August 29, 2012 · 12:00 am

Mount Roberts Tramway — Juneau


We reached Juneau and the fabulous weather of Ketchikan held.  Ursula and I have been to Juneau many times, but never have we made it up the Mount Roberts Tramway, and with good reason—I hate heights.  Alas, this time Ursula would not be denied.

And so it was with heart pounding, palms sweating, and knees shaking that I stepped aboard the tram at the foot of Mount Roberts.  Well, that’s an exaggeration.  Just barely.

Was the trip worth the sweats?  Yep.  Reaching the top, we took a hike into the surrounding area.  Tall peaks and green meadows were in evidence everywhere.  And then there were those stunning views of Juneau and the snow-topped mountains beyond.

Yeah . . . I’d do it again.  And here’s why:

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August 27, 2012 · 5:45 am

Steamboat Tour — Juneau


Did you know that Juneau has a steamboat tour?  If you saw that, what kind of vessel would you expect?

Ursula and I would thinking along the lines of a paddle wheeler.  Boy, were we in for a shock.  The engine has three cylinders and generates a whopping ten horsepower.  The chugging noise that it makes is charming, but I couldn’t help but glance every now and again at the pressure gauge attached to the boiler just feet away from me.  And once again we dodged float planes at regular intervals.

Nevertheless, it was an experience I would heartily recommend for everyone.  Not only is the crew dressed in period costume, the tour guide was very knowledgeable and imparted a lot of fun historical anecdotes about Juneau and the gold rush days.

Here’s a taste of that tour:

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August 24, 2012 · 12:00 am

Having a Whale of a Time on the Water


I don’t usually blog about cruise legs between destinations.  But this leg was rather special.  The setting sun played magnificently upon the calm, reflective waters.  The beautiful Sea Princess rode beyond our stern, catching the golden rays that filtered between the clouds.

And, oh, yeah . . . I nearly forgot to mention the whales.  Humpbacks gave quite a show for nearly half an hour, blowing spray in the distance and occasionally venturing nearby.

Unfortunately, the whales were beyond the useable range of the Canon G1 X lens.  I had to resort to my trusty Panasonic ZS6, but the diminishing light meant upping the ISO to where digital noise became all too apparent.  That means cropping the images was simply out of the question.

Nevertheless, snapping photographs of whales is still fun to do no matter what the limitations.

Make sure to stop by next week, because this cruise is only just getting started.  There’ll be a lot more to see in upcoming installments.

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