Home Alone, Part Three

Ok, where did I leave off on my travelogue?  We went to Ketchikan and Juneau, so Skagway is next.

The town of Skagway felt much more authentic to me.  A tourist town, to be sure, but I could picture it without the throngs, just the residents going about their business. A small town with a port, and a profitable season when everyone makes their yearly income.  We walked on some back streets and it had a familiarity to it, it felt like other small western towns that I have lived in.  Just a lot busier when a ship is in.  Or three of the behemoths.

So, let's do a head count.  Me, Carolyn and Donna (the Irish girls) are all still healthy and uninjured.  Lisa (dialysis pt) is ill and the fever of yesterday has turned into bad bowels today, plus she is just weak, so she's not going on the excursion.  KA wants to go but waffles about whether or not she can manage with the knee bandaged and using a cane.  There would be a walk to the train station. 

The excursion was a train ride up the mountains.  Wow.  If any of you are train enthusiasts, you should look it up.  The train itself was cool.  If you are a history buff, wow.  The White Pass has a vivid history from the Gold Rush, and Skagway was quite the place.  Before the railroad was put in, supplies were carried up a trail, literally a trail - a footpath, through the mountains on the way to the gold fields.  The international boundary is at the top of the pass and the Mounties wouldn't let anyone in unless they had a complete set of supplies, as listed by them.  It was a ton, in fact, of supplies.  And people carried this ton of supplies in backpacks and on horses up the path to the checkpoint and thence onward.  Well, it took many trips to get it all up, and thievery was the mode of the day so people had to work together to protect their stuff at both spots while ferrying it inland. 

Well, it's an amazing and bizarre and horrible history, if you like to read about that kind of thing.

The town is like any in southeast Alaska, perched on the edge of the water with mountains towering behind.  Even though it was August, it felt like autumn was just around the corner.  But, the weather was perfect - crisp clean air, bright sun with some warmth, passing clouds, temperature around 68 or 70f.  Somehow I managed to avoid taking any pictures of the town.  You'll have to Google that if you are interested.  :-)

But, I took quite a few along the train ride.  Here's a selection.

These are the mountains at the edge of the town.  It pretty much goes straight up in every direction.
There is a river, the Skagway River natch, that has a pretty good volume of water but is unnavigable by even kayak, canoe or raft.  It's simply too steep and rocky and bouldery and full of scary churning water pits.  It's straight down from the train here.

Sorry.  Extremely poor photo quality.

Here is the Trail of 98, where perished many humans and horses.  Look how small it is!  It's like a goat track!

The trail closed when the train went in.  There are a couple of groups interested in reopening the trail as a hiking trail.  I'm surprised it hasn't been reopened already.  Serious hiking, though, not a stroll.

Here is an older, abandoned train bridge.  The route was moved up this canyon and a new bridge built.  Presumably safer.  Lol.

And, here's the top!  The top of the White Pass!

From here, prospectors continued to the gold fields, crossing that little dogleg of British Columbia and into the Yukon Territory.  This is the Mounties' station at the border.  Four of them lived there!  In that wee cabin!  (I'm thinking Brokeback Mountain, you?) 

The flags here at the international boundary are the two national flags each on their side of the line, and the flags of Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon Territory in the middle.  Nice of them to include the Yukon, I think, even though the boundary is in BC.  But, that's Canada -- just being nice.

The train ride was spectacular, really beautiful, and a fun way to see a lot of the mountains.  Look across at this mountain.  That's another train ahead of us on the line. 

Amazing.

When we got back to the town, we bought some souvenirs and whatnot and got a coffee.  The Irish girls were going to walk up the river and see the salmon.  I was headed back to check on the sick bay.  The way back included crossing a creek that was absolutely teeming with salmon.  There was a little rocky section that they were jumping over and then up, up, up the stream.  There was no stretch of water without several fish in it.  Sorry, I couldn't get a picture... the dappled light, the reflection on the water, the silvery fish.  No.  No photo.

I got back to the room, and only Lisa was there.  KA had managed to get herself out, but had missed the train.  Turns out that she found a bus excursion that went up the 'new' highway and into Carcross, YT.  She was quite chuffed with herself! 

The next day was all at sea.  I'm pretty sure nothing dramatic happened.

Our last port of call was Victoria, BC.  We ALL made it off the ship!  We took a shuttle into downtown and had drinks at the Empress.  Not tea, mind you, but drinks in the bar.  It was absolutely lovely.  There was a young woman playing the guitar and singing - lovely voice and the perfect volume.  Not too loud.  The service was impeccable.  Here's KA's gin and tonic:

So pretty!  And, healthy with that wedge of grapefruit!  Lol.

