Last post - trip by adjective

As promised, here is my summary of the trip by descriptive adjective.  There is so much to see that is beautiful that whatever choices you make, you will have to leave something by the wayside.  Thanks everyone for your interest in our journey.  See you on our next one.

Synopsis of our trip by descriptive adjective

Abundant	Rocks of all shapes and sizes
Amazing	We neither saw nor were involved in any accidents (or near misses)
Annoying	The smoke from the Lassen Forest fire near Redding, CA Noise from the roads or the trains in the campgrounds
Anti-climactic	The drive on US 24 after leaving Capital Reef
Awe-inspiring	Redwoods
Beautiful	Grand Staircase Escalante and Capital Reef National Park
Best value	KOA card for discount on camping National Parks card
Blazing	sunsets
Boring	The plains of Colorado east of Denver
Breathtaking	So much it is hard to choose
Bucket list moment	Finishing the last of our Route 66 agenda – over three trips have driven all we intend to drive.
Crumbling	Route 66
Dangerous	Other drivers
Derelict	Abandoned farms and buildings various places
Desolate	Mojave Desert
Disappointing	Kodiak, AK
Dreary	Interstate driving – we get off whenever we can
Educational	Hop Farm tour Sequoia habitat
Frustrating	Internet access
Fun	The walk to Hoonah, AK from Icy Strait Point
Glorious	Sea lions on the rocks at Simpson Reef, OR
Gobsmacked	The drive through the Redwoods on the old stagecoach trail
Harrowing	The General's Highway, SR190, Sequoia National Park - coming down
Impressive	The Redwoods, Eureka, California
Inconvenient	The long driving distances to get anywhere
Incredible	Friendly people everywhere
Interesting	The drive through Zion
Panoramic	Top of the ridge, Highway 12, Utah near Boulder Utah
Pastoral	Washington state where the apple and fruit orchards are
Peaceful	Walking in the Redwood forest
Picturesque	Grand Staircase Escalante
Remarkable	Virtually no rain, only one night and a few miles on the road on a couple of days
Rugged	Rockies in Colorado
Scariest	The walk out to Bright Angel Point, North Rim, Grand Canyon - drops on both sides
Scenic	Oregon coast
Serene	Organ music at Mount Angel Abbey, Oregon
Sparkling	Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, AK
Spectacular	The Hubbard Glacier
Sun drenched	The cruise out of Tracy Arm Fiord
Surprising	Icy Strait Point – well done cannery display and Alaska made products and also how smooth the North Pacific was for our whole cruise
Towering	Capital Reef
Undulating	Kansas wheat and cornfields
Windswept	Kansas plains
Worst value	Price of gasoline

                                                 Contemplating the end of a great trip!!!

Sept. 11 day 40 OTR - statistics

We are home safe and sound.  We had a great time with friends in Coldwater Michigan yesterday and did some shopping this morning. 

This post consists of the statistics I promised all of you.  Enjoy the numbers.  One more post to come, a synopsis of the trip by adjective.  Thanks all for staying tuned.

Land distance covered – 11539 km

Ship distance covered - 6979 km

Total cost of gasoline - $1099.56

Highest price paid per gallon - $4.79 Needles, CA

Lowest price paid per gallon - $3.49 Bennett, Colorado

Number of days on the road – 40

Number of nights spent on the ship – 14

Number of nights spent at a KOA – 22

Number of nights in a motel/hotel – 1

Number of nights with friends – 3

Highest temps encountered – 39C San Joaquin Valley, CA

Lowest temps encountered – 9C Oregon Coast

Highest elevation – 11990 feet, Loveland Pass, Colorado

Lowest Elevation – sea level while on the ship

Most road construction – Kansas, Indiana

Longest tunnel – Eisenhower Memorial at Loveland Pass, 1.697 miles, 2,72 km

Darkest tunnel – 1.1 miles in Zion National Park

Sept 9 day 38 OTR

Well, here we are in Bluffton, IN and our last night on the road.  We spent most of today doing some shopping.  Tomorrow night we will spend with a friend.  I thought this would be a good time to reflect on this whole journey, so here goes.

We are truly blessed to be able to travel the way we do. I know some of our friends think we are crazy for camping in a tent but I can't envision a road trip without a tent. You get to be outdoors, you sleep on your own mattress and sheets. What started as a cost saving measure in 1992 on our first cross country trip has become the way we do road trips.

We have met many Germans again on the trip – we always do. The older couple from Hamburg that shared the pool with us on a hot night in Needles; the younger family from the Ruhr that had rented a rather large motor home and would not be able to take it up or down the General's highway; the young man from Tuebingen who was an American Studies major and was hoping for a placement as an exchange student in Berkeley; the Czech photographer who was hoping to win the lottery so he could photograph the Wave. All these people, as well as others along the way – the Colorado professor who survived tongue cancer although his savings were wiped out (he had health care!) and who was doing an unofficial survey with all Canadians he met to see if we like our health care, the father taking his daughter camping who feared for his country, the group discussing “packing” handguns and which states had reciprocal laws to carry concealed.

All these and many more, the smiling faces of the KOA staff at every KOA for example, all these moments make the trip a journey. And you don't get any one of them by staying in a hotel or motel. You do have to contend with train whistles, noise from the highway and occasionally noisy campers like the extended Latino family who invited a Belgian student group to party with them on the Labour Day weekend. I wouldn't miss any of these interactions for the world. A friend of mine says that I can have a good time anywhere because I am not afraid to approach people. And she's right. It is the only way to enjoy the journey that the trip is all about.

Thanks everyone for staying tuned. It has been great fun, even if the internet connections were not always readily available or very fast. But, they were free, well except for coffee. I remember our first cross country trip in 1992 where I was happy to have one hour photo printing which allowed me to have our journey documented by the time we got home. Now my concern is internet connectivity and digital picture downloads so others can follow along in (almost) real time.

I have two more posts after this one. The first is a synopsis, by descriptive adjective, of our trip and the second one is a collection of statistics about the trip. Both may not be posted until Tuesday evening when we are home.

Our next big trip is not planned until September 2013. If you are subscribed to my blog you should get notification when I post again. And I will let you know via email when I will be posting.

Thanks everyone. As Otto always says “Life is good!” and yes, he has the t-shirt.

