A Note About These Posts

Greetings Readers!

Kathleen/KQ/Aunt Kat here. I just wanted to remind everyone that I am NOT the sole author of these posts. Doodah and Addie and even Mutti are also contributing. If you're reading these through my Facebook newsfeed (you rascal, you), the various authors are not coming through with the post. People have been telling me how funny some of the stuff I have written is (among other things), and it turns out they are posts that some of my family members have written. So- check out the signature at the bottom of the post on the blog. :)

It floats!

The activity of the day was a float plane adventure from Juneau Harbor to the Taku Glacier – we landed in the river. The intrepid Miss Addie rode shotgun in the 1962 De Haviland Otter turbo prop, with bush pilot Sam at the controls. The ride and the aerial view of the glaciers – there are five big ones in the Juneau ice field – was worth the price of the ticket. A bonus was a true bush feast of fresh king salmon filets grilled over alder wood, herb biscuits – Aunt Kat had two – and related trimmings, all at the remote Taku River Lodge. We also got up close and personal with a large black bear, Liz, and her cub, name unknown. Liz is a brown black bear, which is sort of like a yellow lab, genetically speaking. Her cub is a black black bear. They hang around the lodge because the grilled salmon smells so good.

Where eagles dare

If this is Wednesday, then this must be Haines, Alaska, another one of those places that you have to be going to to get there. It is also the home of the famous Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve which boasts the world’s largest gathering of Bald Eagles – in November. This being July, there were still 3-400 of the winged critters, about 10% of the fall population, and we saw a dozen or so, several close up.

Our mode of transportation through the preserve was an eight person raft of the type found on whitewater rivers in the lower 48. This proved no problem for our intrepid group, all reasonable fit and somewhat agile, but it was definitely a challenge for most of the other rafters who were too old - they play Frank Sinatra on the ship's intercom at all times - too stove up, and above all, too obese for this adventure. If any of these folks had gone overboard into the swift 37° current, it would have been a disaster. Several could barely get into the raft at the landing. One porcine blue haired lady had to be assisted into her bus seat, out of her bus seat, and could barely stand on her own, much less walk. She was the poster person for "I've fallen and I can't get up." Why she was on this rafting excursion was a mystery.

An additional word about our shipmates. Ninety percent of them are huge – the primary dimension being wide – and most will get huger on this cruise. Tomorrow, there is a popular float plane excursion where anyone weighing over 250# - you have to get on a scale – is charged extra. Is that a great revenue scam or what – ranks right up there with ATM fees for pure commercial genius.

Addie Minke

Hard at work!

Hi everybody!

We're about to get off the cruise and tour around Haines. About William: I miss y'all alot! We're going to a bald eagle preserve. I heard that there are other animals there, too.

I got Mom's email with news from home- poor Lucy! I thought dogs were supposed to chase cats! Have y'all watched the new TV in the kitchen yet? Is it cool?

I have eaten some really strange things, and last night I had lobster bisque. I've also had some other strange things beside that- I even had squid! It tasted pretty much like french fries. This morning we had to get up really early to get breakfast. I was SO tired! Tonight I'm going to Club HAL, which is like a place for kids to play.

I think the favorite animal that I've seen would be a grizzly bear or a fox. Oh, and I almost forgot! I saw whales yesterday! Well, a whale. He was jumping out of the water and doing belly flops. At first we just saw blowing, then the flukes started splashing around. After that is when one started doing belly flops. Doodah says they were probably Minke whales (pronounced "MIN-kee"). I've never heard of a Minke whale- it's kind of a strange name. We laughed every time he said it last night.

Doodah hasn't gotten sea sick yet, and it was kind of amazing because the night before last the boat was rocking back and forth a whole bunch according to Mutti. I was dead asleep! It's a good think Doodah didn't get sick.

I miss y'all very very very much!

Yours truly,
Addie

P.S.I really do miss you!

Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay is apparently a big deal. Who knew? We were advised before we arrived that since this was an official US national park – thanks, Jimmy Carter – that there would be no gambling, drinking adult beverages, or sporting around. They even closed the ships gym. Dang.

There are a lot of tidal glaciers here – they are the ones that make it to the sea – and they calve a lot of ice into the bay which makes this place really, really cold. Rangers Linda and Jenn, a handsome pair, came aboard as we entered the bay. They knew a whole lot about these glaciers and spoke reverently and often about them over the ship’s intercom – the one they use to announce that the ship is sinking, or on fire, and which broadcast into ever nook and cranny of the ship, including your cabin – which was OK unless you were trying to take a nap, or were sporting around in violation of federal law.