We walked around, went in some shops, listened to some buskers, relaxed.  It was nice!  When evening began to fall, Lisa, KA and I headed back.  The Irish Girls wanted to check out some night life.  When we got back to the ship, we had to show our passport to get on the dock.  KA and I asked if we could get our passports stamped.  You have to insist these days!  The guy at the desk quizzed us.  He made KA list at least 3 provinces and I had to name a famous Canadian.  We insisted that the quiz wasn't hard enough!  (For the record, I started with kd lang, since she lives in Portland. Nice tie in, I thought.)

Our final dinner on the ship.

We docked the next morning in Seattle.  Spent one more night together before the Irish Girls were headed back to Canada and then home.

Here we are wearing our team shirts.  Just for fun!

This concludes the cruise ship portion of the travelogue.  There was a little more argy-bargy, in fact, but I'll save that for another time, shall I?

Cheers!

Home Alone, Part One

Well, my dears, it didn't go as expected.

Expectations are tricky things.  There were five of us, each with a picture in her mind of how the trip would be.  I'm absolutely certain that no one's expectations were met.

The good things: I didn't get seasick for even a minute.  I would have had we been in a room lower down, where two of our friends' quarters were.  Their room was on the third level (deck, I guess), and the window looked right out on the swirling sea.  I could not look at it without feeling queasy.  So, I avoided the seasickness by being up above the sea.  Hooray for deck 8!

Also, the ship didn't sink, or lose power, or suffer any other mechanical problem.  And, happily, not a one of us came down with a norovirus.  So, I'm chalking all of those things up in the Win column.  We need that.

What really went down?  How much time do you have?

Lisa (she of the kidney disease) started out the trip sick.  She had been sick for a week or so before the trip started.  Sick enough that she wasn't sure she would be able to go.  She tends to anemia anyway, and her red cell count had been alarmingly low.  She was given iron and some other medical things that I don't remember the details of right now.  Her doctor decided that she was well enough to go and I'm not sure that was the right decision.  But, it takes a lot of time to plan a trip for someone who needs dialysis and she didn't want to cancel.  Plus, the rest of us had long since bought our tickets as well and we couldn't all cancel.  Especially the Irish girls, coming all that way.

We started the trip in Seattle, and Lisa had to get herself from the airport to the hotel.  Easy peasy for someone in normal health, but difficult for someone with health challenges.  Just rolling her bag (ie: enormous suitcase) from the baggage carousel to the ride-share curb was more than she could handle.  She made it to the hotel and then had to sit and wait for the rest of us.  Time to catch her breath.

KA had driven up from California and spent the night before at my house.  Part of coordinating our arrivals in Seattle was parking KA's car at my daughter's house.  We did that in the late afternoon and Zoe and Rob gave us a ride back into Seattle (thanks, kids!).  Met up with Lisa there.  In an hour or so the Irish girls were there too, and we all thought 'Let the Vacation Begin!'

Lisa, KA and I shared a room.  It was supposed to have two queen beds, but honestly, they were the size of doubles - is that a hotel thing, smaller beds than at home?  Are there different mattress sizes for hotel beds?  KA is a substantial woman and needs that much space to herself.  Lisa and I took one bed and KA the other.  Much tossing and turning ensued.  Because Lisa's arm often aches from the dialysis, she typically sleeps with her arms perpendicular to her torso.  That doesn't leave a lot of space in a bed.  At some point during the night I got up, gathered up the spare pillows, found a bathrobe and made my self a pillow bed in the corner on the floor.  I felt like a house elf, crouched under the fireplace.

We had a nice breakfast (oh, stayed at the Edgewater, which is famous for everyone in the world staying there, including the Beatles, and correspondingly priced) and then got a shuttle to the cruise ship pier.  

We arrived at the pier and the first order of business was to get Lisa a wheelchair.  She could only walk (slowly) about 25 to 30 feet without stopping to catch her breath.  There was a whole lot of, 'No, no, you go on, I'll catch up.'  Which is basically bullshit.  We had to stick together!

Now, here's a bonus: KA spent a whole lot of her youth, adolescence, young adulthood and middle age traveling with her wheelchair bound mother.  So, she is an expert at seeking out ADA accommodations.  So, we get Lisa into the 'assistance' line, which means that we all get in that line.

Finally got through that process and on board the enormous vessel.  A nice crew member wheeled Lisa to our stateroom, with KA and I trotting along behind.  