Sept 8, day 37 OTR

It was a good thing we slept in the van last night - the tent would have been soaked with dew this morning.  We had an easy ride through Kansas City, KS and MO since everyone was still asleep.

This was a driving day from Topeka, KS to Terre Haute, IN.  We have explored Missouri on other trips so we just drove through.  NPR (National Public Radio) got us through the drive.  Programmes like Car Talk, The Splendid Table, This American Life, All things considered, Fresh Air, and Prairie Home Companion make the drive seem shorter.

Tomorrow will be our last night on the road since we are spending Monday night with a friend.  I'll drop a short line to let everyone know we arrived safely.

Have a good night, everyone.

Sept. 7 day 36 OTR

We almost got blown away last night.  Around 1:30 am the wind started howling and blew the tent sideways even though we had a fence shelter behind us and the car on one side.  It also cooled off dramatically.  We drove to McDonald's for our oatmeal and coffee since we could not have kept the camp stove lit long enough to make breakfast.

Our drive today was through Kansas and we are in the Topeka KOA.  It is quite interesting as the rec room and office, etc. is a converted barn.  But of course it is on the highway so the noise factor is there.  We are sleeping in the van tonight - we don't want a repeat of the wind situation from last night.  Also, thunderstorms are being called for so no sense putting up the tent.

We made a stop in Hays, KS at noon and wanted to see some of the sights but it was raining so we just stopped at McDonald's for coffee and a quick bite.  Just as I was about to make a reservation for tonight on my computer and as a busload of people came in, the power went out.  So off we went to Russell, KS to make the reservation.  And the bus followed us.

We passed a huge windfarm near Vesper, KS.

And I must say, Kansas is NOT flat.  Up to Topeka, we still have rolling hills.  On the western end the elevation is still around 5000 feet, in the middle are the Flint Hills, and only now will be get into the grasslands and a lower elevation.  This surprised me the first time we drove through Kansas and still surprises me even though I know better.

We have been noticing a lot of roundabouts at the exit ramps off the interstates.  We first started to see them in Nevada and have seen them again now in Kansas.  It makes more sense than stoplights and keeps the traffic moving along.  Very progressive.

We turned 10,000 kms on the trip meter just outside of Topeka.  Interestingly, it went to 9999 and then flipped back to one.  Tomorrow's intended destination is Casey, IL with hopefully some shopping along the way.  My shopping list is intact - no shopping other than groceries so far.

With us in the campground tonight is a group, many on motorcycles, with Journey4Justice.  The campground was selling all you can eat spagetti for $5 and that came in handy since we are out of supplies, except for oatmeal, and the KOA is outside of town.  I can't face another mile in the car today and I am sure Otto feels the same.

Have a good evening.  Sorry, no pictures today!!

Sept. 6 day 35 OTR

It was a wonderfully cool night and not too much noise around us in Green River, Utah.  This KOA provides free coffee via a Keurig Machine - so many flavours and also muffins and danish for breakfast.  Green River is not big and is basically a stop off point for travellers with several motes, 2 campgrounds, a grocery store, a beauty shop and not too much else.

This morning we decided to take a detour to Arches in Moab, UT.  We visited here 20 years ago and since we have revisited some of our first trip stops, we thought we would stop here, too.  And since we have the National Parks pass, this park was free.  So off we went.

We drove the whole park and walked a few of the trails.  This of course didn't get us out of Utah until after lunch.  Moab is no longer the sleepy town it was 20 years ago.  There is a Subway but no McDonald's.

We drove through Colorado and are stopped on the east side of Denver in Limon, CO.  The Rockies were in a haze this morning .  We eventually climbed to 11900 feet at the Loveland Pass just before the Eisenhower tunner which is about 2 miles long or so.  We crossed the Continental Divide while we were in the tunnel.

By 6 pm we were out of the mountains and over 9000 kms driven.

I have posted some Arches pictures on the link above along with a picture of our sunset in Colorada.  This picture kind of sums up what we have been doing - we ran into this camper in Arches.

Sept. 5, day 34 OTR

This was another wow type day.  We stayed in Bryce Canyon KOA and it was so quiet, not even noisy neighbours.  We left the campground around 8 am and it was still cool,  around 14C.

Soon after we got back on Highway 12 we entered the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.  There isn't really a staircase but a series of buttes and other outcroppings.  We continued on Highway 12 to Torrey where we caught Highway 24 into Capital Reef National Park.  Parts of Highway 12 run along a ridge with drop offs on either side.

This is the really wow part of the day.  Hwy 24 runs along the Waterpocket fold here and you see the rocks created by the earth's movement.

We took the scenic drive here in Capital Reef.  At one point I just stopped taking pictures.  I can't do this park justice.  It is just magnificent.  And it is my kind of park, where you look up at the rock formations, not where you have to climb to look down into the canyons, etc. like Bryce or the Grand Canyon.

We are camped in Green River, UT tonight.  It is just off of Interstate 70.  This will be the interstate that we will use to make our way east.  Initially we had thought we would spend some time in Denver but we will just start to make our way home from here.  I will keep you posted on our progress.

I have posted some pictures of Capital Reef National Park on the link at the top.  Enjoy.

Sept 4, day 33 OTR

We had thunderstorms all around us last night but not on the campground in Kanab.  We left around 8 am this morning to drive to the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  Do do that we flip flopped between Utah, where we were, and Arizona, where the canyon is.  There is much evidence of forest fires on the drive in, either last year or early this year since some of the ground cover is back.  The road up to the North Rim is quite good and there was not much traffic since we are after the holiday.  Birch tree stands mix with the conifers.

At the entrance to the North Rim we were at 8827 feet and at the Visitors Center we were at 8255 feet of elevation.  We walked out to Bright Angel point and had a good view of the canyon.

the view is just gorgeous.  Before we left the park we got ice made from Grand Canyon spring water and we filled our water jug with the spring water.

We had some rain as we came out of the park, really the first rain pretty much since we started.  From Grand Canyon we went back to Kanab to us the wifi at McDonald's and then continued on to Bryce Canyon.  We are driving US 12, designated a Scenic Byway and an All American Road.  We drove through the Red Canyon before we hit Bryce.  As we entered Bryce we turned 8000 km on the odometer.

