Jen and Dave: Adventuring

It was a long travel day. First to Toronto, then on to Barcelona. There were good things and bad things about the trip. The second leg had an equipment change, so it wasn’t flying full. We got a row to ourselves; so did Jen’s parents, who are joining us on this adventure. The bad was that our baggage was lost in the transfer – we had to check our carry-on, so we have just our day packs.

After sorting out the luggage we picked up our rental car (though not without issues), then finally got on the road.

We stayed the night at La Mer, just outside of town. A 1700’s era farmhouse converted to hotel, it is strikingly picturesque, and the perfect mix of heritage and modern.

After settling in, we went next door to a boisterous family restaurant. The menus were in Catalan, the waiters spoke Catalan, and the food was local. They found a very friendly English-speaking staff member to help us order, and we tucked into rabbit, canneloni, chicken, roasted potatoes with aioli, and toasted bread.

After lunch Jen decided to call it a day, while the other three went on a short hike to a local castle.

Two sea days in a row!

The first was to Glacier Bay National Park. Thé mist was lifting as we entered the channel, the sun’s rays broke through, and it was jaw-dropping spectacular. Snow-capped mountains, glacier-worn granite, turquoise waters, ice flows dotted with seals sunning themselves, and the moraine-striped cool blue of the glaciers. Wow.

We visited two glaciers, including Johns Hopkins Glacier, which is only permitted to be visited by ships in September (after seal pupping season). The whole park is limited to two ships a day, so we we’re incredibly fortunate to take it all in. It calved several times while we visited – unreal.

After the glaciers we relaxed indoors, painting and sketching. Dinner was formal, during which we entered the Gulf of Alaska – open water, with five meter swells. Jen had to excuse herself, but Dave kindly fetched some motion-sickness medication from Guest Services, which promptly knocked Jen out for a long sleep.

The next day the rocking continued, but Jen was less queasy. An easy morning watching the seas go by in the Crow’s Nest was followed by Alaska Brunch in the main dining room. Dave was now the queasy one, and he took it easy in the stateroom instead.

Jen spent the afternoon painting, and giving away many of them to fellow passengers, as well as taking part in a doodling class.

As dinner happened we cruised College Fjord, admiring the hanging glaciers from the dining room. We arrive in port in Whittier tonight, and disembark early.

Skagway is a cute gold rush town in a horseshoe of snowy mountain peaks and misty forests, connected to the world through the marine highway, a land highway to Carcross, Yukon, the famed White Pass Railway, and the infamous Chilkoot Trail.

Town is small, allowing us to wander through it all, check out the trains, and walk back along the river within about an hour and a half. We finished with a trip to Rushin’ Tailors’ Quilt Alaska for their custom wilderness batiks and to the Gold Rush National Historic Site interpretive centre.

Next came a soak in a rain-topped hot tub, revelling in the mountain mist. A casual lunch and we found ourselves back at the Crow’s nest for some relaxing hobby time.

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” on the dock.

Down the waterfront was a small park and a whale sculpture.

Returning to the ship for lunch, we decided on a nap, hot tubbing, and painting (Jen) and sketching (Dave) in the Crow’s Nest. A delightful dinner with a couple from Enderby, a talk on glaciers and volcanos, and then some wind down in the Crow’s Nest finished the night.

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 the rapids.

A local park had an anthropology museum we had seen previously, but Jen always gets chills from the “Raven and the Fog Woman” pole, which she studied in Brownies.

Returning through the non-tourist part of town, we split – Jen returned to the ship for lunch, a hot shower, and some time to paint. Dave walked the waterfront the other direction, to the fisher’s wharf.

This afternoon holds art class for Jen and sketching and French practice for Dave. after dinner is the Orange party – more dancing shall ensue!

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 the buffet. As lunch was ending our cabin was announced as ready, and we headed there to put away our things.

First up was exploring the ship to find out what was up for offer. Then, we relaxed in the Crow’s Nest until sail away began, heading outside to wave goodbye to Vancouver and to watch as we went under the Lion’s Gate bridge.

Dinner followed, then hot tubbing on the open aft deck. The ship was doing a compass calibration before really leaving, spinning in place twice, which meant great scenery.

After a quick shower we headed to the Billboard Lounge for dualing pianos of top 100 Billboard hits before going to bed.

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 family.

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 Scottish mile, 320 falls or 1807 meters).

We then met up with our first tour of the day, a skip-the-line tour of the Edinburgh Castle. It was fantastic, telling of some of the twenty-six sieges on the castle, which is elevated from the city on a dead volcano. We also got free time in the castle after the tour to see inside some of the buildings.

After our castle visit we went further down High Street to meet with our second tour of the day, which gave vignettes of the city’s history both above and below ground. The highlight was a trip into a rediscovered underground, and learning the stories of what it was built for, what it was used for, the fire, and them being walled off for hundreds of years.

After the second tour we found a hole-in-the-wall for a quick dinner before following the Royal Mile to Holyroodhouse Palace, which was closed as the King and Queen are currently in residence.

Our destination, however, was Holyrood Park, another old volcanic rock jutting out of the landscape. A trail goes to the summit, Arthur’s Seat. The view was fantastic from the top Thanks to Dave’s colleague Steve for the tip!

Then it was time to grab a bus back to the hotel, pack our bags, and get ready to leave for the airport at three in the morning.

Loved land of my kindred, farewell – and forever!
Oh! what can relief to the bosom impart;
When fated with each fond endearment to sever,
And hope its sweet sunshine withholds from the heart!
Farewell, thou fair land! which, till life’s pulse shall perish,
Though doom’d to forego, I shall never forget;
Wherever I wander, for thee will I cherish
The dearest regard and the deepest regret.

John Imlach (1799-1846)

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 time to for lunch in a local pub first. We then dropped our bags before heading to the centre of town.

Reaching the castle, we stumbled into the end of the recessional from the Coronation celebration, as King Charles received Scotland’s honours today. The regalia was a spectacle, and Jen particularly loved the Shetland pony mascot of one of the regiments. He had his own uniform!

After the recessional was a fly-past by the Red Arrows, the UK’s version of the Snowbirds. They were a real crowd-pleaser.

Dinner was in a cute Mexican street food place, and delicious. Then we retraced our steps for an early night.