A Whale of a Time in Alaska in 2011

My husband Bob had said that he did not want to fly anymore. Which restricts us to locations or cruise ports that we can drive to. So our first trip in 2011 was a A Back to Back Cruise on Enchantment of the Seas to the Bahamas and the Caribbean and then a road trip down to Key West and out to Texas. We got home from that in March 2011

But he came upstairs sometime in the spring of 2011 and said that since Southwest had non-stop flights to Seattle, that we might be able to do an Alaskan cruise. I had the flights booked, and booked a scooter from Special Needs at Sea that afternoon (before I had booked the cruise). The scooter was quite reasonable to rent, and it really helped because we were pretty far forward and the dining areas are all aft.

I booked one day before the final payment. When they finally gave me my cabin it was an ocean view on the Lower Promenade Deck in a good location - except it was under the kitchen. Having been in that location before, I was aware of that and the people who were next door to that cabin confirmed that they were awakened each morning at 4 am with metal wheeled carts rolling around overhead.

Therefore when I was given an opportunity to upgrade to a Veranda by paying extra, I decided that if I was ever going to do a Veranda, Alaska was the place to do it. We were on the port side just a few cabins behind the wing bridge.

I had been to Seattle for a week for work in 1994, but Bob had never been there. I wanted to show him a couple of the places I had been in 1994.

I booked at the Mayflower Hotel instead of at the normal HAL hotel - I wanted to take the monorail and have dinner in the Space Needle, and see Pike Street Market in our short time in Seattle.

Flowers for Mother's Day from our son

Two days before we were to leave, I had a bad cough and I went to the doctor and they gave me some antibiotics. I asked the doctor if I should go on the cruise and he said that I wasn't contagious and to go ahead and go. Just to be sure, I asked my pulmonologist and she also said since I was taking antibiotics that I could go.

May 11, 2011

I've stopped coughing so much and I think Bob is practically all better. He says he is down to 180 lbs., but he still can't get into the trousers of his good suit. Of course that suit is probably over 20 years old. I lost some weight too.

I think we are ready. Bob was packed by Sunday. He is taking the brown bag which weighed about 42 lbs, and a carry on bag. I closed my suitcase this afternoon. I have mother's little red bag and a yellow duffel plus the computer bag/carry on.

The last thing that I found was my Golden Age Passport for the National Parks, and it was in the bag that I brought in out of the car after the last trip and hadn't unpacked yet. My notebook with the list of things to take was in there too. I make a list for each trip. It helps me not to forget too much.

Bob has mowed the grass one last time and put the pot plants out where they will get rain if it rains. We rented a car to get to the airport - it is cheaper to rent a car one way than it is to park at the airport. The car rental people gave us a Versa with GA plates

He was thinking that on that long flight we wouldn't have anything to eat, and it is true that all they serve is snacks and drinks, but I think there will be plenty of time to get a hamburger before we board. The flight leaves at 11:25

I tried to print out the boarding pass, but because we have a senior rate, we have to show ID at the airport, so all what I printed out will do is get us past security. Our boarding numbers are B37 and B38, but when I talked to SW this afternoon she said if I have difficulty walking that I should get a blue sleeve on my boarding pass. We will see how that works.

Tomorrow we get up really early and Bob turns off the water and unplugs the electronics and we leave.

May 12, 2011

Bob put the radio to go on at 0615, but the radio station isn't on that early so it was just static. We did manage to get up and dressed, the electrics and water off and out of the house by 0710.

Leaving home rental car on left - 7:09

I told Bob to let me and the luggage off at the front of the rental car return place because the hardest part for me is walking from where we leave the car in that enormous garage to where we get the shuttle bus. It apparently had not occurred to him that doing that would solve my problem. We were there by 0900, and then turned in the car ($51.00). He almost managed to leave with the keys, but they wanted them for some reason and made him turn them in!!

