Grizzly Run

 Oct 7/22

A day after the family celebrated Caro's 65th birthday everyone except Mike and family headed to Canmore.

Vanessa, Nathan and Beckett (with Lucy, their dog) went separately in their own vehicle while Caro, Lisa and I went in Caro's Ford Escape.

We had loaded Lisa's mountain bike on the bike rack with the idea that upon arrival in Canmore we would ride the Legacy bike trail to Banff and back.

I had (earlier in week) pre-booked e-bike rentals for Caro and I. We had never ridden them before so this was a nice experiment.

We received e-bike location and "how-to" instructions via phone calls as the company owner was rushing to Calgary at the same time we arrived in Canmore. His wife had gone into labour and he had left his company sea can open for customers to pick up and return bikes.

The trail ride to Banff was great for Caro and I. The electric motor assist was awesome. Lisa,on the other hand, had a much tougher time with it as her bike is suited for trails and not pavement so needed a lot more energy to ride.

Upon getting to Banff we had some adult beverages and taco snacks and shortly there after were on our way back.

Lisa was really tired, but the e-bikes proved invaluable to Caro and I as we felt great.

We caught up to Vanessa and family, had a Mexican food supper downtime and afterwards met up at the apartment that Nathan had rented from Air bnb. The place was big enough for all of us so we watched this week's "Survivor" episode before later on going to bed.

Aug 20 Arrival back at Vancouver

I was feeling much better in the morning but Caro was tired. Just to be very safe to anybody nearby we stayed masked up the whole day until we got into our car in Edmonton.

Getting off the ship, through customs and over to the metro went smoothly and we were at the airport in plenty of time

Our Westjet flight was delayed one hour but went smoothly. Upon arrival at YEG and retrieving Caro's luggage it was immediately clear the suitcase had had a rough trip

Westjet gave us $150 credit for our account (we accepted that option but the "catch" which they didn't tell us at that time was that the credit has to be used within a year). We also had the choice to pick up another suitcase from their limited selection at the airport however the money option was preferred.

Our car pick up went smoothly and by about 1715 we were home.

The first thing we needed to do was to confirm we didn't have covid as we wanted to see the grandkids. 

Well we "thought" we mght be OK but no, we weren't

So our Alaska adventure continues as we self isolate at home. Vanessa brought us over a couple bags of groceries and we are "facetiming" with everyone to catch upon things

Aug 19 at sea

 Last night was not a good sleep.

With the time change from Alaska to BC time we lost an hour so consequently we ended up sleeping until 0900 (Caro missed her Zumba class!)

Slept on and off all day. This seemed to come on very quickly. I only had a sore throat the day before and nothing serious. No appetite at all today . Left cabin only once and never allowed the cabin steward to come in.

Caro was able to enjoy a normal day but when she came to bed at night she had a sore throat. Hmmmm : (

Aug 18 Ketchikan again

A fabulous day in Ketchikan. We had a good night sleep and we’re able to watch us come into port at about 0930.

By 1030 we were walking around downtown and saw the fifth cruise ship of the day come in. The Alaska cruise ship tourism season is doing just fine!

We went down to the creek and watched the salmon run. We walked up above the fish ladders and then further on city streets until we found a path to the creek itself where we could get up close to see the fish. Caro hated the smell of the rotting fish that didn’t survive the horrendous journey up the water falls (or had spawned already and died naturally) so she went back up to the street. From there we carried on up to the city park ( near the totem pole museum).

Well that is one fish who never got the memo about the fish ladder to its immediate right!

Here is one who made is up to the top!

We then walked back downtown to the Alaska Fish House restaurant for their salmon chowder. Mmmmm good.

By about 1400 we were back on board enjoying the hot tub and later,relaxing.

Supper was at Allegro restaurant (just the two of us)

After supper we went to a magician show followed by a drink at Crooners Bar ( we had earlier spoken to the singer/pianist and he is from Calgary) the Crooners bar show ended at midnigh (!!) but I “manned up “ as Caro wanted to go.

Aug 17 Juneau again

Caro woke up early and watched us dock and then came back to sleep

We slept in to about 0800. After a breakfast in the buffet (as always) we headed off ship in disgusting weather.

We didn’t have much planned for today anyway which is good because the weather got progressively worse and soon there were sheets of rain ( and we didn’t have umbrellas with us).

We went to the city public library to get good wi-fi and caught up with Vanessa and Lisa

After returning to the ship for awhile to dry off we ventured off boat again ( with our umbrellas) and went to Tracy’s Crab shack where we enjoyed a pound of snow crab and some crab cakes. The place is a “must” visit while in town and was very busy

There were two Princess ships, a Holland America, a Viking and Royal Caribbean ships in town today

We watched from our balcony as we undocked and manoeuvered our way out of port about 1715. The weather had cleared up a bit before we left however within minutes we were back in the fog with the ships’ fog horn bellowing.

Aug 16 Haines

We had already docked in Haines when we woke up 0630

The weather looked pretty darn good with a few bits of blue sky so after a nice breakfast we headed off into town to explore. This is a small town so we saw most of it in no time at all. The library opened at 1000 hours and we were there shortly afterward. The wifi was great and we caught up with Lisa ( and Chelada’s recovery from her leg operation). I was able to down load quite a few podcasts so now I am OK for the remainder of the trip. Caro bought a used book there and I gave a donation as a “thank you” for their great wi-fi.

After a lunch we ventured out again but were soon chased back to the ship when the rains came. We picked up an umbrella from Princess and walked back up to the spot that used to a Fort. It is now just an area with old Victorian/Edwardian houses. Beautiful.

Back on board we spent some time in the hot tub speaking with a family from Minnesota and later with a man from Vancouver. He was super interesting as his family was from Iran and had to leave in a panic when the Shah regime collapsed. He had purchased the alcohol package on board and gave us a couple drinks without cost. That sure was a pleasant surprise. He works in IT now and travels a lot with his extended family.

Supper was at a table of eight which,for me,was too many as it was hard to carry on so many conversations. The man beside me was a university instructor ( or professor) who had been to China quite a few times and as well Israel.

Aug 15 Glacier Bay again

We woke up about 0630 just in time to see us enter the channel from the ocean. The weather looked promising with only overcast skies and good visibility however a few miles later we were in the fog again.

We never really watched the “moving” map last week so I found it very interesting to see how many islands, bays and fjords there are in this area as we make our way in.

As we progressed up the channel we were in and out of fog.

Caro spotted three humpbacks as we watched from our balcony sharing our one set of binoculars

Our first glacier was Margerie. The fog cleared just enough for us to see the glacier. Weirdly the Grand Pacific glacier right beside it was completely fogged in.

As we turned around and headed to the Lamplugh and John Hopkins glaciers it began to become clearer as the fog and low clouds lifted up to give us spectacular views ( although not one second of sunshine)

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching for wild life with several sea otters and the colony of Stellar Sea lions seen as we made our way back out of the Glacier Bay National Park.

A bit tough to see but that is a rock full of sea lions

Supper was at the Allegro restaurant followed by 45 minutes in the Vista Lounge listening to a sister/brother violin duet. They are amazing. They play all over the ship but this is the first time we really listened to them.

We also went to the Princess Theatre for the very final production number by the Royal Princess singers and dancers. They are the first group back after Covid and have completed 6 months on board. Some of the group did not come on stage to accept a “thank you” from the cruise director as I imagine they were too upset as they will never be together as a group again.

Well another wonderful day is over.