Trip Report: ALASKA. Northbound Hubbard Glacier. Millennium. June 22, 2018.

[awhfy]

What a fantastic rainbow shot Anita!!!

 

 

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[JBSteelerfan]

Love that rainbow pic!!

[Anita Latte]

Formal Night on Millennium…

Nope. Scratch that. ELEGANT CHIC night on Millennium.

As with every cruise I have been privileged enough to take…there is a mix of dress on board. In the tiers of dress for men…from the most formal tuxedo to the least formal polo shirt…I’d say the MODE was a button down shirt. Algebra anyone?

I didn’t see a single tux, which only means I didn’t see one. I saw one suit. I saw a sport coat or two. I saw quite a few polos. Several dress shirts included a tie.

The range for women was similar. The mode was a knee length dress. I saw several floor length dresses, ranging from more sundress like maxis to what could accurately be termed a gown. Several skirts and tops. Several nice pants and a “fancy” top.

I only paid attention because I participate on the Fashion board here on the forum and we talk about wardrobe planning…I don’t really care what others are wearing but I admit that I’m a people watcher. People are entertaining…what can I say?

I wore a long-sleeved knee length bamboo knit dress with fun print tights and my Birks.

Tonight’s show is my favorite show…ALWAYS.

Aerialists…Duo NiKa.

They are outstanding. I could have watched both performances…I enjoy the show that much. Such strength and flexibility. And the choreography with the music. BEST SHOW of the cruise. Not to be missed.

Dinner was pretty disappointing tonight.

I don’t order lobster on formal night…but it was available. I ordered it on one of our cruises and it was such a disappointment…I can’t bear to try again, so I don’t. I think there was a lamb dish…and while I’m tempted by lamb usually, I passed tonight because I have lamb in my freezer from a local sheep farm...and I was afraid of disappointment again…so didn’t risk it. I don’t recall fish on the menu…I never order pasta…and that left me with the Beef Wellington.

I’ve never had Beef Wellington…but I watch Gordon Ramsey. I don’t think my beef dish would have made it past Gordon. The pastry was soggy. I should have known when I saw the couple at the other table eating the beef only. The beef was beautiful. A thick slice of rare beef…very tender. But I don’t think this was a good example of the dish…and that’s what is disappointing.

So often, the dishes do not live up to what they are supposed to be. The game of figuring out what is prepared well or well enough, gets old.

One night, I ordered the beef carpaccio appetizer. It had to have been prepared well in advance of service because the edges of the beef slices stuck to the plate. The taste was fine…the toppings were fresher…but when I was finished, you could see the outline of all the slices on my plate like a beef drawn flower. That’s disappointing.

There were a few highlights. The fish generally was good as I mentioned before.

The two best desserts were…First, the classic cheesecake. DS ordered it this night and we tasted it and had to order it the next because it was really good. Also, the Olive Oil Cremeux. Our server had recommended it on the night it was offered…but no one ordered it and he brought it to the table anyway for us all to try. It was excellent…good enough to be memorable.

I didn’t have a single memorable meal otherwise. I only remember what I ordered tonight because it was a big disappointment. I remember what I ordered on other nights because I took notes. Otherwise…no stand out meals.

I’ve read many things about the poor food recently and I have to concur. In general, the food is bland. Much of it is poorly prepared. The serving sizes for the appetizers are definitely smaller than I recall, but I don’t consider this a bad thing necessarily…especially if it is well executed dish, but the dishes weren’t that well executed. For example…if you say you have feta cheese as a main ingredient of the appetizer salad…there should be a noticeable feta presence on the salad…not just a crumble or two.

I would note here that I don’t expect fine dining on a cruise ship. I don’t believe that’s realistic. The nature of a mass food service for a couple thousand passengers from a “restaurant” that can only have new provisions every 7 days is NOT a circumstance conducive to fine dining. I mean…I know what happens to lettuce in my fridge after a week. There are ways and means to keep it fresher but still…there are limitations by design for cruise ship food.

I don’t know what has happened to the food lately…or to my memory…or to my own personal taste and what I want to eat, but the MDR was not ENJOYABLE. I ate because you have to eat. And generally, I could find things that were good to eat. I had very few misses on the trip…but I’m specifically using the word ENJOYABLE. I never truly looked forward to dinner on the cruise.

Silent Disco was really popular on our sailing. IDK if the original plan was to have two nights of Silent Disco…but the way I heard Steve (our CD) talk…because it was so popular…they would have another night of Silent Disco.

Tonight was night two…a DJ Battle.

The blue channel was one DJ…the green channel was the other. They were mixing and mashing and having a great time creating danceable club worthy music. The red channel was “unmanned”…purely Latin tunes. The red channel was Zumba music heaven.

Silent Disco is a good time. I had a lot of fun dancing again.

We didn’t shut down the Silent Disco tonight. We had been traveling for many days now…lots of touring…not too much relaxing…we weren’t up as late tonight.

Tomorrow was a big day.

Tomorrow was Hubbard Glacier.

Tonight was a rough night in Stateroom 9000.

According to the Daily, we were to have passed Cape Spencer at 11:00 PM. I don’t know how close to that we were…if we had made up any time from our late departure from Skagway or not.

The sailing path takes us back by ISP and past Glacier Bay. Looking at my map…many glaciers are along this path. I don’t know how easily viewed they are from the ship…how far from shore the ship sail..but Brady Glacier looks large. It’s a part of Glacier Bay National Park but faces the ship’s path. Note the time for the North Inian Passage…that’s close to Brady Glacier. There are several smaller glaciers facing the Gulf of Alaska.

We entered the Gulf of Alaska somewhere around or after 11:00 PM.

The waters of the Gulf of Alaska were much rougher than the Inside Passage. Tonight, the ship was rocking. Tonight, being in a forward cabin was rough business. DH is especially prone to motion sickness…DS didn’t enjoy the movement while trying to sleep…and I admit that the rocking and rolling wasn’t conducive to good sleep.

Not only was the ship moving up and down…it was rocking side to side. It didn’t quite make us roll in bed but you could feel your muscles tightening a bit to resist being rolled around. I struggled to find that comfortable position that would let me relax and go with flow so to speak.

I had fallen asleep on a lounge chair in the Adult Solarium of the Allure of the Seas during its eastbound TA to go into dry dock. IIRC there were 35 foot swells…enough to make everyone have to grab hand holds all over the ship and make food service a somewhat scary proposition. That experience made me think that a forward stateroom might be okay. So we tried it.

Because of this night…and what happens for the remainder of this sailing in the Gulf of Alaska…we will never book a forward cabin again. One and done for us. DH is not a forward cabin person. I feel fortunate that the sailing was good in the Inside Passage up to this point so that DH wasn’t affected until the end of the cruise.

I don’t recall exactly, but I believe that the schedule for hitting Yakutat Bay was late because of the late departure from Skagway. The Daily said 6:30 AM for entering Yakutat Bay but I think that was altered to later. And this was known this night. Maybe Steve made the announcement in the theater at the show.

I know that our plan was to hit the deck at 7:00 AM because I wanted to see the approach to Hubbard.

I have 300 hundred pictures from the approach and Hubbard Glacier…so please excuse the fact that today’s trip report posting is short and photo-less.

Tomorrow will be all about Hubbard.

[Anita Latte]

What a fantastic rainbow shot Anita!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Love that rainbow pic!!

 

Thanks! It's so fun to when something like this photo comes out!

[Anita Latte]

Today’s Today:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gc7e_EGkgG7J7eGZDVkYgb5dhGary2t6/view?usp=sharing

 

It hurts to set the alarm on vacation. Especially if you are setting it for 6:30 AM. ON VACATION.

 

DH used to say that there were two things he could pop out of bed for easily in the o’dark thirty hours of the morning…Snowboarding and Fishing. Later he would add hunting to that list.

 

I could add glacier viewing to my own list.

 

We all were tired but sleeping in bed wasn’t going very well. Getting up early wasn’t a party but it was welcome in an odd sense because we were all tired of being in bed at this point. The tossing and turning and sleep struggle could end.

 

I dressed warmly. I was in for the long haul on deck…I set myself up as best I could.

 

My long-sleeved SmartWool quarter zip base layer…topped with my fleece hoodie…topped with my fluffy fleece vest…topped with my rain coat. I also had my messy bun beanie on so I didn’t have to fight my hair. Gloves, check. SmartWool socks and my hiking boots, because those are the warmest shoes I brought…and also my waterproof shoes…just in case.

 

My thick, usually very warm hiking leggings were my bottoms. In retrospect, I could have added one layer over those. My legs did get cold.

 

DH was similarly dressed…with a single layer of pants. They were his tech fabric pants…good if it was going to rain on us...and he was cold. He was wishing he had put on his termals. When he finally clued into the fact that we were out on deck especially early…he voiced his discomfort…and we determined that he wouldn’t miss much by running back to the stateroom for some added warmth.

 

He was much happier with his thermals.

 

I recall seeing folks in shorts and flip flops. They didn’t last long on deck.

 

Everyone was cold. Everyone was talking about the cold.

 

The WIND!! Just wow.

 

Mom and Dad were invited to the helipad for viewing the glacier.

 

We discussed this situation because we were not invited to the helipad.

 

And that’s okay.

 

There are people in the world that have earned privileges that I am not entitled to enjoy…YET. I am not salty about this. I believe this is the way of the world…and there should be privileges earned along the path of life. How sad it would be if there weren’t!!

 

We 3 had no issue with this situation and were excited for Mom and Dad to get such a great viewing spot.

