Page Two --- Simon's web page on their Alaska Cruise
Okay, we have all come this far. When we left the earlier page we were at Juneau where we had just visited the Mendenhall Glacier.
For lunch we went on a salmon bake. On arrival I suddenly thought of the "production luaus" in Hawaii and worried that this was going to be similar. It turned out to be the best salmon we ate on the entire trip. Not only was the salmon perfect, the potato salad and beans were delicious also. Ah, then there was the beer — Alaskan Amber brewed right there in Juneau.
We took a short walk along a stream, it had salmon in it, and found this plant. It looked like the Queen Ann lace from a distance but be learned later that it was not AND that it is a toxic plant. It has some unique features and I include two photos.
The day was brought to an end by riding a tramway to the top of Mount Roberts, overlooking the pier where the Sea Princess was berthed. This gave a stunning view of Juneau and our ship.
We also saw an interesting occurance for this cold and harsh climate. The many inches of snow, as it moves, causes the trees to develop “snow crook”.
Skagway was the next port call. We toured on the White Pass Railroad to the border of the USA and Canada's Yukon country through some very beautiful mountains. Skagway and this railroad played a big part in the gold rush of the late 1800's and will be reserved for a future update of this web site.
Our ship's photographer wanted to offer one more memory opportunity of the cruise. As we departed the dining room, we were greeted by this prospector and logger.
We disembarked at Seward and went by a Princess tour bus to Anchorage. By this time, the hours of daylight were getting quite lengthy. This is a photo taken from the hotel window at almost 11 p.m. The offical setting time was about 12:30 a.m. and sunrise was said to be about 4 a.m. We were not awake for either.
The end result of all this sunlight is that flowers bloom nicely. Anchorage calls itself the "city of flowers". The State of Alaska flower, the “forget-me-nots”, were hanging everywhere.
From Anchorage we took the Alaskan Railway to Denali National Park. Princess has their own rail cars which means we still got the same very good food and comfort as on the ship. Denali National Park is where Mount McKinley is located which is a huge mountain in a huge park.
Details of this part of the trip will be left for a future update. This presentation will be wrapped up with these last few photos.
First the Fireweed. This plant, it is said, accurately predicts the coming of the first snowfall. It flowers on an erect stalk from the bottom up. When it tops out, it will snow in six weeks.
At the Denali Princess Lodge, we found these hanging flowers in bloom.
These wildflowers were on the Park grounds.
And, so far from the ocean, a gull-like bird called the mew gull.
We hope that you have enjoyed this look at Alaska and our trip.
If desired, all the photographs that were taken during the trip can be viewed at:
