July 17--All Aboard!

Overnight our ship made its way from Juneau to Skagway. This town grew to be the largest in Alaska during the Yukon Gold Rush in the 1890’s, swelling to over 20,000 residents. Today, just over 1000 residents call Skagway home, but that still makes it one of Alaska’s larger cities.

The whole clan signed up for another excursion together, this time a trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. The WPYR is a narrow gauge railroad that makes its way up the White Pass into Canada and eventually to Dawson City. We took a trip that went just over the border into Canada, but didn’t get off the train, so we didn’t need to go through customs again.

After some breathtaking views on the ride up, we reached the summit. We were all amazed to think of the gold prospectors making their way up on foot, with over 200 pounds of supplies strapped to their backs. In order to be allowed into the Yukon territory, each prospector needed to have 2000 pounds of supplies, so this wasn’t an easy venture by any stretch of the imagination. I guess gold has strong powers! While the train was narrow and the drop looked massive at times, I think we were all glad to be on a nice train with only our cameras to worry about!

After getting to the top, we got an engine on what was once the back of the train. We all stood up and flipped our seats over, and now we got to see a little different view on the way down. Several in the group were very happy to know that they weren’t going to have to go down the mountain facing backwards.

After a quick lunch back on the boat, we all headed back into town. There were more coupons to be redeemed! In addition, Alan and Joyce were on the hunt for some specific items that we expected to find in Skagway. One was a whale tale pendant where the fluke of the whale looked like it does when it goes into the water. Most of the fluke pendants sold are “upside down”, and the Welchs good friends, the Janowiaks, found one facing the right way when they were here with Alan and Joyce for their 25th anniversary 7 years ago. So the Dunnucks and the Welchs embarked on their shopping spree.

Meanwhile, the Schaeffers embraced the Skagway experience by panning for gold. Their excursion gave them a chance to find several pieces of gold flakes in their bags of dirt. They can write more about their experience.

After several stores, Alan broke down and “phoned a friend” to get Sallie’s recollection about the location of the elusive whale tail pendant. She gave good directions, but before the Welchs could locate the store, they ran into the Schaeffers, who had added whale tale stores to their discovery of gold. The Welchs found several other local artists in the area and really enjoyed looking over (and purchasing) several items.

Back on the boat, it was another smart casual dinner, and this time the main attraction was Alaskan King Crab. Thankfully, the kitchen split the legs so that they were very easy to get out of the shells and no one was hurt (other than the crabs). The kids elected to ditch the adults again, so the path was open for even more volcanoes to be ordered for dessert—including sprinkles!

The evening’s entertainment was another comedian. He was funny with a very dry sense of humor. Making fun of ship passengers and crew is a pretty easy sport. The Welchs and the Schaeffers had some good laughs before bed.

July 16--Sea Lions, Whales, and Glaciers, Oh My!

This was one of the days that Alan and Joyce were both looking forward to…and dreading. Joyce and Alan had been looking forward to this tour for a long time, remembering the awesome cooperative feeding we saw 7 years ago while in Juneau. Could today match it?

All of the Dunnuck/Schaeffer/Welch clan was signed up for this tour. The day was overcast with a slight mist as we all started out. The bay was very calm, with an almost glassy look, much calmer than we remembered. We headed out in Auke Bay and hadn’t gone very far when we spotted our first spray from a whale blow. It was a humpback. We watched several minutes at the whale swam. We saw the back and tail several times.

We continued on and very soon spotted another whale. This whale came closer to the boat and we got several good pictures. After watching a while we preceded on. The naturalist narrating the trip reports he got a good look at the whale’s tail fin and was able to identify the whale as Sasha, a female whale that had been living year round in the area which is unusual as most humpbacks migrate between Hawaii and Alaska. The reason for staying in Alaska was unknown. He reported she often swam closer to boats than other whales.

We stopped and watched some sea lions vie for position on a harbor buoy. It was quite entertaining, and we were pretty close, though they still looked pretty small. We saw a lot of different birds and some nice scenery. There were a few more whales off in the distance as well, and we got to see a few flukes as they dove.

We had been out on the water for quite a while when Forst turned to Alan and said “looks like we didn’t see as many whales as you did the last time.” Before Alan could respond, Joyce and Sydney, sitting near the front window in the boat both pointed straight ahead and shouted “Whales!” We looked up and sure enough there were two whale blow spouts in front of us. Before Alan could even respond to that, he saw 5 spouts, grabbed his camera, and said, “I’m going upstairs.” Over the next 30 or 40 minutes we were treated to quite a spectacle.

