Friday, December 9, 2016

I May Run Like a Turkey...

...but at least I don't sound like one (usually)!!

Run Report Card

Friday Nov 18 - 20 - nada
Monday Nov 21 - 2.38 miles running



Tuesday Nov 22 - 2.21 miles running

Wednesday Nov 23 - 10.5 mile section hike on the Appalachian Trail. My dad and I hiked SoBo from Wolfesville Rd to Rt 40 in Maryland.

Thursday Nov 24 - Turkey!!! (and Sloth)
Friday Nov 25 - 2 miles walking - Opted Outside - Went to Bears Den and took a friend out on a small section of the AT. Drank a beer outside of Dirt Farm Brewery, since I was in the area. Flew drones with my buddy.

Saturday Nov 26 - 1 mile walking - Christmas tree hunting, mostly.

Sunday Nov 27 - 1 mile walking, 3.25 miles running


Monday, November 21, 2016

Mov-ember!

Challenges this month will be a few. The days continue to get shorter, and shorter still after Day Light Savings takes effect. Colder temperatures will insist I stay indoors, a notion I will need to ignore and go outside anyway! I traveled for work for a week and a half. And I got sick (booooooo to whoever hand this off to me).

I am hopeful I can overcome these hurdles and continue progressing and maintaining. I am feeling better every run, stronger, faster. On travel, I'll be in San Francisco, right on Fisherman's Wharf - there's plenty of places to run right out the front door in either direction on the San Francisco Bay Trail.

But I digress! That's last week, here's the last several weeks:

Tuesday Nov 1 - 3 miles walking, 1.43 running
Wednesday Nov 2 - 1.92 walking, 1.09 running
Thursday Nov 3 - 1.74 walking, 1.4 running
Friday Nov 4 - Sunday Nov 6 - A slovenly waste of nothingness
Monday Nov 7 - 2.52 walking, 2.05 running
Tuesday Nov 8 - 4.68 Running

Wednesday Nov 9 - Friday 11 - Traveled on Wednesday, worked early to late Thursday and Friday, plus sick!
Saturday Nov 12 - Walked 2.37, Ran 1.13
Great run in Los Gatos with Daniel, my cousin. He knew of some great trails right by Testarosa Winery. Great views, nice trails. Beautiful day for it.
Sunday Nov 13 - Walked 2.65
Monday Nov 14 - Walked 1.89
Tuesday Nov 15 - Walked 1.71
Wednesday Nov 16 - Walked 3.75, Ran 2

Thursday Nov 17 - Walked 3.63, Ran 1.8

While in San Francisco I got the City Pass and on Sunday went to the California Academy of Sciences, and took a boat tour with Blue and Gold Fleet from Pier 39. The following day took the Muni Cable Car to work and went to the Aquarium of the Bay in the evening. I wanted to also go to the Exploratorium but ran out of time to get down there.

I really enjoyed the Californian Academy of Sciences - the planetarium show was very engaging, the Earthquake house, the aquarium, and the green roof were all very cool exhibits.

The Blue and Gold Fleet boat ride was great, especially the timing. I went on the last ride of the evening - sunny on the way out, and the sun set just as the boat was going under the Golden Gate, then the Super Moon was coming up over Alcatraz as the boat was coming back into port.
The Muni Cable Car wasn't a bad option for a commute - though Uber is faster, the view was way better as the Cable Car goes up over some hills. The operators are all very good at their jobs, for a task that takes a lot of skill and practice.

The Aquarium of the Bay was smaller than I envisioned, but in that small space they crammed a lot of decent exhibits. The aquarium tunnels were very cool, being able to see fish in all directions was awesome.


Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Crispy, Crunchy, Dash thru Autumn


Another wonderful autumn week, full of chills and thrills - and some ghouls and goblins. I always say, run like death is chasing you. Ok, I've never said that, and death would've caught me long ago. More like run like a crippled ground hog with a bad attitude is thinking about eventually starting pursuit.

