Island to Alaska with Pictures (part 2)

[camperhawk]

Mrs. C, how do you do it? Thanks for the next installment Carl!

[camperhawk]

Hopefully this won't be a double post! Don't know how Mrs. Cworld does it. but great Job~~~~~~~~~keep em coming Carl!

[cworld]

Mrs. C, how do you do it? Thanks for the next installment Carl!

 

Do you mean how does she stand living in the shadow of such greatness? Or, maybe how can she handle so much perfection?

 

I don't know, but she manages.

 

(I kill me.)

[Mrs. cworld]

Do you mean how does she stand living in the shadow of such greatness? Or, maybe how can she handle so much perfection?

 

I don't know, but she manages.

 

(I kill me.)

 

I tolerate my DH because it would be toooooooooooooooo hard to break in a new one!

[cworld]

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it’s off to see the doggies we go.

With cameras bared, and film prepared,

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho

 

Blah, Blah, Blah…

 

We’re off to see the doggies, the wonderful doggies of OZ

Because, because, because because…

 

OK, so I need a little (more than just a little) work on my song writing skills. It’s just that we were a little excited. This was one of the things we had circled from day 1. Seeing real sled dogs and getting to ride on a real dog sled, how cool is that? Like my son would say “Narly dude” whatever that means. What made things even more exciting for both of us is that we had just brought home a puppy that we thought would be a great sled dog. Our sled dog is a big mixed breed bear looking dog that can pull a house. He jerks our arms out of their sockets when we go walking. At the time he weighed about 60 pounds and was about 7 months old. He’s a great dog. He would be the perfect sled dog. He has a long winter coat year around, and he is very powerful. He'd be perfect.

 

Here’s his picture

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/419328125/505075305tkMvku

 

He’s a great dog. Anyway, you probably don’t care about our boring dog, (to go along with our boring lives) so on with the story (how many more times do you think I might say that?) We went down through the honking security things and down the stair thingys to the dock. This was our first look at Skagway. The very first thing I noticed (as I’ve said before, I highly trained in noticing stuff) was the logos of the different ships on the rocks along the dock. These were really cool.

 

A couple of pics I took are here:

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/419328125/505088983kQlMDX

http://community.webshots.com/photo/419328125/505765279ARPnma

http://community.webshots.com/photo/505765491/505765491cKXXex

 

I even found this one, it a little old, but it was good to see it:

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/505765602/505765602hgDiYe

 

I thought that these little slices of real life gave the walk into Skagway some real character. It gave us something to focus on that was interesting to look at. I enjoyed picking out which ships had the best artists on board. I think maybe one of the other major lines, which will remain nameless, made it a point, for a while, to really go all out to put up nice pictures. I think it would be very interesting to know the history behind the artists and the artwork.

 

Something like

 

May 25, 1985

 

Dear Diary,

 

Today we got to Skagway. This was the first time the Island Princess had visited Skagway, and so when Mr. Smythe informed of of the tradition of painting the ships logo on the rocks next to the harbor the whole bunch jumped at the chance. I was surprised and quite pleased when Mr. Smythe asked me to join the painting party. We scurried off the IP as soon as we docked. There were 4 of us, me, Mr. Smythe, Jimmie and Bethie. We had all of our stuff together, including the beers, and we hustled up trying to finish before any of the bridge staff saw us. Jimmie and Bethie climed up the rocks and started to put the base down. I was assigned to put on the color. I had picked up some blue and green paint from the paint shop thinking that I’d paint the Sea Witch on and maybe a couple of other things.

 

I was still pretty messed up from the party the night before. I had a hard time climbing up, and Bethie had to help me. After just a couple of minutes, I was puking my guts out. Too much blood in my alcohol system or something, I had to climb back down and get on solid ground. Coming down was harder than going up, but Mr. Smythe held my hand and I got down OK. My head was spinning so bad. It took Jimmie and Bethie about an hour to finish. Mr. Smythe just stood and directed traffic. He looks so good in that uniform. I kept throwing up beers to Jimmie and Bethie. About 1 in 4 fell short and broke on the rocks. Too funny. Mr. Smythe had a couple and loosened up pretty good.

