San Francisco

Well here we are back where we started. The temperature was a cool 100 degrees when we got off the BART train in Pittsburg and only got warmer when we got to Antioch (oh to have those 50 and 60 degree days back). We arrived at the Port of San Francisco around 5:30 AM. Cindy got up and took some photos of what she thought was the Golden Gate Bridge but it turned out to be the Bay Bridge. (Note to photographer; when taking photos early in the morning put on glasses first!)

Most trips have some unplanned turn of events or miscues. Let me tell you about ours. Right as we were pulling into the Pittsburg BART station Cindy asked me if I remembered to get all the things out of the safe in our cabin. Oh yea, you guessed it, we had left everything in the safe. That included my wallet and credit cards, all my cash, car and house keys and Cindy's jewelry. Let me tell you that gets the heart pumping fast. We off loaded the luggage into Melanie's car. I jumped back on BART and headed for the city while Cindy made a quick call to 1-800-Princess. She called me while I was on BART and told me to check with the Princess Port Agent when I got to the pier. Well I made a mad dash to the ship from the Embarcadero BART station, contacted the port agent and two hours later I reunited with all our left behind valuables. That was just a test to see how well we hold up under pressure and adversity for when become contestants on the Amazing Race. We're going to enter as the team that has no idea of what they are doing! If it's like politics we should win!

More Victoria

Here's a photo taken during our nature hike. Some of the trees were very oddly shaped, growing almost horizontally to reach out to the sunlight. I forget what kind they were, something I'd never heard of with an intensely red colored bark.




The next picture shows the beautiful flowers that were displayed everywhere throughout Victoria. We passed this hotel on our way back to the ship and I took the photo through the bus window. Our guide claimed that hanging flower baskets originated in Victoria, adapted from a practice of the native people (or, as they are referred to by Canadians, first nation.)

Victoria

Wow what a great day we had in Victoria! The weather was fantastic as you can see from the photos attached. Yes that is me owner of the Dawn Princess. I let the company use it when I'm not traveling! On the next photo you can see the private berth they gave me in Victoria when they heard I was coming. We had a great time on a nature hike along the coast. We went to some tide pools and old growth forest areas and had some great views of the coastline. Our guide was very knowledgeble about the ares floral and fauna. We would like to come back and spend a week or two here on Vancouver Island. Maybe a good place to trade for a timeshare.

Tracy Arm

Yesterday we were supposed to cruise through the Tracy Arm fjord to see icebergs and a couple of glaciers. We set the alarm for 5:00 am, the scheduled arrival time at the entrance. So, nice and early, the alarm went off and we opened our eyes to see . . . FOG!!!!! The captain made an announcement that there was less than 200 meters visibility and lots of ice on the radar with strong currents at the narrow passage into the fjord. He said we'd be waiting an hour to see if conditions would improve enough to allow us to safely continue on the planned route. Bill & I decided to stay in bed, but reset our alarm so we wouldn't miss anything if the ship was able to enter Tracy Arm. Starting at 6:00, the captain kept informed about every 15 minutes. Unfortunately the fog didn't lift, and around 8:00 am the captain reluctantly made the decision to cancel the cruise through the fjord. Bill & I thought it was ironic that the last time we were supposed to cruise a fjord (Fjordlands Nat'l Park in New Zealand) it, too, was cancelled due to unfavorable and dangerous weather. (In that case it was high seas and strong winds.) Oh well, this just gives us another excuse to come back!

More on Skagway

The flowers in Skagway were particularly impressive -- not so much for the blossoms themselves, but for the clever way they were displayed. Take a look at the flower bed!

Here's what to do with your back pack when it wears out a little bit . . .

Now to the nitty gritty of the town. Picture this -- a town of less than 700 with no doctors, dentists, movie theaters, drug stores or hospital, but they have a Starbucks! Well we found it and I had to sample a cup. Guess what, it tastes just like the Starbucks in Antioch but the same coffee costs 50 cents more.

There is an interesting story we heard in Skagway. It is said to be the only time a bank robbery resulted in a bank making money instead of losing it. The robber came into the bank with a stick of dynamite. The dynamite exploded and he was killed. After the robbery attempt, the bank was being cleaned up and damaged floor boards were being replaced. When they were removed, gold dust was recovered from the area below, and totaled $30,000!

Revisiting the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau

We thought that we would give you a little history and folklore about some of the places we visited. The Red Dog is one of the oldest and longest continually operated saloons in Juneau. In the attached photo you will see the inside of the Red Dog Saloon. Notice the floor is covered with saw dust. That served two purposes according to folklore. The first one is that anything spilled on the floor would be absorbed by the saw dust to keep things neat. Second, the method of payment during the goldrush time was gold dust. So when you got a drink you paid for it with a pinch of gold dust. Well according to legend many of the prospectors would spill the gold dust on the floor after imbibing in a few drinks. The gold would disappear into the saw dust to be lost forever. Oh but it wasn't. Once a week or month the owner of the establishment would sweep up all the saw dust and soak it in a big tub of water. The saw dust would float and all the gold would drop to the bottom of the tub. This way the owner would pick up a few extra bucks from the clumsy drunken prospectors. The only people who got rich from the gold rush were those who were able to take it from the prospectors.