TOOTLING AROUND SKAGWAY and.......

....then on to Glacier Bay.

Skagway is a quaint little fishing village that gets inundated with cruise ships from May until the middle of September.

Then business slows, and the locals can hunker down or hibernate for the winter. Either way, I'm sure it's a mixed bag for them.

I think I mentioned purchasing five hours of Internet in Katchekan that worked in all three ports....except in Juneau, I was on an all day excursion so didn't get into town to hang out. But once in Skagway, I found time to post.....

This is Skagway from the ship's deck. It's very small and is dwarfed by all the cruise ships. I never did connect with Pumpkin Delight, but I did leave her a voice message. Cell service was bizarre to say the least. I hope to catch up with Pumpkin, Jason, JLo and all the other goofballs bloggers in the LA area while I'm in So CA.

I loved all the shops in town, and stopped at a cute shop to buy fudge and some Victorian Vanilla Cremes for my travelling companions and Joey and Brian, our waiters every night for dinner. The gal that waited on me in the fudge shop was hugging and kissing her boyfriend, and after a few minutes, I started laughing...I mean it was bordering on rediculous, there were about four customers waiting to purchase candy. Finally her boss came by and said something to her. I ordered my two boxes of chocolates, and half pound of maple fudge. She put the Victorian Vanilla Cremes in two separate boxes for me, and of course my fudge. She asked if they could all go in one bag and I said sure. When I got back to the ship, I only had the fudge and one box of Victoria Vanilla Cremes. I called the shop (their number was on the bag) and told the manager. She said the other box was there and I could come back for it.....not!! She then offered to mail me a full pound to my home address next week when the fudge maker gets back. I gave her my daughter's address, since I will be in CA. I hope no one opens the fudge. She said he makes fudge every two weeks, so it will be supper fresh. I really appreciated her excellent customer service, and can't wait to get home and order some more fudge for Christmas gifts.

That evening, John and I had dinner alone because the others went on a land excursion that was delayed up some river without a paddle looking for bald eagles.

Here is Joey and Brian. Are they not the best? We had crab legs until we almost burst. They kept bringing more and more. We ordered a dessert called The Love Boat that was pure chocolate delight, shaped like a heart. Then Joey brought us each Cherries Jubilee!

The next morning we were at sea all day, travelling up an inward passage to Glacier Bay.

Here is a picture from level 18. You can see hot tubs on two separate levels in the foreground, and people looking at the scenery.

How about some pictures of different glaciers.....

These are calfing....breaking apart and falling into the ocean...or sea, I get confused.....

I'm currently at the Anchorage Airport, waiting patiently for my flight to Southern California...connecting through Phoenix in nine hours! I still have to post about our last night, but that will be coming in the next day or so. My little boy is picking me up late Sunday night, and I will spend the first day at his house before renting a car and trekking south to Heartshapedhedges.

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE.....NOT!

The airlines cooperated, and I got to Seattle without a hitch.

Met up with my friends twenty minutes later......Here they come, John, Jan and Patty......the others are stragglers.

All seven of us with baggage climb into an SUV that seats eight, or five with luggage...but who's counting? Lynne drives us from Seattle to Vancouver....a nice long ride We Stop for lunch in La Conner....which is in probably in Canada...or else it's in Washington State. Either way, it's on the way.

Once we arrive in Vancouver....we check into the Comfort Inn right downtown in the ritzy Gothic rave party district part of town. The hotel lobby is up about ten steps. You don't have to worry about being handicap compliant in Canada...so up the stairs we carry our junk.

Because we're really cheap shits a close bunch, of friends we decide to all bunk in one really big room. John and I took the couch(s).

We arrive at the port, turn in the SUV, then stand in the parking structure hoping someone helps us...not happening.

Once on board we head to the all you can eat buffet for lunch..then afterwards up to the promenade deck to say good-bye to Vancouver....

Nice lighthouse.....

Foggy evening.... with a rainbow.

We headed for the Welcome show Friday night...It was nice, really just an introduction to upcoming entertainment.

This is Grandma J with Gavin, he's the cruise director and my new BFF on the cruise. We watched the sunset on the water, since in wasn't in the sky.....we played a bit of blackjack later on, then headed to bed.

Today is Monday...because nothing happened on Sunday except for more buffets and a musical tribute to Elton John, Barry Manlow, and some other oldies...like Liberace.
I got up at five a.m. to take pictures of the ship pulling into port here in Ketchikan.....I do that for my readers. This is a small town of approx 7,700 people according to the city bus driver. The tour buses are 15 dollars, the city bus is 50 cents.
Our Ship, the Sapphire Princess

I stopped here at the Christmas shop to get a few ornaments.

Then on to this quaint cafe to get on the Internet. There is an Internet cafe on ship, but Grandma J isn't spending fifty cents a minute to blog....So I'll try to blog in ports.

And the weather? Sunny, in the 60's...no need for even a sweater...so far so good.