On the passage up Glacier Bay, we saw wildlife in the form of mountain goats, bears, both black and brown, and some adventurous hikers and kayakers. There were also bald eagles who thought that icebergs were a good perch, and were indifferent to huge white ships lumbering up the bay.

Another hour of cruising passed before we finally reached the top of the bay where the Grand Pacific and Margerie glaciers dump their loads of ice into the sea. The larger, the Grand Pacific, is almost a mile wide and covered with rock and dirt.

The Margerie is the one everyone comes to see; she is icy blue, active and moving and calving large chunks of ice into the bay. We saw a few of those, and almost as impressive as the sight, was the sound – a sharp crack, then a rumbling and a booming that starts after you see the ice falling and continues after the last splash of ice into the sea.

All of this beauty and nature was playing out under crystal clear blue skies and mild, summer-like temperatures. By afternoon we were down to shirt-sleeves to watch our cruise out. This part of the day was even more exciting than the morning’s journey. There were whales galore; most were just surfacing, but there were a lot of groups and as we turned out of the bay, there was one fellow who put on a breaching demonstration, and even waved goodbye.

The only finale a day like this would be to throw fire in the sky, and Alaska delivered. A beautiful sunset awaited us after our dinner.

We had scheduled a tour out to summer camp. A mushers camp, but summer camp all the same. Charleen wanted to see the dogs, and the promise of puppies was almost more than she could bear. Then Darcy, our guide, said that she’d be able to hold them, and Charleen was ready to drive the bus herself.

Good thing she didn’t drive. Camp, as all good camps, was pretty far out of town, up a dirt road that bumped and bucked until it opened out on a valley.

Now, that’s where camp should be.

After a short introduction to the dogs we were loaded into the modified golf cart that serves as the summer replacement for a sled. As soon as we started to load, the noise level among the dogs increased to hysteric proportions. They were ready to pull!

With a shouted “Git on” from the musher, the sound level dropped off, and the sled began to pick up speed. As a team, the dogs can pull a substantial load at a 30 miles per day pace; we didn’t go anywhere close to 30 miles.

Once we were back at base camp, it was time for puppies. Soft, cuddley, lickey, puppies.

Far too soon for Charleen, it was time for the trek back to town. Back to civilization among the boardwalked streets of Skagway. Back to the jewelry shops and clothing shops. Back to the Skagway Brewing Company for a quick pint of spruce tip beer, back to the local Starb*cks for a really good cup of coffee.

The wilderness is nice, but access to a good cup of coffee is hard to beat.

Wednesday saw us in Juneau, the state Capital, known for absurd amounts of rain; it was sunny and warm all day. Our adventures started later than on Tuesday, with a bus tour that showed us some of the sights of the city and then took us out to the Mendenhall Glacier to view the “big ice”.

As we’ve seen here in Alaska, you are never quite prepared for the enormity of the sights. The first view of the glacier leaves you thinking, “Wow, that’s big.”, and then when you get closer and yet realize that you are still quite far away from it, you think, “That’s really big.”

The time for our tour was limited, though, so we could not explore as much as we wanted. The next stop was a salmon hatchery where we learned about the life cycle, and habits of the big red monsters. After some salmon jerky and a little souvenir hunting, we were whisked back to the ship in time to grab some lunch before embarking on the trip that Charleen had been looking forward to for a long, long time – the whale watch.

The whale watch required a bus ride out past the fish hatchery and out past the glacier as well. The day was still beautiful as we boarded ship and prepared to set out on the high seas for whales. Seals were found first, then a pod of orcas, and another, and then some more seals and then a few more orcas, and finally, what Charleen had been anticipating, a humpback whale.

Two blows and off he went on a deep dive; our humpback was never to be seen again.

Well, we’d seen a whale, so the guarantee could not be invoked, but Charleen was very disappointed. Two puffs of steam and a black back sliding under the water were a far cry from what Charleen had hoped to see.

I did manage to get back to sleep and stayed that way until our 5:45 wake up call; except the wake up call was actually an hour earlier due to a time zone change when we left Canadian waters around 2 am.  Messed up is about the best way to describe the situation. We were not the only ones who received early calls, there were quite a few waiting for breakfast an hour before the dining room opened.

It was raining when we looked out at the docks of Ketchikan, the thought of zipping among the trees eighty feet off the ground in a damp drizzle was dismal, but we’d paid for the excursion, and had a dry room to return to, so we figured we might as well go. That was good thinking. By the time we got to the zip line site the rain had stopped and the cloud cover was breaking.

