Wednesday
Skagway was our destination on Wednesday and we were pulling in right at 7 o’clock. Everyone has been getting up VERY early on this trip. The morning sunrise was at 3:45 or something like that so it was fully light in the cabin. I was up very early having breakfast in the buffet right at 6 when they opened.
Jamie went ashore a bit earlier than me, wanting to go to the National Park visitor’s center and do those activities. I had been to Skagway twice before so waited a bit. Skagway is having some construction at the pier so you can’t just walk to the end of the pier. They had rock slices near the pier and so they have everyone walking through the big containers that hold products. Someone had taken a blow torch and cut out doors and windows. In a short while you then got on a bus to take you to the end of the very long pier. I guess it would be bad for business to have a tourist brained with a falling rock.
At the end of the pier they had another shuttle that would take you the mile into town, or you could walk. I made into town and found Jamie after a bit of trouble. The phone service was spotty at best so she ended up having to call me since she wasn’t getting my texts. But we did hook up and walked through the town, stopping at several places on our list – the Skagway Brewing Company, the Alaska Christmas shop. I didn’t buy too much. Just a pair of plaid socks with moose on them.
At the coffee shop, it was jam packed and we were spread out waiting. Unfortunately, when I went to move to the others, for some reason thought the bench I was sitting on went all the way across. It did not. I ended up on the floor, with a crowd of people jumping up to help the bumbling old lady. I am not sure if my hair being almost completely white at 53 is a good or a bad thing, but it was embarrassing and I had to assure everyone I was OK.
After that fiasco, Jamie and I went to board the shuttle back to the pier to meet for our tour. There was a bit of an issue, with an older lady in a bright yellow coat yelling for her husband, Willie. She was afraid she wasn’t going to make it onto the shuttle and Willie was lallygagging somewhere in the crowd. Willie must also be a bit deaf because she was yelling at him like she was yelling at the ump from the stands at a baseball game.
Willie finally came to the shuttle and was questioning whether it was the RIGHT shuttle, so she’s yelling at him that she had already cleared it with the bus driver. He was at the door of the shuttle and she was near the back, so it was, what we now are referring to the Willie kerfuffle. Basically, she showed her ass, just like you hope American tourists won’t do.
Meeting up with the whole of our party, we headed to the tour of the day, Sled Dogs and Gold Panning. Years and years ago, Gregg, Lizzie and I had done this same excursion and knew it was a lot of fun. You learn about the sled dogs and how they prepare and run the Iditarod race in March. 1100 miles through the snow and ice. It’s extremely interesting, learning about the lives of the dogs and the musher during the race, from the food to the equipment to the booties. The musher wears these huge boots that look like space boots, but are very lightweight and warm.
Then, you meet the actual sled dogs. They are behind a fence, but you can pet them as they walk by and they will stand up and put their paws on the rail so that you can pet them. They look just like your normal neighborhood dogs, but are northern breeds, used to extremely cold temps. Then you watch them pull the sled around a track. It’s so funny because as soon as they get hooked up, they are jumping and yelling and getting so excited to GO.
After the adult dogs, you get to hold and pet the puppies. They have about 8 puppies that you can pass around and pet and hold. They are incredibly docile and sweet. The guides tell you to not let them give you little bites, as they don’t want to encourage that behavior. Everyone had a turn to hold a puppy, pet them and take pictures.
When the puppies were done, we did the cheesy gold panning, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. The ladies bought the little charms to put their gold flakes in and Bob gave his to Marge to add to hers. It ended up making a very pretty charm.
To end the day, we all met up at the steakhouse and had a really good meal, which was the perfect end to a nice day in Skagway. Tomorrow, we’ll be cruising through Glacier Bay.
