Honeymoon

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Leaving Catalina

Mark and I attempted to squeeze every mode of transportation into our two week honeymoon, beginning with the boat ride off Catalina. Our original plan was to take the train from Los Angeles to Seattle. However, even the earliest boat leaving the island could not get us to Long Beach in time to dash to Union Station to meet the only train of the day departing at 10 am.  So before the wedding we modified our plans.

Oakland

After arriving in Long Beach, Lacey's parents drove us from Catalina Landing to Long Beach Airport. We hopped on a Jet Blue flight to Oakland, slightly delayed by a woman who had to be removed for being intoxicated and a bit belligerent. In Oakland, Mark's parents picked us up. They took us to Scott's in Jack London Square for dinner, where we ate a ton of really good food.

Amtrak

Mark’s parents dropped us at the train station across the street.  We were an hour early for the train, but it was a bit chilly outside so we thought it was best to go into the station. Three hours later we were thinking we probably should have wandered around outside a bit more.  It turned out that the train was running two hours late.  Instead of leaving at 9:30, we pulled out of Oakland at close to midnight.  Don't get us wrong...We loved the train.  The service was excellent, the company was interesting, and even the food was good.  It just wasn't terribly timely. But who wants to make time on their honeymoon?

Since it was so late, our porter made our sleeper car up for the night.  We climbed into the beds and watched the scenery roll by for a while before turning in.  Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up with the odd sensation that we weren’t moving anymore.  Turns out that we weren’t.  In the morning we woke up to the view of a beautiful mountain off in the distance to the north. I decided it must be Shasta and told Mark as much. He told me that it couldn’t be since it wouldn’t be so far north of us still after traveling all night. Then we found out a pickup had been stuck on the tracks over night, and the train had to wait for it to be moved.  Two more hours behind, and far south of Mt. Shasta. Oh well, we had no where to be.

We had breakfast with a nice couple in the dining car. They were retired, but recently married also. We spent the rest of the day lounging, reading, talking and planning.  We spend about an hour going around the base of Shasta trying to get a perfect picture, and we saw gorgeous green forests stretching out in all directions as we passed through Oregon.  We should have arrived in Seattle at 8:30 that night, but having started the day four hours behind we knew we probably wouldn’t arrive until early the next morning. So we settled in for another half night of sleep, but were awake enough to take a picture of the Olympia/Lacey station.

Seattle

The train pulled into the Seattle station after 3 am.  Too early to go to the ferry terminal we were leaving from at 8:45, but too late to get any really sleep at the hotel we had booked.  But we decided to check in for a quick nap. We had already paid for the room afterall. After a couple hours’ rest we got up and headed for the ferry to Victoria.  As Seattle slipped by the cab window, we hoped that we could come back someday to really visit.  It is a beautiful city.

We walked from the cab to the ferry in Seattle’s famous rain.  People thought that we were a bit odd to be in such good spirits considering the weather. Mark thinks that it is funny that one passenger mistook me for a Seattle resident since I had a smile on my face. Really, it’s just that we are starved for moisture in Southern California, so the feel of water on the head from something other than a wave is kind of exciting.

Victoria

The crossing was smooth, and we arrived in Victoria right on time. Mark and I pride ourselves on our habit of walking everywhere we can. Okay, maybe my pride is a bit stubborn, but Mark is always a good sport and ready to come along for the ride. We could see our hotel from the ferry terminal and decided that we would just trek over.  We had splurged on the room so I figured we could cut some costs on cabs. Armed with a suitcase that could eat all suitcases, a rolling carry-on, and my gargantuan backpack (we did have to pack for two weeks, and a couple of formal nights on the cruise) we made a slow pass through Victoria. We arrived at our hotel with our arms maybe a couple inches longer, but happy with our mini tour of the waterfront.  We checked in and headed out again (minus the luggage).  We spent the rest of the day wandering the city, visiting the Undersea Gardens, exploring Beacon Hill Park complete with dogs and herons, eating fish and chips at Barb’s Place, and doing a bit of shopping to get some water and snacks for later.