Rental car shuttle

The Southwest area was the first stop so we unloaded, and they got a wheelchair for me immediately, and checked the bags at the curb. Bob tipped the bag people $5.00 a bag. The wheelchair person zipped us through security and down to the gate where I got a blue sleeve for priority boarding. Bob gave him $5.00. I realize this is the first time he has experienced travel where I'm in a wheelchair.

There were 8 people in wheelchairs - 5 of us old ladies were lined up against the wall. The lady next to me said she was visiting friends in Baltimore and was continuing to Spokane.

Bob in the airport

Bob brought himself a sandwich and some celery from home, and he got me two pieces of cheese pizza and some bacon in the airport. He ate a piece of bacon.

When they came to loading time, they had everyone line up by number and then they came and got us wheelchair ladies one at a time. I decided not to sit in the bulkhead row, and sat about 3 rows back by the window. Bob sat in the middle. Another lady came and sat on the aisle.

taxi to take off

Bob didn't talk to her, but when she got up to go to the bathroom, we all went, and the seats were shuffled around and I ended up in the middle - it turned out that she lives near us in Hollywood MD and was an elementary school teacher. She was doing another cruise from Vancouver next week with her brother and sister-in-law. I didn't find out her name until we were just about ready to land and can't remember it now. It was alliterative and Bob thinks her first name was Francis. She did elementary PE.

She had a problem when we were landing as it was a little bouncy and said she felt sick but there was only one sick bag in the three seats. In the end by the time we got the bag to her, we had landed.

We took off about 10 minutes late, but arrived early. We wheelchair people were told not to get off until the wheelchairs were there but after the plane was about empty (and some of the other wheelchair ladies were off), we got off. There was a wheelchair there but with no one to push, so I commandeered it and Bob pushed. I had both our carryons on my lap and I couldn't see anything.

We got to the luggage claim area (after a little problem finding the elevator). When I made the hotel reservation, I had talked to the concierge at the hotel because I didn't think we could make it on public transportation with our luggage, and she recommended getting a Town Car. I had programmed the number into my phone. I called the Town Car dispatcher and told him we were getting our luggage. In about 3 minutes, I got a call back The driver had just dropped someone off when the dispatcher called. We loaded into the Town Car (and Bob turned the wheelchair in to Southwest) and zipped into town.

on the way in to Seattle

The driver had a CDL and said he had been working in Alaska driving big trucks. The car was $45.00 and Bob tipped him $9.00

We got to the hotel and there was really SERVICE - they took our luggage and the whole nine yards. ($5.00 tip) We have a room with a little anteroom and two TVs - one in the couch area and one in the bedroom.

Anteroom Coffee tea area and wine glasses

Object in corner of bedroom

Shower

Hotel bathroom

from bed looking toward door of room

We have no view - we look out on the

airshaft

I decided not to try to go to Pike Street Market today as I knew Bob was getting tired. So I tried without success to log onto the internet. Then it was time to leave to go to the Space Needle where I had a 1700 dinner reservation - that was early but it was really 2000 our time. I made a reservation at this hotel because I knew it was in the same complex as the Monorail station and we could walk through the hotel to the monorail

walking to the monorail

When we got to the monorail, we got two old people's round trip tickets (total $4.00).

monorail tickets

Monorail to Space Needle in 2011

Monorail station at Space Needle end

The monorail ride was short and then we had to walk around to the other side of the Space Needle

Space Needle

to the dinner elevator.

Desk at the space needle

Ticket for the elevator

View from the elevator going up 2011

From the Space Needle restaurant

Dinner was very good.

Whole Fried Rockfish $55.00 - Seattle

I had deep fried rockfish which was a whole fish - fins, eyes and everything. Bob had corn clam chowder which he practically licked the plate clean,

Seattle Corn Clam Chowder $9.00

and a pasta seafood dish.

