Time to start the sea portion of our trip! The bad news is the cruise terminal is two hours from Anchorage, but the good news is that we travelled there by train. My dad was thrilled about the train ride -- it was like Christmas morning for him.
Dad in front of a train -- what could make him happier?
The train ride was awesome! We had seats this time instead of tables, and we followed the shore, which is a long stretch of quicksand instead of a sandy beach.
The muddy beach
Thirty minutes into the ride, someone spotted some Dall sheep clambering up a cliff, and the entire train grinded to a halt so we could see them. It was pretty fantastic to see them up close. We also saw some eagles soaring above the water, and into the trees.
But the best part was the scenery. We’d been inland for the past week, and used to seeing pretty lakes, creeks and rivers. Now we travelled along the coast, along ocean water, and towering above it, huge snow-capped mountains.
Have I mentioned that Alaska is beautiful?We’d spent the last seven days sweating, and this was the first time I really felt like I was in Alaska proper. The weather was still gorgeous and sunny, but the snow and glaciers made it feel more…well, Arctic!
I scanned the scenery closely, taking in the mountains, water and wildflowers dominating the landscape. I searched and searched, but never saw a bear. :-(
This pic would be better with a BEAR in it!
We made a quick stop at a tiny little town, then went four miles deep into a tunnel. When we came out, we all screamed with delight -- we were up close (or, closer than we'd been yet) to a giant glacier!
Glacier -- a frozen river "flowing" down the mountain
Zooming in on the glacierSuddenly the naturalist announced Whittier, and called for all cruise passengers to disembark. There was a frenzy as we gathered our belongings and climbed off the train.
There was a strong wind blowing as we got off, but it was a warm wind. Seems the hot inland weather had followed us to the coast! Our giddy group gathered for a shot next to the Alaska Railroad car, and then headed for the ship.
The Coral Princess sat in the harbor, shiny and beautiful. It was a smaller ship, but inviting. We couldn’t wait to get aboard.
We rushed through embarkation, and before long, were in line for lunch. The dining room wasn’t open yet, so we headed for the buffet, which besides having pretty good food, also had a nice view.
The afternoon was spent exploring the ship, running all over the place, trying to figure out which side was port and which side was starboard. Just as we finally agreed (port was the side with the even-numbered rooms), someone mentioned bow and aft. Who knew sides of the boat had so many names!
Hello, Mr. Sea LionI registered Mark for the onboard kid’s club -- he was thrilled to see video games, and I was thrilled to see a schedule that noted activities other than just video gaming. We also found the Ice Cream Bar, and though we’d just finished lunch, we couldn’t resist a cup of softserve.
Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We headed down to the dining room, and met our super sweet server, Esther. She immediately took to Mark, and was surprised to hear he preferred the grown-up menu instead of the kid’s menu. (Lucky for me, he’s got a sophisticated palette for a 9-year-old -- when he actually agrees to eat.)
After dinner was the obligatory muster drill, where we found our stations and modeled our life jackets. Mark thought that was hilarious, but Kathleen later stated that if the boat did go down, there was no way she was jumping into that cold, glacial water. “I’m heading toward the nearest bar instead,” she told me. "I'm staying there until the life boats are ready."
It had been quite an eventful day, so we headed off to an early night. We were heading toward the College Fjords early the next morning, and I didn’t want to miss a minute of it.
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