Cruising to Alaska

Amid the chaos at the office caused by the crash of the network server which left the Volunteer Center without computer access for more than two weeks . . . and just before our annual CANstruction project, I abandoned my post to travel to Seattle, then north to Alaska aboard the Golden Princess cruise ship (August 8-15, 2009) with our next door neighbors and traveling companions, Ralph and Pam Bingham. Before we sailed away, we enjoyed a couple of days with Larry, Tucker, Nicki and Molly (who uncharacteristically came out from her hiding place and even allowed me to scratch her ears a couple of times).

The Golden Princess, which set sail in 2001, weighs 109,000 tons and is 951 feet long. Passengers and crew total more than 4000, who combined are capable of consumming more than 11,500 pounds of seafood every week. Every year, this ship makes 19 voyages to Alaska during the summer, then relocates to the Hawaiian islands or the Caribbean for the winter months. Not a bad life!

Alaska is twice the size of Texas but with a total population of only about 600,000 - most who live in about two dozen small cities. Juneau, the state capital with a population of 30,000, is the only US city with no roads in or out and as such can only be accessed by air or sea. Skagway (spelled variously as Skaguay, Schkague, Shkeagway, Skagua, Schkawai or Cquque) is a picturesque little community of about 800 fulltime residents. The entire city is 5 x 20 blocks of charming little shops, but we had the most fun on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad built in less than two years in response to the needs of 1000 men on their way to the goldfields.

The entire vacation was a delight, though it was too cold much of the time (I will never complain about winter in St. George) and I brought all the wrong clothes. Dad took about 1000 pictures and there was an obscene amount of food available 24 hours a day. The best part of a cruise is that it is a forced vacation with no access to e-mail or cell phones so there is plenty of time to rest, relax and enjoy the view.