Our naturalist has been studying humpback whales in Alaska and Hawaii for more than 5 years (though he looked to be all of 18!). He counted 16 humpbacks in this group. We knew that they were probably going to show us some of the communal bubble feeding that had amazed Alan and Joyce the last time. They didn’t disappoint.

Humpbacks are typically pretty solitary animals. While they all travel back and forth from Hawaii each year, they don’t have specific groups to swim with. They spend the summer eating in Alaska and then go to Hawaii in the winter to mate and have babies. In spite of their incredible size, humpbacks have a small throat and can’t swallow anything much larger than a small melon. Alan’s explanation of what we saw is that several meet up and say to each other “let’s do lunch!” They then work to find the nearest, tastiest bunch of herring that they can. Once they’ve found lunch, they then swim in spirals around the school of herring, blowing a bubble screen around the small fish. The little fish get confused and swim into a ball. Once the herring ball is served up, one of the whales swims up through the middle of the “bubble net” and scoops up the fish in its huge mouth. The 2-ton tongue then presses the fish up against its baleen comb at the front of the mouth, pushing the water out and leaving the tasty lunch. This whale swallows, and then they all go at it again, this time with some other whale as the chief beneficiary of the herring ball.

Of course we can’t see much of this action, since it happens below the surface. What we did see was the whales diving, with their flukes being the last thing we see sliding into the water. A few minutes later, clued by the bubbling water and circling birds (catching what crumbs the whales might leave behind), we see the mammoth heads of the whales punching through the surface. Many will then flip on to their side and wave their 10-feet fins in the air. There wasn’t a hydrophone on this boat to hear them “talk” to each other, but Alan and Joyce described the distinctive sounds they heard the last time they were here. All in all it was pretty amazing.

Our young naturalist was pretty pumped with the show. He goes out with tour groups a couple of times a day and said that he had only seen this particular behavior about 5 or 6 times. Alan and Joyce felt very privileged to have seen it both times they had been whale watching. Even more amazing was the naturalist’s statement that the current research seems to indicate that only about 100 humpbacks world-wide know how to do this communal feeding. Wow!

Well, after this high, we returned back to the boat for lunch in the buffet and made our plans for the afternoon. Sydney and Louise stayed on the boat, Sydney to attend the youth program and Louise to rest. The rest of the crew headed back into town. Forst, Alan, and Joyce hit the stores to pick up the next set of “free” things with their coupon books. Jon, Sandi, and Paul took the tram up Mount Roberts. They will need to write and tell you how it all happened. We do know that they really enjoyed the view, the hiking, and the fresh air high above Juneau.

Alan and Joyce returned to the boat for the next step in their adventure: a helicopter ride to the Mendenhall Glacier! For those of you familiar with Joyce’s flying history, you might find it hard to believe that a helicopter flight would be on her activity list, but a wonderful experience flying over the volcanoes in Hawaii a few years ago helped put this trip on the agenda. Alan was nervous about the weight requirement, especially since there was a substantial monetary penalty associated with it. He struggled with exactly how to answer the explicit weight question, especially since he had been eating cruise food for a few days and that it was unlikely that the would let him weigh in (un)dressed like he usually is after his shower at the Co-Rec. He decided to give his last known weight from the week before and take his chances. There was no problem!

Our helicopter had 4 passengers and the pilot, so there was an empty seat. After gearing up in specially studded boots for the ice on the glacier, we were put on the helicopter and gently lifted off. The scenery was gorgeous as our posse of three helicopters made our way up from the airport over the mountain. When we crested the mountain, the blue of the glacier came into view.

After a quick pass over the glacier, we came down to rest just as easily as we took off. We made our way across the ice to the American flag planted in the ice and then another guide took us over to the Alaskan flag to team us up with the other tourists from the other helicopters. We then spent about 30 minutes wandering around the glacier, getting instruction and information from our guides. We even had a chance to dip into one of the little streams flowing across the glacier to taste what fresh glacial water really tastes like. Believe it or not, it’s not like what you would get out of any bottle!

