Author: donhall930

I still don’t know how he finds us but just the other night we heard a knock on the motorhome door and when we opened it Willy Nelson indicated that he wanted to come aboard. Willy is always welcome around our campfire so in he came. Settin’ down on the couch he looked up at us, grinned that patented smile of his and said (or sang) just four words…. “On the Road Again”……..

                        After that, he excused himself and vanished into the darkness across Yetter’s Diner parking lot. We knew then that it was time to pull up anchor, remove the wheel chocks, and hitch up the horses (to mix a few metaphors!)

                        We now find ourselves in a small, dusty campground in southwestern North Dakota after four days of an Idyllic Interstate Itinerary that (except for a brief encounter with Chicago) was devoid of any traffic or weather issues! Hence the idyllic modifier in the previous sentence!

                        Our immediate goal is a stop at Theodore Roosevelt National Park whilst on our way to Seeley Lake, Montana. TRNP is one of the least visited Parks in the system, but at the same time, one of the more magnificent. Or so we’ve been told. Our first foray into the Park should be in a few hours when the sun comes up. But….. it’s quite cloudy here now so those early morning sunlit photo-ops will be unfortunately nonexistent. As a result, our immediate goal will be to keep our eyes peeled for the multitudes of critters that inhabit these parts!

            Hopefully the next Post will be chock-full of some kind of photo evidence of our visit here!

(And unfortunately, The End)

One of the interesting things about all of these Alaskan towns that we’ve visited over the last few days is that even though they may cover a large geographic area as far as a political entity goes, they are, in fact, quite tiny when it comes to the ‘civilized/settled/urban(?) area goes.

                     When driving around all one needs to do in order to get to the wilderness is to go right….over….there! A few streets up any road will lead you to all of the bears, eagles, salmon, mountains, and incredible scenery that you may ask for. The “city” part is a relatively tiny enclave clinging to some rocky hills on the coast.

                     Ketchikan is no different. Our last Port of the voyage was visited yesterday under the unusually blue, cloudless sky which was just fine with us! Our outing was arranged by Paula and consisted of a local tour guide (Hanna) who was recommended to us by Sherry and Harold who had done this exact voyage just a few weeks ago. We were warned that the local B.S.A. (Bear Sighting Area) does not always bear 😊bears! Time of year, salmon runs, tides, and moods of these fuzzy guys all play into whether or not one will avail themselves to us.

                     The nine of us joined the already busy area and we wormed our way to the front of the viewing area that bordered a large tidal marsh. Scanning the area we saw….. nothing. We waited patiently as Hanna pointed out the wildlife had a schedule of their own and ‘didn’t give a dead salmon’ if they were viewed or not.

                     I think that they do have a schedule and they rotate the responsibilities between themselves as literally from out of nowhere (actually right beneath us as we were on elevated knob type hill) this guy comes ambling out and strolled over to the river, snagged a salmon, looked back at us as if to say, “Satisfied?” and then laid down and devoured his mid-morning snack.

                                Munchies over, we proceeded down the coast which resembles Down East Maine (and that is a compliment!) to a nice roadside waterfall.

                                It’s crazy how many Cruise Ships can jam the harbors of these little towns and how it does not seem to inundate the local streets with all of us. Don’t get me wrong, it’s crowded, but I think that most of the passengers take advantage of the outback type tours and get themselves out of town.

                                Hannah was prepared with several plans as we made our way back into town depending on whether Creek Street was crowded or not. Creek Street is as quaint and cute as can possibly be and its roots are literally buried in the creek. Way back in the day, back when the miners and the ‘visionaries’ came to town, they built these buildings right on the Creek and then extended them out into the creek utilizing a cribbing system for their foundations. They built cribs of lumbar and then filled them with rocks which made them quite sturdy. But the real genesis of Creek Street is not so innocent. It was born out of a local ordinance that banished the brothels to the eastside of the creek, out to the “Indian Town” side the area. Today there is a Dolly’s House museum located in Dolly Arthurs old house where she lived from 1919 until 1973. Dolly had a questionable business if you catch my drift. Now Creek Street is chock full of artsy stores that sit side by side with tchotchke stores, the combination of which keeps everyone happy.

