Travels With Charley...well actually Cat

Did you miss me? Thanks for understanding as I took a bit of a break. I needed to step back and remember why I write this blog. I also needed the time to recover and get past all my travels. I have been on the go for what seems like weeks now and last week I just crashed. I didn't read. I didn't write. I just crashed. And truthfully I simply couldn't think of something to blog about, so I figured that was a perfect time to step away.

I've realized that in the last month I've been to Alaska, Minnesota (twice), Nebraska, and all over Iowa. I've spent more time on the road these last weeks than I have at home practically. And when I have been at home it seems like I've been busy. But things are starting to settle down. I'm starting to relax again and feel a bit more like me. I'm the kind of person who needs time to myself. I need time at home to keep me centered. Too much movement and after a while I get frustrated. Now don't get me wrong I love to travel, I just can't do it all the time.

You've already heard about Alaska. Beautiful, wild, stunning Alaska. We arrived home Tuesday morning and I had two days of work that week. But on Thursday I found out that my sister-in-law's father had died. This man had been an uncle to me. We'd known the family well before my brother and sister-in-law got married. He was a great guy. So of course I had to go to the funeral. Back on the road as we made the trip to Albert Lea, MN.

The next weekend we were at home but oddly Jeff and I didn't stay home. In our continuing wanderlust we headed out into Southern Iowa to drive the backroads and see what we could see. And we found some amazing state parks, small towns, fun shops, and lots and lots of scenery. We spent the whole weekend driving and hiking. Constantly on the go. Constantly not at home.

The next weekend saw us North again as we headed up to the Cities to catch our friend Josh in a play. He's done summer stock theater for a couple years now and we try hard to make it up for the shows. I missed last year so I wasn't about to miss The Music Man this year. Plus it happened to be our anniversary weekend. We arrived Saturday afternoon and hung out with our friend Jon playing video games. Then headed over to the play that evening. The next morning we had breakfast with our thespian friend before heading further north to spend the afternoon with our friend Lon and his kids. We sat around in the shade as the kids splashed in the kiddie pools. We didn't even start heading for home until 5 and didn't see the house until late that night.

And that brings us to this past weekend. In April, for my older sister's birthday, my little sister had promised a girls weekend. We looked at the calendar and picked a weekend in August for the sisters to get away. A road trip. Of course that happened to be last weekend. We debated on what to do and where to go until I finally suggested a cute little boutique hotel close to the Old Market area in Omaha. The hotel was booked and on Friday we headed out. We took the long way getting to Omaha, traipsing through gravel roads and through small towns. When we arrived at 9:30 Friday night we quickly checked in and headed out for dinner and some drinks. Followed by more drinks. We ended the night talking in the hotel and finishing off a bottle of whiskey.

The next morning we headed out to a little cafe off the Old Market for breakfast. A great little greasy spoon cafe which helped to settle my hangover. After that it was shopping. I bought a new journal (shocking huh), some bacon flavored floss for Jeff, tons of candy, and a bit of jewelry. Then on to lunch at my favorite place in Omaha, M's Pub. I think I can safely say that this was probably the highlight of the trip for us. We ate, we drank, we laughed until we cried. It was the best two hour lunch I've ever had. Completely refreshing. After that was more shopping and then some naps. The next morning we headed out earlyish with the idea of seeing some of the sights around Iowa. We drove North through the Loess Hills State Park and then headed East. We took pictures at Albert the Bull, the world's largest bull (I'll post pictures of him tonight). We also stopped at the spinning ear of corn which my sister had read at 50 feet. It turned out to be 5 feet, and needless to say, a bit underwhelming.

We finally arrived home late that evening but my visiting wasn't over. My relatives had decided that this past weekend was the perfect time to come in for a visit. My cousin and his family had come in, my brother and his wife had dropped off the kids at my parents house, and my little brother had made the trek north from St. Louis. I arrived home and immediately headed over to my parents house to visit. I spent all Monday with them as well. My cousin left Monday, my little brother leaves today, and the kids are being picked up on Saturday. I think I'm ready for a weekend with nothing going on. I feel like I've been going non-stop. Here's hoping for a little relaxing. And some time to blog.

