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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
.jpg)
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.
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