Spontaneity!  That is the joy of RVing.  We changed our plans.  After figuring different scenarios until late in the night, I decided the simplest solution was to cancel the itinerary for the non-See Alaska pass.  Although I want the kids to see the inside passage, I felt that the difficulty of the entire planning of that trip was a sign that maybe we should consider other options.

We arrived that morning at the Haines Ferry where Fuzzy was a tremendous help in talking with the head of the ferry system and I again talked with the Alaska Visitor’s Center.  I was assured the itinerary was cancelled as requested, but I’ve yet to confirm that the various parties got it worked out.

I bought a completely separate ticket to Skagway to keep the transactions separate.  We loaded the RV as originally scheduled.  The ferry was huge, as big as a cruise ship.  A Naturalist gave a presentation in the forward lounge on the Chilkoot Trail and Skagway.  There was a darkened quiet “recliner lounge” for folks who wanted to nap.  A gift shop, cafeteria, solarium with lounge chairs, and some cabins with tidy linens on the beds were fun to explore.  I definitely think the ferry would be a fun way to travel.  The hour trip between Haines and Skagway was just too short- we were grateful not to have to drive it.  When the ferry docked, we went down to the “car deck” and got in the RV.  When they signaled, we started the engine and drove it off the ramp as directed.  Very cool!

We enjoyed Skagway:  we saw the movie in the National Parks Service Visitor’s Center, the museum next door, visited the local grocery store, and walked the town probably three times before deciding that we really had seen about everything.  It was pulsing with the crowds of 4 cruise ships and we were somewhat relieved to hop in Ciao Baby and pull out of town.

The ride over the White Pass, along the railroad track where the train still goes on daily tours, was stunningly beautiful.  The clouds and rain cleared as we headed north, a good sign we thought. 

We chatted with the nice agent at the Canadian border, who assured us that the Cassier Highway is a beautiful alternative to the already-traveled Alaska Highway, on our trip south through British Columbia.

We arrived in Carcross (short for Carribou Crossing) where the gas station had a sign on the gas tanks:  “No gas until Tuesday.”  Although we had half a tank of gas, the stations can be 100+ miles apart and there’s no assurance that the place will be open or have gas upon arrival.  It was late so we spent the night at a lovely Yukon Campground ($12) in town. 

Happy Birthday to my brother, Charles!  Sorry we didn’t have cell phone to call and sing to you.

So Bernie & I went for breakfast early to avoid the crowd at the Horizon Court; like 6am and actually we did avoid it for the most part. I also saw 2 women that had the same pink jacket that I bought in Juneau. We went off the ship and into the rain; this was becoming too usual by now, and did the White Pass Summit Excursion a 3 hour, 40 mile round trip that took us to the Canadian border. White Pass is a mountain pass that goes through the Coast Mountains and was used by prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush in1897. The railroad was built in1898. The higher we went, the more scenic it got; from green leaves to snow covering everything! An Australian lady standing up the entire time looking out the window exclaimed "There's a Polar bear, I saw a Polar Bear!" and a young Frenchman said he agreed with her! WHAT! I beg to differ; we're north but we're not THAT much north! I know about global warming & such but this is just a bit crazy! No one else saw the supposed polar bear (including us). Then, on the way down, she saw a brown bear which no one else saw. Wishful thinking I guess. Heck I wanted to see bears too, but I'm not going to lie about it! We did not get off the train, just stopped at the top and switched sides with the people across from us, (for a change of scenery) and flipped the seats! How cool was that! This area had about a foot of snow and flags to show it was a border crossing and we were at 2,865 foot elevation.  Back down we went and the scenery went from snow to green again. This time that same lady saw a brown bear, which again no one else saw! It started raining again when we got back into Skagway, so we didn't get off in town & went back to the ship instead.
I had to try the pizza so I got the special of the day, that included tuna, bell peppers & onions and was delicious! AT 2pm, we had a Glacier Discovery by Helicopter tour, to which I was very excited about. We were to take a 40 minute helicopter ride above glaciers and then land and walk on aglacier for 40 minutes! We were transferred to the helicopter pad, took our weight, which was the worst part! Then we had to put on glacier boots and a life jacket. After getting transferred to the helicopter pad, we were not allowed to take any bags on the flight itself and even cameras had to come out of their cases. I could see why after putting on the required life jacket and getting into the copter. It was a very tight fit! We also had to don "glacier boots". We were divided into groups of 6 and Bernie & I (numbers 3 & 4) got to sit in front with the pilot! Up in the air, we saw our cruise ship below and then more fog and rain. Soon we saw the lead helicopter coming back our way, which meant he couldn't land! Then our pilot informed us we would be going back to the pad because of the decreased visibility. I was surprised we even took off because of it. We were in the air for a total of 20 minutes and because of this we were NOT charged for any portion of the flight! After hearing a woman complaining, "I'm not paying $300 for 20 minutes" the man said we would be getting a FULL refund! I couldn't believe it! We went back a little disappointed but glad we would be refunded and actually got a free helicopter ride! I suppose a little of "the best of both worlds?"

