Blogs from Alaska, United States, North America - page 222

We woke up this morning with the ship in port at Ketchikan (Alaska), a small fishing town that swells massively when, as there was today, 4 cruise ships in town - that’s 8000 more people. The tourist industry just goes bang when this happens. We got a local newspaper that shows on average about 3 ships visit here each day for the next week ! the tourists are so important here, that the town puts out crossing supervisors to stop the traffic, so tourists can safely cross the city streets. It was cloudy and about 15 degrees but otherwise good weather. We just visited shops and walked down all the local streets. The houses are gray, made from weatherboards and not too flash. Most of the town is literally built on the side of a mountain, ... read more

We drove in a full 15 passenger van with 8 people and a lot of stuff! We drove from Skagway to Indian....which is south of Anchorage.....821 miles. It was beautiful and I was giddy...because I was going home....... read more

Due to sunrise at 4:57am, was awoken to the scenery of snow covered mountains west of us and then pine trees nestled below them as if on tiny islands. Our view was the Tongass National Forest and even though the weather was chilly, overcast and rainy, I couldn't sleep now! We docked into Ketchikan around 6:30am and went up to the Horizon Court for a breakfast of hash-browns, strawberry pancakes, pear, scrambled eggs and ham. What a combo! Out on the deck to take pictures, it was very windy and rainy, with the temperature about 43 degrees F. We were ready for our 1st excursion on a chartered bus called the First City Deluxe Tour and our guide was Janelle. The 1st stop being the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. Upon arrival, the place wasn't ready for ... read more

Hey everyone. So classes are finally over for the semester and even though my BioChem grade wasn't as good as I wanted, I'm glad I'm finally done with chemistry...forever!! :) Well, at least for a little while. The weekend after finals, I got the opportunity to go out on a wildlife cruise sponsored by the audobon society. We saw some amazing wildlife including eagles, oyster-catchers, sea lions, humpback whales, and a lot of other species of birds that I'm not that familiar with. When we got out to Berner's Bay, we were in for a real treat as the sea lions started jumping out of the water and then the humpbacks started breaching. It was an amazing experience and a great way to spend the weekend before the tourists take over Juneau! Then yesterday, Ai and ... read more

Dylan and I are settling down now. We are in our second week, and work is going well. They tell me daily how much they appreciate me. If you are interested in where I am and what we are doing, please check out our web site at Frontier Excursions . I am the office manager. We take reservations, dispatch, pay the bills, etc. My friend Linda and four others are driver/guides on the tours. I've visited the local SBC the past two Sunday's. You can check out the information on them at Taiya River . The couple are home missionaries. We have morning service on Sunday and Bible study on Thursday night following a free meal. They are very nice people. I hope to get to know them better. The only problem I have is that ... read more