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Alaska 2018
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Saturday August 11, 2018
Denali

Sunday August 12, 2018
Bus from Denali to Seward
Next
Monday August 13, 2018
At sea in rough weather

08:28 Alaska time 09:28 California time
Dusty: Boarded the bus to Seward
Dusty:   Same folks have been on our train car up and our tour of Denali, and I suspect also on our floor of the cruise ship
Dusty:  I am pretty sure I'm reliving the movie Cocoon
Dusty:  We will apparently miss Seward, they will drive us straight to the ship - we shoulda made the trip on our own during the 5d we had
Dusty:  Google says it takes 6h30m to dry there, will take us closer to 10h with way too many rest stops since apparently old people need to use the bathroom every 10m or so
Dusty:  Will have limited cell service the rest of the day
Dusty:  Weather for Glacier Bay may be decent, it is quite a ways away from the Kenia..
Dusty:  drizzle this morning, we've had at least a trace of rain 5 out of 7 days i think
Dusty:   Have an excellent Sunday!  Start working on those trip reports Ray and Kent!
...
Dusty: Only the beginning of Cocoon, not the part where anyone acted under the age of 80...
Dusty: The grandparent scene in Sixteen Candles also comes to mind...

08:37 Alaska time 09:37 California time
Kent: That's funny Dusty
Kent:  I took nearly 2000 pictures on my trip!  That's 125 per day
Kent:  When I went to Europe my first time in 1991 I used 6 24 exposure film rolls
Kent:  144 pictures over 3 weeks

08:43 Alaska time 09:43 California time
Dusty: I took over 2100 iphone pics in France plus the cannon plus the 360 pano...
Dusty: crazy numbers..
Dusty: far fewer here so far, at least on iPhone, switched to canon cause of the zoom lens

10:25 Alaska time 11:25 California time
Dusty: Starting to read 'minus 148' about the first winter ascent of Denali...
Dusty: excellent..
Dusty: need to read more about life and death struggles in the mountains

10:34 Alaska time 11:34 California time
Kent: I enjoy the histories
Kent:  Some great stories
Kent:  One of the reasons I enjoy the Swiss alps, is how deep that history is there



One of the key reasons I choose Holland America instead of Princess is with a Princess tour, you spend one night near the park entrance, but than for your 2nd night they bus you back 90 minutes south near Talkeetna to their
  Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.  The Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge has great views of Denali on occasion, but it is also in the middle of nowhere.

For lunch we stopped after a brief 90 minutes of driving for cafeteria food at its not greatest - the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
Fortunately our bus was the first bus of several that day so our wait for restrooms and lunch was minimal.



11:16 Alaska time



11:17 Alaska time
No view of Denali or anything else today.



13:32 Alaska time



14:34 Alaska time

Near Wasila we stopped for yet another bathroom break at Fred Meyer, your last stop to buy anything before the cruise ship.



15:02 Alaska time
Finally back in Anchorage, making poor time...



17:40 Alaska time
Rainy Seward is supposed to be gorgeous.
Perhaps another day it would be.



17:46 Alaska time
Check in



18:44 Alaska time



My suitcase was waiting, Kathy's was not.
We had a nervous 45 minutes waiting for her suitcase to get delivered to the room before the cruise ship left.



18:45 Alaska time



18:45 Alaska time



19:01 Alaska time



19:26 Alaska time

While others were still in their rooms, Karin and I wasted no time exploring the bars looking at the beer selection.
Karin ordered a Fat Tire at the pool bar.
I was still deciding when the bell rang for our Titanic drill and the bar immediately closed.
Karin was good enough to share her beer with me.

I immediately became recognizable as the long haired drunk who had the foresight to bring beer to the Titanic drill.
I explained to a few folks that my mother in law was good enough to share with me..

We all had to stand around outside waiting to hear our names called.
We weren't supposed to have any food or drink.
When they called our "Ketchum", I replied "Cheers!"

For the rest of the week, a few people recognized me as the guy with the beer...or the guy with the mother in law... or both...

For dinner we had our first meal in the dining room.
The food and service were fantastic.
I could not understand why someone would choose to eat dinner at a buffet instead.










They put a net over the poor overnight to keep people out.
The harmonics were amazing.

home

Alaska 2018
previous
Saturday August 11, 2018
Denali

Sunday August 12, 2018
Bus from Denali to Seward
Next
Monday August 13, 2018
At sea in rough weather