These are my expanded notes on my cruise to Alaska, including parts of the day before and after the cruise proper visiting my brother Peter and his family. As review, you can see the route and itinerary for the cruise on the Norwegian Star. You can follow the Norwegian Star on the route we took by looking at the Star's webcam.

Traditionally, the class agents of each of Punahou's graduated classes plan a retreat or something special for that class's 60th birthday year. My class had a Hawaiian Islands cruise in 2004. Simone, Woody, and the others found that a Hawaii cruise bested an Alaska cruise, but by very little, so they collectively tested the water for an Alaska cruise over a year ago: "If you have one, they will come," and we did - about 70 of us. Since this year we all turn 62, they came up with a very nice logo for the trip: '62Turns62 with a key chain and handsome sweatshirt (logo) appropriate for the cool Alaska weather in June. We sailed on the same Norwegian Cruise Lines ship as before: the Norwegian Star, which carried a crew of some 1150 and about 2100 paying guests. We made up about 70 of those; our classmates plus spouses, aunties, children, etc. made up the whole Punahou group (including our travel agents, Marvie & Frank Kelly). Here is the lay out of the Norwegian Star (click on it for larger diagram). Then here goes with my diary:

Day 0: Saturday June 17 - Los Altos to Issaquah: (Flew to Seattle, went to pre-cruise party, and spent the night with Issaquah Jaquettes)

I had an anxious week beforehand, as I don't do well getting ready to go on an extended trip, what with work, arrangements for Sailor, minutes for Palo Alto Friends Meeting Meeting for Business of June 11, cleaning house & laundry, mowing the lawn, and the usual crises since I always seem to get things done at the last minute (just in time), meaning over a week's worth of last minute bills and arrangements. Thus I was up quite early Saturday morning, finished packing, washed dishes, and found I was all organized and packed by 8:30 am, an hour early: a miracle. (As I realized on the way to Seattle, I had forgotten to pack my 10x binoculars, but Peter kindly lent me a more appropriate 7x pair for the trip.) Dick Curran played limousine for me, and at 10:15 am we left for San Jose airport. Alaska Airlines is easy, I checked my one big bag, read of my copious unread newspapers and such on the flight, and arrived in Seattle a bit early. Checked bags took forever, well 45 minutes, but I got to the curb where Peter hailed me.

We went straight to Clifton Furukawa's house on Mercer Island, getting there a bit before the crowd arrived for a pre-cruise party (I had called him to get directions: turn right 6 seconds after the 42nd St. crosswalk on Island Crest), which included the local Punahou '62 who could not go, e.g., Ron Cox and Linda Loo. Clifton and others put out a very nice spread, and Clifton, the chef, produced 5 pineapple upside-down cakes from Ipolani Sylvester Bailey's recipe - they were superb, best I've had in 40 years! Woody handed out the truly nifty key rings with bottle and soda can opener and the sweatshirts emblazoned with the double '62Turns62 (sweatshirt has a Punahou hala tree and cruise logo). We had ample supper with all the offerings. Terry Fisher was dropped off by his son, as he cannot drive from bad eye problems; he had to cancel out at the last minute from being my cabin mate in favor of laser eye surgery set for June 19 to save an eye. (Ultimately, i.e., during the cruise, the whole class and entourage signed an enormous card for him to get well soon.) Peter kindly came to fetch me when I got tired - from lack of sleep the week before. Peter, Andrea, Jonathan, Matthew, and I had some time to chart before bed time.

Day 1: Sunday June 18 - Issaquah to Seattle and Setting Sail: (Eastside Friends Meeting, boarded the ship, and started out North to Alaska.)

It got light by 5:15 am in Issaquah, especially with no curtains, so I was up early, read some papers, checked my e-mail and weather forecasts (showers, cloudy and cool forecast for all of Alaska the whole week), and got organized. Andrea fixed a fine Father's Day breakfast of waffles, bacon, etc., so we ate well. Then off to Eastside Friends Meeting, nearly 10 minutes away: I'd never been there before. Upon sitting down for worship, one Norm Furlong then came in beside me! He is formerly of Palo Alto Friends Meeting and would have gone to University Meeting except that the 520 bridge was closed, so we had an extra bonus after Meeting to chat, get our picture taken, exchanged notes as he and his wife had done the same cruise last year, and get his greeting to take home. (I didn't much care for the final 10 minutes of needs an check in closing the worship hour. Eastside sent me a nice welcoming card within a week; I wonder if Palo Alto still does that.) So afterwards, we went back to Issaquah and called our father, who was not home in Honolulu to take our Happy Father's Day call; oh well. Thence to Seattle docks, Peter dropping me off at Pier 66 about 12:45 pm.

There were no crowds, I found Marvie Kelly and other Punahou folks, and went straight on board the Norwegian Star. I found my way easily to cabin 8591 (deck 8), settle in a bit, and found my suitcase at the door. The cabin stewards and the Star's records still did not show me single in the cabin; this confused the cabin stewards for days. Terry Fisher with diabetes and glaucoma stayed behind for laser surgery. With suitcase organized, I took a walk about the entire ship and upper jogging track to get my bearings, encountering various of our group along the way. We had an obligatory (mandatory) life boat drill at 3:30 pm from deck 7: I was for lifeboat Y1 and the only Punahou group on that boat. Then back on top deck shortly after 4 pm, I found we were already under way and already up to 20 knots (23 mph for landlubbers). I went to the forward on deck 12 to the Spinnaker Lounge (and bar) to check speed, etc., and chatting with the pianist, discovered that the ship's propulsion system went on the fritz early in the year (Azipod propulsion) as it had in 2004 in Hawaii, and that they had put in to dry dock for a month for repairs. (Pianist works 3-5 hours/day and is paid rather well, he said. Nice guy; he played for our Mai Tai party later in the cruise.) I met Joel Kendall & wife Lynn up there too.