The whole experience of walking around the top of a glacier was pretty “other-worldly” and the cost and angst over weight were quickly forgotten. Alan and Joyce were glad they had the experience on their third Alaskan visit, and would encourage others to sacrifice a bit to do the same.

Well, the rest of the day was sort of anticlimactic, but should be documented nonetheless! Dinner dress was again “smart casual” and the menu theme was “Chef’s Choice”. The kids elected to eat in the buffet and attend the youth program, but it didn’t keep some of the adults from going to the kids menu for the “Volcano” for dessert. We think it was doing a good job of keeping Cesar and Joseph amused…that and keeping Joyce from using the pepper mill on the table. Those were among the running jokes that kept our waiters amused throughout the week.

Sandi and Jon took advantage of Joyce and Alan’s offer to watch the kids. Exactly what the elder Schaeffer’s did isn’t clear, but the rest of the crew watched a little television and chatted about cards, gold rush, and other things before the parents’ return for the night.

All in all it was a very good day!

July 15--Zipping through Ketchikan

We passed over another time zone during the night into “Alaska” Time, so we gained an hour! After a quick breakfast, Jon, Sandi, Paul, Sydney, Alan and Joyce were off to their first big adventure.

We all began the zip line adventure with the tour company reminding us of all that could go wrong and asking us to sign the "you might die" waivers. The guides and bus drivers kept things light with humor and we were underway.

We drove along the coast and immediately began spotting eagles and eagle’s nests. After a 15 minute bus ride we arrived at Alaska Canopy Adventures. Due to reduced numbers of people signing up, the Schaeffer’s and Welch’s were a group by themselves. Our two guides, Andy and Karah, all of us, and the ATV driver climbed in the monster truck and started up the very steep hill on a narrow dirt road with a steep drop off on each side. Joyce was very glad it wasn’t raining as she couldn’t imagine the vehicle having enough traction to get up the hill if the gravel road had been slick.

We reached the top without incident and began putting on the leg and chest harnesses, assorted lines and clips, helmet and gloves. The guides were diligent to make sure all the equipment was properly secured on each of us (even though Andy joked that this was his first time leading a group---though he had read the book!).

We walked up many steps and reached the zip instruction area. We were instructed in the proper zipping technique and we were ready to practice on a short zip that was close to the ground. One of the guides went first. The other guide secured us to the two zip lines, gave final instructions and off we went. The first guide then helped us onto the platform at the other end. The practice went well and we were ready to go.

There were a series of 7 zips, each on a little longer and higher then the last. On the first zip, Joyce begin to turn sideways and wasn’t sure how to right herself. She was shaking pretty hard when she got to the platform. With further instruction to straighten her left arm and cross her legs at the ankles, the second zip went better. On the second zip, Sydney didn’t make the platform and slid backward to the lowest point in the middle of the zip. Andy, the forward guide, went to get her and pulled her to the platform. On the third zip, Joyce braked a little too much (by putting her right hand on the bottom cable) and didn’t make it to the platform. She started to move backward on the cable. Andy was quick to remind her to grab the cable with both hands, turn with her back to the platform and use her hands on the cable in a hand over hand motion to pull herself to the platform until he could grabbed her lines that were attached to the cable. Joyce had some trouble letting go of the cable so Andy could pull her in as she was pretty scared at that point. It was hard for her to remember the harness around her chest and legs and its ability to hold her and keep her from falling.

The rest of the zips were without incident. At the end of the last zip, we rappelled from the platform to the ground. Joyce was surprised at how easy it was to control the speed of her decent with her hand on the rope at her hip. She and Paul raced to the ground with Joyce winning by barely a foot touch. In Joyce’s opinion the best part of the tour was a 600-ft mountain slide at the end of the tour after rappelling and getting out of our gear. We each sat in a burlap bag and one at a time enjoyed a truly exhilarating ride. After a visit to the gift shop with hot chocolate, crackers and cookies, we boarded our bus back to Ketchikan.

Mom and Dad visited a Saxson Village, viewed Totem Poles and attended a Lumberjack show. Hopefully they will write or dictate the highlights to us so we can record them here.

After returning to the ship for lunch in the Horizon Court, Alan and Joyce spend the remainder of their time in Ketchikan shopping, being sure to get as many free items as they could find in their coupon book. We had to be back on the boat in the early afternoon for departure from Ketchikan to Juneau

Believe it or not, the Welchs and Schaeffers went back to the ballroom after lunch for Cha-cha lessons. The steps seemed to come a bit easier than the day before, but it still is a bit out of our comfort zone. Jon deserves credit for actually getting to the lesson before Sandi!