                     The only place on the planet that has authentic totem poles is this area of the Pacific Northwest from about Washington State, and up and into the panhandle of Alaska.

The indigenous folks that live here, the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian are the only ones that utilize this way of commemoration and communication. These carved cedar trees are not in any way worshipped, they are strictly used as family crests, storytelling figures, honor ancestors, or a way of passing on oral traditions. We visited the very fine Totem Heritage Center where they not only help preserve the poles themselves but also the tradition of teaching their carving.

Thanks for making this trip with us!

Not sure where the next one will be, but I’m sure there will be some Terrestrial Motorhome Adventures along the way!

Juneau is the Capital of Alaska.

Juneau is a very popular Cruise Port.

Juneau is the second largest Alaskan city.

Juneau has no roads in (or out) of it.

Juneau is only accessible by air, water, rail, dogsled, etc.

Juneau is forty to eighty miles away from three of its closest neighbors, the bustling metropolises of Gustavus, Haines, and Skagway.

Juneau is located where it is only because of some gold mines from back in the day.

The End

No! Not really!

We stopped at Juneau and wished that we had longer to visit as it does look like a cool place to spend some time. Our goal for the day was the Mendenhall Glacier, one of the only domestic glaciers that are accessible by road. The roads that don’t go anywhere else. Go figure.

It’s a biggie, and it and the surrounding area is part of the Tongass National Forest which at 16.7 million square acres (26,000 square miles) is the largest National Forest, we have and is larger than ten US states including (obviously) New Jersey which would fit almost four time over inside this Forest!

           It is a Temperate Rain Forest, but we can’t attest to that because we are experiencing a crazy stretch of good weather (if you are a Touron, bad weather if you are a duck!) Please forgive the next set of photos as I’m trying to nail down the correct way to expose dimly lit scenes with obvious highlights! These all show the incredible insides of a temperate rain forest.

The salmon are running upstream….. we’ve all seen photos of those ‘fish ladders’ by the dams and other pics of bears wading out to wait for a meal to just jump into their mouths, but how many of us have gazed down into a crystal-clear, glacial-fed stream and see crazy-red salmon spawning? (Please note that I was able to jam three hyphenated words into that last sentence!)

We did, and now you will too!

The goal of any Wildlife and Scenic Cruise is to actually see some wildlife. We rely on the expertise of the crew to be able to know where the critters like to be at any given time and then spy indicators of said wildlife.

After that, placing oneself strategically on the vessel is crucial, especially a somewhat overloaded one. Our boat held 153 passengers, and it was full. It was safe, we were not overloaded when it came to safety, just when it came to “Rail-Estate”.

My guess is that if you put one person at every available rail position, there may have been room for maybe half. Everyone else is either still inside (with large, tinted windows) or standing several deep craning to look over, and between, the heads of others. Definitely not ideal for photography!

As we stood on the pier we could see that this was going to be an issue, so a ‘Plan of Aggression’ was well, planned. The rest of our group was to place themselves in places that when the doors opened (after the safety briefing) to the very few outside positions, they would jump up and push their way through the throngs of  ‘Rail Hoggers’ and jettison any unlucky person that got in their way. A kind of ‘Orca Bait’ as it were.

                     Luckily, none of that was needed because I was able to secure a spot near the door that ensured me that coveted rail position! Not only that, but it was the first one directly after the superstructure ended and the deck began, complete with a seat! This enabled me to keep this spot while we were winging our way over the waves on our way to the hunting grounds and not freeze to death as that superstructure protected me from the wind!

                     Finally, some humpbacks were spotted, their spumes of exhaled vapor gave their positions away and the Captain reacted appropriately, swinging the boat into position for everyone to see these big guys!

On the Port side.

You know what they say about the best laid plans…..

My Ultimate Spot was on the Starboard side.

Oh well.

I stood over there listening to the loudspeaker spewing out descriptions and positions of a nice pod of humpbacks and the accompanying shouts of wonderment and glee from the lucky whale-sighters that had no plan before but landed their own coveted spot. I said to myself, “Be patient, the captain will swing the boat around for the Starboard side to get a look.”

