A day in Ketchikan
As I start writing this, it’s 03:15 am and the Coral Princess is in Stephens Passage, 44 nautical miles south of Juneau at the mouth of Tracy and Endicott Arms. Sunday was so busy that I didn’t have anything to eat until after my second presentation, which ended at...
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Working as ship naturalist on the Coral Princess to Alaska
It’s Day 2 of my first Princess cruise to Alaska, and my first job as ship naturalist. I was up early this morning as always, and the Horizon Court was the source of coffee to get it started and to greet the sun just after 05:00. As I start...
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Ear Lake – a Whitehorse gem lost
There used to be a little gem of a lake on the outskirts of Whitehorse. Easily accessible, Ear Lake had been a popular destination for almost 100 years – even poet Robert Service used to go there, and in a 1905 poem about the future of Whitehorse, he envisioned...
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Race Cars & Dream Cars
Today was a funny day, a sign of something no doubt, but I’m not going to try to figure out what, just in case the answer depresses me 🙂 At the edge of the Mary Lake subdivision where we live is an abandoned stock car track. A honest-to-gawd good-ole’-boy...
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Exploring Yukon History: Windy Arm
A couple of days ago, history-hunter Michael Gates called me to ask permission to use a couple of photos I took of a Klondike-era grave in a presentation. That spurred the thought that I should update my photos, as my last visit to the site was in 2003 –...
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Summer projects – hot tub fill & greenhouse move
There’s a very long “to-do” list hanging on the fridge, and only 3 weeks until I head out of town again. The weather is mostly sunny and warm, so I’m not inclined to work on inside projects. The first outside job the take care of was simple – clean...
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Trains, ships, bears… and angels
I had to go to Skagway again yesterday – oh gee darn, one more day avoiding reality 🙂 We actually had a very good reason to go this time – the in-floor heating system I ordered for the kitchen reno was sitting at the Skagway post office. Even though...
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Victoria, Vancouver and back home
Our Alaska cruise vacation is over – we got home a few hours ago, just after midnight. Spending 11 days on the Celebrity Infinity now ranks as our best cruise yet – a great itinerary and excellent service, with incredible weather. The surprise bonus was the people that we...
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A rough night at sea
Last night was the roughest ride we’ve ever had at sea. I really love storms at sea – I find the whole experience to be very invigorating – but I know that many people are much less enthusiastic about it! Yesterday morning at 06:05 from the aft of Deck...
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A visit to Sitka, with a great marine wildlife tour
Yesterday was our ship’s day in Sitka, our favourite port. It was unfortunately a very short visit, from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm – we’d love to spend 12 hours there (or a week!). I awoke to fog and a light rain, with the Zaandam off to starboard. This...
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