We’ve spent countless hours on the ship this week. We did take a tour – in Juneau. The other shore excursions were excessively expensive, we thought, so since we’d been here before, we decided not to partake of others.  Am so glad we had a nice verandah stateroom, though, as we were able to enjoy sitting there for many, many hours enjoying the scenery. The photo above is one I took in the ship’s library.

I brought along my Kindle, with several books loaded on it. But since the Zuiderdam (pronounced zeye-der-dam) has a very extensive library, I decided to utilize theirs. And read some books I might not normally have done.

Testimony (Anita Shreve) – almost like a Jodi Piccoult book, I thought. Shreve took a very volatile subject (rape . . . or was it rape, the reader questions from about the 3rd page?) and tells each chapter from the point of view of the many different people who were profoundly affected by the event (not just the 3 barely adult boys having sex – and videotaping it – with a 14-year old girl at a private school) It was a fascinating read.

It Ain’t All About the Cookin’: a memoir (Paula Deen) – hmmm. Well, more like a tell-all of Paula Deen’s life. She said she didn’t hold anything back, and I learned things I almost wish I hadn’t. Certainly learned more about her sex life than I ever wanted to know. She did pull herself up by her bootstraps, and definitely knew how to stretch a dollar to feed her children. Until she met Michael (her current husband) she made some really bad choices in men. Until recently Paula didn’t have a very good self image. And her language? Oh my goodness. What a foul mouth she has, and makes no apologies for it.

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet (Colleen McCullough) – You know Colleen McCullough, the author of The Thorn Birds, The Ladies of Missalonghi, the 7 books in the “Masters of Rome Series,” the first one was The First Man in Rome, and one of my favorite books, Morgan’s Run. She’s a prolific writer. This book is so off the normal track for her. It’s about Mary Bennet – you remember her? The younger, lesser sister from Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen’s classic? McCullough takes that singular character, skips 20 years and has written a book about a year of her life. Mary spent those 20 years caring for the Bennet mother until her death, and where the book starts she decides to become an agent for change. She knows children are being exploited in the workforce. It’s very much in the Jane Austen style. Cute book.

Are You Somebody? An Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman (Nuala O’Faolain) – actually this book was one I brought along with me. For my book group which meets the day after we get back home. I’d never heard of this author. And obviously I’m not all that well-read in the classics. O’’Faolain drops names (author’s names) like bread crumbs on a nature walk. Mostly Irish and English authors I’ve never read. And most I’d never heard of, either. She grew up poor, although she did get a very good college education by great happenstance. Learned more about her sex life than I wanted to know, too, which started at a frighteningly young age. (What IS it about women baring their sex souls?) She grew up in an era when being Irish was nothing to be proud of, but later in life, when she finally makes a name for herself in the world of journalism, she finally accepts her Irish-ness and moves back home to Dublin. Single. Lonely. Unhappy, mostly. And still looking for the right man. But at least she’s on her own and financially independent. In a second edition of this book she adds an “afterword” which was perhaps more revealing than all the rest of the book. She was just overwhelmed with notes, calls and letters from people who had lived a similar Irish life (who read her first edition). It seemed to give the author some kind of character validation, I think. I liked the book better after reading that part, but I don’t think I’ll be prompted to read any of her novels. After attending my book group, I heard that the author lost her life to lung cancer last year. She’d finally found a man in New York and had been living with him for awhile before her cancer diagnosis, although she went home to Ireland before her death, and she’s buried there.

Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing and Hope in My Life as an Animal Surgeon (Dr. Nick Trout) – Another memoir, this one from a veterinarian. The cover was what got me – it’s a photo of a very adorable Boston terrier with the doctor’s hand and a stethoscope pressed to the dog’s chest. Wouldn’t be interesting to anyone who doesn’t love animals. Medicine has always fascinated me, though I don’t suppose I could have been a physician. But reading this book, a compilation of stories about a day in the life of a veterinarian, convinces me I probably wouldn’t have what it takes to be one. Interspersed amongst the stories are chapters and paragraphs about veterinary philosophy (pet insurance, euthanasia, even the wisdom or lack thereof, of some cat and dog names. Very interesting read, though.