Forst, true to his word, returned to the fitness center to exercise. He increased the number of repetitions he was able to complete on the machines and was pleased with his progress and that he worked up a sweat. And of course there was an ice cream reward!

Alan and Joyce stopped by Forst and Louise's stateroom and chatted about the trip so far and answered some questions about the upcoming intinerary. While we were on the way to Juneau, there were some whales that were surfacing off in the distance, so we took advantage to see some of these huge, amazing creatures.

Dress for dinner was smart casual, so there wasn't much primping required tonight. The kids elected to skip the formal dinner and take on some of the youth activities, including a Dance, Dance Revolution tournament. The rest enjoyed a meal that was dominated by special Italian dishes.

After dinner, the Welchs and Schaeffer adults stopped and looked over the pictures taken the night before. There were some good ones and some not-so-good ones, but there are lots of opportunities for pictures on this ship!

Alan and Joyce went on to the Adrian Zmed show in the Universe Theatre. While his name and face were familiar, it finally clicked when they popped up images of him from his "TJ Hooker" TV show days. It was a light, pleasant evening's entertainment.

Alan and Joyce stopped by the piano bar again to hear some more familiar music from our past and then called it a day!

July 14--On our way to Alaska

The Welches and Dunnucks began the day with breakfast in the dining room instead of going to the Horizon buffet. Breakfast and lunch are served in the Provence dining room with anytime seating. Since we were spending the day at sea we thought it was a good time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. We were shown to a table by a window and enjoyed the view of mountains and very calm water as we sailed through Canada.

After breakfast, Alan and Dad wanted to attend a presentation about shopping in Ketchikan. A husband and wife on the cruise director’s team specializes in information about the various shopping venues. We learned about the 50-some jewelry stores in Ketchikan and were encouraged to shop in the stores listed on the map of Ketchikan we were given. We were told Princess could guarantee the quality of the merchandise at these stores and help us if we experienced any problems with something we purchased. We were also given the opportunity to purchase a book that had many discounts coupons as well as coupons for free merchandise such as tote bags, loose gem stones, earrings, gold coins, etc. Of course the number of coupons books they were authorized to sell was limited so we needed to act quickly….you get the picture.

Alan looked over the more than 20 free items and saw a 2 carat blue sapphire, pearl pendant, and pearl earrings. He decided if we just made sure we took advantage of those items we would cover the cost of the book. We bought one and so did Dad. Joyce and Mom were bored with the shopping talk after about an hour and decided to leave. Alan wanted to stay for the door prize drawings and Dad decided to stay since we planned to attend a talk by a marine biologist about dolphins that was scheduled for 30 minutes later in the same lounge.

The information we received on dolphins was very interesting and informative. We learned the differences between whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Several of the whales, such as the killer whale (Orca) are actually in the dolphin family. We learned about the habitat, food and behaviors of the specific kinds of dolphins as well as various seals, sea lions and walruses. There were many great pictures of these beautiful animals.

The Dunnucks and Welches likes the quieter, leisurely pace of eating in the dining room instead of the buffet at breakfast so they decided to try it for lunch. Alan decided he wasn’t very hungry and needed to watch what he ate, keeping in mind the weight limits of the zip line and helicopter tours. He chose to return to the room with the plan to grab a piece of pizza at the Pizzeria when he got hungry. Joyce decided to monitor her blood sugar levels in the morning and if they were acceptable, eat what she wanted and get as much exercise at possible.

Sydney and Sandi attended a presentation in the Lotus Spa on cleansing the body of toxins. While there they learned the average weight gain on a cruise in 1 – 1 ½ lbs. per day!!! Oh, my!!

Alan surprised Joyce by agreeing to take ballroom dancing lessons taught by Donna, one of the cruise directors. Jon and Sandi also took the lessons. Today’s dance was the basic Merengue. Donna is British with a delightful accent. She taught the ladies their steps, then the gentlemen and then we practiced together. The gentleman seemed to need more instruction and practice than the ladies. I’ll let those reading speculate on why that might be! It was great fun and we all did pretty well.

Mom & Dad attended a presentation on whales in the afternoon. Hopefully they will write or dictate the highlights to us so we can record them here.