Dinner was set for all who wanted in a Punahou group in the Versailles main restaurant (deck 6 at the stern with windows on 3 sides) for 6 pm with 3 nearby tables for 8 set up; I was with 6 others (including Andy & Pamela Chang, Kay Baird Willoughby, Katie Saunders Bob, Penny '58 Ennor [Katie's sister-in-law from first marriage], and Linda Cockroft Schoephoerster, I think). Dinner was excellent but not too large - and relaxed - 2 hours. After dinner, I went up to the Reading Room (deck 12, forward, starboard) with Kay Baird (teacher) and Cathleen Canty McStroul (Reno math at district) and husband Michael (works for their daughter) for very nice conversation, not getting off to bed until 10 pm, which is after my bedtime. (I had a hard time getting enough sleep on the cruise, as I seldom got to bed on time but still got up quite early, even though I had booked an inside cabin to avoid too much daytime light.) The ship leading out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and into open waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The cabin turned out to be a bit noisy that first night, between engine noise and constant creaking of the ship/cabin in what may have been the roughest seas of the trip (4-10 foot seas and goodly wind). I was awake at midnight, again at 5:30 am, after which I did not really sleep so got up at 6:30 am.

Note on Juan de Fuca: The Strait of Juan de Fuca is the principal outlet for the Georgia Strait and Puget Sound, connecting both to the Pacific Ocean. It provides part of the International Boundary between the United States and Canada. It was named in 1788 by the English Captain John Meares of the ship Felice for Juan de Fuca, the Greek sailor who claimed to have gone on a voyage with Spanish explorers in 1592 to seek the fabled Strait of Anián. Because it is exposed to the generally westerly winds and waves of the Pacific, seas and weather in Juan de Fuca Strait are, on average, rougher than in the more protected waters inland. Juan de Fuca is also the name of a fragmented tectonic plate close offshore from nothern California to mid-Vancouver Island: The Juan de Fuca Plate, named after the explorer, is a tectonic plate subducting under the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate. It is bounded on the south by the Mendocino fault zone and along the west by the Pacific Plate. The Juan de Fuca Plate has fractured into three pieces. The central piece retains the Juan de Fuca name, whereas the southern piece is known as the Gorda Plate and the northern piece is known as the Explorer Plate. Along with the Nazca Plate and Cocos Plate, the Juan de Fuca Plate is one of the last remains of the Farallon Plate. (source: Wikipedia)

Note on ship's postings of wind, waves, and speed:

The ship's TV channel of the Captains Log, Weather Log, etc., gave readings of location (latitude & longitude), heading, speed (knots), distance since last port (nautical miles), distance to next port, time, winds, and sea state. (1 nautical mile is about 1.15 statute miles.) The Norwegian Star's top speed is variously given as 24, 25, and 26 knots (kt); the fastest I saw was 24.5 kt; the pianist said it burns twice the fuel at 26 kt compared to 24 kt. Winds were reported as Force (n), i.e., Force 1, 2, ...; Force 5 was the highest I saw. Sea state was given as brief description, e.g., ripples, wavelets, small waves with height (m). Winds and sea state matched the Old Beaufort Scale I had brought along. This is not the humorous definition from sailing: A Sailors Dictionary or A Dictionary for Landlubbers, Old Salts, & Armchair Drifters by Beard & McKie (try Powell's Books in Portland):

It seems to match the following two tables (my first real HTML table) - Beaufort Scale and Pierson-Moskowitz Sea Spectrum (Sea State):

Day 2: Monday June 19 - Inside Passage: (Cruising the Inside Passage on the way to Juneau.)

This day was entirely at sea, making way for Juneau. I was up early and off to the top deck for morning walk around on the walking and jogging track in the outdoors. This is deck 13; 4 loops on the jogging track is 1 mile, but the walking extent all the way to the bow observation point and back to helipad is a bit longer. I usually did one circuit backwards and 1-2 or so following the arrows. In Hawaii I meet Mike Befeler walking frequently, but on this trip, I never found him up there, being too early or too late - or he was soaking in the spa. I had breakfast at the Market Café (buffet) on deck 12 (amidships and aft) with John & Grace Bowman and others. Then I went to the Reading Room for an issue of the previous week's Wall Street Journal with view out the starboard side. Then at 10 am I went on the ship's tour, which was not that great since I had already walked nearly everywhere, except the two levels of spa (we got to go into the women's side!), which has a view out the stern. I'd rather had the bridge, engine room, and galley tour, but they canceled that after the World Trade towers attack; they don't want anyone flying the huge cruise ship into some building or bridge. Michael McStroul and John Bowman also took the tour.

The winds were declining in the morning and the seas were moderating as the morning progressed, and in mid-afternoon we entered the "inside passage", i.e., inside Banks Island. Being "inside" kept Pacific Ocean swells at bay and calmed the prevailing winds. Eventually we passed another cruise ship also going north. The weather turned definitely cooler, and we encountered overcast skies and minor showers. By late afternoon we were passing islands, probably granite or gneiss, with coastal snow peaked mountains to our east; trees come down to the high water mark, and the low tides exposed rocky shorelines. The seas eventually went flat as we continued at 21.5 kt. Clearly there are strong tides. The tides, evergreen trees on islands, rocky shore, etc. all reminded me of coastal Maine.