 

IIRC the helipad viewing could start at 8:30 AM…and this was later than I preferred anyway.

 

I wanted that approach view so we hit Deck 12 forward. Yay for having a forward stateroom this morning! LOL.

 

You can only take the elevator up to Deck 11…then exit to the deck and take outside stairs up to Deck 12.

 

Leaving the elevators…passing the Cosmos Lounge…I saw that MickeyLive was speaking in the lounge. The Daily calls it “Sunrise Club with MickeyLive”. My brief impression while walking past was that he was giving a detailed information session about the glacier.

 

Interesting…and something I wouldn’t have minded hearing about…but again…I couldn’t be bothered when I was so focused on getting on deck and seeing the view. Perhaps the view would be good in Cosmos…but I’m quite sure without verifying by sight that all the best views were taken in the lounge. My passing glimpse gave me the impression of several people standing and the room being well attended.

 

The disadvantage of viewing on Deck 12 is that the most forward area is enclosed with a glass safety wall that is taller than most humans. If you want to have glass free viewing…you have to go up a few more stairs to the section in the middle of the deck. So all your viewing forward has the ship in the foreground.

 

Also…being so tall on the water…you can’t hear the sound of the ice as the ship enters Disenchantment Bay.

 

When MickeyLive begins his narrative over the PA system…he will talk about where on the ship he thinks the best, most interesting view is…which deck and whether port or starboard. I recall thinking that there is NO WAY that you could run all over the ship as his recommendations might encourage you to do. I would think you would miss a lot by trying to always find the best spot in the moment.

 

I was getting really irritated with the MickeyLive commentary. There was some good information buried in the story telling and the seemingly endless words pouring forth from him with a poor delivery of monotone voice and lack of emphasis that it made it difficult to follow him…kind of like this last sentence...

 

BUT…it made it easier to tune him out.

 

When we had retired to Deck 4 to see if we could hear the ice while we were sailing OUT of Disenchantment Bay later…I distinctly recall MickeyLive talking about the peaceful setting or similar such verbage that prompted DH to say something to the effect of how it could only be peaceful if he would just shut his mouth.

 

That said…

 

Another disadvantage of Deck 12 are the ship parts that interfere with the photos. Whatever that ball shaped thing is and the antenna like spires that are impossible to avoid. If you care about such things…Deck 12 will bug you.

 

Doesn’t bother me so much because I don’t mind such location reminders. I think I could call myself a journalistic photographer. My aim is not to get the great shot…my aim is document my experience. If my experience is from a cruise ship…I’m not bothered by the pictorial evidence that I was on a cruise ship.

 

Not that I don’t try to take a pretty picture…just sayin’.

 

I was really happy to park myself on Deck 12. For this…my FIRST viewing of Hubbard Glacier…I wanted to be outside…with a forward view. I was thrilled to be there.

 

There is no weather information on the Daily for the day. No clue as to what we could expect.

 

The cold. The wind. The clouds. My first photo of the day wasn’t too promising. 7:03 AM.

 

 

DS sought shelter from the wind at the glass wall toward the side of the ship. He found it there and was pretty happy hanging out there for a while. Notice that he was all alone. There were less than a handful at the glass at this time.

 

My beanie alone was insufficient for neck protection…so I pulled on my fleece hood…which helped a lot…then decided why not?...and pulled on my rain coat hood as well. I was getting so warm…I had to adjust because I was fogging up my glasses.

 

There was no way I could put contacts in this early…and this turned out for the best. Wearing glasses was HELPFUL with the wind.

 

We had been sailing directly toward these mountains for a long while. In the distance, they were solid white…only gaining shadows and shape with proximity. It took a while before I even took my first photo because there was no point. They are so white…they look like glaciers…so we wondered if that was Hubbard ahead?

 

Referring to my map…these mountains are covered in scattered glaciers. This thought that Hubbard was somehow at the base of these mountains didn't jive with what I knew though.

 

Within minutes…8 minutes of that first photo to be exact…our heading altered which alerted us to our destination. We were headed for that opening ahead…that is Disenchantment Bay.

I was enamored with the views on the approach to Hubbard. DH cautioned me to save some battery for the glacier itself.

 

Witnessing the transformation of the white mountains into craggy white peaks…with a foreground of GREEN. To see the opening of Disenchantment Bay distinguish itself from shadowed silhouettes to tree covered mountainous hills and mountains. It’s stunning.

 

The greatest transformation…seeing the clouds lift and the sun shine appear.

 

We heard that we were having the first sunny day of the season! This is the day everyone has been waiting for all season!!

 

One hour later…the crowds had appeared…

 

The sun…

 

And Hubbard!

 

Were we really going beyond that point? Really?

 

After witnessing the approach…seeing this seemingly small break in the coast line…access to what seems like such a small bay…it blows the mind to think this large cruise ship is going to sail there.

 

But that is exactly where we are going. 8:12 AM.

 

 

Nearly every Alaska trip report includes some version of “The pictures don’t do it justice.” Pictures are somehow lacking because the camera cannot capture the viewing angle of the eye. The height of the mountains in your periphery…the height of the mountains in the distance…you are IN the bay.

 

Even in person, your brain can’t register how tall that glacier is.

 

This could be another draw back to Deck 12. You may get a greater sense of the height of Hubbard’s terminus if you weren’t standing so tall yourself.

 

I was so happy to see this little fishing boat entering the bay. This little fishing boat is ala Forrest Gump…not weekends at the lake. This boat helps to provide PERSPECTIVE…study where the fishing boat’s wake is in relation to the mountains and the shadows…

 

 

Find the fishing boat’s S-shaped wake just past the first green covered, more in focus land on the right…just before the shadows in the water...

 

 

These are TALL mountains. MickeyLive did talk about the names of the peaks…but I wasn’t tuned in at the time to be able to follow along as to which peak is which. Looking at my map…I’m still uncertain which is which.

 

Hubbard Glacier is on the far right…moving left…Hubbard meets up with Valerie Glacier…and Turner Glacier, which bears no resemblance to the commonly held thought of glacier, is on the far left. MickeyLive went on and on about the story of the love triangle that is three glaciers.

 

At some point, he did mention Mt Seattle. I’m pretty sure the peak toward the right is Mt Seattle at 10350 feet. The other named peak on my map in this vicinity is Mt Foresta at 11050 feet. I think that’s the peak on the far left. The distant, very white peak in between could be Mt Hubbard at 14950 feet.

The tallest brown peak, just to the right of the glacier…bisected by an antenna…could be Gilbert Point at 3304 feet.

 

Funny how distance and perspective work…that Gilbert Point almost looks as tall as Mt Seattle. Gilbert Point is on the near side of the glacier…Mt Seattle on the far side of the terminus. Wikipedia says that Hubbard Glacier is 350 feet tall above sea level at the terminus.

 

The Millennium is said to be 180 feet above the water.

 

Millennium was just approaching Pt Latouche…we were officially entering Disenchantment Bay.

 

I was zooming in and out for photos. In this post, I’ve used the people at the glass to gauge how zoomed each photo is…trying to pick a consistent distance for showing our approach to Hubbard.

 

We heard that we got within a mile of Hubbard. This is as close as we got on this gorgeous sunny day. You can see the ice on the water...

 

[Anita Latte]

As I said…It was a pleasure to watch Hubbard come into view.

 

Hubbard Glacier sits where the land of the Tongass National Forest meets Wrangell – St. Elias National Park. On my map…the Park looks like a glacier wonderland. Hubbard lies along the eastern border. The view forward for much of the sailing is the Park that lies to the west of Hubbard.

 

Malaspina Glacier is a huge white spread on my map…Malaspina Lake is at the terminus. This is my favorite photo from during what I’ll call the approach. I think the shiny flat spot towards the lower right of the mountain range is Malaspina Lake:

 

 

My favorite distant view of Hubbard…from outside Disenchantment Bay. I like how the glacier is just visible, peeking out from the shelter of Pt Latouche. It captures how Hubbard feels tucked away…

 

 

My favorite photo that shows the textures of Disenchantment Bay. The sunshine revealing the vivid green of Tongass National Forest. The rugged 10K foot peaks. The ice-covered water of the bay. That famous glacier blue… The clouds have an almost anime quality...the cartoonish "sparkle" outlining the mountains..

 

 

My favorite closer up glacier view from Deck 12…revealing the striations of the glacier…and the uneven surface of the glacier. The light shining on the tips of the tops. I like seeing the context as well…the mountain backdrop and the icy waters.

 

 

My favorite glacier shot from Deck 4. I think being on a lower deck does offer a great viewing angle…

 

 

My favorite narrative over the PA system this day was when Captain Nikolaos took over and shared. He shared the story of his personal attachment to Hubbard Glacier and Disenchantment Bay.

 

Studying my photos…I am curious to see Hubbard during a different time of day…when the angle of the sun would be shining toward the face of the terminus of the glacier. I’m happy to have sailed the northbound itinerary…having Hubbard as a sort of grand finale to our cruise. Now that we have our first cruise under our belt…I think I’d like to see Hubbard in the afternoon. Southbound sailings generally have a window from 14:00 to 18:00…the northbound window was 07:00 to 11:00.

 

My memory is fuzzy on how much time was spent with each side of the ship facing the glacier…because I was pretty much always facing the glacier. I feel like the forward view was the only view with time spent viewing the glacier.

 

IDK If Disenchantment Bay is a no wake zone…but that’s how we approached the bay. SLOWLY. The way you do when you hit that buoy that says NO Wake.

 

We determined that our glacier portraits should be taken at 9:14 AM…when we thought we had gotten as close as we would get.

