Anchorage, Alaska, August 4 & 5, 2018

We made it!  Arrived in the Sheraton Anchorage, for our Holland American southbound cruise, around 1am on August 5th.  The hotel lobby was deserted save for the lady behind the reception desk.  There were two rooms reserved for us and we were happy to finally be in Anchorage.  We arrived only nine hours later than originally scheduled.  No sightseeing, no dinner, no nothing in Anchorage today.  Blame the weather, American did.

Here’s the view from our window.

Luggage, as arranged by HAL, is scheduled for 8am pickup.  Rain or shine, someone will be knocking on our door to grab our bags to transfer them to the Noordam.  That means Caden and I (JoAnn and Jenna are in their own room) have to be ready at 8.  We are taking a train to Seward, where we board the ship, but the luggage goes ahead of us.

Caden was asleep when his head hit the pillow.

I, on the other hand, had things to do to be ready for Sunday morning.  Did we have toothpaste?  No.  Did I have my shaver?  No.  What clothes was I going to wear on Sunday?  I didn’t know.  So, into my luggage in search for toothpaste, my shaver, clothes for tomorrow and who knew what else.  Plan ahead I always say.

First things first.  Lets look for toothpaste.  First I wrestle my large suit case onto the bed.  Then I remove my plastic lock with a pair of wire cutters.  Oh, the wire cutters are in JoAnn’s luggage.  Off to the 8th floor to her room for the wire cutters.  Might as well take my heavy suitcase with me.  I’ll open it and give her toothpaste while I’m there.  Great, I’ve got the wire cutters.  Now, I’m headed back to the 9th floor cutters in hand, dragging my large bag behind me.

Next is the search for the shaver.  Cut open my roller bag and retrieve my device.  Lock up the bag; I’m checking it through to the ship and want to be ready for tomorrow.  Oh, wait, I need my dental floss.  Throw the overgrown suitcase back on the bed, unlock it with the cutters and dig out my floss. And so it went.  I was in and out of those darn bags over and over and over again.  But, at last I was ready for tomorrow.

Casey met Caden and me for breakfast.  My grandson, as tired as he was, was up by 5:30 and I was up at 6:30 after I couldn’t handle his quiet activity any longer; he was involved with his electronic game player.  After a breakfast of a waffle for Caden and an omelette for me we decided to walk Casey part of the way back to his hotel.  Here are a couple of shots from our whirlwind visit to Anchorage.

I really like this photo of the two of them.

By now you know, if you have been following my blog, that I find cemetaries interesting. There is one directly across the street from the Sheraton.  Here, have a look.

It’s 1pm Sunday and we are on the train from Anchorage to Seward, . . .

. . . where we will ultimately board the Noordam.  The train is a most scenic ride through the mountains and along the coast.  Here are a few photos taken along the way.

Casey, who arrived for a land tour, told us that as a result of an earthquake a number of years ago the land along the coast, in this area, dropped a number of feet with sea water rushing in to fill the void.  The outcome was that many trees died but their corpse remain as a reminder of the power of mother nature.

Here’s a shot of Caden and his father that I like, taken outside the car we were riding in

and a self portrait of me, also taken outside of our car.

Here are a few more shots from the train, starting with a photo of a glacier.

And, for a little comic relief, I thought I would include this sign that was posted in the restroom.

We arrived in Seward a little after 4pm.  I took these shots of the port from our ship just shortly after we embarked.

Tomorrow is a day at sea as we travel southbound, crossing the Gulf of Alaska on our way to Glacier Bay.