We had dinner at Darcy’s pub that night and went back to our room to watch the harbor and a movie.  The next morning we got up and took a shuttle to the bus depot. The bus was leaving too early to walk. After a little confusion as to which line to stand in, we finally boarded our bus and we were off to Vancouver.

Vancouver

The combined bus and ferry ride to Vancouver from Victoria was very pleasant.  We were surprised at how large Vancouver Island is. Not that it is huge, but there is a good amount outside of Victoria.  Someday we hope to go back to see more. The ferry ride between Vancouver Island and the mainland was gorgeous. We got off the bus, and sat on the passenger levels watching as we floated by the many small islands in the channel.  Anyone want to go in on a vacation home?

We pulled into the downtown Vancouver bus depot at about 1:30 in the afternoon. It was raining lightly, but our spirits were still high. We had glimpsed the area we were headed to from the bus, and we were excited to be nearing our next destination. Mark stopped to get some more Canadian cash and we set out in search of a cab.  After a short wait, a cab pulled up and we were on our way to the Westin Bayshore. We passed through the shopping districts on our way to the hotel.  Just before Mark's eyes completely glazed over we pulled up at the Westin.

Maybe this is the case with Canadian hotels in general, but we were so pleased with the service at both the Delta Ocean Pointe Resort in Victoria and the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver.  We were obviously young and out of our element, having splurged merely for the occasion, but we were treated as if we belonged and felt very welcome and pampered.

We checked in, stowed our gigantic luggage once again, and decided to head out in search of lunch and a first pass at Stanley Park.  We had seen the park on the internet when looking for things to do in Vancouver. Even after having walked for about 10 miles the day before, a stroll in the park seemed very appealing. The park is at the tip of a peninsular and includes a 14 km seawall walk, an aquarium, a salmon run, four restaurants, a totem pole park, ponds, a children's petting zoo, an expanse of conifer rain forest trails, and I'm sure much more.

Despite his love of fish, Mark's stomach won out and we went in search of lunch first. We stopped at the Stanley Park Pavilion for toasted sandwiches and potatoe salad. I haven't said too much about food, but we'd been eating well all along.  Fortunately, we were walking well also (except on the train).

Now fortified we headed back to the aquarium.  It was very impressive. We started in the tropical zone where we thawed out a bit.  The rain outside had turned a bit chilly. We saw the world's largest fish, and tried to get a picture of it. Oh, the magic of digital photography.  Click, Flash, Preview, Delete, Click, No Flash, Preview, Delete, Click...

Emerging a bit warmer than when we entered we wandered around the rest of the exhibits. We stared into a tank that was somewhere between the dimensions of the largest Birch Aquarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium tanks and saw the creatures native to the Canadian coast and rivers from surf perch to jellyfish to salmon. We also walked through a frog exhibit and gazed into a tank with viewing from both above and along the base. Here three eels, looking remarkably like muppets peered out at us, having somehow managed to squeeze into one small opening all together.

We watched a short dolphin show outside, and saw sea lions (or were they seals), otters and beluga whales.  We walked up an exhibit on salmon runs with a few salmon fry getting ready to head down on their journey to the ocean. Happy with our visit, we set out to explore some of the rest of the park.  I can't remember if we really planned it when we set out, or just decided as we were on our way, but next thing we knew, we were headed on the seawall loop of the park.  For the next few hours we walked, talked, stopped for the occasional picture, talked some more, and walked a lot more.  We watched as seaplanes landed every few minutes, stared up into the conifer rainforest extending inland, and enjoyed our changing perspective of Coal Harbor. It was gorgeous, romantic and relaxing, what we both needed after finals, publications, work and wedding planning. We ended our seawall walk on the harbor on the opposite side of the peninsula from our hotel. We crossed the narrow isthmus that serves as an entrance to the park, and got on the path back to our hotel.

