We selected an ocean view room for this trip because we knew the daylight was long and the scenery unrivaled. Since I have also stayed in a room with no windows, I was anxious to see if there was much difference in the size of the room. No. The lay-out was the same -- a sofa, a table/bureau of sort, and 2 twin beds. If we were a couple, the beds could have been put together for a queen size bed. But we had a window, and really, it was a nice size window. The beds were okay, but not that good -- I always felt that I was going to roll off; my traveling companion thought her bed was extremely lumpy. But, later on I did settle into the bed and was able to have a decent night sleep.
After unpacking, we went to a mandatory safety drill. This is something that you must do, whether if this is your first cruise or your 100th. You gotta go.
The rest of the evening we had dinner -- I had salmon, and yes a baked potato. I finally got one! -- and went to the first entertainment show onboard. We walked around later and found it was quite small.
The next day we were at sea so we became more familiar with the ship, and I realized it really was small. There were some activities, but not as many as to my liking. Some people love the small ships with few activities. I found that I like the larger ships with tons of activities to choose from. But, we ate, and talked, and got to know some people onboard. Everyone was friendly, and everyone has a story to tell. Most people had made this trip before. People do love Alaska...
Our first port was Ketchikan, Alaska. I have always wanted to see a lumberjack show, so that is exactly what we did. How much fun!
We continue to see the mountains as we cruise past Vancouver Island to enter Ketchikan the following morning. It is exactly what I thought an Alaska town would look like.
To the right is a a good view of what you see when you pull into port -- the 1st Alaska City, the Salmon Capital of the World.
Below is what the town looks like -- it is just about that small, too. Remember there are about 750,000 people in the entire state of Alaska. Ketchikan has about 8000 people and there are about 14,000 people in the entire area. Ketchikan is also the fist city into the inside passage.
We walked through town to get to the lumberjack show. Now, you have to understand that it was really only a few blocks away. The day was nice, a little mist in the air but the temperature was about 65 and it was a nice stroll past storefronts, restaurants and bars.
My purpose to come to Alaska was to see the glaciers, and to see the land. That was about to happen tomorrow, but today, was the lumberjacks.
There were four guys who chopped woods, climbed poles and rolled logs in water. All the guys were college-aged and I believe most said they were from Alaska and attending school and worked the shows in the summer. The girl narrator was from Tennessee and had attended college.
In this competition, there were two sides -- the Canadian and the United States. In the bleachers, we were assigned to encourage one side or the other. My area was the Canadian side, so there were lots of yipping and yelling when they won the challenge and boos to the U.S. side when they won.
You knew how many challenges they won by the number of flags that they put on their table. Directly below, the Canadians were winning by having four flags.
There was the log sawing, the log rolling and the pole climbing as major events, but there were more as they threw axes at the dart board, and the blue team (U.S.)'s bearded guy (the guy without a hat) far below chiseled a stool and gave it to a child in the audience.
Scaling the pole in competition.
It was a fun show with lots of whooping and hollering, clapping and cheering for the given team. I was glad I went.
Back on board the ship, I saw a small something near the coast as we sailed away from Ketchikan. I wondered what it was so I zoomed my camera and took a picture. Looks like a small fishing post not too far from town on the banks of the peninsula.
That night we had dinner and watched the entertainment, ready for a day of scenic cruising the next day. I wondered what I would see.
I leave you with an Alaskan sunset (around 11 p.m.) until Monday.
Have a great weekend...
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