Yesterday we spent the day in Fairbanks. Kay & I headed for the Riverboat Discovery & the guys rented a car & drove to the hot springs. I enjoyed the riverboat trip much more than I thought I would. It began with a seaplane demonstrating a take off & landing for us. Although we had been around seaplanes several times on this trip, this was the first time it was done just for us & done so close you could really see what happens. The next show was at the Susan Butcher's Trail Breaker Kennel. We learned more about mushing & saw a demonstration. Our final stop of the trip was at an Chena Indian Village, home of the Athabascan Indians. Here we had an opportunity to see how the natives caught & processed their salmon, ... read more

There are only 2 words to describe yesterday's experience, simply amazing! We began the day with a stop at the Denali National Park. We saw a beautifully done video on the ecology of the area. There was also a great display of the history of the park & the animals there. After the visitor's center, we then left on a tour of the park. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! We saw some unbelievable wildlife (No I'm not talking about activity in the back of the bus.) Our viewing included: moose, grizzly bears, a red fox, snowshoe hares, arctic ground squirrels, caribou, wolves, golden eagles. Plus we saw the granddaddy of all things to see, Mt. McKinley. We are now in the 30% club (only 30% of the people that come to Denali actually get to see the mountain ... read more

Yesterday we spent a full day in Anchorage. We ate breakfast at a great little place called The Snow City Cafe. What amazing food! After breakfast, Kay & I were off to the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum and the guys made plans for an extended bike ride. I really enjoyed the aviation museum & Kay was a good sport & didn't complain. They had a nice collection of planes & some helicopters that were part of Alaska's heritage. Lake Hood, in Anchorage, is the largest float plane base in the world. Although we took a cab to get there, we decided to take the bus back to the hotel. We got directions to the bus stop & started on our way. I knew we faced a challenge when we got on the road outside of the ... read more

Yesterday we spent our final day at sea. We sailed through the College Fjord & saw some amazing glaciers. This inlet was found quite by accident. John Muir was leading an expedition in this region of Alaska & the propeller on their ship became damaged & inoperable. While waiting for repair, he led an unplanned expedition by kayak into the area for his fellow naturalists where they discovered the previously undiscovered inlet to College Fjord. So named because he & his fellow travelers named the different glaciers after their Ivy League schools. We have had a wonderful experience cruising on the Coral Princess. Aileen kept our stateroom neat & tidy. Alex, the Headwaiter; Ernesto & Marisca, our Waiters became like family to us. We now begin the land/train leg of our trip. More tomorrow.... read more

Yesterday we went to Skagway. We rode the train from Skagway to White Pass Summit. A 3 hour tour (sounds like Gilligan's Island) on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. The WPYR is a narrow gauge railroad (36" c to c rails) that has both steam & diesel/electric locomotives. A diesel/electric has a diesel engine that powers an electric generator that supplies power to an electric generator to run an electric motor that powers the train (You probably didn't want to know that much about it.) The views along the way were spectacular & we had a great time. When we returned to Skagway, we got dropped off in town (instead of at the ship) & paid a visit to the Red Onion Saloon. It just so happens that Joe knows someone that works at ... read more