Ketchikan....

First stop of the cruise was Ketchikan. From all weather reports that I looked at, the weather was to be horrid..raining, cloudy, and very cold. We did sail into Ketchikan under drizzly, cloudy skies, but it didn’t seem all that bad.

We woke up to the ships engine not running, and a bit of commotion outside. So Duane goes out onto the balcony in his all togethers and notice that all the lifeboats were being lowered into the water. After he frantically called the front desk, he was informed that the lifeboats were being used to ferry the people to shore as I guess NCL forgot to pay dock fees for the week. After a bit of investigative questioning, and after he found someone that spoke understandable English, it seems that the different cruise lines trade off weeks for dock space. It wasn’t our week…so we had to get into the lifeboats in order to go to shore, and let me tell you..THAT was an experience. A word to all future cruise participants…TAKE HIKING SHOES in case this happens to you. Duane got a bit excited again…thinking we were going to have to don those dang life jackets with the nipple beacon and whistle. I can tell you this…they sure do pack you into those things like sardines.

We make it to shore…and we have a few hours to kill before our excursion begins. Off we go shopping…and what is Alaska known for? Yep…diamonds, gold, and tanzanite. All of these stores offer all kinds of freebies just to get you in, and once in…they start to haggle for prices. Who can offer the best price for what gem….that depends on how bad you want it. So I look around and find the pieces that I kinda want, haggle the price, which was pretty darn good, look around for Duane, because he has the money on him…and where is he? He’s in the t-shirt shop eyeing the most hideous t-shirt you ever laid eyes on. It was of a moose and when I say it was ugly, well, that is an understatement. He ain’t gonna buy it, let alone wear it, and me admitting to knowing him if he did. After persuading him to go back to the jewelry store, we find out that plastic won’t do…they want cash. We are in Alaska. It’s Labor Day. The banks are closed, and they want cash for a $5 trinket. So Duane runs the 3 blocks to the bank, pulls out some cash, hurries back, and buys me this stupid trinket that I want, just so that I can get the free gold chain. What a man!!! LOL

We now hurry to out excursion pick up point, and after waiting for Duane again, because he found it necessary to back to the ship to drop off our purchases, we almost miss our tour, because he has the tickets. We board our bus, and head off to the Lighthouse and Eagle Excursion. In order to get on the boat that will take you on the tour, the bus has to do a bit of 4-wheeling down this dirt path through rainforest. After passing by some pretty run down boats, we came to our boat. Once on the water, we had the time of our lives.

We saw the pulp mills that are now closed, the lumberjacks homes, and then to the much awaited…eagles and their nests. What spectacular sights there were. Some of the nests were 25 feet across. We even saw eagles in flight. One young eaglet was out drying its wings…which I heard was a rare sighting. Some of the homes on the shore line were awesome. There was one house in particular, where the wife saw an article in Better Homes and Gardens about garage doors, so she had one built that was quite huge. Needless to say. The family couldn’t park any of the vehicles in it as there was no way to drive to the front of house…so instead…they have their helicopters housed in there.

We were able to cruise by Guard Island and Gravina Island. The Guard Island Lighthouse was much smaller than I thought, but it was nice none-the-less. We didn’t see any seals, but there was a spotting of an orca, which of course, I missed.

We got to see The Northern Lights last night. It was so spectacular, that words can’t even begin to describe it. I got a few pictures of the moon with its lights on the ocean, (which I will post once I get home).

Ok…off I go to play a few rounds of shuffleboard…chat later….