Author Archives: JoeTourist

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Anchorage to Whittier

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May 29, 2022 – Anchorage to Whittier, Alaska and board the Nieuw Amsterdam

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

We don’t leave the hotel until 12:10PM, so I finish annotating my photos this morning, posting a new Denali-Anchorage album to my Flickr account before I leave. The hotel Wi-fi is pathetically slow, so I’m glad I have my mobile LTE roaming from Fido to work with.

I say goodbye to our Tour Director Cassandra Joy, encouraging her to look me up if she finds herself in Victoria. We board our bus to transfer to the rail station, and take an Alaska Railway dome car to Whittier, which is a 3-hour scenic trip. There is snack and drink service to the seat offered by each car’s attendant. We pass through a tunnel that is shared by road vehicles and trains – a unique approach to saving the expense of building and operating two tunnels!

The Nieuw Amsterdam is waiting for us at the dock. Check-in is slow due to the health check requirements before boarding, but it takes well under an hour before I’m in my lovely verandah stateroom on the ship. A short time later, my checked bag shows up, so I unpack and settle in.

First order of business is to find my Muster Station and register with the crew there, and then watch the safety video in my cabin. Gathering all passengers on deck at their muster stations is no longer done, in order to avoid crowding and risk of infection. I have a wonderful dinner with 4 others in the main dining room: snow crab cocktail, Alaska salmon fillet, and strawberries with ice cream. Since I have the drinks package, I have two glasses of Italian Pinot Gris with dinner. The ship leaves at 6:00PM while I’m still at dinner, which is earlier than the scheduled departure time of 10PM stated in my itinerary.

I can’t stop taking photos and video on this trip, and today is no exception. The train ride down was through a scenic inlet and moose flat wetland, and then the ship sails past snow-capped mountains and through a lovely channel with lots of islands as the sun sets behind us. I can already appreciate the charm of an Alaska cruise, and we are just starting out!

Anchorage to Whittier
Anchorage to Whittier
16 photos

Anchorage

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May 28, 2022 – Anchorage, Alaska

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

Today is a down day for me – no excursions booked. I have breakfast with a couple from my tour group. These buffet breakfasts are expensive at US$23 (with tip) / CA$30! I save money be skipping lunch.

We then decide to walk the few blocks to the Anchorage Museum to have a look at the exhibits, which include aboriginal artifacts in glass cases and multimedia info, and two floors of art exhibits, which change after a few months. Admission is US$15 for seniors for the day, or US$20 for adults.

Holland America arranges for everyone in the group to be tested at the hotel for COVID-19 again today in preparation for boarding the ship tomorrow in Whittier. Thankfully, I receive notice of a negative result an hour later, however our Tour Director tells me one of the group tested positive. They won’t be boarding the ship tomorrow, and will have to stay in Anchorage for a 5-day quarantine before flying home, if I remember the rules correctly.

I annotate my photos on my notebook computer this afternoon in my room, thinking I will make enough progress to post a new Denali album online, however it goes slower than I expect. I have a lot of photos from the first half of this trip!

I go for dinner across the street again to Orso restaurant, since I enjoyed my meal there last night. I splurge a bit more this evening, having a draft beer with Seafood Gemelli, a lovely seafood stew made with local gemelli pasta, mini clams, salmon and rockfish in a light cream sauce. I finish with a cappuccino, since the last time I had coffee was at breakfast. This meal ends up costing US$53.35 with tax and tip, which is a whopping CA$70!

Anchorage
Anchorage
9 photos
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Denali to Anchorage by train

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May 27, 2022 – Denali to Anchorage, Alaska by dome car train

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

i put my bags out at 7AM for pickup and then go to Karstens Public House for a cappuccino before we leave at 8:30PM by bus for the short ride to the railway station. The two McKinley Explorer dome cars we ride in today are owned and operated by Holland America. The train and engine is operated by Alaska Railway. We leave the station at 9:00AM, arriving in Anchorage at 5:30PM, an 8.5 hour, 233.4 mile trip, at an average speed of 27 mph.

McKinley Explorer train route - Denali to Anchorage
McKinley Explorer train route – Denali to Anchorage

It is a wonderful ride in the deluxe dome railcar. Since I only had a coffee at the resort, I go downstairs to the cafe for breakfast, having coffee and a continental breakfast. I chat with a young Alaska couple who I am seated with. Upstairs, we have our own bartender, who also brings us snacks, so I order some salmon spread and warm pita bread to go with a Golden Ale. The big bonus for me and many others in our group is that we spot Denali (the mountain) near the halfway point to Anchorage, and I manage to take a good photo of the tallest mountain in North America with my Canon mirrorless camera and telephoto lens – see banner image above.

We are staying at the Westmark Anchorage Downtown hotel, which is owned and operated by Holland America. It’s nothing special, but the room is clean and the bed is comfortable, so I’m happy. Once my bag arrives and I get settled in my room, I go for an early dinner across the street at Orso restaurant having a lovely Cashew Crusted Alaska Rockfish, with vegetables and cous cous.

