Skagway

I've just come from a sushi making demonstration. Informative but probably not very useful in my life. But then, what else are vacations all about? Not doing useful things, right? They have a sushi station every evening in the buffet cafe. I've availed myself of it once so far. Maybe, after my new knowledge, I'll have to try it again. But we're a divided family. I love sushi...Allen, not so much, or really not at all. Oh well.

Yesterday was probably our most adventurous day. We arrived in Skagway, AK early in the morning. Allen and I had an excursion booked so we were up early and off the ship fairly quickly. Skagway sits at the top of the Inside Passage. It's on the mainland and not on an island. Thus you can actually drive to it, if you so desired. 

Our excursion for the day was a train ride up through the White Pass. The train line was built over a century ago to transport gold seekers to the mine fields in the Yukon during the gold rush up here. Prior to the train line, there was a very treacherous path up the mountains. Each miner was required to have 2,000 pounds of equipment and supplies. Most of them had one horse to carry all this. Naturally one horse and one miner couldn't carry that much weight all at once. So they would make the trip in 1 mile increments, loading up the horse, carrying the supplies the one mile and then unloading and turning around to get the next load. It sounds arduous and long. Especially since it's 110 miles to the town of Whitehorse in the Yukon. And of course, you had to worry about other miners stealing your supplies as you left them to go get the next load.

The train ride was lovely. We had spectacular views of valleys and cliffs and waterfalls and mountaintops. There was a guide on the train who told us of the history of the region (which is where I got the information in the above paragraph). 

The adventurous part of the excursion started when we reached the end of the train line. Most riders turned around and took the train back down from the summit, which is in Fraser, British Columbia, Canada. But not us...we got off the train and joined a small band which was set to bicycle back down to Skagway. Yes, we got on two wheels and rode down from the summit from an altitude of 3,300 feet to sea level over about 15 miles. Needless to say, we used our brakes a lot! We got up to speeds of 20-30 miles per hour or so, which seems very fast on those two wheels. We made several stops along the way which were welcome and a chance to get to see the scenery up close. (The picture at the top of this post is of Allen & me at Bridalveil Falls in our bike gear.) Fortunately, we were well dressed in several layers given the temperature at that altitude and the speeds at which we were going. Now, mind you, I haven't been on a bike in several years and the last time I was on one it was very flat where we rode. This was a very different experience, needless to say. But I persevered and made it the whole way. It helped that we had great guides--one of whom led us and the other followed at the end. At stops they pointed out what was around us. And I've now had the experience of going through customs on a bicycle. Overall, it was an invigorating experience certainly.

Following that we wandered around Skagway for a while, taking lunch at a local establishment. There's not much to Skagway. During the tourist season (May to September) the population is about 3-4 thousand. During the winter it drops to below 800. There are no grocery stores, movie theatres, or other useful shops. Of course, all the tourist-oriented shops close down but in the middle of the Alaskan winter, who really needs to buy diamonds or tee shirts at that time of year? The closest shops are off in Whitehorse, which, as I wrote, is 110 miles away. Fortunately, they keep the road between Skagway and Whitehorse open during the winter.

Last night our entertainment was a juggler/comedian. He was really fun to watch. He juggled a variety of things and kept us on our toes with his repartee.  I think the most impressive act was when he juggled a bowling ball, a hatchet, and an egg. How he kept those three really different items in the air baffled me.

And it's happened again...at about 4:30 this morning we awoke to water leaking from the ceiling into our cabin.  Argh! We called for assistance right away and they sent someone to our room immediately. For the morning they moved us to another room to finish sleeping. (No, not an upgrade...in fact it was a downgrade to an inside cabin.) But they fixed the problem and have assured us that it shouldn't happpen again so we are back in our cabin. But once again they are making good for the inconvenience we've experienced by treating us to a meal at the special restaurant onboard. The Murano costs extra to have dinner there. But the food is supposed to be superior to the rest of the fare on the ship. Allen & I had sort of decided that we wouldn't bother paying the extra for the experience since it is fairly expensive. But now we have reservations for Sunday evening. I'll let you know how it goes.

Today is a sea day so we're onboard the whole day. Tomorrow we dock in Victoria, British Columbia for a day. It's also another formal evening, so we'll be dressing up for dinner. Back to the bow ties.