At this point, my windbreaker was soaked all the way through from the light rain that had continued on and off all day.  My gloves were dripping, and my shoes weren't much better. We decided that we might look into getting a waterproof jacket for me, thinking that the cruise probably wouldn't be much dryer, and we both decided it might be nice to have something a bit warmer.  The rain was coming down harder on our way back to the hotel, so we tried to hurry along.  Upon reaching our room, we decided to try out the restaurant downstairs rather than venturing out into the rain again.  It was a great decision.  We had three of "the World's Largest Pints" (23 ounces) between us, and shared a won ton appetizer, a bucket of shrimp, and a chicken caesar salad.  Afterwards, we headed back up to the room and admired our view back towards Canada Place where our cruise ship would be in the morning.

The next morning there was a break in the rain, and we admired our ship now at dock. We headed over to Bo Jangles Cafe for breakfast and then headed into town.  We walked over to the cruise terminal just to make sure that it would be walkable with our luggage later in the afternoon. Then we headed up into the shopping district.  We found a Canadian outdoor gear store and bought a waterproof jacket and two fleece jackets for much cheaper than we could have gotten them at home.  Having completed enough shopping for the whole trip in Mark's taste, we headed back to the hotel. We got all of our bags ready to take the the ship, stowed them in the lobby and checked out. Since we had enjoyed Stanley Park so much the day before, but had only seen the periphery, we headed back for a day of wandering its interior.

We walked down the middle more or less from the aquarium.  We stumbled onto Beaver Lake, and came out at the tip of the peninsula on the sea wall.  We turned back and headed uphill to the entrance to the Lions Gate Bridge that spans the harbor from the end of the park's peninsula.  We bravely walked about a third of the way across the bridge to take some pictures. Too afraid to balance our digital camera so high, we took turns playing photographer.  We headed back to another of the park's restaurants, Prospect Point Cafe and Snack Bar, and had lunch of lamb and salmon burgers (no, not together on one burger).  We walked back along the highway, and marveled at the fact that we had no idea the day before that such a major road went through the park. They do a good job of hiding it.

We had just enough time to grab our luggage and head for the cruise ship.  We made our first pass at getting through the security check and failed because we couldn't go through with anything but carryons. Since we hadn't arrived at the terminal direcly by cruise transportation, our baggage wasn't checked through. It turned out to be no trivial matter to get our suitcase checked. After two failed attempts at finding the proper counter and a few "if you aren't smart enough to know, why should I tell you" expressions, we found a nice woman who checked us through and assured us our bag would get on just fine.  After dragging the thing back and forth so many times, we weren't terribly confident we would see it again, but at that point, we were happy to be rid of it. We headed back to the security check where we were finally allowed through, filled out our immigration documents, and headed for the ship, where we were stopped for the first of many pictures.  Paul, Theresa, Eric and Hari had managed to look adorable in their embarkation photo. Mark and I just looked hot and sweaty.

We were off on Phase 2 of our honeymoon. Having enjoyed the trip up the coast hugely, and wishing we could have spent just a little longer everywhere we went, we were still very excited to be heading up to Alaska and to be catching up with our friends.

Alaska Cruise

We tracked down Eric, Hari, Paul and Theresa, and took a tour of the boat. We paused at the pool to relax and enjoy what would be our home for the next week. Lydia and Jeff arrived just in the knick of time, and we left Vancouver at 5 pm. The first night was relaxing.  The waters were calm and we had some time to catch up.  Mark and I had walked another 10 miles that day, and everyone else had been up since 2 am, so it was a quiet night.

Ketchikan

After a relaxing day at sea, we were excited to reach our first destination. We got up and ate our breakfast we had ordered the night before. We met up with Jeff, Lydia, Eric and Hari and set out in search of things to do.  Paul and Theresa decided not to join us at this ungodly hour. We had decided to wing it at our first port to see what kind of activities were available outside the cruise sponsored ones. Venturing into the Visitor Center was kind of like jumping into a school of piranhas, but we were able to make out a few deals in the mess of voices and offers, and had some options to consider.  We hurried outside, glad to have been allowed to come back up for air and set out in search of the hatchery while we considered what tour to take later. We walked through the drizzle up the Married Man's Trail, named for the married men who used to take this back route to the brothels (remember this, it comes into play later), and back down towards a native fish hatchery and totem pole center. We wandered the exhibits, watched the huge fish moving through the river, and headed back to meet up with Paul and Theresa. 

