Jim & Barbara Burton Travel: Peter & Stephanie's Alaska Adventure 2013

August 15th we met our Australian friends Peter and Stephanie at SeaTac Airport, Seattle, Washington, USA. We checked in to our very comfortable downtown hotel " The Roosevelt" and went for a stroll around town. We took umbrellas just in case. Seattle is great city. We went to Pike Place Market and the waterfront. Took in a few stores on the way back and then had dinner at Anthony's on the Wharf. We had a table by the window and the food was scrumptious.

Next morning we went back to Pike Place for breakfast and another stroll around before checking out and off to the port for embarkation on "The Celebrity Solstice" to Alaska.

The weather was perfect the entire two days we spent in Seattle and we sailed away in glorious sunshine only to awake the next morning to thick FOG.. It did clear but we did not see the sun again until we sailed into Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. That being said, the Alaska coast is temperate rainforest and the previous few weeks had been unseasonably hot and sunny. The natives hated it and were glad that the temperatures had returned to normal. We had hoped that it would hold just a few more days for our trip but unfortunately umbrellas were the order of the voyage.

Day 2 was spent at sea. It was so nice to see some of the staff that we had come to know on the the same ship that we sailed back on from Australia, especially Linda our favourite assistant Maitre D'.

Day 3 we docked in Ketchikan. Peter and Stephanie had booked tours for each stop but we didn't join them as we had been on the Alaska Cruise twice before. It poured with rain in Ketchikan but we walked around the town, where we saw bald eagles and a sea otter, then up to the Fish Hatchery. The streams were black with salmon making their final journey back to where they were born and where after spawning they die. The closer they get to the end of their journey they undergo radical morphological changes. They lose their silvery blue colour and become very dark. The male salmon develop canine teeth, pronounced hooked jaws and some species grow large humps. Essentially they get to be very UGLY!!! However, the bears love them. In fact there are so many of them that the bears discard the male salmon selecting only the females, of which they only eat the roe, "caviar" to us, as it is the part richest in nutrients and probably the most delicious. We were told by a local man that if we took a taxi to a nearby creek we could watch this phenomena. After finally managing to hail a cab we set off on our adventure. It was deluging with rain but we were not to be deterred and were rewarded for our persistence. Although they were some distance away it was amazing to watch.

Day 4 took us to Tracy Arm Fjord. We cruised through this awesome waterway to the Sawyer Glacier. The captain maneuvered the ship so stealthily that you hardly felt it moving. The scenery was breathtaking and the glacier spectacular. After several hours of amazing vistas we sadly left them behind and sailed to our next port of call, Juneau. Juneau is the capital of Alaska and we disembarked here for a few hours before setting sail once again to arrive at our next destination Skagway, the next morning.

Day 5, we docked in Skagway at 7 am and after breakfast walked into town from the ship. Peter & Stephanie took a trip on the train to the White Pass and into the Yukon. This was the route used during the Klondike Gold Rush. The gold rush was not as glamorous as might be thought, with many men and horses losing their lives. Starvation and insanity was largely to blame for the deaths as well as falling of the edges of the pass. The weather conditions were also brutal much of the time. The history of this area is very interesting. We set sail again at 6 pm and cruised the Alaska Inside Passage.

Day 6 we spent at sea. This was the day that the passengers were treated to the most amazing brunch buffet. The main dining room was simply spectacular with the selection of magnificently prepared and presented food. We also went to the Tuscan Grill (speciality restaurant) for dinner that evening where we had an amazing table by the window and superb Italian food.

Day 7, we docked in Victoria, B.C and after having an early dinner we all took a trip to the Butchart Gardens, arguably the most beautiful gardens in the world and spectacular for all four seasons. The gardeners work relentlessly so that it never appears to be between seasons. Butchart Gardens was created from a disused quarry.

Day 8, we had breakfast and disembarked. We collected the truck from the car park and drove from Seattle to Vancouver. The weather was once again hot and sunny and we arrived at the Hotel Landis in downtown Vancouver to be pleasantly surprised with a very spacious two bedroom, two bathroom executive apartment. We set off on foot to walk around downtown, visiting the waterfront and learning much about the history of the city. We had a beverage in a pub on the waterfront and then walked across town to catch a water taxi to Granville Island where we had a lovely fish dinner. It was almost dark when we caught the water taxi back to the mainland and by the time we had walked back to our accommodation we were all very tired.