Tuesday Oct 25th -  2.8 walking, 1.3 running
Wednesday Oct 26th - 1.3 walking, 1.4 running
Thursday Oct 27th - 1.6 walking, 2.1 running
Friday Oct 28th - Trail Run!
Route 9 Keys Gap crossing of the AT SoBo

This turned out to be a great part of the AT to run. Forgiving, in that it's not too rocky or rooty. Most of the inclines and declines are shallow enough that you can keep running up them without getting really winded.
I ran up over the high hill beyond the David Lesser Shelter cut-off, onto Buzzard Rocks and down the hill beyond that. I was running to 4 miles, then turning around and heading back.
I have noticed that it takes me a solid 3 miles to warm up; the first 3 are torturous, my shins just really hurt and it's really a mental battle to keep pushing. Once I'm warm though I don't want to stop, I'm able to pace myself and not get my heart rate up too high.

Sunday Oct 30th - 1 walking, 1.8 running
Monday Oct 31st - A nice cool day, I decided to try the W&OD. The main multi-use path is blacktop, but right next to it the is a dirt/gravel path that is perfect for trail running. The other nice part of the parallel path, beyond staying out of the bikers way, is that it gains and loses elevation way more than the blacktop path. I appreciate an incline and decline occasionally! 
Google Fit
MapMyRun (by Under Armour)

I'm testing different apps side-by-side. I'll write another post on my finding and review several before publishing my findings.


Monday, October 31, 2016

A Shoes Post - Brooks Cascadia 11

I've not run for... awhile. I've hiked, oh how I've hiked, but running - not so much.

In fact my running shoes are from 2009. Saucony Omni 8's. Since then the world has changed, I've changed. I've hiked a few thousand miles, I even jogged a few of those miles. But most of those miles have been on trails, and many of those miles were in the Salomon X Ultra 2.

For the past couple weeks, I'd broken out my old running shoes. The rubber on the bottom felt a bit odd, like it had hardened over the years. The running itself felt good though! On my trail runs I've been wearing my hiking shoes - Salewa Wildfire. The Wildfire is a great shoe, but it's an approach shoe, not designed with trail running in mind. Both, while comfortable enough, leave something to be desired.

Songbird and I went to Potomac Running Store yesterday at the Village of Leesburg to browse some shoes. Fortunately this store has a good selection of trail runners too, unlike their other stores. I tried a few on, while also researching online and I found the Brooks Cascadia 11 to be the most comfortable. I'll give a decent review of the shoe once I've put a few miles on them. The employees at the store were super helpful too. Songbird also got a pair of shoes while we were there, and I think she may have tried on every pair they had available! But I think she did great to find the perfect pair to meet her needs.


Of course, when you get some new kicks, you also need to get new Green Superfeet insoles and some awesome new Swiftwick cushiony socks too!

And it's a great day to throw out some OLD shoes!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

A New Hope

Since the trail run a couple Thursdays ago, I've been slowly training and upping my activity levels (going from a stroll around the block to anything is upping!). First couple days after the trail run my muscles were awesomely sore! I rested a day and dove back in.

Below is my weekly(+) summary of activities.

Friday Oct 14 - 2.3 miles walking, .4 running
Monday Oct 17 - 1.3 walking, 1.2 running
Tuesday Oct 18 - 2.8 walking, 1.6 running
Wednesday Oct 19 - 2.5 walking, 1.2 running
Thursday Oct 20 - 1.8 walking
Friday Oct 21 - 1 hour stationary bike
Saturday Oct 22 - 1 hour stair-climber
Monday Oct 23 - 3.1 walking, 1.2 running

Not a terrible start to do after work, and on a cruise in the Bahamas. Definitely need to begin extending the runs, but it for sure feels better already. Plus the cooler weather is awesome to run in! This week I'll see some time to do another trail run on Thursday or Friday.

Some challenges up-coming will be a bunch or travel, cold weather, and shorter days. I'll negotiate them all and keep posting progress!! Songbird and I will be doing cross fit which will definitely help get us through both dark and cold times! Work travel, I'll need to very actively set time aside in the morning or evening to hit the treadmill or find area close to the hotels to run.

