Jo’s Quantum Cafe

Map showing our Route.

Every couple of years, my husband, Richard, and I take a major vacation. In 2002, we chose to do Alaska. Because of the size and complexity of travel in the state, we went on a packaged tour, something neither of us normally do. We much prefer the freedom of exploring on our own without the constraint of someone else’s agenda and time limits.

Our tour package was booked by American Express through Holland America. We chose a land and sea 13 day package and left Orlando, Florida, at the end of August, 2002. This worked out to be a wonderful time to travel for us. Mosquito and tourist season were almost over (Alaska tourism closes down the 3rd week in Sept.), there were shopping bargains to be had, the weather was clear (except for one rainy day), the temperatures ranged between 45 and 60. We only used our winter parkas one day, then packed them away and dressed in layers.

August 31, 2002…
Richard and I began our Alaskan adventure by awaking this morning before the 4:15am alarm. Too excited to sleep, I guess. All the packing was done except for last minute items. The cab arrived at 4:45am and we got to the airport and through the check-in procedure without a hitch.

The biggest problem was the number of cases we were traveling with. Formal night on the ship meant a suit for Richard, dress shoes for both of us and extra stuff in the main case. Then there was a duffle bag for shoes and coats. We needed a personal bag for me as a carry-on, Richard’s laptop, the digital movie camera, and a roll-on bag for my digital and Advantix cameras and film.
Our flight left at 7am. It was a Continental 757 and had decent legroom for our first junket to Houston. The 757 is not a favorite. I find it very uncomfortable, although Continental did a good job on the interior. The Houston hop was a chocolate donut snack! At Houston we changed to a 737 for the non-stop flight to Vancouver. This was our first meal.

In Vancouver we went through Canadian customs, then US customs, then into a boarding rotation for the MS Zaandam. Once onboard, we stowed our carry-ons in our stateroom and went immediately for food. It was after 4pm and I all but inhaled the salad I chose. But dinner was at 6 and we didn’t want to over eat. Nice touch - our checked-in bags went straight from the plane to the ship so we didn’t have to worry about those. The coach ride from plane to ship was 45minutes.

The ship was half an hour late pulling out. We were on deck for this event, then went below for dinner. We chose the early seating at 6pm because neither of us like eating late and then going to bed. We were the only ones at the table. We slept through the open water from Vancouver to the Inside Passage but when we awoke, we were surprised to find that we were still in open water. I learned later that there was a medical emergency which caused the ship to make an unscheduled stop.

Sept. 1…
Today, the open waters were choppy with swells from 1 to 4 feet. I was nauseous the rest of the morning, even with sea bands. My fault. I didn’t put them on soon enough. I went back to bed after breakfast and felt much better when I woke up for lunch.

The ship is fantastic. I’ve traveled the Norwegian lines, the Majesty of the Seas, and now the Holland America line and this is without doubt the best ship of all. The stateroom has a huge port window, a full bathroom, storage like you find on an RV, and a sitting area with sofa and table. When the beds are pushed together (end tables moved to either side) they make a king! There’s a vanity with 3 large drawers, and 3 closets, one with shelves. There’s even a privacy curtain to block out the light that leaks under the door. No, we didn’t go first class. These were the E cabins on deck 2. The accommodations and food (not overly rich or heavy) were great. As a matter of fact, I didn’t gain any weight the entire vacation.

As to the staff, they are all friendly and courteous, consisting primarily of Indonesians and Filipinos. One of our waiters came from the island of Bali.

Today we cruised the Inside Passage but neither Richard nor I were impressed with the scenery. We were too far away from the islands to see details and after awhile, they all looked the same. The one aspect of this area that did impress us was the cloud formations. We have beautiful skies in Florida but I’ve never seen rolling formations kissing the water as I did here.

Tonight was formal night. We met another couple who came to our table for dinner, but first we had the mandatory photos taken, met the captain (we learned he lives in Mt. Dora not far from us) attended the captain’s reception and then, after dinner, enjoyed a wonderful high-energy rock and roll song and dance show in the theater.