 

After we finished we grabbed the train to up to Canada, what a ride. Mr. Smythe pointed out all of the cool stuff, he's so smart. The way down was just as pretty. Mr. Smythe told me to call him John, and he explained how the prospectors had to cart a ton of stuff over the mountain passes before they could settle in Canada.

 

We tried to put on the show again, but the theater was still uninhabitable. All in all it was a great day. John's a dream machine.

 

More tomorrow.

 

There are probably stories like that behind every picture and the aspiring writer in me wants to know some of them and tell them to the masses. But alas, I don’t know any. Maybe I’ll just make them up one day.

 

By the way DW, I’m sure you meant to say, I love tolerating my husband, he makes all of my days so wonderful. Right?

 

More soon.

[cruzluvr2]

Good to see you back cworld. You take your time - we're still reading. By the way, I've been pulling your "review" over into a Word document and it's nearly 150 pages long. I was on this same sailing; all I have to do to relive my memories is print out a few pages:rolleyes: . But then I don't remember things happening just as you're reporting here. As they say, it's a big ship everyone sees things differently;) On a serious note -- I hope the situation with your cousin is improving.

[cworld]

Thanks cruzluvr2, it's good to be somewhat back. My cousin is improving rapidly. He's home, and doing well. He still has a long way to go, but the prognosis is good. Now about how you saw things differently than I did, it's funny, because Mrs. C and I discuss how we saw things differently. Funny. Thanks for keeping up. Glad I can help you relive a great time (I hope.)

 

PS. for everybody else, I might take a few days to finish the next post. If all goes well, it will have some video of our dogsled ride. If my imovie skills improve just a little, it might even be interesting. If not, well then you might not ever see it.

 

Thanks again for hanging around.

[camperhawk]

You kill me too! that's exactly what my s.o. says "I just kill myself sometimes"! Glad all is going well and Mrs C is a riot too......... maybe she should do the next novel...when this one is finally done!

 

A loyal fan.......be here to the end..! Patience!

[luv2travel2beaches]

HEY CWORLD....Are you out there.....hello.......hello!!!! Can anybody hear me? I'm beginning to think that there is a new thread and I missed out on the connection! Oh well, if you ever want to finish your cruise we are still waiting.....kind of! Good thing none of us were holding our breath for the next installment.

 

patience....I know!

[Gayle2]

Hey Mr.CWorld

Glad to see ya back! We missed you - I was going through withdrawal!!

 

Gayle2

[cworld]

Iraq, or

 

I was kidnapped by very ugly aliens.

 

I fell down and broke all of my typing fingers.

 

My computer was stolen, or it broke, or it wouldn’t take any input.

 

I was recalled to serve on a super secret spy mission to Bolivia, or how about my in-laws moved in and I spend all of my time (better stop right there).

 

Or I uh, I uh,

 

Remember the scene in the movie “You’ve Got Mail”? Where Tom Hanks is trying to explain to Meg Ryan why he stood her up, when he really didn’t, and he makes up all of these silly excuses, and keeps deleting them. Well that’s kinda what I’ve been doing for the last few minutes. I really don’t have any excuse except to say that I’ve been very busy and I haven’t taken the time to keep up with my writing. Can I promise it won’t happen again? No. For now, I guess I’ll just be here when I’m here. That’s about all I can give.

 

Meanwhile, back to our wayward travelers.

 

Me and Mrs. C were a little disconcerted today that there were no kiddies around with clipboards rounding up all of us semi-lost souls as soon as we stepped off of the boat. We walked around for a couple of hours (really it was just minutes in real person time) while I started to go into a semi-panic. We’re not going to make it to our bus… It’s 15 minutes until we’re supposed to leave, and we’re not on the bus… We’re not going to see the puppies… We’re gonna be late… What are we going to do?… So, we calmly strolled down the dock until we came to where one of the kiddies with a clipboard was standing. (She was a good 200 feet from the ship) Do you know where the puppy dog tour is? Tour number? Oh, yeah, it’s 31A (or something like that). Oh, OK down there? Good. We proceeded to follow the nice young things directions and walk another 50 miles or so to the area where vehicles were lining up to pick up us silly passengers.