On the note of the cruise, went out of Miami for a work knowledge exchange. Good to see a lot of familiar faces, really good to catch up with everyone! While only a long weekend, the trip was enjoyable!

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Trail Runner

I've been needing a personal physical goal for awhile. After completing the Appalachian Trail in 2012, it took me a year to not have incredibly vivid flashbacks pretty much all the time. So that was really a recovery year.

Lately I've been way less active than I've wanted to be; hiking on the occasional weekend, backpacking a few times a year, a very infrequent bike ride. Goal-less.



When Songbird asked if I wanted to join Crossfit, I said "No", I didn't feel like doing that. When she alluded to it in conversation I didn't respond, when she asked again more adamantly I began to introspect as to why I had no interest. I found that I didn't want to do it just for the 'health' of it. I would, however, want to do it had I a goal. I am very goal oriented.

Well, the last hike I did was nearly 25 miles - 16 miles the first day, the rest the following day. We'd started at 10am and finished by 4. We had 30+ pound packs. And WOW was I sore the few days afterward. Really muscle sore. But the thing is - I LIKE muscle soreness. Maybe not that sore though. I began thinking about that trail in particular. We could've done it in a day. Easy(-ish). Started earlier, carried less. If I could've easily (I say that sarcastically because it would've whipped my butt, more so I know I could've been able to to complete it - I would've had to dig deep though) done that trail in a day, could I go further? Could I go much further? Could I do the Four State Challenge VA to PA (43+ miles)? Could I do 50? Could I go all the way around the Massanutten Trail (71 miles)? Could I do the entirety of the AT in Shenandoah (105.3)? I might be able to - with training.

Karl Meltzer is 48, and a bad-ass. Anish is just an ultra-bad-ass.Jennifer Pharr-Davis. Scott Jurek. All recently have beaten the AT speed record. Now I'm not saying I'm going to try to attain that, or even any Long Distance hiking trail. I don't have the desire to do that for 48 days. But if they can do it for 48 days consecutively - I might be able to do it for a SINGLE day, right?!

A did a few marathon+ plus days while hiking the AT. My training ground was... every day before that. I can't train that way any longer, I've obligations, an awesome understanding wife that I like to see, a wonderful house that I like sleeping in, and great friends I get to see on the weekends and during the week. Doing Crossfit as part of the equation makes sense. I've got my goal now. I want to see how far I can go on foot, more importantly, on a trail.

To that end, I began today. I went for a 5.5 mile run according to the mapped mileage (5.9 mile run according to GPS, which is what I'll be posting). It felt GOOD. After I warmed up. I walked up the hills, and ran on the flats and downhill sections. I trip less and have a more surer gait when I'm going fast. I focus on the trail in front of me, get into a zone, and feel like I'm floating over the terrain - rocks roots and all.I've done bits like this before, but never in a premeditated way with a goal.

I'm going to begin posting here weekly with stats for the week, including when I start Crossfit with Songbird, and what other activities I'm doing. I'll be using this as a log for myself, as well as a convenient (and public!) place to track progress. Also, to tell others a goal is a way to keep focused and to keep training! I'll also use this as a place to rate the trails I'm training on, when I'm able to actually train on trails.

I ran from Route 7 to Raven Rocks. I actually really like this for this type of training. At close to 6 miles out and back it can be done fairly quickly. It also helps this is the closest nice trail to the house. It has a lot of roots and rocks, with some nice gentle grades, as well as some steeper sections. And the view at the mid-way point is great, with some nice rocks to lay down on and stretch out on, if need be (I needed it!). It took me about 3 miles to warm up, but on the way back from the view after the short rest, I felt awesome, really loose and limber. A wonderful fall day, with squirrels everywhere, deer, and a few backpackers that offered to be my support staff when I go to break the record (whoa there fellas, don't put that on me!!)




