Jen and Dave: Adventuring

It’s not June, but there’s lots of water here (da dum ksh). Jen spotted the first whale of the trip as we approached the port, a humpback hump. Disembarking in Juneau, we walked the waterfront, passing the tourist area as we laughed about selling the opportunity to take a photo of the big bear “present”…

We pulled into the small port of Ketchikan on a wet but warm morning. Getting off the ship early, we explored Creek Street and marvelled at all the Pink salmon returning – and the opportunistic seals enjoying the fishy feast. Continuing down the “married man’s path,” we watched fish go up the ladder and through…

Our first sea day was cruising the inside passage, and the views were delightful. We found comfy chairs in 11 Midship to watch the world go by. Jen painted, Dave sketched: all was good. Other activities included a talk on whales, a nap, delicious food for dressy night, and dancing the night away.

The plan was to drive the Dempster to the Arctic Ocean, but the widespread wildfires caused us to change plans. In place of that trip, Jen found a last-minute cruise on Holland America from Vancouver to Whittier, Alaska. So north we go! We boarded at around noon, and started our trip on the Lido, at…

After returning home, we reset quickly and headed out on a camping trip with Jen’s extended family. A beautiful lake off a gravel road in the vicinity of Merritt, Jen’s family has made an annual pilgrimage since before she was born. It was a beautiful week of swimming, floating, walking, talking, reading, playing games, and…

One full day to get a feel for a city? We took on the challenge. First, we walked to Old Town from our hotel at Haymarket, picking up breakfast at a cafe along the way. We started by looking around the top half of High Street, part of the Royal Mile (which is actually a…

An early morning walk to the ferry and it’s farewell to Arran. We enjoyed breakfast on board, along with very comfy seats. After disembarking we caught the train to Glasgow Central, the transfer bus to Glasgow Queen, and the train to Haywood Market. Our hotel wasn’t allowing check-in until 2 pm, so we had some…

After a quick breakfast we decided to spend our last day on Arran in drastically different ways. Jen would recharge in town, while Dave would charge up Goat Fell and bag the summit. Dave climbed the well-built, well-maintained, well-marked, well-cell-serviced main route to the highest point on the island, Goat Fell. From our guest house…

After a quick breakfast we hopped on a bus to Lamlash, skipping a section that gave us two options: one that was tidal, and one that climbs high into the woods. In Lamlash, we joined the coastal route. The first stage was along the town waterfront, which had lovely views of the Holy Isle. The…

Preparing for another day of hiking, we decided to make it a slightly shorter day. We were dropped off in Low Kildonan, along the water. The plan was to follow the official Inland route from here – it is best to have the cooperation of the tides to do the coastal variant, and they were…