 

We finally found our kiddie with the clipboard for our tour. Our bus wasn’t even there yet. All that panic for nothing… (I want to recommend PANIC for all of you who like me shun exercise. It’s a good way to get your daily cardiovascular exercise. Get that blood flowing. It’s almost like real exercise. Disclaimer – the Surgeon General has not approved PANIC as a substitute for cardiovascular exercise.) In about 5 minutes up drives this mini-bus and off jumps this bubbly young college coed. She rounded us up, and we boarded the bus. (Hey Carl, wasn’t that last sentence just a little redundant? Hey, yourself. It’s not like anyone is still reading this drivel.) We waited about 5 minutes for everyone to show up, and finally it was finally time to finally go.

 

We’re off to see the puppies. (I done that already haven’t I?)

 

We started driving. I (as I, being the paranoid super sleuth that I am normally do) looked around to see who was on the mini-bus with us. (Never know when or where some intent on world domination villain will show up, you always have to be on the ready.) I noticed, again using those incredible powers of noticing that I am so gifted with, when Mrs. C pointed him out to me, a young man seated on the row behind us. Mrs. C said he was the groom from the wedding we saw the first day we were on the boat. Hmmm, I smell trouble, here’s the groom, where’s the bride. He was sitting with a lady (if you know what I mean) that wasn’t the bride we saw. A little trouble in paradise maybe? This might be a little fun to look in to.

 

So me being the shy unassuming person I am turned to the guy and asked something like “hey, buddy, where’s that girly you married the other day?” I really didn’t say anything out loud, but I did sit back and listen to the conversation. Apparently Mr. Groom was there with his Mother and Father-in(butt-in-ski)-law. Mrs. Bride was sleeping in and shopping. There were about 20 of them on the cruise, and they were all having a good time. All I know is that I’m sure glad that my Mother and Father-in-law weren’t on the SS Dolphin. And, yes dear, you can tell them I said that. (Like they don’t already know.)

 

Back to the bus ride… We drove for years, through the budding metropolis of Skagway, population about 2,000 or something, and off to the dog sled camp.

 

OK, I know it’s not much, but it is something. I’ll try to get back in to the habit, I promise. But, I’ve been known for breaking promises before.

 

Thanks to anyone that has the incredible patience to stay with me.

 

PS. the doggie video is done.

[camperhawk]

Carl, welcome back again!! Merry Xmas to all of us with extremely patient constitutions!

 

Have a great holiday!!!!

We'll be here when you are!;)

[marcruiser]

Thank you for coming back. I hope all is more calm in your life. Remember that we will have patience.

 

Happy Holidays to all.

[Shirleya53]

Carl, it has been almost 7 months since your cruise. I can't believe you remember so many details of your trip. Glad to see you back on this board.

[flashdog_1]

We're still with you!

[cruzluvr2]

Count me as another one still around. Glad to see you are back.

[Lizzybell]

Dear Carl-Glad to see you are back- you were missed!! Do we get to see the movie of the puppies?? They happen to be one of my fav things & i would love to see it. A loyal fan from the beginning(June??) Thanks, Liz

[cworld]

Believe it or not, I’m gonna get 2 of these in in the same week. Who hoo! Ain’t I sumptin’. (Yeah, and we’re pretty sure it's not sumptin’ we’re all that interested in.)

 

Back to the mini-bus ride to see the puppies. We started off driving through beautiful downtown Skagway. The downtown area of Skagway consists of one or two main streets with old timey storefronts, the kind like you see at Rodent World. In fact Skagway reminded me of the main drag area of mouseville itself. The old time storefronts had that Main Street USA look to it. It was pretty cool, but it was early, and I didn’t get a good look at things, or take any pictures. I was saving my picture-taking finger for the puppies. After we left beautiful downtown, we drove through the not so beautiful area of Skagway, you know, the railroad junkyard, and the water plant, all of that stuff. I know every town has that kind of stuff, but surely they could have hidden it better couldn’t they? (Maybe not.)

