Victoria, B.C.

 We stepped foot in Canada today. This is the reason we needed a passport! We landed in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, about 10:30. We will sail away 12 hours later. This way folks have a long time to experience this "British" city in North America. Of course there is a dash of Haida in the mix. 

As well as Chinese. Victoria has the oldest China town in Canada, and the second oldest in North America. San Francisco has the oldest China town. 

On our city tour we stopped at Craigdarroch Castle built by coal baron, Robert Dunsmuir in 1890. The castle is a magnificent example of Victorian architecture, all 25,572 sq. feet of it.

We walked through 4 stories of rooms showcasing stained glass, carved woodwork and fancy furniture. The house boasted hot and cold running water for indoor plumbing,

 gas and electric lighting, central heating, telephones and a burglar alarm system. It was opulent, but in 1880, Mr. Dunsmuir had a fortune estimated to be worth 15-20 million dollars. 

               

Don't you love the wasp-waist dress!

From the castle we went to a lookout mountain. Victoria is in a beautiful setting...water, mountains and today we had blue skies and gentle breezes. It was clear enough to see Mt. Baker in Washington. The mountain looms over the Olympic range. 

We returned to the inner harbor area and viewed the wonderful old Empress Hotel. Many years ago we went there for high tea. Strangely, high tea at The Empress is still being served, as it was one of the shorex choices. The Empress is one of the fine old railway hotels built in Canada in the early 1900s. Other hotels of this era can be found in Banff, Lake Louise and Toronto. They don't built hotels like this any more. 

We also passed the House of Parliament, as Victoria is the capital of British Columbia. 

We had a good day.

Glacier Bay National Park

We slowly sailed around Glacier Bay National Park and enjoyed unparalleled scenery. The hand of man has not invaded this small corner of Alaska. Sadly we had a cold, drippy, almost gloomy day to see the spectacular glaciers receding in the park. Nevertheless, it was breath-taking. Every so often we would hear a loud cr-a-a-a-ck! and a chunk of the glacier would calve off. An amazing day!

The glacier is dirty because it is receding. There's no natural action to keep it clean. 

The glacier is blue because the ice is so compressed it cannot refract red light. 

Mini trains and Gardens

The glass blowing took place at Jewell Gardens in Skagway. The gardens started during the Klondike gold rush by a farmer from Wisconsin. He saw that the miners were in need of fresh fruit as scurvy was rampant. Instead of going to the gold fields, he put together a garden plot and planted lots and lots of rhubarb, which is easy to grow and full of vitamins. He made sure the miners had fresh stalks of rhubarb in their supply kits to stay healthy. Since the sun shines 15-18 hours a day in the summer, the rhubarb grew quickly and the leaves were 18-20 inches across! As you know the leaves are poisonous, but the sturdy stalks are not. Our farmer was able to feed the miners making him more gold than if he had gone to the fields. 

Today the same farm is growing vegetables and flowers. The centerpiece of the garden is a model of the White Horse and Yukon Narrow Guage Railroad complete with mini-villages, waterfalls, trestles and mountains. 

Then there are the flowers...columbines, poppies,

 huge vegetables, like this cabbage that was 20+ inches across

                               

and the super tall tulips with 4 inch blooms. 

Some things grow very big in the Alaska summer. 

To give you an idea about the sunlight, I took the next picture at 10:45 PM. 

Skagway

We had perfect weather in Skagway, but it is in the "banana belt" of panhandle Alaska. Skagway has less than 20 inches of rain a year!

Its a small town, most famous for the White Horse and Yukon Narrow Gauge Rail. The last time we were here, we took the train, this time we did something different. I went glass blowing! What a kick! I made a globe which will be sent to me after it cools. We worked with a master blower who led us 

Through the process step by step. He did the really hard parts, but we all had a chance to gather glass, shape it, blow it and finish it off. 

Then came a surprise. We had about 20 extra minutes and the master created a fluted bowl. We saw the process from the beginning. It started out looking the same, but he took a tweezer-type device that opened the neck of the globe, he shaped it using wet newspaper, then he put it in the glory hole and

Spun it upside down to create ripples. 

And before we could say another word, it was finished. 

The minute he said he would sell it, I said sold! It too will be sent to me after it cools. 

The day ended with a really fancy dinner at the Crown Steak House. It was a lovely day. 

Juneau

Today we visited the capital of the 50th state, Juneau is the only US capital that you cannot drive to. You have to get here by ship or plane. All cars have been transported here, as there are no roads to this part of panhandle Alaska. 

We were here about 5 years ago and we were surprised at the progress (i.e.: change) that has been made in that short time. The town is quite modern now with lots of "stuff" to keep the average tourist occupied. The gold might be gone, and the tourist has taken it's place. 

