BACK FROM POINTS NORTH OF HERE!

Yep, we made it back after 11 days or so in Canada’s British Columbia and Yukon Provinces, and the state of Alaska. The average temperature was probably around 55, with Fairbanks being the warmest at 72.

What a trip! The only bad part was the flight home, but I’ll save that for later.

I just wanted to let you know we were home safe and show you a photo of the tour group we lived with for the duration of the adventure north. There were only 25 of us, counting the cute little tour director from Birmingham, Alabama, which made it very roomy on the bus and other excursions. We all loved Emily, and I’ll show you her photo later and tell you some stories about her and others.

Neena (peeping around Bob) and Ron are under the “O” and Judy and I are just to the right of the “N”. That’s Bob standing in front of Neena (his hand on his leg) and Linda, his wife, is stand in front of Ron (black jacket). They were a hoot and we hung with them most of the time, especially when beer was involved! They are from Oregon and Bob and Ron had much in common – both being outdoorsmen – and Linda was like one of the Dragons instantly!

The trip included a stay in Vancouver, B.C., and a 3-day cruise to Skagway, with a stop over in Juneau on the way up the coast. From Skagway, we made the trip up over the White Pass in a vintage locomotive to Whitehorse in the Yukon. All along the way we were educated on the 1898 Yukon Gold Rush and the “Stampeders” that braved, survived, and died along the way. Hundreds died following their dream of sticking a shovel into the ground and striking it rich. Turned out that most of the gold and claims had already been found or staked! How they made it in -20 to -60 degree temperatures I’ll never understand. Not many would make it today with our modern GORE-TEX® and insulated clothing.

From Whitehorse we boarded a large Holland tour bus and made our way on to Dawson City! We then boarded a dual hull jet boat and made the 102 miles to Eagle, Alaska, where we met up with another tour bus to Chicken Creek, and on to Tok.

From Tok we trekked on by bus to Fairbanks and finally by glass top train the Denali/McKinley National Park.

Finally, the train took us on a 7-hour trip to Anchorage where we boarded our flight home. That’s where the irritation for me began!

I also wanted to let you know that I have just posted my trip “bar and pub” shots on Flickr. I especially wanted you to note the “Sourtoe Cocktail” shots!

In Dawson, there is a place called the Downtown Hotel and inside is a great two-level bar, complete with vintage piano and décor. If you venture into this bar any time between 9 and 11PM you will find Captain Dick/Tom (one or the other) sitting in a corner registering “sourtoers!” You become a member by first buying a shooter of your favorite poison and then giving the Captain $5. He then swears you into the club by reciting a pledge and saying, “You can drink it slow, or you can drink it fast, but your lips must touch the toe!”

The “toe” is real! However, it’s dead so it can’t hurt you and it has been baptized in so much liquor by now that no germ could survive! But the “Sourtoe Cocktail” is ready when the Captain drops the toe into your shooter! One gulp and a kiss of the toe against your upper lip and you’re inducted!

Well, I have 689 photos to work on, so I’ll be back soon with more tales! Keep checking…the best of my photos will be posted there sometime within the week.

I won’t lie, it’s good to be home and in my own bed, but it was a wonderful trip!

“NIAGARA FALLS!” – PART 2

Slowly we turned…and arrived in Niagara Falls, Canada about sundown Wednesday and immediately began snapping photos with all the Japanese and other tourist already there. It was almost like the Beatles movie “Hard Days Night” – a snap, snap here, and a snap, snap there. Actually, we nearly had the whole town to ourselves!

I caught the pink sunset light against the mist of Horseshoe Falls from our eleventh floor room in the Marriott. We left the small roll-out window open both nights we were there and we slept like big fat babies. It was so soothing and covered what little noise we heard. The rooms were great and looked right out over the Canadian falls, and the price included bus transportation from the hotel to the various sights around the city, both morning’s buffet breakfast, and $75 toward our last evening’s meal in the luxurious dining room.

It turned out that this was the best hotel package we got during the trip, which was so surprising due to the high cost of everything else. A 12 ounce draft beer in the hotel was $8 and a glass of house wine $12!

Thursday was spent at the falls doing the Journey Behind the Falls and experiencing the awesome spectacle of over 100,000 cubic feet of water crashing down 13 stories to the basin below every second. Elevators take you down 150 feet through bedrock to tunnels that lead and to the Cataract Portal and the Great Falls Portal which is one third of the way behind the massive sheet of water, then on to the Upper and Lower Observation Decks at the foot of the Falls. From these portals, lights change colors shine on different sections of both the American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls after sundown until about 2 AM.

Of course, the primary focus people have is getting couple or group shots with the falls as a backdrop. I have included a store bought one and one I created using three separate photos. The store bought is much simpler!

In the restroom I saw this little tub for washing feet…I assume. Does anyone have a clue why these are there? My thought is that people my go into the tunnels barefooted in the summer, but I really don’t know.

We then traveled over to the Skylon Tower. The tower stands 520 feet high and makes seeing a panoramic view of the entire falls area a cinch! I have included a few panoramic merges I created from shots I got. These shots include both The American and Horseshoe Falls. On the far side of the falls is Niagara Falls, New York.

We all had passports, so going back and forth was simple, except for the traffic jams. The Canadian Guard asked me if I had any weapons and I said “No, the website said to leave them at home.”

“Oh, do you normally carry a gun?”

“Heck yeah,” I replied matter-of-factly. He just looked at me and handed our passports back.

After dark, the Dragons proceeded to the Hilton Fallsview Casino, and Knights held up in The Falls Frikin, also within the Hilton complex, and indulged in black and tans. To our surprise, my Dragon won $280 playing the nickel slots!

I have to mention Johnny Rockets (inside the casino complex), where we had lunch. It is an authentic retro-setting of a ‘50‘s diner. Some of us enjoyed their juicy old fashion hamburgers, while others selected the delicious hot dogs and a creamy shake!

Next, in Part 3, we're off to Pennsylvania to visit the Amish!

Be sure to click to enlarge these shots, and/or visit my Flickr page for more photos.