I have also added some more pictures to the link at the top so enjoy.  Tomorrow we had to Capital Reef and on to Green River, UT for the overnight.  That will truly mark the beginning of our homeward journey since Green River is on Interstate 70.

picture update

Me again.  I have such a good wifi connection I have been able to upload pictures to the link at the top of the blog.  I am again caught up to where we are today.  Enjoy!!!

Sept 3, day 32 OTR

Last night we went out after dark to see Vegas lit up.  I like to say that Vegas after dark is the reason for the Hoover Dam.

When we got up this morning it was already 31C.  This was at 8 am.  We had several hours of driving ahead of us today as we wanted to place ourselves close to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for tomorrow.  Some of those drives were quite pretty. Interstate 15 through the Northwest corner of Arizona is carved out of the rocks along the Virgin River.  It actually looks like you are driving into the mountain.

We used Highway 9 to drive through Zion and reach Kanab, UT.  They have built almost all the way to the gates of Zion.  You now have to take a shuttle to see the park unless you are driving through.  What wonderful scenery, though.  Highway 9 is designated a Scenic Byway and rightly so.  And we had both forgotten how beautiful Zion National Park is.  It HAS been 20 years since we have been here, after all.

The pictures cannot do this park justice.

Tonight promises to be cool, we are at 5000 feet elevation.  Tomorrow we will visit one of the seven wonders of the world.  We are in an RV park tonight in Kanab, UT. That means we can't pitch our tent and will sleep in the van.  The reviews on this park said it had clean washrooms and fast wifi and the reviews were right.  It is also close to town so we may walk in after supper.

Sept 2 day 31 OTR

So, the saga of noisy campgrounds continues.  Last night we had no trains, no trucks but we did have two batches of noisy campers.  One extended Latino family and one group of Belgian students. They decided to have a campfire until 1:30 in the morning.  Oh well.  At least when I got up a six to take a shower they were all still asleep.

We drove north from Kingman to Las Vegas this morning.  We stopped at the Hoover Dam.  Lake Mead is down many feet just proving how dry this summer has really been. 20 years ago we drove over the dam and parked on the side of the road to look at it.  Now, it has become an attraction and another road passes way above it.  It seemed smaller than it did the first time we saw it.

The desert did have some colour to it this morning as there were thundershowers in a couple of isolated areas.  Amazing what a little water can do.

Vegas is crazier than ever.  When we were here 20 years ago, you could walk the strip from one end to the other, pop into a casino, never see a store.  Now, there are pedestrian flyovers - you have to climb stairs or ride an escalator or elevator to the top to cross The Strip.  Some of the major cross streets also have flyovers.  So a walk of 4 miles up one side of the strip becomes an obstacle course of ups and downs.  And the people, both tourists and those hawking things.  Like I said, crazy city.  Since it was 20 years between visits, I probably won't be back.

                                                   Just a little peak at Vegas in the daytime

Tomorrow we head to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  I may be out of touch for a day or so.  It seems the KOA campground we wanted to stay at is no longer a KOA so I don't know if they have wifi.

Sept. 1 Day 30 OTR

Well, Needles was warm overnight, to say the least.  I don't think it ever went below 33C.  The ground under the tent was so hot it radiated heat through our three inch sleeping mats.  We did not get much sleep.  We left early to have breakfast at McDonald's since it was even too warm to break out the Coleman stove.

We got back on Route 66 at Topock.  This stretch is more scenic than the one through the desert.  It also takes us to Oatman, a ghost town that has been revitalized with burros and, you guessed it, stores but all in the old buildings.  Actually not bad.

This is Roy's Cafe at Amboy, near the Amboy volcano, extinct.

Route 66 dips and turns its way into Kingman, Arizona. Somewhere on this stretch of road we turned 7000 km on the trip meter.  And it was 36C at 9 am.  We saw a handful of cars and one or two motorcycles on the whole stretch, until we came close to Kingman and the interstate again.

In Kingman, we visited the Route 66 museum, picked up some groceries and went to the campground for a much deserved rest.  Today was a short driving day and the curves and turns were not bad.  The road is posted - no vehicles over 40 feet but after driving down The General's Highway from Sequoia National Park, no road is too much.  That was the brake eater road.  Did I mention that we descended 6000 feet in 15 miles on that one?  You imagine the curves needed for that.  Today was nothing.

We have now driven much of the drivable sections of Route 66 over 3 different trips.  The section from Barstow to Santa Monica is covered by freeway and not interesting to us.  So we have completed our Route 66.

We will vegetate here today and then visit Vegas, maybe for two nights to rest up.  Once we leave Vegas we will truly be heading east and on our way home.  Thanks for staying tuned. By the way, the museum had our car on display!! That's what we look like when we camp.

August 31st, 29th day OTR

We have arrived in Needles, California for the night.  It was another day of lots of driving but this state is so big you don't get anywhere fast.  Currently the temperature is 99F and is not due to cool down too much

We drove Highway 99 to Bakersfield and then got on the 58 to Barstow.  Much of our drive today was through the Mojave Desert, a whole lot of nothing. 

At Tehachaphi, there were hundreds of windmills on the hills.  We also discovered that this town exists for the prisons it contains.  We passed the town of Twenty Mule Team and yes, they mine borax there.  We saw lots of Joshua trees.

In Barstow, after a stop at Walmart to replace our cheap styrofoam cooler we got off the Interstate and onto old Route 66.  We drove about 100 miles of it, in fair shape, and counted maybe a dozen cars.  At times you can see the interstate on one side or the other of the old Mother Road.  In Ludlow we stopped at a Dairy Queen for ice cream and after we left here we were stopped at a railway crossing by a 121 car train.  that is about the average length for trains here.  You see them passing each other on the tracks and you sure hear them at night!!  We also drove past an old volcanic crater at Amboy.  There are lots of lava fields around us in this part of the desert.

We are on one side of the Needles campground and there is no one else over here.  The RVs are on the other side.  If you don't remember the Route 66 song and reference to Needles, it is also the place where Snoopy's brother lived!!  Haven't seen him, though.

August 30 28th day OTR

Today's planned outing was to drive up to the Seqouia National Forest.  We stayed at the Fresno KOA which is still a work in progress but it was at the right place last night after a long drive and an even better place this morning for the trip up to Sequoia.

