July 12
Ketchikan was our last Alaskan port, by plane, train, boat, bus or car. I was sad to leave the city because it also meant leaving my new favorite state.
Sunday was a sea day, and of course, Princess offered lots of ways to spend our money. I returned to my room after breakfast to do a little packing. I hadn't allotted much time to this -- how hard could it be to stuff all those dirty clothes back into the suitcase? -- but it turned out to be more work than I'd planned.
Our whole group attended a cooking demo, followed by a galley tour. The galley tour was pretty cool -- the ship has 2000 staff members, half of whom work in food service (cooking or serving). There are seven galleys on board, which I found amazing after touring just one!
The galley was HUGE. There was an escalator (!) right past the entry, which took us down to the main galley. We passed a bar, the pastry area and the area where they cook up 60 gallons of pasta sauce at a time in huge cauldrons. We passed the dishwashing section filled with hoses and bathtub-sized sinks. We saw staff chopping pounds and pounds of vegetables, and then walked by all the different freezers. Some were for raw food, some for prepared food, some for meat and some for fish.
We saw the big fry daddys, and the grills. We also saw three cooks trying to tie a gigantic fish (must've been 50 pounds) to a giant ice sculpture. Even the kitchen staff stopped working to watch that! It was quite a show, as they wrestled the slippery fish and tried to wedge it between an ice wave and cloud.
Lastly, we walked past the refrigerators full of prepared appetizers for the day's lunch and dinner services. I left with a new found respect for the staff -- you could tell that it was hard work in a confined space there, and that you spent your day toiling over really hot pots and pans (cooking with them or cleaning them), or preparing food in really cold refrigerated areas.
Kathleen, Edra, Monica and I stopped by the casino to check out the slots tournament. I'd planned to participate during the afternoon, after I dropped Mark off at the kid's program. But the lady convinced me it would only take five minutes, and it seemed more fun to play with my friends than gamble alone. Mark was thrilled to spend a couple minutes with his Gameboy.
We ate lunch at the buffet, which was not usually newsworthy, except that today the pastry staff had gone crazy. They had a dessert buffet, with the most beautiful and delicate pastries and cakes you could imagine. They'd also carved sculptures out of fruit, and a giant bear out of ice, so it was definitely worth seeing. And to make things even better, they spotted a humpback whale just off the bow while we were chowing down our sugary confections.
After lunch, Mark went off to kid's club. We returned to the casino, hoping to be finalists or at least the wild card in the slots tournament, but apparently, our luck had run dry. (Of course, after our two weeks of good fortune, I had no complaints!)
My mom and the girls went off to tea, but I was still full from dessert -- er, I mean, my healthy lunch. So I spent a little more time on deck, enjoying the scenery, then returned to the room to finish packing. It took me a while, because I was distracted by the scenery, and eventually ended up out on the balcony just staring at the beautiful mountains and forests as we sailed by. (And if you ever wondered if a balcony is worth the extra money on an Alaskan cruise, the answer is YES!)
I picked up Mark and we all enjoyed one last group dinner together. Mark returned to Kid's Club, and we all went to the night's entertainment show. I only went because my parents had seen comedian a few nights earlier and raved about him -- otherwise, I'd have skipped it. The comedian was hilarious, and I couldn't stop laughing.
Falling asleep that night was really a bit depressing. I loved Alaska, and I was sad to wake up early, in another country. Vancouver seemed nice enough, and it would've been nice to spend some time in that city as well, but I was kinda tired and ready to go home.
All in all, I have to say this was one of the best vacations ever. I'm glad we did both the land and cruise tours, because seeing interior Alaska was amazing -- I'd go back to Denali in a heartbeat. I will miss not waking up to glaciers and whales off the ship's side, and I will miss the fresh air and all the beautiful trees. I will miss the eagles flying overhead, and moose along the roads. And even though we kinda sorta saw a bear on a faraway island, I will miss scouring the shores and paths in search of them. (I was both disappointed and relieved not to have had a close encounter with a bear.)
I will miss the nightly group dinners with all my friends, and not cooking a single meal in two weeks (I scorched my first meal the day after I returned home -- a grilled cheese sandwich!). I will miss being relaxed and busy doing fun stuff instead of going to work. I will miss spending so much play time with my friends, my son, and my parents.
Oh, and I will miss the cookie guy rolling his cart through the ship every afternoon!
But I won't miss it all too much, because it's still there, emblazoned into my head and heart (and even in my camera --1500 photos worth!). Alaska has touched me in a profound way, and I feel like a changed person because of it.
So today I may end my physical journey to Alaska, but I have a feeling I'll be revisiting this trip (in my head, at least) for a very, very long time.
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