Alan and Joyce decided this would be a good time to take advantage of the hot tubs. On previous cruises they had discovered around 6 p.m. was a good time to use the hot tubs. Many of the other passengers were often at dinner at this time and with a 7:45 p.m. dinner seating, that gave us time to relax in the hot tub before getting dressed for dinner.

While enjoying the hot tub, Alan and Joyce saw Sandi and Forst returning from the fitness center. Sandi had taken Forst to try a few of the machines. Forst wasn’t able to do as many repetitions as he expected to do which challenged him to plan return trips to the fitness center to build his strength. Sandi and Forst didn’t see us or hear us when we called to them. We watched as Forst rewarded himself with an ice cream cone at the ice cream shop near the pool and hot tubs.

Tonight’s dinner dress is formal. Multiple stations with a variety of backdrops were set up near the dining rooms on decks 5 and 6 for formal portraits. There is no charge for the sitting and no obligation to purchase and prints. We all dressed up and had pictures taken first at a whole group and then individual family units. We then went into dinner. Sydney and Paul were more comfortable with the ordering process and Sydney tried a few more selections. Paul stayed with the cheeseburger and fries. He enjoyed the long thin crunchy bread sticks between courses. Both kids and Mom and Dad wondered why the rolls were hard and not soft as we usually bake at home. When is came time for dessert, Forst and Jon decided the volcano on the kids menu was the dessert of choice, complete with cherries and no sprinkles.

In the evening after dinner we tried out our new dance by dancing to Big Band music. Jon and Sydney also took advantage of the opportunity for a couple daddy/daughter dances. Since the attire for dinner this evening was formal , we were all looking mighty fine. Paul got some of the dancing on video and is threatening to put it on YouTube!

The dancing and singing groups provided the evenings main entertainment. There were various styles of music and dance available, including some questionable-for-families styles in the middle. Overall the sets and entertainment were enjoyable.

After the evening’s entertainment, Alan and Joyce took a stroll around the ship. They ended the evening is a piano bar listening to tunes by Barry Manilow, Gershwin, Andrew Lloyd Webber to name a few.

July 13--Off to Sea!

We got up early and met the taxi that Joyce had arranged for at Darrell’s on Sunday night. It was an over-sized van, so we fit easily with all of our luggage. We took a back way to the train station, so Joyce was a bit nervous, but it all worked out just fine. We got our luggage arranged and each person pulled their own into the station. The lines were long and a little confusing, but since we had already printed our boarding passes, we were able to quickly move through the line.

We had time to sit among the homeless people getting a nap and get ourselves together for the train trip to Vancouver.

The train to Vancouver was nice. Our seats were a together in the lower part of the car with handicapped seating so there were fewer people and it was quieter. Sandi and Joyce went exploring to find something to eat and discovered a lounge car with comfortable seats and facing big windows. There was room for Paul and Sydney to walk around. We all took turns napping, talking and viewing the scenery. Joyce got instructions on Sydney’s Dogs DS game.

We arrived at the Vancouver train station a few minutes late, but that was no problem as we had plenty of time to get to the ship terminal. The line to go through customs was long, but with all passengers now having passports, the line moved well.

After exiting the customs area, we gathered and Alan went in search of a taxi to the cruise terminal. The woman he talked to assured him there would be room for us and all our luggage. When the taxis arrived it was clear only 3 of us and our luggage would fit in the small cars. The drivers recommended we wait for the minivan taxi that should be arriving soon. The minivan came within about 5 minutes and was able to take most of the big luggage and the Welch’s and Dunnuck’s. The Schaeffer’s and their small luggage fit in a small car.

The complication to all this was Sandi and the kids thought the wait would be longer so they had went to a McDonald’s in the train station. When the van was loaded, the Dunnuck’s and Welch’s left for the cruise terminal. Joyce wasn’t sure we should be leaving the Schaeffer’s, but Alan assured her they could take care of themselves. We were all happy to see their taxi pull up inside the cruise terminal just a few minutes after ours.

As we exited the taxis there was a mad scramble to get the tags on our luggage with appropriate cabin numbers so the luggage handlers could deliver the luggage later. Our carry on was screened and we were off to customs – US this time - which was a little strange since we went through Canadian customs less than an hour ago. We completed a health form asking if we had a cold or sore throat - not sure who would admit to that at this point! We were issued a cruise card which gets us into our cabin and also serves as a credit card on the ship as well as our ID to get on and off the ship. With all the completed, we were ready to board! We made our way to the Emerald deck, cabins 324, 320, 318 and 316.