Saturday August 24th - we were up early, had breakfast and started our long drive to Golden B.C through the Rocky Mountains. We headed east on the Trans-Canada Highway and due to Peter's insatiable penchant for ice cream we stopped at The Dutchman Dairy, Sicamous, for some of the best ice cream on the planet. The ice creams must have been 2 lbs each. It took about an hour to eat them. Needless to say this added to the driving time. We stopped at Rogers Pass and then crossed the Continental Divide, arriving in Golden at the River to Peaks Inn, only to find that we had forgotten that there was a time change. It was now an hour later than we thought and we had not had dinner. Little mountain town restaurants, especially off season, do not always stay open very late. Luckily, we managed to sneak into the Island Restaurant just before closing. Phew!!!! We had a great meal in an enchanting place, so we didn't go to bed hungry.

Sunday August 25th - we left after breakfast and headed east to Alberta through the best part of the Rocky Mountains. We stopped in the pouring rain at Emerald Lake and the Twin Tunnels where we saw the Rocky Mountaineer train on its way to Vancouver. Luckily when we crossed into Alberta the sun came out and the rest of the day was beautiful. After saying goodbye to British Columbia we drove to Lake Louise and then along the Bow Valley Parkway to Banff. Only private vehicles can use this road, which protects the wildlife and the environment. Tour buses must use the highway. BORING!!!! Arriving in Banff we drove through the town, went to see the very famous Banff Springs Hotel and onto the Banff Springs Golf Course in search of the resident herd of Elk. We drove all the way round and didn't see one. After the June floods we decided that they must have headed to higher ground. Leaving the Golf Course we headed up to Sulphur Mountain and lo and behold we saw this magnificent bull elk. We went to view the Hot Springs and the mountain vistas are amazing from this vantage point. We were even rewarded by the lovely rainbow. From Banff we drove to Canmore where we had a nice dinner at The Rose and Crown before our final drive back home in De Winton.

Monday August 26th - was a day of catching up on laundry, grocery shopping, special riding boots for Peter and generally relaxing.

Tuesday August 27th - we took the train from the south end of the city to do a tour of downtown Calgary and were amazed at how well it had recovered from the floods just eleven weeks before, thanks to all the volunteers who put it back together. Just like Humpty Dumpty. We walked through Princes Island Park and saw how high the water had risen and the permanent damage to the banks. The river has totally changed course since the floods which were caused by ten inches of rain in 24 hours, which brought down the snowpack from the mountains. It was Canada's worse natural disaster in its history.

Wednesday August 28th - Today we headed southwest to Longview, along highway 22, to the Bar-U-Ranch where both The Virginian and The Sundance Kid were once employed. The ranch used to belong to Pat Burns and was a centre of international repute for breeding purebred cattle and the mighty purebred Percheron Horses. All Percheron horses in the world today can trace their lineage back to the Bar-U-Ranch breeding program. Although they still use Percheron horses at the ranch they are no longer bred there. From the ranch we headed further south to the Crowsnest Pass and Frank Slide. At 4:10am on the morning of April 29th, 1903, 90 million tons of limestone rock slid down Turtle Mountain and within 100 seconds obliterated the town of Frank. It remains Canada's deadliest landslide to this day. Turtle mountain's constant state of instability lead the First Nations people to name it "the mountain that moves". Approximately 90 people lost their lives that day most of whom remained buried. Some of those that survived were later killed in a coal mine disaster further along the road at the Hillcrest mine in 1914. 189 miners lost their lives, leaving 130 women widowed and 400 children fatherless. The mines in the Crowsnest Pass are now permanently closed and remain as shrines to those who lost their lives. We returned from Crowsnest Pass back along Highway 22 which is part of the Cowboy Trail. The scenery along this single lane highway is truly breathtaking. One rancher likes to display all kinds of hats on his fence posts. We finished our day trip by enjoying a lovely meal at our favourite restaurant in Okotoks, Pizzaberg, owned by Jag & Raman who were originally from Sydney, Australia.

Thursday August 29th - we started our day at Spruce Meadows, the world famous show jumping facility owned by the Southern family. We saw the Champions Welcome event a warm up tournament for the Masters the following weekend. Spruce Meadows is a magnificent facility and entry is usually free of charge due to the generosity of the Southerns. From here we took our picnic lunch to Elbow Falls in Kananaskis country. It was so sad to witness the devastation of this formerly most beautiful part of the province. How cruel Mother Nature can be???? With heavy hearts we drove home for our last night before we said "au revoir" to our dear friends.

Friday August 30th - We bade farewell to Peter & Stephanie at Calgary International Airport - YYC. Their flight left on time to Los Angeles and they were on their way home. NOT!!! On arriving at LAX their Qantas flight was cancelled and they had to overnight in L.A. so arrived home a day late..........................