At 11 am we Punahou group had a meeting and party at the Star Bar on deck 13 with view forward over mid-ship. This was a good meeting with introductions, entertainment, and Mai Tais (I went for non-alcoholic, as did Yoshi '61 (Robert Yoshioka) with whom I was talking). We all had (plastic) leis; Woody Fern told a couple of excellent stories of old Hawaii, we got information sheets on who all was in the group (missing Brian & Micheline Lederer who signed up late), had good conversation, heard various announcements, etc. (The ship's pianist did a credible job on the Hawaiian songs, include O'ahu-a, after which we, of course, did the Strawberry Shortcake, Huckleberry Pie, .... cheer.) Afterward, I had small sandwich lunch with Simone, Ipo, and families in Market Café. The Andrades are moving to Texas (outside Dallas) in September to be near their son and grandchildren, having sold their Hawaii Kai house at neatly the peak of the market in Hawaii. They have been taking care of her parents in Kahala, which has been a chore at times. Then it was off to the Latitudes party in the Spinnaker Lounge, i.e., party for those who had sailed with NCL before - drinks and munchies and talk plus entertainment, introductions of senior officers, etc. This was not that great, and the give-away prizes went not to me. Then for the rest of the afternoon, I talked around, watched the shoreline and course & navigation (instruments in the Spinnaker Lounge), went to the reading room to finish off more Island Advantages, took some pictures, and enjoyed the outside views. I did make it up to the ice cream stand or deck 12 forward. The weather continued to turn colder and breezier, clouded up, rain showers in the distances, passed many little islands (tree covered to shores), observed the low tide, and saw the mountains in the distance and not so distance. I also decided it was time to sign up for excursions in the other ports of call; I had only signed up for the Skagway rail trip beforehand. So I went down to the Atrium and tried to book my other choices electronically at the kiosk (success for Victoria and Ketchikan, but not for Juneau) so had to stand in line to get the 'last' seat on the Juneau Mendenhall/Rainforest trip. Done.

This was formal night (optional) for dinner, and we wore our best (black suite and brand new white shirt) for dinner at Versailles (Russ & Marilynne Darroch of Australia, Judy Winn Bell & Steve Hayashi of Bay Area (they still keep two houses), and I). I got there early (6:55 pm) to get the name in, and the line was very long, it being lobster night. We had a 45-minute wait, but fortunately Russ & Marilynne were 10 minutes late and Judy & Steve 20+ minutes late. Dinner was pretty good; the conversation and catching up, especially with Russ, was excellent. (I probably have told him before how much I appreciated how well his father had trained me in computers in my first high school job - an NSF internship paying $1.35/hr. at Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association experiment station in Makiki.) The food was not as good as I had hoped, but it was still very good. (I skipped the lobster - kind without claws - and went for standing rib roast; chowder was good but crème brûlée not up to par [others had very good experiences with crème brûlée, having ordered it several times, they said]). Russ has 1 son; Marilynne has 2 kids; Judy & Steve married relatively recently and have none (recall Judy's survival of cancer at relatively young age). After over two hours of enjoyment, we gave up the restaurant and walked partly around the covered deck 7, but it was quite cool and breezy. I then opted to go to bed: it was 11:20 pm when I turned in, but I gained an hour from time change. I slept better in the calmer seas, turned off all the lights but could still find my way to the head, and found, on arising, that seas were under 1 ft with a light breeze at 7 am. My alarm clock did work! (I think it is my alarm clock from Main Street Singers tour, as Joseph has a broken(?) one just like it in his room. Although I generally woke up early, despite having an inside cabin with all lights out, it was nice to have a reliable alarm clock.)

Day 3: Tuesday June 20 - Inside Passage to Juneau; Excursion; & Leave: (Arrive in Juneau for afternoon, excursion to Mendenhall Glacier, & depart for Skagway.)

I was up around 7 am new time (Alaska Daylight Time) and was off to walk deck 13; I did about 2/3 mile in cool breeze (ship making 20 kt with trailing 7 kt breeze). Contrary to advertised weather, it was not raining. I then went down to the Market Café for breakfast, joining various of my class (Woody, Mike, Joel, Clifton, Simone, etc.) for breakfast as usual. I stuck mostly to fruit and oatmeal, but once in a while I ventured into French toast or eggs or sausage too. Everyone near the windows kept seeing whales, so after breakfast, I went up to walk some more on deck 13 to hunt for whales; I scared them off: none. Back to my cabin, I discovered I had left my card key inside, so I had a chance to discover how the front desk deals with lost keys: upon proof of me (they have pictures, birthdays, etc.), they issued a one-time-only card key, which worked.

So then I went to the Reading Room, as I often did, for another Wall Street Journal and other things, but the chiropractor/arthritis seminar took over the room so I couldn't concentrate - so I left. Having had an ample breakfast, I settled on a small salad for lunch to be ready for arrival in Juneau and my early departure on an excursion - one of the first times. Because the Norwegian Sun was blocking 'our' dock - not leaving until 2:30 pm, they took us early excursions off on lighters (life boats) to the dock to catch our coaches. I was off to Mendenhall Glacier and Rainforest, and it turned out the Bowmans were also on it with me, which was nice.

The coach driver (summer hire; college student) was good at getting us there and giving us a running commentary. He pointed out the tram to the top of Mt. Roberts near the dock and a stream, which at low tide had lots of mud flats, where there were always many bald eagles ready for a lunch. We arrived at Mendenhall Glacier with what turned out to be about 20-30 minutes too little time for a full discovery. We walked on a boardwalk over glacial moraine bordering the lake in from of Mendenhall Glacier and off to the visitor's center (National Park Service) with a quite nice video of what was/had been going on with the glacier, etc. This one is receding (fast moving short glacier in retreat), but not too fast, up to the high plateau above Juneau. (Some of us took helicopter rides up to the top, did dog sledding, etc.) Thence out the paths to the edge of the lake for viewing, noting that, indeed, the deep splits in the glacier were deep blue as advertised: change in crystal structure absorbs all but blue, but exposed to the elements, it reverts to white. I would very much like to have been able to take the longer trail to near the glacier just before the huge white water rapids/falls, but we had no time left and met our coach driver just in time. (Lots of others in the Punahou group wandering through on their combo excursion schedules, so I saw a bunch of familiar folk.) There were some icebergs on the lake but reportedly no fish - too much silt load for things to grow. The glacier was quite beautiful on the sunny day; good pictures; excellent trip.