After six hours of glacier watching – and listening to them snap, crackle and pop – and maybe half a million digital images – thanks, Al Gore – we turned around and left the way we came.

Dinner Belle

Miss Adeline Jo Quinlen has always been known as an adventurous diner, but on this trip she has moved to a new level. Most kids her age – she’ll be 10 in August - pretty much limit themselves to Cheerios, peanut butter and chicken fingers.

The following is a partial list of her gastronomical choices: clam chowder, fish chowder, potato leek soup, corn soup, white bean soup, French onion soup, steamed mussels, shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon, grilled salmon, calamari, King crab legs, and of course the scrub willow leaves so favored by the local moose. She’s hopeful we can get some good oysters when we are a bit further south.

Mutti speaks!

Says Mutti:

I am so impressed with the vastness and beauty of Alaska, at least the parts we have seen so far. Denali National Park was unbelievably huge. We were told if you took the park and squashed it into a three mile strip, it would reach from Los Angeles to Boston. The mountains were immense, the valleys deep, the colors varied, and the land almost devoid of any traces of humans except along the one road, and they were few and far between. And then there was the wildlife. We only saw a few animals but it was so exciting. Seeing a bear or moose or caribou in the wild is completely different from seeing it in a zoo. We all felt that our tour of the park greatly exceeded our expectations.

Our guide was a very attractive and knowledgeable 50 year old woman named Lisa Frederic. She also happens to be a sled dog trainer and musher who completed the 2002 Iditarod Trail race and wrote a book about her experience. I read the book on the ride from Denali to Seward and was spellbound.

Unless you think that Mutti is having too much fun and getting a rest from all her wifely and motherly duties, let me tell you about this morning. I spent our first morning in the bowels of the ship doing everyone’s laundry, missing breakfast because I had to maintain my place in the queue for washers, dryers, etc. So be sure and put up one gold star for Mutti!
But life is not too hard. I have to stop now and get ready for the Captain’s welcome cocktail party. As we all know, having fun is hard work (Rule 2)!

Sea Legs

Alaska! A boat! Good times!

The Quinlens are finally on a boat in the ocean. Hooray!

Don't get me wrong- Denali and Anchorage were great- but I think we are all happy to be done with buses and trains (even ones as nice as those in which Holland America has been shuttling us to and fro) for a while.

Mutti wakes up Addie to point out something awesome no doubt

Speaking of- the train from Anchorage to Denali was pretty darn great. Holland America has its own cars with glass domed tops that offer a "360" view. I'm not sure it's exactly 360 since you have cars in front of and behind you plus plenty of people to see over and around, but the view is outstanding. Additionally, the cars are double deckers with the dining area downstairs and the seating area upstairs. We ate well and saw lots of cool stuff: moose, a black bear, salmon, and, (we are told) most fortunately, Denali itself. Apparently the train staff had not been able to view Denali in several weeks, and we got to see it from several different vantage points. Very cool!

Denali! At least . . . as far as you know.

The view from our dinner table at the McKinley Chalet

As I said, we had a great tour through Denali National Park on Saturday and saw lots and lots of critters (Mutti may have written down everything we saw). What we didn't see in in the park we got to see at an animal refuge yesterday at a stop between Anchorage and Seward. Highlights included a very adorable orphaned moose calf, a black bear munching leaves in a tree, and some enormous bull moose lounging lazily under a tree. Oh! And a young grizzly bear that seemed to enjoy coming up to the edge of its enclosure to check out all the visitors (including Addie!).

Greetings taco lovers!

We set sail around 10:30 or 11:00 PM last night, so we probably spent 5 or 6 hours on the ship puttering around, orienting ourselves, and eating dinner prior to takeoff. We saw a sea otter paddling around in the Seward port during dinner, and s/he was super cute.

Seward. Not the loveliest port from the ground, but pretty darn nice from the boat!


Close quarters? Not so bad, as it turns out.

Today we have been power cruisers since we have a day at sea and nothing in particular to do. We've been to the gym, the pool, the hot tub, the buffet, the ice cream place, the laundry room, the library, and, briefly, the promenade deck for a lifeboat drill. We passed with flying colors, and Doodah made some Kiwi friends in the process.

Seward: really kinda pretty!

For fear of this turning into a play-by-play (what- you don't want to know what we're doing every single second?), I'm going to stop now. I will force Mutti to write something soon, and Addie will have a post coming shortly.

