Alaska 6.0 - Day 7

 August 16:  Glacier Bay National Park

We woke up today approaching Glacier Bay National Park.  As we had coffee at 8 pm the park ranger's boat slid up beside ours and they got on board to narrate the day.  Just stunning vistas throughout the entire day.  And as the morning melted into the afternoon and I thought that my pictures were cool, they kept getting better and better.

Pretty sure I heard someone say that today's waffle was made of cauliflower, and the apple topping was organic and non-sugar based....pretty sure I heard that.

What many of our friends may NOT know is that our gal-pal Patti is a noted author!  When we met her on our Viking Oceans Norway trip she was considering writing this book and had written quite a bit as a rough draft.  We encouraged her to continue and said we would love to read the story.  She now has the book out and it's sales are good.  She brought some copies on board and has interacted with several guests who have wanted a copy.  Pretty cool - good for Patti!

Alaska 6.0 - Day 6

 August 15:  Hubbard Glacier

We woke up this morning and for the first time since the day we left we were NOT on a schedule, and more importantly not on an early wake-up schedule.  It was very nice to wake up leisurely and go get coffee and enjoy breakfast while watching the water go by.

The View At Breakfast

NOTE:  I heard that the sticky buns on Holland America are actually made from a special mixture of broccoli, asparagus, and kale with an all natural, non-caloric coating (for the person who'd be most interested in this....that's what I heard - just sayin')

Kim went to the gym at mid-morning and then played in a ping-pong tournament (made it to the semi-finals!).  And then we met up with Patti for lunch in the dining room.  Around 1:45 we were approaching our main objective for the day, Hubbard Glacier.  By 2 pm we were within a few miles and the scenery began to change.  As we finally arrived and "parked" just four miles from the gigantic ice formation the ship turned first to the starboard side so everyone who had veranda staterooms could enjoy a full-on view of the glacier, and then the ship turned around so we (our room is on the port side) could enjoy the full-on view.  To get the full impact of the day I went up top to deck 10 and viewed the glacier when the ship was turned to the starboard side.  The air temp was in the low 50's but with the misting rain, the breeze and being close to the glacier it was PRETTY cold.  I stayed up there for about half an hour, then as the ship slowly turned I made my way to our room and watched in the comfort of our sheltered balcony.

By the time the ship left the glacier it was close to time to dress for drinks and dinner.  Over cocktails we met a couple who'd been to Antarctica.  Their unbridled enthusiasm for our upcoming trip there was exciting (not that we didn't think it would be a "once in a lifetime trip" already, but it was cool to meet ordinary guests, like us who had been there and loved it).  We had 6 pm reservations at the Pinnacle Grill, one of two specialty restaurants on board.  Last night's dinner was excellent, but tonight's was exceptional to the "nth" degree!  Just superb!  After dinner we were early for the 9:30 pm show so we caught about 25 minutes of a "dueling piano" performance and then watched the main show in the theatre which was a dance production set to modern music.  Typically not one for dance, I thought the whole show was top notch and enjoyed it alot.  Tomorrow we spend the day (nearly six hours) in Glacier Bay National Park where we should see multiple glaciers up close and personal!

Alaska 6.0 - Day 5

 Scenic Train Trip:  Anchorage to Whittier / Boarding The Noordam

We're OFF!

We got to "sleep in" to 8 am this morning before the bags had to be out at the hotel in Anchorage.  But the train was not leaving until about 1 pm (with the transportation to the train station at 12:45).  After the bags were set out Kim got an hour in the hotel gym and then the three of us went to a really nice, local mom & pop breakfast place that was excellent.  LOVED the cinnamon roll there.  The bus left on time and we boarded the train with our huge window to view what we anticipated would be a spectacular scenic trip.  See, we'd been on this same train itinerary in 2016 and the views we had then were one of the "best excursions" of any Alaskan trip we'd been on.

But the trip was far short of expectations.  Most of the time it was drizzling and the view out the windows were mostly trees.  Some water & mountains, but not much really scenic vistas.