The climb on Highway 180 is not bad, windy but not anything worse than we have already driven.  We went to King's Canyon to see the General Grant tree.

We took several short hikes, always taking Otto;s knee into consideration.  We had our picnic lunch at Museum of the Giants and then proceeded down the other side of the mountain.  Well, we were in for a treat.  And not in a good way.  198 down the other side of Sequoia is a winding, hairpin curve kind of mountain that eats brakes.  We got part way down and were stopped by construction.  Our brakes were overheating so badly that the flagman came over to tell us that our 45 minute wait would cool them down and then to use only low gear.  What a ride that was.

We got to the KOA on the downside at Vasila and Otto immediately cracked open a beer, then two.  And we went for a swim.  If you have never smelled over heated brakes, it is not a pretty thing.  After this trip is over we will have the brakes checked before our next big drive.

Sequoia was interesting, especially once we were driving through the Big Trees but I am still more impressed with the redwoods.  The only thing is, Sequoias can only grow in a very specific climate and soil and a narrow strip of the Sierra Nevadas is the only place they grow.  I am glad we went even with the brake issue.  There are claw marks in the dashboard that I will have to try to remove before we can trade the van in.

Tomorrow we head for Needles and a little bit of old Route 66 and Vegas on the weekend.

August 29th 27 day OTR

We had planned on going to Lassen Volcano National Park but were forwarned that the campsites up there were closed because of forest fires and possibly the park itself.  So we decided to head down to Fresno and Sequoia National Park.  Once we reached Redding CA, the smoke was quite thick and we were happy with our decision.  The smoke didn't actually clear until Sacramento. We started the day at 8C and would end the day at 36C.

Highway 299 is a good round but windy so it took is quite a while to get to Redding.  The highway runs along the TRinity River for many miles.  This is considered Big Foot Territory but we didn't see him or her? 

The only exciting thing that happened today was on one of our rest stops.  The California Sherriff's dept was taking a LOT of prisoners somewhere and they were here taking a potty break.  Well, there was a line up at the mens.  Otto got a personal escort from a sheriff to the head of the line.

Since it was a total driving day I will take this opportunity to post another picture of the Redwoods.  They are just magnificent.

New growth over old

August 28 26th day OTR

Wow, is all I can say.  This was a WOW type of day.  We drove through the Redwoods, specifically through Jedediah Smith Redwood Forest.  I could post 100 pictures and the enormity of the trees would not come across. 

We took one trail through the forest, actually an old stagecoach trail.  At times there was barely room for the car to get through the trees and at other times there wasn't much space for two cars to pass.  Our necks were sore from looking up.  We walked the trail at Stout Grove and stood beside some fallen trees.  Words actually fail me so let me post a picture of one of these giants, a fallen one at that.

Our tent was wet this morning, not from rain but from the heavy fog that rolled in overnight.  The trees just dripped with moisture.  We are currently in Eureka California and there are no trees at this KOA so the tent has dried out.  We stopped early afternoon and had a chance to do laundry as well.

Part of our driving on Highway 101 today was above the clouds and then sometimes we were in the clouds.  This made for no photo opportunities on the coast - it was usually shrouded in fog.

Tomorrow we head inland to Highway 99 for the trip down the spine of California.  We will take Hwy 299 across - this is also marked as a scenic route.

I have been able to add most of the pictures I wanted to add to the link at the top of this page.  All of the Alaska pictures are posted, some Oregon and a few California.  I am out of allowed space until Sept 1 so no new pics will be added before then.

August 27 25th day OTR

Well, we slept in the car.  It didn't stop raining until late and then the ground was too wet.  I proved to Otto that we didn't have too much stuff along since I was able to arrange everything so we could stretch out comfortably.  See the proof here:

 

We are moving in and out of fog this morning.  We have stopped along the roadside a few times and wanted to stop at the Ocean Dunes State Park for the sand dunes, but it was too foggy to bother to pay the day use fee.  We have a few more miles of dunes before we leave them behind.

 

More later.  Also, I have posted some pictures to the link above and will add more.  Thanks to advice from a friend who also uses Flickr about how to upload differently.  I will add more as I have time per stop.

 

We picked up food in Reedsport and ate at Bastendorf Beach County Park.  We drove on Cape Arago Highway and drove 14 scenic miles - much closer to the water than US 101 and quite scenic.  However, the fog rolled in along the way and often we couldn't see the coast.  That is freaky when there is nothing but fog on your right hand side!!  One bridge we crossed said it was the highest bridge in Oregon but Otto wondered how you could appreciate that if the whole thing was shrouded in fog!!

 

At Simpson Reef we saw and heard the sea lions.  Lots and lots of them.

 

 

We have stopped in Crescent City, California for the night.  The campground has a notice posted that this is the safest place to be in Crescent City in case of an earthquake or a tsunami. Most of the tent sites are deep in the woods beside large trees and larger still, stumps of trees that have fallen.  We chose a site on the fringe, beside the play area.  Not a deep woods camper.

 

Tomorrow we will head for the Redwood National Forest and then head east at Eureka.  Now I am going back to post some more pictures to the link at the top.  Hopefully I can be caught up in a day or two. 

August 26 24th day OTR

We left our hosts around 9:30 this morning to head out to the coast.

Yesterday proved to be a long and eventful day.  We started in Mount Angel at the Abby,  and after we picked up our picnic lunch we drove to Silver Falls state park where we hiked to one of the 10 falls in the park.

We had a beautiful, sunny day with a temp of 22C.  Great walking weather.  Today is cloudy and cool.

last night we took our hosts out to dinner at their favourite restaurant, a converted hotel.  We ate on the rooftop bar and finished with drinks in the cellar bar.  Great evening.  With last night's driving and yesterday afternoon's driving we covered a lot of county roads in this part of Oregon.

Not only do they grow hops in this area but also garlic, onions, broccoli and christmas trees.  The agriculture variation alone was worth all the driving.

Today we need to stop early to get some food for cooking tonight and to do some laundry, our bedding which has been sitting in the car for two weeks.  We reached the Oregon coast around noon and found a Safeway, a McDonald's and a few miles down the road, a WalMart for propane. 