Our next stop was at a rainforest garden, but it was mostly a contrived tourist trap (my opinion) - not a natural setting. A huge landslide was bought and recovered as green house/garden center with lots of imported but beautiful hanging settings of petunias, etc. set in upside-down trees (trunks sunk in ground with root system as the top for plants). That seemed a bit of a stretch for the landslide. Waiting interminably for the golf carts to take us up a narrow gravel road to the top and viewing boardwalk, we waited impatiently while I bought an expensive large oatmeal-raisin cookie which was not very good (so had a good one back onboard later). Eventually we got our ride up, but our group guide and driver up knew little or nothing about the forest when I asked questions. (The forest is (western) hemlock and (Sitka) spruce with some pine, plus ground dogwood (bunch berries), moss, and skunk cabbage. This looks just like Maine, except for the wetter conditions and better growing season. They call it draw dogwood in Alaska.) They said it was a rain forest because they get more than 70" of rain a year. (Manoa Valley got 120"; Fukui, Japan gets 100".) The boardwalk at the top was worth seeing - both the forest and the views. We could see the harbor with all the cruise ships off to the left and Juneau International Airport just below, with one runway and parallel seaplane runway, plus the constant swarm of bees (helicopters) coming up and going down. The slowness of the venture made me wish I'd taken just a Mendenhall excursion despite the nice forest and the knowledgeable driver coming down the hill: a native Alaskan entering Colby on a native American scholarship; John Bowman and I gave him lots of information and advice, including to expect Maine to look like Alaska except for all the people in Maine. This was an "easy" excursion, which may have explained all the overweight, slightly disabled (women) on the trip, but it may have contributed to our 3 hour excursion taking 4.5 hours. Being tired out and the hour late, I did not find and take the tram up to the top of Mt. Roberts nor find the Red Dog Saloon for a beer or anything else. I found a cookie instead.

I then wrote and mailed, read a bit, and could not find any dinner companions, so I went to the Blue Lagoon on deck 7 for something easy and without having to change out of jeans. As I waited for my shepherd's pie and good soup (can't remember the soup, but it was spicy and good), Linda Cockroft appeared in the same situation, so we dined together. Eventually I wandered out on deck for our 10 o'clock departure, but it was cold, so I took my shower and went to bed. This was a good day, but I do complain about the rain forest part; ugh. I slept well overnight on the slow 90 mile trip over to Skagway. My alarm went off to get me up at 6:15 am to be ready for go on the early morning trip, but I was awake early anyway.

Day 4: Wednesday June 21 - Summer Solstice in Skagway: (Morning in Skagway, train to White Pass, and walk about town; depart for Glacier Bay.)

This was our high water mark day: the longest day of the year (sunrise and sunset about 3:40 am and 10:25 pm), and Skagway is the farthest north the cruise ship goes (about 59° 28' N). The White Pass and Yukon Railroad trip to the White Pass put us at about 59° 37' N. They say that it never gets completely dark at night around this time of year; I didn't stay up to verify this claim. Summer must be here; it's sunny! Skagway has 834 year-round residents; in summer 2005 it had 903,341 visitors, of which 772,332 arrive by cruise ship.

I was up bright and early in Skagway and headed up to deck 13 to walk, but with concern for timing for the excursion, I only made one circuit. The weather was still and clear (some clouds), much better than expected from the week before. We were docked at a pier, and I could see train tracks with parts of trains being backed down to the pier. I found Simone et al. at breakfast and had my usual oatmeal and fruit. I got ready to disembark for the train, which was already on the pier's end with various excursion signs, etc. I took my NCL backpack with everything I could think of I would need, including the Ben's 100, layers to wear, water, and Peter's binoculars. We were encouraged to board up front, but we waited at the end car to board when allowed, since Marvie had told us (some one of us) that the last car, car 13 in this case, would be the best one to take. We filled car 13 with mostly Punahou folks for the simple White Pass Scenic Railway trip up and back. Only by the end of the day did I understand the significance of it all here in Skagway.

The rail trip was spectacular; the day was sunny and spectacular; the last car was the place to be, since it afforded us a rear platform from which to take pictures unobstructed, without reflection of windows, including clear view down the track. The narrow gauge rail pulled by 3 diesel engines went up the canyon, past the town of Skagway, past the rail yard with handsome steam engine 69 outside, past the cemetery, and on up. We had a very good and clear woman narrator for the whole trip. We snaked up and into a valley to the right, crossing it to gain altitude and come back to the main valley. Here we could see the train ahead of us and eventually the train behind. Deep in the side valley we crossed a landslide, still with snow and ice, which carried away some of the track. We crossed some bridges and trestles and went through some tunnels, finally reaching the top of the pass in an alpine type climate with tress and shrubs small and close to the ground in the sever weather in winter there. The summit of the pass is about 2,888 ft, which is not that high, but in Alaska, that is cold and nasty in the long winter. This put us in an area of small lakes as we crossed into Canada. Since there is no immigration there, no one is allowed out of the train when it stops so the engines can cut off the front and reconnect to us in the last car; we got front row seats for that operation. We all flipped over the seat back to reset the seats forward for the return and dutifully switched sides, so those on the view side gong up sat on the valley wall side on the way down. The disadvantage of being in the last, now first, car is the diesel smell coming in the high cracked windows and more when someone went out to take pictures from that platform. We started back down, passing the border with Canadian and American flags, and headed down. Despite the guide's attempt to point out mountain goats (little fuzzy off-white dots on the far valley wall near snow or light granite, I saw none. We did see bears on the track in front of the engines, and as the first car were the only ones to really see the bears, as they hustled off into the underbrush and down the valley wall as the train passed. Those who took pictures call it the furry baby bear butt picture. Eventually we returned to Skagway station, where I got off with most of the crew. (I sat mostly with the Befelers, with daughter Laura and Wendy behind/ahead of Mike and me.)

