LOVE AFFAIR WITH ALASKA: Part 9

I last blogged about my love affair with Alaska way back in February! (See blog post LOVE AFFAIR WITH ALASKA: Part 8.) Leaving Fairbanks on our way to Anchorage, we flew over Mt. McKinley. We'd admired McKinley's 20,320 feet from ground level a few days earlier, but it appeared even more immense from the air. The picture below was taken through a really dirty window with fog closing in. We were flying at 30,000 feet. Remember to click, even double-click, on the pictures for more detail.


After landing in Anchorage, we boarded a bus and traveled to Seward to catch our cruise ship. The drive was gorgeous. Even though the following three pictures were taken from a moving bus through unclean and smudged windows along a two-lane highway in the rain, I didn't mind the drive at all.




We pulled into Seward in pouring rain,



turned the corner, and saw for the first time (drum roll here) . . .



. . . our ship, the Celebrity Millenium! Built in France in 2000, she weighs 91,000 tons, has a passenger capacity of 2,449, and is 11 stories tall, not counting what we couldn't see below Deck One. That's a lotta ship! Eighty percent of the 975 staterooms have ocean views.


Although small, it had all the necessities we needed. I took many pictures through the stateroom window.


The tiny bathroom above had sufficient storage space and a good supply of that all-important item, toilet paper. The toilet is to the right, the shower to the left. Behind me is a huge closet. We unpacked quickly and took off to explore the ship and find Ron's brother Bob and his wife Nita. Below is a view of Seward from one of the decks.



We almost always ate breakfast and lunch in this cafeteria. Meals usually lasted longer than they would have at home because we could feast and watch ever-changing scenery, relax, not worry about meetings, doctor appointments, etc. And being with Nita and Bob made it even more special.



The ceiling in the cafeteria was comprised of mirrored panels. I couldn't resist taking this distorted picture of the ceiling. Note camera in my hand.


After catching up with Bob and Nita, we continued to explore the ship, stopping on each deck to snap more pictures.


Although it was still daylight, we went to bed at 11:00 p.m. Tomorrow promised to be a busy day.

LOVE AFFAIR WITH ALASKA: Part 7

My previous post, LOVE AFFAIR WITH ALASKA: Part 6, contained mostly pictures of moose, caribou, grizzly bear, and Dall sheep. Some people on the tour bus saw a snowshoe hare, porcupine, and a wolf. I didn't because I was on the other side of the bus. Guess I could have climbed over other equally excited tourists, but the thought of being on the top of a human mountain did not appeal, especially when the bus seemed to be tilting enough without my 125 pounds added to the pile. Hubby Ron managed to see the porcupine and the wolf (which looked like a fox to him).


Taking a photo of a golden eagle in flight (above) through the dirty window of a moving bus isn't exactly a piece of cake, but this is one of the two non-blurry shots that came out. Remember to click on picture to enlarge. Golden eagles, who usually mate for life, eat rabbits, squirrels, mice, marmots, other birds, and sometimes even young Dall sheep. Females are larger than males. Dark brown with a wing span of 72.8 inches to 86.6 inches, they range in length from 27 1/2 to 33 inches in length. Folks, that's a lot of bird. I thought they were beautiful, but not as regal as the bald eagles we have in Virginia.

Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali by Alaskans, is 20,320 feet tall, the tallest mountain in North America. Only 30% of the tourists visiting Denali National Park see it because of the weather. In a single day, one can experience sun, wind, rain, clouds, and rain. Two days out of three, the peak is covered with clouds. Conditions change in an instant, but we were lucky.

Mt. McKinley above and below.

Mt. McKinley, white behind the dark mountain range.
See how it towers over the other mountain and the cloud.

I could write a dozen blogs about Denali National Park and Preserve, but I bet y'all would get sick of hearing about it. If you're curious and want to learn more, check out this website.

From Denali, we traveled to Fairbanks and visited the Alaskan Pipeline.

Pipeline Visitors Center

Hubby Ron standing by a cross section of pipeline.

Lengthier view of pipeline, which is 800 miles long.

Loved this sign! Click on picture to enlarge.

Me at the entrance to one of Fairbanks' many museums.

Sculpture in downtown Fairbanks.