Cruising the Fjords

Our big adventure for today was the 6-hour Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise with Major Marine Tours. Since the tour didn't depart until 11:30AM, we headed out after breakfast for a look around Seward. 

At the southern end of town is the beginning of the Iditarod National Historic Trail. Established by Congress in 1978, the trail celebrates the route that first connected Native Alaskan villages and later served mining camps, trading posts, and other settlements founded during the Alaskan Gold Rush Era (1880-1920). Sled dog teams were the only reliable means to transport goods and people along the route in winter. Most notably, when a diphtheria outbreak threatened the residents of Nome in 1925, the only way to get them enough serum for inoculations was by train from Anchorage to Nenana, and then mushers and their sled dog teams (have you heard the story of Balto?) relayed the precious cargo the final 674 miles in less than 5.5 days.

 

938 miles from Seward to Nome

Roll Tide

We had breakfast in the lodge before checking out this morning. Since we had a little bit of time before our float plane was scheduled to depart, we went out for one last look at the bears from the lower river platforms.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

After checking out of the hotel and returning the rental car this morning, we started the second leg of our trip with a one-hour Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage to King Salmon. 

Cook Inlet

My Kind of Town

Friday, April 25

After saying goodbye to the aunties, I loaded up my lone suitcase (R took the other two bags when he flew home yesterday) and headed back to O'Hare to return the car. It was pouring rain when I got to the gas station (figures!) in Park Ridge, but I managed to fill up and stay fairly dry, thanks to my spiffy new raincoat! From the Multi-Modal Facility, I rode the tram back to Terminal 2 and then walked to the Blue Line station to take the train downtown. $5 for the CTA vs. $50 for an Uber - no brainer!

Lovely Lady Liberty

As soon as we knew that we could definitely make it to the wedding in New York, I booked tickets for us to go up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty with Statue City Cruises. As the only authorized concessioner to ferry passengers to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, there are a limited number of tickets to the crown each day. I was a little concerned since we would be there during the summer travel season, but I was super excited to find out that there were still some 9:00AM spots available two months in advance! Yay!

Nidoto Nai Yoni

Since it was almost 90 miles to the state capital, we checked out of Lake Quinault Lodge and were on our way well before 8:00AM this morning. It was quite foggy, so we decided to stick to US-101 through Aberdeen instead of the small, winding roads that the navigation apps were trying to kill us on. As we drove, R looked up online reviews of breakfast places along the way - Phoebe's Pastry Café in Olympia got our business because it was open (some places weren't) and pretty close to the capitol. I had a yummy breakfast burrito, and R's bacon and tomato quiche was quite good, too (no pics, sorry!)

Memories Deceive Me

I used to scrapbook, as the cabinet full of supplies and tools still in my house would attest. Maybe one day I'll go back to it and catch up on the projects I've been meaning to complete. But at least I can stay reasonably up-to-date on this blog. Even if no one outside of our family ever reads it, I'll keep posting entries because I enjoy writing about our travels. It's important to me to have a record of what we saw and what we did because I'm sure that I won't remember the details as clearly later on. 

Case in point: Our first stop today was Deception Pass. R asked if we had come here during our trip to Washington in 1996 because it seemed familiar. 

I said, "Nope."

Bzzzzzt! Wrong answer. 🤦🏻‍♀️

May 1996

This Little Piggy

Since our itinerary for today was a day trip to explore San Juan Island, we grabbed an early breakfast this morning and were on our way to the ferry terminal in Anacortes by 7:30AM.  

The drive was a little foggy, but we made it in about a half hour. We found a parking spot (paid $13 at the kiosk) and then waited to board the ferry as walk-on passengers for the 8:30AM sailing. The ride over to San Juan Island took about an hour. We were treated to lovely views of the other islands we passed along the way.

Boarding the Chelan

Stamping Shutout

Since everything we had yesterday from the Stehekin Pastry Company was so good, there was some serious discussion about returning for breakfast again this morning. However, with no transportation, we would have had to hoof it 2 miles there and 2 miles back before our ferry departure at 10:40AM. The timing seemed a little tight, so sadly I can't provide a report on their biscuits and gravy. 

I guess we'll just have to come back!

So, with time to enjoy a leisurely last morning in Stehekin, we walked along the lakeshore, and I took a few more photos... 

Off the Grid

55 miles by car, then 32 miles by ferry

Since we thought that our food options might be limited later today, we wanted to make sure that we at least started off with full bellies this morning. The Holiday Inn Express served the typical hotel hot breakfast items - biscuits and gravy, oatmeal, eggs, and pancakes. Sufficient to accomplish the goal!