Bob's Pasta Seafood

We went all the way around once and then did another half circuit

On a clear day 2011

1994 Hotel from Space Needle 2011

Shadow of the space needle on the hotel 2011

I-5

Helicopter not flying in 2011

Cruise ship dock

We took the monorail

Monorail

back to the mall

Motherhood Store

and walked back to the hotel.

Selfie

When we got back to the hotel, the internet worked. They had laid a bathrobe out on the bed.

May 13, 2011

Bob said he didn't sleep too well, although he fell asleep before the end of Bill OReilly and didn't even wake up when I changed the channel. He had set the alarm for 6 and got up and showered. I did the same. We went down for breakfast.

Inside restaurant

Chandelier in the restaurant

I arranged with the concierge for a 'package' which included full breakfast for two at their restaurant and a shuttle to the port. They gave us a seat by the window and I sat on the bench with my back to the window and Bob faced the street. He commented that there was some device on the front of the buses (it was a bike rack but Bob at first thought it was for skis and then said you'd need an engineering degree to work it)

Bus with a bike rake

Breakfast

sugar and tea pot

Bob's All American Breakfast

My two poached eggs and toast

After breakfast I went to the front desk to collected the wheelchair which I had arranged with the concierge to have while at the hotel. She told me that it would be fairly flat going to Pike Street Market from the hotel, and not that far.

The lady at the desk went in a door on the back right side and popped out with the wheelchair on the left side. We went out on 4th Street (the other entrance had steps), and Bob pushed me across to Pike Street and then down Pike Street to the Pike Street Market.

Leaving the hotel in a wheelchair

Wells Fargo

We passed several Starbucks and the Hard Rock, and then went into the Market which is a large building with many vendors and restaurants.

Hard Rock

Approaching Pike Street Market 2011

Bob pushed me through the first level past the flower shops, the vegetable shops (Bob said melons were more expensive than at home - he does all the marketing and he keeps track)

Vegetables

and the fish markets.

Fish - 2011

Pike Street Market from a wheelchair

We did see them tossing fish once, but I didn't get a picture. Actually pictures while Bob was pushing the wheelchair were a bit hard to get because it was somewhat dark.

Then we came back to the hotel. Bob had the paper to read and he watched TV.

Our shuttle is at noon.

About 11:30, we gathered ourselves up and went down and checked out of the hotel.

Bob waiting in the lobby

lobby chandilier

The shuttle guy came in a van for us and by 11:45 we were on our way to the dock. We didn't know what dock it was, but he did.

Seattle from the shuttle to the port

The Vandam was also there. The shuttle guy dropped us off at the luggage pickup place and Bob tipped him $5.00. The luggage guy took us and showed us where the kiosk was, and then went off with our luggage.

The kiosk people didn't give me any kind of instruction really, but I got my scooter. We then went to check-in. I walked through the scanner (with my shoes on - some people were taking off theirs) and then went back to the scooter and they prioritized us to the check-in desk. I hadn't even filled out the sickness form yet. Except for that I still have a cough, I didn't lie on the form. Bob filled out his own.

Then I scootered up the ramp into the ship. The biggest problem was that it was awkward to handle my cane while I was on the scooter. They said we could go to our rooms right away, so we did. And it was ready.

Problem - how to get the scooter into the room. The aisle from the room to the door (closets on one side and bathroom on the other) was very narrow and there was just room for the scooter. Once in, the bed was too close to move the scooter around it in any way to get it into the room.

desk area

I am not sure what we did initially, but what we have done is the following.
a) We moved the night table on the left side of the bed out into the room. Bob has put it in the kneehole of the desk
b) Bob and I pushing and pulling moved the beds all the way over to where that night table had been.
c) We moved the phone from the left side nightstand to the other one by my side of the bed on the right side
d) I moved the desk chair over to the sliding doors.

When we got our suitcases, Bob took the extension cord and plugged it in at the desk and ran it behind the TV, under a little rug to the bed, under the bed and over to my side of the bed where I plugged my power strip into it.