I followed the small group heading for the best bordello in town, the Red Onion Saloon, for .... Woody Fern, Joel Kendall, the Changs, and I couldn't decide between the Trollop or the Harlot sandwiches, but in the end chose other sandwiches (mostly meatloaf) and beer, all good. We enjoyed good food and good talk until it was time to leave or visit upstairs; Woody picked up the tab, and we left. I headed straight across the street to the NPS Visitor's Center to see the exhibit, display, and the film on Skagway, giving history and more on the Klondike gold rush of 1897. With a half hour before the 2 pm walking tour, I set out on foot with pack out Broadway as far as I could get (from 2nd to 15th Streets), coming up about a block short of the train depot (so no close up of the steam engines), returning just in time for the tour after a bit of exercise (note that I missed most of my early morning walk about). The walking tour (no other of Punahou on mine) was led by a good Park Service Ranger and covered central Skagway; the tour was "full" so the ranger was strict about who had tickets. As we went out, a very strong wind came up; in fact I saw sand and dust beginning to blow up in clouds as I arrived for the tour. She managed to hide us from the worst of the wind as we went from house to house, ending up in a little museum of the founders' house (Ried family). All this put Skagway together and made a significant impression on the gold rush. It was clear that the "stampeders" (desperately hunting for gold) were not the ones who would make out in the end, as they were too late to get the good claims.

There were two ways up over the coastal mountains into Canada from Alaskan coast; these departed from two nearby towns of Dyea and Skagway. The journey was difficult in part because the Canadian Mounties didn't want Americans dropping dead all over Canada, so they required a year's supplies before one could enter. This was a ton of stuff, and each stampeder would have to make up to 50 trips up and back to move the ton of supplies. (Anyone who stole from another's stash was essentially tied to a tree and left.) The Chilkoot pass from Dyea was a foot climb best done in winter when the snow covered the jumble of boulders near the top, and thousands of men tied together went up along a guide rope; there is an impressive picture of them climbing up - and back 40-50 times. Once at the top with supplies, the stampeders encamped for the winter, then floating down to Dawson in the Yukon to try their luck. The other route from Skagway was up the route our train took, where beasts of burden could be used. They were, but they were worked to death, and the reports of 3,000 or more dead horses and mules dumped down the canyon raised a terrible stench until they froze in winter - hence the name Dead Horse Trail. From the passes, stampeders would make rafts or boats to float down stream/river when it thawed, through rapids to Dawson in hopes of striking it rich. Only those with inside information before the stampeders got much gold. The town was originally laid out by William Moore (Moorestown) but was overrun with stampeders and renamed Skagway when surveyed by Frank Reid. The tale of Soapy Smith makes good telling; Soapy Smith was a con man who ran groups of thugs and scammed all the short timers going through; he was eventually shot and killed in July 1898, but the hero, Frank Reid, also died: Soapy died instantly but Reid took 8 (or 12) days to die.

I was back to the ship about 3:30 pm after a very full, exciting, and spectacular day. This gave me just enough time to change for the Mystery Dinner Katie Saunders had convinced a bunch of us to sign up for. The first 120 to sign up assembled in the Stardust Theater on decks 6 & 7 promptly for instructions before being led away in groups to restaurants. As it turned out, when we gathered in the theater, we were exactly a group of 8 from Punahou, so we made up one of the tables for the Aqua main restaurant (on deck 6 amidships), where 4 tables were reserved. Over four courses we queried each other over 4 scenes in the mystery, trying to figure out who had killed the Captain. The vagary of the cast centered on my character, Rehne, as the announcer failed to give my gender. Only in about Scene 2 did one of us have a question which revealed that I was a woman. I was misled, and my lover (David Stanley as Tim) was the killer. We laughed 'til our sides split at points along the way. Thus the dinner became a fine entertainment for all of us. Afterwards Katie, David, ??, and I chatted on the stairs before turning in.

We left port during dinner and headed off to Glacier Bay. I slept well and was awake at 6 am and up before 7. We were already in Glacier Bay with the Park Rangers and naturalist onboard when I got up and out of the cabin.

Day 5: Thursday June 22 - Glaciers in Glacier Bay: (Glacier Bay, onboard with Park rangers and naturalist, and depart.)

We entered Glacier Bay about 6 am, where we picked up two National Park Rangers and a Naturalist. (I didn't see them board, but I did see them depart by Zodiac in the afternoon.) I was up by 7 am and took a couple of spins around deck 13 tracks in light breeze and light rain (I wore my jacket and hat) before going down to breakfast. I stuffed my hat in my jacket inside pocket, which turned out to be a mistake. I had breakfast with the usual Punahou villains and quickly went forward to the Spinnaker Lounge where the rangers had displays with things for sale and took questions. The view out the bow was also impressive, with Glacier Bay laid out before us and various side glaciers and mountains in view. Soon I took off for my cabin to brush teeth, etc., and there I discovered that my hat had fallen out. No hat! This is bad news, so I retraced my pathways and asked at lost and found (front desk), but my hat had not been returned. (I stopped at Lost and Found many times that day and the next two, but my hat was never turned in. That was a special hat given me by my son Daniel.)

I went to the Reading Room for a little reading while I watched the spectacular views of Glacier Bay as we approached the end of the bay with its glaciers. The Ranger (or Naturalist?) said that where they were picked up was about where the end of the glaciers were 250 years ago; I was incredulous, but the Park Service brochure and maps do show that to be the case, as glacier margins from the 1700's to present are marked for most glaciers. They pointed out that these glaciers are temperate climate glaciers, which means they are not that cold, move very fast, and may have streams of melt water underneath them. The two glaciers at the end of the by, Marguerite and Grand Pacific, are such glaciers. Marguerite moves 4-5 feet per day yet maintains its margin at the same spot year after year. (Some glaciers in the park are advancing; Marguerite and Grand Pacific were shorter, terminating in Canada rather than the U.S., in early 20th century.)

