Wow,
hard to believe today is the last day on the boat for me. We left Stuart Island
on the slack tide at noon and motored down to Campbell River to park the boat
for a week while we fly home for my surgery. All of a sudden, here we are at
the end of our trip. Day 85. It feels like it has FLOWN by – 85
days on the boat. John flies out in the morning on a commuter flight to
Vancouver International, followed by a flight on Alaska Airlines to Seattle
arriving around 1PM. I fly out on NW Seaplanes at 3:15 and arrive in Renton at
5:30. Tuesday is full of Pre-Op Appointments and Wednesday is the day I get a
new hip and start my life again as an able bodied person – can’t wait!! What a
summer it has been…the memories will last forever.
So….in
conclusion….Shannon always liked to launch this discussion at night over dinner
called “worst and best” so what was the worst part of your day and what was the
best. John and I have been talking about this today in the context of what was
the worst part of our whole trip and what was the best. Neither of us could
come up with a really bad experience or a really bad day on the boat, there
just wasn’t anything significant. We had some mediocre days along the way where
there wasn’t anything too interesting that happened that day, but nothing truly
awful. The only close thing we could think of was probably upon leaving Seattle
for this trip, our time in the locks was pretty stressful. If you look back at
Day 1 of the blog you can revisit why, but basically the current running in the
locks when it was time to depart would NOT let us off the wall. The tender was
fishtailing and we had boats in front and boats in back to avoid, it was a
little terrifying for a few minutes. John got us out of there without damage so
I guess that is an excellent day in retrospect! Other than that, the sideways
rain in Prince Rupert was not enjoyable for sure, and of course the deterioration
of my hip was probably the worst part of the trip. However, overshadowed by all
of the above was the exceptionally stunning and magnificent sights and
experiences we had over the past 85 days. The wildlife was incredible….the grizzly
bears (officially they are Alaska Coastal Brown Bears), the humpback whales,
the sheer thousands of eagles and eagle encounters, the otters. The scenery….the
snow bowls and snowcapped peaks everywhere we looked, the clear beautiful
water, the lush green cascading down the sides of the mountains, the plethora
of waterfalls. But John and I agree on what we think was the best experience
and that was the glaciers and the iceberg filled inlets. Not only in Glacier
Bay but also Tracy Arm. We will never forget the sound of the calving glaciers
in Glacier Bay and will never forget all the shapes of the icebergs and their
deep blue color. The glacial ice we used for our cocktails was the prettiest
ice I’ve ever seen! We will never forget waking up to the sound of a chorus of
eagles screeching to one another in their unique voices. We will never forget
the day that the humpback whale was surfacing right outside our stateroom
window one night after we had gone to bed. We will never forget the sight of
the hundreds of otters laying on their backs as we neared the entrance to
Glacier Bay. Our favorite stops were Sitka and Elfin Cove for actual land based
stops, and on anchor we’d probably have to choose Pruth Bay for our weenie
roast on the beach; Pybus Bay (Cannery Cove) for the scenery (but not for the
black flies that bit us) and for the good crabbing; and of course all the bays
in Glacier Bay where we anchored. Oh and have to add a plug for Rivers Inlet
where we had the best fishing of the trip thus far. Last but not least, we could not have picked better travel partners for this adventure. Thank you, Shannon and David, for always being cheerful, helpful, adventuresome, and fun!
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| My favorite picture of our boat in Glacier Bay |
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| So Long everyone! |
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