KA had upgraded our room to one with a balcony.  Thank the Merciful Heavens that she did so!  Three women, all used to living alone, crammed in one room... recipe for disaster.  Having a balcony gave us an entire extra room, spatially and visually, and we needed that.  That it was outside was a bonus.

As soon as we got aboard, Lisa asked me to take her to the infirmary.  We had kept the wheelchair that the crew member had used and I wheeled her down to deck 2.  She was short of breath and had chest pain, the classic combo, but it wasn't a cardiac issue.  The chest pain was muscular, from wrangling her giant bag, and the shortness of breath was because she was anemic and retaining fluid.  The nurses and doctor were great and we left reassured.  

Of course, Lisa and I had missed the pulling away, or whatever the term is, the setting sail, the leaving of land.  When we finished in the infirmary and made it to the open deck, the ship was among the San Juan Islands.  

The scenery was gorgeous, of course.  Sitting and watching the landscape unfold is possibly the best thing about being on a cruise.  

Lisa had dialysis the next day.  Boy, was it bare bones!  It was in the bowels of the ship (next to the infirmary, but considerably smaller) and had just enough room for two beds, two machines and literally nothing else.  The 'office' was a storage closet stacked to the ceiling with supplies.  For what they charge, there should have been a tiny bit more comfort.

We were doing pretty well at this point.  Our first stop was Ketchikan.  

The cruise line we were on had a amenity that I really appreciated.  A cultural historian gave a presentation on every port of call.  She covered the Native history as well as the White/Gold rush history.  It added a very nice texture to the shore trip.

We didn't have a tour scheduled for Ketchikan but got off to explore the town.  A very nice crew member pushed Lisa up the long gangplank to the pier.  We moseyed along, bumping over the sections of wooden sidewalks, looking in shops and admiring the scenery.  There were lots of totem poles.  Miss Amanda, the cultural historian, had given us the basics of totem interpretation and we enjoyed piecing together a story of each one.  

We bought some souvenirs and some snacks (regular size box of Cheez-Its = $6.99!) and returned to the ship.

The next day, we had an absolutely magical experience.  We sailed up the Tracy Arm to the face of a glacier.  It was an experience I will never forget.  We started spotting ice in the water in the morning.  Yes, that did make me a little nervous!  I mean, come on... Titanic, amiright?

As we neared the glacier, the chunks of ice got both bigger and smaller, but much more frequent.  There were big chunks with smaller chunks perched on top of them.  There was a slurry of broken ice all through the water.  When we got as far up the arm as we were going to, the ship did a complete turn.  The sound was amazing.  All the ice crickling and crackling against the hull of the ship made an eerie sound.  The colors were also amazing.  The ice was many shades of white, sometimes streaked with brown, but the blue!  The blue ice, seen in cracks and crevices of the floaters, that was astounding.  The deeper the crevice, the deeper the color blue.  We were standing on the balcony with our mouths hanging open.  

Next up: Day 3 and Juneau.

August 1st

We went camping last weekend, just a 2 nighter on the northern edge of the greater metro area.  It was fun to get the trailer out.  T has decided that she wants the trailer in a covered storage place, so she rented one and we parked Vivian there on Sunday.  It gave me a pang to leave her there! She is quite the presence in the driveway, and utterly charming.  I'll miss her.

I have a busy two weeks coming up.  My buddies and I go on this cruise dealio on Friday.  I might have mentioned that I am uncomfortable with everything about a cruise.  Nothing about it appeals to me!  Claustrophobia, seasickness, germ-riddled environment, etc.  On the up side, though, is time spent with my friends!  It will balance.  After the cruise, we are going to visit Zoe and her husband for 3 days.  Sorry you guys!  Then we are going to Port Townsend for 3 days to visit Lisa's sister.  Thankfully, we will be staying in a hotel.  The sister's house is undergoing an extensive remodeling project.

In the meantime, my friend KA is driving up from Cali tomorrow morning.  She'll spend the night here and then we'll drive up to Seattle on Thursday.  So, I've got her for one night and then my neighbor son who will be cat/housesitting for me.  I've been super busy getting the house ready to have multiple guests and for an extended duration.  It's a week long cruise, but then we have a second week of visiting around.  I hope Pierre won't be too mad!  Good think he likes Gavin.

Just to make things a little more urgent, we are expecting a heatwave this week.  The predicted high on Wednesday is 106!!!  Ridiculous!  I've been busy covering all the windows.  The house is like a dark cave, but it's a cool cave.  I have a second window a/c unit that was just sitting on the floor in a closet, so I installed that in the guest room.  I don't want my houseguests to suffer!  There's nothing for downstairs but fans.  A couple of big fans is usually all we need to keep a house cool here.  Sigh.  Climate change, what?!?

