OHHHH Canada!!!

We have arrived at our last port of call---Vancouver, Canada. We had a great time on our trip though we did miss the sun A LOT!!! We arrived early and disembarked around 8:30 am and we reached our hotel a few minutes later--Fairmont Hotel. It is a beautiful old hotel that was remodeled. It kinda looks like the Plaza in New York. Our room is HUGE with feather pillows and soft mattresses. It's going to be a wonderful night sleeping.

Since we were so early we walked around the city visiting some interesting places. The first place we saw was Granville Island Market. It is like Pike's Market in Seattle. You caught a small ferry to get there. Rene and I had a unique lunch--we found these chicken feet---YUMMMY!!! There were lots of eateries showing fresh produce, art work, and did I mention food! Not that we have had enough to eat for the last two weeks LOL!

Then we walked along the waterfront where all of these residential areas were---I wanted to move here it was so neat! We also went down to the cruise ship dock to see our ship off for another trip---their destination was New Zealand and Australia. We wanted to be stowaway's.

Our trip was so much fun and we experienced some AWESOME sights. We will be back!

I wanted to thank all the people that commented on our blog --Rene and I loved reading them when we could. I have had such a GREAT time doing this blog thing! I hope you have enjoyed experiencing our trip along with us. Now, it will be scrap booking time when I get home.

See ya when we see ya!!!

Love

Rene and Jeanne

Ketchikan and the red light district :)

Today we visited the city of Ketchikan, Alaska. The city founders built the city on pilings along the waters edge. It became the place where most of the bordello's were in the gold rush. Now-a-days it's shops.

We did have fun walking around seeing the city. We didn't have any excursions planned. One of the places we loved was the Totem History Museum--there were totem poles that were dated back in the 1800's. It was so very interesting and amazing about how the natives carved those poles from a huge cedar tree.

The other place we visited was the fish hatchery and eagle perserve. We had a tour of how they spawned the trout, gathered the eggs and release the fish.

Tomorrow we will be at sea heading to our last destination---Vancouver.

Until tomorrow.

Last day in port!

HI all!
Today we are in Ketchikan, Alaska. We are touring the town walking style. We have come to the conclusion that we are only going to go on summer cruises---it has been too gray and gloomy this week. But! Alaska has been GREAT! We have seen many beautiful mountains, fascinating wildlife and terrific people. Next time it will be a dry land experience to Alaska.

This will be our blog until Sunday when we are going to be in Vancouver. Have a great day!

Whales!!!

HI guys!

Today we were in Juneau, Alaska. It was a bit of an experience---4 cruise ships were all in port---so lots of people shopping. But we had some fun shopping.

The best part of the day was when we went on our whale excursion. It was a lot of fun looking for the whale spouts and then their tails coming out of the water. We saw at least 6 whales which was very exciting. The last ones we saw you could hear their breathing out through their blow holes---it was an amazing sound.

One more stop in Ketchakin, Alaska home of the totem poles. Should be fun--Rene and I have nothing planned just visiting the town. Cutting this short--limited time!

Until tomorrow~

Eagles! Eagles! and more Eagles!!!

This morning we docked in Haines Alaska. It was raining, cloudy and very foggy. BUT! it began to clear--the clouds cleared away and we had a fabulous day.

Our first adventure was rafting down the Chitkat River searching for eagles. We all pulled on our boots and life preservers and climb into the rafts with our guides. Sylvia was our guide down the river---she is a very strong young woman to be able to navigate the river. As we started down we saw an eagle preening in the sun---that was eagle number one. As Sylvia rowed our raft around the rocks and logs in the river we began to see more and more eagles. In all we saw 25 on the river. The closest one to us was about 20 yards sitting on a dead tree stump near the river. The Coho Salmon are still heading up river to spawn. Rene was in heaven!!!



When we got back to Haines we visited the town for a little while very small and quaint--25oo live here year round. Sylvia built her own tree house with the help of her aunt, who happens to be the town doctor. What a different life they lead-catching their own food, having gardens and gathering wood for the winter. Amazing!







Later in the day we headed on a ride to a lake near Haines. There we saw three bears one of which was a mother and her cub and at least 10 more eagles. It was a nice day!!! Well, a beautiful day because the sun finally came out.







Tomorrow we will be in Juneau---Whale Watching!!! Have a great day!

Glacier Bay National Park

HI guys!

Yesterday was a slow day so we decided to wait until today to add to the blog (internet mins expense!). Anyway, we celebrated Rene's birthday yesterday---he is now 29 years old---he looks so good for his age doesn't he!!! We had a quiet day traveling across the Alaska Bay.

Today was a bit more exciting. We cruised around in Glacier Bay National Park. We saw some amazing glaciers. One in particular was Johns Hopkins Glacier which was over 200 feet high, 2 miles wide and 12 miles long. The shear mass of it was mind boggling! It was still rainy and cold but everytime we came to the glaciers it would clear up.

We have found a favorite thing to do in the afternoons--HIGH TEA! Starting at 3:00 in the afternoon we can go have tea and scones with fancy cups and dishes. I taught Rene how to wring his teabag out with his spoon--he is a master at it now!

Tomorrow we see the eagles in Haines! Can't wait for that! See you later!

Setting out to Sea!

HI all!

Today we are setting sail on our cruise. The day started out with checking our car back into the airport and getting our passes to the cruise line shuttle bus. The shuttle bus took us to Seward where we were to board the ship. The day started our rainy and stayed that way. Our ship is called the "MS Volendam". Its Godmother is Chris Everett---cool huh!

We checked in and went to our room and started checking out the ship. Of course we found where all the food was located. Then, we unpacked our clothes and had our fun lifeboat drill.

We left port and will be heading to College Fjiord (Prince William Sound) where we will be cruising tomorrow. The captain says the weather should be getting better tomorrow.

Until tomorrow---smooth sailing!