North Fork Mountain Trail

Flip came to visit and suggested we go for a hike. Not one to back really ever say no to that, we made plans to go to North Fork Mountain Trail in WV very close to Seneca Rocks.

I'm actually very surprised that I'd never seen or hiked this route previously, as it's very close to many favorite spots, including: Spruce Knob, Seneca Creek, and Dolly Sods. I may have viewed it briefly but decided that being a Point-to-Point hike made it logistically more difficult. Regardless, upon reading the description on Hiking Upward, I was sold!

Hikers describe the North Fork Mountain Trail (NFMT) as having "relentless views". They are correct, there are so many overlooks we couldn't mark them all on our hike map. If you want a view, walk no more than 25 yards to the west off the trail and you will find one! HikingUpward

I was excited to get out and see a new trail, and to see the back of Seneca Rock. One caveat was that the trail was mostly dry, maybe a flowing spring about half way through, but not to be counted on. I decided to carry enough water for 2 full days - just over 6L, close to 14 pounds. Even with the water weight my pack was ~32lbs.



We drove separately to accommodate the Point-to-Point hike, leaving before first light on Sunday. We arrived at the northern terminus on Smoke Hole Rd right in Cabin, WV at around 9am and made the 40 min drive down to the southern terminus at the top of North Mountain. The weather had started foggy and misty as we had been driving, but quickly cleared and the temperature was wonderful for hiking.




The trail follows the ridge-line for most of the 25 miles, dropping off for short periods of time. Often the trail is only 25 yards away from the ridge top, as the description above states, however, it's still 25 yards off! I wondered why the trail didn't follow the ridge and provide continuous views. But there were plenty of overlooks all the same - the valley overlooking I've driven many times on the way to or from Dolly Sods, or Seneca Creek.




We made very quick time, making it to a great campsite at mile 8 and walking a few more miles to have a great lunch overlooking the western views and Seneca Rock from the reverse side.




At mile 10 we made it to a gas pipe line/forest road and evidence of 4-wheeling, partying, and general red-neckery was clear evident. Beer cans (and shitty beer at that) littered the road for the next two miles, along with other debris. At mile 12 we came to the 12 mile mark and the suggested campsite on Hiking Upward. Keep walking! The campsite is on the road, on a hairpin turn. Littered with piles of beer cans and piles of empty water jugs - evidently people stash water for the hike and then leave their garbage instead of packing it out. Additionally there was a semi-permanent looking tent there with water jugs hoarded around it, so it may be a vagrant living here.

The next few miles the trail left the ridge by a few hundred yards and went through a burned out, eerie section of new growth and charred standing trees.




Mile 16 we found our slice of heaven. A fantastic campsite a ways off the trail, right on a cliff edge. there was a buffer of rocks on the cliff top that acted like a great wind break for the fire.





The following morning, after a great night sleep in the hammock, we made short work of the remaining 8 miles - the last couple of which dived steeply down into the valley and back to my vehicle. The views were again amazing and plentiful! A strenuous but rewarding day hike could be had by parking at the bottom and coming up to Chimney Rock, about a 6 mile out and back.




Monday, July 11, 2016

Alaska 2016

It's been awhile!

Back in 2015 my wife and I were told of a family trip for a cousin turning 40. The trip was to be a cruise to Alaska. We pushed back our plans to go to Portugal by a year and decided to go on this adventure instead! We were able to invite friends on this trip as well, so we asked around and got a few takers to share in the trip with us.

The progression towards the beginning of a trip always seems the same: initial excitement and research and planning, then realizing the trip isn't for another year. Finally, and slowly, all the preparations are made: How many days are we going early to Seattle? What excursions are we doing? What's the daily average temp/precip? What's the rest of the family doing (since we can't snub them the entire time and do our own thing!)? The preparations phase still leaves a long time before the trip, a few months, those emails Starred in my Inbox, reminding me of how long I have to what. The day finally comes to start packing (which for me is two weeks before the trip!). And the day finally comes for us to take the dog to the kennel, secure everything at the house, and head to the airport!