When we got to our cabins it was after 1 p.m. local time and all were hungry, except Sandi and the kids. We were ready to take advantage of all the food we have already paid for! We made our way to deck 14 to the Horizon buffet for lunch. We were not disappointed! We were greeted with a variety of fresh fruits, vegetable, fish, breads, and hot entrée items.

After eating, we went back to our cabins and began settling in. We broke into individual family units to explore the ship and unpack. Of course, the kids quickly discovered the two swimming pools and accompanying hot tubs. If there was ever any doubt about where either of them would be for the rest of the cruise, the pools were a pretty good first place to look!

When Alan booked the cruise, there was a significant savings on the CruiseTour land package the Dunnuck’s and Welch’s were taking at the conclusion of the cruise if a Captain’s Circle member was booking the room. The travel agent has suggested we book the rooms with Alan and Dad in one room and Joyce and Mom in another to get this savings. She said we could switch rooms on the ship. We went to passenger services and was able to make the switch. They gave Dad and Joyce temporary cards to access the cabins until noon the next day when a new cruise card could be issues.

The cabins are small and have the tiniest shower, but there is lots of storage space. The empty suitcases fit under the bed giving the cabin a more lived in look and feel. After exploring the ship and getting our things put away in our stateroom, it was time for muster. This is the drill for emergency evacuation from the ship. At the signal, all passengers take the life preserver from their stateroom and walk to the muster station. The elevators are blocked off as they would be in an emergency, so all must use the stairs. Our muster station was the Princess theatre, one floor below our stateroom. All went smoothly, we received our instructions and returned to our staterooms to put away the life preservers and hope we would not need them.

At 4:30, we were sailing. Soon we were counting down to getting under the bridge and being on our way to Alaska!


We chose the traditional seating for dinner. Traditional seating had two seating times, 6 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. The other option is anytime seating which is a first-come, first-served seating like a restaurant. We decided traditional seating would work best for a group of 8 people. With traditional seating we have a table reserved for us at 7:45 p.m. each evening. We could always choose to eat at the Horizon buffet if we didn’t feel like a more formal sit down dinner.

Tonight’s dress was smart casual. We met our waiter, Cesar and junior waiter, Joseph. Paul and Sydney were a little unsure of what to order with all the choices on the menu, many of which didn’t sound like anything they had eaten before. The idea of courses was also a new concept. They were presented with a placemat with a children’s menu printed on it and the adult dinner menu. They played it safe and ordered from the kid’s menu.

For dessert, Sydney ordered a volcano, which was an ice cream sundae with vanilla and chocolate ice cream, banana, chocolate syrup and a cherry. Sydney doesn’t like bananas so she asked they be omitted. Cesar then asked her how many cherries she wanted and she asked for 5. The volcano arrived and it was huge! Cesar then brought a small silver bowl and asked if Sydney would like sprinkles. We all enjoyed the look of delight on Sydney’s face when she saw the sprinkles!

After dinner the Schaeffers and Welches went to the on board entertainment. Tonight’s show featured some song and dance numbers and a comedian. The comedian had us all laughing at jokes about life on a cruise in tiny staterooms, packing for the trip and the differences between men and women as we planned for the trip. By the end of the show it was approximately 10:45 p.m., and the end of a full day that started in Seattle very early.

July 12--Sunday in Seattle

Sunday, we joined Darrell, Kathy, Mike, Lauren and Lauren’s friend Andrew for church at Canyon Creek Church, which is located about 45 minutes north of Seattle in the area they used to live before moving into Seattle. Mike and Darrell are part of the worship band with Mike playing drums and Darrell bass guitar. While we didn’t know many of the songs, the worship time was great.

We all ate lunch and the Rock, a pizza place with a 70’s rock décor. Alan and Joyce had salad as Joyce was working to make good food decisions and Alan was working to stay under the weight limit for both the zip line and helicopter tours we pre-reserved in Ketchikan. The salads were very good. Burgers were pretty popular with most of the rest of the group.

