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Island to Alaska with Pictures (part 2)

cworld

By cworld,
in Princess Cruises

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cworld

cworld

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I got to reminiscing (Friday night, it was late, I was... hear that Little River Band go) about Whittier and our Escorted Mototcoach ride to Anchorage and remembered that there were plenty of seats available, and I think I moved up a row, leaving Mrs. C in the back, so I could take pictures. Detail, details, details. What do you care if we sat on the back row, or on the front row? It really isn’t germane to the story. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t add to the intrigue. (What intrigue? Do you even know what intrigue or germane means? Or are you just rambling again? Ramble? Me? Never!!) But just to be almost totally accurate, or not inaccurate, Mrs. C and I sat on the back row for a while, then I moved up on the row in front of Mrs. C so I could take mo’ better pictures. (Whew, how many times did you have to read that sentence before it made sense?) There. That’s all I’m going to say about that. I promise. At least for now. (...and reminiscing...)

 

While I was reminiscing about our Escorted Motorcoach trip to Anchorage I did a little research on Whittier. The more I read about Whittier, the more intrigued I get. If you go to the Whittier Alaska official town website, you read that Whittier Alaska is a second-class city that used to be a fourth class city. I don’t know about anybody else, but I think if I was in charge of a town I wouldn’t be trumpeting the fact that my city was second class. But I guess if you start out as a 4th class city, getting to a second-class city is an accomplishment.

 

Another prominent Alaska travel website (no, it wasn’t mine) talked about how Whittier was a unique city. In fact here’s the quote:

 

Even those who don't have water on the brain can enjoy a visit to this unique Alaska community. "Unique" doesn't mean "picturesque," however.

 

"The town isn't the most spectacular; it's mostly just concrete buildings," said Kelly Bender, vice president of the Whittier Chamber of Commerce.

It might just be me, but if I was Kelly Bender, vice president of the Whittier Chamber of Commerce, I’d probably find a better way to describe my city. When I look for things to do on my travels, I’m not usually looking to visit a place that is “mostly concrete buildings”. But that’s just me.

 

More on Whittier later.

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camperhawk

camperhawk

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We are waiting.. Don't let this thread die an ugly death! Your site is great but at least say goodbye to all the loyal readers! We have been here for a long time and have suffered through the patience , and have learned a lot, played your games,enjoyed the pics!

 

Say Good bye Carl so we can all get on with our lives and cruising!

 

But..it sure would be nice to hear more!

 

:D

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cworld

cworld

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Yea, I'm sorry. Work right now is sapping all of my creative juices. I'll be off on Wednesday, and I'll do my best to get something up then. I'll try to do better, but I can't promise anything. I am still planning to finish the trip but life keeps getting in the way. Thanks again for sticking with me.

 

Until Wednesday.

 

Patience, just a few days, or maybe months longer...

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cworld

cworld

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I didn't have time to finish this, so I thought that since I promised you something tonight, I'd give you a preview of coming attractions.

 

Here goes nothing.

 

I’ve been struggling with what, if anything else, to write about Whittier. Mrs. C and I were only there for a few minutes. But this whole 2nd class city, thing intrigues me. Can’t you just here the City Council meeting (I can) with Alaska’s biggest advertising firm Tundra, Kringle, and Brace talking about how to market Whittier to the rest of the world.

 

Imagine a place... a room, a dimly lit room, in a dark place, in the dead of winter, where several people have banded together to discuss the future of a little town in Alaska called Whittier. These people don’t know it yet, but they are setting the fate of generations of Whittierians to come. Tonight in this dimly lit room these unwitting souls are about to embark on a journey, a journey that will take them to places they have never imagined. To places of imagination. To places where the mind will be fully engaged. To places of terror and bliss. These special people are entering (duhm, duhm, duhm) The Twilight Zone...

 

Or some semblance thereof.

