First time to New Orleans. Bourbon Street was a bit scary during the day, a lot of people drinking and tossing their cookies in the outside trash cans wasn’t all that appealing to the senses.
We ate at Mr. B’s that evening and it was one of the most memorable meals that I have had for a very long time. Then we decided last minute to give Bourbon Street another try and we were not disappointed. Full of people, music and just a fun atmosphere.
Ended up at the Funky Pirate Blue’s Bar that evening with probably one of the most talented guitar players I have heard in a very long time. His name? John Lissi and we are now very fond of his talent and hope he comes to Colorado for a visit soon.
It was off to Cafe du Monde the following morning for my first try at beignets!
DELISH!
Walked around the French Quarter and fell in love with the area around the Mississippi River. Our friends even got serenaded by a local street musician with some true blue New Orleans style music!
New Orleans is a great port to depart from for a Western Caribbean cruise. One or two days max is really all one would need to see this place.
Then it was on to the Florida/Alabama line for some Kenny Chesney fun on the beach at the world-famous Flora-Bama. Talk about crazy! Good show - great bar!
We are now coming to the end of our Amazing Alaska Journey!
The parks namesake a.k.a “The Great One”, or Denali/Mt McKinley. It is one of the most coveted sights in Alaska. Probably because a sighting of the tallest peak in North America is pretty rare.
Denali actually creates its own weather. So even on those rare nice weather days in Alaska its possible not to see the mountain. As you can see from the video and many photo’s taken that day, the skies did open up and we did get to see the Majestic Mountain in all it’s Glory! WOW!
Interesting Facts about the “Great One” The vertical rise of Denali is 18,000 feet. The vertical rise of Everest is 12,000 feet. The base of Denali rests at 2,000 feet whereas the base of Everest is at 17,000 feet. Though Everest is taller, the vertical rise of Denali is greater! TOTAL ELEVATION 20,237 ft
The McKinley Explorer Dome Cars that Holland America uses are the first in line followed by Princess Cruise Lines. Each rail car provided us with access to spacious observation lounges, leisurely dining which we took advantage of for lunch, and spectacular
views from outdoor viewing platforms. “The best scenery is outside the rail cars, but the seats were comfortable too.
We had our own bartender to take care of us the entire trip, along with a young gentleman that served as a tour guide pointing out all the sites and history along the way. And of course the people on board entertained us as a well
One family that we seemed to be with the entire week sure like to be very loud and drink. This time they were in the front of the bus so we couldn’t miss what was going on. The mom with the furry hat? Well, I’m not sure she will remember much about the train ride as she was the one that did fall down a few times.
One thing I learned during the trip was the advise from Lumberjack Rob: “Holland America gets you to Alaska, it’s up to YOU TO EXPERIENCE IT!” Alaska is a must for planning shore excursions in advance. It may be expensive but the memories you will make along the way is PRICELESS!
ALASKA…Until I see you again! Thanks for sharing your mystery and adventure!
What a beautiful morning in Denali! Our group of eight decided to head off to the Welcome Center and do a short hike before our 7 hour tour through the park.
As we were pulling in to the park there it was~!! My first Moose! (one to mark off the bucket list) A momma and two babies walking on the road. The day was off to a great start!
I don’t recall the name of the trail but it was a pretty easy walk through the beautiful woods to a Beaver Reserve. Oh wait, what is that 25 feet in front of us? It’s the momma moose and the babies. There was a few of us that were getting a little too close for my liking. I’m glad I watched the “what to look for and do with the moose in the area; if their hair rises it’s time to get behind a tree as they are about to charge!”
There were eight of us and very thin trees around- so I’m glad momma was calm that day as I don’t think the trees would have protected any of us! But what a wonderful thing to get so close to nature.
Then it’s back on to the bus for a 7 hour tour. The bus was not a motor coach it was a regular bus. Yikes what are we getting ourselves in to for 7 hours! The first three hours started out a little slow as I fell asleep wondering how I was going to make it on such a long journey a head. We finally stopped for a break at the Visitor Center which was a nice break, but still no sightings of animals anywhere. I was able to pick-up a moose antler which I thought I could pick up with one hand to find out these things can weigh up to 40 lbs.
Things started to pick up on the second portion of our journey. After a snack lunch everyone started to perk up and start chatting and having a good time. We chuckled when the two in our group cannot stand heights and the Fireball Whiskey was brought out to assist with the climb up the mountain. It was so beautiful up there but so very easy to breathe. The highest point we got on our journey was only 4300 feet but it still had the feel & look of these mountains appearing higher then they were.