Now I can drive the scooter into the room and make a quick turn and park it next to my side of the bed where it isn't blocking anything, and it can be plugged in and charged.

We went up to the Lido for lunch and it was a zoo. I parked the scooter and sat at a table. It is not possible to eat in the Lido when you are using a scooter. There are no trays any longer and the scooter basket is not equipped for food. This was exacerbated by the fact that they were having people serve you everything instead of allowing you to take it. They told us the reason for that was for two days in case people got on with colds or other illness to keep them from passing it around. That seemed to be a good idea, but it did make things slow with long lines to be served as people did not understand that they could go to the next station. Bob went and got us something - he came back with spaghetti which was the only place that had no line. He had a hard time getting something to drink also. We sat with some other people who were taking turns to get something.

Lido food

We got back to the room and our suitcases had come so we unpacked.

Starting at the hall door, we have a double closet of shelves, a double closet for hanging items - full length,

and a half closet with has the safe and some more shelves.

half closet - safe

We have four big hooks on the wall - two on each side of the entrance to the hall. We have two bathrobes on two of the hooks, and then Bob and I have our hats and binoculars on them.

Then along the forward wall are two big colorful prints of fish.

pictures opposite bed

Dresser in room

On one side of the dresser at the top are two shelves with fiddles. There was some liquor etc on one of them. Under that is a TV on a swivel with a DVD player under it. Under that are two sets of three drawers. Then there is a huge mirror with a small makeup mirror on a swivel arm. On the desk is some stationary imprinted with our names, and also the ice bucket and glasses. In the kneehole is the extra night table and on the other side of that another set of three drawers. We have more total storage than stuff to put there

Then you are at the veranda which has big heavy curtains that can be drawn across. There is a lounge chair, a regular chair and a little table on the veranda.

veranda railing

Coming back along the back wall, I have the chair that was for the dresser. There is a small refrigerator and then a couch.

Bob asleep

In front of the couch, and there is a large adjustable table with a vase of flowers on it. Then there is a small partial wall and a big curtain that can be drawn to partition off the bed part of the room.

Beds

The bed has a big mirror behind it and a choice of hardness of pillows. Then we get to the other nightstand with the phone on it.

bathroom storage

On the other side of the corridor is the bathroom which has a counter around the sink, a shelf under the counter and a corner cabinet. There is a hairdryer on the wall, and a big walk in shower on the other side. The shower is big enough for two.

shower

Bob is pleased that they have Fox News on the TV, and they also have a good bow camera. But when we look at the charts of where the ship is, it goes from a cluttered chart which you can't even tell where the ship is on it, to a really close chart with only a tiny fragment of land and you can see the ship but not where it is.

view

We left Seattle on the cruise ship at about 5 pm. We went down to dinner and I see that they have pagers for people. But the guy came out and said we would not have any trouble getting a seat as long as we came before about 6 or after 8. We ate with a couple from Orlando who drove up, and a couple from Washington State who were on their umpteenth Alaska cruise.

Flowers with pagers

Bob had the Scallop Cerviche appetizer

and I had Mussels a la Mariniere,

and then we both had the chilled Mixed Berry Soup and the Alaskan King Crab Legs.

Alaskan King Crab Legs

For dessert, Bob ordered the no sugar ice cream and got a hot fudge sundae. I ordered (and got) the Strawberries Romanoff.


After dinner, I went out on the veranda and took pictures of a lighthouse I saw which I later identified as Point Wilson

This active lighthouse with an octagonal brick tower with lantern and gallery, rising from 1-story brick fog signal building was build in 1914. The flashing characteristics are somewhat unusual consisting of a white light, occulting every 20 s for 5 s, with one red flash in the middle of the occultation. 49 ft (15 m) . The assistant keeper's house and two oil houses are also preserved.