 

I just hit me… Skagway is a very small town. I was expecting that more people would live such a “storied” town. Who on this board hasn’t heard of Skagway Alaska? Hmmm? I certainly spent all of my adult life (STOP before you start lying again…) Well to tell the truth, I didn’t know much about Skagway before the cruise, but I still expected it to be bigger, I mean population 892. Shoot, there more than 892 people on the Island Princess with blue hair. (PS Mrs. C and I don’t fall in to that category yet.)

 

Enough of the random thoughts… (Promise?) The mini bus continued traveling the road out of town. (At least there was one.) We drove for a couple of days until we came to a dirt road. Now don’t get the wrong impression, this was not a side road, this was the main road. The honest-to-goodness highway. DIRT. Not pavement but Dirt. Yes, dirt. After about 500 miles on the dirt road we came on a construction crew. Don’t know exactly what they were doing to the DIRT, but the were doing something. They had the DIRT road down to one lane. We had to wait 10 minutes for the opposing traffic to clear before we could pass on the DIRT road. Finally we made it through the construction area. We made another stop for a couple of minutes at the base of a tree because our favorite picture subject was posing for pictures. I shot a couple, but they didn’t turn out so good, so I’ll not bore you with some more pictures of bald eagles. They were everywhere. I’ll wait and show you the good stuff. (Hey, Carl, when is that gonna start?)

 

After we got through all of that stuff, and after about 2 years of driving, (really about an hour) we turned off on to a narrow dirt road. Now this is a real dirt road, with real, cough, cough dirt, dust, junk, cough, cough. We drove about a mile down this road until we came to a meadow.

 

Meadow pic here:

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/419328125/521485200QNNAeR

 

In the meadow we can build a snowman…

 

There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow…

 

You can see part of the mini-bus on the left side of the picture. On the right side of the picture is a really ugly, old Suburban on the other side of the stream. This is what they piled us in (or something similar) after I parted that stream in the middle of the picture. I used my previously unknown superhuman stream parting power. After I parted the water we walked across the dry stream bed on dry ground, not even any mud or anything got on our shoes. Ain’t I sumptin’. Somebody had to do it. (What? They had a what? Bridge? I don’t remember any bridges. Hmm. Are you sure? I don’t know… Maybe…) OK so they had a bridge we could walk over. Party pooper. I thought the parting of the water thing was more dramatic. (What was that? My what’s running away again?)

 

So we all piled in to the ugly Suburban and vans they had ready for us. We’re going to see the puppies… They shuttled us all the way up to an area where the dog sleds were waiting.

 

And so are you. Ha, Ha. I’ll try to get some more up in a couple of days. I might actually even get to the puppy video. (Don’t hold your breath.)

[cworld]

Chapter 22 – The dog episode.

 

I took my usual position in the back part of the bus. I wasn’t expecting any trouble on this expedition, but you can never be too careful. The bus had the usual assortment of blue hairs and bumbos. Our mission for today was to plant the stuff we had picked up in Juneau, and leave it here until the heat cooled down some. I was hoping we could find a quiet area fairly close to the dog training area where we could bury the package then I could come back in September or maybe even next spring and pick it up. Hopefully by ‘They’ will have lost interest.

 

It was a gorgeous day. Gin was beautiful, as always, sitting there in her skin tight Levi’s and her “Dogs are People Too” sweatshirt and her cute little Keds tennis shoes. She turned around and smiled at a little girl that was sitting on the row in front of me. Her button nose wrinkled up and her eyes shone with that glow of impending motherhood that radiated in her every movement. I have never been so proud. I couldn’t wait until this whole crazy thing was over and going home again where we could resume being husband and wife and baby.