Then the clouds opened and we were able to see the right side of Mt. McKinley. The lady on the left side of the bus started seeing a bunch of different animals: Caribou & Dall Sheep, Marmot, a Fox walking on the side of our bus without a care in the world. And to the left side of bus where I was sitting, my eagle eye started to spot things too! A lot of things started popping up. The bus driver was so impressed she wanted us to go on all the tours with her She said the only thing missing was a grizzly.
The tour was coming to an end when I notice a white face and two black eyes staring at me, I immediately screamed BEAR because I was so excited, and I scared the bear so much it was like he was thinking – A Bear? Where?! I BEST GET OUT OF HERE! and off he went and started running! He was running in the right direction so we were able to keep an eye on him for awhile. He was a white and black bear, his face looked like a polar bear. He was a big boy!
The tour bus driver didn’t want us to share too many stories with the other visitors as she said that it was very odd for us to see so many animals that day and there are several times most people only get to see one or two things! The 7 Hour Tour turned to 8 but boy what a trip!
Everything went very smooth from getting off the ship to our motor coach transfer to Denali.
We were able to send most of the luggage on to meet us in Anchorage after our two night adventure making it easy to pack and unpack upon our arrival.
It was a long journey 10 hours to get to Denali that day and of
course we were one of the last on the bus that day which put us in the back seat That’s okay as we met some fun folks to laugh with along the way.
We departed beautiful Seward (what a lovely place), then on to a
stop at Portage Valley with a lunch break at Settlers Bay Lodge in
Matanuska-Susitna Valley close to Wasilla home of Sara Palin. And yes, several comments of not being able to see Russia were made that day
We arrived in Denali around 4pm in the afternoon and what a place! Getting out of the bus and looking gave me a feeling like I was in my own Colorado Mountains. The only difference is the elevation and it never gets dark. The young people that work there are from all over the United States. They keep coming back every summer to work this area as they love this area and I don’t blame them. Even met a guy who didn’t have a place he called home. He wanders everywhere and picks up jobs along the way. A very interesting way to live but he sure enjoys it. Personally I love having a place to call home.
The gang went out for pizza and hiked around for the evening. We stayed at the Mount McKinley lodge which was recently renovated. Most of the area is being updated and of course growing growing growing! I headed over to check out Princess lodge as well, both are very nice.
Tomorrow is the big day for the 7 hour Tundra Wilderness Journey. Facts about Denali:
There are over 100 species of birds that live in Denali National Park. Large mammals in the park are the top attraction. In April of 2014, 51 wolves and 13 packs were recorded in the park.
Approximately 2,230 caribou were also counted, the highest since 1992. A favorite, the grizzly bear, reached a count of about 375-450.
One of the most interesting inhabitant is the wood frog-the only amphibian to call the park home. Denali wood frog is different from the others of its species by virtue of it evolutionary adaptation that causes it to freeze solid during the winter. The frogs heart stops beating and its lungs not breathe again until the spring thaw.
Then it’s on to Skagway in which we opted to go back to visit Haines which we previously visited on our first cruise to Alaska almost 15 years ago! I fell in love with this place,
THE VIEW …
Well it’s one of those places you visit that will always hold a close place in my heart!.
I was watching White Fang with my little guy a month before, and I kept saying this was filmed in Haines…well I waited for the credits and yes indeed it was filmed there!
Good movie!
We took a ferry ride over to Haines that day. We signed up for the 9 mile bike and kayak tour through an excursion company that I highly recommend! Shore Trips! There was only 3 of us. Two of us where from the ship, the other was visiting from Switzerland. The bike ride wasn’t hard at all and we pretty much had the road to ourselves. We did run in to our friends, Mario and Bebe a few times as they were doing the bus tour of Haines. We always seem to catch up to them on our bike stops.
As you can see from our video/pictures…what at amazing experience that didn’t disappoint! Haines is still the quaint town, and untouched by the cruise lines. Holland’s Oosterdam alternates stops in Skagway/Haines every other week, but most cruise lines are no longer allowed to dock there!
According to our Kayak friend Davie, this might change. I hope it doesn’t as they haven’t been able to get in there and make it a tourist stop and it keeps the port just the way it is.
Check out the photo’s of the lake that we had all to ourselves for a couple of hours. Peaceful, Soul Searching Place. It wasn’t until Davie said BREATHE did it strike me that this was a piece of paradise. Fresh Air/Fresh Surroundings!
Others in a group did the train ride in Skagway!
Previous stops on cruises we rented a car and headed to Canada for the day, one time we did the helicopter ride to the glacier and did the dog sled ride. Highly recommend too!
Fourth Cruise to Alaska, first time sailing through Glacier Bay!
PHENOMENAL!