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It’s a cloudy, overcast and foggy day. But no rain. We’ve had phenomenal weather on this 7-day cruise. Can’t complain about that one bit. Today we’re at sea all day, between Ketchikan and Vancouver, to arrive tomorrow morning (Saturday). At the moment it’s cool outside, probably about 55 or 60 degrees. I snapped several pix this morning as we cruised by some islands in the Inland Passage.

I was enamored with the little topknot on that one pine tree. These islands are just barely above sea level, all covered in trees.

Here was another little bitty island. Cute as a bug, eh? I thought so. There are some homes (few and far between) on an island or two – much bigger islands than this one. All accessed by boat since we’d see a tiny dock and one or possibly two small boats with outboards. One with a small wind machine. There has been zero wind today

Tomorrow morning we get off the ship early. Very early, actually. We have to put our suitcases outside our stateroom door by 1 am. We exit the ship at about 7:30 am, then will take a little minibus to where our car has been parked all week (a short distance, maybe not more than a couple of blocks, actually) and off we go. Hoping the waiting line at the U.S. border crossing will be short.

So I’ve written up a blog post about all the books I’ve read these past 7 days. Many more than usual. Tomorrow we’re driving south and I will likely write up something about it the next day. We’re headed towards home, but won’t get there for a few more days yet. Thanks for coming along on the photo ride with me.

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This is the Margerie Glacier, deep in Glacier Bay National Park, as far into the Tarr Inlet as you can go, with Mt. Quincy Adams (13,650 feet) and Mt. Salisbury (12,000 feet) in the center distance. In the foreground is the face of the Margerie Glacier, but it continues up with the river of ice through the center of the picture. The temp was about 50 most of the day, but very pleasant sitting in the sunshine.

When we took this cruise last time, years ago, we didn’t have a whole day in Glacier Bay. We came into the Bay during the night, woke up to the massive face of one of the glaciers (not sure which one), hung around for a couple of hours waiting for the glacier to calve. It didn’t, even though the captain sounded the ship’s horn, which sometimes will cause one (and likely the Park officials have laid down the law about trying to cause calving anymore, because the glaciers are receding at such a rapid rate). Back then, we saw some of the whale breeding grounds and did see whales off at a long distance, then we left in order to reach Sitka by early afternoon.

This time we spent the entire day there, from early morning when we picked up some Park Rangers who gave us mini-lectures on the ship’s radio periodically during the day. We “hung out” at the Margerie Glacier (pictured above) for about an hour or so. During that time we could hear the glacier cracking – sounds like gunshots or as rumbly as thunder). An eerie sound. Then hung out a shorter time at the less attractive Grand Pacific Glacier.

This looks like a rock wall, but it’s all glacier. Just black because of all the dirt and rock the glacier picked up when it was growing. Now it’s receding, so it drops small chunks of ice, but when this one calves it looks the same, because it’s so full of dirt and gravel.

This was as close as we were allowed to go in the Johns Hopkins Inlet (Johns Hopkins Glacier is right there in the center as it meets the sea). Harbor seals give birth (the Park Rangers call it pupping) on small icebergs way back in there (the safest place they can birth because of land predators like bears). Except for the ship’s engines, it was ever so quiet.

The Park Rangers spent some time talking about the glaciers. Their makeup, their history, and about the known evolution of them. The map they gave us shows the glacier masses over the course of the last 100 years. They have ebbed and grown, both. But she said that the glaciers receded PRIOR TO the Industrial Revolution, too. That likely thousands of years ago the glaciers did the same thing – receded dramatically. Not that man (and the burning of fossil fuels) hasn’t contributed to it, but they do believe it’s a natural phenomena.

As I’m writing this we’ve actually just docked in Ketchikan (after a long 8 hours or so at sea, when my stomach was not happy because we were actually out in the open ocean). We did see a few killer whales cavorting just beside the ship last night as we were eating dinner. That was fun! But I didn’t have my camera with me. I was concentrating on keeping my stomach under control as we were lightly rolling. Seasickness is just a fact of life for me. Hard to believe I married a man who is a sailor. He’s incredibly patient and understanding with me, though. Even he gets seasick occasionally, although I’ve never seen it happen to him, and we’ve been married for 26 years.

