2010 Hsu family's Alaska Cruise (part 1 of 2)

 

The first day of my Alaska Cruise trip that started from Seattle, was to visit my old friend Dr. Kuo Deh-Zhang 郭德彰。They live in the suburb of Seattle, Bellville. After a highly successful practice in Hualien, Taiwan, all his life, he retired two years ago to this house which he had owned for 30 years.

The first thing he had to do after coming to the US was to have his head operated for an acute subdural hematoma sustained from a fall and resulted in acute paralysis of the left side. (He lay down in bed for nearly two days like a good schoolboy before he realized that he should go to the emergency room!) After the recovery, another emergency room visit for the severe sciatica, and then fracture of the patella! What a way to start!!

Mrs. Kuo, Karen, was from the same middle school as Yui-Li's.

His reitrement life is an ideal one (很寫意！)：Daily golf, practicing Chinese input to laptop using hand-writing software (蒙恬), e-mailing scenic pictures to friends, playing with iPhone, dining out with friends at a nice restaurant looking towards the Seattle skyline, and visit their children.  He believes he will live till 100 in good health as his father does.

After an overnight stay at his house and a delicious brunch, they sent us to the Grand Hyatt Seattle where Ben's family had been waiting.

On our AA flight from DFW to Seattle, we saw this smoke which should be from a forest fire.

The cruise ship, Norwegian Pearl.

Specifications of the ship. 

The lunch as soon as going on board the ship on 6/20.

As in last year's Disney Cruise, we had a suite so that the whole family could get together during the trip. This suite has a separate small room with 3 bunk beds and a bathroom with shower, in addition to the master bedroom and a large room for closet, toilet, shower and a bath tub by the window! The balcony was kind of small.  The concierge could have arranged the suite to be adjoined with the Felix' room next door through a door. That bottle of champagne was complementary. 

Space Needle, the symbol of Seattle. 

June 20.  The first supper in the ship was at the Indigo Restaurant.  This NCL (Norwegin Cruise Line) is a freestyle cruise, everyone can go to eat at any restaurant at any time. Some places needed to be paid extra! We did reserve through a concierge whom we never met.

June 21. Whole day sailing. Yui-Li bought a light jacket in Seattle.

June 21.  The supper at Summer Palace, the classier restaurant. I liked the paintings of the Russian Tzar family.

The first city we visited on 6/22, Juneau. It was a rainy day! Arrived late, 6PM.

Street of Juneau.  Many fur shops, but Yui-Li could not find the a leather jacket with the right size for her.  Juneau was a gold-seekers' town started in 1880 by Joe Juneau and Richard Harris. It was once called Harrisburg.  The population is around 31,000.  I was surprised to find that this town is actually the capital of the state of Alaska, not Anchorage (population about 300,000).

June 22.  Today is Felix' birthday.   We ate in the Lotus Restaurant, while kids went to Kids Club.  This restaurnat charge for entrance. Not crowded.  The Chinese food, OK.  There was a sushi bar.  All 4 of them are sports buffs.  

June 23.  Arrived in Skagway.  It was also a town that once prospered to population 8000 during gold rush in late 1880's.  Now only about 800 residents that doubles during the summer tourist season.   Took 12:30 noon White Pass Yukon train-ride for 3 hours round trip.  This seems to be the only tourist attraction now. The White Pass, the end point of the train ride borders with Canada.

On a long old train with a stove in each car for heating! And the real sqeaking sound, not tape-recorded.

Beautiful sharp photo taken by Felix, who had taken classes in photography.

Blurry shadow of cantilever bridge (from clouds), an engineering marvel at that time.

At the end point of the ride, White Pass, 20.4 miles from Skagway, 2865 feet high from the sea level.

The pioneers must be like this, carrying heavy loads on the back and walked for miles in the mountain.

Enjoying the breakfast, smoked salmon, sausage, tomato, and French bread at a ship's Itaian restaurant.  The food was from the Garden Cafe next door, where we ate most frequently.

This is just a part of the Garden Cafe.

June 24: Watched Glacier Bay on the ship. 

My grey fleece vest with salmon on the chest was bought at a shop in Juneau. 

Seagull

Seagulls resting on the sea surface.

Sighting of whales. This photo with Felix' camera with telescopic lens shows clearly.

Whale breathing through the blowholes on the head.

Four whales at least.

Photo night!!

Two girls and three boys!

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