The station is endangered by shoreline erosion and rising sea level. The station buildings have been flooded several times by winter storms, and the only long-term solution is an expensive relocation of all the buildings. A crude barrier of rocks provides some protection from wave action but not from high tidal surges. The Washington State Park system is somewhat reluctant to acquire it for this reason


We are right behind the side bridge on the port side and there was someone there so I tried to take a picture of that too.

Side bridge

I saw red markers going up the coast and wanted to know where we were. So I went up to the TV and got right up close to it and saw that we were near Port Angelos. So I went outside and took a photo of it.

We are going up the Inside Passage between the coast and the outer islands. Most of this will be in Canada, but for now we are still in the US

Today is the day we go up along the Canadian coast between the outer islands and the mainland. There are no excursions today.

We did get up and went to breakfast at 8 am. We were seated with some first time cruisers (a younger couple) and the people who had the room that was right next to the one we were originally assigned. We mentioned noise from the kitchen and she confirmed that room was similarly noisy to the one we had on the Maasdam on the second part of that cruise.

Eggs FLorentine

The breakfast menu has changed quite a bit and included Eggs Florentine which I like better than Eggs Benedict because it is less salty, so I got that. We passed a lot of little lighthouses on the various points, so I took photos of them from where I was through the window in the dining room.

Channel marker

Channel marker

Yesterday, the internet router was down so I couldn't log on during the afternoon. I was also unable to get my computer to log on last night. I could see the log on screen but it was up in one of the address bars at the top of the page. So I went up to the Internet Cafe and signed on and bought a package.

The internet lady got my computer to sign on and I sent a couple of pre-written emails and looked at mail, and then the computer stopped accessing the internet and neither the computer lady nor I could get it to work. I keep getting a "Windows - System Error - There is an IP address conflict with another system on the network" message. She said it was probably a conflict with Norton but Norton refused to recognize my password so I could turn off the firewall.

Ferry from the cruise ship

At lunch, I had a banana and orange melange,

Banana and orange melange

Cheddar and crab chowder

Baked macaroni and cheese

Bob had chilled pear soup and salad Nicoise with Grilled Salmon.

Salad Nicoise with Grilled Salmon

I ordered the pear soup also, but didn't get it. We skipped dessert as the service was so slow we didn't want to wait for it. There was an on-going problem on this cruise with slow service in the dining room and we didn't always get what we ordered. This was at least partly because the previous cruise from Ft. Lauderdale through the canal and around the Pacific was a long cruise. We were told that the ship's people were hand picked for that cruise and most of them got off in Vancouver where the cruise ended. Then 70 absolutely new staff, and some that were returning from leave and others that were transferred from other ships got on along with 1000 people who took the one day cruise from Victoria to Seattle. So the servers were finding their way around for those first days.

I figured that there must be a way to get out on the deck from our deck, so I went down and looked, and indeed there was a door, but it was raining and there was a big puddle by the door. There also was about a 3" step which I didn't try to get the scooter over.

Me on the scooter

Mountains

people on the bow from Veranda deck

Later it was better weather and I went out on the deck (walking) and took some pictures including some of another lighthouse which I have identified as Pine Island. When you sail north along the Inside Passage near Port Hardy, you must leave the shelter of Queen Charlotte Strait and venture out into the unprotected waters of Queen Charlotte Sound. Pine Island lies along this transition and is often buffeted by waves from the open ocean. You can't discount the ocean waves as a force of nature, since the original 1907 lighthouse, a square wood tower, was destroyed by a giant wave during a storm in February 1967.

Pine Island Lighthouse

Pine island

The second (1967) lighthouse, a square skeletal tower with lantern and gallery, was demolished when the current lighthouse was built in 2000. The lantern room from the earlier tower sits atop a lighthouse that is part of the Campbell River Maritime Heritage Center. The present light is a round cylindrical steel tower painted white without a lantern. The light is 93 feet above the water and gives a red flash every 10 seconds. The lighthouse is staffed and there is one 2-story and two 1-story keeper's houses and other buildings which were moved farther inland after the giant wave of 1967. The island is also a wildlife preserve for nesting sea birds.

