Sunday, August 24, 2008

Vacation!

Aunt Merle here, after a great vacation to Alaska on Royal Caribbean's "Rhapsody of the Seas" with hubby. Yep. Everything you've heard about Alaskan cruises is true. The scenery, excursions, and FOOD was fantastic.

The first port of call was Juneau, Alaska. Although misty and a bit foggy, in the early morning, the day was still great. A salmon bake and panning for gold made the day. Salmon was great and we found gold. (Even though it was "seeded" in the soil, it was still fun).

The next stop was the little village of Skagway. Naturally I had to visit the Red Onion Saloon as it was a haunted brothel. The tour guide of the town, all dressed up as a working girl, was "Annie Whichways." She was very animated in her presentation and gave lots of information.

Skagway also included a tour of the town in a 1927 tour bus. That was fun!

On to Dawes Glacier. That's were the sights really began with seals sunning themselves on the ice, the magnificent glacier, whales, and American Bald Eagles. Wow.

On the ship we met some lovely ladies from a neighboring town in Ohio. Talk about a small world.

Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, provided another excursion. This time to an old salmon cannery. That was interesting, but kinda yukky to find out in the old days when "gutting" the fish and rinsing them, they only changed the water once a day. {{shudder}}}. Glad all that has changed!

Sailing the inside passage gave us an upclose view of two orca swimming beside the ship. Absolutely amazing. We don't have creatures like that in Lake Erie.

Back to Seattle and a flight back home. I'm still trying to catch up on laundry, email, and of course, getting ready for the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Philadelphia.

Oh, for more information regarding the conference, check www.fgs.org. See ya there.

Aunt Merle