Alaska Day 7..part 2

The poem below was written as a request for a boat Robin saw on the dock at Seward that was named Rumdoodle’s Son. … so there ya go.

THE BALLAD OF RUMDOODLE'S SON
The portside is where his story began,
The son of a drunken fisherman,
In the water he was destined to be.
Early to rise and early to sea.
His father found him in his fishing net,
A little bit frozen, but mostly wet.
Rumdoodle raised the boy on his ship,
Becoming a man through every trip.
When their boat would dock seaside village,
Daddy Rumdoodle would drink til he spillage.
On one dark Alaskan winter night,
He drank too much and couldn't see right.
Rumdoodle steered the ship into ice,
With him and his son they paid the price.
Some claim if you look at the long night's sky,
You might get a show and see them sail drunkenly by.

Backstory on the poem below… the Aviator hotel screwed up our reservation majoraly and we almost had no where to stay on our last night. That’s the short version. 🙂

TAKE ME TO THE HOTEL MOTEL
Here she is like a dear old friend.
Bittersweet til the bitter end.
You don't have to go but you can't stay here.
Where will we go? We can't just disappear!
So we pause for a moment at the Inlet Inn.
Use the loo, have a drink, and just try to grin.
Lisbeth will take her hobo bath.
The Aviator will hear Adam's calm wrath.
It's a good thing we're an understanding bunch
Or someone might be on the other end of a punch.
But not Adam! We know, he's trying real hard.
To get us a room or even a tent in a yard.
Data miners convention has filled up the town
But Adam will avail. He won't back down.
Never thought we'd be happy to see this place again.
We've got rooms! Hallelujah! Can I get an amen!
Woah! Look at this! We've got Aviator's best.
Satin dust ruffles and an iron. We're so #blessed.
So here we are, the final day at last.
Thankful for our guide who's so steadfast.

Alaska Day 8

Last day. This day made Anchorage not so bad. But still… Anchorage is ick.

  • Went to the Anchorage market and met some cool local artists.
  • Watched salmon fishermen in the local waters
  • Went to the Anchorage Museum (Art and Culture stuff)
  • Hit up a few local artists galleries/shops
  • Champagne and oysters at Bubbly Mermaid
  • Zazu drink and fries at Tequila 61

After many failed attempts to see a moose, and one blurry shot from earlier in the week of a baby moose, we finally saw one near the airport on our way out. The below poem was written when we saw the baby moose. But it feels fitting to put here.

THE ELUSIVE MOOSE
The elusive moose is a mamma moose
And she drinks the sweet berry mountain juice.
The elusive moose is one to seduce
And she trollops with her calf at caboose.
The elusive moose seems to be a recluse
And our time is up so me must vamoose.

This poem is for our tourguide, who really was awesome. 🙂

ADAM
He's a wealth of information
With careful pauses of ... consideration.
He narrates as he drives the shuttle
With dad jokes that aren't too subtle.
Talking for hours with tales galore
He'll keep on going, even if you snore.
He'll get your ticket and get you there
And tell you exactly how, when, and where.
Be on time and don't be late.
The stress that'll cause him is too great.
He works hard to ensure our happy trip
So we will be sure not to forget his tip!

Alaska Day 7

Day 7 was our boat ride to the Kenai Fjords. Absolutely unbelievable. We saw seals, otters, bald eagle, puffins, orca whales, comorans, and some other bird related to the penguin and living up on the cliffs with puffins. Oh, and we saw climate change and global warming in effect with the glaciers. But that’s not real, right?

I can’t fit all the photos onto this post so I will make a second one… that one will have the whales and other wildlife…

Please excuse any crooked shots. Not easy taking photos on a boat, and dude, I don’t have time to go through and straighten all of them. Just pretend you are on the boat.

  • Woke up for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. They had a vegan sausage skillet scramble. Yum.
  • Loaded onto the boat for Kenai Fjords tour. Big ol boat with lots of folks on it. I found that I liked riding in the very front like a mermaid on a mast, the best. 🙂 Some good wave jumping action there and the best spot to scout the wild life.
  • Headed to the glacier first, and then to see a pod of orcas that was spotted, and then over to the cliffs where the puffins hang out.
  • Headed back to Anchorage. Most folks were a little wheezy from sea sickness, but that doesn’t affect me and I had all the free refills on coffee I could stand!
  • Pit stop somewhere on the Seward Highway. Grabbed some delicious ice cream.
  • Back to Anchorage- and low and behold- the crumby Aviator screwed up our reservation. Too long and complicated to explain, but just don’t ever stay there!!!!
  • Didn’t really eat dinner this night.
  • But did have more ice cream from Wild Scoops!!! I had some pea berry flavor with matcha almond cookie crumbles and of course, the baked alaska on top. Duh.
  • Walked around a bit, and then off to reorganize the packing for our departure the next day.

There is one poem… but I will save that for the Alaska Day 7 Part 2 post. 🙂

Alaska Day 6

On our way to Seward this day! An oceanside town, with a large fishing industry. Set against the backdrop of the mountains, this town easily became my favorite!