We got to go to tea time at 4pm and attended a talk called "North to Alaska". Dinner was good with me getting crab cakes for an appetizer, caribou soup and an entree of grilled halibut in lemon sauce with broccoli and rice. The blackberry sorbet desert was also tasty. Since there wasn't any shows we wanted to see, we decided to wash clothes & Bernie inadvertently washed her passport! Luckily all pages stayed intact! It was bent and out of shape but still readable.

We went on the "White Pass" scenic railway. It was a 3 hour journey. The scenery was breathtaking!

This is the most amazing thing you could do in Alaska. A train ride, way up into the mountains. There are a few scary points, from an old wooden bridge, to a long, dark tunnel. But well worth it. It ends at the border of Canada, as you cannot go any further, and then you turn around and go back down. While up in the mountains, there are lots of little glaciers, as even bigger ones. It's beautiful, the scenary is amazing! Do this!

We walked outside, and we waited for awhile because the people who were supposed to take us rockclimbing weren't there yet.  They came in about five minutes, I didn't mind because the scenery was gorgeous!  They were both really cute, haha! So then we got in the little van, it wasn't a bus like gold mining.  There was a man, and another family with us.  We drove through the town, it was a very western town, like the towns you see in the old cowboy movies.  I could just picture there being a mid-western hoedown?. But then we drove through that little part and we saw normal houses.  When we got to the little road to where we were going, there was beautiful scenery.  The mountians were soooo pretty, oh my god, it was like breath taking.  We pulled off to the side to look at these one mountians.  Then we pulled over again, this time we got out to the site where we were rockclimbing.  I thought they were kidding because I didn't see any signs.  If you didn't have a guide, you would've never guessed there was rock climbing there.  We took a little teeny tiny hike to where the rocks were.  Like in the zip line, our helmets were waiting on benches.  The got us geared up: shoes, harnesses, and helmets.  There were a lot of sections we could choose from, ranging on expierence.  I never did anything like that before (except for like six flags) so I went to the little one.  Everyone went before me.  There was this one little girl from the family that was with us was wearing a skirt, she was a soldier because she went.  She got a little scrapped up.  I went, I was really scared because I didn't trust my instructor yet.  I got to the top rather quickly, and you know I let out a loud scream.  The scenery was so pretty.  I got down, which was the scary part.  I decieded the next one to go on, I wanted it to be a little bit more challegning and longer.  So I went to the rock thing that was about 4 down from the other one I went on.  I did okay, there was this little hole in the wall that I got myself into.  So then I had to get out.  The guy wasn't really watching me, when I looked down.  That one was more fun then the other one.  I got to the top but I couldn't reach the chain, then I just jumped to get it.  He wouldn't let me down if I didn't touch the chain!  So then getting down scared me, but then I got used to it so I hopped down which was fun.  I was the last one in our group, now it was time to get repelling.  We took a hike, it wasn't bad.  It was longer and more challeging then the last one though.  It was really nice, we hopped over trees, climbed over the tree, climbed up muddy areas.  Then we got to the top which was gorgeous! It was so pretty.  So then it was my turn to go down. Oh my god.. I WAS SO SCARED! The person who let me down was Adam, he was so cute!! So then I was so scared just to look down. I can't tell you how scared I was in words.  He strapped me in and told me to put my ankles over the ledge! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! It was soooo scary.  I was about to cry.  So then I did it.  He told me to look in his eyes, and he said that he has me. Hahah.  I went down, again, I got used to it and hopped down.  It was fun.  I wish that we could've stayed there longer.  It was very fun.  We got down.  And Adam put on a giant book bag, and I asked him what was in it, he started shaking it and saying, bookbag? No books. It was funny.  As we walked down the trail I fould out that he is originally from Phoenix, Arizona.  He's so cute.  I said, "Real land!" when I saw the parking lot, we were on real land in the woods.  Wow blonde moment.  So then we got into the car and went home.  I was talking to Norma and I was telling her that I thought people would be living in log cabins, and she thought they were going to be living in igloos, and the guides just laughed at us.  It was true though.  We got back to the boat, and everyone left us to go to town.  From the port to walk to town, it was kind of lengthy, but we enjoyed it, we just followed the train tracks.  The shops were typical and normal: souveniers, and of course, jewelry shops.  We learned that the red painted houses used to be whore houses.  All the shops that look old are owned by the government, the rent them out, and they deciede what color, font, it should have, weird right.  There were horses with carriges around. It was cute, very western feel.  We walked around that that was it, we went home.  It was beautiful there!