Previous cruises we sailed through College Fjord and Sawyer Glacier, all of them are wonderful choices but Glacier Bay is just a larger area of water with steep majestic mountains on each side! (I guess the others have the steep fjord mountains too, just narrow) Spent most of the morning in the back with my cousin and a few guests on board running back and forth from Port (left) to Starboard (right) to see if we were missing anything along the way.
The Oosterdam is worth mentioning as there are several decks where there is a door at the very front of the ship whereanyone not staying in a balcony can go out and see the view in front of them. This makes for a lot less passengers on the top deck crowding in to each other to see.
The Captain turned the ship around which just so happened to be on our side of the ship, so we headed down to our balcony to take in an hour of mother nature. The sound it makes when it calves is like a gunshot going off which catches you off guard. I did feel sorry for the guy I was ordering lunch over the phone with from our room because this is when a huge chunk of ice fell off which of coursed caused me to scream on the phone for Terry to get a video of it. Poor guy wasn’t too happy, but I was sure excited! The waves came all the way and rocked the boat!
Very Cool!
They had someone talking during the morning on the history of the Glaciers and about each one we sailed by. The captain also located a brown bear off to the side of the ship too!
Whales were spotted but I never saw them…just a ton of Seagulls that hung out by the ship!
Another BEAUTIFUL DAY in JUNEAU ALASKA. How did we get so lucky!
We took the The Glacier Express Blue Bus that we caught right at the pier. $20 per person round-trip to get you to Mendenhall Glacier!
This would be the third visit to Mendenhall in the past 17 years.
The last few times we took the city bus which offered some very funny stories when hanging with the Juneau Bus Locals on board. It just takes longer to get there so we opted for the Tour Bus.
In just a matter of a few years, they have changed the look of the area building a trail right to the water fall.
Previous times we had to walk across a bunch of steep rocks to get over there and now EVERYONE and their mother can get over there! Very nice for those with a handicap to be able to experience up close. Just too many people and too touristy for my tastes. SO the four of us took off for a hike up the mountain to the peak of the falls over looking Mendenhall. About 4 miles of easy trail with beautiful things all around you. Much much better as the trail wasn’t filled with people!
We ended our day back in downtown Juneau for lunch and headed back to the ship.
Mario and Bebe took a trip of a Lifetime! They were the only two on board a helicopter ride up to a Glacier. I will have to get some photos/videos from Mario to post on here! They were not disappointed!
The other time we were in Juneau we did a whale watching tour with a stop at the Salmon Hatchery. This was in early August so that was a really fun thing to experience them jumping there way up the latter to be cut open, eggs taken and tossed in a pile. Yes, I know they were about to die anyways. This time we are early June so the Salmon had not yet arrived for the season.
I have had other clients that have had successful day of fishing in Juneau! Once again….I wish the Cruise Lines would leave the uniqueness of this town as it used to be. Too many cruise ship shops!!
Average rainfall in June? 6.60 Inches On June 10, 2014….. zero rain and infinite sunshine!
What a BEAUTIFUL sunny day, even skipper Ethan said it was the best day to adventure out on a Zodiac with very calm waters. He was absolutely right! Not only that it was a first of many for our group of seven! Ethan started the day off telling us how Eagles Swim…it was the craziest thing I had ever heard. Guess what? For the first time evereven for Ethan, we got to see an Eagle swim.
It’s not uncommon for an eagle to “misjudge” and latch into a fish too heavy/large for it to fly with, so they then may swim quite a distance to shore (wouldn’t want to let go of lunch now would we), drag the fish up on shore and then eat it. This is why young eagles are known to drown. (I am hoping that my friends Jennifer/Victor can send me some of their awesome photo’s that captured that moment) Please Please Please!
We also saw some cute sea otters and low and behold a WHALE! Yep! Another not so often seen creature on a Zodiac Tour. He surfaced many times getting approx. 50 feet from our boats. If a whale wants to tip me over in a boat that size, heck…I don’t think that’s a bad way to leave the earth! Just saying….
Let’s see…Mario & Bebe did the flight seeing float plane over the Misty Fjords. Maybe I can get some of his videos on here?
Terry & Terri ventured out on their own hiking up some mountain that day. I will need to post photo’s when I get them to send me some.
Barbara & Tom? Not sure what they did that day, but I will find out. Ketchikan- I have been now four times. We did the Kayak thing the last few times which I really like, but the Zodiac got us out deeper in the water which provided a bigger view of this beautiful place. Save your $$!!! This was a ‘must do’ adventure! I would just like to see the cruise ships stop building it up as a tourist trap and keep it the unique place that it is!
What a beautiful day at sea on board the Holland America Oosterdam. The amazing view and searching for wildlife along the way is a wonderful way to start off your day!
You will find me on my balcony either sipping on my first cup of coffee taking in the view, or, putting my music on and doing some yoga stretches. PERFECT!