 

When we started turning, the starboard side was the first to “face” the glacier. There was time for us to position ourselves to take photographs on Deck 11 at 9:19 AM. But the ship didn’t stop moving.

 

All this talk about the ship turns and the starboard side has a view for a while…then the other side has a view for a while.

 

Nope.

 

Not even close.

 

We were SPINNING!! I swear that by the time you got to one side of the ship…the view was passing. You couldn’t get to one side fast enough to see if you weren’t there already…

 

When Captain Nikolaos reported only minutes into our Disenchantment Bay departure…he PROUDLY announced that we were within about a mile of the glacier and TWO DONUTS!!

 

TWO. DONUTS.

 

He spun that Millennium around like a top…

 

Wheeeeeeeeeeee….

 

That’s what it felt like anyway…

 

We were sailing out of Disenchantment Bay by 9:30 AM.

 

And that’s when everyone and their mother and their grandmother…their aunts, their uncles…their sisters, their brothers…their second cousins twice removed and their BFFs descended on the buffet en masse to finally eat the breakfast that no only likely took the time to eat prior to viewing Hubbard.

 

I know we hadn’t eaten yet.

 

Can I get a table please? Pretty please?

 

No table for you.

 

Or you.

Or you.

Or you either.

[aimee0803]

Thank you again for continuing to post this amazing review. It is definitely helping me make plans for my upcoming cruise.

 

Your point about an extra pants layer raises a question...You note that you normally wear hiking leggings during your land excursions. I got some Under Armour ColdGear bottoms (2 pairs of leggings and a pair of joggers. Will the leggings be enough on their own in port? I don't think I could wear any base layer under them.

[Anita Latte]

We had been on deck for hours.

 

Or rather…I had been on deck for hours.

 

My DH is the bestest hubby in the whole wide world. Greater love hath no DH than the DH that will go back to the stateroom to retrieve the OTHER camera because THIS camera is going to DIE before the morning is over.

 

Blink blink blink.

 

Of all the nights to forget to plug in my camera to charge the battery…*Sigh*

 

And I hadn’t replaced the battery on this other one…*Double Sigh*

 

But the available juice was sufficient unto the morning…Woo hoo!

 

We headed back to the stateroom to relieve ourselves of some layers. They were not needed indoors on the ship. We might have taken showers…I think we changed clothing…and I think we did this now.

 

Plug one camera in to charge. Replace the battery on the other with the backup battery…plug that other battery in to charge.

 

We decided that happy caffeine was more important than food.

 

Bacio was on the agenda.

 

And then the buffet.

 

This would be our first lunch in the buffet during normal lunch hours.

 

How funny is that?

 

Day 1 Sea Day…MDR lunch.

Ketchikan…port lunch.

ISP…late lunch, pool side burgers.

Juneau…port lunch.

Skagway…late lunch.

Hubbard Sea Day…first normal lunch.

 

Buffet after Hubbard…

 

Come on man.

 

This was ridiculous.

 

I think we were excited to have all the lunch choices…we weren’t impressed with the MDR lunch…we wanted to try the buffet. We circled, and circled, and circled.

 

We did eventually find a table…Mom did too…hers was better and we joined her.

 

This lunch was sooooooo disappointing.

 

I wanted to find an Indian cuisine section…and I found a couple dishes but they weren’t good. Next.

 

I wanted to try the lamb roast from the lamb carving station…SO DRY. I went back hoping to find an au jus…there was gravy? Now I couldn’t taste the lamb…Next.

 

The whole salmon on the carving station looked good. Mom said it was good. There it is! And there it goes….It had been out so long…time to replace…

 

The cauliflower gratin was good. Everything a gratin should be…a big bite of cheesy mush with just the slightest texture and a touch of crust on top…

 

I made a pretty good salad.

 

And that’s my sad lunch story.

 

I’m so glad this was my one buffet lunch.

 

In future…I would seek out an alternative to this madhouse with not so great food.

 

DS’ top priority for the afternoon…Sushi Making Demonstration at 3:00 PM.

 

My priority was dealing with the packing. I just didn’t want to leave it to the last minute. We had had a leisurely buffet lunch…trial and error on many dishes…a bit of bar service…but that luggage was calling my name. We had a lot of gear to deal with.

 

My time line is unclear…at some point we were all in the stateroom…packing.

 

DH was having a rough time.

 

A very rough time.

 

The motion sensitivity that had begun overnight blossomed into full born seasickness…

 

I told him he could get sea sickness pills from medical on Deck 2 for free. Off he went. The interaction with the pills and alcohol had him hesitant to take them though…he didn’t want to be knocked into a drug induced stupor on the last day of the cruise. And he wanted to continue enjoying the day with some adult libation.

 

I advised him to get some fresh air on Deck 4…midship or towards aft.

 

Meanwhile…DS and I tackled the packing.

 

We didn’t have to pack the same way…and in fact, I didn’t care about organizing anything. I just wanted to get it done. We would have plenty of time to deal with organizing our stuff once we got off the ship.

 

We packed all the dirty clothing that we didn’t need on for our post-cruise land touring into the red roller bag. We determined that we had done well with our roulette of clothing…we didn’t need to do laundry the next day…or before we were home again. I had scoped out a convenient laundry in Girdwood just in case…but I was happy we wouldn’t need it.

 

The duffle bags are great to pack. With the majority of clothing packed in the expanded expandable red roller…we could make relatively quick work of the gear and remaining clothing.

 

Our luggage tags were either 18 or 19.

 

Mom asked me what number we had. She surmised that we hadn’t filled our disembarking questionnaire.

 

What questionnaire? I said.

 

We had our luggage out of the room well before 6:00 PM. I think we put it out in shifts in the time before the sushi demo and the time after.

 

The sushi demonstration was fine.

 

Held in Sushi on 5…there was a chef preparing the rolls and sushi while another spoke. No samples were given. The demonstration focused on the popular rolls on the Sushi on 5 menu. Everyone who attended the demo could either save 30% that night OR spend $30 pp for a flat cover.

 

DS admitted that when our evening plans were early show followed by dinner…he was overly hungry by the time we got to the food. He suggested that we get some sushi, but treat it like an early pre-show appetizer.

 

He was hedging for how to get sushi on the ship. We had said that we wouldn’t pay for food on board…our dollars were slated to go elsewhere…but we were willing to buy a roll or two since there was a la carte pricing at Sushi on 5.

 

Mom is not a sushi fan…so she wasn’t interested in the demo…nor was she interested in dining there…at least at the time.

 

We opted to still have dinner with Mom and Dad…because we hadn’t really seen them much this day…and it was our last day on board. We made a 6:00 PM reservation for Sushi on 5 with the 30% off offer.

 

Then we would hit the 7:00 PM show…dinner afterwards.

 

Dinner in Sushi on 5 was the BEST meal we had on board. BY FAR.

 

Sushi on 5 is an intimate setting in a room that is somewhat open to Cellar Masters…and somewhat closed off by floor to ceiling glass walls. There are large porthole windows for some natural light…but the view isn’t good from Deck 5. The room itself is the nice view.

 

We were seated in one of the two unique tables with couch seating on one side and chairs on the other. Very cozy. Very comfy.

 

Sushi on 5 is quiet. Cellar Masters isn’t a loud venue and neither is Sushi on 5. What a fabulous break from the crowds of the ship.

 

DH was still feeling rough…he finally gave in and took the meds. We asked if we could possibly get some green apple…Mom had said that was something of a remedy for motion sickness. Our server did serve us a bowl of green apple wedges.

 

DH and I ordered specialty cocktails that were extremely light and tasty. DS ordered green tea.

 

We ordered an edamame appetizer. Classic. Easy. Just as it should be.

 

We thought soup would help DH’s tummy settle…he ordered the pork ramen.

 

 

Excellent broth. Not too salty but full of flavor. And all the yummy tasties that ramen should have. DH was a happy eater.

 

DS ordered a couple nigiri for himself…and a specialty roll to share.

 

 

The sushi was freshly prepared. It was everything sushi should be.

 

The unique atmosphere of the restaurant…from the woven placemats to the simple black and white dishes. The QUIET of Sushi on 5…

 

If I were to have a do over for today…I would have made a reservation for lunch here today. Forget the buffet lunch, especially on this Hubbard day when the vast majority of the ship is on the same schedule. Must avoid the buffet.

 

We were just set on not paying for any additional dining experiences. You have to draw the line somewhere. Specialty dining options are few on Millennium so deciding to stick with the complementary options had seemed a smart choice to limit our expenditure.

 

If we had had lunch at Sushi on 5, we might have missed out on the deal though. Would we have gone to the demonstration? Would we have “earned” our discount dining for sushi that evening? Would we have wanted to eat there twice in one day?

 

I recall when Sushi on 5 was the crepe place…with a $5 cover. What a deal! It was a nice atmosphere then…it is a nice atmosphere now. I would definitely eat here again. Probably for lunch on every Sea Day…as it is the only specialty dining open on Sea Days. (Luminae is open but that is for Suite Guests only…I suppose it is special…but it’s not an option for everyone.)

[Anita Latte]

Thank you again for continuing to post this amazing review. It is definitely helping me make plans for my upcoming cruise.

 

Your point about an extra pants layer raises a question...You note that you normally wear hiking leggings during your land excursions. I got some Under Armour ColdGear bottoms (2 pairs of leggings and a pair of joggers. Will the leggings be enough on their own in port? I don't think I could wear any base layer under them.

 

It's my pleasure to do this review...I'm so glad that it is helpful!!!

