North to Alaska, Part 5 (Last)

So if you are tired of reading about our travels, you are in luck, because this is the last episode regarding our trip to Alaska. And actually, this is about Vancouver, because after leaving Ketchikan, we had one nice day at sea passing through the inside passage on our way to Vancouver. When we arrived in Vancouver, the sun was shining and it was early in the day. Since we couldn't check into our hotel right away, we checked our bags and set out to explore the city. The hotel is right next to the cruise ship terminal, so everything was very convenient. We walked along the seawall west toward Stanley Park. Along the way, there were lots of flowers and works of art, including this piece from the 2010 Winter Olympics that you may recognize.

This is "Digital Orca", though I thought it might have been called "Legos Orca."

This one was called "Pillows", appropriately enough.

Here are some houseboat residences.

Kathie took this one. She wanted me to look relaxed. Ever since I retired, the only thing I am is relaxed (well mostly).

Does anyone know what this plant is called (the one with the green flowers in the back)?

This is called "The Meeting", and it first appeared at a G8 summit.

At Stanley Park, which is about 900 acres of old growth forest and which is named for the same Stanley after whom the Stanley Cup in hockey is named, we decided to take a horse-drawn carriage ride to tour the park.

Downtown Vancouver is across the bay. Our hotel is at the left.

One part of the park featured these various totems.

There is our cruise ship across the bay, filling up with the next group of passengers and preparing to head back north to Alaska (is that song out of your heads yet?).

Vancouver asked Copenhagen for permission to duplicate the Little Mermaid statue, but permission was not given. So, Vancouver created a young woman in nearly the same pose but outfitted in a wet suit with fins and a face mask.

The Vancouver Aquarium is in Stanley Park, and we purchased tickets to see it along with our carriage ride. The aquarium was very interesting. Here are some beluga whales.

And a cute sea otter, who kept rubbing his eyes.

And some white-sided dolphins.

I had a wonderful breakfast the next morning layered as follows: hash browns, salmon, scrambled eggs, hollandaise sauce, and asparagus spears with chives and capers.

We visited Chinatown the next morning.

There we enjoyed the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen park and garden.

This is a steam powered clock, believe it or not. Photographs of it are evidently a must. The clock is in a part of Vancouver called Gastown, where we found a great microbrewery and restaurant.

We passed this homeless person several times while coming and going through Gastown. He and his dog were very tightly bonded, and they made an interesting study. Yes, I gave him a donation for allowing me to take his picture.

The next morning, we visited the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Of all the museums we visited during our trip, this was my favorite. The collection was clearly organized both for the public and for scholars.

Our last afternoon in Vancouver was spent at the Capilano Suspension Bridge which sits 250 or so feet above a river. It is a little spooky to cross, but the trip is worth it. On the opposite side was an old growth forest more than 2000 years old.

By the way, I asked one of the attendants if anyone every freezes up in panic part way across. She said yes, about twice a week. They have a process for going out to rescue them.

The floor of the old growth forest was fascinating in and of itself.

But the trees were astounding, especially for someone who appreciates wood as much as I do. There were western red cedars, douglas fir, and other trees that were simply immense and very, very old.

They had built a set of platforms and suspended bridges about 50 feet above the forest floor, so that you could experience the trees and the forest in quite an intimate way. The platforms had been fastened to the trees with collars that could be adjusted as the trees grow, so that the trees were not harmed.

Here you can see the river far below the suspension bridge.

I've always been fascinated by the RCMP, so I could not resist this picture. We later found an RCMP shop where we could purchase souvenirs.

Our last day in Vancouver was also my birthday, so my best gal took me to a very, very nice restaurant called the Blue Water Cafe, where I feasted on fresh oysters on the half shell and one more great salmon dinner. Being 67 isn't so bad!

That's it! No more stories about our trip to Alaska and Vancouver.

North to Alaska, Part 4

Our travels next took us to Juneau and Ketchikan. Here is the scene in Juneau while we waited for our shore tour, which was a whale-watching expedition.

Evidently, Hawaii is a favorite vacation spot for folks from Alaska. We saw quite a few places that featured items from Hawaii, although few as distinctive as this one, which was directly across the street from our docked ship.

My kids and I had gone whale watching together years ago off the coast of California near Ventura, but this was a first for Kathie. Whales fill the bays and fjords along the Alaska coast and can easily be seen feeding. We were told that they don't breach as much as they do when they migrate, but they frequently came up to blow and to dive again for food.

Kathie caught one blowing and diving in this little video.

Each whale has a distinctive fluke, so individuals can be identified. This display was aboard our tour boat showing the individuals in the region, but I think you have to be a better trained observer than we are to work out the details.

As everywhere else, the nearby scenery was spectacular. A bald eagle and a group of harbor seals enjoyed the scenery from this marker buoy.

On the way back from the whale watching, we stopped at the Mendenhall Glacier, which is in the Tongass National Forest. You can read more here, if you wish. Since the mid-1700s, the glacier has retreated almost 2.5 miles.

Kathie took this picture of the daily piece of ice they bring down from the glacier for visitors to experience up close. This is one very, very old piece of ice, and its clarity and bubble-filled appearance was quite interesting.

Ketchikan, like Haines two days prior, was a colorful, seaside community nestled in a true rain forest. Rain occurs there about 300 days per year, and we experienced some of it, though it seems to be almost a more misty, drizzly, constant rain than any kind of downpour. Everything was lush and green.

In the morning, we visited a local museum and did some shopping in the city.

Later, we took a tour to learn about crabbing. At the spot where we saw the crab pots (see below), we also saw evidence of a lumbering business.

We watched as crab pots were pulled from the water. Each one had some type of bait fish in it—this one with a salmon head.

Inside were two trapped dungeness crabs. Our guide showed us how to differentiate between males (which can be kept) and females. They must also be of a certain size (I recall 9" or more) across the carapace.

After the tour, we were treated to an all-you-can-eat crab feast. The crab and the companion dishes were all outstanding. Fresh crab is sensational and is one of Kathie's favorite foods, as you can see below. Actually, no, the pile of shells is not all her doing. There were four of us at the table. Each table had been challenged to create the tallest possible pile, and cheating was encouraged. We didn't come close to winning, though. But, yum, it was fun trying.