We are at the KOA in Waldport, Oregon and I can see the ocean from the car.  Yes, I said car.  It is raining and it looks like it won't stop for awhile.  We have not set up the tent and won't until it stops raining.  If it continues to rain, we will move stuff around and just sleep in the van.  Nothing worse than getting wet and damp in a tent.  Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny along the Oregon coast and Tuesday along the northern California coast so that sounds better already.

Dinner tonight will be salad and pork chops on the camp stove, along with some excellent crusty buns from Safeway.  Keep you fingers crossed that it stopped raining!!

August 25 23rd day OTR

We spent a few hours at the Woodburn Factory Stores late yesterday afternoon. The traffic into and out of Portland was quite heavy and we did not get to Woodburn until 3:30pm.  Oregon has no sales tax but I didn't find anything that was a bargain.  The shopping complex is nicely laid out with some covered areas and some open areas.

Around 6 pm we drove to Gervais Oregon to meet with someone connected with my geneology research group.  She had invited us to spend two nights with them.  What a joy Leah and Ed are.  And so gracious to open their home to us.  One of the first things we did was take a tour of a hop growing operation.  The hop picking season has started.  It is quite an operation to get the hops (a perennial plant) cut, stripped, dried and packed for the breweries.  It is somewhat labour intensive even though the cutting, drying and packing is done by machine.  The plants must be hung on a conveyor belt to feed through the machines.  It makes me appreciate beer flavour more having seen this operation.

Feeding the hop plants for stripping

This morning we drove to Mount Angel.  There is an Oktoberfest here around the 16th of September and the Donau Schwabian researchers usually attach a meeting to it.  We wanted to attend but the date was too far away from our disembarkation and we will be home before the Fest starts.  Mount Angel is a little German town, really not very big.  There is also a Benedictine Abby and seminary on the hill.  There is a wonderful view of the Willamette Valley from the top of the Mount.

                                                                  Mount Angel Hotel

After our break this morning here at McDonald's we will head over to Silver Falls State Park to hike and view the waterfalls.  When we return to Gervais, we will take our hosts to dinner.

Tomorrow we head to the Oregon coast and get started on the trip home.

August 24 22nd day OTR

Well, we are back on solid ground.  we left the ship at 9 am and drove south out of Seattle towards Portland.  We managed a self guided tour of downtown Seattle by missing the turn we needed but traffic was OK.

We sailed a total of 3675 Nautical miles which converts to 4230 statute miles or 6979 kilometers.  As of this morning our odometer read 4213 km so we have now travelled a total of 11,192 km.

I have posted a few more pictures into the blog but it will be early next week before I get some pictures onto the flickr page.  They will appear!!

So we will spend a couple of days in the Portland area and I won't post again until Sunday evening or Monday.  Thanks for following along.  We are well and the sun is shining.

August 23 21st day OTR 14th day OTS

Well, today is our last day on board. We will be stopping in Victoria from noon to about 11 pm. The trip to Seattle overnight will be short since we are just across the Straits of Juan de Fuca from Seattle.

We had our disembarkation talk this morning along with the crew farewell. They had many of them up on the stage and then sang “Love in any language” . It sounds hokey when you write it but it is always a moving experience. We spoke with one young lady in the bar who was also on the world cruise and she said when those passengers left after 112 days many of the crew cried because they had gotten to know them so well.

I have an invitation to meet with the Hotel Manager this morning for feedback about the cruise in general and our meet and greet in particular. Holland America Line works very hard to understand its passengers and improve from cruise to cruise.
 

Inner harbour and legislative building in Victoria

Victoria weather was sunny and around 68F, so warmer than we have seen for a couple of weeks but it was very windy. Lots of flowers all around. We walked into the old city, near the legislature and down to Chinatown.

August 22, 20th day OTR 13th day OTS

Well, we changed the clocks forward last night, back to Pacific Time and managed to sleep in until 8:45 this morning.

Dinner at the Pinnacle last night was quite good. Otto and I had steak, correctly done. Lots of serving dishes, lots of waiters, excellent crème brulee. This dinner was a birthday present for Otto from his sister and brother-in-law. Otto also got a chocolate mousse cake but we had them wrap it and will have it in the cabin this afternoon with some decaf coffee from room service. He also got a birthday card from the Captain this morning.

This is the last full sea day and there are deck sales everywhere. 89.99 watches for 19.99, $10 watches, scarves, ties (that price hasn't changed all week, Bijou Ternier) but it is amazing how people flock to them when they put them out on a deck sale.

Inge and Rufus went to their Mariners' Brunch for 11 am and we have our Mariners' Lunch at 1 pm. This will be our first Mariners' Lunch so I'll see how this is handled. Because it is a sea day, there are lots of things going on. We could watch the cast rehearse for the show tonight, we could listen to the environmental officer, we could take part in a bingo to win a cruise, we could take a virtual bridge tour, we could learn how to fold towels into creatures or learn how to buy a PC. And of course, there is always the Spa with body massages, facials, etc. We, however, choose to do nothing. We are up in the Crow's Nest watching the world go by. At 11:30 am we are still sailing west of the Queen Charlotte Islands. Soon we will have Vancouver Island on our port side. Unless you sail the length of Vancouver Island you really don't realize how big it actually is. We have driven across it but never the length of it.

As usual, they are having a fun run “On deck for the cure” for the Susan G. Komen for the cure effort. This always brings out lots of walkers on the Promenade Deck.

Tonight from 10:30 to 11:30 there is a dessert extravaganza. We won't eat but I do like to take pictures and we will have that opportunity at 10pm. As it turned out, I didn't take pictures and didn't eat supper, either, except for soup. Something didn't agree with me so I just stayed in the room. Inge did the same thing.

August 21 19th day OTR 12 day OTS

We are in Sitka today.  Otto did not come off the ship.  His knee was acting up so Inge, Rufus and I made our way ashore on the tender.  We walked the length of the town and then I sat down to use the wifi.  It is provided free of charge all over town by Radio Shack.  Howeve, I had to move to the library to get good reception.  Even there I am having problems downloading pictures.

Sitka was the capital of Alaska for awhile after the purchase from Russia and it was the Russian capital in Alaska.  A lot of Russian influence here - there is a Russian orthodox cathedral here.  It was free the last time we were here and now they are charging $5 and using the proceeds for upkeep.

Tonight we will go to the Pinnacle Grill to celebrate Otto's birthday, a day early.  The Pinnacle is a "pay extra" restaurant famous for their steaks.  Should be good.