We tried to avoid the usual tourist traps and took the Mt, Roberts Tram to the top of the mountain. The view was wonderful. 

The Star Princess was one of 5 big ships in town today. The others were the Statendam, Amsterdam, Crown Princess and Grand Princess. Thus, there were about 10,000 extra folks in town today. There were only 3 big ships in Ketchikan yesterday. 

We saw a captive bald eagle, named Lady Baltimore, on Mt, Roberts. Someone shot the bird in the wing and eye. She was brought back to health, but sadly she cannot fly anymore. She's still a beautiful bird. 

And very proud. 

The forest supports over 1100 pairs of these magnificent birds. We also saw a few flying high amid the clouds. Bald eagles are always a treat to see. 

This is the Star Primcess in Juneau harbor. 

Ketchican

Yesterday we were in Ketchican, established in 1902. Ketchican is an island that gets about 12 feet of rain per year. Therefore it rains most every day, summer, winter spring or fall. Needless to say, it rained while we were there too. 

Ketchican is at the edge of the Tongass National Forest, a temperant rain forest. There are only two main streets on the island, for less than 40 miles of paved roads. There are no paved roads into the forest. The terrain is hilly and the tides are high, so everything is built in pilings. 

Some of the streets are stairs. Our guide said the longest stair street had over 250 steps. 

A "typical" street looks like the following. 

This is Alaska, so there are lots of small float planes and boats. 

The boats come from all over. I saw a boat from USVI, another from Arkansas. Those are long voyages from Alaska.

Guess What?

Yep...we are back on a cruise ship! This time we are taking a short 11 day cruise to Alaska on the Star Princess. We are joined by our niece and nephew and their families. They are "first time cruisers," so all is new to them. I have no idea what number this cruise is for us, but it's our third cruise this year! 

We sailed out of San Francisco, under the Golden Gate Bridge

when the captain announced on the PA that we were going back to SF due to a medical emergency. We headed back to SF,  and this time we went under the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges when we slowed down ever so briefly at Treasure Island before sailing out again. (I guess it does not take long to transfer someone from ship to shore as we did not stop!) We've never been on a cruise where there has been a medical emergency where we had to sail back to the home port. All of us have been curious as to what happened, but I don't think we will ever know. 

Part of the way we were escorted by the US Coast Guard and the usual regatta of small sailboats on the Bay. 

As expected, the seas are rough and the weather is cool and cloudy. That does not seem to stop the folks from soaking in a warm relaxing hot tub. Not too many folks are sunning themselves as it's just too cold. I wonder what the temps will be when we hit Alaska? We brought warm clothes. 

Watch this space for pictures which will come soon. 

Of Henbane and Fleabane

Two more flowers popped out today. I believe this is a henbane based on it's color, leaf

and petal shape. The flowers are a shade lighter than the leaves and have intricate purple veins. They are not showy. According to "The Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers" it is an introduced species from Europe. It grows in rocky locations where water runs off. I found it in some if the rockiest soil you can imagine. By the way, henbane is poisonous, as it contains atropine. 

I believe this is a fleabane, which is in the aster family. My book, "Plants of the Rocky Mointains" lists many fleabanes, asters and thistles. This could be an "Easter Daisy" or a "cut-leaved fleabane." 

On a similar note, my pansies are blooming. The deer ate most of the petunias last year, so I thought I'd try another variety,,,,and pansies won. I wonder how long it will take for the deer to find them. 

Lilacs

It's still spring in the Rockies. The lilacs are in bloom. A few trees still have blossoms on them. The wildflowers are still hiding in the understory. I see lupine plants, but not a bud in sight. Same with flax and wild rose. They should come soon. 

Modern Dad

About a month ago we were in Kagoshima, Japan. This young father caught my eye. 

Is he the modern Japanese dad? He's walking in the rain (in sandals no less), with his baby resting on his tummy, protected by an umbrella, while texting. 

Godzilla

I saw Godzilla this weekend. Guess what? The huge critter destroyed San Francisco! There were holes in the plot, the timeline was weird, the monsters weren't scary, and yet I had my eyes glued to the screen waiting for the scary to happen.

When I came home, I checked  Netflix to see if it had any Godzilla movies. I picked Return of Godzilla from 1955. It was just plain bad! So bad that it was funny. The monsters looked like plastic figures fighting on diorama of a city. 

I vaguely remember seeing Godzilla when I was very young and it scared me a lot. Today, it was funny. Generally speaking, I don't like monster movies, but if you want a fun monster movie, see the new Godzilla. Despite the holes in the story, it showcases some good CG and don't forget...the monster will return.