The Norwegian Star lingered off Marguerite for a few hours; you'd think in that time a huge chunk would calve off given it moves 4-5 ft/day. Many were up on deck 13 observing, as was I, where we heard periodic cracks like rifle shots and saw little falls of broken ice. Every time anything fell into the ocean, the sea birds swept in to feed on krill stirred up. (There was always a group over a black boiling pot on the left side of the glacier front where an under-glacier stream came out, roiling the waters.) I was about to go below but stayed when I decided that a huge vertical slab had vertical crack left and right, repeated reports, and small falls of loose ice: this and appearance of the top tipping forward each time suggested that it might collapse. Finally the huge block collapsed in the ocean, calving off a good sized ice berg - bigger than the earlier ones. This was very impressive! I heard later that the Ranger had said that no one ever sees that big a piece of glacier being shed from the cruise ships, so we were especially blessed that day. The Ranger also said that they only allow 2 (giant) cruise ships into Glacier Bay per day since the park is supposed to be remote and natural; a cruise ship was behind us in the bay that day. We also saw smaller excursion/cruise ships. We spent no great length of time at Grand Pacific, really the confluence of two glaciers, possibly because of more shallow water or because it is a dirty black/grey glacier, covered with gravel, rocks, and sand; whereas Marguerite is clean and white. (The PR photo of the ship in Glacier Bay must be of Marguerite; I got that 8x10 free when I bought the Punahou group photos done by the ship's photographer for the exorbitant $25 each - I also got a free display folder for my pair of 8x10 group shots.) Then it was lunch time.

I went to lunch in Versailles restaurant, where we could see a bit of the outdoors. I ate with Jan Peter and Dudley Preis, Judy Bell & Steve Hayashi, and Russ and Marilynne Darroch, so having a chance to visit and catch up with the Preises. Lunch was very nice, but it put us a bit late for the 1:30 pm slide show and talk by one of the Park Rangers; I caught the tail end: it was more a personal story and reminiscence of Glacier Bay and being a Ranger there - quite nicely done. Next was the cocktail party.

Two of our number, Paddy Dunn and Gina Kawananakoa, invited us to a cocktail party from 2-4 o'clock in their cabin; well, not quite their cabin but the suite where they had family staying. You might wonder how a group of up to 70 could have a party in someone's cabin suite, but this cabin 14500 was not your average cabin: the Garden Villa (see note below) held us, with its living room, 3 bedrooms, walk-in closets, outdoor hot tub, etc. The living room holds grand piano and enough space for a cocktail party for all of us. We had good times, including songs, hula, and more. A cocktail party to end all cocktail parties. You can see a link to all the staterooms, etc. in the note below.

Some light rain began, and we saw a Coast Guard helicopter departing for the helipad - astern on deck 13. This would not be ominous except that Grace Bowman had come down with some stomach upset, probably from a bad piece of fish she'd had at dinner, but John reported it as urged to do so in the ship's paranoid announcements about Norwalk virus, which had sent a cruise ship home when 80% of crew and passengers were sick. They had been quarantined in their room since the day before, so was that Grace being ferried out? No, but some man had a heart attack or stroke - he was the one flown out. The Bowmans released themselves after their 24 hour time was up: not a virus.

After the party, I chatted with Judy Bell about Midi Cox and what she has been up to, sons, etc., as they had been close friends but have been out of touch for some time. I wished Midi had been able to come on the cruise. Then I went off to write notes to Joseph and Daniel and do a little reading. Then an early dinner reservation arrived early, at 5:30, so many of us went down to Versailles to await open doors to grab out 3 tables together. I had a small dinner after having a real lunch, enjoyed the company, and, at 8 pm, went off to find the evening magic show. It was packed, so I skipped the late show and went to bed after finishing some letters at 10 pm. We thus were leaving Glacier Bay heading for Ketchikan. I hoped to get a good night's sleep, being behind in my rest with all the activities, and I had booked my Ketchikan excursion for 9 am instead of the 7 am version to be able to sleep in, but that idea failed when I awoke way to early and again too early; I could have taken the earlier excursion after all.

Note on Garden Villa and Staterooms: Spectacular 5,750 sq ft Garden Villa complete with living room, dining room, and three separate bedrooms - each with king- or queen-size bed, private luxury bath, and CD/DVD library. Two bedrooms also feature a full bath with whirlpool tub and separate shower. Each Villa features a private garden with hot tub, outdoor dining area, and terrace as well as private viewing deck above. Butler service and concierge is available.

Day 6: Friday June 23 - Ketchikan early; then south Inside Passage: (Morning in Ketchikan, a good boat ride excursion, and depart in afternoon.)

I was up and out of my cabin around 7 am; we were already well docked in Ketchikan by then I tried for a relaxed late morning, but had not succeeded, having been awake for good by 5:30 am. I went up to deck 13 for 2 or 3 circuits around the jogging and walking track with view into Ketchikan and then wen to breakfast alone, then went outside to deck 7 where people were departing for excursions. There I had a nice chat with Dave Sinovic, Kay Burritt's husband; he is a bond trader who earlier had offered his daily Wall Street Journal summaries, which I had not bothered to go get. I didn't switch to the 7:15 am excursion, although I could have; this was barely influenced by having no hat! I checked on John & Grace Bowman, who were fine and about to get out of jail; John offered me a hat or two, one of which I took for the day's excursion to reduce the risk of migraine, by which time I headed of the ship for my excursion. On the dock, I found the coach ready, but as I was early, I checked out two shops. The right hand one was clothing and marine goods; it did have a decent hat, but with floral fabric lining, for $25: too much! The other, on the left, was a mainly tourist shop, but they had a good floppy tan hat of Australian style at 50% off its $20 price, so I bought it. It actually is working out pretty well, despite being slightly bigger and having embroidered ALASKA on its front. The chin strap with sliding ball provides a good way to tuck it into a belt for safety (of the hat).