As the title, I feel so comfortable staying there. I like the breakfast buffet, the Alaska King Crab Platter, the smoked chicken salad, the salmon, the stuffed chicken, ... just everything.

Our third stop on the cruise. To tell you the truth, I don't remember what we did here. When I remember, I will update.

So, annoyed with my bad memory, I asked my aunt what we did when we were in Skagway.

 A HAH! Now I remember! Since this is an old gold rush town, we went to visit the Klondike Gold Rush Historical Park, which was right by the dock.  Here they talked about their history and ran films about the gold rush. That was kind - of interesting but even better was the Bernard Moore House and Cabin. You can walk there from the museum. This is an house from 1887 when the Moores founded the town. They kept the house with furnishing depicting the life during the gold rush.

The town also has many glacier trails including, Dewey Lakes Trail. Most of the trail we were told were pretty difficult, so we just stayed and explored the town.

Hi, all!

Today has gone by really fast and I (Lori) have little time to enter this blog, so put on your seatbelts and read on!

I slept in while Deb and LIz went to breakfast.  Then we all went to our excrusion for the day ... "Salmon Bake and Gold Rush Trail Camp" (or something like that).  They had a little show with an old trail camp type song (Clementine) and then did a very humorous recitation of a Robert Service (sp?) poem.  We then ate ... I ate delicious salmon and they chose the baked chicken breat.  The baked beans and cole slaw were really good.  They then gave us a mini lesson on panning for gold, handed us our pans (each guaranteed to have "gold" in it ... they were really tiny flakes - two or three - but it was fun nonetheless.)

We also shopped a little (Liz is a BUYING MACHINE, I tell ya!)  :)  Mom Mira, Lizzie wanted me to tell you she found and bought FOUR lladro's for herself ... they're very nice!  Deb told me to tell everyone that we're picking on her too much (as she's been the "butt" of some jokes ... sorry, .... couldn't avoid the pun) ... but I think we ALL have had our persecutions in the teasing realm ... we're all getting along famously, though, and really enjoying our time together!  My family: i spoke to some of you on the phone today ... hope to do so more tomorrow.

We are in Ketchikan tomorrow.  Looking forward to the "Hoonah sightseeing" thingie.