We have experienced exceptionally good weather so far on this trip. The weather report for Anchorage today: 23°C, windy and hot. Warning: risk of wildfires.

Denali to Anchorage
Denali to Anchorage
12 photos
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Denali

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May 26, 22022 – Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour, Denali National Park, Alaska

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

The Tundra Wilderness Tour is an included excursion for everyone in our group. We are picked up from the main entrance to the resort this morning for our 3.5 hour road trip into Denali National Park. This was originally an all-day excursion, however we now turn around at mile 43 near where the road crosses the Toklat River. Access to facilities and services in Denali remain altered due to the Pretty Rocks Landslide and the associated closure of the Park Road at Mile 43. Nonetheless, we have a successful excursion, seeing a good selection of wildlife along the shortened route, and the scenery is spectacular. Due to cloudy weather, Denali the mountain escapes us today.

Our guide tells us the slide area is sinking several inches each day due to permafrost thawing, so the Parks Service cannot keep up with hauling in all that gravel daily to keep the road open. Building a new road using a different route is not an option, since it would take years to build and it is likely to suffer from the same sinking problem. This is being caused by climate warming – average temperatures in Denali have risen 7ºF since 1950, and are rapidly increasing over the last few years.

Wildlife sightings

  • Savage River
    • Spruce Grouse
    • Ptarmigan 
    • Caribou
  • Sanctuary River
    • Caribou
  • Teklanika River
    • Grizzly bear
  • Igloo Mountain
    • Dall sheep
    • Ground Squirrels
Denali Park Road map - Mile 0 to 43
Denali Park Road map – Mile 0 to 43

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Denali
Denali
17 photos
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Fairbanks, Gold Dredge, Denali

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May 25, 2022 – Fairbanks, Gold Dredge No. 8, Denali National Park, Alaska

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

Flying out of Dawson City, bound for Fairbanks. Gold dredge tailings along the Klondike River, Bonanza Creek & Dawson City on the Yukon River.

Check-in for our morning flight to Fairbanks happens at our hotel since there is no terminal building at the Dawson City airport. The security check happens on the apron in front of the aircraft before boarding. It’s a good thing the weather is clear with no rain! Apparently the runway was only paved in 2019. Our small group flies to Fairbanks aboard a chartered Air North Boeing 737-500 – a 1-hour flight.

We have a couple of hours to see Fairbanks, so our group wanders around a bit, seeing the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center museum, but Fairbanks isn’t much of a tourist city. I have a very tasty hot and sour soup for lunch at Bhan Thai restaurant (TripAdvisor) joining a couple from the tour group. JoeTourist recommended!

Dredge bucket line and bow gantry - Goldstream Dredge No. 8, Fox, AK
Dredge bucket line and bow gantry – Goldstream Dredge No. 8, Fox, AK

We then board our bus and are taken to nearby Gold Dredge 8 where we first encounter the Alaska Pipeline at the site entrance. We wait around for an hour for other tour buses to arrive before we are all taken to the main site on a miniature train. They give everyone a small poke bag and then everyone (except me) pans for gold, has their flecks of gold weighed, and can take them home as-is or have it made into jewelry on the spot. I’m more interested in the history of the place, so wander around taking in all the mining artifacts on display – a big old safe, accounting machines and records, clothing, equipment, and even dinosaur bones!

The dredge is partially flooded, so we aren’t allowed to go inside – a disappointment. There are bunkhouses, machine shops, a hydro generation station – complete infrastructure to support the 24-hour a day operation this dredge was built for. This was remote wilderness, so this operation had to continue to function without much support from outside. The small town of Fox is nearby, where many of the miners and their families lived.

Later in the afternoon, we board our bus and drive Highway 3 south to Denali, a 2-hour drive. We make a stop at the hamlet of Nenana, where there is an historic train station, a grocery store, a bar, and not much else. We arrive at McKinley Chalet Resort at about 7PM. This is a resort owned and operated by Holland America, so in their usual efficient manner, they are ready for us, so we are quickly assigned our rooms.

Our group is staying in the Ridge View building, which our Tour Director tells us most resort guests ask to upgrade to. My room is very nice, with two big beds, nice appointments, and a view of the mountain. I don’t wait for my checked bag to appear before going for dinner at Karstens Public House, which is part of the resort, and the only option for meals without leaving the resort grounds. I have Rigatoni with Italian sausage and garlic toast with an Alaskan ale, which is very tasty and comes with very good service.

Denali Square is the main common area of the resort, where guests can hang out, listen to outdoor performances, patronize the small shops on the perimeter, and of course partake of the food and drink from Karstens Public House on their large patio.

Fairbanks, Gold Dredge & Nenana
Fairbanks, Gold Dredge & Nenana
30 photos
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Dawson City

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May 24, 2022 – Dawson City, Yukon

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

I go over to the hotel’s restaurant for breakfast. It is a buffet, so I have some insipid scrambled eggs, toast, a bit of bacon, some fruit and yogurt, and of course coffee. The staff are still learning their jobs, since the restaurant has only been open for a few days. It costs me $29 – these breakfasts are expensive!

