl was a nice ship... In fact, here is a picture of me in our stateroom.
Ha! Ha! I am, of course, ribbing you. I wish our room was the size of that bed. We had an inside stateroom that fit two single beds snugly with a small walkway between them. However, it's OK, who's going to spend their time in their room? It's a cruise! We'll be spending days on the outer decks, enjoying the pool, the live music, the poolside barbecue, the rock climbing wall, the tennis court, the zipline, the golf course, the deer hunting, the live re-enactment of the civil war, all presented on the decks of the Norwegian Pearl!
Day one: it rained.
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| Actual size of stateroom |
Day two: it rained.
Day one was not only a rainy day, but the boat rocked. Noticeably. I went to breakfast and noticed that the crowd was much lighter than the night before. I later discovered that many people were feeling queasy and decided to forgo breakfast. I was a little queasy myself, but it takes more than seasickness to get me to skip a free meal.
Have you ever been seasick? I have, once, on a trip to Catalina. I wanted to die. My sister said my face had actually turned green, like you see in comic books. Fortunately, neither one of us would get seasick on this trip.
Here's a few photos from on board:
Eventually, we made it to stop one, Juneau, the state capital. Juneau was named after one of the original prospectors to find gold in the area, Joe Juneau. I wish I had made that my nickname for the trip. Juneau is the third-largest municipality in the U.S., covering 3225 square miles. It is also the only state capital bordered by an international boundary (Canada) and the only state capitol that is accessible only by sea or air - there are no roads leading to Juneau. It is also home to the Juneau ice fields, which feed the numerous glaciers that have formed the area. Mendenhall Glacier is one of those glaciers, and is a main tourist destination in Juneau. We jumped on a shuttle bus and within 30 minutes we were at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center, dedicated in 1962 as the first US Forest Service Visitor's Center in the nation. We also passed the first McDonald's to be built in Alaska. People were so excited when this restaurant opened that there were lines around the block. The people of Skagway had Big Macs airlifted from this location for all their townfolk. Now there are five McDonald's located in Alaska, but this remains the only one in Juneau.
The Mendenhall glacier is one of the few glaciers that you can actually hike to, and on top of. We hiked to Nugget Falls, which is close to the glacier's face and about as far as you can go without some serious hiking equipment. Bears were in the area so some areas were closed off. We didn't see a bear here, but we did see a porcupine and a bald eagle. Our bear sightings would have to wait for another stop.
We eventually returned to downtown Juneau and did some shopping and site-seeing. Among the souvenir shops found on the waterfront is the infamous Red Dog Saloon, founded during the Gold rush days and recognized as Alaska's oldest man-made tourist attraction. I was happy to find that we were cruising at the end of the tourist season, so much of the merchandise was drastically reduced. For anyone who received a souvenir from me: I paid full price for your item.
On our next installment, we'll show you the town of Skagway. The Big Macs were all gone by the time we got there.