                                           Nada.

                                           Everyone was cramming as close as they could to get to the Port side that we looked like the Statue of Liberty sightseeing boats heeled over as far as they can go without capsizing. Why would he even attempt to swing the boat around for the one guy still on the Starboard rail?

           Oh well.

I’ll just keep taking seagull photos.

Then I felt a tap on my shoulder, it was Paula saying. “Matt said you can have his spot on the rail.” I looked over and he was right there, the only thing in front of him was the water, so I ambled over and he caught my eye and indicated it was time to put Plan B into effect. Two seconds later I found myself on the rail with Giant Mammals cavorting in front of me!

                                Get ready!!!! You will now see for yourself!

I’m sure that you all remember the 1956 movie Moby Dick starring Richard Basehart and Gregory Peck (Directed by John Huston and written by him and Ray Bradbury!) Remember the scene that has Moby Dick coming straight at the Pequod and you can see the water draining off his back? Get ready!

By now we’re on our way back to the dock but our ever-vigilant crew spies some tell-tale really high dorsal fins in the distance! This can only mean one thing……. Orcas!

(And Otters and Whales…… no fair just scrolling to the end!)

One of the main reasons that folks come on this Alaska Cruise is to see the Glaciers. We sailed into Glacier Bay yesterday morning like we owned it. Well, as a matter of fact, we kind of did, at least for the day.

Glacier Bay is part of our incomparable National Park System and as such, gets benefit from the Protective Powers of that organization. So, in order to limit the impact of too many peeps peeping at the giant ice rivers (and colliding in front of the glaciers trying to get closer and closer, and then the Captains get in a fight and before you know it the passengers are jumping over the railings and boarding each other’s ships armed with swords and cutlasses in an attempt to secure the best possible viewing spot…..)

           I’m sure that you can see how messy that could get!

           In order to prevent that from happening only two ships are allowed in Glacier Bay at the same time, or day.  Princess Cruises along with Holland America helped establish the Ranger Programs here way back in the ‘60’s, before Glacier was elevated from a National Monument to a National Park. Even today these “sister cruise lines” are recognized as “Historical Partners” with the Park Service and receive priority.  

           That was evident yesterday as we were the only ship in sight except maybe a small sailboat or two. These coveted Glacier Reservations must be made well in advance as there are a few more Lines able to enter Glacier Bay and they are Cunard, Viking, Seabourn, and NCL.  On top of that, Princess must have put a reservation in for incredible weather, as you will see from the attached pics, was on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest) a solid 15!  😊 We know how good it was because the four NPS Rangers that came aboard for seminars and running commentary over the PA system, could not stop raving about how great it was compared to the regular weather.

                     Glacier Bay National Park is the 6^th largest National Park spreading out over 3.2 million acres! The top 6 are dominated by the National Parks in Alaska, only Death Valey N.P. slides in at #5.

So, without further commentary from me, we present just a tiny slice of the vastness of Glacier Bay in the giant Glacier Bay National Park!

Now that all the rigmarole is behind us…… it’s time to sail!

Embarkation took about 6.37 minutes, and we were on the ship, ready to find where all the food is kept! It was a good thing that most of us had some experience with this particular class of vessel so straightaway we headed for Deck 16, the epicurean mecca for any and all sorts of eatables.

                                After sampling a few items whilst sitting on the aft deck, we promptly did the next obvious thing and that was to get ready for dinner! We elected to stay up there and ‘graze’ as there was way too much variety to pass up and it was easy for us to find room for the nine of us. The Dining Room will be for a later day.

                                The next two days are what is called ‘Scenic Cruising’ which sometimes means just a Day at Sea (which for Cruise Lines means no Port Fees and other such expenses) so days at sea tend to be built into itineraries not only for the fact that the ship needs to move between ports, but for over-all profitability.

                                But…… THIS IS SCENIC CRUISING!!!!

                                The Coastal Range that lines the shore of the Alaskan Panhandle is just incredible! Paula had done this cruise back in ’06 and is our ‘Guide’. She knew enough to book us on the Port side as we were sailing Southward and that side is the one that faces the land….. and this coastal range, which is named……. the Coast Mountains.