 

I think the leggings will be fine on their own in port. Mine were. I think the Athleta tights I have are very similar in function to UA Cold Gear.

 

Hubbard day was especially cold. Being on the water...and with the wind chill...it was the coldest day by far. Also...being on the top most deck...no shelter. My thought was not to have something under the leggings...but maybe I could have put my lightweight joggers on top of the leggings? The joggers in question have an elastic waist back with a snap front and a drawstring. I wondered if they might have been like wind breakers for legs. LOL.

 

I was fine though. I was so layered up on top...and had decent foot coverage. My legs were cold...but it was manageable because I was fine everywhere else. My jacket covered most of my bum so not too much exposure.

 

Does that help?

[Anita Latte]

Tonight’s show was iBroadway:

 

“Imagine an iPod full of Broadway hits presented in a slick fast moving contemporary style. From old favorites to the latest show-stoppers, you’ll be dazzled by this tribute to the very best of Broadway, featuring the Millennium Production Singers and Dancers.”

 

With our 6:00 PM sushi…we were hard pressed to make the 7:00 PM show.

 

Correction…we could make the show just fine…but getting there early enough for a seat was the dilemma. We were a bit late for meeting up with Mom and Dad…not unexpected considering. We aren’t seat savers…we’re considerate…and so we ended up sitting behind Mom and Dad for the show.

 

It was still easy enough to find seats in the “orchestra pit”.

 

Now I have to correct myself…because I didn’t think we had made it to a show on our ISP day…but we did.

 

We went to the late show that night, Boogie Wonderland:

 

“The West End’s hit 70s musical adapted by the original producers and featuring your favorite Disco hits. Feathering the Millennium Production Singers and Dancers.”

 

My on ship camera was set to the wrong AM/PM setting…so the pictures are all off by 12 hours on the SD Card. Technically 8 hours with the time difference. Anyway, I missed all my Disco photos earlier in my reporting with my wacky Photos. I didn’t want to wreck the flow of my report! So I’ve wanted until now to correct myself.

 

This might get confusing so I apologize for that…but this seems to be the best way to insert a discussion of the other show into my report.

 

TONIGHT’S show is the Broadway production. DS has a great memory for these things…so I asked his opinion on the Broadway production.

 

He thinks we saw this show on the Connie…March 2014. He doesn’t think it’s any different. He doesn’t think it incorporates any recent Broadway productions…and he thinks it’s an okay show.

 

Meh is his descriptive word for it.

 

He said he liked the Disco show the best. It was the most “show like show” in his opinion…it had a storyline…and he enjoyed it the most.

 

DISCO…aka Boogie Wonderland…was three nights ago on the ISP day…

 

I really enjoyed this show too. I enjoyed it so much I actually took photos DURING the show.

 

I love the Celebrity theater. I really do. The big benches forming cushy pews of seating…the armrests forming cozy couples and family seating…the handy dandy tables for drinks. It’s a great theater. Intimate without feeling small. I like watching shows there.

 

I had placed my camera on that table and snapped a few shots of Boogie Wonderland…again 3 nights ago according to my timeline here…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disco is fun music.

 

Boogie Wonderland was a fun production.

 

In general, I think the Celebrity production shows are pretty good. It can be hit and miss on whether or not the current voice strengths are suited for the productions on the schedule. I think the current leads were all well suited to the productions…as I stated before.

 

Also…how well rehearsed are the dancers? How in sync are they? How well can they perform the steps and any stand out moves. Again…the current dancers are well practiced…and I thought they did the best they could with the material given. KWIM? They made the best show possible given the show they had to show.

 

The shining moment for the Celebrity shows is the live band. THEY are awesome. Their presence is not in your face…they are usually hidden in the stage set up…but the difference that live music makes over recorded accompaniment is huge. The band makes the shows for me.

 

That and finding the one or two dancers that I like to watch in particular.

 

Everyone should form their own opinion regarding the entertainment on board. I wouldn’t necessarily say that anything wasn’t worth checking out…because each day can be different.

 

Dinner was not memorable for the food AGAIN.

 

I know we had a bit of a wait tonight…because we caught the “Yes or No Gameshow” in the Rendezvous lounge that had started at 8:00 PM. We saw several “contestants”.

 

Bethany ran the show this night…she is good. This is a tricky one. I totally wanted to participate. I think I could do it. I’d win.

 

Bethany will interview you, the contestant…and the object of the game is to not say the words “Yes” or “No.”

 

Definitely an entertaining pastime while waiting for the dinner buzzer to buzz.

 

I think we had a low key night. I don’t recall doing much of anything after dinner. Mom and Dad still needed to pack IIRC. I think we called it rather early.

 

We would be getting off the ship in Seward the next day.

[aimee0803]

It's my pleasure to do this review...I'm so glad that it is helpful!!!

 

I think the leggings will be fine on their own in port. Mine were. I think the Athleta tights I have are very similar in function to UA Cold Gear.

 

Hubbard day was especially cold. Being on the water...and with the wind chill...it was the coldest day by far. Also...being on the top most deck...no shelter. My thought was not to have something under the leggings...but maybe I could have put my lightweight joggers on top of the leggings? The joggers in question have an elastic waist back with a snap front and a drawstring. I wondered if they might have been like wind breakers for legs. LOL.

 

I was fine though. I was so layered up on top...and had decent foot coverage. My legs were cold...but it was manageable because I was fine everywhere else. My jacket covered most of my bum so not too much exposure.

 

Does that help?

 

Yes! Thank you :D I will have a few base layer pants and joggers for onboard, so that will be perfect for Hubbard Glacier. I'm the same with so many top layers, so that will never be an issue haha

[Anita Latte]

Today we are in Seward…

Today's Today:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hsHTIGr2_agnqBKMsLSR7vgxK9jcfR0X/view?usp=sharing

 

It may be morning but the spirit on the ship is GOOD NIGHT…the party’s over.

 

Get out.

 

Make way.

 

Your time is DONE.

 

I must correct myself…18 or 19 for luggage tags…HA! I knew we had second to last…so teach me to rely on my memory for numbers alone…

 

We had 40.

 

We were under the “Guests with Independent Arrangements” section. We should be called to depart around 9:25 AM.

 

You can’t sleep in on a Sea Day because of announcements…you can’t sleep in on embarkation day either due to announcements.

 

It’s fine. It was a good idea to get up and get some breakfast…which we did. My last Alaskan Benedict of our vacation.

 

How’s the weather?

 

From the Sunset Bar…It was drizzling today. Complete cloud cover but not chilly… Seward is nestled in a bay surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

 

 

 

Back to the room for the last minute toiletry packing…the “discount double check” where we locate all the items left from the previous occupants of our stateroom while looking for our own potentially left behind items…

 

On to Bacio.

 

DS was nervous because we were supposed to be in the theater…but we were fine. We had no issues ordering and enjoying our morning caffeine in Bacio while waiting for our number to be called.

 

That grand piano had sat untouched to our knowledge for the entire voyage. Two younger kids…I’m guessing sixth grade give or take…were playing kid appropriate songs on the piano. The things those learning to play piano learn to play.

 

I advised DS that he probably could have been playing whenever other musicians weren’t scheduled to play the entire cruise. For sure he could hop on that piano now. We discussed the most sensitive way for him to have some time on the keys…I knew he was itching to play after having been away from any instrument for over one week…and with little fanfare…he took a turn on the ivories.

 

DS doesn’t play piano. He plays guitar…and has had guitar lessons. He played euphonium. He reads music. He writes music. So long as he is playing whatever he hears in his head…you would think he knew how to play piano. But he has those untutored skills…

 

He played his own music for a while.

 

We were on alert for the annoyance factor in the crew and passengers. The lady sitting next to me complemented his music and thanked him for playing.

 

 

The announcements were running ahead of schedule.

 

Leaving the Millennium in Seward brings back memories of flying into Orange County. The days of old when you walked down the moveable stairs on wheels to get off your airplane…then walked across the tarmac and into the terminal. That’s what Seward feels like as you walk through a make shift tent-like tunnel from the ship to the terminal itself.

 

Accurate or not…my impression of the terminal is of a singular large metal building on a concrete foundation. Luggage everywhere…

 

There’s Mom and Dad with a cart! Sweet. They were able to debark earlier than us.

 

Dad had snagged a cart on our behalf…there didn’t seem to be many. We loaded up our duffle bags and the red roller and were off to meet our shuttle.

 

https://www.akcruiseshuttle.com

 

Mom’s post regarding the details we had when booking:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=56219416&postcount=20

 

When we booked the shuttle, there was the idea that the cost might be mitigated by others on our roll call…but the roll call never took off. There was a thought that Mom and Dad might meet someone in the Elite Lounge who would prefer to share a shuttle to a Celebrity transfer…but IDK if Mom and Dad ever visited the Elite Lounge…or if there was one on board. I’m not Elite…not even close…it never came up in conversation.

 

Our party of 5 were the sole riders in our 10-passenger van.

 

The van was in good shape. It didn’t smell…didn’t appear to be especially old or new. It was comfortable. We were happy. The van towed an enclosed trailer for luggage.

 

Our driver was Scott Campbell. Friendly. Open. Talkative. DH, sitting shotgun, and Scott had good conversation. Scott is knowledgeable about the area and willing to share. He also likes to hike in Denali…we gained some insight into that whole idea too.

 

We stopped at a Canyon Creek rest stop. There’s one in each direction. Rest stop overstates the facilities here. There’s a single or two room outhouse with a pit toilet and hand sanitizer available.

