Our first day back home and it’s raining which seems odd since we just left some of the world’s traditional rainy spots, Ketchikan, Alaska, (which was sunny on both days of our visit) Vancouver, Canada and Seattle, Washington which both are undergoing one of the worst droughts in memory.
The view from our stateroom as the ship pulled into Vancouver, BC.
In my recent blogs, I’ve been raving about the great luck those of us on the Alaska tour have had; whether it’s seeing lots of wild animals and crystal clear views of mountains and glaciers, but our good fortune hit a snag on the drive from Vancouver to Seattle. About four miles from the U.S./Canadian border, our bus broke down and we were stuck on the side of the road waiting for a replacement. I should point out that it wasn’t a Holiday Vacations motor coach that had trouble but one leased by the company for the 4 hour trip. Amazingly, most of the 45 people aboard took the incident in stride and good humor. I, on the other hand, sat in the back with my head down fuming to myself about being cooped up without air conditioning in this aluminum tube along a busy interstate just waiting to be slammed into from behind by a guy driving a big rig who had taken his eyes off the road for a split second to grab the mic on his CB radio to chat with a good buddy about how boring this stretch of road is.
“Oh, Lord..please grant me the ability to be patient. And grant it to me NOW!”
Never did hear the exact reason for the why the engine stopped. It had something to do with an environmental device on the new buses that stores unspent diesel fumes to be burned as fuel. Anyway, that got screwed up and then the computer prevented any kind of manual over ride.
The replacement bus actually showed up in less than an hour so after doing a little ditch dance stepping from one bus to the other and switching luggage (with the help of two strong gentlemen from our tour) we were on our way.
You can see it was a pretty steep ditch as we gingerly transfer buses.
Our replacement driver was also a diesel mechanic who was glad to get out of the grease and back on the road for a few hours.
Other than that little snag the vacation was perfect but it’s good to be home.
I promised those on our tour that I’d post a few more photos from the journey for the benefit of their families, friends and any other Lund at Large readers who’ve been following along on the blog.
Several of us tried our hand at flinging arrows from an ancient weapon that preceded the bow by ten thousand years. It was used to bring down woolly Mammoths but all would have escaped our feeble attempts.
Even when there’s a bit of a drizzle, Alaska and the Yukon beg to be photographed.
Bumpity bump on the ALCAN highway.
This little Arctic Ground Squirrel..perhaps tired of running from foxes and eagles in Denali National Park, pleads with one of our folks to help him escape.
Another Denali Park photo op.
Also in Denali, Lana Crawford gives a not-so-subtle hint to her husband, Todd.
Holland America ship, Volendam docked in Ketchikan. Not as big as a lot of ocean liners but just right for the mostly grown up passengers to whom it primarily caters.
Our driver and host, Todd and Teresa. We couldn’t have had any better and both said, in all sincerity, it was the most fun group they’d ever had.
But now it’s back to reality. I just made out the bills and, after two weeks, the yard is screaming for a haircut.