Pine Island serves as the point where pilots board vessels arriving from overseas and help direct them safely to port. It is accessible only by boat. so you will probably have to be satisfied with seeing it from a ship or ferry. The site and tower are closed. Owner/site manager: Canadian Coast Guard.

Snow capped peaks

Boat in the Queen Charlotte strait

Boat in Queen Charlotte passange

Boat alongside the ship

Dinner tonight was formal. We sat with a mother and daughter from Idaho.

Shrimp cocktail

Bob had two shrimp cocktail appetizers and they were really big shrimp. I had one too

Then I had Gold Rush soup. I picked the Beef Wellington for an entree and Bob had the Grilled Salmon.

Grilled Salmon with cherry tomatoes

We were doing reasonably well for speed until we got to the entree and apparently they didn't have enough of the Beef Wellington cooked so it was a long wait. We were seated at 5:20, and didn't get the entrees until 6:40.

Beef Wellington

For dessert, Bob had the Gold Rush Baked Alaska

Gold Rush Baked Alaska

and I had Esterhazy.

Esterhazy

This was layers of meringue, but I didn't have a knife and I couldn't cut it with my fork, so I had to pick up a slice and bite off pieces. I guess I could have asked for a knife but the waiters were hard to catch.

Tomorrow we will be in Alaska

When I was a little girl we played a game - the person who was IT walked around the circle and as she passed each person she hit them on the head or shoulder and said "Duck". Suddenly instead of saying "Duck", when she got to one person she said "Goose" and then the Goose had to chase her around the circle - if IT got to the place where Goose had been without being tagged, then the Goose was the new IT.

Duck Ticket

Anyway, our only tour today was the Duck Tour. I thought that looked like fun. But maybe because it was the only time slot open I had signed up for the 8:30 am tour and we were pretty sure that we couldn't get done with breakfast in the dining room in that period of time. So we ordered room service. And that came as promised. Bob didn't remember that the waiter would expect a tip.

I took some photos from the balcony of coming in to port and of the island on the other side from town

Early morning

Just trees

Coming in the channel

Ship coming in to the dock

Opposite shore

High tides mean long gangway

Fishing boats on the island across from Ketchikan

There was a Carnival ship there already (I think the Inspiration). Later the Disney Magic came in.

Disney Magic

Each day you can see from one to five ships tied up at the docks. This year (2011) there were over 700 cruise ship visits of which 200 were by Holland American.

When it got to 0800, I told Bob that I was going to take the scooter down to the embarkation deck and leave it and walk off the ship and to find the Duck tour because I knew I couldn't take the scooter up the ladder to the Duck. He was doubtful, but that's what I did - I parked it next to where the ramp was, and then walked off.

Holland American Amsterdam at the dock

Life boats

When we got off the ship we were given a free map and it had a walking tour on it. I would have liked to do that, but didn't quite have the energy.

Walking Tour map

Some of the things we saw on the Duck tour, so this is a short list of what we would have seen while walking.

The Downtown Ketchikan Walking Tour begins at the Visitors Bureau.

Visitor's center next to the ship

(We went to the Visitor's Bureau) and heads out under the Ketchikan Welcome Arch on Mission Street.

Welcome Arch

We did get to Whale Park. Then take a left onto Bawden Street to follow the Ketchikan Creek.

Ketchikan Creek from the Duck

We saw the salmon ladder

Fish ladder

and waterfalls in the creek. After that, Bawden Street crosses a bridge and turns into Park Avenue.

Directional sign

Follow Park Avenue until it turns into Salmon Street. This leads directly to the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center.

Totem from the Duck

After the hatchery, follow the walking path across another bridge to the Totem Heritage Center. I have a picture also of the Discovery Center

Discovery Center

There is another part of the walking tour, but since it includes steep grades and steps I would not have had any possibility of doing it.

