Skagway to Vancouver

Click image for more photos ...

Our land and sea cruise with Holland America back in May ends with the sea portion on the SS Noordam which we caught in Skagway.

We left Skagway in the evening and next morning we were exploring Glacier Bay -- a 65 mile deep fjord lined with many glaciers. The day started damp, foggy and dreary but soon the sun came out and we had a glorious day exploring the glaciers.

The next day was spent in Ketchikan Alaska where our notable adventure was to go snorkelling (really, no kidding!). The water was very cold but we were well prepared in full wet suits covered head to toe and toasty warm. The snorkelling was great in a little cove not too far from town. The water was clear, lots of fish (and slugs and starfish), and interesting sea weeds. I'd highly recommend that adventure.

The final day was spent at sea, again the with clear skies and lots of sun. For the last part of the day we explored the "Inner Passage" between Vancouver Island and the coast. We arrived in Vancouver in the morning and headed home that day.

All in all it was a fun holiday where we got to see parts of the country we had never explored. Hopefully, in our retirement years, we can go back and explore more at our leisure.

Here's some photos from Skagway and the sea cruise back to Vancouver.

Fairbanks & Yukon

Click image for more photos ...

After Denali our land and sea cruise back in May continued by bus to Fairbanks where we had an evening at the Pioneer Park -- an open air Salmon Bake followed by an old timey show.

We flew from Fairbanks to Dawson City (why it's called a "city" escapes me) where the roads are gravel as is the landing strip! There we caught another old timey show at Diamond Tooth Gert's -- songs and can-can dancers.

From Dawson it's a day on the bus following the Yukon River to Whitehorse (a much bigger city) where we stayed overnight.

From Whitehorse we bussed to Carcross where the gold rush prospectors built their boats to follow the Yukon River down to Dawson and on to Seward British Columbia where we caught the White Pass & Yukon Route RR down through the mountains to Skagway Alaska.

Here's some photos of our adventures in the Yukon

Denali

Click image for more photos ...

In late May Kate and I went on a land and sea cruise with Holland America. The land portion involved a scenic train trip on the McKinley Explorer from Anchorage to Denali (from there on to Fairbanks, the Yukon, .....). We stayed two night in Denali, went on a tundra wilderness tour into the park and a rubber raft tour on the Nenana River. Weather was perfect -- warm and sunny. We saw Mount McKinley (form a distance) and that's apparently good luck on our part as it's often shrouded in clouds. We saw lots of critters in the park including Kodiak bears (four sightings, two with cubs!), mouse, caribou, golden eagles and more.

These photos document some of the highlights of Denali.

Anchorage

Click image for more photos ...

Kate and I spent a couple of days on our own in Anchorage Alaska (the last frontier) in late May of 2015 before our land and sea cruise with Holland America.

Here's some photos in and around Anchorage.

Richard Parker Obit (2015)

I could live my whole life without a phone call the likes of which I had today...

Sunday morning, May 3 2015, Kate and I were awakened to that phone call. Larry, our veterinarian, was calling to bear the sad news that Richard Parker, our buddy and travelling companion, had passed away in the night while in post operative care. Richard had been ill with several emergency interventions over the last month but we were not prepared for this. We were both heartbroken by the news. Richard was in his 4th year and will be missed.

Richard Parker and his sister Piscine Patel (both named after characters from the “Life of Pi”) came into our life in August of 2011 as foundlings from a litter that had been abandoned on the streets of St Marys. We happily adopted these two survivors into our home and our life -- they in turn brought us great joy and comfort.

While all cats are special, Richard was especially special. He was the cat that would greet us (and any visitors) at the door and would cheerfully come when called. He loved to be the centre of attention. He liked to have his tummy scratched and to be told how special he was. He purred on demand and would cuddle in bed with you when you needed it most. He loved people and people loved him -- even people who weren’t fond of cats.

Richard and Piscine have been travel companions on our winter trips to Austin Texas the last three years. While it would not be true to say they were great travellers, they would settle down after a couple of hours and were comfortable with motels and life on the road. They enjoyed their winter vacations in our Austin cottage with a yard to play in away from the snow and cold of Ontario. They became seasoned travellers.

We both miss Richard Parker, our especially special orange tabby, our travelling companion and our buddy.

.... and I feel like Hank Williams tonight.

Follow for more Photos of Richard Parker.

Ps. this was posted to Facebook back in 2015. I've reposted on my blog June, 2018.