Thence off to Lighthouse, Eagles, and Totem by coach at 9:00 am. Linda, Katie, and Penny were on the same excursion; David Stanley had been on the earlier one: we passed him later. This excursion was quite successful, in some ways the best until Victoria, and even better than that in some ways. The excursion started 6 miles north from a marina on a sole proprietors' boat (one of two) with upper and lower decks, laid out for comfort and viewing. The tour of the islands and shore included running narrative, pauses at 17 (more or less) eagle nests near shore, circumnavigation of Guard Islands with notable lighthouse, and pause for talk just offshore of the Totem park with a fine collection of totem poles (tallest in Ketchikan) and clan house. We saw sea lions, seals, porpoises, guillemots, other birds, many fine eagles, and the owners friendly dog. Some eagles were clearly feeding eaglets; Peter's binoculars were perfect for the viewing. There were eagles on top lighthouse, totem pole, on the shore, in trees, on top of trees, and everywhere. We even saw a juvenile eagle; they look like oversized greatest barn owls until they get black and white about age 3 or 4 years. We passed various ship, including an Alaska ferry and small fishing boats. We even had good refreshments, including soda (very expensive on the ship) and salmon spread as part of the price. The Guard Island and lighthouse had a good story and was picturesque, so much so that I signed up as a member to get the well done picture superimposed on nautical charts, etc. in nice frame. I hope to get it in the mail one day soon and will post it on the website. If you want to see more about the tour, see the excursion's website.

We got back to the Norwegian Star in time for a very light snack before I dashed over to the movie theater to see The Producers (new version), which I had never seen. I got there only a few minutes late. This was the only movie I watched on the cruise; I enjoyed it too. This got out a bit after 3, so I had time to change into my Punahou '62Turns62 sweatshirt for our formal group photograph on the helipad astern deck 13. Most of us made the photo shoot, and it didn't take too long. Simone got to select the best of classmates and best of everyone; you've seen them posted already; I bought them Saturday sort of at the last minute before charging to cabins closed. I already said they were overpriced. This left only a little time for the Reading Room, etc. before preparing for group dinner at Aqua set for 5:30. I did manage to take the Internet Café up on its end of cruise specials and bought 30 minutes of time for $16 - an outrageous price, but it afforded me the chance to check on mail and weather (hot in Seattle and Los Altos), send out messages to family, and later (on Saturday) set up meeting time and place for pickup by Peter in Seattle. My mail told of no terrible problems, so I was happy. The boss there would honor neither the daily paper two-for special or the group 15-minutes-free, about which my complaint at the front desk was handled with friendliness and grace; I wrote the guy up for special kudos, even though he couldn't find my hat.

We waited downstairs for the restaurant to open and went in at 6. I was at a table with the 3 Befelers, but we managed to have the whole row of tables for 4 side by side plus nearly additional tables, so we could chat to left and right tables quite easily; thus it was another very nice dinner. Having skipped lunch, I afforded my self a rather nice dinner. A couple of us got serenaded for happy birthdays, and I caught Wendy off guard by saying Clifton must have got his dinner for free because of his birthday. So did we all. Even starting at 6, we didn't get out until shortly before the gymnastic show at 9:30 pm. I found a seat, but I was very tired, and the show was not pleasant, despite the excellent gymnasts. Later, Yoshi commented about his conversation with the trumpet player about how insulting it was in representing Pacific Island dances. (He was told to put it in writing so they could re-stage the production to be less offensive; nice to find someone eager to receive a critique.) So I left early and went to bed. This night we lost an hour coming out of Alaskan and into Canadian waters on Pacific Time. I slept well, probably because I was tired.

Day 7: Saturday June 24 - South along Vancouver Island to Victoria: (Onward to Victoria, BC for evening at Butchart Gardens.)

My alarm worked: it got me up at 7:45 (6:45 am ADT). Being well rested, I got up, noted that we were making 24.5 kt with an 18 kt tail wind, and headed for deck 13 and thrice around the walking extent, including the far bow observations areas. The relative breeze was nearly a dead calm, so it was very pleasant, and Judy Bell didn't really need to be bundled up near the stern, where she was doing her "reading a book" as she had promised herself (I bothered her with morning greetings). Then off to breakfast - the usual breakfast - at Market Café, where I found Simone, John, and others. Then I went off to the disembarkation meeting in the Stardust Theater (decks 6 & 7 forward); it was pretty useless except for the information that I did not have to put my roll-behind suitcase out by 1 am for the crew to take to the pier based on color tag, there being nearly impossible to find when one disembarks in color tag time order. Thus I missed the phone call from Lynn Kendall pointing out a whale off the port; I missed the whale (again).

We had an early lunch option again at 11:30 in Versailles. (I never did have a meal in any of the service charge specialty restaurants but didn't miss them, really.) Despite having to move tables and adding a chair and setting to a smaller table, we had a very nice lunch, at which I had a chance to catch up with some whom I had not seen much, including Paddy Dunn, Sally Halstead, Kay & Dave, and the Kendalls. Lunch was a good idea, since I didn't expect to have any dinner, being ashore in Victoria. Lunch serving sizes were small, so several of us (not I) ordered seconds of the Thai chicken salad - not a problem for the staff.

After lunch, I exhausted my 30 minutes at the Internet Café but did send note to Peter to meet me curbside at 9:15 am, since I would be taking my bags off myself, went to Endless Summer and transferred all my cruise pictures to Kay Baird's iBook G4, went to buy the group pictures and did, got an apple and cookie at Blue Lagoon, filled out the customs form back in my cabin, and did most of my packing up, etc. I also filled out my evaluation form to turn in before 5 pm, thereby having a chance to win something (failed, as always); only later did I realize that I had left out the pianist for praise, which I fixed by having someone else do that for me. Still no hat at the front desk. With everything under control, I got in line and off in Victoria by 5:45 pm to be early for my excursion. (I did have time to watch us enter the harbor area and prepare to dock, i.e., I didn't stay locked in my cabin the whole late afternoon.) Canadian immigration was easy, but then I did have my passport.

