NORTH TO ALASKA

It has been over seven months since I last posted to this blog.  My life has been busy at times, but nothing seemed "blog worthy" so the blog just seemed to fade away.  We have taken several trips in that time and have been busy with the grandkids.  There were numerous times I missed posting my pictures and sharing my life with far away friends and family.  We just returned from a cruise to Alaska and I decided this was as good a time as any to resurrect the blog.

Ken's sister and her husband celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary this month and planned a cruise to Alaska to celebrate.  They invited us to go along, it took us about 5 minutes to make the decision to go with them.  The cruise originated in Seattle and flying there from Billings is ridiculously expensive so we decided to drive and make the drive part of our vacation.  We left Billings Friday morning and boarded the ship on Sunday.  Along the way we stopped at the Copper King Mansion in Butte (no pics, left camera in car).  We also took in a farmer's market and car show in Ellensburg, Wa.

 A good view of Mount Ranier taken from the waterfront in downtown Seattle. 

We arrived in Seattle late Saturday afternoon and after checking into our hotel we found the light rail and headed into the city to explore a little and have dinner.   The weather was perfect and a welcome change from the cold, wet spring we have had in Montana.
Our hotel was about 10 miles from the port so after a quick trip to Wal Mart Sunday morning to  pick up a few forgotten items, we headed to the ship so we could board before lunch.  The GPS system we were using tried to get us lost but we eventually found our way and were on the ship by 12:30.  We were lucky to be upgraded to a balcony room on the ship so after lunch and meeting up with friends from Georgia we enjoyed the view of the harbor from our balconies.

The sail away party on the Lido deck was just as much fun as on a Caribbean cruise.  The only difference was the cruise staff was dressed in plaid lumberjack shirts instead of tropical wear.  There was the usual Conga lines, dancing and games.  We joined right in and had a fun start to the cruise.   Monday was our first day at sea and it was a wild one.  This was the roughest seas we had ever encountered and quite a few people were sick.  I always take medication the first night and I have never been sick, but I'm sure I would have been if I hadn't been prepared.   Everyone was quite relieved when we docked in Ketchikan the next day.

Ketchikan was our first port and even though you see snow on the mountains the weather was perfect.  The temperature was about 70 degrees and the skies were blue.  Ken and Duane went salmon fishing (didn't catch any) and the rest of us went shopping and exploring.  Ketchikan is a small city and easily explored on foot.  The flowers and trees were all in bloom and it was a beautiful walk.

Our first stop, after souvenir shopping, was on Creek Street.  Actually, it is not a street, but a boardwalk winding along Cripple Creek.  A row of wooden buildings are perched over the creek on pilings.  During the gold rush the street housed  Ketchikan's red light district.  The red light district wasn't shut down until 1953 and the infamous madam, Dolly, turned her last trick at the age of 73. 

 Cripple Creek

 The rocks were covered with this bright green moss.

 The madam of this house had quite a flair for decorating.  The floral embellishments on these curtains were made from silk condoms.  The silk wasn't very effective as a condom, but worked quite well for decorating.

Our friend from Georgia "visiting" Dolly's.

 

 Sue and I taking the "tourist" picture.



Our first day in Alaska was a sucess and we were all looking forward to the next ports.  Continued tomorrow with pictures from Tracy Arm and Juneau.

A Busy Week

The last week of October was a busy one around here. Caelen's kindergarten class went to the pumpkin farm on Tuesday. They were short chaperones so grandma got "volunteered" to go with them. Caelen was excited for me to go with her so it was fun for me too, although it was probably the coldest day we have had this fall.

Caelen in the corn maize.

Wednesday was Luke's 2nd birthday. There were several parties planned for him so I bought a small cake for him to share with grandpa and Caelen.

Thursday night Ken, Colette and the kids carved pumpkins.Caelen and her friend look like they are really into it in this picture, but that quickly passed and it was soon left to Ken and Colette to finish the carving.

Luke checking out the finished product.

Luke looks guilty after he broke the tail off the cat on his pumpkin.

Saturday we drove to Colstrip to watch Tanner and Tucker play football. The Colts finished first in their conference and this was the first game of the playoffs. Colstrip won so we'll be heading back to Colstrip this coming weekend for the next game. Both boys are having a great season and it's been fun for us to watch them.

Tucker (#77) being congratulated by the coach as he comes off the field at the end of the game.

Tanner leading the team off the field after their victory, and yes that is Tanner with the bleached mohawk. (I'm not a fan of the hair-do!)

Kenzie, Caelen and Talen after the game.

Tucker and Tanner with their proud grandpas.

