Whirlwind moving trip

Last week I flew to SLC, picked up Nicole and drove to Idaho where I met up with my parental units, Dana and Gary, Jerry and JP. We drove through a nasty storm. Giant raindrops, thunder, lightning and nickel size hail.



We converged upon my Uncle Bill's home to pack it up and move it to Utah. He has been in a nursing home for over a year. My mom is going to put the home up for sale so needless to say ALL the C*** needed to come out. We did find some treasures and he has alot of things he has from all his travels, Africa, Thialand, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, China. On our travels back Nicole and I stopped at the Twin Falls, ID temple. Just Beautiful.



Our next stop was Shoshone Falls and Dierkes Lake. I have not been there since I was a kid. Another beutiful site.



When we arrived back in SLC we unloaded the moving truck. I was carrying a 50 lb carved speaker.



I dropped it right on my foot. OUCH!. Needless to say I broke 3 bones. Now I have this to contend with.....

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Today we cruised the inside passage. Amazing! Quaint little villages, fishing boats, scenery scenery, scenery. WOW! Our ship cruised into Vancouver Harbour early in the morning. The sun peaking over the mountains shed rays of beauty on the harbour. The skyline of Vancouver with Stanley Park in the foreground looks like it is growing out of the trees.



This light house was the first light house to welcome mariners into the harbour. It is situated near the bridge and also is part of Stanley Park.



Stanley Park..... I love this park. There is a huge totem pole display at Brockton Point. It is the most visited attraction in all of Britich Columbia.



Walking the SEA WALL in the park is soothing. It is Along the walking paths are ferns so deep you could get lost in them. 5.5 miles long and is very scenic.



As we came into the harbour we went under this bridge. Quite a feat to behold. This bridge is massive. Not like Golden Gate or Bay bridges but massive just the same.

Iditarod

When we got back on the ship from Ketchican there was a lecture going on. It was Libby Riddles. She ran it in 18 days, 20 minutes and 17 secs. She was the first woman to win the Iditarod. The race is from Anchorage to Nome. Over 1150 miles in 10-17 days. Libby entered her first race kind of on a whim. She took 7th. The next year 7th again. She decided if she was going to get better than 7th she better train and get better dogs. She partnered with a guy and got some better dogs. They trained together I think for 2 years. She entered again. Through all of the hardship, extreme weather that year she came out on top. What a great story and role model for perseverance.

Ketchican

We docked on a bright and sunny day. GORGEOUS! Couldn't have asked for a better day. When you get off the ship in Ketchican you are RIGHT in town.


Of course the touristy shops are right there but it is a short walk to the REAL town. It is very "quaint". Well worth the walk around.


There is a totem pole walking tour with plaques that tell about each one.



We attended a Lumberjack show. It was really fun. They divide the audience into 2 groups and each group cheers for a differant team. I am sure you have seen the Lumberjack guys on TV. It is just like that.

They have log rolling



Log climbing



Chopping



Log sawing



All the events were fun. After the show John and I walked down the the marina and looked at all the sail boats. The water is so blue here. Who wouldnt' want to be out sailing on it.



While out walking John and I came across this sign. So apropos.

Skagway-White's Pass

Today in Skagway we thought that we were going to just look around, call the kids and find a really cool Christmas decoration. (We look for amazing Christmas decorations to represent all the places we have traveled) First we went to the Klondike Goldrush National Park Center. (We are Nat'l Park fans) The exhibits are amazing there. They had a film representing the goldrush that was great. Skagway is very small and there is really not much to see there. John Surprised me with tickets to take the White's Pass train. It starts in Skagway and travels to the Yukon Territory in Canada. What an amazing ride. The track was laid in 1898. It was built ot get people to the gold fields of the Yukon. The train climbs 4000 feet in 20 miles, has 16 degree turns, has 2 tunnels and a half dozen hairpin turns.

Juneau-Whale Watching

On to Juneau. John and I had signed up to go whale watching today. So exciting. We had to get up EARLY! Much earlier than I was expecting. Off the ship at 6:30. We boarded our bus for a short sightseeing tour and then on to the cruiser. Our tour guide was a college student from Oregon. She was just 21 and had just recieved her CDL. She joked about how she could drive the bus better backwards then foreward. Our cruiser boat got us out into the bay pretty fast. Our guides were very knowledgable and answered many questions that everyone had. They told us to look for spray in the air. That was whale breath. We saw humpbacks and Orcas, Sea Lions and Sea Otters. We even saw 2 Bald Eagles.

Glaciers Calving

I was so excited to see Margerie Glacier calve. The first time I was just looking through the binoculars to see about how much further we were getting. And BAM it happened. It was an awesome sight. We did not get a picture because we were so far away. I was disappointed because the park ranger said that most people never see one calve. You could be there a few hours and nothing happen. I really wanted a picture. As we were getting closer and closer anticipation was high. John went out on the deck with all the other 1000 people all hoping for the same thing. Not too long before we were going to leave, this happened.......

What an amazing sight.