Ketchikan- Early Arrival

We have arrived in the community of Ketchikan. This is rated as the rainest place on the continent and of the four times we have been here there was no rain on three of them and it looks as if we are lucky again this time. There is no chance of rain and the temperature is forcast to be 16 degrees C which is 60 degrees Farenheight. We are up and waiting for breakfast an hour early because we did not change our watches ahead one hour. The computer did not change either. This time change is probable a local thing. Either way we were greeted to a beautiful sail in that we would have missed had we reset out time pieces. Today we have an excursion to a lumberjack show. This is a new excursion for us. Still no luck with pictures so I am going to use my cell phone to take photos today in the hopes that I can make that work. Breakfast arrived on time and we were able to enjoy it as we watch the scenery. The sky is cloudless and the sun is shining. We are blessed indeed. Soon it was almost time to head down to deck four. I decided that this was a perfect time to get some pictures of this beautiful ship and to hide some ducks. I was so right . We were able to hide 4 ducks without concern that someone might see us commit the deed.

We made our way to the dock and again took a lot of pictures as we waited for our tour. There was a very short 5 minute drive to the location of the lumber jack show. The MC was Lazonia (sp) and he was so much fun. There were 4 lumberjacks and 11 different competitions . Joe divided us into the US supporters and the BC supporters. He had us cheering and hooting and hollering. In the end the US won with 6 and BC had 5 wins. It was so much fun. I am so glad that we did that excursion.

When that was over we slowly made our way back to the ship, stopping at some of the shops but we made no purchases. We had the usual souverirs from previous visits and of course the exchange rate on top of the high prices scared us off. A 5 dollar US chocolate bar becomes an 8 dollar candy bar. Just not something I would do.

The day was amazingly warm and sunny and the walk was great. We really enjoyed it. We came back to the ship and put our things in the cabin and headed topside to get some lunch. This was our first visit to Horizon court. It is unbelievable how large this venue is. I chose a salad for lunch and then I discovered that the oatmeal cookies were there and of couse I had to have one of those and I took one for the road also. They are so good. Emile was in the section we choose to sit in and he was our waiter. Our table was shared with a very nice couple. After lunch we both napped for an hour. Soon it was time to weigh anchor and head out of Ketchikan on our way to Jouneau. The park ranger was having a magnet exchange and I brought one from NS and one from BC so I went to his cabin to exchange. The idea is to take one and leave one. But when I got to his cabin there were only two of the Alaska magnets left so I left 2 and took only one. I also left him a duck . By then it was about time to get ready for dinner. We headed to our usual seat in Alegro dining room but tonight we had different near by seated passengers. It really makes a difference on how to enjoy your meal if you do not have plesant people to visit with.

After we finished eating I went to the international cafe and spoke with the teck people. They were not busy so I got the computer and returned to get some help. Apparently when I see coding the actual photo will be seen by the viewer. To check that out I wrote to Janet and asked her to confirm that. She wrote back early this morning so now I can download the photos. It will take awhile to go back and fill in the pictures but apparently it will work. Photos to come.