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)!