[For those of you who don't know the title of this post is a reference to my favorite Steinbeck book, a bizarre travelogue as Steinbeck travels around the county in an RV with his beloved poodle Charley. It's not like most of Steinbeck's other books but I love his view of traveling and getting to know the people. It's on par with Blue Highways as one of my favorite road trip books.]

Skagway and Glacier Bay

I figured that Skagway would be pretty easy to write up since it was such a tourist town and that I would lump it with Glacier Bay. But the focus of this post is Glacier Bay, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life. Skagway was a nice town, a interesting historic town but the focus was on shopping. The boardwalks were wood and all of the buildings were original wood and in many ways it was a unique look at how towns were formed. But other than a great rock shop off the main strip, it was filled with souvenir shops, jewelry stores, and curio stores. We never got a chance to get away from the tourist section. A nice town but like any other cruise port I've been through.

Skagway

After spending the day shopping in Skagway the boat sailed off toward Glacier Bay. If you ever get a chance to go to Alaska, you need to see Glacier Bay. It was the highlight of my trip. Every single moment of our time there was awe inspiring and picturesque. We sailed between mountains covered with trees and snow, and through waters filled with puffins, sea lions, and whales. I saw more wildlife in Glacier Bay than I saw all the other days combined. This was the ultimate wild experience. Oh yeah and there were glaciers.

The first time you see a glacier you are in awe. And that awe doesn't ever really go away. When we parked the boat outside of Margerie Glacier (see below) I stood on the deck freezing my fingers off and taking picture after picture. The ice formations on the glacier are breathtaking. Each section of the glacier is different and unique, a work of art in ice. The blue was again prevalent although right after this glacier the sun came out and the blue disappeared. The cave like structure at the base of the glacier is just that. The cave had a small waterfall running through it, the fresh water escaping down the mountain and into the ocean.

Margerie Glacier

Another image of Margerie Glacier

After Margerie, we continued up the channel and came to the most amazing glacier I'd seen so far. This is Johns Hopkins Glacier. This is a steady state glacier, meaning that it loses 6 feet of ice a day and adds six feet of ice a day. There are very few steady-state glaciers left in the world and even fewer growing ones. Most glaciers have receded at unprecedented rates in the last hundred years. Someone going to Glacier Bay ten years from now, will see very different glaciers. I feel fortunate to have seen the ones I did. The snowy mountains rising up at the back of Johns Hopkins are Orville and Wilbur, although I'm not sure which is which.

Johns Hopkins Glacier from the front of the boat

As we were sailing away from Johns Hopkins, the naturalist on board called our attention to the side of the boat. Off in the distance (and I mean distance) was a set of three bears. Rather than the three bears of story, these were a mother and her two cubs down at the shore to eat mussels. They were nearly impossible to see with the naked eye but Jeff ended up getting some decent pictures using a tripod and our zoom lens. I've decided that I have to learn how to digiscope for just such an occasion. As we sailed by, the bears hardly noticed us. The whole boat (crew and all) stopped what they were doing to spend some time looking at them. I passed my binoculars to most of the members of the buffet staff so they could get a closer look. It was an incredible moment.

The Three Bears (the lighter colored things, in case you can't tell)

I tried to get photos of the puffins we saw but they were too fast (and far away) for my camera. I managed to get a decent shot of a whale breaching but it is too distant to share. As we sailed out of the Bay I sat on our balcony, huddled into my coat and gloves, and watched the islands slide by. Each seemed completely untouched. And that is one of the images I'll take away from my Alaskan experience. This is a wild place, a state with untouched land that just begs to be explored. This is a state where things are a bit more rustic. Where roads only cover a portion of the state. Where planes are your main mode of conveyance. Where the people and the animals are hardier, mostly because they have to be. Where every view is a postcard. It was a wild and untamed place. And if it wasn't for the weather, I'd happily spend years of my life exploring it.

