Our Travelscapes #4

Hi to all! I certainly intended to write this as soon as we had "disembarked" but it seems that it took me a week to recuperate! And I thought cruises were supposed to be relaxing! Well, before we get into all that, how is everyone out there? Hope you are all enjoying your summers as well. It doesn't seem possible that we are already into August! We boarded the ship... "Mercury" (a Celebrity Cruise line) on Sunday, July 21 in Vancouver, B.C. Instantly we recognized what a gorgeous liner this was. Even as our first cruise ever (except for the very small ship we took down the Yangtze) we can't imagine a ship that had more to offer than this one! I won't bore you with details but I have never experienced such absolute cleanliness and "spit and polish" as I did on this ship. Hotels should make it an example! The food was exemplary (Celebrity has taken many awards for their culinary offerings), and we enjoyed meeting lots of new people especially our nightly dinner partners from Bath, England. We also were very impressed with the outgoing and friendly service staff, most of whom were from various other countries. They spoke English very well and couldn't be nicer. We spent a lot of time talking to our assigned dinner waiters, one from Honduras and one from the Ukraine. They were terrific! The entertainment was better than I ever would have expected and we were busy every day doing one thing or another. Except for two "on ship" days, we disembarked in the towns of Ketchikan, Juneau and Sitka. Now, although this was fun, I have to say for us, having spent the summer of '93 driving all over Alaska (wherever roads were available, that is) these towns were rather a disappointment overall. From Juneau we took an excursion boat to see the wildlife and some of the inland fjord areas. It's always fun to take these side trips but the wildlife we saw was also a bit of a letdown from the extensive sights we saw when driving our RV. We did see eagles, a few whales, seals, sea otters, and sea lions, but they were in small numbers. I guess it would be fair to say that having seen so much in our earlier trip, it was a bit anti-climatic! All in all, the cruise for us was all about the actual "cruise" and not so much about seeing Alaska and that part couldn't have been better. There was one big disappointment, especially for those having never seen Alaska before; that was the day we were scheduled to go up the strait to view the Hubbard Glacier. It was our last stop before the return journey and was considered the highlight of the trip. It was a foggy day, and the closer we got to the area, the worse it got. The captain came on the PA and said we would sit and wait it out for a while hoping for some clearing but unless things improved they would be unable to continue. You literally could not see much beyond the prow of the ship and the ice flows were a concern. About an hour later the captain confirmed that they would not be able to go on any further due to the fog. Even if they had attempted getting closer to the glacier, there was no chance of seeing it!! Many people were quite upset, but certainly it was out of the control of the crew. And according to all the staff, this had NEVER happened before! As could be expected, the next day was beautiful but tight scheduling would not allow another attempt as we were already heading back down the inland passage. It is ironic how small this world really is. The "mate" on the excursion boat which we took out of Juneau was originally from Norwood, MA! AND...his mother still lives there, and rather close to where we were on Westover Parkway! In addition, there were people from Phoenix who also had friends living in Sun Lakes! On our way back to Vancouver two days later, we were at least treated to a nice display by a dozen or more Orcas very close to the ship. We were back in Vancouver the next Sunday afternoon and we drove back to Fidalgo Bay RV resort and settled in to wait for the rest of our friends from AZ. This is a cute little campground directly on a small bay across from the San Juan Islands near Vancouver, BC. Everyone here is big into digging clams and especially gathering Dungeoness crabs which are very plentiful. Everyone has their boiling pots outside hooked up to propane tanks and the smell of shellfish is in the air from morning to night!! It's nothing to see people with their "crackers" and picks making a breakfast of steamers and Dungeoness! Thanks, but I'll have a bagel with cream cheese! Roger is enjoying his share (Thanks to Gary Parsons who has a boat here and several pots out in the bay) but I will stick to the salmon or halibut for my seafood intake. Just can't get a taste for crab or steamers. Sure wish I could mail my share to my boys back home! They would surely make the most of it! Especially Peter, who is unable to enjoy his new boat and wishing for striper this summer since his recent surgery for a fractured femur! He fell and broke his femur the day before Mother's Day but never had the surgery and pins implanted until a few days before we started our cruise. Long story!! Finally after two months, he is showing improvement. Hang in there, Pete!! One of the fun things here in Fidalgo Bay is watching the loons, eagles and especially the sea otters who are often frolicking off the beach. If only the water was warmer, I'd be out there with them! And next week the large group from Sun Lakes will be showing up and I'll have a "quilt" group to collaborate with. So long for now... Dennie and Roger