We have a sea day ahead of us tomorrow but we will need to pack our bags.  Our last stop will be on Thursday at noon in Victoria - we are there until almost midnight since we are just across the bay from Seattle, where we will dock on Friday morning at about 7 am.

This will be my last post from the road.  My next post will be either on Friday afternoon or on Saturday when we are back on Terra Firma.  It has been a chore finding internet connections that work well and the ship connections are just too slow.  So know that we are well and will be in touch again on the weekend.

August 20 18th day OTR 11 day OTS

Well today is the big day. We sail into Glacier bay and see the Hubbard Glacier. Again, a fairly smooth sail across the Gulf of Alaska and now smooth sailing into the bay.

Disenchantment Bay – a name given to the bay by explorers who were looking for a north west passage and found a wall of ice instead. The Hubbard Glacier is the longest tidewater glacier in North America. It is 76 miles from Mount Logan in Canada to Disenchantment Bay. It is about 6 to 7 miles wide.

We had a great viewing day in Hubbard Glacier. We got cheese and crackers to the room – Inge's balcony room and enjoyed that with a glass of wine. I could post all the pictures I have and it would not give you the full impact of the sight and sound of this glacier. It is majestic. 

The Indonesian Crew put on a nice show for us but again at 11 pm. They just seem to enjoy being able to show off their talents.

We are running in the open ocean again but it is so calm. Cloudy, cool and calm, the three c's of cruising !!!

August 19 17th day OTR 10th day OTS

We had a quiet run down to Kodiak, even though the seas were rough. Since we were running with them and they had the stabilizers out you didn't feel any movement. Also, we are on deck one, midship, low and center, so it has the least movement anyway.

Sunday in Kodiak was a quiet day. A few places were open but not much was going on. The McDonalds where I had hoped to connect was without power. When they came back on, they didn't get online so no wifi running. Also, they only took cash since the credit and debit needs the same connection as the wifi. This was disappointing but nothing to be done. I feel more sorry for the crew who have time ashore here and can't connect. They get a little bit of a deal from the ship but the internet is expensive for them even at the reduced rate.

 

Octopus made from sea garbage

 

We walked into town along the harbour road where all the fish processing plants are. It wasn't far but it was noisy with all the refrigeration units running. The town is not very big and since it was Sunday, it was also very quiet. We did go into the Russian Orthodox Church after the service was over.

August 18 16th day OTR 9th day OTS

We docked in Homer this morning at 10 am. We are in the deep water dock at the Homer Spit. The town itself is about 6 miles away and you can buy a shuttle to town but the Spit itself will keep us busy for a couple of hours. We won't go out until after lunch when most of the guests on tours will be off the ship already. This is another opportunity for a good walk, about a mile, just like in Icy Strait.

The travel guide on board, Jeanette – an Anchorage native – says you can't say you have been to Homer unless you go to the Salty Dog Saloon, so that is one of our stops for today. Pictures will follow at some point, I promise.

Tonight's movie is The Iron Lady with Meryl Streep. If we can stay awake until 10pm we will go see it. I'll let you know if we succeeded. Otto, Inge and Rufus made the movie, I slept.

We walked over to the Homer Spit and walked along it. The end of the spit is the end of the Sterling Highway. There are campgrounds on the spit and lots of RVs. We even saw tents pitched on the sand. We visited some of the stores that sell Alaskan made handcrafts and stopped at the Salty Dog Saloon. The inside of the saloon is plastered with one dollar bills and people write messages and greetings on them.

It started to rain so we went to the shuttle bus stop and waited for a bus back to the ship. The captain said it would be rough on the way down to Kodiak so they would put out the stabilizers.

Beach camping on the Homer spit - too rough for me!!!

August 17th 15th day OTR 8th day OTS

We are in Anchorage today.  We docked at a cargo port and had to take a bus to town.  Anchorage is about 300,000 people and the sun is shining today.  However, it is cloudy on the horizon and we cannot see Mount Mckinley (Denali).

We saw a very well done film about the  Aurora Borealis.  We are not likely to see it in real life right now - we seem to be in the wrong season.  Will post some Anchorage pictures at my next opportunity.

Tomorrow we are in Homer and on SUnday we are in Kodiak, as far down as we go on the Aleutian Islands.

More later.

Anchorage: We took the HAL shuttle into town since we are docked at a container port and no one can walk out. We had a retired school teacher as our guide for the ride in. She pointed out various things and did a good job on the short jaunt. Once we got into town, someone ran in front of the bus and the driver had to brake quite hard. Our guide, who was neither sitting down nor holding on, was thrown into the driver's well. Thankfully she was not hurt and also, thankfully, she fell on her good hip, not the one that had the hip replacement

There were flowers everywhere and they were so beautiful. Obviously, Anchorage had had enough rain for them to grow and it got just warm enough to keep them beautiful. What we didn't see were birds. Not sure where they were but we didn't even see them in the port.

Tides in Anchorage run about 40 feet. They are second only to the tides in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick. When the tide was out, we had 12 feet of water under our keel. You can believe we were sitting on mud. The tidal flats here are like quicksand, not like the Spanish Banks in Vancouver where you can walk on them at low tide. In the early evening, we watched the tide come back in very quickly, several feet every few minutes.

The Filipino Crew put on a song and dance show at 11pm. They did a good job. This was a smaller cast than we have seen on other crew shows, but then not everyone wants to perform, nor should everyone perform!

Late show = sleep in tomorrow. We are not due into Homer until 10 am anyway so that should be OK. We left Anchorage late, about 10:45pm. Six people came back by taxi at 10 pm but I think there was also a HAL tour that was late. I watch these late people and just marvel at how they think the world owes them the duty of waiting for them. One couple stopped on the gangway and carried on a conversation before entering the ship. The other group got off the taxi, yelling “we are so bad” - yes, you are. All aboard time was 9:30pm. Last bus from downtown was at 9pm. How is that not clear??

August 16th 14th day OTR 7th day OTS

Well, we are halfway through this cruise. A week from tomorrow we will disembark. Today is a sea day, all day on the water sailing form Ice Strait Point to Anchorage. For the first time in a week, we have not had fog when we woke up, but it is cloudy and the Captain says we may have rain this afternoon.

