Although I took this photo in Ketchikan, it really is applicable to ALL of the cities along Alaska’s south coast: Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. If it’s simply cloudy, and not raining heavily, well, that qualifies as a great day.
In Sitka the probability of rain was quite high so we were glad we had opted for a whale watch. Marine life doesn’t care whether it’s raining or not, so we figured we’d get some good viewing.
When I booked, I had NO idea that we were going on a VERY small boat. I THOUGHT it would be like the one in Seward. Nope.
Our vessel could only hold 6 passengers. Okay, maybe that meant we could get closer to the wildlife. Nope again.
I’ll be honest, the marine life viewing was disappointing. These next photos are about as good as it got.
We DID see some sea lions hanging out on a buoy, but the viewing was MUCH better in Seward.
For our last excursion, we chose the sea plane to Misty Fjords National Monument. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans…like women, they sometimes go astray. And THESE women, PLUS their plans did exactly that.
Shortly after I took the photo of her by the “liquid sunshine” sign, Jean tripped, managed to land on her nose, and proceeded to bleed profusely. Fortunately, it happened right next to the ship, so Viking’s excellent staff immediately sprang into action. She was whisked down to the medical center where they quickly staunched the bleeding. Their rapid treatment probably prevented Jean from returning home with a huge black eye.
That meant that I would be “float planing” solo. At least THIS time, I knew what I was getting into. Sorta.
I knew the plane was going to hold no more than 6 passengers, and that it would briefly land somewhere. I just didn’t realize that “somewhere” was on the water, and that we wouldn’t be getting out on land at all!
The waiver I signed before boarding specifically absolved the company of any liability should I fall in. I had thought that applied to getting into and out of the plane at the dock! I didn’t realize there would be OTHER opportunities to fall into the water…without a life jacket…with no life preserver or a potential rescuer any where in sight.
As you can see, there wasn’t much of a margin for error!
But hey, our young female pilot walked what looked like a tightrope to get from one side of the plane to the other. The line is so thin, it’s barely visible in the photo, thus, the red arrows. Those thin boards in yellow and black were the ladder into the plane.
Spoiler alert, I managed to complete the flight without mishap, but you probably already figured that out…otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this blog, right?
The scenery was beautiful, but I have to be honest. It wasn’t as much fun without my buddy by my side.
I’m pleased to say that Jean’s spending the day resting paid off, so we were able to party hearty for the celebratory “next to last night” on the ship.
The last day is spent sailing thru the inside passage to Vancouver, then back to reality.
I’m so glad I was able to make so many wonderful memories with my bestie.
Destination NOW 
Fabulous! You two look great in that last photo. Something tells me that this won’t be your last adventure with Jean. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Janis,
<
div>Internet access was spotty
LikeLike
Paul and I went to Alaska about 25 years ago. Here are a couple of anecdotes I will share with you. After a wonderful tour of Glacier Bay (memorable for the glaciers that were no longer there, but in great fear for people in tiny boats who were too close to calving glaciers for my comfort near the glaciers that were still there) we flew to Juneau where we got an unexpected taste of local concerns. The night we arrived, there was a town hall meeting about concerns about the solid waste that was being dumped into the ocean by the large cruise shops, and the next day one of the ships gave a tour of their up-to-date sanitary facilities for whoever wanted to come. It was impressive. There was a room full of tanks connected to the plumbing, where waste was processed and sanitized. What was immediately obvious in the room was that it looked even cleaner than a hospital operating room. I guess everything was eventually dumped, but the water may have been recycled. So it was heartening to see that the cruise shop companies were paying attention to environmental concerns, but I left with more questions than answers. But it was all so unexpected and a great experience. By the way, the weather was absolutely gorgeous for the 3 days we were there. We did a lot of hiking in the hills and mountains around the city.
It was puzzling to discover that Juneau, which is the capital of Alaska, was at that time totally inaccessible to the rest of the state except by sea and air, and in the days of Sara Palin, I wondered how she got there to do her duties as Governor of the State. Apparently now, according to Google Maps, there is a state highway but it is 24 hours of driving from Wasilla. And a couple more to Anchorage.
We went by train from Anchorage to Denali, which was an exquisite ride. We drove from Anchorage to Seward and took a 3-day cruise of islands in the Gulf, and at one stop for a salmon feast I encountered a woman who lives 2 blocks away from me and who I met frequently at our train station on our way into work, but we never knew each others’ names until that day, after which we became good friends until she passed away from an unfortunate illness. Small world. We laughed a lot about our chance meeting on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean in Alaska.
I look forward to resuming travels in 2025. I look forward to reading your travel reports until then and beyond.
Barbara Schick 221 Welsh Terrace Merion Station PA 19066
610-667-4998 (home) 610-809-6678 (cell) ________________________________
LikeLike
I’ve been impressed with how ecologically aware Viking has been.
They are using technology to cut food waste.
<
div>All the waiters have hand held devices to order the dinners, and somehow th
LikeLike
Wow so many ships. That must make the little towns pretty crowded.
LikeLike
Hi Petra, The other ships were enormous. Ours was the second one from the right. It almost looked like a toy, compared to the others. My photo showed 4 ships in the harbor—there were more! Norwegian Cruise line was docked several miles away, so their customers had to take a bus to get into town for any of the excursions. On the flight over Misty Fjords, I shared the plane with a family of 4 who were cruising with NCL, and they said that there were always long lines to leave the ship. One day they waited I line for 30 minutes before they could get off. I realized that I much prefer the smaller land experiences at this time in my life!
LikeLike
Definitely! Our trip to Alaska was just post Covid. No cruise ships anywhere. We flew into Fairbanks and used the Alaska bus system throughout. It worked well until you tried to get from your accommodations into the towns for dinner or to sight seeing. A lot of the seasonal workers still had not gotten visas and the shortage of shuttle drivers, maids, servers was apparent. Just because the hotel had a Seward address for example it did not mean you were even close to town. It was an adventure for sure.
LikeLike