Image from Glacier Bay itself

Heading out of the Bay

Juneau

Time to head back to the frozen North. And Juneau was not only cool but rainy. As we left the ship after breakfast, the rain started falling. And didn't let up until almost noon. Luckily, we just had to walk downtown. Juneau was our only day with a planned itinerary. I had been told that while Juneau was pretty, it helped to have something organized. I would agree that the city was pretty. Even with the cold rain, the flowers were beautiful and the city was clean and beautiful. But after walking down to the park by the dock, I was ready for our first tour, a historical boat ride.

We had signed up for a steamboat ride around the harbor combined with a history lesson of mining in Juneau. When we arrived at the dock the boat wasn't there yet. Right before our appointment time, we spotted a boat out in the harbor. It was tiny, way too small to be our boat. But it kept coming towards our dock. When it finally pulled up we were shocked, the boat was small, it hardly looked large enough for the eight of us. It reminded me of the boat out of Willie Wonka with its mix of red and brass. We boarded and not only did the boat have room for the eight of us but eight or so more. It was a beautiful teak boat from the turn of the century (2000 to be exact). The trip around the lake was rainy and hard to see out the windows but the history lesson was much more interesting. The amount of gold that was pulled out of the hills around Juneau is staggering. Hundreds of millions of dollars, all taken at a significant cost to life and the environment. At one point one of the mines was so dangerous that at least one person a day was killed. The companies got rich and Juneau developed because of the gold mining trade.

I have no pictures from the boat. It wasn't until we headed to our next scheduled activity that the pictures started. And then I couldn't stop taking them. The second tour was a trip out to a fish hatchery and then a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. When the bus that was scheduled to take us there was overbooked, we had to stand and wait for a while. But Princess found us our own personal bus and that was much better than being trapped on a bus with hundreds of strangers. The first stop was the salmon hatchery. I'm not sure what I feel about the hatcheries' work but it was certainly an interesting place. Fish return to the same stream they were born in to spawn. The hatchery catches the fish and extracts the eggs and sperm. The fertilized eggs are kept and nurtured until the fish hatch. Once the fish are old enough to set off on their own they are released into an imprint tank where they imprint themselves on the stream. Then they are released to the ocean and after a year or two return to the hatchery to complete the cycle. The hatchery was interesting but I was sad as well to see how humans were trying to improve on the natural process along with watching the fish try to finish their last swim.

The fish ladder that the salmon climb to return to the hatchery

The holding pen where the fish are kept before sorting and extraction

After the hatchery we headed into the wilderness to find a glacier. I don't even have words to describe my feelings the first time we turned a corner and saw Mendenhall Glacier. I didn't expect it to be so large, so accessible, and so beautiful. You can walk within 100 feet of Mendenhall.

The view from the parking lot

We trekked a bit down to the viewing platform and I took far more pictures than I should have. It was just so incredible looking. The blue ice is naturally occurring. If it had been sunny, the ice would have clouded quickly and the blue would have disappeared into white. We were fortunate to see it.

Blue Ice of the Glacier

There was a small trail that headed down from the main viewing area to a waterfall nearby. Even with my ankle I decided to try the hike. It was mostly flat and in twenty minutes I found out how worth it the trip was. The trail lead right to the base of the waterfall. I stood at the bottom watching the water rush over the rocks into the pool right at my feet. The water was cold and silty. I reached down to feel it and could feel the spray from the waterfall. It was one of the most amazing views. And it was an experience I won't forget for a long time.

