On Aug 3 Bev and I flew from San Francisco to Vancouver to board the Royal Princess — the starting point of our Alaska journey. We were greeted at the Vancouver airport terminal with an unusual exhibit featuring a canoe.

The taxi took us to the Canada Place Pier where we then entered the Princess lounge to check in. In spite of the apparent sparseness, it took us 1.5 hours to complete check in, U.S. Customs, and the ship’s security. Bad timing, but good photo op.

Finally, came the sail away from Vancouver.

Aug 4 was spent sailing but on Aug 5 we woke up in Ketchikan. Here is a view of three other cruise ships taken from the balcony in our stateroom. Ketchikan was not to be a sleepy little town that day!

We were fond of calling the Royal Princess our floating condominium for 3,000 new neighbors.

We met at the statue in Ketchikan for our first excursion, along with grandkids Xol (age 9) and Rumi (age 7) and their parents.

In the Rainforest Sanctuary and Raptor Center, we learned that bears feed on the roots of “skunk cabbage” shortly after coming out of hibernation. It helps to get the digestive system moving after months of being plugged up. We enjoyed a marvelous walk with our guide through the rainforest.

Many of the streets in Ketchikan are stairways maintained by the Town as the only way to get to some of the residences. Here’s one such street.

Our internet connection has not been the great on the cruise, so I will post over the next few days excerpts from our adventures in Juneau and Skagway. If you wish to get an email alerting you to additional posts, you are welcome to sign up on this page to do so.