  • Shuttle to Seward… amazing views with little rays of light peeking through. The horizon seemed to go on forever fading away.
  • Quick look from the street of the Alaska Wildlife Center where we saw buffalos and a moose (the moose was too far away)
  • Stopped for a pit stop at a little coffee/ice cream shop. Cute location with a lake and Mountains of course. I did cartwheels. It just felt right.
  • Passed over Kenai lake- gorgeous!
  • Grabbed lunch from the lighthouse bakery in Seward. Met the owners little 5 year old daughter who was a cute lil chatterbox.
  • Ate my egg salad sammy on the shuttle as we drove to Exit Glacier
  • Hiked Exit Glacier. Started off with Ranger Rob, but there were far too many people crowded in that group, so I went rogue and did my own thing. Stood on the glacier bed of rocks with black sand. Climbed my way as far as I could go without damaging nature or leaving a trace.
  • Back into the town of Seward and walked around for a few hours. Explored the coast, watched some salmon fishers, and saw tourists and fisherman’s big catches! And I mean BIG!
  • Ate a salmon dinner at Chinook, and of course I also had to have a king crab leg. Watched the shadow’s mountain take over and it almost got dark!
  • Walked the dock and the beach a little more before bed time.
FADE OUT OF OUR OWN VIEW
Quiet and calm
Disappearing into the inlet's mist
Subdued and hushed
Where the ocean meets the mountain's kiss
Endless hills
Colliding into the mountain hue
Forward on
Fading out of our own view

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN
The sun sleeps behind the mountains
But the light echoes in the sky
It glows in between the valleys
And slips away gently with no goodbye
Left in the shadow of the mountains
Time eludes the silhouetted town
Discovering the quiet beauty of the valley
Only moments til daylight's crown

Alaska Day 5

Day 5 was a traveling day on a train. Long day of travel but I enjoyed it. 🙂

  • Breakfast again at the Black bear cafe- Alaskan Benedict with smoked salmon. Yum!
  • Back to Denali Park to romp around for an hour before we had to board the train.
  • I made the most of that hour and hiked to Horseshoe Lake to see the Beaver dam and hopefully to see some beavers. It was raining and I made it to the damn but saw no beavers. I had to run un the trail to get back to the shuttle in time- up steps and hills. It was a breathtaking exhausting, wetty, and sweaty run…but I made it back!
  • We took the Alaskan Rail Wilderness Express train with the glass domed ceiling.
  • Smoked salmon chowder for lunch on the train and Halibut for dinner on the train.
  • I bought a goofy engineer cap because why not?!!
  • Got back into Anchorage in the evening, and to avoid spending time in the gross hotel, we walked around and got ice cream at Wild Scoops. Fireweed again. I got mine with a “baked Alaska” on top. Marshmallow Fluff torched! Sooooo good.
THE WEX
I'm sorry that you're feeling queasy
Motion sickness isn't easy.
And when ginger just won't do the trick
You can step outside to get sick.
But how amazing is it to ride the rail!
Sit back. Enjoy the view. And drink some ale!
With it's views of Alaska from the glass dome ceiling
The Wilderness Express gives you a special feeling.

Alaska Day 4

Today was an early 6am morning! But we slept with the sliding door open and waking up to the crisp mountain air and the sound of the river rushing with glacial water was quite awesome.

  • Breakfast at the Black Bear Cafe- Really good vibe and great coffee…ate a “Bearito” but don’t worry, there was no meat in it. 🙂
  • We went to Denali park today and were given the Green Bus tour, which is an 8 hour ride to Eielsen Visitor Center with a stop every 90ish minutes to stretch the legs and empty the bladder. Our tour guide was Aaron from Utah who was very entertaining.
  • Animals we saw: grizzlys, caribous, ground squirrels, a moose’s caboose, grouses, and snowshoe hare.
  • Upon returning to the main visitor center, Jes and I hiked a wee bit, and found some cool “off path” hikes as well as some terrific views!
  • Dinner at 49th State Brewery. Ate smoked salmon chowder and the halibut. Took some photos with the bus used to film Into the Wild.
  • Saw a baby moose and mom from afar, but only got one blurry shot of the baby. 😦
A CLIFFHANGER
We're riding on this old green bus
Driving through curves that'll make you cuss.
The mountains are high and the valleys are low
The cliffs are steep and the bumps really blow.
Craning my neck to take in the view
Stop! An animal is at our two!
Thrown to a halt we gather to one side
Take photos and stare, then back to the ride.
8 hours on the bus and with any luck
My lunch I'll keep in and I won't up........


ANIMAL POEM
I could do without another caribou.
But another bear and I'll be there.
Have you seen any wondering wolverine?
Was it stalking prey or just enjoying the day?
I've seen plenty of the silly squirrel
One even sat on the lap of this girl!
I stared a moose in her caboose.
And a snowshoe hare in the posterior.
From afar I peeped a mountain doll sheep
A cotton ball dot, didn't look like a lot.
All the creatures and their features
From behind the glass through our mountain pass.

BREWERY BLUES (Sing it like a blues song, duh)
After 8 hours on the Denali Bus
I was so hungry I made a fuss!
I should have had a larger lunch
Instead of just a little munch.
By the time we got to our dinner spot
I only complained "It's too hot!"
Woahhhh ohhhhh I was Hangry!
Yeahhhh ahhhhh I needed to eat
Oh Man! I was Hangry!
Woahhhh! I'd even eat meat!
I finally got an IPA in me
Chowder too with things from the sea!
I began to feel like myself again
Singing songs every now and then.
And what a surprise Mike bought our next beer
For switching rooms, oh what a dear!
Woahhhh ohhhh I was Hangry!
Yeahhhh ahhhhhh I needed to eat!
Oh man! I was hangry!
Woahhhh! But I didn't eat meat!
😉