Skagway: The Fort Lauderdale of Alaska

July 9, 2014July 8, 2014 ~ JodiLea ~ 2 Comments

Day 4 – Skagway (the Fort Lauderdale of Alaska)

WelcomeSigns-Skagway — Hubby and I With Signs

Now I know why the locals call it that. It was an absolutely gorgeous and sunny day. Temps were up in the high 60’s. The bad news was, we had all dressed for Juneau again, so we were over-dressed. Most of us had our jackets tied around our waist.

Our excursion did not leave until 12:30pm. You know what that means – Shopping! Sigh.

So, we walked the long walk down the pier, and into town to do some looking around. Skagway is more of a shopping mall than a town. It is very cleverly decorated to appear like a western turn of the century town – down to the gal waving and flirting as men walked past the saloon.

I expected the place to be full of souvenir shops, but I could not believe the number of diamond jewelry stores. Are there diamonds being mined secretly in Alaska? Did they hear I was coming? The sales people were pushy and that turned me off. Probably not a wise idea to buy diamonds from a tourist trap anyway. They sure were purty* though 😉

Today’s adventure – a train ride up to White Summit and the Yukon. – A replica of the train that took passengers up the steep slopes of Alaska and the Yukon to mine gold. We were not allowed to get off the train, so we would not be doing any hiking or mining for gold. Darn! You can imagine my disappointment. There was no room except a foot or two away from the tracks. The train ride had magnificent views of White Summit. I made the mistake of noticing how high and how many tunnels and bridges we went over. Of course, I held my breath, passing all of those scary things. That made the trip feel even slower.

I could see why the miner’s chose this place – the rivers carrying water, and gold, from the Yukon could be panned almost since water tumbled fast, stirring up soil and rock.

Several sharp turns to travel this route. Seeing the engines way across the mountain was a bit strange. Most people startled when the train jolted and jerked around, so I was not the only chicken on board. (below)

FrontOfTrainFromCar9

Only from this railroad can you see the Bridal Veil Falls. (below) The waterfall cascades 6,000 feet from the glaciers on Mt. Clifford and Mt. Cleveland.

There are 2 tunnels the train goes through. One is maybe 100 yards at the most, the other is quite longer. Anyway, sneaking smooches in the dark was fun. I would recommend this tour for couples, both young and old!

LoveBirdsOnTrain Tip:
You may want to sit behind family members who like to post photos on Facebook.
Just saying…

*Purty, [purr tee] adj. ‘Pretty’ said with a hillbilly accent. From the Dictionary of Words That Should Exist.

Day 3: Hiking In The Rain

July 8, 2014July 7, 2014 ~ JodiLea

Monday, June 30th: Juneau

The adventurers woke up feeling fine and hungry. We met the gang at breakfast and at last were able to eat a full meal ;-).

The ship got into port a little earlier than expected, so we decided to check out the stores in Juneau for a while. Our shore excursion was not until 12:30. Outside is dense fog, gray pea-soup thick fog that makes you want to stay in and read by the fireplace. NOT the kind of weather for hiking and riding trams up mountains, which is exactly what our excursion is.

Unfortunately, the excursion I really wanted was voted down. I wanted to do the dog mushing one. You got to meet the female winner of the Olympic Iditarod competition and learn how to drive a dog sled. You also got to meet the dog teams and play with the puppies. Who would vote down that? My hubbies family, that’s who. I’ll be a sport and go along, even though riding a tram up a steep mountain is not a person afraid of heights’ idea of fun.

[Remind me to tell you about our hot-air balloon adventure sometime…]

Well, the tram ride was nothing scary at all. The hike, however, was not the ‘leisurely walk in the mountains’ that was advertised. I knew I was in trouble when our guide, Betsy, handed out walking sticks. By the time we had hiked up the side of Mount Roberts, my stick was my new best friend. I would not have made it out of there alive without him!

I did not wimp out, and I made it up and back without any side-adventures. I had to take a photo of Juneau from the tram before it began its decent. Why? To show my daughter and granddaughters that Grandma still got gumption. In case they were starting to worry about me.

I was never so happy to hike back down the mountain and get into the crazy tram to get back to the ship! Betsy was a fun and knowledgeable guide. She taught us about the plant life we saw along the way, encouraged us, took us to a place to have all natural ingredient teas and little cookies. We also got a peak at the parks ‘bear cam’ and watched adult grizzlies catching salmon. I love watching grizzlies on TV.

Since it drizzled rain all day, we were tired, hungry and scruffy looking returning to the ship.

I noticed they have a lot of diamond jewelry stores in Juneau. I, luckily, did not have time (or the energy) to shop.

Day 3: Juneau

July 8, 2014July 8, 2014 ~ JodiLea ~ 2 Comments

Monday, June 30th: Juneau
The adventurers woke up feeling fine and hungry. We met the gang at breakfast and at last I was able to eat a full meal ;-).

The ship got into port a little earlier than expected, so we shopped in the stores along the main street. I noticed they have a lot of diamond jewelry stores in Juneau. I, luckily, did not have time to shop. Outside there is dense fog, that gray pea-soup thick fog that makes you want to stay in and read by the fireplace. Sprinkles of rain added to the dreariness of the day. NOT the kind of weather for hiking up mountains, which is exactly what we were going to do today. JuneauFromTram

Unfortunately, the activity I really wanted was voted down. I wanted to do the dog mushing one. You got to meet the female gold medal winner of the Olympic Iditarod competition and learn how to drive a dog sled. You also got to meet the dog teams and play with the puppies. Who would vote down that? My hubbies family, that’s who. I’ll be a sport and go along, even though riding a tram up a steep mountain is not a person afraid of heights’ idea of fun.

[Remind me to tell you about a hot-air balloon adventure sometime in the future…]

Well, the tram ride turned out to be very mild and nothing scary at all. The hike, however, was not the ‘leisurely walk in the mountains’ they advertised. I knew I was in trouble when our guide, Betsy, handed out walking sticks. By the time we had hiked up the side of Mount Roberts, my stick was my new best friend. Too bad I’m not coordinated enough to snap pictures while hiking with a stick…

Betsy was a fun and knowledgeable guide. She taught us about the plant life we saw along the way, encouraged us, took us to a place to have all natural ingredient teas and little cookies. We also got a peek at the parks ‘bear cam’ and watched adult grizzlies catching salmon. I love watching grizzlies – on TV.

I did not flake out, and I made it up and back without any side-adventures. Still, I was happy to hike back down the mountain and get back into the tram.

: Aerial View of Juneau

I took a photo of Juneau from way up high in the tram, before it began its decent. I wanted to prove to my children that Grandmas are tough. It happened to be a magnificent view as well.

We blended in well with the other weary and soggy adventurers returning to the ship.

TTFN,

Jodi