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cruisingbug

cruisingbug

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The thing about Whittier is that they're sitting on a gold mine since the tunnel was opened up to cars and cruise lines started using it as an embarkation port. Even with the new $50 per person tax, people are still going to flock to Alaska and Whittier is poised to either turn into a charming "destination" port where people want to spend a few nights before or after, or else into what it basically is now, a way station for bored passengers.

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cworld

cworld

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The struggle continues. I’m having a problem trying to get this story about Whittier written, so for now I’m just going to skip it and move on. Maybe I’ll come back to it at a future time.

 

We departed Whittier in the Escorted Motorcoach and started toward the tunnel. It was about 10 minutes until the time that we could enter the tunnel. So we waited. I snapped a couple of pictures of the mountains around Whittier, and am posting them on the blog.

 

Finally it came time to enter the tunnel. Whohoo. Hey dear. We’re entering the tunnel. A long dark tunnel. We’re all alone in the back of the bus. Nobody’s looking. How about let’s make this a tunnel of love. Kissee, Kissee, Smochiee, Smochiee. This is a 25th anniversary trip. That’s what we’d have done 25 years ago. What? Nap? You’d rather nap than smooch with me? I see where I rate. (To Mrs. C, before you jump in here and say this didn’t happen, you’re quite right. I’m embellishing again. The only place this actually happened is in my imagination. Which can be a scary place.)

 

We got through the tunnel and started the trek to Anchorage. The closer we got to Anchorage the more the clouds started breaking up. I took lots of picture of mountains in the fog, mountains in the clouds, mountains in the clear, you get the picture. It really was a beautiful trip.

 

About half way to Anchorage we passed the train that was going from Whittier to Anchorage. So if you wondering if the train or the bus is faster, the bus is much faster. But the next time we go, I think we’ll try to take the train. We tried on this trip, but we booked so late it was full.

 

For most of the trip there is a river on the left side of the road. (That would be the right side if you’re coming from Anchorage to Whittier. Helpful aren’t I?) In one of the flat areas of the river we saw a whole bunch of bald eagles standing out in the water. Bob, the driver of our escorted motorcoach, told us that he always saw eagles at that spot. I counted at least 15. Pretty cool.

 

After about an hour or so we started to get in to Anchorage. I don’t know what I expected Anchorage to look like, but I wasn’t expecting it to look like Oklahoma City. But that’s what it reminded me of Oklahoma City. The first thing we saw was Sam’s Superstore. Hey dear, wake up. We’re back in civilization. Look at the gas price. It was a dime cheaper per gallon that when we left home.

 

Lots of pictures in the blog.

 

Added late: Having problems posting pictures. Will try again tomorrow. Sorry, but this time it's not my fault.

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camperhawk

camperhawk

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Carl, need a little fix now before my son and I go off on our big adventure!

Hope all is well and your not too overwhelmed with the job, keeping up with your avid readers, and then of course ..your own website( soon to be turned into a book,right?)

 

Really, do hope you and Mrs.C and the family are doing well!

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cworld

cworld

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Carl, need a little fix now before my son and I go off on our big adventure!

Hope all is well and your not too overwhelmed with the job, keeping up with your avid readers, and then of course ..your own website( soon to be turned into a book,right?)

 

Really, do hope you and Mrs.C and the family are doing well!

 

(Hear the Brenda Lee singing in the background) I'm sorry. So sorry. Please accept my apology.

 

Yes, I've been neglectful. It seems I've found another interest. A long lost love interest has re-entered my life. (And please, you dirty minded people, it's not anything Mrs. C has to worry about.) I've started reading again. I've lost my soul in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I'm rereading it again for about the 4th time, but this time I'm starting with book 1 and going all of the way through book 12. If you have any interest in Fantasy I would highly recommend this series.

 

I promise that tomorrow, Wednesday October 24th, 2006 I will post something new and maybe even interesting. And I'll try to post at least 2 times a week until I have said everything there is to say. (Unless RJ works some of his incredible magic on me and I get mesmerized again.)

 

Thanks again for your support.

 

Until tomorrow...

 

Patience.

 

PS. I wonder where you go to submit a write in candidate for that book thingy?