It’s overcast, foggy and cold here in Ketchikan. So don’t know that I’ll have many photos. Stay tuned.

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Ohhh, is that a postcard picture, or what? I think that’s the best photo I’ve taken so far on this trip. That’s the Mendenhall Glacier – well, the glacier is below the trees. We were on a nature walk near there, and just beyond the flowers is the Mendenhall River (the runoff from the glacier). It was a picture perfect day too.

That’s the Mendenhall Glacier. Receding at startling rates, the experts say. We watched half a dozen calfing icebergs as we stood and watched. A young fellow waded out into the river (on the right side near the icebergs) and hugged one of the icebergs, then quickly (shall I say – very quickly) waded back out. He was in the water up to his waist. Brrrrr. The forest ranger said the water temp was about 50. The outside temp was about 83.

In this picture you can see beautiful downtown Juneau. Did you know that Juneau is only accessed by air or boat? There is some bit of town beyond that hill on the left (the road to the glacier), and residential areas across a bridge to the left. But really, that’s it. The governor’s official mansion is here, although I think most state business is conducted in Anchorage. The folks in Juneau were stunned by Sarah Palin’s resignation. Juneau boasts just one fast food restaurant (a McDonald’s), a Wal-Mart (where our guide says a dozen tortillas cost $10 – a form of highway robbery he thought, and he had a few words to say about Wal-Mart’s “discount” shopping vs. truth in advertising), and a Costco. Our guide, Patrick, a young native Californian, moved permanently to Juneau about 2 years ago (he’s a junior high history teacher) after having worked in Denali National Park for 2 years and deciding that the close proximity to nature was where he wanted to be. About the only thing he misses about the lower 48, he said, is Mexican food.

Before we reached Juneau yesterday we went into Tracy Arm, a fjord here in Alaska. This was new territory for us as we did not see it on our previous Alaska cruise. It was really beautiful. It didn’t hurt any that it was a sunny, clear day!

Some buttercups. At least that’s what other people said they were. I’ve never lived in buttercup country, so I wouldn’t know.

Some other people knew they recognized these flowers, but couldn’t name them. However, they said they were the biggest ones they’d ever seen. The picture covers about 18 inches, if want some perspective.

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Remembering this from our last cruise along the Inland Passage to Alaska, it was no surprise that we were sailing in this huge ship within almost a stone’s throw of islands. The ship’s draft is only 26 feet. Amazing that this floating hotel actually floats. They’re so ungainly. But anyway, back to the scenery. These islands are pristine, uninhabited land masses, except for wildlife, I’m sure. But we sailed close enough that even I, as out of shape as I am, could probably swim to shore. The pine trees grow right down to the water’s edge, and all of these islands are just dense with pine trees. Occasionally I spotted a stream or very small waterfall. But mostly just pine trees and more pine trees. Some of the islands are about a 1000 feet high (a guess) and a few had dots of snow at the top.  Some are steep, some more gently sloping. But all are covered in trees. It is so awe-inspiring to see the beauty of nature. This gorgeous land that God made.

This one above was taken from our verandah with a bit of the ship’s superstructure visible. It’s cold out there today, although earlier it was warm enough to sit there for half an hour or so. There are two pools on this ship (one inside and one outside). They’re quite protected from the wind, so people were swimming and sunbathing earlier in both pool areas. Uh, not me. Glancing out the window, I could see snow right down to the water’s edge the further north we got. In a shadowed north facing crevice.

Yesterday we had a sit-down breakfast (we eat less that way than if we visit the buffet lines), and a sit-down lunch too in the dining room. I ordered a chicken Caesar salad. It was not memorable, sad  to say. We were hoping to find wild salmon on the menu, but so far they’ve only had farm-raised. Why would they DO that? Here we are in salmon country and they serve transported farm-raised Atlantic salmon on the menu. I took the opportunity to tell the other guests at our table 2 nights ago about why I wasn’t ordering the farmed salmon. Nobody really seemed to care.