C’mon you guys! You’ve got really cool names up here…. Denali, Ketchikan, Skagway, Sitka….. and all you can come up with is the Coast Mountains???!! For a mountain range that rivals some the biggies? Anyway…. this range is the highest (and still climbing) coastal range on the planet. Mt. St. Elias tops out at over 18,000 feet and it starts at sea-level! For reference, Mt. Everest starts at about 17,000 feet of elevation (base camp) and climbs another 12,000 feet from there. Which makes Mt. St. Elias quite the climb in its own right!

                     I could go on and explain why it is so high, but I did promise a minimum of Plate Tectonics Lessons on this trip in order to get you all to come along! But, just keep thinking Plate Subduction and you’ll all be just fine  😊

So now comes the Moment of Unveiling as all that’s left to do is show you all some photos. Some will be in B&W as they just render better that way. It all has to do with Blue Haze and how difficult it is to make things visible when the most common color in the skies gets in the way of the scenery! I hope you agree!

                     Hey! Ansel Adams did his best work in B&W!

In just a few minutes they will cast off the mooring lines, and the Discovery Princess will slowly make her way out of the Whittier Arm.

I believe that I informed you that another outing was in the offing and here we are! If I didn’t inform you then you are probably doubly mad at me because you’ve missed the boat! (or ship, but I won’t get into all of that just now!)

                     Anyway, we almost did not make it at all!

                     The Backstory…… most of you know about some of my Traveling Stories from the past. (Please see in the Archives, back in January of 2020, go to: Is This Any Way To Run An Airline from January 3^rd of that year and have some fun reading it  🙂

                     More and more it is becoming apparent that getting to your destination a day ahead of time is not enough to ensure that you will not be left on the dock waving at your former ship as she chugs out of the harbor. I am recommending getting to wherever it is that you would like to be at least a week ahead of time to mitigate any apprehension with the stress of traveling. Either that or a copious amount of Xanax, either one works well!

                     Our departure on Friday last from Newark was scheduled for a time of day that would have been fine if anyone was concerned about late-day thunderstorms interfering with departure. We arrived at the airport around 1 PM for a 3PM departure and all went well, check-in, security, stops at the restrooms, etc……….

                                Until we received the announcement that our incoming plane (from Portugal) was having ‘issues’ and would arrive a little late. This necessitated a Gate Change. No prob, we had time so off we went. Well, I guess that the ‘issues’ were a little more severe than anyone had anticipated because that delay grew to the point where another Gate Change was slapped into effect. We thought that we were safe (Ha!) until the United App went “Ding”, informing us of yet a third Gate Change and this one was in Moscow or so it felt like by the time we hoofed it down (and I mean DOWN) to the absolutely last gate on a different concourse which was down a flight of stairs to an area that resembled a holding cell. With 225 anxious peeps jammed in.

                                           We waited.

                                           And waited.

                                           We felt a little better when our almost all-female crew (there was one token male Flight Attendant) showed up as that indicated that were, in fact, in the correct spot for what we were doing……. waiting.

                                           The Crew waited too.

                                           Finally, we were informed that our aircraft was being transferred from the gate where it had come into (?) Yes, I know, why were we not at that Gate? Don’t know the answer to that one but we felt a little better again as the Cleaning Squad arrived with their Tools of Implementation and marched like a small army (or maybe a Special Forces Team would be a better description) up the ramp and disappeared into the subterranean maw of what we hoped was a jetway (or cosmic wormhole) as by now we didn’t care as long as it led to our A.O.C. (Aircraft Of Choice). The lateness of this flight luckily did not affect anyone with a ‘connection’ as it was a direct flight to Anchorage, and no one goes there to get a ‘connection’ unless it’s with a bush pilot and their float plane and they’d just wait anyway.

                                So, now let’s go back a few paragraphs where I mentioned the late afternoon weather potentialities that can occur at this time of year with copious amounts of humidity and heat building exponentially until they grow into a meteorological term know as a B.O.B. or Behemoth of Badness.