A standard view from the bus

Ketchikan

I've been trying to wrap my mind around my column today. I had most of it planned out this morning but over my lunch hour I found out about a death in my extended family and haven't been able to think of anything else since. I've been upset for most of the afternoon but I think that writing this would be the best thing for me. I need to take a step out of my own head and do something that would make me happy. But forgive me if this isn't quite as good as it should be. The city was fascinating, my head just isn't there.

The city of Ketchikan

Ketchikan is something of a tourist town but that doesn't mean that it isn't incredibly beautiful. And interesting. The city is currently a fishing port and a lumber city but the history of the city is what kept me interested. After stepping off the boat we were surrounded by the standard port city sights (meaning tourist shop after tourist shop after tourist shop, with a ton of jewelry stores mixed in). But we quickly walked past those and right into a beautiful park. With all the extra sunshine and extra rain, Alaska's flowers are extra beautiful. The park, Whale Park, was an oasis of calm in a sea of knickknacks. But the great thing about it was that it lead us to Creek Street, and that ended up being the most interesting part of the city.

Creek Street

Creek Street is exactly what it sounds like. The street is cut by a creek during low tide and a rushing river during high tide. The creek runs heavily through the city, serving as an outlet for salmon and some of the more questionable elements of the city. Creek Street was the red light district for Ketchikan. It was filled with bars and brothels and I loved every minute of it. We toured Dolly's House, the residence of Ketchikan's most famous madam. This woman was still turning tricks at 70 and was making $75-$100 a day in her prime (at $3 a pop that's a lot of tricks). She even used French silk condoms to decorate her bathroom. As a condom collector, I was in heaven.

Dolly's Condom Flowers

The brothels lead us to the Married Man's Walk, a great hiking trail that climbed up into the mountains behind Ketchikan. It was the path that many of the married men used to visit the red light district secretly, and weaving through the trees and waterfalls, I could see how it would be perfect secret. It was a great way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the tourists. For most of the trail we were completely alone.

Hiking the Married Man's Walk

After hiking we went shopping in a little bookstore where I bought way too many books. Then we headed over to the Great American Lumberjack Show, a must see in Ketchikan. Jeff and I have been fans of the Great Outdoor Games for quite a while so I was pretty excited to see some lumberjacks in action. The show was cheesy and touristy but fun. Jeff took some great pictures. When the show finished it was time to leave Ketchikan. We headed back to the boat and set sail early that afternoon for Juneau. Which will be tomorrow...maybe.

Home Again

Did you miss me? After a week of bumming around Southeast Alaska, we got home yesterday morning. We'd taken the red-eye from Anchorage so I didn't have enough brain power left to write this yesterday. For those of you who didn't know, I just got back from a week long cruise of Alaska's Inside Passage. I was traveling with Jeff, my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my sister and her fiance. So for the next week or so I'll be talking Alaska and salmon and bears and boats.

We sailed out of Vancouver which has to be one of the prettiest cities in the world (it made Forbes top ten actually). We met some old family friends in Vancouver and spent the first day with them wandering through the city and eating way too well (a trend that would continue). Vancouver is a young and very vibrant city. I have to admit that I thought about moving there and still do. A city filled with flowers and promise. Wonderful.

Port of Vancouver

The next day we had breakfast with our friends and then Jeff and I headed for the ship. Our luggage was already handled so we walked down to the harbor. We sailed on the Island Princess, which is one of the oldest boats in Princess's fleet but a beautiful ship. By the end of the first day we had walked every deck and had seen the entire length of the ship. We'd also spent some time checking out the city from the balcony in our stateroom and taken tons of pictures.

Island Princess

I have to start by saying this about Alaska, and even Vancouver; everywhere you looked it was like a postcard. The landscapes were amazing. Everything was picture worthy. And I ended up taking well over 300 pictures.

View from Vancouver Harbor

At 3:45 that afternoon we had our Muster Drill, a safety briefing that all boats are required to do. And at 4:30 we pushed away from dock and set sail. Our group stood on the balconies and talked as the boat sped out of Vancouver Harbor and headed out into the great unknown.