This wasn't a surprise to me...I had done enough reading about Alaska in prepping for our land touring to know that there isn't a whole lot of plumbing in Alaska. Hence the great availability of public showers and laundry facilities. I WAS very happy with the general condition of all the pit toilets we used. Well maintained...didn't smell awful...as clean as such things can be.

There’s a beautiful overlook for the one on the southbound traffic side…where we stopped.

 

 

There’s an informational sign here…and I found the verbage online:

 

http://www.nextexithistory.com/explore/historical-sites/gold-discoveries-trigger-stampede/#!

 

This is an interesting app for road trips. I’m curious and might have to check it out for our next drive cross country.

 

Scott had previously found a path to a more direct overlook of the creek. He liked to take his shuttle rides on the path…a bit of a walk to stretch the legs. In addition to the bathroom break…the short hike is a welcome respite. Beware of mosquitos though...

 

My first up close glimpse of a glacier fed river…what an amazing BLUE!!

 

 

And how funny is it that this is the FIRST photo of our entire party of 5? Scott offered to take our photo on the trail.

 

[awhfy]

Great picture of the whole family. Nice one to blow up & frame

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Anita Latte]

People make all the difference in the world. I highly recommend Scott Campbell.

 

Scott didn’t grow up in Alaska…he moved up there within the past however many years…deciding to finally do what he had been wanting to do for such a long time. He’s really happy to be living in Alaska. He enjoys his job. This is all a winning combination for an enjoyable ride.

 

Scott knows the area.

 

The Seward Highway is scenic. People often ask about how long it takes to get to Anchorage from Seward…trying to time flights and transportation. It’s 125 miles from the Seward cruise port to the Anchorage airport…an approximate 2.5 hours drive…without delays or stops.

 

Many people on the Alaska board will suggest allowing longer for the drive so that you can stop as your interest is perked by any of the numerous sights and places to stop along the way.

 

For the first third of the drive…the railroad tracks follow the same path as the highway. Around Moose Pass, the railroad and the highway take separate paths through the land…meeting up again at the end of Turnagain Arm.

 

Turnagain Arm is a narrow bay greatly affected by tidal changes…exposing glacier silt or mud at low tide. This is where you can experience a Bore Tide.

 

http://www.alaska.org/advice/alaska-bore-tide

 

We were completely out of range for seeing the bore tide on this trip...but Scott did talk about it. He had many stories to tell about Turnagain Arm. Time passes quickly along this drive.

 

He pointed out a simple pipe from which water flows from an underground spring. There are usually people there filling their water jugs of varying sizes. It’s a thing…he made a joke about the Alaskan public water system…

 

He treated us to an extra stop at Beluga Point.

 

 

 

He said that he has seen Beluga whales here before…but we didn’t see any. We didn’t walk out to the point or spend much time here. I really appreciated these stops. So nice to be able to get out an stretch for a minute or two. Literally, we stopped…got out of the van…took a couple pictures…then hit the road again.

 

We 3 were dropped off at the Anchorage airport in the most logical and reachable place for picking up our rental car. Mom and Dad’s hotel wasn’t far away…he dropped them off there…the Embassy Suites.

 

It was a rather odd goodbye at the airport. The airport was rather busy…but Scott found some available curb space. We didn’t linger. Our luggage was quickly off loaded…hugs to Mom and Dad…and that was that. They were off.

 

It was unexpected for Scott to take Mom and Dad to the hotel…welcome…but unexpected…so I didn’t think our goodbye was going to happen at that time or that quickly.

 

I didn’t love that part.

 

DH took off to get the rental car while DS and I stayed with our luggage.

 

A tour bus arrived. Suddenly, our space was invaded with a tremendous amount of off loaded luggage from the bus. They didn’t care that we were there…they would have completely surrounded us and our luggage…leaving no space between ours and theirs. DS and I quickly relocated down the curb to gain some separation.

 

First hand witness to the tour bus effect. There are warnings to allow plenty of time at the Anchorage airport because of the sudden traffic for check in and security created by the arrival of tour buses.

 

I wondered how our weather was…and then had the brilliant notion to photograph our weather each day…wishing that I had thought to do this in each port. It was 12:23 PM.

 

 

I know we had debarked earlier than the posted schedule…but we did spend a bit of time gathering luggage (not much though because we had the cart and our luggage was right there)…using the bathroom before hitting the road…finding Scott…loading up, returning the cart, and then finally hitting the road. Our number was second to last…and here I was at the airport before 12:30 PM on debarkation day.

 

The private shuttle was wonderful. I would repeat this in the future. I think you can personalize your ride. We weren't concerned with transforming our shuttle experience into a touring experience. Just as well...the day wasn't conducive to touring...we drove in and out of rain all along the Kenai Peninsula portion of the highway.

 

DH had no problems with the rental. We used National because our credit card points had more buying power with them than the other two options available for point redemption. We did pay an extra $60 to get a full-sized vehicle.

 

We had a Chevy Malibu…a hybrid vehicle that got great gas mileage…with enough trunk space for all our luggage. I could sit normally in the front seat and DS still had decent leg room in the back seat. DS synced up with tunes again…we were off on our DIY land adventure.

 

First stop…LUNCH.

[Anita Latte]

Great picture of the whole family. Nice one to blow up & frame

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I agree! We didn't make a point to get group photos...probably should have. This trip, I was more focused on getting more photos with Dad in them. He's the other photographer in our family and if I don't make a point to get photos with him in them...he doesn't end up in any!

 

Next time...I'll get more photos of all of us. I don't love posed photos though...so that's a problem. Scott took our photo again at Beluga Point...so I have two from the trip.

[Italy52]

"Leaving the Millennium in Seward brings back memories of flying into Orange County. The days of old when you walked down the moveable stairs on wheels to get off your airplane…then walked across the tarmac and into the terminal."

Anita, we used to live in Orange County (Irvine to be exact) and we remember how small Orange County airport was; it has certainly grown up.

Great family picture. Still enjoying your journey.

[Anita Latte]

We needed to purchase food supplies for camping…so we opted to pick a restaurant convenient to a local WalMart for lunch.

 

Mapping the nearest WalMarts...Moose Tooth came up on Maps…memory jogged…I looked it up and realized that I had read a bunch about it on this forum and TripAdvisor.

 

Pizza?

 

You betcha.

 

Meanwhile…Mom and I are texting and she is saying to not be upset with our odd goodbye…everything is good.

 

Ok, fine.

 

The parking lot at Moose Tooth was quite full…but we did find a spot in the lot. There were cars parked all along the street as well. I recalled reading that you wanted to eat there, get there early…or be prepared to wait.

 

We were early for dinner…late ish for lunch. Our name went on the waiting list.

 

The weather was gorgeous…there was an outside patio…but the guys wanted air conditioning.

 

Meanwhile…I realized that Mom and Dad’s hotel is only a block away.

 

Had they eaten lunch yet?

 

Nope.

 

We corrected our party to a group of 5 for the wait list…

 

Mom and Dad figured out how to cut through the parking lots and the back streets to get to Moose Tooth from Embassy Suites…

 

By the time Mom and Dad came over…we had a table.

 

Ta Da!!

 

This had been the original plan…having lunch together before parting ways. Might have been too tight a squeeze in the Malibu with all 5 of us and all that luggage…so it all worked out for the best. This happenstance would have been a perfect plan…so we were fortunate that the day just happened to unfold this way.

 

Moose Tooth is a fun restaurant and brew pub.

 

http://moosestooth.net

 

Mom ordered Pipeline Stout. DH and I considered taking some Fairweather IPA to go…one of two brews available in six packs…so we branched out from our typical IPA to get something we couldn’t take to go. I THINK we ordered a Northern Lights Amber and a Polar Pale Ale. All were EXCELLENT brews:

 

 

We ordered Diablo Break Sticks: Baked with cheddar & pepper jack cheese and chili flakes; servd with spicy chipotle sauce and a drizzle of ranch. The sauce was indeed spicy…ooey gooey cheesy bread sticks…everything something like this should be.

 

 

DH wanted something he couldn’t easily get in the lower 48…he ordered a small Call of the Wild: Reindeer Sausage, Steak, Bacon, Portabella & Crimini Mushrooms, Red Peppers, Green Onions, Garlic Cream Sauce, Mozzarella, Provolone, Garlic Oil.

 

 

Mom and I were attracted to the one seafood pizza…we ordered a medium Shrimp Fiesta: Shrimp, Red Onions, Jalapenos, Red Peppers, Roma Tomatoes, Cilantro, Chili Flakes, Shake Cheese, Parmesan, Mozzarella, Provolone, Garlic Oil.

 

 

Dad ordered his old reliable…one of his favorites that he often orders…a small Lu-Wow: Smoked Ham, Fresh Pineapple, Mozzarella, Provolone, Marinara.

 

 

Being in a specialty pizza place…DS wanted to order something odd…something normal pizza places wouldn’t have…a small Mac N Cheese: Reindeer Sausage, Macaroni Noodles, Parsley, American Cheese, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Provolone, Garlic Oil.

 

 

This was a lot of pizza!!! It was all so good. Good crust. Not too thick…not too thin. Good ratio of toppings to crust. Thumbs up on all the pizza.

 

We all agreed that we could easily work our way around this menu.

 

I was amazed to learn that Incubus was going to be playing here the following weekend. Incubus is one of our favorite bands…we have seen them twice now…once when they were the headliner and once at Carolina Rebellion. It would be amazing to see a band of their caliber at a place like Moose Tooth.

 

Moose Tooth is a casual place. Loud. Busy. Full of locals and tourists. I would gladly go here every time I passed through Anchorage.