                                Timing is everything when it comes to these situations and BOB is an expert at inflicting his fury on unsuspecting, weary, travelers that have, up to this point, done everything in their power to get to their destination, except just fly out that “week early” that I mentioned in the beginning. BOB was having a particularly bad day as he shut the airport down and the term that we’ve now all heard ad nauseum, the proverbial ‘Ground Stop’ was inflicted on any and all aircraft outbound or inbound!

Now it’s time for another shoe to drop. (I think this is the third one) By regulation Airline crew members, both on the Flight Deck and in the Cabin, are only allowed to work just so may hours in a row, or days in a row, and after that they ‘time out’ in aviation parlance and have to exit their position. If all had gone nicely our Captain would have had a few hours left over by the time we arrived in Anchorage but having two+ hours eaten up with that initial wait and now an additional two+ devoured by BOB……. I’m sure you can see where this is going. Plus, after sitting around just being lazy and being stuck in ‘neutral’ as it were, our flying baby needed to be fed at least somewhere before we arrived in Anchorage. Our Captain was very resourceful and along with Headquarters (Chicago) she devised a plan that would get us most of the way there. But we were not playing horseshoes or hand grenades so ‘almost’ was not good enough. San Francisco was our new destination where we would get an entire new crew and put some sips of fuel into our baby’s belly.

Please adjust your arrival times accordingly.

Not the one in San Francisco, the one in Anchorage.

We sat on the tarmac and shook like rocks in a washing machine as BOB made his way across the metropolitan area. We watched him on radar, and it was a really good thing that the Airport had been shut down because not only did we encounter that deep red color, but we parleyed around with that purple that is rarely seen. As BOB moved through, we moved into position for takeoff because we were that close to being airborne before BOB slammed his fist down!

          Finally, off to the city where you can find Tony Bennet’s heart.

                                And you may be thinking that this is where we start to see some progress? Nope! Because we sat for so long on the ground after we left the Gate, not only did our crew ‘Time Out’ but our hot food did also. We were in First Class which meant that we entitled to a nice hot meal including a linen topped tray and real shiny silver ware! But…… after two hours they are not allowed to serve it because there is no way for them to hold it at a temp high enough to ensure that baddies don’t infect the vittles and it needs to be tossed.

                                We got Snack Boxes.

                     By now I’ve lost count of how many shoes have ‘dropped’ so get out your calculators because we’re not done yet! The Plan agreed upon by the Bosses in Chicago and an unknown person in San Fran was to have us de-plane, get a cleaning crew in to tidy up the joint, switch out our crew and let our home in the skies guzzle her much needed nourishment. Up to the ramp we taxi, the jetway extends, makes contact, the door opens,,,,, and nothing.

                                I was in seat 1C which means that I’m on the aisle and the first one standing there. A ‘Front Row’ witness to the ‘negotiations’ that were about to take place.

                                The lady at the Gate said., “NO DEPLANE”

                                No one had informed her.

                                Our stalwart Captain was having none of that. She insisted that this was Plan A, negotiated hours ago while were sitting with BOB and the furthered as were winging our way westward.

                                Gate Lady: “NO DEPLANE”

Captain gets on her phone and connects with Chicago trying to find out where it derailed and how to fix it. “Can’t we just get these folks off and let them stay in the Gate Area to at least stretch their legs?”

                                Gate Lady: “NO DEPLANE”

The problem was not the deplaning but the new re-planing as at that point the local scanners were not programmed to have us re-scan our boarding passes and there would be no way to know if Boris and Natasha had offed some other passengers and surreptitiously taken their place. Ok, valid point?

By now our Captain (who was tall but weighed in at maybe 135) was ready to ram through the 49’ers defensive line and lead a charge of grumpy passengers to the End Zone. Remember, we’ve been at this Gate for an extended piece of time already (never mind on the plane itself!) and what is the first thing that all passengers do upon hearing those engines wind down….. yup, unbuckle and stand up to jam the aisle, waiting to deplane.

                                           More phone negotiations were had and then a cry of “Charge!” was heard and the Gate Lady gave way and out of the aircraft we poured like insects exiting a nest that had just been bug bombed!