 

After about an hour the van stopped in a clearing. We had been riding down back roads for almost an hour. This should work out great. THEY will never think to look way out here. We hopped off the bus and transferred over to some vans for the ride up to the sleds. The ride on the dogsleds was uneventful, but fun. Gin rode with a family from Kansas. I was able to grab a seat on the last sled by an older lady from Texas. She kept talking about how things were so much bigger and better in Te-ckx-as. She made it in to a three syllable word. I just tried to keep my mouth shut.

 

When the ride was over I was able to slip away from the others and start looking for a place to stash the stuff. After about 5 minutes Gin slithered up to me. She startled me when she…

 

There’s that stinky other book crowding in again. I don’t know how to stop it. It just appears. (I wish it were that easy.) Oh, well back to the puppies.

 

We jumped off out of the Suburbans and vans that shuttled us up to the area of the dogsleds. And yes, I meant jumped. It seemed like it was about 20 feet from the to the ground. Well, is seemed that way. I do remember that I had trouble getting out. I know if I had problems any real (physically, not just mentally) handicapped people have a real hard time getting out. But, there were a bunch of burly looking guys standing around that probably could assist with any dismounting problems.

 

After we jumped out I noticed something. I’m not sure how many people would have noticed this small fact if they weren’t gifted with a gift such as the one that is so central to my being. (Pppfffhhh) I thought it was so important that I just had to share it with you, since you may or may not be gifted like I am. (That is if there is anyone still out there.) It is one of those things I don’t think “they” everybody to know, so you might be careful whom (Word tells me that I need whom here not who) you pass it on to. I have diblomatic immooonity so I can’t be persecuted for passing it on, but you… you might want to be careful, it might be a little dicey.

 

WARNING – Passing this information on could be hazardous to your health. There are unseen out-worldly forces out there in the world that don’t want this type of information to be distributed to the “real world”. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, in fact you might not even want to know, so if you don’t you might skip reading the next paragraph.

 

Here it is. Can you take it? Are you ready? Are you sure? OK. There was no snow at the dogsled training ground. No stinkin’ snow. Not even a hint. Zilch, Zero Nada, None, no where. HOW CAN YOU HAVE DOGSLEDS WITHOUT SNOW?????? Huh? Can someone please tell me what we’ve gotten ourselves in to? By the way, how many of you have ever taken a dogsled ride where there was no snow?

 

So what did Princess say to expect on our little puppy journey? Here’s the description from the website:

 

Experience a thrilling Alaska adventure as a team of powerful huskies pulls you through the great back country of an historic gold rush site! Glimpse a unique northern lifestyle and see the dogs in action when they take you on an exhilarating 20-minute ride.

 

Relax and learn about gold rush history and present-day happenings on the drive to the northernmost point on Lynn Canal, the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and our dog camp. Meet the dogs and climb onto a wheeled sled — custom made for running during the snow-free summer months. Your husky team whisks you along a wooded trail through southeast Alaska’s beautiful temperate rain forest. Spruce and hemlock trees, glacier-fed waterfalls and views of the Taiya Inlet tidal flats surround you on this fun ride. Then, enjoy refreshments and cuddle the adorable husky puppies. Wander through the musher’s camp and learn about the equipment, hard work, strength and endurance that define dog sledding in the wild, rugged North.

 

SPECIAL NOTES

Some walking on uneven terrain may be required.

 

End of Princess description.

 

Hmmm, OK so it said “snow-free summer months” and “climb in to a wheeled sled”. Must have missed those parts.

 

So there’s not any snow, (I can just hear Bing crooning “Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful…) but there are PUPPIES. Super duper puppies. Puppies of all colors, and their all yapping, yapping, yapping. Some were even jumping up and down. These puppies were primed and ready to go.

