Dandelion Diary

Take a look at the life cycle of the dandelion.

Cruise to Alaska

When we left the Caribbean Cruise, I was offered an Alaskan Cruise. Since we had never taken that cruise, and since we had not been to Alaska since 1979, we thought it would be a lot of fun. We were right. The cruise was a lot of fun. If you want to take a short cruise that has easy water, the Alaska Cruise through the Inside Passage is the cruise to take.



We started and ended in Seattle. The first stop was Juneau where we took a shore excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier. This was important to me as I remember reading about the Mendenhall Glacier when I was in the third grade. I was so excited to see it, which we just about could do. It was cold, gray, rainy, (did I mention cold) day. The visibility was horrible. We saw the glacier, then, all bundled up in slickers, boots, PFD (you cannot call them Life Jackets anymore), we boarded river rafts and floated down the Mendenhall River. On a nice clear warm sunny day, it would have been a wonderful excursion. On the day we had, it was an endurance test.



We passed the test and went back to the NCL Pearl and got warm. The next day we were in Skagway. It was still gray, but not longer rainy or as cold. We took the White Pass and Yukon Railway to the border of Canada. A 3 hour round trip through the high mountains. We oohed and aahed over the old wooden trestle and we looked for wild animals. One person in our train carriage saw a bear cub up a tree, but by the time we could run back to see it, the train had passed.



The next day we enjoyed a day on the ship looking at the spectacular scenery of Glacier National Park. There were a couple of National Park Rangers onboard, giving excellent commentary. The ship slowly circled the bay as we all took pictures. This was the highlight of the cruise.




Our next stop was Ketchikan, an island town, south of Skagway. We had the picture perfect day to be there. We took a Jet Boat Excursion with hopes of seeing lots of wild animals. We did one Sitka Deer, (which is about the size of a German Shepherd) and lots of Bald Eagles. In fact, I just sat at the lodge and looked at the eagles, which are huge, magnificent birds, as they argued over which bird was going to get the best piece of fish.



As we were cruising to our last stop, I enjoyed a game of bowling at sea. What a kick. This is not your typical game of bowling. You might aim for the pins at the end of the lane, but the ship has another agenda. What you do and what you get are not related. Bowling on a cruise ship is not for the proud. It was great fun...and I did beat Obama with a score of 85. The highest score I saw was 96! (and that fellow said he had a 250 average...he was not happy).



Our last stop was Victoria on Vancouver Island. We decided not to get off the ship as we landed after 6 PM. So, we stayed onboard and we shared a huge cruise ship with about 100 passengers. That's kind of fun. That evening I saw "Enchanted" at the theater.



On Sunday, we disembarked back in Seattle. We used valet parking, courtesy of Republic Parking. They took care of parking the car, getting our luggage to the ship and getting our car back to us with a smile. When I purchased the parking permit online I thought I was just getting a parking space for a week. I had no idea there would be service too. A real treat to get more than what you expect.

If you want to see a lot more pictures of the trip, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/ihsnowphd/AlaskaOnThePearl

Horses for Wendy

Every morning I like to walk our country road and talk to the neighborhood horses. This morning I took their pictures.


This trio of horses generally saunter toward me as they know I have hidden carrots. They love their carrots.


Pepper is the baby on the block. She's an Arab/Paint mix, stands 13-3, and has a sweet face. According to her person, she'll lose her paint patches when she's about 10. So look quickly, they are going away.


Then there's Red. He's big and gentle and eats all the time.

There are other critters along the way...jackrabbits, a family of Canada geese, some Ozzie Shepherds, kildeer and lots of birds. There used to be a bunch of meadowlarks in the fields, but I've not seen any this year. I wonder where they went?

Animals for Zoey

During our trip we saw a number of animals. A few of them are pictured here. I put this up for my friend Teresa and her granddaughter Zoey. I hope you enjoy them.

Red Poison Dart Frog for making curare

20 ft. Anaconda and Turtle

Rainbow Macaw

Llama in Machu Picchu

4 inch long moth with pinchers

Red Tail Boa

Female capybara

piranha

Caracara--a type of Hawk

Grubs for Dessert?