Upon entering a relatively quiet San Francisco airport (it’s pretty late by now) we spied not only our new Flight Deck Duo but all of the Cabin Crew also! Now, these folks are the ‘stand-by crew’ that are in all major airports hoping that they don’t get called! But there they were with genuinely happy faces to greet us. I have to say that United handled all of these issues very nicely. I felt that they worked with the cards that were dealt to them the best that they could. No one could have dealt with BOB in any other way so they just worked from there.

                                We landed in Anchorage at 3:45 AM just about nine hours late. At any time, this fiasco could have turned even worse, and it all could have ended up on the fish house floor with the rest of the entrails. But it seemed to me that someone put their ‘thinking caps’ (remember Romper Room?!) on and surmised that a planeload of tourons were not going to Anchorage just to visit, but that most of them had a cruise to catch and those boats don’t wait! So, a little extra effort was injected to make sure that we all got to our destination in time to catch the boat, even if we only got about three hours of sleep!

                                           But, we did finally get our hot meal, even if it was at 1 AM! Yum! Chicken ala Something as an early morning snack may not be ideal, but the cheese, bread, and dessert were just fine!

                                I could say that we were now ready for our Adventure to begin but I think that you’d have to agree that it had stated already way back when our first Gate Change was announced!

                                Paula had arranged for us to get transfers to Whittier (the Cruise Port) that included some nifty stops along the way which made the usual hour-and-a-half drive stretch to about four hours of exploring and site-seeing.

 And the sites were quite the sight!

We stopped at a Rescue Center for arctic-type animals that needed some rehab before being re-introduced to their natural homes. Apparently about 1000 moose get hit by vehicles a year, just to name one of the instances. They are in very large enclosures, similar to that Polar Park that we visited in Norway a few weeks ago.

This is where that Moose Photo really should have been inserted!

So, I’ll show another one, slightly different 🙂

                                We stopped at a glacier and a very pretty glacier lake before we entered the Tunnel. This experience is quite unique as this tunnel serves both trains and vehicles, but only one kind at a time and only one way at a time so you can see how timing here is of the essence! It was constructed around 2000 and before that the only way to access Whittier was by rail (around the mountains) ship, or air.

Back in the day, Whittier was a secret base in WWII and the buildings in Whittier are from shortly after that time. In the ‘50’s the base was expanded, and the giant barracks building is still in use as the place where (almost) all of the 270 residents of Whittier live in apartments that were retro’d into that building. Oh, and the Town Hall, Police, and school are also in there!

                                Our Ship, the Discovery Princess is of the same class as the Majestic, which we’d been on for the 51-day Around South America Cruise and the Regal which we’ve been on twice before, so the layout is almost identical which makes finding our way around much easier!

I know exactly where the Chocolate Snacks can be found at any time of the day or night!

Well, I’d best get this trip finished as the next one starts in a few days! We’ve been home now for a couple of days and the time needed to de-trip and then ramp up for the next one has been time consuming and I’m afraid that writing and photo processing has taken a back seat, but at least it’s a window seat!

Our last two Ports were Geiranger and Bergen.

Let me stop here for a moment and comment…… one of my goals with this Travel Blog is to give you access to quick snippets of descriptions and photos of destinations around the world in the hopes that maybe some of them jump out and snag you to go and visit for yourselves!

                                    I’m here to tell you that the coast of Norway and its little villages are sooooo impressive that this trip has shot into the Top Five of destinations we’ve been to!

                                    The scenery is as impressive as anything we’ve witnessed, and the peeps could not be more welcoming if they tried. English is the Second Language and if that’s not enough, the Norwegian Krone is about a 10 factor when converting to dollars….

                         Want that gorgeous Dale of Norway woolen sweater?                     Yikes! It’s 18,000 Krone!!!                                                        Oops! No worries, it’s really only $180.00!

I’m going to condense the last two Ports and for the most part let the photos do the explaining…..

