Sunday, Sept 15 - We're back. No internet for nearly 10 days, which in some ways was a nice break. But getting back, there were 15 pages of emails to clear. That being accomplished, here's a little update. Clearly, I can't cover the details of the trip to the north in one posting, but suffice it to say we had a great time with a lot of old friends, and thoroughly enjoyed our first time on an extended cruise.

The pictures below are just a little sample of the cruise, minus a hundred images of good times with our Lahr Reunion friends. Gail lounging on the deck was for two minutes, and was the only time she sat still for 7 days. Too many other things to do. Next is our ship, Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam, a wonderful cruise ship with terrific service, loads of activities and no end of food.

The third shot is of the tongue of the Margery Glacier in Glacier Bay, where we got a good look at an impressive hunk of ice that is still advancing to the sea, rather than retreating the way many glaciers are. We calculated the tongue to be about 60 feet high, while the glacier extends back for 15 miles.
The fourth picture is typical of much of the scenery we saw along the route, with fine mountains and a generally quiet sea (although there were a couple of times when we were rocking fairly heavily).

In most of these frontier Alaska towns, there is a history of rough and tumble times, with brothels and bars the main businesses in the late 1800s.

Finally, we gained more appreciation of the culture and artistry of the local peoples, particularly the Tlingit (pronounces Klinkit) and Haida folks. They have a wonderful culture, matriarchal, well-ordered, generous, and with a strong drive to maintain and enhance language and customs.

We stopped in three places for shore experiences: Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, each with its own history and highlights. We tended to avoid the tours laid on by the cruise line, choosing rather to do our own thing in each location, and that worked out well. If we were to do it again, we might choose one or two excursions, but for a first go at it, we enjoyed simply wandering the towns and taking in the history and scenery. The other highlight was the cruise into the fjord to see the glaciers, although it was a little disappointing that we didn't see much of the whales we had hoped to encounter.

The main highlight of the trip was the time spent with old friends from our DND days in Germany. Having a 7 day reunion this time allowed all kinds of time for visits and catching up, so it may well be that the idea will be repeated for the next reunion in two or three years time. Gail and I and the Garrity's will be heading up the next one, so will be looking for ideas for an eastern get-together.

That's enough for now, as I'm being called upon to do some dishes. After 7 days of doing no such thing, reality returns. More later. Stay tuned.

hi