#13–12 Our trip to Alaska /On board the Millennium 8/16 to 8/22 First Day

We drove to Vancouver, BC and spent the night at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel.  Because we drove to Vancouver, we had to find a place to park our car while we were cruising and touring.  After much research on the internet, I found that the least expensive long term parking was at the airport.  If we parked at the cruise ship parking it would have been over $300.00 for the two weeks we were away.  At the hotel parking would have been over $200.00.  So we prepaid for two weeks at long term parking at the airport.  $124.00 for two weeks and our car will be where we are landing at the finish of our tour.  The hotel provides shuttle service to and from the airport.  Worked out well.
The next day we just hopped in a taxi and took it right to the dock where the ship was waiting.  The taxi driver dropped us off right where we check in, the baggage was handled right there and we didn’t have to carry it with us. Checking in was easy and we were on the ship in no time.

Our view from the balcony of our state room aboard ship.  We have an overcast cloudy day for sailing.  Weather is cool, but not too uncomfortable.
I haven’t ever seen so many sea planes landing and taking off. 

We finally take off out of the harbor about 4 pm and sail all night to Ketchikan, AK.  Our adventure begins.


We wake up to a misty, rainy day.  We head into town and take the free bus up to the Heritage Museum to look at the really old totem poles that have been preserved.

Each of these totem poles tells a story and the docent tells us what each figure on the totem poles represents.
We also saw masks, canoes and the stories about the Indian communities.

The museum in on a hill (all of Ketchican is on a hill) and we walk down a paved path to the center of town.  The path follows the creek and the salmon are running!  What a great sight to see all these fish swimming upstream.  They congregate in groups in the eddies behind rocks and then all move at the same time.  I didn’t know that until I saw them move!

Luckily the rain stopped while we were walking down the path, so we got a good look at the fish and other fun sights.

The waterfall over which we walked, the fish ladder to make it easier for the fish to get over the waterfall and a cool looking flowering bush.
We have early seating for dinner.  Met a nice couple from New York and our other companion is also from New Jersey.  His wife doesn’t fly, so she is at home!

The first night’s entertainment introduces us to the captain and the heads of each department.  Also gives us a sample of the following days entertainment.
Our stateroom on the ship is nice, with all the amenities we need.  We unpack the suitcases and start living aboard the ship.

There is a little balcony where we can sit and watch everything from outside the room.  All the comforts of a home!
From the balcony, the town of Ketchikan.

#13-11 Yakima Valley Wineries 7-17-2013

We arrived in Yakima last week and again parked at Nephew, Bernie’s home.  We took one afternoon to go visit some of the wineries here in the Yakima Valley.  The valley is known for it wines. 

Our first winery that we visited was Knight Hill and it was way up on a hill!  We drove up a gravel road through vineyards to a barn like structure that was their tasting room.  The views from the top of the hill was were spectacular.  Frank tasted the Riesling and thought it was too dry.  We didn’t buy any.

Our next stop was the Hyatt Vineyards.  I couldn’t get over the weeping tree in the parking lot, so I took a picture to post.  It looks like a natural arch.  Inside was a beautiful tasting room.The wine was very good and not very expensive. We bought two bottles for us.  And one for our friend back in Palm Desert.

Two Mountain Winery was in a big metal building.  They kept it cool inside and as you can see stored the barrels where you could see them.  They also had a the chalk board with info on “wine math.”  I thought it was interesting to see how they broke it down.  Again we thought the Riesling was too dry.  It was also expensive.

Silver Lake was beautiful.  The landscaping was great and the views over the vineyards seemed to stretch for miles.  They didn’t make a Riesling, so we didn’t buy anything.

Paradisos was the most informative and most interesting.  The tasting room was a room added onto their house.  They are a newer winery and still under construction.  It is a Mom and Pop operation.  I loved the decorations on the wine bar.  Footprints in the color of wine as if they just stepped out of the crushing barrel.  Reminded me of the Lucy Ball episode where her and Ethel stomp grapes.  The owner of the tasting room had been to wine tasting school and I think he gave us a 2 hour lesson in wine tasting and what to look for.  His wife was outside building a fence out of used wine bottles.  There is no recycling for those bottles and she stacks them laying down in cement and makes a arched fence.  Pretty cool looking, I should have taken a picture!  We did buy a bottle of Riesling here.  Very good. 
By the time we left it was too late to visit the last winery on our list, but we had finished buying anyway.  We met our friends for dinner at the Eagles Lodge in Toppenish.  A perfect ending of a great day!
We will spend the next two weeks just visiting friends and hanging out in Yakima until we go on our Alaskan cruise.
The first weekend in Aug, Dixie was invited to go up the mountain to Packwood to spend “a girls weekend camping.”  So Frank and the dog, Gidget had to fend for themselves while Dixie was in the mountains.  The weather was just beautiful.  We played games, ate, and talked.  On Saturday the ladies had a golf time set.  Everyone golfed except me.  I just walked around.  Good exercise and wonderful ladies.
 

Some of the players.                           The hazards, Elk droppings!

The 19th hole                                         Checking the scores

In the evening around the campfire we played some dice games and gifts were exchanged.  Barb wore her bow and the golfers received trophies.
I think we all had a great time and I got to meet new friends!