We flew from IAD to SeaTac on Wednesday June 8th, a couple days before we were meeting everyone to go on the cruise. We figured a bit of quiet time before the boat might be required! This was to be Songbird's first cruise.

Mount Rainer

We landed, rented a car and began the short drive to Ashford, WA close to the Nisqually Entrance of Rainer. I'd rented a small cabin at Copper Creek Inn & Restaurant. The place looked amazing, Muir Cabin, tucked in a temperate rain forest, private hot-tub on creek. Surrounded by green forest, and wild flowers.

Sometimes expectations don't hold a candle to reality. Conceptually I imagined a cute cabin in the woods; reality blew away my conception, and replaced it with a lasting loving life-long impression. The peace of the place was overwhelming. The sound of the creek, swollen by recent rains, the smell of the forest, even the feel of the cool humidity pressed against the skin all imprinted this on my memory.

The cabin itself was stellar, very high quality with nice homey touches. The fireplace inside was much appreciated after sitting in the hot tub and needing to dry off!

Our first night there, we arrived and went to sleep seeing only darkness outside our door, but with the promise of beauty! We woke with excitement, brewed some coffee and had a morning soak in the hot tub, we ARE on vacation! After a leisurely morning we got ready for a day of hiking in Rainer, and on our way to the entrance stopped at Alexander's Lodge & Restaurant for a quick breakfast. The day was to be a cloudy day, and the forecast mentioned periods of rain, but this is Washington right?! Can't let that stop us. Though I was hoping it would clear enough for me to see the massif that I knew was hulking over us. We winded our way ever upward, passing a few overlooks and a few gorgeous cascading waterfalls by the road. The sky began to sprinkle on us, but we could still see mountains across the valley, so it wasn't totally socked in. No sign of THE peak though.

I had a vision in my mind of what this place was going to look like. I imagined a sunny day, with a field of wild flowers nodding in a  gentle breeze, the squeak of randy marmots, all over-shadowed by a massive ever visible hulking mass of the pinnacle of the mountain. While I knew the sun was wishful thinking, the rest I took for granted! As our elevation grew, patches of snow began appearing, by the time we got to Paradise, the ground was more snow than not!

Being the adventurous type, we weren't going to let a little snow get in our way! We went into the welcome center and noticed they rented snow shoes; just what we needed! So here we are in mid June, snowshoeing! Not on the East Coast anymore, that's for sure!

We made a fun day of tramping around on the Skyline Trail, though we by no means did the entire 5 mile loop. The upper section goes across a mountainside that we had no intention of falling off and snow shoes aren't as good as crampons and ice axes would've been! We got up fairly high, I saw a marmot (bigger and scragglier than expected), saw decent views back behind us down valley. We never did see Rainer, the clouds thickened as the day progressed, and a misty rain started falling a bit more incessantly. Blissfully sore and slightly soaked, we turned and made our way back down to the visitor lodge.


 After our hiking was done, we rode back down the mountain, stopping at the Copper Creek restaurant for a bottle of wine. We soaked more in the wonderful hot tun, enjoying the wine and the peacefulness of the woods around us!

The next morning we woke to sunshine streaming through the trees. Excited to possibly see the mountain we packed up and left the cabin, with the promise to ourselves that we would come back and enjoy this spot again in the future!

 We headed into Nisqually entrance, at one bridge we could fully see the mountain, if only for a moment! There were clouds in the area, moving lazily through the valleys, and we were trying to get to the mountain before those clouds cloaked it in misty gauze. As we went higher the sky darkened little by little. On the last section into Paradise, the sky cleared for one glorious pristine, mind-blowing moment - a hole in the clouds above us showcased the peak of Rainer, framed on all sides by cloud, a floating mountain. Then it was gone. We parked at the lot there and waited to see if the clouds would decide to move on - after seeing them thicken, we decided to travel on. The temps had dropped quite a bit since the previous day, hovering right around freezing, the mist had frozen on to the limbs of the evergreen trees, giving a white frostiness to the forest.