The Rock

The Rock at Front Street and Mission - near the cruise ship docks was created by artist Dave Rubin, and shows the what the native peoples and early pioneers would have looked like in their various occupations. The Federal Building was bright pink.

Federal Building

St John's Episcopal Church on Mission Street, was built in 1902, and is the oldest church building standing in Ketchikan.The sanctuary, finished with cedar from a Saxman mill, stood on pilings along the water. When the shore was filled in, that moved the shore hundreds of feet back St.John's has a gift shop

St John church - originally on the waterfront

We found our duck on the dock,

and climbed in.

Stairs to get into the Duck

There was a plastic overlay with round portholes in it that we could open or close.

Inside the Duck enclosure

inside the Duck

But it was still very hard to take pictures as the holes were up above head level so I either had to hold the camera over my head, or stand up. It was a bright sunny day and was soon quite warm in the Duck. We could take off our coats that we had put on in anticipation of it being cold. We only had 11 passengers so we were able to spread out and even change seats. Our guide was Lily and she was really amusing.

Lily at the mike

Tip request

First we had a tour through town.

Local jewelry store next to an Effy store

Alaskan crafts

Orca corn

Duck headquarters

Lily pointed out local stores. One problem in Ketchikan is that the cruise ships bring in the Diamonds International and Tanzanite stores, staffs them with outsiders, and the stores are only open for the tourist season Then when fall comes - the stores close, the people and the money all leave. There is no reason whatever to sell diamonds, tanzanite and the like in Alaska. Nor is Alaska a particularly good place to shop for watches or other high end merchandise. So it is important to shop at local stores and not the big international jewelry stores.

Lily also passed around photos

Photo of the ballfield - no grass or it would be mud due to rain

She told us about the high rainfall amounts that they get in Ketchikan. We looked at the salmon ladder, went by Dolly's House (whorehouse)

Dolly's House

Dolly's going out of business flyer

Gas was only $3.959 - Lily said that was because they got it from Canada.

Gas prices

Carnival ship

Then we went into the water, and motored out of the marina

From the Duck - fishing boats

Fishing boats in the marina

More boats in the marina

St Jude boat

Passing another Duck

Bar Harbor Float 9 reserved moorage

ATON Red 2S on the end of the rip-rap

Picture of fishermen - passed around on the Duck

Floating dock

E.C. Phillips Cold Storage

float plane docks

Float plane from Duck

We saw some bald eagles on the breakwater, but I didn't get a photo. When we got back to land, they had to clean the Duck off and they got some bull kelp out from the wheels and showed it to us.

Lily with the Bull Kelp

Amsterdam from the Duck

After we finished the tour it wasn't even 10:00 yet and we wanted to get a thumb drive because last night, I went up to the internet cafe after dinner and struggled for a long time and never got my computer to log on for more than a couple of seconds. I did finally get my Norton firewall turned off, but that didn't help. So the computer lady asked if I wanted the have one of their laptops, and I said yes that I would pick it up at 4:00 pm. I thought I would have to find a flash drive to transfer stuff over to their computer so that was on our list today.

Rain gauge outside of the Visitor's Center

World times in the visitor's Center

I had asked various people and they said to go to K-mart which had a free shuttle. We went to the Visitor's Information place on the docks and asked again, and he said to go to Radio Shack and take the public bus. And then his wife reminded him that the Business center was open (it is Sunday) and that was just a couple blocks away. So Bob said he would walk and get the thumb drives for me and that I should NOT try to get the scooter off the ship as the ramp was too steep

Of course I wasn't going to get back on the ship, so I went to the ship and watched people with walkers and scooters and wheelchairs getting off and they had a LOT of trouble because the ramp was so steep. So when one of the helpers got down to the dock, I asked him if he would bring my scooter down for me and gave him the key. Pretty soon, my scooter got down to me. I scootered around town a bit (they had traffic wardens who would stop traffic if you wanted to cross the street just like school crossing guards).