Well, I HAVE to run ... fancy dinner in just 15 minutes and I still have to finish getting ready.

Ta-ta for now (TTFN)  :)

There are people who don't think much of Skagway, but I liked it. The place has an old world feel about it that I relly enjoyed. I like nostalgia. Skagway is the port for the Inside Passage Ferries. There's a train there that shows how in years gone by how snow was removed from the railway lines by using a rotary snowplow attachment on the front of the train. Pretty impressive and ingenious if you ask me. We were shown along our route how the guys that built the railways had burrowed a spiral path through a rocky mountain. Truly amazing workmanship & engineering feat.

Skagway has some nice old buildings and plently of souvenir shops to wander through. I really felt like I was back in time. Aboard the "Columbia" we boarded ready for our cruise along the Inside Passage to Vancouver. We slept on the deck under powerful heaters. It was a pleasant cruise with some great scenery and nice stopovers.

I loved this small town (regular population of 800, it more than triples when the cruise ships are in port).   The buildings are quaint.  The main street is well-maintained.  It is another area that is small enough for us to explore on foot although taxis are available, and any movement outside of town limits needs more transportation than human.  We had the joy of taking a tour through the cruise company, To the Summit.  In a group of about 20 we rode in a van to a point just short of the Canadian border.  We headed up into the mountains, viewed plains between the heights, basked by a waterfall.  On the opposite side of the gorge, a historic train tour followed the same route but our journey was completed in half the time.  We used the extra time to browse the shops and pick up some souvenirs.  I also visited my northernmost national park/memorial at the site recognizing the Klondike Gold Rush.

From Princess Cruise Lines Shore Excusion Brochure which I found to be highly accurate. Take an unforgettable journey aboard the "Scenic Railway of the World" to the White Pass summit. Fully narrated, The White Pass and Yukon Route is unlike any other railroad. Against all odds, the iron trail was carved through some of the North's most rugged terrain in 1898. This engineering wonder climbs nearly 3,000 feet over 20 miles of steep grades and cliff-hanging turns. Relax in old-fashioned parlor cars as your train agent retraces the original route to the White Pass Summit, passing Bridal Veil Falls, Inspiration Point and Dead Horse Gulch. Enjoy a breathtaking panorama of mountains, glaciers, gorges, waterfalls, tunnels, trestles and historic sites. See the original Klondike Trail of 1898 worn into the rocks, a permanent tribute to the thousands of souls who passed this way in search of fortune.

The White Pass & Yukon Route was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1994. This is an honor shared by only 36 world civil engineering marvels such as the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and the Panama Canal. (FROM THE ONBOARD MAGAZINE) Having just rode it from Skagway, Alaska to White Pass Smmmit and back I can certainly see why. Absolutely amazing that this route and railroad were constructed in 1898. The scenery up to White Pass is nothing short of awesome and breathtaking. All of us on the train just gasped at the beauty. White Pass Summit is 2,865 feet above sea level and is on the United States/Canadian (Alaska/British Columbia) border.

The following morning found us in Skagway, which was my favourite of the stops that we made.  It was THE gold rush town where everyone would come ready to head to Dawson City in search of Gold.  Dyea and the Chilkoot trail were the most popular and quickest way over the mountains into the Yukon.  We rented a car there and drove to Dyea.  The scenery was beautiful; mountains, lakes, fields of wild flowers! 

We followed these old winding dirt roads and ended up at the “Slide Cemetery”.  It was in the middle of the forest at the base of the mountains and when you stumble onto the actual cemetery its absolute silence is almost spooky.  A snow slide on April 2, 1898 killed many of the men along the trail.  Some were frozen solid in a running stance. 

 Our next stop was the trailhead at the beginning of the Chilkoot Pass.  It was fascinating.  The stairs were rocks cut into the very side of the mountain heading steeply up, up and away.  We climbed them for a bit and then stopped at a landing where hikers must register in a logbook.  You could just imagine all the men climbing along this same trail a hundred years ago in search of their fortunes.