We booked a boat that gave the eight of us a tour of the channel for the price of six.  Both the captain of the boat and the tour guide were native, year-round residents of Ketchikan. Many of the other tour groups are just brought in for the summer months by the cruise ships.  We also found out that most of the shopping district right next to the cruise dock closes down for the winter.  We would recommend finding a local guide like we did. The cost was much lower, and you get some local insight.

After lunch, we left Paul and Theresa to wander the town since they had missed it that morning, and the rest of us did some souvenir and wine shopping.  Except for the wine, we got back on the boat mainly empty-handed since some of the prices seemed high, and we figured we could shop around at later ports.

Back on the boat, Eric, Hari, Jeff, Lydia, Mark and I went to the gym and watched our departure from Ketchikan from the windows there. Then we went back to our rooms to prepare for another dinner.  We met in Paul and Theresa's room since they had scored a larger than usual corner cabin. After our pre-party, we headed for the dining room.  In the dining room, Mark quickly grabbed the opportunity to do that night's toast, and first talked about all of the strong relationships of the couples around the table, then he turned to Paul and Theresa and said how happy we all were to be celebrating their commitment to each other.  At this point, Paul pulled out Theresa's hand, and they showed us the ring that he had given her that afternoon. He had purchased the ring that she had admired back in January, but waited for a perfect moment to give it to her, alone together in a small town in Alaska, on the honeymoon of the friends for whom he had just been the best man, on the trail to a brothel. All kidding aside, we are extremely happy for both Paul and Theresa, who make an adorable couple, and will surely be very happy in their life together. And so ended another wonderful day.

Sitka

The next morning, we arrived in Sitka. Mark and I got up to look out of our window as we pulled in.  We headed upstairs for a quick breakfast, and figured we would get off the boat as early as possible since there is no cruise ship dock in Sitka, and we didn't want to wait in line to get a shore boat later.  We got one of the first boats off.  They let us go earlier than our assigned time, since there was no one in line yet that early.  While the shoreboats require a little more planning to get ashore, we are glad that Sitka has so far managed to block the construction of a cruise ship dock.  The town is beautiful and serene, and has managed to hold at a minimum the touristy array of souvenir and trinket shops that have taken over Ketchikan.

We headed into town in search of fishing gear and licenses.  Mark bought a $14 telescoping rod, a reel, and a fishing license for the day figuring he would still save money by not booking a fishing excursion. I sat on the rocks and read, while Mark cast out in the water.  He caught several fish, mainly small dolly varden, his first ever, and was very content with his new purchase. 

When Mark was done, and we figured we had somehow missed the others getting of the boat, we headed out to explore the town on our own.  After about a couple of blocks, we spotted the rest of our group just getting of the ship and walking down a street on the other side of the alley we were looking down.  We ran across to join them, and did a loop of the town. We went through St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Church, passed a university, a national cemetery holding a ceremony for Memorial Day, and Swan Lake.  After posing shamelessly like ballerinas dressed for rain, we headed back in search of lunch.

Being cheap again, we went back to a free meal on the ship, and then went back to shore one more time. The girls headed for a cute tea shop, and the guys went for another fishing expedition.  By this point, Jeff was so anxious to drop a line, he was practically coming out of his skin. Mark, Paul, and Jeff took turns fishing with the two poles, while Eric documented the whole outing on film.  We returned to the ship for another trip to the gym, a wonderful dinner, and a relaxing evening.  All of our days' activities and walking left us ready for a rest at night, and with any luck would keep all of the food from adding too much weight.