Wish me luck on the ocean-going adventure!  Makes me a little queasy to think of it...

Cheers,
E

How is May almost over???

Hey Women,

How has spring been treating you?  Have you had some sun and flowers and green grass?  Have you had long pleasant evenings sitting on the porch with the neighbors, sipping a cool glass of something?  I hope so.  I have.  Doesn’t it feel good?

Here’s my catch up:

The countdown to retirement is on!  Still feeling a trifle ambivalent, but doing it anyway.  There have been some mornings that I have felt quite resentful at having to go in.  Ha!  Soon.  Very, very soon.  In fact, it’s 25 work days (counting my work from home days).  Yikes!  I’d better keep scanning!

So, T and I finally cashed out our vacation fund and went to Hawai’i.  We spent a week on Maui and had a really good time.  We got along surprisingly well!  We did a few things, but mostly hung out and relaxed.  It was very pleasant.  She might have roped me into a deal where I end up with a tattoo… I breathed a sigh of relief when all of the clean and reputable places in Lahaina were booked up.  If it happens, and I wouldn’t be adamantly opposed to it, a small image of a sea turtle, possibly on the inside of my calf.  If it ever happens.  I really wish we had seen one while we were snorkeling.  We saw plenty of fish, and we saw the turtles all the time coming up for air while grazing on the reef.  And, while they were in the same area that we were snorkeling, at the same time, we never saw one through our masks.  But, we still felt like we were swimming in their back yard.

I’m going to have to postpone my car trip.  I’ve got to sort out a better vehicle.  My car is a 1999 Audi.  I bought it from my sister in law for $2000 a year or two ago.  I’ve had to shell out for a couple of repairs, and I’m afraid there’s just a whole lot more of that in this car’s future.  It’s a decent small car and I rarely drive, so it has served me well enough.  I have taken it to Seattle a couple of times, but it’s had a couple of issues since then so I’m thinking that it might be just an around town car now. 

Speaking of Seattle, my niece and I are going up for a baseball game with Zoe next week!  Fun!  We are taking the train up on Friday, doing some touristy stuff in Seattle and then taking an express bus to the east side.  Zoe will pick us up and will spend the night at her house.  Then, her town is having it’s ‘town celebration’ that weekend so we will hang out there and see what there is to see.  Saturday evening is the baseball game – Mariners vs the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Mariners have been playing so badly!  I hope none of you saw that game we lost that was something like 10 to 1.  Ugh.  So. Bad.  So, yes, after the game we’ll go back to Zoe’s, spend the night, have her take us to Seattle the next day and take the train home.  It will be a good weekend away.  T is not coming.  We’ll have to spend some time with Z’s husband, but it’ll be fine. 

I haven’t gotten any gardening done this spring.  All I’ve done is pull weeds.  I know that I could still put some veggies in, if I bought some starts, but I think I’ll let the garden lie fallow this year.  Maybe I’ll plant a nitrogen fixing cover crop.  I’ve got garlic growing, leftovers from the last harvest.  I’ve got blueberries and raspberries and huckleberries and herbs.  Thyme, chives, rosemary.  And I’ve got two plentiful rhubarbs.  But, I have a lot of empty space in my raised beds.

Hey, I actually had some other stuff to say, but I have to go over to my dad’s house.  It’s Wednesday night – that’s what we do!  So, I’m going to go ahead and post this nonsense, because you know how I am.  If I procrastinate at all, it just doesn’t happen.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Sunday morning musing

Good morning!

I dropped T off at the airport at 8:20 this morning.  She is on her trip to Hawaii with her sister.  They will be gone for a week.  I really hope that she can spend the time resting and restoring her physical and mental self.  She is tired.  This will do her good.

So, that means that I have my house to myself for a week!  Yay!  Time for quiet and reflection, or projects that are on my list.  My time is my own.  I'm tempted to take the week off work but I'm saving my PTO for something else.  Well, I might take one day off...  plus, Monday is President's Day and I have that day off.  So, yes, some quality time home alone.

Listen, you NorthEasters, NorthCentralers, GreatLakers, GreatPlainsers (you know who you are), Spring is coming.  I know it may not seem like it right now, but it's on its way.  I promise.  We are being battered with rain but the bulb flowers are pushing through the soil and will be blooming any day now.  So, hold on.  Have hot chocolate.  Or a hot toddy.  Look out at the snow and plunging thermometer and say, 'Spring is coming.'

I'm off to go do something.  Not sure what just yet.  Might just walk around the house a bit and see what bubbles up to the top. Cheers!