Bob and Ann in Alaska 2009

Please visit July 28 slideshow

Our Land identity for the next seven days in Alaska was group 18C and patient Katie Harmon would shepherd the 39 of us.

This morning’s cruise aboard the Sternwheeler Discovery featured a skillfully coordinated, continuous live video describing various shore attractions we passed by. Among the highlights was a sled dog demonstration and an off-boat tour of an Athabaska village where young native women displayed their cultural heritages. During our 3 hours on board we were treated to coffee and fresh donuts and later sampled smoked salmon spread on crackers - yum.

Next we took a bus to eat a lunch of hearty miner’s stew, blueberry crunch cakes and iced tea and then toured Gold Dredge No. 8. We were whisked through the gift shop and back onto the bus for a train ride to The El Dorado Gold Mine. After a quick demonstration of how to pan for gold we were each handed a pan, a bag of gravel and led to a stream to try our luck. Most of us with some help from the staff, left clutching a tiny cannister of gold flakes for our work. Weighing our loot was part of the process and the opportunity to purchase jewelry in which to display our dust was available in this large gift shop where we were served fresh baked cookies , coffee and ice water. Bob and I combined our loot and brought home our cannister containing about $31 worth of gold.

The Alaska Pipeline

We reboarded the train for a short ride back to our bus. Our last stop of the day was at a roadside turnoff where we got out of the bus and walked a short distance to see part of the Alaska pipeline. This was in an area where the pipeline rose out of the ground for a couple of hundred feet before going inderground again. This was a regular tourist stop complete with a gift shop. (Did we mention that Alaska is the land of gift shops)? Our bus driver worked on the pipeline when he first came to Alaska. He told us what tasks he performed and how the weather affected his job.

Then it was bus time again back to the hotel where we were too exhausted to consider going out for dinner. We ate a light meal in the hotel bar with the Bensons, repacked for early departure tomorrow and fell into bed.

During the day we couldn't help but notice how choreographed the day's events were. Holland America and the other tour companies spent alot of time on logistics to put the day together. The bus driver was also a travel guide who gave us running commentary of all of the sights on our route. Each place we visited had leaders and spokespersons to show us where to go and to let us know what was going on.