09-28 Alaska 2011

If you like totem poles and glaciers, you want to visit Alaska. And it was a visit to remember, travelling with the Rapinos. It was especially wonderful to have so many great photos taken by Rosemary. Just cruising up the BC coast is an experience, as can be seen in the photo of Mary with the beautiful mountain background.
Heading into Ketchikan, we have Rosemary enjoying herself. There were four stops on this seven-day cruise: Kechikan, Juneau, Skagway and then Victoria in British Columbia.
Lots of native American totem poles in Ketchikan, possibly the largest collection in the world. But Kechikan is also the salmon capital of the world.
Heading down the passageway to the Tracy Arm Fjord, we have a great photo of a mother seal and her pup. In the cabin next to us, a five-year-old said to his grandpa, "Holy moly grandpa." I loved it because it was obviously his grandpa's expression from the 1940s.
And what a great photo Rosemary took of the Tracy Arm Fjord. They told us on the ship that these glaciers are melting and shrinking by about six feet a year.
We wandered about Juneau, which is the capital of Alaska and only reachable by boat or seaplane. A visit to the Mendenhaul Glacier gave us another unforgettable photo.
At Skagway we took a tour of the White Pass and the Yukon route and were able to touch soil on Canadian land. This is a city full of history and the great Klondike gold rush.
Of all the capitals of Canada, there is nothing to compare to Victoria BC, and the photo is taken near the parliament buildings in front of another totem pole.