Interesting tidbit, Geiranger has a population of about 250 people depending on when the Hansen’s move out and Baby Ingrid shows up. But when a Cruise Ship pulls into port (which several a day do) Geiranger becomes Norway’s Third Largest Port! Only Oslo and Bergen beat it out for the number of passengers disgorged!

Why Geiranger?

That’s easy once you’ve experienced sailing into its fjord or driven down the crazy switchback roads that bring you from the top of the mountains down to sea level. Now, hold onto those seat belts cuz the mountains that surround that fjord range from 5200’ to 5500’ above the level that your ship is sailing! (or your careening bus is descending!)

                        It really is a cute little town and the fjord a UNESCO World Heritage Site so that alone should tell you something!

Now for the Photos!

Our last port and Port of Disembarkation was Bergen.

I could move there!

Or maybe just come back for a visit!

We met any number of folks that had just flown in for a few days and Bergen was their destination. A great combination of really old buildings, great shopping district (the good stuff, not just souvenirs), too many great restaurants, a ton of cool boats, and scenery that knocks your socks off! Throw in those friendly peeps and you’ve got a great place to spend a few days exploring the city and the surrounding countryside.

                        Before we get to the pics, just a word about Viking. This is our second Viking adventure, the first being that Rhine River Cruise last year. You all know that our Line of Choice is Princess for many different reasons, and it’s very hard to compare these two entities as they are very different…… the commonality between them is they both float some boats. After that, you get what you pay for, and I mean that in the best way possible! Viking’s attention to detail is legendary and it is apparent whilst on board. Princess is considered an Upper-Tier large cruise line, and I believe that it is placed there correctly. I’ve been on Carnival (great if you want to party all the time), Celebrity (which we really liked) , Holland-America, (great traditions and spotless boats), and Cunard (talk about traditions!) and I would go between these lines with no problem (except maybe Carnival as that’s not our preference). Viking is cut above on all levels from the size of the ship (930) to the food, and to the staterooms, but……here’s the kicker, we had our 51-Day cruise around South America for the same amount that we spent for this 15-Day cruise around Iceland, Svalbard, and Norway.

                                    No Complaints!

                                    Both are great at what they do…..

                                    Just remember, (I’ll say this again)

                        You get what you pay for, and that is NOT a negative!

Now onto some photos from around Bergen!

Two Outings over the last two days….. one GREAT the other blahhh.

First the latter.

We all went to a rather newish place (I could tell as construction was still incomplete) called Polar Park. Now to be fair, we are still almost in that region, and it is decidedly frigid in the Winter with an accompanying layer of Polar Particles that usually stands around six feet deep, but…… what do you think of when someone tells you that you’re going to Polar Park?

                     POLAR BEARS!

                     Unfortunately, our proximity to the Polar Region is not good enough for that to happen unless the Polar Bears are heading south for some vacation time. And that would be fatal as they cannot handle the warmer(!?) temps around here compared with their usual habitat, so….. no Polar Bears in the Polar Park!

                     But that is just the side-story as the Park itself left a few things to be desired…… for me, that would be flatter terrain. The Park sits across a very vibrant, snowfield fed, gushing river on a large hillside. This means that the walk through it requires going up and down the accompanying (rather steep) hills. Something that I was not prepared for and/or able to do without an effort that was not what I deemed worth it after I glimpsed the enclosures that the other critters were in.  One of the positive aspects of this facility is that the animals here are in very large enclosures (not cages or compounds) that are considered to be the largest in the world for this kind of facility. Well, that’s just fine except that they still need fencing/wire mesh around these large enclosures which means that I’m trying to shoot through the wires and hopefully not get the fencing on the other side in the photo!

                     But in reality, that was just the Final Excuse that I gave myself as the Primary Pretext was that I am in no shape to attempt those hills.

                     “Well Donny, what about the others in your Senior Stiffs Group? They’re no Spring Chickens and they all made it!”

                     Thank you Mr. Sympathetic, I knew someone would bring that up, but they were not carrying 453,000 pounds of camera gear and had a new-fangled heart valve installed (which I did not feel like testing to its max) and besides….. I stepped on a rock, and the sun was in my eyes and I saw a mosquito and………..