I got the first bus for the Enchanting Butchart Gardens excursion, and we were the first bus away. On the bus also were Ipo's family group and Vic and Candace Hemming. We had a good narrative tour through Victoria going out and back, getting to see the provincial government building lit up in lights coming back (it looked like a gingerbread house), the Empress Hotel (handsome), and various residential districts, noting the start of the trans-Canada highway on the way out (where the cross-country walkers and bicyclers start). With an early departure, we had a slightly longer time at the gardens than some. With map in hand (from the coach driver), I started a leisurely self-guided walk about. (Only on departing did I find the free brochure of plants and flowers.) I did cross paths with many of the Punahou group and managed a few pictures of them here and there. It was getting dark gradually; I got there at 6:45 pm with a 9:15 coach departure time; it was too dark for my camera to get decent pictures by 8 or 8:30 (I need a better camera). On the way out the Italian garden, I spotted May Yamamoto and Roy Uemura having ice cream at a table, so I went for an ice cream cone too ($4+ US) and joined them, taking advantage of an opportunity to sit and chat with them for the first time on the trip; I was glad of that.

I found the Butchart Gardens to be as good as I had imagined, and I was glad to have spent my entire excursion time in Victoria there. I started with the sunken garden (a limestone quarry transformed into gardens, ponds/lakes, fountains, etc.), which I found the best of all. I would say it was spectacular, and I took a bunch of pictures, most of which came out okay. This old quarry has a high peak in the center where there had been limestone too poor in quality to mine; there is an observation point up those stairs giving a view of the entire surround. I think I went on all the paths there. Then off to grounds not apparently in any named garden, but where I found two tress of special interest which turned out to be huge Dawn Redwoods (from grounds guy after describing them; the grounds guy also had chastised a coach driver for giving an interpretation of the grounds to his passengers, as that is now strictly forbidden). I also passed a pair of sequoia sempervirens planted in 1934. The Rose Garden seemed crowded, but still walking was easy. 250 types of roses and too little time to examine them all; mostly they didn't have much fragrance. The Japanese Garden entrance was by two beeches, but since the only garden with plants labeled is the Rose Garden, I only discovered what they were from a sign talking about the beginning of the Japanese Garden (you enter through the pair of purple beeches). The Japanese Garden was my least favorite; I described it as a garden after the fashion of a Japanese garden, as it isn't a true Japanese garden. Still, it had good points, including a view out to an inlet with boat moorings. The Italian Garden was also not so exciting, but there is where I found the ice cream counter. After a quick final peek in the Sunken Garden, I got the flower book and got to my coach at 9:12 pm.

I was getting tired on the drive back to the ship. The lines to re-embark were easy, and no one cared about passports. I fished packing and would have gone to bed early, except that someone called for an 11 pm final cocktail in the forward Spinnaker Lounge. I went, few others did, but Lynn Kendall shared a bottle of champagne she had won in the casino (I never went there) and we could see us leaving Victoria to head for Seattle. Off to bed for me; I slept well until I heard voices at 6:30 am; the alarm went off 10 minutes later. So I was up for the last short day onboard the Norwegian Star.

Day 8: Sunday June 25 - To Seattle, Issaquah, and Home: (Disembark early in Seattle, Eastside Meeting with Peter, and fly home.)

I was awakened by voices early - at 6:30 am - and then my alarm went off at 6:45. I was up and finished most packing after getting dressed quickly; then I went up to deck 13 as usual for a walk with view of Seattle since we seemed to have docked before 7 am. The port side of the track was blocked off for refueling, which I thought inconvenient for we passengers; I gave up on walking. I had breakfast at Market Café as usual, encountering the Kendalls, Uemuras, Hendersons, Andrades, Woody, and probably others; I opted for a pretty hearty breakfast, what with no future meals in sight. This meant I was ready to go early, since I saw no reason to search everyone out for last good-byes. Thus I was faced with taking the elevator for the first time: down one deck from 8 to 7 to disembark, but with big suitcase, backpack, and briefcase, it seemed the only way. I was off at 8:10 rather than the planned 8:30, and the exit scheme was much quicker and easier than I had expected. (I don't think they ever look at any passports: just wave the front cover by someone.) So being curbside at 8:30 am, I stood and read another Wall Street Journal (I took a bunch) waiting for pickup at 9:15. Peter arrived on time, and we were at Eastside Friends Meeting by 9:40 for 10 o'clock Meeting for Worship.

We returned to Issaquah and had light lunch of PB&J and banana; Jonathan had left for the east coast, so we were only Peter, Andrea, and Matthew, besides me. Peter got me to SEA-TAC in short order, and I checked in my one big bag and got stand-by pass for the 3 o'clock flight to San Jose. No joy on early departure, but since my bag went on the earlier flight, I could call Dick Curran for a ride (he could) knowing I had no wait at baggage claim. The long wait meant I finished off newspapers, including parts of that week's Friday and Saturday WSJ and the various sheaths of papers in my briefcase I had never got to. Getting off in San Jose provided some unexpected greeting: Carol Curran, whom Dick had picked up at San Francisco earlier, met me at the gate: her mother and brother were on the same flight I was on (SEA-SJC) (she'd have been on it too, but she couldn't get a seat!). But in the end, I got my ride home, arriving at 8 pm to find 3 Sissons already in the house finishing Lee's laundry from camp, so we went to the post office and dinner at Armadillo Willy's to complete the day. Sailor was very glad to see me; he looked in good shape and settled down to normal routines quickly. It's nice to have neighbors who take such good care of him when I am gone.

Updated: July 9, 2006 (Created June 28, 2006)