Sept. 2…
Today we made our first port, Juneau. Although this is the capitol of Alaska, there are only two ways to reach the city - by water or by air. There are no roads leading to Juneau. We left the ship around 1pm and first thing took the Mt. Roberts Tramway because the weather was accommodating. Did some shopping at the gift shop before coming back down. The tramway is at the halfway point up the mountain. There are hiking trails of various length so we took a mile hike. When we came back down, we walked up town away from the tourist district to the oldest Russian Orthodox church in Alaska.

The Mt. Roberts tramway was a 60 passenger cattle car ride that led to a spectacular view of the area. Halfway up the mountain, the tramway stops at a restaurant, gift shop, and theater where the car disembarks. In the theater we watched the movie, “Before the Sun” which told the mythological history of the Tlinget people (pronounced Klinget).

Sept. 3…
Tuesday. This morning we leave the Zaandam at Skagway and begin our land tour. The ship was wonderful and in the calm waters, thoroughly enjoyable. In some ways, I’m sorry to leave it. We slept through the Juneau to Skagway portion of the Inside Passage and, from the scenery here, it was probably the more scenic portion of the passage. We had to disembark the ship early and have our bags ready for pick-up by 6AM. I awoke early enough to watch the docking procedure from my stateroom window.

I like Skagway better than Juneau. Skagway is the only boom town built during gold rush days from San Francisco to Dawson City that didn’t burn down. It was not a gold town in itself but was the jumping off place for the stampeders of ‘98. After gold was discovered in the Yukon (Dawson City), and word spread, people literally stampeded for the gold fields in 1898, willing to face the hardships of the cold and the mountain passes to escape the depression that was plaguing the United States. People “back home” were literally dropping dead in the streets from hunger and times were very desperate.
Downtown Skagway is an historical park. The buildings are occupied by current businesses.

Since we hadn’t eaten breakfast, just a couple of food bars, I was ravenous by eleven and found the Sweet Tooth Cafe for the best hamburger I’d had in years.

At 3PM Richard and I caught the van ride to the heliport for our helicopter ride to the top of Schubee Glacier and the dog sled camp. In preparation, we were told to dress warmly and bring extra socks. We were almost over-dressed and didn’t need the socks. Also, something we weren’t told in advance, we were not permitted any bags whatsoever including fanny purses and backpacks. These were stowed in lockers at the heliport. Because we would fly over water, we had to put on life vests. Really! These, I was happy to learn, had pockets so I could bring along some items like the extra hat I brought (with warm ear flaps and glad I had it) and gloves. I didn’t need to bring my wallet. Things were safe at the port (the company was Temsco) but a wallet could have been stuffed in a pocket.

Before boarding the helicopter, we also had to pull on rubber boots over our shoes. I wore my snow boots and wished I hadn’t. The boots were way to large and floppy and hard to buckle over my boots. Sneakers would have been ample for this situation.

The scenery up to the glacier, though, was worth all the hassle. Richard suggested we wear our seabands and I am glad I took his advice. The ride up was bumpy. We hit a few air pockets.

At the camp we met our musher, a young woman, and 3 of us were assigned to 2 tandem sleds. The ride lasted longer than I had anticipated and stopped along the trail so we could switch positions - sitting in the sled to standing on the rails and handling the foot brake. After about an hour on the glacier - I lost all track of time - we boarded the helicopter for the return flight.

As wonderful as the day was in Skagway, the night was even better! We left a wake-up call in case the Northern Lights were visible but I never expected to see them. We went to bed early, 9PM, but had just started dozing off when the call came. Throwing on our clothes, we rushed outside with cameras and spent the next hour watching the skies. Richard had seen the lights years ago, but this was the first time I had ever seen them! I just wish the camera had done a better job of capturing them.