Jeff clowning around after the Muster Drill

My mother had said before that she never wanted to take a cruise. She doesn't swim and isn't a huge fan of boats. But she said that she'd go to Alaska on one, and that is how the trip began. She was okay with an Alaskan cruise because you are almost always in sight of land. And that proved to be the case for the first two days at least. After leaving Vancouver, our next day was a day at sea. I woke up insanely early (stupid time change) and spent most of the morning watching the sunrise and the land go by. I ate too much, read a lot, saw a naturalist talk on whales, and learned one very important fact about speeding boats and Alaska. They are cold. Very cold. Here is your humble narrator dressed up in her typical Alaska costume. Once the boat got going, it was too cold to stand on the balcony without gloves.

It's funny. I hardly took any pictures of the boat this trip, as opposed to our last cruise. The boat was just as beautiful as our previous one but it was well overshadowed by the natural beauty surrounding it. I'll try not to post too many photos but I want you to have an idea of just how incredible Alaska can be.

Lighthouse at Vancouver Harbor

Tomorrow...Ketchikan and the Notorious Creek Street

Sweet Scheduling

First of all I want you to know that I'm a freak when it comes to trips. I love to travel and the excitement of each trip often starts for me the moment I realize that I'm actually going to get to go. That's even before the trip is booked. I plan so far in advance that Jeff is usually tired of hearing about the place by the time we actually get there. I read guidebooks and fiction about the place, scour maps, read website reviews, do Google image searches, and generally about two months out I start a countdown to the beginning of the trip. Did I mention I'm a freak?

So yesterday on my lunch hour I worked out my countdown to this upcoming trip in July. I listed out all the days on an excel spreadsheet until we leave. I then counted the number of days. But that wasn't enough for this one. I highlighted all the days that were weekends for me, so then I counted the number of work days and made that its own column. Workdays tend to go slower than weekend days and practically count double in my book. Then, because I really am a geek, I figured out the workday/weekend day ratio for each of the days. That's when I looked at my schedule and realized something incredible.

I only have one weekend until the beginning of August that is a standard two day weekend. The rest are all three day weekends or more. In fact I only have two full five day weeks until the beginning of August as well. I'm going to forget what a normal schedule feels like, and I'm really excited about that. One of the only bonuses of these stupid furlough days is that I'm taking a lot more three day weekends. Add that to my already odd schedule where every other week I have a Monday off and you get a pretty sweet looking schedule. And all the days off in June and early July are without having to take a single day of vacation. It's a pretty sweet looking schedule.

So I may not actually need this trip to help me relax. I may have a relaxing enough summer without it. But I'm not reading all those guidebooks and plowing through Michener's Alaska for nothing.

Alaskan Goal

As if I wasn't in enough of a hurry to be walking again, I now have a great goal to work towards. My parents are taking an Alaskan cruise in July and have invited us kids. My plan is to go if I'm walking well enough. A cruise is exciting enough but I've always wanted to see Alaska. I simply couldn't pass up the chance to go.

I've been working on rehabilitation for a bit now but I'm doubling my efforts. I do flexion exercises every night for about a half an hour. I'm increasing that to an hour now. I'm putting the suggested amount of weight on my foot so that I don't have as much of a transition once the crutches are gone. I want this recovery to go as smoothly as possible. This is just added incentive.

Jeff won't be going with me on the trip which is a source of guilt and sadness for me. It's been years since I last traveled without him and I'm not completely comfortable with the idea. I'm feeling guilty about the fact that I will have this fantastic experience while he'll miss out. And I'm sad that he won't be with me. I'm sad but not enough that I'm going to pass up a chance to see whales, glaciers, bald eagles, and the beauty that is Alaska. A trip is just what I need to be excited about getting better. I'm already doing research about our ship. And a family trip is even more exciting. If only Jeff were going it would be perfect. Well, that and walking.