And finally, Halloween. Caelen and Luke heading out to get their treats. I wasn't sure what to expect for trick or treaters in our new house. We lived at the end of a cul-de-sac in Colstrip and never had too many. There must have been over 100 last night. I just barely had enough candy.

Gettin' Away

After a stressful past two months, Ken and I decided a long week-end getaway was what we needed. We drove to Cody Thursday afternoon and planned on going to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It was 4 o'clock before we got there and they closed at 5 p.m. so we decided to save that visit for another time. It has been years since we have been to the musuem and I do want to go through the entire center sometime soon. It is one of the finest musuems and art centers in the country.

After dinner we took a drive east of Cody. It's kind of desolate country, but the fall colors on the trees and bushes were really pretty.

This picture was taken at the end of the Cody reservoir just as the moon was coming up.

When we got back to Cody we walked along main street and decided to stop for a drink at a small Mexican restaurant. Their special that night was $2 margeritas (!) so.................we had a few. Of course they also brought us chips and salsa to go along with our drinks, so for a grand total of $8 we a good time in Cody.

The next morning we headed for Jackson Hole, via Yellowstone Park. Just outside the park we spotted this buffalo getting a drink in the river. We had high hopes of seeing a lot of animals today.

Shortly after we entered the park we spotted a line of cars parked along the road, a sure sign that there was an animal spotting. Sure enough, someone had spotted this grizzly bear a few hundred feet from the road.

This was the first time that I had been to YNP during the off season. It was great not having to fight traffic, one downside was that very little was open. We avoided all the usual tourist places and just took in the beauty of the park.

Two shots of the steam rising from the shore of Yellowstone Lake.

Grand Teton National Park. The leaves had already fallen from the aspen trees in the Tetons so we were a little disappointed, but the grandeur of the Tetons is always impressive.

There was a lot of color in the bushes and shrubs.

I'm sure everyone who visits Jackson has there picture taken under one of the antler arches in the Town Square. We were no exception.

We always scout out bakeries in the places we visit and coincidentally, just a few days before our trip I was wathing Rachel Ray's $40 Dollars a Day show on TV and she featured Jackson Hole on her show. She had breakfast at the Bunnery so that was a must do for us. We had an apple turnover and raspberry scone with our afternoon coffee. Rachel didn't disappoint us, bothwere excellent. After our snack break we walked around town a little, visiting some of the many art galleries in town.

This is where we stayed "The Inn at Jackson Hole". I booked it on-line and wouldn't you just assume that it would be in Jackson Hole? No....... it was in Teton Village, a ski resort town about 12 miles down the road. Oh well, a new place to explore. October is between the tourist season and the ski season so most of the shops and restaurants were closed, so we headed back to Jackson for a little more action. We had dinner at a good Italian place and were back in our room by 8 o'clock! So much for more action.

I don't know what this bush is. We saw a lot of them along the roadside. The berries were really juicy but we didn't dare eat them.

We had this nice fireplace in our room, so while Ken watched baseball I snuggled up with a blanket and a book. It was a nice day.

We decided to head home in a different direction so we went over Teton Pass into Idaho and entered the park through the entrance at West Yellowstone. We spotted this swan and ducks swimming in the Madison River

Our animal sighting had been a little disappointing at this point, so when we saw these three cow elk along the river we were pretty excited.

We hadn't gotten too far down the road when we saw a line of cars parked by the roadway so we stopped to see what they were looking at. One guy told us that a wolf had been spotted, but when we saw it we could tell it was just a coyote. We see plenty of coyote in our country, but I guess to some people it would be exciting.

A little further down we were excited to see a large herd of elk in the river. There were 22 cow elk and we could hear a bull bugling in the trees. It wasn't too long before he came through the trees and entered the river too. By then, there was a large group of us down by the river taking pictures. That was the closest I have ever been to that many elk, it was a fun experience.

The big bull following his harem.

This buffalo was quite close to the road so we stopped to take a look. As Ken was taking the picture a group of foreign kids came up to me and asked me what it was and if it was dangerous. I told them that they can be dangerous if you get too close. They then proceeded to walk right down to it to take their pictures! Maybe they didn't understand what I told them. Anyway, the buffalo was pretty docile and we all got our pictures and walked away safely.

We had planned on spending the night in Gardiner and looking up some friends who live in nearby Mammoth. We couldn't reach them so we decided just to save the money of another hotel room and drive home. This mountain sheep was standing on the road just outside Mammoth. We got to Billings about 5:30 and had a nice dinner at the Outback. It was a fun weekend and a good stress reliever.