The trip was just short of three hours and we arrived to find the ship awaiting us.  The check-in process started off "rocky" as we were immediately asked to "mask up."  Now, without going off the deep end - we've just spent eight hours yesterday and three hours today, in an enclosed train car with all these people.....who've ALL tested negative for the virus within the last 24 hours AND who are all vaccinated.  And today, TODAY it's essential we all have masks on?  Seriously?  Right after we cleared the checking in and walked outside to board the ship the three of us took our masks off as did a small minority of people.  But once on board no one asked us to put them back on.  And when we got to the room the "Health Advisory" had been updated to say that masks were only "recommended."

So after unpacking we went to the lounge for dinner drinks - almost everyone of the other guests had either not read their health advisory or felt it was important (TODAY!) to mask up as we were one of the few people without masks.  We enjoyed our drinks, especially me with my traditional frozen mudslide!

We then went to dinnerwhere all three of us were so happy to be back on board a ship, cruising, and being waited on at a linen table-cloth covered setting.  The food was great, as was the wine.  And by the time we'd finished dinner we all had hit a wall.  We made our way to the Guest Services desk where, despite the Health Advisory we were "invited" to put a mask on and we asked:  about how full was the ship, when would we get to the glaciers tomorrow and was there a coffee bar.  The girl was very nice and told us (thru her mask) that the ship was only 70% full, that we would arrive at the glaciers in the late afternoon, and that indeed there was a coffee bar - covered free of charge by our drinks package - on the third deck.  And with that we all called it a night and headed upstairs as the Noordam sailed off into the waters of Alaska!

Alaska 6.0 - Day 4

 August 13:  Scenic Railway Trip - Denali to Anchorage

After two full days of activities in Denali Park today we were up and out the door at 7 am for our luggage pick-up and have some breakfast before boarding the McKinley Express domed train for the scenic ride to Anchorage.  So, there aren't many tales to tell today....but here's what you DO need to know.  First, the train ride.  One of the coolest things you can do is to ride the rails in Alaska to get from one spot to another, the scenery is truly something.  There are three routes you can ride the train.  (1) between Fairbanks and Denali - we were on the bus for this portion of our journey and honestly, of the three train routes, it's the least scenic.  (2) Denali to Anchorage - what we did today.  It's the longest, and I mean the L-O-N-G-E-S-T of the three as it covers about eight hours of riding on the train.  The scenery is "good," but there's NOT eight hours worth of WOW scenery.  A lot of it is just riding through the wild forest.  And that's ok - it's scenic, you're on a domed train, and you're in Alaska so who's complaining.  In addition on this leg you are served lunch which was delicious.  For some reason today was a busy day on the railroad and there is but a single set of tracks.  So twice we had to pull over and wait for a train coming northbound to arrive and pass us by, so it added about an hour to our day.  (3) Anchorage to Seward/Whittier where the ship awaits.  This is what we'll do tomorrow - it's about 3 hours, maybe a little longer.  And the one time we did it we both said it was THE BEST "excursion" we've ever been on in any of our previous five trips to Alaska.  The scenery for nearly the entire three hours is spectacular, so we have high hopes for tomorrow.  Some of the shots I captured today:

One final selfie in Denali

Showing off our souvenir mugs with our morning "beverage"

(Mine was hot cocoa spiked with kalua - yummy!)

Patti has friends from high school who have bought a place in Anchorage and will live here at least part of the year.  So she made arrangements for Kim and I to meet her friends Jackie & Tom Maxwell.  They were waiting for us in our hotel lobby once we arrived.  We made sure our luggage was in our rooms then all got into their car and drove the short distance to the restaurant Jackie had picked out.  We were so excited to discover we were eating in an "igloo!"  The dinner was fabulous, the company even better.  Finally after dessert Jackie & Tom drove us back to the hotel where Kim and I took a look out over our balcony onto the waterfront and headed to bed.  We've loved the land portion of our adventure but are so SO excited for the cruise to begin.