Sept. 4…
Wednesday - this morning we boarded the narrow gauge railway for the Whitehorse/Yukon Pass trip to Fraser, Canada. This was the best scenery so far. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. Our train guide said that the route is clear maybe 4 or 5 days each month during the summer and we were very fortunate indeed. I must have taken over 250 photos. None of them could do justice to the scenery.

On the train we passed along side the Trail of ‘98 which Stampeders traversed following the promise of gold. Once the Canadian government stepped in to control the Stampeders (those rushing for the mine fields of Dawson City), anyone attempting to cross the trail had to carry a year’s worth of provisions. This was equivalent to a ton of supplies. The trail began in Skagway and ended in Dawson City.

The Trail of ‘98 was also called “Dead Horse Trail.” To feed the hungry miners, drovers herded horses that were headed for the glue factory over the treacherous trail without feeding them. Hundreds died along the way.
We tried to visualize the rapids of the Yukon, now tamed by dams, in Miles Canyon. From Alaska, we crossed the Canadian border just before Fraser (which is in British Columbia) then at Carcross we crossed into the Yukon. Carcross was originally called Caribou Crossing but there were too many cities with that name so the town shortened it to Carcross.

Our stop for lunch was at Frontierland where we ate BBQ chicken and toured the wonderful animal museum with some of the best taxidermy work I had ever seen. Out front was a slab of jade (the state mineral) 10 feet high and 3 across.

After lunch we continued our bus journey to the town of Whitehorse. Queen Elizabeth II once spent time in this city, which is the largest in the Yukon. One of our afternoon stops was at Five Fingers Rapids. This area once had 5 islands that choked the river to raging rapids but one channel was widened for boat passage, reducing the ferocity of of the river.

Dinner in Whitehorse was on our own. Richard and I found a Chinese restaurant where the owner spoke halting English and didn’t know where Orlando, Florida was and wondered if it was in the United States. Before dinner, Richard and I walked along the banks of the Yukon and under a pass to the Klondike stern wheeler which is open for tours and being restored. This vehicle was used in the spring and summer to transport passengers and cargo to and from Dawson City.

After dinner, we saw The Frantic Follies, a vaudeville show, and heard the poetry of Robert Service.

September 5, 2002
This morning we ate breakfast at Tim Horton’s, a well known chain in Canada with a good reputation. Then it was back on the bus for the long ride to Dawson City. I know I have Five Fingers and Miles Canyon on the last page, but I think they were on the part of the trip from Whitehorse to Dawson City. Amazing how quickly it can all run together, even with keeping a journal. Oops. Yep. Five Fingers was definitely this part of the trip. Also, there was a stop at a cinebun pace where several of us on the tour purchased the largest cinebun I’ve ever seen. Richard and I were eating off it for several days. We would have liked to stop at more scenic spots, but we were on the bus’s schedule, not ours. Weather today was warm and cloudy. Mosquitos are gone but the noseeums are a pain.

This evening in Dawson City, Richard and I took a 3 mile hike along the river where the Yukon meets the Klondike. On the way in, we saw lots of tailings from the large gold dredges that tore up the landscape looking for gold. The use of these dredges was stopped in the 1960’s.
Dawson City is the capitol of the gold rush stampede of 1896. The United States was experiencing a depression greater than or equal to the Great Depression so when word of gold being found in the Yukon, people “stampeded” by the thousands for the gold fields. Of course, most of the good claims were already staked out by the time they arrived in 1898. Johnny Horton’s “North to Alaska” tells the story of this rush (although the piece was written for the John Wayne/Ernie Kovaks movie by the same name.
Dawson City retains much of the flavor of the era. None of the streets are paved. Front Street is restored to the colors that dominated the town during the gold rush era. Even the Westmark Hotel, a much more recent edition, has the flavor of the era.

Sept. 6, 2002
Last night was our first chance to look at email. I had 127 messages! Today we are taking a boat down the Yukon to Eagle, then across the border by bus to Tok (long O) by way of the gravel Taylor Highway. This highway eventually connects to the Alcan (Alaska Highway) and we will turn north again to Fairbanks.