Later . . . They did offer Coho salmon on one of the outdoor decks yesterday, grilled. But they were rather puny pieces, with lots of bones, so we opted not to have any. One of the waiters told us that we will have an opportunity to eat wild salmon on the cruise. I hope that wasn’t the only chance. Last night we had dinner in the Pinnacle Grill (an extra $20 apiece, and it wasn’t full of people). Best meal we’ve had on the ship. I had filet mignon and Dave had salmon (troll-caught). I would have ordered the salmon, but the waiter there also assured me I will be offered troll-caught salmon later in the week, so I got the prime beef instead. Lovely meal.

I managed to get on the internet well enough yesterday. Took just 6 minutes to upload my post, click a few buttons, add tags and check categories before clicking the button to post. Then I checked email and logged off.  This sunset picture was on Saturday night as we were headed directly west.

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Perhaps this photo is a bit blurred? It’s not my picture, so can’t take credit or derision for it.

Late yesterday we boarded the Zuiderdam in Vancouver, BC, and are doing a 7-day Alaska cruise. It’s always fun watching the events as a big cruise ship leaves the dock. There were 3 ships leaving, all within a few minutes of one another. All carefully choreographed so we arrive in the next port at the exact time for tours and shopping. I snapped a bunch of pictures as we departed.

The Vancouver Skyline at the big cruise ship docks as the Zuiderdam backed out of its slip. It was another gorgeous day. We’ve been blessed with clear, sunny skies on this whole trip. Knock on wood!

That’s the Vancouver skyline in the center distance.

There’s our stateroom before we got it all messed up with “stuff.” I’m sitting at that desk over in the far left corner. See me? (Just kidding.) We have a big verandah (the cruise lines are really offering huge deals this summer). Out on our verandah we have 2 reclining chairs with ottomans plus a table and 2 chairs. And room to walk around.  I do have internet access (for a fee – $55 for 100 minutes) but their connection is extremely slow (like dial-up, not high speed in the least). So, depending on how I do for this first upload, we’ll see whether I do much blogging during this next week. I compose the posts on my laptop in Live Writer (beta), even all the photo resizing, etc. So when I upload, all I have to do is tell it when to publish and add tags and categories. But accomplishing all that may take a lot more time than I’m used to. But, from the stateroom I have to go to one of the wi-fi hotspots on the ship to log on.

Today we’re cruising all day, mostly in Tracy Arm, with sightseeing from the decks and our verandah. Probably no animal sightings today. It’s overcast today. So far. When we did this trip 10-15 years ago it rained a couple of the days. We heard it poured rain for 2 straight days last week when this ship made the same journey.

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If you’ve never driven between central Washington over the Cascades, you’re missing some drop-dead gorgeous scenery. We took the scenic route (mostly 2-lane road) rather than the freeway, just because it was more beautiful. The town of Leavenworth is nestled in between two sets of mountain passes, and it’s done-up Bavarian style. The whole town looks like you’re in southern Germany. Even the Starbucks had a Bavarian style font for its sign. The picture above was just west of the town. We followed the Wenatchee River for quite a ways as it meandered through the twisted valleys. We were in both Wenatchee National Forest and Snoqualamie National Forest. Snow still dotted the high peaks. Highway 2 was a beautiful drive (you know, the kind that has a dotted line next to the red highway on the maps).

Here was a pretty pot of flowers, one of dozens dotting the streets of Leavenworth. Their summer is probably shorter than many places since it’s at a bit of altitude. They had hanging pots all over the town. Really very pretty. On our way down the west side of the Cascade Mountains, we stopped in Gold Bar and enjoyed a halibut sandwich at a funky roadside stand. Then continued on west. And that only after getting caught in horrendous bumper-to-bumper Friday-afternoon-traffic heading out of town (Seattle), which continued for at least 30 miles. Not fun, trust me.

Here was one of the street scenes in Leavenworth. Very cute town, and certainly off the beaten path.

We stayed the night in La Conner, a tiny town, but one I remembered from years ago when I used to live near here (for about 3 years back in the mid 1960’s). Even then La Conner was a kind of art colony. Now it’s a charming little resort kind of village. We had dinner at Seeds Bistro, (another recommendation on Trip Advisor), where we met a charming member of the wait staff, Rachel. She went to school at Pt. Loma Nazarene in San Diego (when I graduated it was the original college on the site, California Western University). Anyway, Seeds offered some great food. Very cute place with outdoor seating.