We were lazy this morning and did not get up until after 8 am. This is the first time we have been able to sleep in. No idea why we feel the need to get up early since we don't leave the ship before 10am after all the tours have departed. Anyway, today may bode well for extra sleep. We need to store it up since campground days are early days and in a week we will be camping again.

Because this is a sea day, there are many activities going on for the passengers and of course there is always Bingo!! Here it is 11 am and all I have done is have breakfast and a shower. Lazy day!!!

I expect not much will be accomplished today, maybe a walk around deck at some point, and that will require a coat and long pants. Temps have stayed around 60F or less, even when the sun is shining. An Alaskan we have spoken to has told us they have not yet had a summer.

We received an invitation to a cocktail party with Captain Mercer for this evening, or in our case, an after dinner drink party. Will be interesting to see what they do. The invitation requests that we refrain from shaking hands to avoid transmission of germs. This was a VIP party and I can only surmise that we were invited because of the Meet and Greet I arranged on board. The party was quite nice with hot and cold appetizers, champagne, wine, mimosas. About 100 people showed up in the Explorer's Lounge. The staff mingled and talked to everybody.

The sea remains very calm and at times almost like glass.  I am going to post a couple of additional pictures on this post since there isn't much to tell.

Friday we will be in Anchorage.

Alaska wildflowers

Our eagle, with nest and a young eagle - Icy Strait Point

August 15 13th day OTR, 6th day OTS

The sun shone all day in Juneau. We cast our lines at 10 pm and slid silently out of the harbour. The Celebrity Millennium left before us as did the Princess ship. Not sure when the NCL Pearl left.

This morning we are anchored off shore of Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, Alaska. This is a Tlingit (pronounced Klinkit) settlement. The shops are all owned by natives so we will see what “Made in Alaska” items we can find.

Icy Straight Point is a tender port. We cross to the point on the small tender ships which are also the life boats in an emergency. It was quite foggy in the morning but by 10 am the fog had lifted enough to see in front of your face, so we made the trip over.

There is a very well laid out salmon cannery display in the old canning factory. Along with that are some shops which sell handcrafted Alaska items and some of the artists are working on their crafts in the shops. We walked the boardwalk as well to where the zip-rider ended. It was very quiet and relaxed since we were the only ship in port.

Hoonah is a small town about 1.5 miles from Icy Strait Point itself. We walked into town and were grateful for the exercise on land that wasn't moving. It is a very small town, built just beyond the tidal flats. Some people coming back from town told us where to find some native carvers and we did find them. They have an ongoing carving project – a screen for a tribal house that will be placed in Glacier Bay, the original home of the Tlingit people. The screen is finished and they are working on the house posts, basically small totem poles. They will also carve some totem poles before the project is finished.

We happened to be there when one of the town tours came through and stayed for the presentation. One of the carvers explained the significance of the symbols and when he was finished we were also presented with a dance that is used when the screen will be erected. Very nicely done.

The sun was out by this time and we walked a little farther along and found an eagle, a nest and a young eagle. On our walk back to the tender point, we saw a humpback whale. Later, sitting in the Crow's Nest, I saw a pod or Orcas swim by, three at least, and as they swam away it looked like two more joined them. Apparently there were sea lions on the starboard side of the ship and that brings out the Orcas.

The movie today was “One for the money” based on the Stephanie Plum series. It was very true to the book and quite enjoyable. I wonder if the rest of the books will be made into movies. Will be quite the series.

After we left Icy Strait Point, we were in the Gulf of Alaska. We will be sailing it all day Thursday as well. It was quite calm, surprisingly so and I hope that continues. This was a formal night at dinner, the 2^nd of 4. Normally, formal nights are sea days so not sure why they changed it since Thursday is a sea day but it all works out, either way.

additional pictures

I am still running into connection issues for additional pictures so there are not many extra pictures posted.  Most connections are too slow, or have too many people using them at the same time to upload pictures to Flickr.  I will keep trying, however, and may yet succeed!!

August 14, 12 day OTR 5th day OTS

We arrived in Juneau early this morning since we were only a few miles out. It was a very quiet sleeping night. There are to be five cruise ships here today so we opted to take an express bus out to Mendenhall Glacier first thing this morning before the crowds got there.

It continues to be sunny today. The Mendenhall has shrunk some 750 feet since my sister-in-law was here 10 years ago. It is still impressive.

We also watched some salmon trying to swim upstream to spawn. Part of the trail was closed since of course the bears are out in full force to feed.

We will stroll the town this afternoon and call this a good visit – so different when the sun is shining.

I mentioned in one of my earlier pages that there is no retail sales tax in Alaska. That is true but each city can add a tax to sales and that is done and called a borough and city tax. Just can't get away from the taxes, I guess.

My next post will be in a few days from Anchorage.  In the meantime we will visit Icy Strait Point and cross the Gulf of Alaska.  We hope for calm seas.

August 13 11th day OTR 4th day OTS

The next two posts are from the Juneau Public Library - free wifi!!

We have already been asked what time we would like to disembark, only 4 days in. Of course they need to plan how to move 1400 people off the ship fairly quickly, but it does seem fairly early. We chose between 9 am and 9:30 am with the thinking that by the time we got through customs and immigration and back to the car, the traffic on the interstate will have cleared somewhat. I'll let you know how it works!!

This morning we are on our way to Tracy Arm, a fiord. Unfortunately, the weather is cloudy, foggy and rainy. The crew has set up extra chairs in the Crow's Nest for viewing since I doubt the forward decks will be open.

Food has been plentiful, as it always is on a cruise ship. WE have been eating breakfast in the Lido and dinner in the dining room. I think I mentioned we have a great table for dinner, number 37, right in the middle of the dining room. The view, if there is one, is wonderful. Lunch we have alternated between the dining room, which is open on sea days, and the Lido, which always serves lunch. Today we will eat in the Lido and have a big salad.

We walked a couple of miles around the Promenade Deck this morning just to get some exercise. We were joined by a few other couples and some intrepid souls were even sitting on the deck chairs with blankets.

Once we got into the fiord, the front decks were open but it was damp and wet. We alternated between inside and outside. Tracy Arm is a very long fiord with the Sawyer Glacier at the end of it. We got very close before the captain turned the ship around.