 

We were stuffed…but there was still so much pizza left over. Mom and Dad adopted Dad’s pizza leftovers to take back to their hotel…we 3 took the rest.

 

It was time for we 3 to be on our way…take care of our errands and get back on the road to get to our Public Use Cabin. It was Friday…I was slightly concerned about weekend traffic headed to the Kenai Peninsula for the weekend before Independence Day. We had enjoyed a leisurely meal and had a bit of hang out time…but it was time to part ways.

 

We had time for big hugs and a proper good bye.

[Anita Latte]

"Leaving the Millennium in Seward brings back memories of flying into Orange County. The days of old when you walked down the moveable stairs on wheels to get off your airplane…then walked across the tarmac and into the terminal."

Anita, we used to live in Orange County (Irvine to be exact) and we remember how small Orange County airport was; it has certainly grown up.

Great family picture. Still enjoying your journey.

 

I grew up in the Bay Area. My Great Grandma Mary lived in Lake Elsinore. In my younger years, I would visit her for several weeks during summer break. I haven't been there in decades...but I'm sure things have changed. There used to be a road that Grandma and I would drive to and from the airport that we called the Pee-ew Road...it was a small road through the cow farms. All the orange tree groves are gone from around where Grandma used to live...I often wonder if Pee-ew Road lives on.

[Anita Latte]

Our first stop was Northern Knives.

 

http://www.northernknives.com

 

DH has a thing for knives. He saw some handcrafted, locally made knives in Ketchikan, but we opted to wait for Anchorage…we didn’t want to hassle with cruise ship security.

 

This store has a wide selection of knives made by many different artisans. The owner is familiar with many of the knife makers. Many of the craftsmen have other day jobs and make knives as a hobby. The owner talked about how some of them go on annual scavenging trips to gather materials for the handles…including mammoth ivory and bone…and spend the winter honing their craft.

 

The store is a bit of a dive in atmosphere. Utilitarian displays. The knives are the attraction. Prices are reasonable but consider the purchase an investment. This isn’t an inexpensive souvenir.

 

Selection varies because current inventory can change daily and is unpredictable. There could be a flood of inventory with a delivery from an artisan…or not.

 

We liked that the names of each artisan was shown with each knife as well as where the artisan was located when s/he crafted the knife. Some of the knives are crafted while in the lower 48 by people who live part time in Alaska.

 

DH selected a mammoth bone handled knife that had been crafted in Alaska.

 

Next stop was WalMart.

 

A slightly different layout…but basically this WalMart resembled every other WalMart.

 

We purchased instant ramen and pho type soups in their own bowls. We had run taste tests at home and knew the brand and flavors we liked best. There was a broader selection of flavors and brands in Alaska…we had wondered if proximity to Asia would influence what an Alaska WalMart would stock…and it did. There was a great selection of these soups.

 

Beef jerky. Fruit. Snacks. Typical camping food.

 

Mom had located a promising bakery for provisions for our fishing trip.

 

http://fireislandbread.com

 

We were supposed to bring our own packed lunch. We needed something that would pack well and not get soggy…or need to be chilled. Mom’s idea was to pack ham and cheese croissants. Brilliant!

 

When we were there…we also saw Ham Cheddar Chive scones…perfect for breakfast. Much better than the Lara Bars currently on the menu.

 

All our shopping done…we headed out to the Kenai Peninsula.

 

Our home for the next two nights would be the Engineer Lake Public Use Cabin in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

 

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Kenai/cabin.html

 

https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_7/NWRS/Zone_2/Kenai/PDF/Cabin_Engineer_details.pdf

 

There are public use cabins all over Alaska:

 

https://www.alaskacenters.gov/trip-planning/lodging-permits/cabins

 

These can be reserved 6 months in advance if they are on Federal land. If they are on Alaska State owned land…still 6 months in advance, unless you are a resident of Alaska, then you can reserve those cabins 7 months in advance.

 

I was logged in and ready to go at 10:00 AM EST on December 29, 2018, which was when the business day started at the 6-month mark for my hoped for reservation on July 29, 2018. As I said earlier in this thread…the literature refers to a 180-day booking window but they did not seem to be so specific, being unconcerned with 29, 30, and 31 day months to figure out the 180-day booking window…the 6-month mark worked. (I did test this prior to that morning).

 

My backup plan was to go for another public use cabin. Upper Ohmer Lake and Kelly Lake Cabins were both nearby but there were only a quarter mile down a trail. Engineer was a full mile…we were hoping to feel a bit more isolated for our cabin stay.

 

I did get my first choice…and then I finalized our Kenai Peninsula plans.

 

Total cost for 2 nights…$100.00. Each night was $45.00 and there was $10.00 service fee.

 

I was anxious about the cabin because we didn’t have to pick up a key…or know a combination…the door would just be unlocked.

 

The cabin was booked solid for most of the summer…people staying there the night before our stay…people staying there the night after our stay.

 

There’s a lot of trust happening with this public use cabin situation.

 

It’s about 120 miles to the cabin from Anchorage. About 2.5 hours drive.

 

Back on the Seward Highway…driving along the Turnagain Arm again.

 

This is an easy drive. The road is in great shape. At times, there are two lanes…add a passing lane for one direction or the other…add a designated turning lane. Line of sight is generally good. There are many RVs…several buses and shuttles…but this road moves well.

 

We didn’t experience any construction.

 

We just enjoyed the views of the surrounding mountains and the water.

 

 

 

 

We were driving in and out of rain.

 

The weather on the peninsula and south of Anchorage was completely different. Anchorage was sunny and warm…this was completely overcast, scattered showers, and cooler.

 

Looking past DH through the window…you can see the train tracks running parallel alongside the road.

 

 

All of these photos were taken around 5:00 PM give or take.

 

 

 

We weren’t in a hurry necessarily. The sun wasn’t supposed to set until 10:45 PM…but we didn’t bother stopping along the way for any sightseeing. I took all these photos sitting shotgun while we were on the road.

 

We had seen the turn off for the Sterling Highway earlier. Scott had pointed it out when we passed it.

 

Time passed quickly as we were absorbed in the view…in the shadow of the mountains…crossing and seeing the Kenai River.

 

The Sterling Highway is a two-lane road. Few turn lanes…so if someone wants to turn across traffic…you could get stuck for a bit.

 

It’s a typical highway through several small river centric communities. Roadside cabins and inns...places advertising river raft tours and guided fishing.

 

We passed the Russian River ferry area, where we would meet our fishing guide the next morning. A couple miles further and we turned onto Skilak Lake Road…a dirt and gravel road that seemed well enough maintained. Not too many holes or wash board sections.

 

We passed several points of Kenai River access…

 

A scenic overlook…

 

The Upper Ohmer Lake cabin parking spots.

 

The Engineer Lake overlook…and finally, the road to Engineer Lake!

[Anita Latte]

There is a lot of free camping in Alaska. The Kenai National Wilderness has several campgrounds with free camping…like Engineer Lake, which has three sites. First come, first served.

 

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Kenai/visit/visitor_activities/camping/campgrounds.html

 

Engineer Lake Road is a short, winding dirt road through the forest that dead ends at the lake. There are signs warning that there is little room ahead to maneuver larger vehicles…like a larger RV or fifth wheel. The campsites are at the road’s end…where there is limited parking.

 

One campsite was already occupied with what appeared to be a group of high school aged boys and girls.

 

We were not annoyed.

 

Quite the opposite…I recall thinking how lucky these kids were to be able to do some free weekend camping. They had a friendly puppy dog and we could see coolers full of soda…not beer. There was a great atmosphere here. The energy was happy, anticipating fun despite the current on and off rain drops.

 

Literally…rain drops. The kind of rain where my SIL would say, “The sky is dripping.”

 

We were happy that the rain had basically passed. Hiking in the rain isn’t very fun.

 

Getting sorted took a bit of time.

 

Packing our packs with the gear we needed…including clothes and food. NOT carrying out what we didn’t need.

 

Putting on our hiking boots and raingear.

 

Finally, we were ready to hit the trail.

 

Wipe your feet!

 

The trail is well marked and obvious but doesn’t appear to be used much. The vegetation is creeping into the trail…many potential trippers with thick tree roots and large rocks and boulders. The trail is along the lake shore.

 

Wildflowers in bloom.

 

We couldn’t ever see the cabin from the trail.

 

We felt a bit odd…hiking the trail with our box of leftover pizza. Out in the fresh air…the aroma of the pizza seemed really strong. We felt like we were spreading an invitation to dinner to all the inhabitants of the forest.

 

The trail is the Seven Lakes Trail.

 

https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/map_SevenLakes.pdf

 

About ¾ of mile from the parking lot, the trail to the cabin branches off the main trail.

 

The trail had muddy spots…and the vegetation was damp…but overall, it was easy enough to hike. Relatively flat with one or two small hills on the way to the cabin.

 

I felt a huge sigh of relief and all tension melt away when we reached the cabin…found it empty and waiting for us…the door unlocked. Looking exactly like all the pictures I had found on line. Truth in advertising is best.

 

 

There’s a picnic table under a tree…next to a small wood shed. The shed had a shovel, an axe, a saw as well as firewood gathered from a previous camper. Also…oars for the boat and life jackets.

 

 

The boat is available for use for those staying in the cabin. The website had said that PFDs were required to use the boat but had said that they weren’t supplied, so seeing them in the shed was a welcome surprise.

 

 

The campfire ring and the view. 8:40 PM.

 

 

 

 

All was peaceful. Not necessarily quiet.