First came a tour of Dawson City on the bus and then a drive to the top of the Dome for a spectacular view of the city and valley below. I definitely felt rushed. I could have spent much more time here enjoying the scenery.
After the bus tour, we boarded the Yukon Queen II for a 4 hour trip up the Yukon River to Eagle. The cruise was very relaxing. We got lunch on board and immediately boarded the bus after arriving at Eagle. We now had a new driver, Alan. The day was overcast and rainy for our drive along the Richardson and Taylor Highways to Tok and then Fairbanks. There was a stop across the border in Alaska at a place called “Chicken.” The town consisted of 5 buildings. According to legend, the town was called chicken because the rushers who established it found plenty of ptarmigan around for food but couldn’t spell the bird’s name. Ptarmigans look something like chickens.

September 7, 2002 - Saturday
Today we left Tok by bus up the Richardson Highway to the Alaska Highway and into Fairbanks. This is the farthest north we’ve come the entire trip and in our lifetime. We are very close to the Arctic Circle. I’m sorry that we didn’t get there.

Along the Richardson, we stopped at Rika’s, a roadhouse with a lot of history. It was built on the original Alaska highway, a gravel road built by 14,000 men, both civilian and military. It was built during WWII. The highway, called the Alcan, was completed in 1943 and spanned 1422 miles.

We saw several historic videos on the bus trips which were well done and covered the gold rush of 1896 and the building of the Alcan.

Today we also stopped by a pond and saw 2 moose, both female. One looked extremely pregnant. It’s hunting season so the animals are skittish.

Sunset is now after 10PM and sunrise after 7AM. The days are getting shorter. One phenomena of the area is the inability to tell east from west because the light is all around the horizon. As the sun rises or sets, it reflects off any clouds on the opposite horizon.

In Fairbanks, we toured Dredge #8 and saw how gold mining was conducted until the early 60’s when this type of mining was banned. Richard’s grandfather may have worked on the building of this dredge. It was made at the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Pennsylvania.

After the tour, we panned for salted gold. I found $4.27 and Richard found $10.25 in his sack. An assayer valued the flakes after we collected them. We had a group picture taken with all our cameras before leaving the dredge.

We ate a miner’s stew lunch here and then spent the night in Fairbanks. The next morning we visited the pipeline up close.

Sunday, September 8, 2002.
From Fairbanks, we headed south by train to Denali. The trip was 125 miles at a slow 15 mph most of the way. It took 4 hours. I thought that was great. It was a beautiful trip. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed all the train experiences best of all. You could walk around and Richard and I, aside from being able to talk with people, spent a lot of time on the platform between cars photographing the scenery.

The car was a double decker with assigned seating. The lower deck was the dining car. For us, it was breakfast. The first part of the trip was called the snooze zone but I thought there were still things to see. We spent the time talking with the folks across from or seated by us.

The train arrived in Denali, the end of the line for us. The train went on to Anchorage but we wouldn’t be on it for two days. We were met by bus that took us the 4 miles to the McKinnley Chalet. We were able to immediately get into our room which was something of a suite - bedroom and separate living area with sofa, table and 2 chairs. We changed clothing to layers, grabbed the cameras, and headed for the tan school bus for the Denali winderness trek - 53 miles over paved and gravel road to a turnaround point. We saw grizzly bear, ground squirrel, coyote, caribou, Dall sheep, golden eagle. We drove through majestic mountains, glacial terrain with potholes and moraines, forests of aspen and spruce, both white and black, high tundra, polychrome mountains and spectacular vistas. They served a snack on board the bus and hot chocolate at the turnaround.

Monday, September 9, 2002:
Today we woke late - 7:30AM. It was so nice not to have to pack for a bus! We had the day to ourselves.
Breakfast was a buffet. It was pretty bad. Alaska, in general, at least on this tour, was not a great place for healthy foods but Denali was the worst we’d run into. However, we weren’t there for the food.