In South Alaskaaaa . . . There Are Many Tall Spruuuuce . . .

And, not surprisingly, wireless access is sort of catch as catch can here in Denali.

We left Anchorage on Friday morning and took the McKinley Explorer over to Denali National Park. Yesterday, Saturday, we took a bus tour (it's pretty much the only easy way to get in to the park on the single road that goes through it) with an amazing guide, Lisa Frederic. We bought her book last night in the lodge gift shop.

Doodah will have to post the pictures- my little point and shoot just doesn't have the big girl pants necessary to capture the grandeur (and the distance between us and Cool Things) of this place. But I can tell you that we saw moose, caribou, a fox, a black bear, a grizzly with two spring cubs (heart!), and, apparently, a wolf. Everyone else saw it- I didn't.

We are about to take an 8 hour bus to Seward to begin our cruise, so I gotta close up shop here. We'll all write more once we are on the ship!

For Thomas

We had a great time (albeit cold and damp) visiting Portage Lake and Glacier today. Apparently this is the coldest summer in, like, 15 years or something- and it was really cold up on and around the ice and snow. But- glaciers! Yay!

In the end, though, Anchorage is still in the middle of summer, and- warm or not- the sun is out for most of the day and night. Per Thomas's request, here is a picture of what nighttime in Alaska looks like.

After dinner - 9:30 PM

From our hotel window - 10:30 PM

The Jumpy Alaskan

[as dictated to Aunt Kat]

Hi, I am Addie. I am in Alaska. I flew in yesterday. After we settled in, we went out on a bridge and I saw a salmon- live, not smoked. At dinner last night, for the first time ever, I had clam chowder. I liked it even more than the mini-corndogs!

Today we are going to see a glacier. I'm really excited. For breakfast I had a croissant and a mocha frappuccino. The caffeine's kinda made me a little jumpy. I don't think we'll be getting much sleep tonight!

There is a grizzly bear and a polar bear downstairs. They're both growling. I wonder why they always put stuffed bears growling. I'm having a great time in Alaska!

Yours truly,

Addie

Ourselves are here!

Arrived Anchorage about 2:30pm - 5:30pm Memphis time - took about an hour to collect baggage and get to the hotel - no problems. It's 48° and misting rain - went down to the river and watched the salmon swim by - then to the Snow Goose for dinner. Addie had a big bowl of clam chowder, mini corn dogs and Oreos. Yum, yum. Off to some glacier tomorrow.

Imagine Being Able to be Magically Whisked Away to . . . Anchorage . . .

Ah, Alaska!

Actually, I don't intend to spend time knocking Anchorage for not being the jewel in America's metropolitan crown . . . mostly because I don't think Anchorage qualifies as a metropolis. As a municipality, however, it's bumpin'!

We passed much of today in or waiting on airplanes, which meant I spent a solid 9 hours hating the whole of humanity with a quiet yet burning passion. In the depths of my travel-induced misanthropy, I decided that flying to Alaska is a lot like flying to Las Vegas, except that it's longer and you have to assume that everyone on your flight is going to be staying at the same hotel as you and that said hotel is floating in the middle of the ocean and that said people will, instead of following a strict regiment of being-glued-to-the-penny-slot-machines all week and, thus, out of your way, walk directly in front of you at all times, as slowly as possible, slack jawed and waiting to see a whale.

A lot of old people come to Alaska. And the guy in front of me had stinky feet. I wrote a haiku. I might share it later.

So far our Alaskan adventure has included me looking for a swimsuit (for the cruise. And yes, it's as difficult as it sounds. But I heart REI Anchorage and the clearance rack.), the four of us trekking down to Ship Creek to look for salmon (we only saw one, but it was HUGE and red. And swimming downstream . . . ), and beer.

Currently Addie is bouncing off the walls (note to self- manage Frappuccino consumption more conservatively), but we are going to try to sit still enough to post something for her as well.

Check Here for Updates!

Assuming our fingers are warm enough to type (ha), we plan to update the multitude of folks who care about our Alaskan exploits at this here web logging site. Check back for (hopefully) images and (possibly) some write-ups. We may also include a paypal link to accept donations for the outrageous internet access fees we will be paying on board our rugged little boat.

In the meantime, meet the characters in this little drama!

Addie and Marion "Mutti" Quinlen- clearly the smartest and best-dressed of the bunch

Kathleen Quinlen- least likely to get into any sort of trouble

Bill "Doodah" Quinlen- artist, radical, Tabasco-lover