3:30am... Our wake-up call comes in.  Only one problem.. It's an hour early.  The ship hadn't set it's clocks back for the time zone change yet, so everything was confused.  Make a long story short...  It's been a LONG day.  We got a little more sleep off and on after that incident, but not much and not very deep.

Alan and I were meeting Toni for breakfast at 6.  We were a little late, but so was she.  We all headed up to the buffet at around 6:20 (nothing else was open yet).  It wasn't bad...  We got to sit and watch the ship dock in Ketchikan while enjoying an assortment of breakfast yummies.

7:10am  We disembark from the ship.  How exciting!  Alaska is such a beautiful place.  We immediately start looking for our tour guide, who's nowhere to be found yet.  Alan walks away and begins taking pictures (have to start early!).  What's one of the first things he notices?  A 3000GT drove up.  He wanted to introduce himself (how often would he have the chance to meet an owner in Alaska???) but the gentleman went into a local store too quickly.  Oh well.  On to more important things...

We boarded our tour boat at about 7;45 for a 7:55 departure.  The departure was a little late - probably 8:15.  Today was our cruise and seaplane tour of the Misty Fjords.  A fjord is an area formed by the recession of glaciers that fills in with water.  The Misty Fjords span 2.2 million acres!!  I can't even imagine.  Obviously we were just touring a small part of them.

As we ventured out into the Fjords, our tour guide explained many of the sites to us.  We learned interesting facts about the fjords, local schools, what it's like to grow up in Ketchikan, etc.  It was both relaxing and enjoyable.  One interesting fact was that in third grade, children are taught survival skills and taken to small islands to practice them (just for brief periods of time).  They learn to make a survival kit, etc.  In 8th grade, they're actually taken to the island and left there for 3 days.  Of course the others from their class are with them, as is the teacher.  Another fact...  They have competitive sports here, but run them differently.  There's no funding for them, so the parents all help and do fundraisers to get the community support.  And it works.  Sometimes they travel as much as 20 hours by land and plane to get to a competition.  Because of the long travel period, they have to stay overnight at several sites, so the opposing teams house them for the entirety of their stay.  How cool is that?

The scenery was outstanding.  While on the cruise we spotted a few bald eagles, harbor seals around a rock, and our very first brown bear - a mother and cub!  SOOO cool!

At the end of our cruise, we were met by 11 seaplanes and each of us was assigned a plane to board to get back to Ketchikan.  Oh my.  While telling us about the procedure we'd use for boarding, our "wonderful" tour guide mentioned a little about those planes.  For instance, the last one was built in 1953.  No, I'm not kidding.  Not the FIRST one, but the LAST one.  As in...  The one we were going on was built sometime BEFORE 1953.  Not feeling real good at this point, but I promised no fears, and no fears it'll be.  We were called for one of the first planes (also the only 10-seater - the largest of them).

This was my first trip in a seaplane (also called a floatplane).  It was my uncle's suggestion to do this, and it looked like it would be an amazing view... So off I went.  I have to say, I was VERY brave about it.  I had no nerves whatsoever, although there was the initial reaction to the age of the plane.  But I figured they must have people check it for issues and all, so what have I got to lose?  I boarded.  Very bravely, I might add.

On top of that, I managed to videotape the ENTIRE trip!!  It was truly beautiful.

We deplaned onto a dock that spanned about 50' in length.  About 30' off the far end we noticed a truly awesome sight...  About 20-30 American Bald Eagles circling for their dinner and swooping down to catch it.  Unbelievable.  There are photos and video showing all of it,  but what an experience.  One Bald Eagle is always so majestic that it manages to almost stop me in my tracks.  But to see that many in one place, all in flight...  One went off on his own and perched atop a building.   Alan managed some great pictures of that.

We were kicked off the dock for arriving seaplanes to deplane, so we started our trek back into town.  It was only about a quarter of a mile.  We stopped at several little shops along the way (including a much-needed latte!) before we found a jewelry store that I wanted to go in.  I was on a quest for a pendant and bracelet, both set in white gold, with Mystic Topaz.  Success!!  We found both pieces and even got a chain for the pendant, all within my jewelry budget for the trip!  

We shopped a bit more, picking up a few small items here and there.  Nothing real exciting.  Then we boarded the ship just in time for "all aboard" at 2:30.  So much for our visit to Ketchikan.  We grabbed a quick lunch with everyone, then an ice cream cone, before going our separate ways until dinner.

I spent my free time writing out some postcards, taking care of a little business regarding our excursions, and resting.  I can't believe how tiring a vacation is!  

Dinner was at 7:30.  We headed over to Sally and Toni's cabin.  While Toni and I were talking, I noticed a large object (with a fin) come out of the water.  I didn't want to tell anyone and get them excited if I was wrong, so I watched more closely for about 5 seconds.  Sure enough, it was our first whale siting.  I saw blow after blow, each time the whale came up (which is unusual - they normally only blow after returning from a terminal dive).  I got the others together to watch.  Some saw the whale, some just saw the blow.  After the terminal dive he was too far away for us to see again.  That's the only problem with a cruise ship - their priorities aren't the same as my own.  Oh well.

Dinner was ok.  We went back to Windows restaurant again.  Dessert was worth mentioning, though.  Chocolate souffle with warm Bailey's sauce.  Yummy!!  We went up to Deck 8 to purchase pictures from formal night, then here I am, just finishing my journal before I go to bed.  Tomorrow we dock in Juneau.  It's another really early morning, but I know it'll also be very exciting.

Go to day 5 - 06/22/04