 

There is constant sound in nature.

 

We could also hear other campers…not just the high schoolers…we could hear the occasional people generated sound.

 

It was kind of comforting…visually seeming to be alone…but still hearing the sounds of others. We were isolated but not completely out of touch.

 

Nice.

 

The interior of the cabin is spacious.

 

Two sets of bunkbeds with one window in between them on the far wall. The beds are made of wood…and seem slightly bigger than a standard twin. DS was on the lower bunk of one…DH and I shared the lower bunk of the other. Our sleeping pads could fit side by side.

 

There was another table with benches inside the cabin. Also a wood burning stove and some simple tools to help with housekeeping…a broom and a dustpan. There was one window on each wall…and the door had a large window.

 

We had a small LED lamp to have some ambient light in the cabin if needed:

 

https://www.fieldandstreamshop.com/p/olympia-solaris-rechargeable-lantern-16olyuslrslntrnxxcac/16olyuslrslntrnxxcac?uniqueID=1355742

 

With the cloud cover…the cabin was pretty dark.

 

We set out our self-inflating sleeping pads…which usually need a bit of additional air after they inflate a bit. Unpacked our sleeping bags so they could regain some loft after being compressed for over a week. And generally settled into our new home for the weekend.

 

Not pictured…there is an outhouse here, similar in design to the one at Lower Dewey Lake. Inside there was toilet paper! I had purchased a single roll at WalMart just in case. And most curious…there were also two beautiful yellow roses laying on the bench in the outhouse.

 

Hmmm.

 

After settling in…we were ready for food.

 

The picnic table was soaked and we weren’t equipped to dry it off…but it was too dark to be inside the cabin. There are two benches fixed in place on the front porch. They are also sheltered a bit with a slight overhang.

 

We parked it on the benches and ate our pizza leftovers for dinner!

 

It was too wet to enjoy a campfire…we were pretty tired after a couple nights of poor sleep…so we were ready for bed fairly early.

 

We were to meet our fishing guide at 7:00 AM…which meant we had to wake up extra early to be able to first hike out to the car and then drive to our meeting spot. Our phones were charged up during the car ride...we set alarms on our phones and cashed it in for the night.

[Anita Latte]

Today we are going fishing on the Kenai River!!

 

How quintessential Alaskan is THIS day?!?

 

Our day started bright and early…sleep had been a little rough.

 

The wooden bunk beds squeak…or groan…whatever…any movement causes a ridiculously loud noise to disrupt the extreme quiet of the cabin. The simple act of rolling over in bed. Not to mention the rustling sound of the sleeping bags…

 

And it was HOT. Who would have believed that we would go to Alaska and SWEAT all night long? I think the cloud cover contributed to the warmth…holding the temperature steady through the night.

 

And there were a few mosquitos that had gotten into the cabin. That high pitched buzz in the ear…AAaaargggg! That’s the WORST sound…

 

We had been careless with the door…leaving it open too long while coming and going. Lesson learned.

 

We also learned that the Alaskan made mosquito repellent is OUTSTANDING. It’s a strong smell because it is an essential oil blend…but it isn’t that strong chemical smell. DH, my chemical engineer, will argue that it’s ALL chemicals…but understand…this is an astringent smell…lemon eucalyptus…it clears your nose a bit. It isn’t nasty. It’s a bit oily too…so your hands feel a bit greasy after application but it soaks in…no stinky residue.

 

This is life changing mosquito repellent. I can’t recommend it enough.

 

We all survived the buzz of the night unscathed.

 

There was still cloud cover…but no rain this morning.

 

Our Nalgenes were full. We have a large capacity gravity water filter that we had set up the night before. The water was cool even.

 

The scones were excellent. A little crunch on the outside…a zap in the microwave would have been welcome to take the chill off…maybe soften the outside…but still. A filling and tasty compact breakfast.

 

The dew was thick on the bushes as we hiked along…our pants would have been damp if they weren’t so water resistant. We made pretty good time on the trail…

 

We had 10 miles of dirt road driving…then another 3 miles back up the highway to get to the Russian River Ferry.

 

Driving along…first bear sighting!! Right along the side of the dirt road. Completely casual.

 

We stopped to admire...but didn’t have time for pictures. We were already cutting it so close…we were even on track to be a couple minutes late.

 

We all agreed that was a good bear sighting. From our car. Completely safe. Chill bear doing their thing.

 

Awesome.

 

Much better than on a trail while carrying a box of leftover pizza.

 

Just sayin.

 

The Russian River Ferry area has a lot going on. There’s the ferry. It’s also Sportman’s Access Site...aka boat launch. There’s also a campground.

 

https://www.alaskarm.com/russian-river-ferry/

 

We were warned ahead of time about the day use parking fee. It was less than $20. Our fishing guide had said there was a nominal parking fee…I remember thinking that the fee was not NOMINAL…my cut off for NOMINAL is $5. This was a make sure you hit the ATM fee.

 

The day use parking area was full of trucks with empty trailers. Driving through the parking lot…it’s not exactly small…DH was asking me if I had more details about meeting up with our guide, Angle 45.

 

http://www.angle45.com

 

Nope.

 

We drove past the boat launch area itself and there was an expectant looking man standing next to an empty boat. He was all decked out in fishing waders…

 

Stop the car. Roll down the window. I said, Jeff?

 

He said, Jake?

 

Perfect Momma moment.

 

I do that all the time with names. I’m not great with names…but I get close. I called one of DS’ fellow tennis players Kyle for MONTHS. His name was Luke. To me…Kyle and Luke are basically the same name. Both 4 letter words with 3 out of 4 letters the same. And Us and Ys are pretty much the same too. Made perfect sense to me.

 

Jake…Jeff.

 

I give myself an A for effort. I used to avoid using people’s names because I knew I’d get it wrong. I’d say what so many do…I’m terrible with names, what is yours again? I finally decided that I was close enough…I’m not terrible with names…I’m terrible with getting the right name…but I get close. I like to think it’s better to get close and try. It’s practice. Sometimes, I even get the name right.

 

I told him our family name and we all smiled because Jake was our guide for the day.

 

He directed us on where to park and where his truck and trailer were parked so we could get outfitted for the day.

 

Angle 45 is a two man operation. Jason started it and Jake joined him. They are based out of Hope, AK. You can meet them at their base in Hope to get all outfitted or they bring the gear to your meeting place.

 

We did well with the shoe sizing…but we didn’t score with the waders. That is to say…the waders provided for DS and myself were a bit tight…and thankfully, Jake had extras enough to find pairs that worked. DS’ fit properly and mine were overly large…but overly large is better than not being able to sit down.

 

I hadn’t thought to talk about wader size. We had provided our shoe sizes only. I had an issue with waders a couple months back when we were shopping to outfit our DIY fishing. Academy Sports has affordable decent merchandise. The slogan is true: Right stuff. Low Prices. Everyday. A-ca-de-my!! They had a deal on waders.

 

I had tried them on…total hit to the self esteem. More motivation to get into shape…so my waders will fit me properly. This was one contributing reason for why I ended up with the hip waders.

 

DH had to give me a look…basically it said…don’t go there…as I had to ask for a bigger set of waders. I only share this moment because I think many other ladies have been there…don’t let something like this hold you back from a day like today.

 

Jake had a thermos of coffee!!!

 

That was one thing we didn’t have time to do this morning. Boil up some water for coffee. And there were no local coffee shops…or Strabucks even…on this stretch of road. DH was ready to deal with the headache consequences but much better is a guide with a thermos of coffee.

 

Now that I’ve met Jake…I would ask him to bring an extra thermos or two. Or an old water bottle…anything convenient for an even bigger supply of coffee.

 

Jake is a great guy. We immediately felt comfortable with him. He knew what he was doing. He’s patient. He’s all about making sure that we were having a good day, start to finish.

 

We had brought our raincoats…there were a few sprinkles…nothing much…but enough that would make normal clothing uncomfortable without rain protection. I was wearing my hiking leggings AGAIN…something fitted is best under waders. A short-sleeved shirt. Raincoat tucked into the full suspender waders.

 

Good thing for the belt. That’s what made my bigger waders more workable. I wouldn’t win any fashion awards but I was functional.

 

My waders had a chest pocket for my camera. Woo hoo.

 

We were ready to catch some salmon!

 

Wait. What?

 

Salmon?

 

Salmon.

 

SALMON!!

 

It was either that the first run had some stragglers…or the second run had some earliers…or both…but there was salmon in the river. Sockeye Salmon. Reds.

 

OMG!!!!

 

When we booked…Jason had said that there MIGHT be a chance for salmon but we were pretty much smack in between the runs. We’d likely be fishing for trout and dolly varden. The fact that we would be fishing for salmon was a DH dream come true. And a complete surprise.

 

Jake confirmed that we had our fishing licenses and we headed over to the boat.

 

There were three seats in the boat. And a kind of net-like, hammock-like seat for the rower…that’d be Jake. The Upper Kenai River is wake only, no motors permitted. All the fishing equipment had been loaded before our arrival…Jake shoved us off and rowed us down the river.

 

More like guided our float. We were moving with the current.

 

The launch is just upstream on Kenai River from where the Russian River joins it. This is the area of renown…the photos of “combat fishing” with fisherman standing almost shoulder to shoulder in the river. The combat fishing wasn’t in full force on this day…but there were many, many fishermen there. There was about a 5-8 foot separation between the fishermen.

 

Still looks like a lot to my unaccustomed eye.

 

We continued on down the Kenai…around the bend and there were two other boats at anchor on the side. Jake deftly positioned our boat between the other two and we all got out to learn how to catch some salmon.

