There and Back Again: Hello from Alaska

[Beorn]

Hey from Alaska!!

I'm currently cruising in the Gulf of Alaska!

The weather is not as cold as you woul expect, between 55° and 75° each day.

Currently as Hubbard's Glacier, but we've left. All the views from onboard are spectacular!!!

Bye for now ($.50/minute)!


Sincerely Yours,
Mike B

[Istar]

I was wondering where you were! You weren't online for a few days, so I figured you were either on vacation or dead (j/k ;) ). Have fun and bring back pictures!

[Walter]

Hope you have a pleasant vacation and are enjoying your time... :)

Oh, and mind the crevasses...

Why is this thread sticky, btw?

[Chymaera]

Cold? 55 to 75 degrees is perfect :D
Cold is swimming in that water!
Enjoy

[DGoeij]

Enjoy the holidy!

How much would that temperature be in degrees of celsius?

[Chymaera]

13 to 24 celsius around there anyways

[DGoeij]

Thanks Chymeara, sounds like great tempratures to be on an active vacation, but no sun bathing.:)

[Talierin]

I have no clue why it *was* sticky or why it *was* in News & Announcements... but now it's all proper, wot wot


btw, Hi Mike!

[Walter]

Originally posted by Talierin
I have no clue why it *was* sticky or why it *was* in News & Announcements... but now it's all proper, wot wotThanks, Tal.

[Beorn]

*evil grin* The connection was so slow, so, I just hit stop after one forum appeared.....

Anyway, I've a half hour for free surfing.....Compliments of Royal Carribean....

I'll be back soon....right now I'm sailing by an island that looks like the island from Myst....

[Kementari]

Hi Mike!!
Geez your making us all jealous ;) :)

[Talierin]

ooo, wave hi to Atrus for me, will ya?:D

[Beorn]

Well, now I'm in Phoenix...

And tomorrow I'll be back home on Long Island....I figure I'll have done 10,000 mi. of travelling in the past two weeks...

I'll write something about the cruise some other time, just to make you more jealous....

About the island: It had a BIG tree on it, just one standing out from the rest, really tall. It had a small island with a few (amazingly large) rocks on it, that could be the clock....However, the center building and the spaceship were missing....There also was a dock, but it could also be considered termites holding hands :D....

[menchu]

Enjoy your last day, Mike! (See I logged in a little late...)

[Elbereth]

Looking forward to seeing you back on the TTF full time. I would say we missed you...but did you really leave?

LOL!

Anyway I hope you had lots of fun. (PS...get ready for some hot weather...it's been steamy here in New York!!!)

[Beorn]

*Beorn drew a deep breath. *

'Well, I'm back,' he said.


hehe...I'm officially in NY, in my home again...although it's been 24 hours since I've actually landed, I'm finally settled in....

About my trip:

My grandma invited my brother and I on a trip to Alaska....She lives in Phoenix. My brother and I went to Phoenix on the 10th....stayed there for a couple days, and then on the 14th all three of us went to Vancouver, BC...But we forgot our garment bag all the way back in Phoenix, so we got a bit confused, and eventually found someone who told us we could rent Tuxedoes on board....Anyway, we went through customs, then boarded the Vision of the Seas. It's part of the second biggest class of ships in Royal Carribean's fleet (the Voyager class is the largest, the Vision is in the Vision class).

We set sail at exactly 5:00pm on the 14th....We sailed and sailed, and sailed some more, actually through the rest of the night, and completely through the 15th...

On the 16th, we came to Hubbard Glacier. This is a glacier, right on the water front. We kinda pushed our way through an ice field to get there, but we did get there....the boat could only get about 500 feet away because there was recently a big part broken off, so there was ice everywhere....

On the 17th, we docked in Skagway, Alaska. We took the White Pass & Yukon Route railway to the top of a mountain, and back down...We learned a lot about the community...there were only 800 people who lived there year-round...and then there were 2000 seasonal workers who worked for tourism companies that lived in tents, motor homes, and renovated meat lockers (like my tour guide on the train)...Then we took a tour called To the Summit, which was a bus ride to the top of a different mountain...it was a bit too foggy to see much though.....

We pushed out of port at (I think) 8:00PM....The next day (the 18th), we went to Juneau, Alaska. From there, we took a Helicopter tour, and landed on a glacier...We walked around a bit, then took off again. Our pilot took us to see many beautiful things....
We took another tour in Juneau, called the Gold Creek Salmon bake....At it, they had freshly caught salmon, and a buffet...At it, I had the best salmon I've ever tasted.....

We pushed out at exactly 8:30PM, and headed for Ketchikan, Alaska, where we arrived at 7:00AM on the 19th. There, I took a Jet Boat adventure, from which I saw three bald eagles, 5 sea otters, and 3 or 4 deer...Didn't get to see any bears...We left Ketchikan at 3:30PM

Next, we got on board, and headed toward the area called Misty Fjords...Some fjords that are misty...anyway, the previous 4 cruises saw bears there, and we didn't...

We sailed through the night, on through the 20th, and docked in Vancouver, BC on the 21st.

A warning to the wise: Don't fly out of Canadain airports to the US. While in Vancouver Intl airport, we were herded into a line, and forced to pay $7 per person for an 'Airport improvement fee'. It took us three hours to (1) check in, (2) go through customs, and (3) go through the horrendous(sp?) line. Now, mind you the third part took around 2 and a half hours. The security was a breeze, and we got on the plane soon afterwards...

We flew back, on the 21st still, to Phoenix, and then went to my grandma's house. The next morning (22nd), I got up at 6AM, and flew back to NY/LGA, got delayed for an hour in Minneapolis, and FINALLY landed at 9:45PM...And went home, unpacked a bit, slept, came to my dad's house, unpacked the rest, and did some stuff, (and some more stuff), and now I'm here....

So, I'll be stealing my friend's scanner (Istar, I think it'll either be yours or Jon's.... ;)) and scanning the pics within the week (assuming I get my butt in gear sometime....)...then I must figure out some way to post all of 'em....

So, that's my story...

[Asha'man]

Now if you had a digital camera, you could have pics posted already! But no.........:D

I bet what few you took are better than anything I'd have gotten. Hurry up and scan them!

Asha'man

[Beorn]

Originally posted by Asha'man
Now if you had a digital camera, you could have pics posted already! But no.........:D

I bet what few you took are better than anything I'd have gotten. Hurry up and scan them!

Asha'man

What few? You call 10 rolls (with somewhere around 300 pics total) a few? For 12 days, 10 rolls is great for me!

The digital camera I'd consider would probably be 5+ Megapixels...probably a Minolta too...

[Asha'man]

I meant few as in compared to me. Try 494 pictures in four days in NYC. :eek: :D

That would be a sweet digital to get. :nice:

Asha'man