After checking out, the four of us drove to Chelan and stopped first at the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Ranger Station so that I could get the passport stamps for Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and North Cascades National Park. But sadly, the office was CLOSED - boo!

My Heart Will Go On

CANOE DAY! 

We were up early this morning to grab breakfast. The hotel was actually serving hot items in the breakfast area, so that was a nice change from the previous COVID precautions in place.

After loading up our stuff in the car, we checked out and headed over to De Anza Cove for the morning festivities.

Mighty Mo

Remember how I said that tours to the USS Arizona Memorial were set to resume in time for our tour today? 

Well, yesterday the NPS posted on their Facebook page that all programs out to the memorial have been paused "out of an abundance of caution." Since the safety concerns were in regard to the shoreside dock, we wouldn't even get the opportunity to board a shuttle boat for a "float by" viewing. So disappointed! 

Time for Plan C - visiting the Battleship Missouri Memorial ("Mighty Mo") instead. 

Surf's Up!

R's cousin A arranged for surf lessons for M and J with his buddy Kevin, owner of Heʻe Nalu Surf School. Since Kevin scouts out several locations for the best conditions each morning, we were up early, eagerly awaiting the notification about where to meet up. By 8:30AM, we were at Kalapaki Beach in Lihue. A was already there, ready to go out on his foil.

Totally Tubular

When I started planning out our itinerary, one activity I really wanted to do was mountain tubing. The pics I've seen of friends floating through irrigation ditches looked so fun! The 10:00AM tour was the only thing we had on the schedule for today, so we didn't have to be up too early since it would only take us about 15 minutes to drive to Hanamāʻulu. (Stupid chickens didn't get the memo! Grrr!)

After we checked in with Kauai Backcountry Adventures, we were provided with helmets, head lamps, and gloves. Then we boarded the truck with the rest of our tour group and headed up to the lands of the former Lihue Plantation.

Up the Creek

Yesterday we saw so many different varieties of wild chickens roaming the island and thought they were really fun.

This morning at 3:00AM, not so much.  

Hey Siri, can you kill feral chickens on Kauaʻi?

Cock-a-doodle-booooo...

Redemption

Given how our kayaking adventure in Hawaii turned out last summer, you might think that I would not pick up a paddle ever again. And yet, there we were at the marina in Morro Bay State Park at 9:00AM this morning, getting ready to embark on a half-day kayak tour with Central Coast Outdoors.

However, this time I was hopeful that our experience would be much better than the last one since the waters of Morro Bay are protected from the open ocean by a four-mile long sandspit. And I was assured that the sit-inside kayaks are much harder to tip over than the sit-on-top kind. 

Morro Rock

Sleeping with the Fishes

Of all of the things we wanted to do during our time on the Big Island, night snorkeling with manta rays was at the top of our list. R's cousin and her family were on the Big Island a couple of weeks before and had a great time doing this, so we decided to use the same tour company, SunLight on Water.

📸: J

Under the Sea

Kayaking was one of the things that was on the boys' must-do list. So I made reservations for two double kayaks (no time limit) with Bay Side Adventures. We've done it once before as a family as part of a ranger program at Whiskeytown NRA, but that was on a lake. With Hurricanes Erick and Flossie passing by the Big Island within the past few days, I was concerned about the ocean being rough. They assured me that Kealakekua Bay was sheltered, and that the water was calmer in the early morning.

If you say so...

Butte-tiful Bridge

There are a number of units in the National Park System which require a little more effort to visit. Some are found in remote locations such as Alaska, Guam, or American Samoa. Others, like the White House or Port Chicago Naval Magazine N MEM, require advance reservations and background checks. And a handful can only be accessed by boat or by hike, both of which are true of the unit we visited today - Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

When we first decided to come to Page for spring break, I was very disappointed that Rainbow Bridge boat tours were only offered on Saturdays, which didn't fit our schedule. But when I checked again a few weeks later, they had added a Monday tour, which I promptly booked!

Kayaking Whiskeytown

It takes a little bit of marketing to get certain family members on board for another road trip. The selling points for making the long trek up to Northern California were:

• Visiting two more national park units, Whiskeytown NRA and Lassen Volcanic NP
• Redeeming two free Marriott hotel stays that we earned from a promo during our spring break trip
• Sleeping one night at a motel with twin beds (no complaints about sharing with a bed hog)
• Going back to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
• Kayaking on Whiskeytown Lake