 

Just to set the scene a little, there were 4 or so “dogsleds” ready for us. Each “dogsled” had a team of 16 dogs attached to the front. (What, you think they’d attach them to the back, ya dope?) Each “dogsled” had 4 rather large trucklike (not the big semi kind, but the big truck kind) wheels, 6 seats arranged in 3 rows of 2. Each seat was hard plastic and uncomfortable and had one of those General Motors type of seat belt. (Whiner.) There was a bar and a platform behind the last row of seats where the mushers stood and held on. The whole thing was basically an assortment of sheet metal welded together with some seats thrown on top. Really this was no technological marvel.

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/351554714/351569312oWvtTD

 

The puppies were tied to the front of the sled. They were lined up in pairs of 2. (Hey, stoopid, pairs mean 2. Really? Yeah, really.) The line stretched for about, I’m guessing 40 feet. So each “sled”, with dogs attached, from front to back was about 50 feet long. Each pair of dogs was leashed to the main line that tied on to the sled. Each individual dog had it’s own little harness. So cute.

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/351569359/351569359arDBrC

 

All of those unsuspecting, clueless, wandering, weary travelers played with the puppies for a minute, me… I popped a couple of pictures then we were told to pile into the “dogsleds”. Mrs. C and I got on the last row of the last vehicle (our usual place, you know, it’s a spy thing, I’m always on the lookout for shady characters). Then they showed the safety video, you know... “Place the metal end of the buckle in to the buckle thingy so that your seat belt is securely fastened, in case of a loss of cabin pressure, masks will deploy. If you are traveling with someone that needs assistance, make sure you take care of your self first (because that’s the way it should be) then place the mask on the face of the person that needs assistance, just don’t wait too long.” (What’s that dear? They didn’t have a video? Really? Hmmm, I thought for sure I remembered a video. Oh well.) We were told to fasten our seatbelts and prepare for a ride. So we did.

 

About that time HE walked up. More about HIM in our next visit, and I promise we’ll get to the puppy video next time. Goodnight.

[cruzluvr2]

cworld - I'm still pulling all your info into a Word document - it's now more than 150 pages.

 

You have some great photos of the glaciers calving - yours turned out better than mine.

 

Still enjoying your review - post when you can.

[cworld]

Ha, Ha. Made you look.

 

Really... I'm working on the next post and just wanted to let you know it's something special. You won't want to miss it. (Yeah, right Carl. How many times do you think we're gonna fall for that.) No, really, at least I think it's gonna be really good. I should have it completed by Thursday at the latest. Maybe tomorrow even. And yes, it finally has the puppy video. Just wanted you to know.

 

Carl

 

PS. I'm also trying to keep us on the front page. You never know who's watching.

[DLSHS_Mom]

Carl,

 

I have enjoyed your recollections from your Alaskan adventure. We went ~ a month after your did so it is nice to bring back the memories. You started before we left and I remember you going on & on about the rolls. Well guess what, my husband and son are still looking for rolls that are as good as the fantastic rolls they had on the Island! I am like Mrs CWorld...the rolls were okay. :D :D However, my family all agrees that we will be cheering for the Ducks at the Holiday Bowl!:D :D

[cworld]

Man, it’s my favorite time of the year. I just love Christmas. I can’t wait to start playing my Mannheim Steamroller CD's. I’ve got all of these great Christmas song running through my head… “It’s the most wonderful time of the year. With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you be of good cheer…” “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know…” “Chestnuts roasting on a open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose…” “Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, boom, ba-boom, da,” (Hey you try to describe Mannheim Steamroller’s music, and see if you can do any better.) And my all time favorite “Silent night. Holy night. All is calm, all is bright, Round yon’ virgin mother and child, Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in Heavenly peace. Sleep in Heavenly peace.” There. Now maybe all of us will be slightly Christmas crazed.

 

I love Christmas. I usually start decorating the house around the first of November so I can have everything ready by December 1. I probably have over 30,000 Christmas lights that I usually put up. I didn’t get very much up this year with all of the distractions last month, but I still am very much in the Christmas spirit.