 

The spirit of the river is one of abundance and friendliness. There’s plenty for all…so it’s not about competition so much as sportsmanship…being helpful…making the day great for all. Jake had hailed several others on the river as we had floated by…he was a known presence…and all conversation was constructive and friendly.

 

It was going to be a great day. You could feel it.

 

We would be fly fishing…per se…but it wasn’t like any fly fishing that I had seen before.

 

When I picture fly fishing…I picture the whip of the line creating great arcs in the sky…front to back…front to back…the arc increasing in length until finally you lay it down on the water. I picture a Peanuts like cartoon with a fly fisherman all tangled up in his line…wrapped up like a mummy…

 

Today…we would be doing more of a fly flicking kind of action.

 

Much more manageable. Much more user friendly.

 

Jake is a patient teacher. He demonstrates…then he put us all in place…giving us all a bit of room…about 5-8 feet between each of us…and then we do our best to do it.

 

You let out a bunch of line...you don’t want it on the reel…it just hangs there but you hold it in place. You make sure you have about 12 inches of line from the end of the rod to the weight on the line. You kind of swoop the rod in the opposite direction of your cast and FLICK your rod over THERE while letting go of the hanging line. The idea is that the force of your flick flings the weight on the line which pulls the rest of the line out.

 

That’s the idea anyway. Making it all come together…well…surprisingly…not bad. After a handful of tries…you get into the rhythm of it.

 

You flick your fly out into the current…watch the line float down with the current to a particular spot…pick one that’s about 45 degrees in front of you…and when your fly hits that spot…start pulling in the line.

 

Pull in the line. Don’t reel.

 

If you do it right…the weight kind of bounces along the river bottom…causing the fly to jig and move in a way that tempts the salmon to hit it.

 

Now…if you feel a different kind of BUMP on your line…pull it to set the hook in what could be a fish.

 

BEAR!!!

 

Under the Kenai and Russian River Access heading, my Milepost book reads: CAUTION: Bears frequently walk the riverbanks. Call out if you see a bear.

 

DH is calling out…Anita…Anita…get the camera!

 

I was! I was!

 

Mama bear and baby bear were walking down the shoreline…casual as you please. The first boat had called out the warning. I had just enough time to dig out my camera and capture the moment when they passed by OUR boat:

 

 

At this time…Jake was hanging out closer to the boat. He was watching our technique and offering pointers…helpful hints. Sometimes he would come over and adjust our grip or show us more clearly what to do.

 

We were fishing well so he was by the boat…at the ready to grab his net when Mama bear meandered by…

 

 

Immediately followed by Baby bear…

 

 

Mama was heading back into the woods…baby followed but she immediately rappeared just a few feet further downstream. The perfect Jungle Book Baloo moment! I didn’t realize black bears have tan faces!

 

 

 

They headed back into the woods again…and didn’t reappear.

 

 

The time stamps on these photos are within two minutes. The first one taken at 9:15 AM…the last one at 9:16 AM. This was a very brief close encounter…the perfect kind!

 

A day in the life of a fisherman on the Kenai River in Alaska!

 

DH said that this was literally a dream come true…fly fishing for salmon on a river in Alaska and a bear walks by…if only he could – BUMP!

[Anita Latte]

Such excitement!

 

DH was the first one with a fish on!

 

The first thing that happens is that the salmon takes off! They swim fast…you quickly lose all the excess line…and you start reeling.

 

And reeling.

 

And reeling.

 

And reeling.

 

The key is to let the fish tire out a little but not lose the hook. You have to keep the line taut...all while reeling against that taut line.

 

It’s work. Very rewarding work.

 

Jake coached DH through…walk backwards while reeling. Hold the rod like this. Do that. All while Jake gets into position with his big fishing net…and then when he can…Jake scoops your sockeye salmon out of the river!

 

High five!

 

Such a thrill.

 

I stayed in the moment with this first catch. I didn’t even try to take a photo of the action.

 

By 10:00 AM…I did take a picture of the catch in the water. Jake attaches your catch to a line attached to the boat. The catch stays in the water until it’s time to process them.

 

The water is cold.

 

It’s glacier fed water…which is how it has the brilliant blue color. Glacier fed water is COLD.

 

The waders are good. But it’s nice to take a break from the water.

 

A well satisfied DH relaxing with a cup of Joe in the boat.

 

 

You aren’t alone on the river. There’s fishermen…and women…all around. Upstream. Downstream. Everyone gets excited when anyone catches a fish.

 

Looking upstream toward DH and DS…you can see other boats and people. And the BIRDS. OMG the seagulls.

 

 

I never expected to see seagulls on the Kenai. It makes sense but it was just really unexpected. I wasn’t thinking about the proximity to the ocean.

 

The seagulls were a constant source of noise. Finding Nemo? Mine. Mine. Mine. They settle down and then they are triggered by a floating fish carcass.

 

I did just write that.

 

Floating fish carcass.

 

Every once in a while…a salmon head and tail with a filet-less, mostly naked backbone connecting them will float on by…flowing with the current out to sea. Eww.

 

Doesn’t smell. It’s just a brief interlude. So really, it’s just evidence that there are successful fishermen upstream. The norm is to filet the fish at the river and let the undesirable parts go into the river where there are many things that will benefit from that fish carcass.

 

Like seagulls. Mine. Mine. MINE.

 

And eagles.

 

 

Landing in the trees…directly above where we had last seen the bear…a beautiful mature bald eagle hung out…watching the current…poised to swoop down.

 

Eagles like to catch their own catch though…this eagle DID swoop down and catch its own fish. Like I said…abundance. Plenty of fish to go around.

 

Looking downstream from our location…you can see other fishermen on our side of the river…and one sole fisherman on the far side.

 

 

DH got ANOTHER fish online. Sadly…this hook wasn’t set in the mouth. If it’s not set in the mouth…you can’t keep the catch. Jake did a something something to help the fish with the wound and set it free.

 

Fish on!

 

DH was hot. It makes sense as he is the most experienced fisherman in our family. By 10:35 AM, DH had caught his 3-fish limit. He was maxed out…

 

His spot seemed to be the hot one in the river…

 

So DS moved up into his spot and wouldn’t you know…

 

Fish on! At 10:48 AM, DS was reeling in…reeling in…reeling in…and two minutes later…he had caught a big ole buck salmon…the biggest catch so far.

 

 

The clouds were clearing…the sun was coming out. The only thing that could make this a better day for our guide was for that Momma to get herself a fish too.

 

She tried. She really did.

 

I had two fish on my line…but I couldn’t reel them in. The first one just plumb got away. Jake said…there’s a fish on that line. There is?!? I didn’t get the hook set well though…and then there wasn’t a fish on my line. The second one…well…the line went slack and I thought he was gone too…and then he was truly gone.

 

I learned that the fish will start swimming TOWARD you…they are already going upstream…and they’ll pull hard when they are swimming away from your direction up stream but if they change course and head toward you…the line goes slack and unless you keep reeling it in…they can wiggle that hook loose with the slack line and get away.

 

We stayed for a while more…but the bites were getting fewer and fewer. I wasn’t really all that upset, truth be told…because my guys had caught a perfect catch. DH maxed out…and DS caught the biggest one. I was cool with not catching any.

 

I still enjoyed salmon fishing in the Kenai…you can see a rafting trip in the background of my photo:

 

 

We were ready for a lunch break.

 

We packed into the boat and headed down river a bit.

[Anita Latte]

The area we were fishing is called the Kenai River Canyon.

 

This has a short description of the Upper Kenai and River Canyon:

 

https://www.alaskariverscompany.com/kenai-river-information/

 

The river is at times wide…then feeling narrower as it is divided by islands of land in varying sizes…around which the river runs on both sides. One side usually has rapids…and the other side being more of a calm float along, toodle along flow.

 

The Sterling Highway is intertwined with the Kenai River from the river’s head at Kenai Lake to the Skilak Lake Road…our dirt road. Even with the proximity of the highway…you don’t feel the presence of any road vehicles while on the river. The surroundings are purely trees and mountains.

 

The blue of the river is hard to capture…the ever-changing cloud cover…the tree shadows…the color is ever-changing. This photo is one of the more accurate images of the blue in my mind’s eye.

 

 

You can see a boat or two and the fisherman all along the shore.

 

This is one of those island byways. We had veered left and Jake explained that the other path had rapids.

 

Looking forward…it’s difficult to discern…but straight ahead is one of these islands. While you can flow around many of them…some of them just create sheltered coves on one side. We continued to the right.

 

 

This gravel strip is our island destination for lunch…and picture taking. You can see a float trip raft which had approached our little island from the opposite side.

 

 

Hold the fish forward so it looks as big as it possibly can…DS holding his really good sized buck salmon:

 

 

DH holding his largest catch:

 

 

The proud family holding their total salmon catch of the day:

 

 

Jake had a portable table for fileting the fish. He fileted all four fish into 8 whole sides which he put into large Ziploc bags and into his cooler. He did a nice job.

 

His cooler also had bottled water and Gatorade for us all.

 

Our ham and cheese croissants were excellent. Jake was eating my plan B…good old peanut butter and jelly…another very packable sandwich. We had a refreshing repast.

 

We were ready for the trout fishing part of the day.

[Classynfun1]

Just wanted to say I am loving your review! We were engaged on Herbert Glacier during a short excursion from the Millennium! This brings back so many memories!

[awhfy]

I really need a like button! Your salmon are gorgeous (& I’m allergic to salmon [emoji22])

 

 

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