Alaska Part 2: "Two if by Sea

Now we are on the Coral Princess Cruise Ship

                                                       

We boarded the ship 

from Whittier

                                                                      This is the beautiful center of the cruise ship

We had a room w/a balcony

Check out that view!

Some of the cities we visited:

Canned Salmon Capital of the world and

Home to the largest collection of totem poles

 

Skagway 

Alaska's first incorporated

city and Gateway to the

Klondike Gold Rush of 1898

Whale Watching Tour Boat

Whale Tail

A group of whales is called a pod or a gam.

Lucky us -

We got to observe a pod of  9 humpback whales

"Bubble Netting" Bubble netting is a cooperative

feeding method used by the humpbacks.

The whales continuously circle around a

school of fish while one dives down under

the fish and exhales through its blowhole

forcing the fish up ward trapping them

in the net of bubbles. Dinner is served!

                                                                       

 

Glacier Bay

Our final stop before flying

home, Vancouver

One if by Land, Two if by Sea

Alaska:
After our RV journey to Utah's National Parks, we took an 11-day cruise to Alaska in mid August with my sister, Sue and brother-in-law, Greg. We flew into Fairbanks and spent the night. Next, we went to Denali - Mt McKinley.                                                                                    

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Mt. McKinley Wilderness Lodge

                             Crazy Smurf Mushrooms

We took a river tour on a paddle boat to a dog sled kennel. Most of the dogs are Alaskan Huskies, bred for strength, speed and endurance. In the late 1800's, Sled dog teams were used for transportation and hauling supplies during the Gold Rush. Today Sled dogs are used to patrol the wilderness and deliver mail and supplies to remote areas. See below

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River Paddle Boat

Dog Sled Kennel  and dogs
     

Dog mushing was designated the official state of Alaska sport in 1972.

Cabin on stilts to protect against weather (snow) and animals.

             Primitive method of drying and smoking salmon for storage.

Baby Moose

              On our Denali bus tour and train ride

         we got to see some Alaskan wildlife.

Mother Moose nearby

Caribou - Look at that rack!

Up next: The Cruise "Two if by Sea"

                                                                                                                          

Time Really Does Fly

Our New Home

Since last I wrote on my blog a lot has happened; We bought a small home in Gilbert, AZ .Settlement was in April 2012. We had a few items in storage back in Asheville, NC  delivered when we got the news that my sister needed surgery for her cancer.





The Carcinoid Cancer specialist was in Louisiana.
We packed up the RV and headed to New Orleans stopping in Dallas to pick up my niece. The surgery went well and Sue came back with us to recuperate for a few weeks. We had just sold our beloved Alfa Gold diesel pusher when we got the call from a friend to come to Texas to manage his RV Park. We left our new home for a year and a half.

Liam

Our dogs Liam and Tazzy were troopers though all this upheaval in their lives. They both love rving and exploring. Unfortunately our handsome Liam passed away at the ripe old age of 15.


Upon our return home, Joe underwent major back surgery to remove a screw that was in his spine from his previous back surgery11years earlier. That surgery lasted over 12 hours. After his recovery, we decided that we wanted to get a smaller RV to escape the Phoenix, AZ summer heat. We searched for nearly a year before we bought a 2008 27 foot Winnebago Aspect with only 18,000 miles on it.

 Our first trip, the summer of 2016 was to Utah. We had no agenda, no time limits. Click on pictures to enlarge.

    

Cliff Palace

Window Rock-Navajo Nation, AZ

Grand Canyon North Rim

Natural Bridges NP

Zion NP

Three Sisters-Monument Valley

 

Grand Canyon North Rim

Arches NP

Natural Bridges NP

Lone Pine, CA

Our Motorcoach at Boulder Creek RV Resort

After a long day in Yosemite & Joe's terrifying treck down the Tioga Pass, we pulled into a great RV park in Lone Pine, CA (Boulder Creek RV Resort - in the middle of nowhere). While Joe set up, I took Tazzy for a walk. As we were walking I noticed a familiar face -  It was Sharon Frank - Remember, she & husband Larry came to visit us at Coyote Valley. Small world!
We left the next morning- we had a deadline to meet - We wanted to visit Evan in Las Vegas before we had to be at Alfateers Service Center for maintenance & upgrades to our motorhome on September 27th,

Sharon on Swing 

Mountain View at Lone Pine, CA

Yosemite

Entering first tunnel

Exiting last tunnel

After leaving Coyote Valley RV Resort, we headed to Yosemite National Park. We set up camp & got a good nights sleep. .                                                                                            
 The next day we were off to Yosemite with the dogs. After going through several tunnels, we finally started descending into the valley

Yosemite Valley

Only bear we saw in Yosemite

When we left Yosemite we decided not to hook up the car until we reached the bottom of the Tioga Pass.  We went from an elevation of over 9000 feet down to 3000 feet. The views were incredible, but I didn't get to take any pictures because I was driving the car. It was a pretty harrowing experience for Joe, driving a 40 foot, 37 thousand pound bus down a steep winding 2-lane road. Joe's knuckles were white by the time he got to the bottom of the pass. We pulled into a cafe to let the breaks and Joe cool down before hooking the car back up & moving on.

More Day Trips



Carmel Breakfast Cafe

Joe Leaning Against Clock Post in Carmel



Some other places we recently visited:

Carmel-By-The-Sea:

We had breakfast at a small cafe called From Scratch before taking a stroll downtown. The road down to the beach is steep & winding
The views are gorgeous!





Natural Bridge



Santa Cruz...again:

We visited Santa Cruz again with friends Sharon & Larry.

The waves were really high! Surfers were out in droves catching some great rides.







Day Trippin'

After 5 days of fun & relaxation, we started our 2 day trek back to Coyote Valley RV Resort (CVR) and get back to work in the cafe. I've been making some wonderful baked goods and breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. We try to take advantage of our days off to explore the Central California area. We've taken day trips to:

Monterey:

Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row Shopping District & these guys remind me of the Tut-Tut's in Thailand.

Moss Landing:

Caught this seal waving to the dogs...

OMG!! The boardwalk is sinking from all that weight of so many seals sunbathing.

Santa Cruz: Downtown Santa Cruz reminds me of Asheville - very eclectic & hippy..ish. Lots of shops, cafes & restaurants.

The beach (aka: Surf City USA) is another story. Its rugged coastline attracts many surfers & there is a memorial plaque near the lighthouse to all the surfers who lost their lives in search of the perfect wave.

Dogs are welcome to play in the water & run on the beach. Our dogs decided to just observe.

Till next time...