NELSON'S NOTES #58

San Benito, Texas

June 2, 2006

OUR FIRST CRUISE

Along with 15 others we flew from Harlingen, Texas to Fairbanks, Alaska, on May 16.  From there, we took a combination 11-day land tour and ship cruise to Vancouver, British Columbia. This was our first cruise, our first trip to Alaska and the first day that seasonal facilities in Fairbanks opened for tour groups.

Our tour was shortened when I started vomiting the day after we arrived for the land tour. We were in Fairbanks at a section of the Alaska pipeline that's above-ground. I could see the giant silver pipe angling its way down the slope but never got to view the exhibit that shows how the 800-mile pipeline was constructed through permafrost zones and on rugged terrain. That's because I was whisked away from the group as soon as I got sick. Princess, as well as other cruise lines, automatically assumes that gastro-intestinal upsets are caused by the highly contagious noro virus, and they quarantine people with the symptoms as well as spouses or partners traveling with them.

After the rest of the group left the pipeline that afternoon to pan for gold at the El Dorado Mine, Bruce and I were driven back to our hotel room in Fairbanks. We were confined there for the next 2 ½ days. Princess paid for our room and our meals, which were delivered by room service.

This view of the Chena River from our hotel room was all we saw of Fairbanks for 2 ½ days. During our confinement, we watched birch trees begin to bud (Alaskans call it "greenup") and learned facts like these: On May 19, Fairbanks had 19 hours and 9 minutes of daylight (4:15 a.m. to 11:24 p.m.) but the sky never got entirely dark after sunset. Also, Fairbanks is very dry; the average annual precipitation including snowmelt is only 11 inches.

During my quarantine, the rest of our group headed south on the Alaska Railway, riding in glassed-in dome cars and enjoying the scenery. They visited Denali National Park and saw Mt. McKinley with the sun shining on it, an uncommon sight. Bruce and I missed all that, but finally, on May 20, Princess transported us 300 miles to Whittier where we met our group and started cruising with 3,800 people (passengers and crew).

NORTHERN LIGHTS

In Alaska we heard stories of people running outdoors on frigid winter nights to soak in their hot tubs and watch streams of colored lights sweep back and forth against a clear sky. These stories almost--but not quite--made me wish we could be there in the winter, especially in Fairbanks where the northern lights can be seen every night during the three coldest months.

DOG MUSHING

Another Alaska highlight that MIGHT draw me there in the winter is a dogsled race, especially the Iditarod, which goes from Anchorage to Nome, and the Yukon Quest, which goes from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to Fairbanks, Alaska. However, when we were there we saw the next best thing--dog musher and Iditarod racer, Jessie Royer, exercising a team of 14 "raring-to-go" Alaskan Huskies from her four-wheel all-terrain vehicle. We met Jessie twice while touring on the Riverboat Discovery III in Fairbanks. She told us that dogsleds have no reins; the dogs are guided by their own instincts and their musher's calls, "Gee" (turn right), "Haw" (turn left) or "Whoa" (stop).

Jessie Royer demonstrates how to dog mush without snow.

What is it like to raise and train 40-50 sled dogs? Imagine caring for a big group of unruly, energetic children, ones that can't feed themselves. If you're a dog musher, feeding your dogs is a time-consuming, never-ending task, a priority that comes before the musher can eat or sleep. Long before a race starts, the dog musher catches many salmon and fillets, dries, and smokes them. After the musher has packed everything and started the run, the food, which has frozen, must be cooked. Imagine feeding and harnessing 14 thrashing bodies in the dark when the temperature is 50 degrees below zero and your fingers are frozen stiff inside bulky mittens.

As soon as a puppy is born, it's important to bond with it. Because newborns are blind for two weeks, Jessie blows her breath on their noses. This is how she lets them know who she is so that they'll learn to trust her as she trains them. She says Alaskan Huskies are like a bunch of little kids. Put them together and one is going to start a fight, even when they're tethered. When that happens, she bites the nose of the agitator. This doesn't hurt but it makes the dog think, "Oh, no, I really goofed up this time. I'd better not do that again!"

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Athasbascan Indians lived in the interior of Alaska long before western man came searching for gold in the late 1800s. During our tour on the Riverboat Discovery III, Dixie Alexander, renowned Athabascan beadwork artist, talked to us about her way of life. Dixie traps animals, catches fish on fish wheels and lives resourcefully off the land in a harsh climate, just as her ancestors did centuries ago.

Using skills passed down from her mother and grandmother, Athabascan Indian Dixie Alexander (seated) made a chief's coat from animal skins and fur. The coat, which looks like the one worn by our tour guide in the photos, was commissioned by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The coat took six months to make and is valued at $16,000.

The 4-hour ride on the Riverboat Discovery, along with two land stops, was the most comprehensive and interesting tour I have ever taken.  (Photo courtesy of Joe Wooton)

On Day 2 of the cruise, we awoke to the sound of ice chunks scraping the sides of the Diamond Princess as it cruised through Glacier Bay. Glaciers look blue because blue is the only color not absorbed by ice. The blueness shows more on cloudy days. We learned this and other facts from three rangers stationed at Glacier Bay National Park. They sailed with us and narrated our tour from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., the length of time it took our ship to go up and back the big arm of Glacier Bay.

The Diamond Princess is docked at Skagway, the first of the three ports we stopped at in Southeast Alaska. The other two were Juneau and Ketchikan. All the time we were on the ship, no passengers were allowed in the dining room until staff had squirted anti-bacterial disinfectant on their hands. This precaution was carried out before every meal throughout the entire cruise in an effort to keep the noro virus from infecting the ship.

Playful orca whales like this one frolicked for 45 minutes next to our whale-watch excursion boat in Juneau.

OUR NEXT TRIP

On June 11, we leave in our motorhome for a family reunion in Colorado followed by a trip through the Canadian Rockies. We plan to be back in San Benito by mid-October.

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Marianna Nelson

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