We  drove through the park to exit the other side and stop at Grove of the Patriarchs - unfortunately the bridge over the river to the actual grove was out so we were only able to do the lovely approach trail.

Seattle

We drove back to the airport and dropped off the car before getting an Uber to the Edgewater in downtown Seattle. There we met up with family and headed over to Pike's Market to be crushed in by mobs of tourists to see some fish getting tossed around, before finally settling down at a Mexican joint in an alley close by. That evening we met up with family friends deeper in town at a brew pub to catch up with everyone.

The following morning, cruise day was upon us. Our ship, the Norwegian Jewel, was departing from the dock right next to the Edgewater; easy commute! We dropped our rolling bags, boarded and got situated, finding a group of family to sit with. There were 70 people in our group, most of which we didn't know! But as the week went on, we got to know everyone, at least by sight, if not more detailed.

The ship departed with little fan fare, barely a feeling of movement at all. Seattle grew distant quickly and the shoreline became sparsely peppered with buildings. The wilds creep in quickly.


The first day was a day at sea, the boat rocked a bit, and quite a few people became sea sick. I've never had that problem, fortunately. This day passed in a blur, at sea days are the dead zones in a story, we were very ready to get off the boat after this day!

Ketchikan

We woke to pulling into port. We had made no excursion plans in this town, but I'd researched a trail just outside of town that sounded like it would be perfect. We and 2 others grabbed a taxi to the trailhead of Deer Mountain. The sunny weather and temperature was perfect! As we climbed and gained the elevation we were surrounded by enormous trees covered in moss, large ferns, and dense under-growth. The forest was beautiful, dappled in sun light. Ravens called curious 'water-droplet' calls among other hauntingly beautiful calls echoing through the under story.

The views at the overlooks were well worth the elevation gain, We saw sea planes and bald eagles flying below our position. We only saw less than a dozen people. After the amount of humanity on the cruise ship and in town, it was very nice to be away from the crowds surrounded by nature.



Back in town we split ways from our friends and met up with Songbirds' parents for some lunch and a stroll around town for some light shopping. This town wouldn't exist as it is without the tourists, it would be a salmon fishery and not much else, however, with the amount of cruisers that come here, everything is affected. Of course there were tourist "traps" like the lumberjack show and Dolly's house of prostitution, but both looked like a fun way to pass the time, the shopping district around the creek had local artisans as well as the typical t-shirt shop found where ever cruises stop. Soon enough it was time to get back on the boat with our prizes (a couple unique local artisanal pieces).


Juneau

The following morning we found ourselves mooring at the shores of  a State Capital. A capital that cannot be driven to! This day we did have an excursion waiting, so we had no time to explore the town. We got off the boat and onto a bus that delivered us a mile away to a dock and our float planes flotilla!


We did the Taku Lodge excursion, in which we flew over 5 glaciers on our way up river to a lodge where we would have a fresh salmon bake with the opportunity to hike around the property. The flight up was amazing! Songbird scored the copilot seat, so she got the royal view! Alaska must be seen from the air! The glaciers are so large and winding away into the distance, even at 3000 feet.


Once landed at the lodge we were greeted by mosquitoes and bears. The "real" Alaska! As the salmon is being baked, there are a couple resident black bears that roam the grounds waiting for a chance to get the drippings. While they are wild animals, they are also well fed and very used to people, it's part of the package. There's a few employee's waiting around with long sticks to stop the bears and they place themselves between the guests and the bears. After the salmon is taken off the bears disappear, probably to wait on the next tour group. The food was delicious! And after the meal we walked around the property, viewing some moss covered trees, a glacier across the way, and some cliffs in the back of the location.



After a few hours we boarded our float planes and had the wonderful re-experience of flying back to Juneau over the glaciers, rivers, and mountains once again. We landed with just enough time to walk back to the cruise ship and meet up with some friends coming from their canoeing adventure.

That evening the ship cruised slowly past many glaciers, at one point going up a dead end and spinning so everyone could get a magnificent view. I am very glad we had a balcony!