 

But enough about me, we better get on with the story. We were strapped in. We were ready for whatever was coming. The puppies were pumped. They were barking, jumping, pulling, they were ready to GO. And all of the sudden for just a second the puppies stopped barking, everything got quiet for just a second. Then the cacophony started up again. We were watching everyone scramble around, watching the doggies yap when HE walked up. Where did HE come from, I wondered? I hadn’t seen HIM before. HE stepped gently on to the back of the sled, and grabbed for the reigns, I mean, grabbed the break lever.

 

“Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner… shoot what was that other one’s name?”

 

I swear that’s what I heard HIM mumble. It was like HE was practicing for something. I’m pretty sure that I’m the only one that heard it. Mrs. C has never mentioned it, but she sometimes has a hard time hearing male voices. The other couple in front us was too busy trying to get a seat belt on their little girl to pay any attention to what was going on around them. So I’m probably the only one that heard what HE said, and can actually attest the “truth”. (I believe.)

 

I turned around and looked and there HE was. The quote/unquote musher. This guy supposedly had finished second or third or something in the other race, not the Iditarod, but the other race that’s about 10 bajillion miles long or something. (If you really want the details, ask Mrs. C she remembers that kind of thing. I was too busy thinking about what I’d heard HIM say.) HE was not what I expected HIM to look like. HE was big. Probably around 6 foot 6 inches tall. HE was not overweight. HE was buff. But I’m sure HE was HIM. HIS hair was black and so was HIS beard. (I believe) My mind raced. What would HE look like in the “off” season? I mean it was May, right? Then it hit me. Maybe this was Junior in training, yeah, now that I think about it, what better summer job to train for THE BIG ONE than hearding around a bunch of whiny tourists riding a sleigh, I mean sled pulled by a bunch temperamental puppy dogs. And with the obvious shortage of people in Skagway, they must always be looking for any kind of help they can get expecially during the tourist season. Yeah... it’s making more sense all the time. Junior. Mmmm. After HE got on the sleigh, I mean sled, it was interesting the way some of the puppies were jumping up and down, you’d a’ swore that they were trying to fly. Junior… (I believe)

 

The thing that really made me believe (I believe) was the reaction of the little girl in our sled. As soon as she saw HIM, she pointed and shouted to her mom, “Mommy, look it’s HIM.” Yes, I know, she was speaking Japanese or Chinese or something like that, but I understood what she said. It was like some mythical force descended on me and translated it for me so I alone could understand. Maybe it was because I was so close to HIM. I knew right then that something very special was happening. But what was even more amazing is that only me and the little girl knew it. I don’t think anyone else had a clue.

 

Picture of HIM:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/419328125/526056211EcYaIz

 

Just take a good look at HIM. Add 30 years, 150 pounds (I’ll happily contribute), a red suit and… The family resemblance is uncanny. The little nose, the eyes that twinkle, and especially the “presence”. This guy had it all. I believed.

 

He hollered “Now Nova, on Judy… now dash away, dash away, dash away all” or something like that. That voice… That crystal clear tone… Just perfect… I have an ear for this kind of thing, you know. I can tell you, without a doubt, I’m not lying here, that it sounded just like HIM, or like a young HIM. (I believe) We all know what HE sounds like. HE has that incredible voice that makes such clear sounds, you know, the ones that we’ve all heard all of our lives. (Do you believe?)

 

As HE spoke, a hush fell over the dogs. They hunkered down and started pulling. You could tell that they were used to obeying HIS commands. They moved instinctively. They worked together. A lot of them stepped lightly and grasped at the air. These dogs wanted to fly. It was amazing to watch these beautiful animals at work. They were both powerful and graceful. They were strong and agile. They were lean mean sleigh, I mean, sled pulling machines. (I believe.)

 

We rode up the hill for a little while until HE hollered “Whoa girls” or something and we stopped for a little break. Each puppy was given some water and some food. We had a couple of minutes to talk to the dogs. I asked a couple how they liked working for HIM. They just smiled and laughed. One of the obviously older dogs looked at me and I swear said “Shhhh”. It was obvious they didn’t want word leaking out about HIM.