For me it’s a late Breakfast which includes either a special coffee or bloody mary with the gang in the back of the ship. This ship had a perfect outdoor area in the back to sit and enjoy the view and enough coverage to keep the cool wind off your face.
Other options:
Dip in the hot tub or pool
Sign up for Martini Tasting and be selected as one of the bartenders to help make one out of the three they give us each day.
Here is what I made:
Cucumber Lime Smash
2 lime wedges
Thin Slices of cucumber
1.5 oz. gin or vodka (Grey Goose for me)
1.5 oz house-made sour
0.5 oz. Spirit
Hand press lime wedges and cucumber with muddler. Pack with ice and add vodka, sour mix and Sprite. SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE and pour into martini glass. Garnish with slice of cucumber.
Then it’s off to Dance Classes: Dancing With The Stars
I never got selected for either of the 3 dances we learned that week
If you ever get selected, then you are partnered off with a dancer from the ship and get perform
at the end of the cruise.
Several different bars and lounge areas to sit and enjoy the view, or, listen to lectures about Alaska, play games and much much more!
Enjoy the video and photos put together for the days we spent at sea.
I started this exciting adventure arriving in Vancouver on June 7, 2014. I flew out with Terry (husband) meeting three couples the following day to start our Alaskan cruise adventure!
We decided to take the Canada Line (train) from the airport to the Downtown area with a 3 block hike with our luggage in hand to the Georgian Hotel. I cannot remember the exact cost but around $15 for both of us and a 35 minute ride got us to the Downtown area.
Our plan was to head to the Capilano Suspension Bridge which was listed as the tourist thing to do. We missed the shuttle, so we walked across the street to try out one of their local beers and of course chat with the locals (something I highly suggest when you have extra time to spend in a city)!
We decided to head up to Grouse Mountain in the morning with one of the other couples, Mario and Bebe De La Rosa. They have been my clients for around 15 plus years, so it was so much fun to be able to meet face to face for the first time! They truly are a lovely couple who added some fun times to our adventure.
Grouse Mountain
Free shuttle to get to the mountain (located in downtown area hotels)
Skyride $41.95 per person (includes Lumberjack show, Ranger Talks, Grizzly Bear habitat, and Birds in Motion shows
Additional fee for zip-lining, helicopter tours and other options
If you're active then save the $$, lace up your shoes, and do the "Grouse Grind" a 2.9-kilometre trail up the face of the mountain also known as "Mother Nature's Stairmaster" Total Stairs 2830!
Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to spend up on the mountain so we grabbed a coffee and a 'beaver tail treat' and enjoyed watching the active Grizzly Bears and enjoyed the amazing view. Then it was back down the mountain to grab our suitcases and head off to Canada Pier to board the beautiful Holland America Oosterdam!
Vancouver is a beautiful city with so much to offer. I highly suggest spending a full day there to experience this city prior or after a cruise tour.
The second annual Estes Park Trip with Daddy Dear. What a beautiful weekend spent with so many amazing creatures.
First time to New Orleans. Bourbon Street was a bit scary during the day, a lot of people drinking and tossing their cookies in the outside trash cans wasn’t all that appealing to the senses.
It was off to Cafe du Monde the following morning for my first try at beignets!
We are now coming to the end of our Amazing Alaska Journey!
One family that we seemed to be with the entire week sure like to be very loud and drink. This time they were in the front of the bus so we couldn’t miss what was going on. The mom with the furry hat? Well, I’m not sure she will remember much about the train ride as she was the one that did fall down a few times. 
The tour was coming to an end when I notice a white face and two black eyes staring at me, I immediately screamed BEAR because I was so excited, and I scared the bear so much it was like he was thinking – A Bear? Where?! I BEST GET OUT OF HERE! and off he went and started running! He was running in the right direction so we were able to keep an eye on him for awhile. He was a white and black bear, his face looked like a polar bear. He was a big boy!
Everything went very smooth from getting off the ship to our motor coach transfer to Denali. 
Facts about Denali:
Then it’s on to Skagway in which we opted to go back to visit Haines which we previously visited on our first cruise to Alaska almost 15 years ago! I fell in love with this place,
Fourth Cruise to Alaska, first time sailing through Glacier Bay!
Another BEAUTIFUL DAY in JUNEAU ALASKA. How did we get so lucky!
Average rainfall in June? 6.60 Inches On June 10, 2014….. zero rain and infinite sunshine!
What a beautiful day at sea on board the Holland America Oosterdam. The amazing view and searching for wildlife along the way is a wonderful way to start off your day! 
I started this exciting adventure arriving in Vancouver on June 7, 2014. I flew out with Terry (husband) meeting three couples the following day to start our Alaskan cruise adventure!