In the afternoon, Kathy, Lauren, Mike, Alan, Joyce and Sydney decided to visit the Woodland Park Zoo. The zoo is in the same area of Seattle as the University of Washington and pretty near the building where Lauren and Mike have apartments. The animal habitats are large and very natural looking. The day was overcast and rainy. Many of the animals appeared to be sleeping and out of view. We had a great time watching the river otters, gorillas, Komodo dragon, and lion. The lion treated us specially by allowing us to hear him roar.

Jon, Sandi and Paul went to the Museum of Flight, near the old Boeing Field just south of the main part of Seattle.

Darrell and Kathy hosted all the Indiana visitors at their condo for a cook out Sunday evening. Darrell grilled sirloin burgers and brats. We took a CD of video we took at Lauren’s high school graduation 6 years ago, as well as several other family videos. Darrell got Paul on the internet to play a computer game and Sydney watched a video. The rest of us did lots of talking, laughing and catching up on each others lives.

All too soon it was time to wrap up our visit in Seattle. We said our goodbyes and went back to the Hilton. Jon and Alan returned the cars to Thrifty and convinced the shuttle driver to take them back directly to the Hilton. We settled in for a short night’s sleep and got ready for the next part of the adventure.

July 11--A Full, Full Day

Body time and clock time don’t always match. On Saturday morning, Alan and Joyce both woke up early and decided to explore the hotel. They dressed prepared, and found the hot tub open and nearly empty. A nice “bubble” brought a good start to the day. John and Alan were out early to take the shuttle to the airport to take the rental car shuttle to the lot. We had reserved “wild card” cars, which seemed to be the best deal. Our cars ended up being a white Chrysler 300 for the older folks and a red PT Cruiser for the Schaeffer’s.

First stop of the day was at Top Pot donuts in downtown Seattle where we met up with Darrell, Kathy, Lauren and Mike, who had walked down from Darrell and Kathy’s condo. Walking is the chief way that Darrell and Kathy get around the downtown area, and it is keeping them quite healthy. We have a ways to go to stay up with them, but we certainly got our chances to try on Saturday! Lauren and Mike live near the University of Washington in the same building there and are not quite the seasoned walkers that their parents are, but were still more advanced than their Indiana relatives. The donuts, hot chocolate, tea, and (of course) coffee were great and a good start to our day. After enjoying a quick catching up over breakfast, we caucused and developed our plan for the day.

One group, consisting of Forst, Louise, Darrell, and Joyce got on the ‘hop-on/hop-off’ bus that gave a tour of the downtown area, with a chance to stop at different places and take in the scenery. The rest of the group walked up to Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World’s fair. Alan and the Schaeffer’s went up in the Space Needle for some spectacular views of Seattle and Puget Sound. Next stop was the Seattle Science Center. We arrived just in time to see an IMAX 3D movie, “Under the Sea”. The adults saw most of the movie (just a few quick cat naps), and Paul and Sydney were engaged throughout. Paul took on another competitor in a couple of games of Giant Chess with his dad cheering on while Alan, Sandi, and Sydney took in exhibits about insects, a butterfly house, animal behavior, mirrors and all kinds of other things. There were some water games to be played outside, and then it was on to the long walk to Pike Place Market to meet the other group for lunch.

Pike Place Market was booming with people on a Saturday afternoon, but Group A had arrived earlier and found a location near some food vendors that had space for all of us to get what we wanted and still have a chance to eat and visit together. There was about an hour afterwards to do some exploring of the market before Group A (minus Joyce) took off on the bus tour and eventually back to Darrell and Kathy’s for visiting time.

Joyce joined group B (minus Lauren) for a walk down to the water front to the Seattle Aquarium. We had a chance to see many different species of underwater wild life, so the IMAX movie came in handy. However, the river otter exhibit was probably one of the most enjoyable parts of the aquarium for the group overall.

The afternoon group made their way back up the hill to Top Pot Donuts to get the cars, much to the relief of Paul and Sydney (and the rest of us as well, if the truth be known.). We drove a relatively short distance and arrived at the Dunnuck condominium, where we all met up again, this time with Lauren having her friend Andrew in tow.

Yet another configuration of the group was formed as Forst, Darrell, Mike, Lauren, Andrew, Jon, and Paul headed out to see the Seattle Mariners play the Texas Rangers in a Major League Baseball game at Safeco Field, just over a mile from the condo. Louise was pretty tuckered out, so Alan and Joyce took her back to the hotel and then came back to meet Kathy, Sandi, and Sydney for dinner. They decided on Mexican at the Azteca, just north of the downtown area. After dropping Kathy off at her place, the rest made their way back to the hotel for a much welcomed rest.