 

We were encouraged to take pictures with the dogs, (which, I’m sure was just a tactic to get us to focus on something other than HIM) and somehow Mrs. C got this picture with out my knowledge.

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/351554714/351569626fvaTmX

 

I’m still not sure just exactly how that got in here or how it got posted to the internet in the first place. There goes my anonymity. Oh, well it was fun while it lasted.

 

While we were talking to the dogs I looked up and saw HIM talking to this little guy that had a big book. They kept looking at whatever was in the book and shaking their heads. A couple of times I saw HIM pull out a big pencil with a big eraser and erase something out of the book. I didn’t think much about it at the time. I figured they were just ordering dog food or something, but now I wonder.????

 

HE called us back to the sled, and immediately all of us stopped what we were doing and went right over to the sleds and got in. It was uncanny the way people did what HE said. HE along with his helpers got the sleigh, I mean sled, turned around and we took off again down the hill. This section of the ride was longer and faster. We flew down hill. I swear if we’d hit a big bump we would have flown 5 feet in the air.

 

While we were riding, HE struck up a conversation with me and Mrs. C. HE somehow knew we were from Oklahoma. (Might have been the Oklahoma Sweatshirt Mrs. C had on, but I was skeptical.) HE knew a lot about Oklahoma. HE said something about OU, but I suspected HIS knowledge of Oklahoma was mostly about the rooftops in the state. HE talked about some of the smaller towns around OKC (Oklahoma City). I heard HIM mumble something about sloped roofs… HE was very comfortable talking to us. Again, I heard HIM say something to the little girl, but this time I couldn’t understand it.

 

We asked HIM about the size of the dogs. We were expecting the dogs to be the size of our dog. (Around 75 lbs and very powerful.) HE told us that these dogs are bred to be about 35 pounds, which HE said was the ideal weight for what they needed to do. These dogs are bred for endurance and speed, not just power. HE also said none of the dogs were pure breeds. They were specifically with a combination of traits from different dogs. Not at all what we were expecting.

 

After we got down to the bottom of the hill HE stopped the dogs, and we all got off. I turned around to talk to HIM some more, but HE was gone. Just like that. Gone. Poof. Disappeared. (I really believe.) But I heard, again I think I was the only one that heard it, HIM mumbling, “Merry (intelligible) to all, and to all a goo…” and it just trailed off. We never saw HIM again. Later I asked someone about HIM, and they just said “Who? Never heard of HIM.” Spooky. (I believe.)

 

You can see a lot of what we talked to HIM about and hear HIS voice on the video, which is here.

 

http://homepage.mac.com/cktrent2/iMovieTheater17.html

 

I know, it’s not broadcast quality, but it’s all that I have. I probably don’t have a future as a cameraman, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

 

What a thrill this ride was. The whole morning experience handily beat any of the rides we have been on at Rodent World, (except maybe Buzz Lightyear) or at the other major theme park in Orlando. This whole thing was absolutely first rate. Not that the accommodations were first rate, they weren’t. Not that the ride was anything special, it wasn’t really. Just the whole thing of watching the dogs work, hearing and seeing the men care for them, petting them, (the dogs, not the men) talking to them (both dogs and men), and just being alive to enjoy an absolutely perfect day in a wondrously beautiful setting, this was without a doubt the best thing we did on the whole cruise. And that’s saying something. Thank you.

 

Rating for our dogsled ride - A+++++ first rate. Not to be missed.

 

I’m don't know for sure, but I think, maybe, listening to all this Christmas music all the time and watching the Polar Express every day was not such a good idea.

 

I truly hope that each of you have a Very Merry Christmas.

 

Next week I’ll finish up our little doggie experience and we’ll move on to lunch.

[flashdog_1]

Thank you thank you! Certainly a high point of a cruise to Alaska. Next time, go on a glacier and do the dogs with a sled! That's equally exciting, plus the helicopter ride, of course, over Mendenhall glacier.

[Mrs. cworld]

My DH, I think you have been hitting the eggnog (with an emphasis on the "nog" part) way too much.