Streets in town from scooter level

Sourdough cab

scooting down the alley

Store from the alley opposite

Store window

Bob came up behind me outside the candy shop where he had bought some fudge - he had watched them making it there but did not, of course, take any photos.

Me reflected in the window

Looking in the door

Since we did not go to the Totem Center, we walked out to the Whale Park

Whale park with me on the scooter entering it

Bottom of the Totem - Business center in background

and took some pictures of the of Chief Johnson Totem Pole there. This is a lineage pole.

Totem

This is the 2nd replica of the original pole raised in the late 1800's for the Tlingit chief who sold 160 acres to Mike Martin. It was carved by the Tlingit master carver Israel Shotridge during the summer of 1992. The 1st replica from 1964 is located inside the Totem Heritage Center.

Totem pole sign

There are three figures - the Crane, at the top, the Thunderbird and the Bear at the bottom is Chief Kyan's family crest.

Crane at the Top of the totem

Bear part of the totem in Whale Park

One of the benches in the park

They had whale shaped benches and some nice flowers

Bob taking a photo

Spring flowers in the park

Bob's photo of me on the scooter -street crossing

local taxidermy shop

Buildings near port

Fire hydrant

I think we could have taken a trolley tour of the town and just bought the tickets on the dock, and Lily also recommended the fish and chips place that was right there at the dock, but we didn't do that either. We just went back to the ship.

The ramp was steeper than ever (The tides are pretty steep in that area of the world so the ramps were also steep and some of them had steps, so I could not take the scooter off the ship.) so they decided to move it from Deck 2 to A Deck (two decks down). They came in with a fork lift and picked up the end of the ramp and swung it around and positioned it practically flat to get on the ship. They did hit the ship with it first. So it was easy to get back on.

Moving the gangway

We went up to the Lido for lunch. I HATE eating in the Lido. I never found a good way to eat in the Lido with either my cane or the scooter. There were no helpful people to carry your food. The service was really slow which made it was painful for me stand and wait for other people to be served. We only ate in the Lido if forced.

Lido

Lido dessert

But we got a seat by the window and I took pictures from the Lido deck while we ate lunch

Looking down from the ship

including pictures of the flaming flounder on the top of one of the buses.

Green bus

Green route bus from the Lido

Bus Route Map

Another Duck returning to dock from the Lido deck

I saw lots of taxi cabs in Ketchikan, although I did not take any. I was particularly fascinated by the outline of Alaska on the roof of some of them - I could see this when I looked down from the Lido

Cab from above

Taxi stopped on the far side of the crosswalk

Traffic wardens let pedestrians cross

Traffic warden

Area where the two food stands are - with Duck

Picnic tables for eating

Another view of the two food stands

Alaskan Surf Halibut and Chips stand

Grizzly Grill menu

Pedestrian prohibited sign

Reflection

I went up and got the laptop from the computer lady, and was able to get on line and look at email before dinner.

Ship leaving the Ketchikan dock

Float plane on the water

Island opposite where the regular airport is

The ship left at 5 and it was still quite light. We sat at a very large table (8 or 10) for dinner. I took pictures while leaving port from the table. Bob had the

Yukon Wild Berry Fruit Melange

which looked good, and I had the

Alaskan Seafood Cocktail

.
Bob says he's not going to get anymore of the Alaskan scallops because they are really tiny. Then I had

Ketchikan Fisherman's Chowder in a sourdough bowl

.
For Entrees Bob had the

Alaskan King Crab Cobb Salad

and I had

Spruce Hen with Almond-Brown Rice Stuffing

Neither of us thought much of our entree. For dessert I had

Lemon Torte

because I wanted something light and Bob had a sundae.

Our towel animal was a flying fish.

Flying fish towel animal

I did the best job of parking the scooter to date. So Bob said to take a photo of it. I have room to get out of bed, and can even get to the drawers of the nightstand.

My scooter parked by the bed

Underway at 8:15 pm

Tomorrow we go to Tracy Arm