The sheer size of everything, and the amount of miles we went still surrounded by the Tongass National Forest, was hard to grasp.

Skagway

The following day Songbird, Anthony, Liz, Katie, Graham, and myself had a long hiking excursion up to Laughton Glacier. We met our guide, Ruth, right off the ship and we walked a mile through town to get to a train station. We rode on the train with our other guides Wyatt and ***(space cadet). The train stops, apparently in the middle of nowhere, at Laughton Glacier trailhead. From there we began a 4 mile hike to the glacier. The trail beagn nice and soft, with little grade and many beautiful features to distract - little streams winding away, meadows of flowers, mossy and fern filled glades. We stayed up front with Wyatt chatting with him and Amy (another hiker). Until what seemed like no time at all, we arrived at a places where the trail had an overlook up the glacial valley and where the nature of the trail changed drastically.

Rather than soft treadway, the path became rocky and steep, leaving the river valley and following a receding glacier. Every step up the land changed, the plants smaller, the dirt thinner; we reached an area where there were no plants at all yet growing. Ahead and up still a dirty mound of ice and rock, glacial moraine, waited. We picked our way up and then out onto the ice. We donned our micro-spikes and kept going another half mile. Here we took a break and ate lunch, drinking glacial water straight from the stream. The immensity and the breathtaking vistas all around us was a great treat to have with lunch! To move up almost through time, from the pine forest, to the alders, to the grasses and lichen, to the bare rock and on to the ice! Amazing!






The wall of mountain and ice at the head of the valley really became apparent when a helicopter flew over us and close to the mountain. It appeared to be a speck against the enormity of the mountain!

We said our good byes to the mountain and the glacier and hiked down, though I  could've stayed longer and explored more. On the way back we noticed a bear and been using the trail as a bathroom.. a lot! We didn't see the ursa though. We made it back to the train stop, but the train was a bit late, and we were getting back into Skagway just in time to make it back on the ship. We were supposed to walk the mile back to the ship, but they provided a bus for us since we were cutting it extremely close - which worked out, because it started pouring down rain just then!



Back on the Boat
The following day was another day at sea, this is the day we celebrated Daniels birthday, roasted him, ate drank and were very merry! Also we dressed up and danced the night away.

Victoria BC

We had no plans for this stop, none of the excursions were very adventurous, so we walked off the boat and into downtown to see what we could see. Victoria is a nice town, cute small clean inner harbor, framed with a few artists selling their wares. Totem poles seemed to be in quite a few locations, including Chinatown, which was more like China-block sans Chinese, add totem poles, Scottish fiddlers, and Thai food - odd that. We ended our foray at a upscale bar called Canoe, which had good gravy fries and beer. Songbirds' dad didn't want to walk back across the city so he found a water taxi that docked right next to the restaurant, so we got a boat ride most of the way back to the cruise ship. All in all fun and relaxing day hanging out with loved ones!




Seattle Part Two

Back on the boat for one more evening. One more night of open bar, too much food, and a nice watery view from our balcony. We docked in Seattle and took our time to leave the ship, letting the lines dry up. We walked a block down from the terminal and got an Uber to our hotel by the airport to drop off our bags.
We got an Uber back in town to go to REI, Feathered Friends, and walk back down to see some family friends by Pike's Market. We headed back to the hotel later in the afternoon and concluded our tip the next morning with a flight home.

I liked the trip! The excursions were definitely exactly what I wanted to be doing, possibly a bit more intense - however I understand that they must be at a level most cruisers can enjoy. I would've liked if the time in ports were longer, Juneau and Skagway seemed like they would be fun towns to explore but the excursions were appropriately long and took all the time in port. I liked the cruising portion, in that we always had a view of mountains from our room, and that we woke up and were somewhere different with no effort. I loved Rainer and would like to go just there for a long time; in fact Songbird said she would hike the Wonderland Trail with me in its entirety as long as we can stay at the Muir Cabin before and after - easy!


Our good friend Katie's take on the Alaskan Adventure and a great blog to follow:

Part 1
Part 2