Because Tracy Arm is so close to Juneau, we will spend the night anchored about 7 miles from Juneau. It will make for a very calm dinner and a quiet night sleeping, not that is has been at all rough. The sun finally came out as we were leaving Tracy Arm and we had a great sunset.

August 12 10th day OTR 3 day OTS

We arrived in Ketchikan this morning, coming up the Tongass Narrows from about 6 am on. We were docked at 8 am and the gangways were opened at 8:30 once the ship was cleared. All aboard time will be 4:30 pm. It is rainy with high fog today, again, and will reach about 60F. There is some hope that the sun will appear later today.

We got off and walked Creek Street, the old red light district. The sun never did come out but it was not raining so that was a plus.  We went back to the ship for lunch and then back to shore to a wireless cafe where the download speed was excellent.

My next posts will be from Juneau in a couple of days since tomorrow we see a glacier.

August 11, 9th day OTR, 2nd day OTS

Well, I caught up on my sleep. Went to bed at 8 pm last night and didn't get up until 7:30am. Our camping spot the last two nights before the cruise was very noisy with the traffic running almost at our heads. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep. It was very quiet overnight. We have an inside cabin on the first deck and didn't even hear the fog horn. It was quite foggy this morning but is starting to clear.

We are traveling in the Pacific Ocean on the west side of Vancouver Island, about 20 miles out to sea. We will head inside soon and travel some of the Inside Passage to reach Ketchikan tomorrow morning.

At 11 am we had our Meet and Greet. Forty people were registered and all but 15 showed up. The Cruise Director Michael was there for most of the meeting and the Hotel Manager and one other office also showed up. A lot of the group stayed until 12:30 – they were enjoying the conversation so much.

We ate lunch in the dining room. I had tilapia and Otto had macaroni and cheese. We walked a couple of miles around the ship in the afternoon and then went for a tea. Kathy and David from Orlando joined us.

For dinner Otto had Beef Wellington and I had stuffed quail. The quail was quite good but far too much work to eat. They are so tiny. We went to the Captain's champagne welcome and stayed for the production show – Dance the night away. It was well done and the costumes were very nice and suited to the various dance numbers.

Our ride so far has been very smooth even though we are in the north Pacific Ocean. Let's hope it continues when we cross the Gulf of Alaska, again open ocean. We will stay behind some islands for a day or so and should be calm until we leave Juneau at least.

August 10, 8th day OTR, 1st day OTS

Just a couple of naming conventions to make my titles easier – OTR on the road OTS on the ship

We left the campground around 10 am and drove into or rather through Seattle to get to Pier 91. However, we missed our exit, Western Avenue. There was a lot of traffic exiting and we avoided it, that is the travel, and missed our exit. Well, this sent us off into The Queen Ann district with no easy way down to the water. We stopped and talked to a tree trimming crew who happened to have a detailed city map book. They gave us directions to the water out of the residential maze and we found our parking lot.

                                                           leaving Seattle

We grabbed the next shuttle over to the port, checked in with minimal delay but had to wait until 11:30 before we could board the ship. Once on board we were able to access our rooms right away. We dropped out handbags and set out to find lunch and explore the ship.

For the first 48 hours of any cruise, all food is served by the staff even in the Lido buffet. This helps the cruise line establish whether they have a sick ship or not. So we walked the buffet line and grabbed a bite to eat.

Mandatory safety drill was at 4:15 pm. We are no longer required to wear our life jackets to the drill but they do require everyone to be quiet and pay attention. They take attendance and people who don't come up for the drill are escorted off the ship. Since the Costa Concordia incident, the cruise lines have become quite serious about making sure everyone attends the drills.

After the drill we retired to Inge and Rufus' balcony cabin for cocktails and sail away. Our dinner seating was 5:45pm and we have a window table midway along the stern of the ship. We have a very nice view of where we have been.

As always, there are many choices for dinner. I had salmon with a ginger reduction and Otto had the rainbow trout. Holland America now has a new vegetarian menu – you get to look at it the day before and order from it. However, there are always vegetarian choices on the regular menu as well. The salads are always nice. The desserts were underwhelming for the first day; we'll see if they improve.

August 9 7th day on the road

What a busy day we had today.  We started out with breakfast here at the KOA.  They have a reasonably priced meal, actually quite a number of choices.  That got us ready for our big adventure into downtown Seattle.

We took a city bus, #150 to be exact.  We walked about 1/2 mile to the Starbucks to catch it going downtown.  Cost is $2.25 a person one way and well worth it at double the price.  Parking is a pain and expensive in Seattle.

We got off at Pioneer Square.  This is old Seattle.  There is an underground tour here, which we took, that is quite interesting.  Seems after the city burned to the ground, the business district at any rate, it was rebuilt 15 feet higher.  That really is a very short version of what happened and if you google underground Seattle you will find some interesting information.  We were able to walk under the streets of current day Seattle and look into old stores, banks, hotels, etc.

From underground, or rather old ground level, we went to the top of the Smith building.  There is an observation tower on the 35th floor with  a great view to the Olympia Peninsula and Puget Sound and the city. The building has some of the last manually operated Otis elevators and the lobby has been beautifully restored with marble and brass.

From Pioneer Square we walked down to the waterfront and along the docks to Pike Place Market.  This market is huge and actually spreads over several buildings.  I have never seen so many flowers for sale and so reasonably priced.  We saw the fish stall where they throw the fish but they didn't throw any while we were standing there.  We had our lunch at Pike Brewing Co., a craft brewery.

From Pike Place Market we walked to the Space Needle and had a Starbucks (what else) coffee there.  We then walked back through Belltown to the Westlake center which is a bus and light rail hub.  Here we caught the 150 back out to Kent.

By this time Inge and Rufus had arrived and we took a picnic supper to their hotel and spent a couple of hours with them.  They were only 10 minutes away by car.  On our return to the KOA, we were treated to a spectacular view of snow topped Mount Rainier.

So tomorrow, we check in on the ship.  I will continue to write my blog but may not be able to post every day since internet connection on the ship is usually worse than dial up.  Check back frequently since I will post if I can get wifi when we dock.  Also, I am having problems downloading my extra pictures to Flickr so there aren't many at the top of this post.  I will add more if I can find a stronger internet connection.  Stay tuned.