Danny's 8th Bday!!!

Only one picture of the whole party!!! At least 30 people showed up. We were having such a great time we forgot to take pictures.

Padres game with Mike and Tara

We went to a Padre game with good friends Mike and Tara (Skyler's parents). It was a great night out with no kids. We ate dinner in the Gaslamp prior to the game. As usual when I attend a Padre game - they lost.

Skyler's Birthday

We went down to Ocean Beach to celebrate Skyler's birthday. It was a great party with lots of fun and food. Luna loves hanging with Skyler.


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Day ZERO....Traveling to ALASKA

We got up at 2:30 AM to make our flight out of Ontario. We landed in Seattle and transferred to a propeller driven plane. We landed in Vancouver and were taken by "funny guy driving a tour bus" to the MS Zandaam -- a Holland America line ship. Actually the guy was funny and cool. Vancouver is always nice. My Dad forced me to take pictures of every Chevron we passed and I found myself trying to decipher which Phase 1 Enhanced Vapor Recovery Sytem they had in use. Pretty sad. Anyway, we got on the ship, took a look around and passed out from exhaustion.

Day 1.....Traveling at Sea

We continued heading North. We passed through the Dixon Entrance - one of the areas exposed to North Pacific storms = large waves. When Jon was fishing here in '98 he encountered 20 foot waves. This time it was flat calm -- maybe 4-5 feet. Anyway, Jon spotted some Humpback whales and pointed them out to the family. Earlier in the day we had our first formal dinner. Everyone was amazed at how much Jon could clean up. Ha ha.

Day 2......Juneau & Tracy Arm

Our first day in town......first we navigated Tracy Arm -- a Fjord cut from Glacier movements. There we found mini icebergs, majestic streams and vertical cliffs.

After Tracy Arm, we turned around and headed for Juneau -- capital of Alaska. There we had our first and only rain of the entire cruise. We took the kids (including my Father) to a summer camp for Huskies who compete in the annual Iditarod dogsled race.
I learned that the Alaskan Husky is not so much a breed of dog as it is a type or a category. It falls short of being a breed in that there is no preferred type and no restriction as to ancestry; it is defined only by its purpose, which is that of a highly efficient sled dog. They were beautiful dogs and their Musher (person driving the dog team) took us for a ride in a training rig thru the woods. It was bitchin.










Southeast Alaska lies at the heart of the North American temperate rainforest -- a forest that extends in a narrow 2500 mile coastal strip from Northern Ca, along coastal British Columbia, and to the eastern edge of the Kodiak archipelago in South Central Alaska. Temperate rainforests are cooler, though just as wet as their tropical counterparts, receiving up to 200 inches of rain per year.

Day 3......Skagway

Let the shopping continue........Mom and Lucy went nuts. I retreated into the woods looking for bears to wrestle......We also went to a Salmon Bake. Ate beans, rice, corn bread, salad in addition to Salmon. Then panned for gold. Trying to relive the 1800's I guess. Everything except the brothel. My assesment of Skagway.....I liked it but it wasn't anywhere as cool as Ketchikan -- more on K-town later.











Trees of Southeast AK......They are generally found below elevations of 2500 feet and grow largest in river valleys with well drained soils. In some areas, extraordinary forests have developed with giant cedar, hemlock, and spruce trees up to 12 feet in diameter, over 200 feet tall and 1000 YEARS OLD!!

Day 4....Glacier Bay National Park

Glacier Bay National Park.......We had epic weather conditions. Had to be between 65-70 degrees, sunny and calm. When this Bay was discovered, it was all glacier -- everywhere. As recently as 1750 a single glacier thousands of feet thick filled what is now a 65-mile long fjord. A fjord is a long, narrow estuary with steep sides, made when a glacial valley is flooded by the sea. The seeds of a fjord are laid when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley through abrasion of the surrounding bedrock by the rocks and sediment it carries. Many such valleys were formed during recent ice ages when the sea was at a much lower level than it is today. At the end of such a period, the climate warms up again and glaciers retreat. Man made global warming? I doubt it since it was well in retreat before the industrial revolution. At least that's what the park ranger told me..........