                     Anyway, I did an about-face and headed back down to Headquarters and waited for those Athletes to return. Paula, Carol, and Glenn were able to capture some good pics and I will share them here!

Now…  the former…..

                     Yesterday was an example of the epitome of an anticipated O.I.G. (Outing of Incredible Greatness!). I had booked myself on a Sea Eagle Safari by R.I.B. No…. there were no BBQs in sight, an RIB is a Rigid Inflatable Boat (otherwise known as a Zodiac after the company the invented them). But doesn’t Sea Eagle Safari sound really exciting!!!??? I didn’t even know what a Sea Eagle was!

                                I still had the extra baggage of all the gear but was confined to my area of the boat and just had to stand or sit for the duration. We all had to wear these giant Exposure Suits designed to keep us warm and dry and there were inflatable “around the neck/shoulders” life vests that I was not sure that would hold me up with the waterlogged survival suit and the camera gear, but the weather was nice and there we were! Me and about eleven others were treated to good sightings of Sea Eagles, aka White-Tailed Eagles. These relatives of our Bald Eagles snuggle in nicely in about fourth place on the “Largest of” list and this depends on exactly what you are referencing as the top spots on that list can overlap depending on the aspect being measured. Rest assured, all of them are really, really big! These puppies log in with a wingspan of at least six feet, with the averages falling well over seven feet! The Harpy Eagle of South America is “larger” (weight) but has a shorter wingspan, so you can see how measuring all the large birds of prey and coming up with the Ultimate B.O.P. can be difficult.

                                But they sure are photogenic! Especially when the weather cooperates! See below!

The next one…….

Now we’re gonna snag some snack-type little fish!

Now for a few random pics from random days…..

Sorry….. I never envisioned Norway like this!

Trolls.

In the last Post I showed you a photo of a large troll situated outside of a souvenir store in Honningsvag explaining that Trolls are a part of Norse Mythology. That may be an understatement.

                                After visiting the Troll Museum in Tromsø yesterday and seeing how these beings have infiltrated the lives of the Norwegians (and us!) I can safely state that they are huge both in size and effect!

                                Tromsø was our next Port of Call as we hopscotch our way down the coast of Norway until we arrive in Bergen in a few more days. The coast here would be akin to the Inside Passage of Alaska as we are meandering our way through the waterways between the islands.

 And in Tromsø is the Troll Museum.

                                To illustrate how the Trolls have weaved their way into even our lives I will invite you to take a short Time Travel Trip back to when we all sat in front of the TV on a Saturday morning watching our favorite cartoons.

                                Enter Elmer Fudd on an early morning hunt. He stealthily stalks his quarry as the sun is just rising, the birds are softly chirping, and butterflies make their way across the screen. In the background we hear a rather famous piece of music (although we did not know it then). It is Morning from Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, a five-act play first given in the late 1870’s. Mr. Ibsen is Norwegian and his play is about a young man, Peer Gynt who is not particularly nice, has way too many issues, runs afoul with just about everyone including some Trolls and the Mountain King, who himself is a Troll.

                                Now quickly GOOGLE ‘Morning Peer Gynt’ and transport yourself back to that seat right in front of your TV….. (don’t forget your bowl of Choco-Frosted Gigundo Sugar Bombs!) and while you are at it, further check out ‘In The Hall of The Mountain King’, (a piece from the same production) I promise that a smile will come to your face as you recognize this music also!

                                Now, who knew that Trolls could have so much of an effect on us way over here! (Rhetorical…. you don’t have to answer that one!)

                                We did not meet any Trolls in Tromsø, everyone was very nice and the day itself was the best weather we’ve had so far. We opted to have Glenn (our resident Tour Guide) walk us around as we gave up our spots on the complimentary Walking Tour of the city. Tromsø is a bit larger than our last couple of Ports, as the population stands around 80,000 instead of 2500! It is a rather official ‘last chance’ of real civilization before heading out into the Arctic, much the same way Ushuaia is down in Argentina for trips to Antarctica.

All of these Norwegian towns have been very welcoming, very clean, and each has some unique feature about it, no matter what size the town happens to be! And I’m sure that you can tell that the weather has changed for the better!