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We’re actually a hundred miles or so from here now. In the Yakima Valley. We wine tasted some. We drove in the blistering heat (thank goodness for A/C in the car). We bought wine at Canoe Ridge in Walla Walla before we left there yesterday morning, that will be shipped home. Dave tasted wine at Millbrandt and had some shipped from Thurston Wolf And I think we’re topped up. Or tapped out. On wine. Not that we won’t have some with our dinner, but I think we’re done with wine tasting. Unless we make the side trip to Woodinville (near Seattle) to taste DeLille. That’ll be later today. We’ll see how interested we are in wine by that time. After we’ve gone over the mountain passes, breathed in the pristine clean air at higher altitudes. Hopefully COOOL air. Lordy, it’s hot in this part of the country.

One of my readers, Cindee J, suggested we stop in Zillah to see a national historical landmark, a funky previous gas station, in the shape of a teapot, called Teapot Dome. Looked cute as a bug from pictures  she sent me. The signs indicated which exit, but the directions stopped just as we got off the freeway. We drove around some, and couldn’t find it. Drove the full length of the town of Zillah and waited for 10 minutes at a dead stop for road construction to clear so we could continue. Guess I should have stopped to ask directions from somebody. So, sorry Cindee. We tried.

We stayed in a nondescript motel/hotel in Selah. We had a marginal steak dinner at a local eatery. And did I mention it was HOT? Get me back toward ocean.

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Our first night in Walla Walla, we ate at Saffron, a Mediterranean restaurant a couple of blocks from 2nd Street, the main drag of Walla Walla. It was off-the-charts delicious. The menu was unusual – it contained numerous items that you won’t see on most restaurant menus.

I started off with a glass of house made sangria. This was no plop-a-piece-of-fruit-on-top kind of sangria. But one that contained a variety of local, seasonal fruit, obviously marinated for some time before serving. It was a tall glass, an ample serving. And really good. Dave and I shared an arugula salad with fresh spring peas (pictured above), some shaved cheese and some thinly sliced prosciutto on top. It was very tasty. A bit too much dressing for me, but it was good nevertheless.

Dave ordered a steak with kale and beans on the side. The kale was tender and barely cooked, so it still had form and texture. I ordered a guinea hen which was tender and juicy, and served on a bed of farro (perfectly toothsome), some smoked bacon and a few shreds of hearty greens (maybe more kale) as well. I wanted to eat every bite, but couldn’t finish it. It was too dark in the restaurant to take a picture, and I don’t do flash. Too rude, I think.

Dessert was a delish panna cotta made into a pie with an amaretti cookie crust. It was perfectly sweetened, a small serving which was fine with me, and a nice ending to a very special meal. With the wine and tax, our dinner was $106. I’d go back there for another dinner if I visit Walla Walla again.

 Saffron, 125 West Alder Street, Walla Walla Washington 99362, Phone: 509.525.2112

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Our second night in Walla Walla we went to Brasserie 4, a very cute French bistro restaurant in downtown Walla Walla. A very different menu again, not the usual French fare. Certainly bistro food, though. Only 3 dinner selections (bouillabaisse, mussels frites and steak frites), but they had several appetizers, some cold plates, some nice sounding salads, croque monseurs and two quiche of the day offerings.

We ended up ordering a charcuterie plate (which would have been enough to serve about 6 people, I think). I wish they had offered a smaller portion but also some cheese. But that’s not the French way (cheese is only served after dinner, I believe). Then I ordered their freshly made cold baby turnip soup (picked that morning from the chef’s mother’s personal garden). Dave had French onion soup, which he proclaimed delicious. My soup was sensational. We’ve been eating so well these last few days, we called it quits after that. We were both contentedly full. The restaurant doesn’t have a website, but here’s Trip Advisor’s comments.

Brasserie 4, 4 E. Main St., Walla Walla, WA 99362, Phone:  509.529.2011

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