Pink Toed Tarantula

Home Again

The Overseas Adventure Travel group on the Amazon River and Rainforest Adventure. We had a wonderful time.

We are now home from Peru. It was some adventure too. So many wonderful places to see and we were able to share the experience with our friends. It's hard to ask for more. Here Chet and Larry and enjoying the Plaza de Armas (or main square) in Lima.

Our first stop was Lima, Peru, a huge metropolis of 9 million souls. We stayed in a "suite-type" hotel in the Miraflores district near shopping (The Inca Market) and the beach. Lima is on the "Ocean Pacific" as our guide, Jennifer, told us. After exploring the Plaza de Armas (main square) and the museums, we knew more about the many cultures that have thrived in Peru before the Inca.

The Astronaut
While in Lima, we took at side trip the Nazca Lines. No one knows how the lines were constructed. No one knows why they are still in the desert after hundreds of years. What they do know is they are there and they are amazing to see. We flew over the Lines in a 12 seat Fokker that Chet said was at least 50 years old. We survived to the tell the tale and I'm sure the old Fokkers are surviving too.

Our next stop was Iquitos in Northern Peru. A smaller city by far than Lima, with 1/2 million population. There are only 2 ways to get to Iquitos: fly or float. We flew. We saw our first glimpse of the muddy Amazon. We saw people in dugouts; houses on stilts and a completely different world from modern Lima.



The AquaMarina--our home for 1 week
We were on the Amazon or a tributary for 7 days looking at villages, talking to people, gawking at birds and fish and capybaras (the largest rodent in the world) and learning about life at a very different pace.

We visited a school, which consisted of 20 desks, a very used blackboard, and a couple of posters. There were no books; no supplies. Our group donated school supplies and I started thinking about getting books to the kids in the Amazon. If you are reading this and you have any extra books, please donate them to me as I'm going to be sending out packages of books on a regular basis. These kids really want to learn and they have very limited access to school. Kids in the US do not know how good they have it!

From the Amazon we flew back to Lima and then on to Cuzco, the ancient Inca capital at 10,900 feet. Since we live part of the year at 6300+ feet we did not think we would have a major problem with the altitude, but we were wrong. Life at 11,000 feet is hard. There's not enough oxygen and you do feel it. Most folks in our group had a horrible headache. I just felt compressed like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Walking that first day felt like walking through molasses. Running was out of the question and climbing stairs was hard too. After a couple of days we all got used to the lack of oxygen and that's when we headed for Machu Picchu which is at 7,000 feet. (A piece of cake by the way after Cuzco!).

Sun Temple and Spanish Church
We learned more about Inca culture. We visited Saqsaywaman and Qenqo, two large Inca archeological sites right outside of Cuzco. We also visited the Sun Temple in Cuzco. The Sun Temple was the center of Inca civilization. When the Spanish conquered the Inca, they built a church over the Temple. Thank goodness they did, as the old temple has been preserved.

We visited town with names like Ollantaytambo and Urubamba. We rode the Vista Liner train to the foot of Machu Picchu to the village of Aguas Calientes. There we boarded a bus that took us up the mountain to Machu Picchu. The switchbacks were amazing! However, once we saw the ruins we were in complete awe of the spectacle and beauty. It's hard to describe how the place made us feel. Some of our group were holding back tears; others were in open-mouthed awe just looking at the place for the first time.


Machu Picchu is one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World, so it is getting a lot of visitation. To that end, only 400 people are allowed on the site each day. Ingress and egress is carefully watched. Tickets are necessary. Just look at the pictures and imagine what life was like in this secluded valley of the ancient Inca. There we had more questions than answers. No one really knows the true meaning of Machu Picchu--or how it was built--or how many people lived here--or how so much could be accomplished with stone and bronze tools. More questions than answers.

We stayed 2 days at Machu Pichhu then returned to Cuzco and to Lima and finally to the rest of the world. It was something else. I'm still processing all that happened. It was all good. I learned a lot. I'll end with keep saving books for me and help me send them to the kids on the Amazon where there is a real thirst for knowledge.
(what I saw as I looked out the plane window as we left Cuzco!)

Can you believe he received his first balloon and first book on the same day?