Chronic Negress

The Island Princess backed into Whittier last night after a gorgeous trip through the College Fjord. Some of the glaciers in the fjord are named for the Seven Sisters, which we hope is not a comment on women of intellect and frigidity. It rained a bit as it has throughout the trip, but it was fine. I did most of my packing between cups of tea and a lime ginger salt glow exfoliation with upper body massage. I spent my last meal in the Bayou Cafe which received two major thumbs up for the crawfish bisque, and a neutral for a grass-fed Porterhouse that was a bit chewy. Right now I’m in the Anchorage airport and am still drying out from a morning of kayaking in Prince William Sound. The aftermath of the Valdez spill is barely visible. We saw one playful seal, one marmot (a sort of rodenty thing) and thousands of birds nesting on the rock around the Sound. I loved kayaking and hope to do it more. There’s a one way tunnel out of Whittier to the highway to Anchorage where you wait until it’s your turn to go in your direction. I was able to get out of my wet stuff at the convention center, which is sort of a holding pen for pre- and post-cruise passengers. I came to the airport for Internet access and something else to do besides watch people stare forlornly at their hand luggage.

Even with rain most of the time, Alaska’s beauty cannot be denied and I will miss these low 60s in August in Jersey City. However, being away from the Tour de France and the day to day downs and downs of the Astros has been a bit of a challenge.

Alcohol observations: For those of you adept at the 12 steps, skip over this. One aspect of life in the Upper One (as opposed to the lower 48) I became fond of was the Juneau-brewed Alaskan beers. I am drinking the last Summer Ale available in the airport boite, and also enjoyed the Amber and Pale Ales. Alaska makes wine, but I was not feeling that spiritually wed to my travel globally, drink locally beliefs.

Anyway, the ale is gone and I will move on to other things. it’s been a great trip and many thanks to Cheryl, Stephanie, Debbie, Ken, Rachel and my fellow SABr members for adding some unalloyed delight to the trip.

Our shipboard newsletter said we would enter Glacier Bay at about 6 a.m. Some passengers got up then to find nothing but mist and the bottoms of mountains. By about 8:30, the mist had receded and we were nearing the first glacier. I was parked on the elliptical trainer, determined to maintain my goal of not gaining weight on this trip. While I was cranking up my heart rate, more breathtaking mountains floated by. In this case, breathtaking was the word as my heart rate ran past 150. Good workout, visually and cardio wise.

After a much-needed shower, I went back on deck as other glaciers and geological features came into view. I snapped a few pictures from my balcony and was pleased to find out from ship staff that we would turn around so the views that were starboard coming in would be port going out. That way nobody missed anything.

Fueled by tea, I went up to the very front of the ship to snap some pics of the glacier face. Occasionally, you can see pieces of ice fall into the bay from the front of the glacier. Birds will rest on some of the larger chunks, and they also perch on the ship railing. A gull with a bright red spot on its bill landed two staterooms over and sat there looking at us for a while. We were under strict orders not to feed the gulls, but some people don’t listen. I was not one of those people.

As for continued vacation pampering, I bought some spendy (an Alaskan synonym for pricey) face goo after I had a facial yesterday. Pedicure is slated for this afternoon. Although I am having a splendid time, I thought today was our last day on board before disembarking in Whittier. Luckily, there is one more day to figure out how to pack some of this stuff up.

Most of my time in tiny Skagway has been spent bouncing from Internet site to Internet site, but with any luck, this will work. Skagway is home to about 800 souls year-round. Add to that 400,000 cruise ship passengers, and you have a rustic town with some fine spots for coffee, food and the usual Alaska stuff – T-shirts activated by sunlight, fleece, fur, jewels, and variations on moose carvings and other stuff you need to dust. We’re lucky because only one other ship is in port with us. In Juneau, there were more people and more stores and salmon at every turn. We ate grilled salmon at an all you can eat salmon bake accompanied by a youthful string band who did a nice version of “Ashokan Farewell.” And first-rate blueberry cake and corn bread. Before that, the saltwater aquarium at the hatchery introduced the other sea life besides the edible stuff – starfish, sea cucumbers, flounder, crabs and fleshy, feathery animals that are rooted to the ocean floor. Before the hatchery, we saw the Mendenhall Glacier. I’ll post the photos later, but it’s extraordinary and is now retreating at 200 feet a year instead of 60, evidence of global warming for sure. There’s a waterfall next to the glacier, and those are pretty common here. In fact, we passed a couple and saw some on the Summit ride, which was cut short by fog. No matter, the falls and this odd, lunar-like landscape dotted with dwarf pines, small ponds and scaly rocks were worth the trip. Biggest highlight in the wildlife division was last night’s whale watch off Juneau. Besides sea lions resting on the buoy, we saw several humpbacks, including one lunge feeding (I missed that) and several flukes, or tails. The tails are three feet longer than your average compact pickup. I ended the night with a local beer in my stateroom, watching “Syriana” and a Law and Order rerun. Some things don’t change.