July 10--It always takes a first step...or flight.

After a whirlwind of a few days of getting things together for the trip and getting ready to be gone from home and from DANI, we were packed and ready. Forst and Louise, Joyce’s parents, drove to meet us in Lafayette and we took our car together to my brother, Brian’s in Brownsburg, where the car will stay for the time we are gone. Brian dropped us off at the airport. As we walked in, Joyce’s sister’s family, Sandi, Jon, Paul, and Sydney were just finishing checking their luggage, so timing couldn’t have been better.

Getting through security was a little bit of a hassle. We had ordered wheelchairs to help Joyce’s folks get through the long distances between ticketing and the gate more easily, and it had the nice side benefit of getting us to the front of the line for security. Forst is currently wearing two heavy knee braces while waiting for an evaluation from his doctors, and the metal detectors didn’t like them! Of course, getting in to look them over meant that they had to go to a “private” area to check them out. It was a bit of a hassle, but the eight of us survived and made it to the gate with plenty of time to spare.

Paul and Sydney were pretty pumped about getting to see the Grand Canyon from the air and got some pretty good pictures. They were both busy trying out their new cameras throughout the first few days of the trip.

The first leg of the trip was to LAX in Los Angeles. It was our first time through there and we understand why people tell us they don’t fly through there if they can avoid it. We had to change planes as well as terminals, which meant that we had to go through security again, and we’ve already explained how fun that was. Again we survived, and needed to get something to eat. Lines were long and slow, and the prices were high. Even though there were 2 hours between connections, we had to wolf down our food to make the boarding time for the next plane.

The final leg to Seattle to visit Joyce’s brother, Darrell and family was pretty easy, and we landed a little early. We found our luggage and the shuttle to the Hilton pretty quickly, and soon were standing in very nice accommodations, courtesy of good bidding at Priceline.com! This Hilton is very large, has an outdoor pool and hot tub and was a great place to spend the next few days. It was only about 20 minutes from downtown Seattle and Darrell and Kathy’s condominium. By 12:30 or so, we were in bed and ready for the real fun to begin. We tried hard to get our bodies to forget that it was 2:30 in Indiana. The important thing was that our family group of 8 would now swell to 12 the next day.

Hopeful knee will not limit mobility on trip

July 6, 2009

I have been having some trouble with my left knee. It is a cruel reminder of my time in Seattle in June, 2007 when I couldn't walk and was in great pain due to an ankle injury. I saw an orthopedic doctor this morning who took x-rays and told me I have a little arthritis in the knee and probably a meniscus tear. He didn't think it was bad enough to limit my activity. After the examination, he injected cortisone and told me I should be able to walk and zip line on the trip. I'll see him after the trip if I continue to have trouble to address the tear. It has felt much better the last couple days, so I'm very hopeful I'll be mobile. I have borrowed a knee brace from Dad and the doctor gave me the okay to use it if I'm in pain and feel I need it. I'm resting the knee today and will increase my activity with a short bike ride tomorrow with a Curves workout on Wednesday.

Itinerary

The Schaeffers will be doing the trip to Seattle and the cruise from Vancouver to Whittier/Anchorage and then return to Indiana.

The Dunnucks and Welchs will continue on to Denali and Mt. McKinley before returning to Anchorage and back to Indiana.

Itinerary
Day Destination
1 Sail from Vancouver, B.C.
Port Arrival Departure
1 Vancouver, British Columbia 4:30 PM

2 At Sea

3 Ketchikan, Alaska 6:30 AM 2:00 PM

4 Juneau, Alaska 8:00 AM 9:00 PM

5 Skagway, Alaska 7:00 AM 8:30 PM

6 Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) 6:00 AM 3:00 PM

7 College Fjord, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) 5:30 PM 8:30 PM

8 Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska 12:30 AM

8 Whittier/Denali Disembark in Whittier and board the Denali Express rail directly to Denali National Park.

9 Denali/Mt. McKinley This morning, take an educational tour into Denali National Park. Then, travel by motorcoach to the south side of Denali for a night at the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.

10 Mt. McKinley/Anchorage

11 Anchorage Your tour ends this morning in Anchorage.