Juneau

Juneau is a very unique state capital. Like Honolulu, it is one of the two U.S. state capitals that cannot be reached by road, and there does not seem to be much a desire from the residents to connect it anytime soon.

After learning about the trail up Mt. Roberts from a fellow passenger, who also happened to be employed by a tour company, we set out for a hike. We hiked the lower 2 miles of the Mt. Roberts Trail taking us up 1700 feet to the top of the tram that brings tourists and a few employees up and down the mountain.  We poked around the gift shop for a while took a couple of pictures, and headed back down on the tram.  The hike was rewarding and well-worth the views of Juneau and Douglas Island. No one else was on the trail as the eight of us made the climb, but I'm sure our conversations gave enough warning to the bears that we were warned about.

At the base of the mountain we grabbed a bite to eat on the ship, and then took the bus that gave us the best deal on a trip out to Mendenhall Glacier. We took a trail off the paved tourist path, and walked out as close as we could get to the glacier.  It is a mile and a half long at its base. We stood at the base of a roaring waterfall, trying to get an appreciation for the size of the glacier. It was still a ways off, but obviously quite large.  After a few more pictures, we turned back and boarded our bus back to the ship. Everyone else headed back for the ship, while Mark and I bought a couple of gifts, including an Alaskan Amber shirt for Mark, read about Patsy Ann, an Alaskan Bull Terrier who apparently had a knack for knowing when the cruise ships were going to arrive, and boarded the boat.

Unfortunately, Mark never found a store that sold fishing licenses.  He got to fish in the morning before his license from the day before expired, but was not able to purchase a license to fish that evening. Whether there is a deal between the cruise ships and the fishing guides or there is just not enough demand for licenses in the immediate vicinity of the cruise ship dock, there was no way to buy a fishing license without possibly taking a cab or bus out to a hardware store down the highway.  Even so, Juneau felt a little like going back in time, when you consider that it is the state capital.  We really enjoyed the hiking and would have loved to see more of the trails.

Haines

Our last port en route to Seward was Haines. It is very small and very peaceful.  The surrounding terrain is beautiful. Not the most exciting of places, but gorgeous nonetheless.  Mark, Jeff and I set out early so that Mark and Jeff could go fishing, and I could sit and read on shore. They located a shop where they bought their licenses and we headed out to a point towards the south end of Haines where Mark and Jeff went immediately to work. It was kind of slow for them at that spot, so after taking a few pictures and reading a couple chapters, I picked myself up and started the rock hopping back towards the ship.  They followed soon after.

Haines has a gigantic cruise ship dock.  Smaller docks on the water are reached by ramps from the main structure.  Mark and Jeff went down to one of the water level docks, and I waited for the rest of our group to come ashore.  Once we were all on the dock, we headed into town.  From there we walked out to Dalton City, which was built on the Fairgrounds for the filming of White Fang. Unfortunately, the brewery and restaurant we had planned to eat at was closed to the public.  Too bad we weren't smart enough to slip in behind the group on a tour bus from our ship that arrived shortly after we did.  Pretty hungry, we headed back to the ship for another free lunch. 

Jeff was itching to get back to fishing, so he rushed off after eating.  The rest of us sat around as people finished eating and then set out to pick up Jeff and take a walk across Haines to the see the Lynn Canal on the other side of the peninsula on which Haines sits. Huge mountains sit on both sides of the Lynn Canal and the peninsula.  I believe Haines sits in the largest fjord in the U.S. The landsape is beautiful and dramatic, and except for the small city of Haines, and a few cities further up the fjord, it is relatively untouched.

After snapping a few more pictures, we turned around on our way back to the ship.  Onboard we got ready for our second formal night. Several of us ordered the surf and turf with lobster and steak, and enjoyed some baked Alaska, after a rather enthusiastic and choreographed presentation.  We tried to ignore the fact that, tomorrow, we would be at sea, and probably rolling quite a bit, as we went out to the upper deck to watch the glassy waters of the inland passage slip by.  The calm before the storm.

At Sea

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