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cworld

cworld

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I was a guest on a radio show and thought I’d share the details with you. Here is a partial transcript of the show. Because the interview lasted so long I’ve decided to break it up into two parts. Here is part one.

 

(Quietly playing in the background is the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey, as that radio announcer guy with the great voice powerfully says:)

 

Coming to you live from our KRuZin studio somewhere on the high seas... The man who needs no introduction... The guy who has single-handedly revived the leisure suit... A man, A legend, A limbo contest waiting to happen, WKRZ’s only afternoon talker, Mr. Bob Smith. (He’s b-a-c-k.) (Fake applause in the background.)

 

(Applause fades as Bob Smith speaks) Hey all you cat and kittens out there in radio land welcome back to the Bob Smith KRuZin afternoon talkfest. (More applause) Today you and I, Bob Smith your radio host with the most, will take a voyage unlike any other. (Love Boat theme starts playing in the background.) Today I, Bob Smith, King of afternoon cruise radio talk, have the great honor of bringing you the most prestigious, the most special, the most unique, the most sought after radio guest I, Bob Smith your humble host, have ever had the pleasure of bringing to your radio dials. This afternoon right here on SuperCruise station WKRZ, right here before your very ears you are going to here my exclusive interview with none other than the great on himself. The man every cruise radio talker has been trying to interview for months.

 

I think it’s appropriate that I, Bob Smith your talk host extraordinaire, am the first and so far the only radio personality to interview our guest. Of course I, Bob Smith radio host to the stars, would be the first to interview this afternoons guest. If it wasn’t for me, Bob Smith your award winning radio host, mentioning his book on my award winning, almost number 1 rated, afternoon cruise radio talk show here on WKRZ, our guest would still be an unknown. After I, Bob Smith talent genius, mentioned his little literary project last month our guests’ popularity has gone through the roof. He has appeared on 3 locally syndicated late night TV talk shows. He has been featured in Cruise Radio (Latin edition) magazine. He was seen in the same city as Larry King last week, and it is rumored that Jay Leno will mention his name in a conference call sometime next week.

 

(Background music changes to Eddie Money’s “Money”) But right now it’s time for me, Bob Smith, your afternoon cruise director, to take a little break for our sponsors to make a little moo-la. In just 6 short minutes I, Bob Smith, will be back with our guest.

 

Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? Do you walk around feeling tired all day, wondering why? (I won’t go to the trouble of transcribing all 6 minutes of commercials. Suffice it to say that they were pretty meaningless and hopeless.)

 

Welcome back. It’s me, Bob Smith your incomparable radio host here again with our special guest today. I’m sure you’ve all read something that my special guest has written. He has written so many words floating around the internet that everybody in the whole world should have read at least something he’s written. He is without a doubt the undisputed king of garrulous verbiage. I, your host Bob Smith, have spent hours, days and weeks reading our guests writings, and I want to share them with you today. Let’s give a big Bob Smith show welcome to our guest Carl Trent.

 

Carl, welcome to the Bob Smith afternoon cruise extravaganza show. It’s good to have you here.

 

Thanks Bob, it’s good to be...

 

Carl, it seems to me that for the last what, 18 months or so, I, Bob Smith have been reading your writings on the internet. What or who are you writing so much about, and how did you get started. If I remember right you are writing something about a cruise you took. How can you spend 18 months writing about one cruise? If my sources are correct you have written over 140,000 words about this cruise, is that correct? That’s almost enough for 3 whole books. That’s a whole lot of stuff about your cruise. How do you keep thing interesting? Don’t people get bored? What got you started? What drew you to start writing about your trip? Where can my listeners find your writings?

 

Whoa Bob, you just asked me a whole bunch of questions, let’s see if I can answer a couple of them. My wife and I were coming up on...

 

Hold it right there Carl. We’ve got to take another commercial break. Ladies and gentlemen I, Bob Smith cruise radio talk show host to the stars will be right back to continue our fascinating conversation with our wonderful guest in just 5 minutes.

 

End of part one. Part two tomorrow.

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