Six brave souls made up our group and we started to get to know each other as the staff at Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary helped us into our rigs and gave us preliminary safety briefings. We were repeatedly assured that what we were doing was reasonably safe. Charleen needed a lot of reassurance for that; she doesn’t like heights.

David and Powers, our guides, had the right combination of business and humor that put all of us at ease and made the whole experience “can’t stop grinning” fun. A lot that goes through your mind as you climb onto a little platform eighty feet above the ground, and get clipped to two wires strung between your tree and another one “way over there”, but all of that goes away once you put your feet up and start zipping.

The group loosened up as confidence grew. By the time we reached the seventh line, everyone was grinning like a loon. The last line had a tree (surprise there, we’re in a forest), that was close enough to slap, and Powers suggested that we try and give the forest a “high-five”. A bit of a leap, a slap of the tree and then a nice long ride to the last platform.

From there, only a short free rappel to the ground and we were ready for the slide down the side, a 250 foot slide that brought us back to where we had started as nervous newbies just a short time ago. Who would think you could have so much fun hanging from a wire?

The meeting broke up in time for me to make my hair appointment. It was pretty typical for my experiences at salons, I say I want it left longer,and an inch of hair is cut off; gone, the nice curls that have been growing for the last four months. I am almost happy with the result, but I really just wanted cleaned up, not shorn.

At that point we had entered the Queen Charlotte sound and the ship was rolling. I took a bit of my favorite anti nausea medicine to quell the queasises and had a bit of a nap.
When I felt better we headed up for lunch, and spent some time with a nice couple from Virginia. They retired to an area near Roanoke and are very happy and recommend it highly.

Dinner tonight was at the Pinnacle, the high class restaurant on the Ryndam, because we have been celebrating our anniversary. I ordered a package in advance and little parts of it have been arriving each day we have been on the ship; flowers,  25 minute massages, and water bottles to name a few. The dinner was lovely, Charleen enjoyed some of her favorite foods, wonderfully prepared by the staff. I chose the Black Cod and aside from the bones, was very satisfied. Dinner was very rich and very filling and by the time we were finished we wanted nothing more to do with food. Guess what was waiting for us in the cabin when we returned from dinner?
Chocolate covered strawberries!

There was just no way, so we left them for morning.

After breakfasting with more of our new friends, we hopped on Ed’s bus again, and headed off for our scheduled bus tour of Vancouver.  We did see some areas of the city that we didn’t get to on our earlier, self-guided walking tours, but the number of sights to see made it impossible to spend any good amount of time in the interesting places.

Soon it was time to say goodbye to Ed as he dropped us off at Canada Place to embark on our ship, the ms Ryndam.  Now the cruise could begin!

All of Holland America’s years  of practice meant that check in was simple and painless. Once aboard, our state room was easily found. A little freshen-up and off to lunch since our luggage had not made it before us.

After lunch, we went back to our stateroom to check if our luggage had arrived.  Everything was in the room, so we began unpacking, and by the time we were finished, it was time for the lifeboat drill. We passed!

The ferry ride Vancover Island was only an hour and a half, but we managed to see Bald Eagles, seals and sea otters and several Steam-Punk enthusiasts. I don’t think that’s a bad tally for 90 minutes.

The Gardens were colorful and quite wet, as several showers came through in our short time there. We were prepared with our umbrellas, so it wasn’t a problem.

After a quick two hours of flower gazing we were back on the bus for the ride to Victoria. Charleen had brochure shopped on the ferry, so she had already scoped out that Craigdarroch Castle, a late nineteenth century “bonanza castle”was nearby. When she asked Ed, our bus driver about it, he offered to drive us there after he let off the rest of the group in downtown Victoria. We’d have to make our own way back, but he said it was only a fifteen minute walk. He was right.

The castle was worth the walk back, just for the woodwork alone. The displays of furniture and clothing were worth the bus ride up the hill (castles always have to be on the top of hills). The gift shop was a preview for the rest of the trip.

When we got back to the Empress Hotel, our rendezvous point for the bus, we discovered that the Steam-Punk event was on the grounds of that very Victorian hotel. We saw many more enthusiasts, in all manner of dress. I think I’m going to have to look up a little bit more about it.

Our ferry ride back to Vancouver was not so wildlife filled, because the rain kept us off the decks, and it’s tougher to see through the ferry’s windows when they are streaked with rain.