After breakfast, we took a bus to the Visitor’s Center and hiked 3.5 miles to Horseshoe Lake in the rain. It was great! We saw a beaver dam and deer trails. We ate lunch at a recommended sub stand but didn’t finish our pastrami and Swiss sandwiches which were spicy and salty. In the afternoon, we did a bit more of the tourist stuff - shopping, then went back to the room for a nap. For dinner, we ran into another couple from our tour, Ruth and Gerry, and had pizza with them.

In the early afternoon, after our nap, we decided to take another stroll from the chalet down to the river. We ran into Ruth and Gerry who also decided on a stroll.

Tuesday, September 10, 2002:
Today was a travel day. Again it was up very early, have our bags packed and out the door by 7AM and be on the train by 8AM. Our trip to Anchorage was 8 hours by train - 225 miles. The scenery was incredible, the vegetation changing from gold and red to brown and green. We saw another bear! We ate two meals on the train, lunch and dinner, and reached the Hilton around 8:30pm. On the train I was able to show some of the photos I’d taken with the digital camera. We dumped the photos to the laptop and ran a small slideshow.

Wednesday, September 11, 2002:
One year ago today the world was in shock and mourning. We spent the anniversary of that infamous date in Anchorage. Although I am saddened by last year’s events, I am selfishly not dwelling on those thoughts. Many reminders are scheduled to televise today but as is our policy when we travel, we are avoiding TV. All the flags in Anchorage are at half staff. There was also a parade in the morning which we missed.

This morning we are enjoying Anchorage. We are meeting Ruth and Gerry for brunch at 10AM, then catching a bus for a 7 hour tour which includes 3 hours at Portage Glacier.

I like Anchorage. We were very rushed today because of the tour but Richard and I did get a couple of hours to walk around before meeting Ruth and Gerry for breakfast.

Brunch was at Blondies. Ruth and I had pancake sandwiches - 2 buttermilk pancakes, egg beaters, and 2 strips of bacon. The eggs and bacon were wrapped in the pancakes. From breakfast, we all went back to our rooms to get ready for the tour. I dumped one of my carry-on bags on the bed to stuff it with extra hats, gloves, windbreakers and food. Then we went down to the lobby to wait for our tour bus.

The first stop on the tour was the Aleyska Lodge ski resort. Richard and I, Ruth and Gerry took the tram to the top of the mountain. This ski slope is rated a number 4. It’s called a black diamond slope. It’s almost straight down hill all the way and is considered one of the toughest in the world. At the top, we bought a box lunch to go so we could eat part of it on the bus. The tram and view lasted an hour, then it was back on the bus to the Visitor’s Center at Portage Lake. On the way we passed Cook’s Inlet, which has the same effect as the Bay of Fundy but is not quite as drastic a rise and fall of tide.

At Portage Glacier Visitor’s Center, we briefly looked around, then Ruth and I walked up to the gift shop and bought postcards. Back at the Center, we boarded the Ptarmigan for an hour cruise on the lake to the glacier face. Our guide told us it was almost a mile and a half wide, 4 miles long, and 100 feet high where it was visible (another 200 feet were below the water level).

It was drizzling and overcast which, we were told, was excellent viewing for the glacier. It allowed us to see the blue in the glacier, and all the crags, which we would not see in bright sunlight. Calves floated past the boat. The winds on top were cold so we stayed below until we got close to the glacier. Then the boat slowed and we all went out on top to see Portage up close.

Deep crevices marked the lake ward face. Moraines hugged its sides. An occasional ice hole was visible. Black ash embedded in the ice marked the base of gray and blue pinnacles. Richard saw a calving. I heard the cannon blast and felt the rumble.

Back at the hotel I began packing when Gerry called to see if we would like to have dinner with them. We found a wonderful Japanese restaurant recommended by the hotel. Then it was off to bed and our flight home the next morning.