Robert Service cabin
Robert Service cabin

I spend the rest of the morning doing a self-guided walking tour of the city (see map below), taking photos as I go. There are lots of funky buildings to see – some very old and some new. Some of the historic locations include Jack London‘s cabin and the Robert Service cabin, both of which are closed, so I see them from the outside. The Klondike Mines Railway Locomotive Shelter has several steam engines on display inside, but it is closed too, so I take photos through the dirty windows. They also have some derelict tracked vehicles outside that I speculate (despite missing dozer blades) were probably used for hauling goods through the bush, building roads and moving gravel and dirt.

A condemned St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church – 1901 shows how a building foundation can be destroyed by permafrost heaving. The memory of the O’Brien Brewing and Malting Company is now reduced to a single beer wagon on a back street behind the Yukon Hotel. I walk back along the dyke on the Yukon River and approach the SS Keno sternwheel paddle steamer on display in a dry dock beside the Yukon River. This historic site is also closed, a recurring theme today! I pass by a former bank building where Robert Service once worked, the Flora Dora Hotel, another former “dance hall” in its heyday (Lulu Mae Johnson) and Klondike Kate’s restaurant & cabins.

The Dawson City Museum has some very interesting artifacts representing much of the rich history of Dawson City during the Gold Rush. The museum also houses an active Courtroom. The Riverwest Bistro on Front Street comes recommended by our tour director as the only place in Dawson City which offers espresso, so I enjoy a cappuccino and some lunch before resuming my walking tour this afternoon. Brown’s Harness Shop, 3rd Ave Blacksmith Shop, Red Feather Saloon, Ruby’s Place (historic brothel), the Downtown Hotel (home of the infamous Sour Toe cocktail) are all on my way back to our hotel.

Holland America arranges COVID-19 tests for the whole group late this afternoon in the hotel. We all test negative, so we are ready to enter the USA on our charter flight to Fairbanks tomorrow. Our hotel has a steak and salmon dinner buffet this evening. I avoid the steak since it looks like shoe leather, but the salmon fillets are nicely done in a light sauce. It makes a nice meal with rice and veggies.

Dawson City
Dawson City
75 photos
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Vancouver to Yukon

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May 23, 2022 – Fly Vancouver to Whitehorse to Dawson City

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

I wake up around 7:30AM, and then go down to the restaurant for breakfast. I have regular coffee and a seafood frittata, which costs $35. I go for a walk along the same path as I used last night – it feels good to walk the 1 km loop, and get some fresh air this morning. When I return to my room, I pack my things and sit around for awhile before rolling my bag downstairs to check out. I will be wearing my mask all day, which I’m not used to when I’m at home.

I walk the full length of the airport to the Air North gate, but I’m too early for the afternoon flight, so there are no gate agents yet. The Holland America check-in lane is marked, so I find a seat and watch the people entering the security lines. Once the Air North agents arrive, I check in and get my boarding passes for the two flights: Vancouver-Whitehorse and Whitehorse-Dawson City. The security process is relatively painless, and the procedures are exactly the same as pre-pandemic. I find my gate and settle in to wait for the flight. The notice board says the flight is delayed an hour, now departing at 2:30PM, so we’ll see how our connecting flight to Dawson City works out. 

There is an incident as we board the aircraft, where a young male passenger refuses to wear a mask and eventually leaves the aircraft. The captain announces they will be starting engine 1 using the power cart, and then starting engine 2 from engine 1 after push away, which takes a bit longer. We take off from Vancouver at 2PM, so the flight isn’t seriously delayed. I’m stuck in an aisle seat, since I didn’t have a choice of seats when I checked in, so other than taking a couple of zoomed in photos through the window across two seats from me, I don’t get to peer out the window like I usually do on flights.

Whitehorse
Whitehorse
43 photos

Our Holland America Tour Director Cassandra Joy is waiting for us in Whitehorse airport. She gives us name tags on lanyards to help her remember our names, and she also hands out some information sheets covering the Dawson City portion of our tour. I chat with a few of our group, since this is the first time we’ve gathered together. Our chartered flight aboard an Air North 737-400 Whitehorse to Dawson City is delayed a bit, but eventually we are lead through a “gate” to board the aircraft waiting for us on the apron. There is an actual wire fence gate we are checked through outside, just like the old days! There are 16 of us, so the Boeing 737-500 cabin is nearly empty. Our route follows the Klondike River as the 45-minute flight takes us over the Tombstone Mountains.

Diamond Tooth Gertie
Diamond Tooth Gertie

Once we arrive in Dawson City and get settled into our rooms at the Westmark Inn, I join our Tour Director and two other people from the group to see the dancing girl Can Can show at Diamond Tooth Gerties gambling hall and saloon. We have a slice of pizza and a beer, since we will otherwise miss dinner. The show is quite good, but costs a $20 entrance fee per person. There is also a small casino in addition to the stage show and bar. Two RCMP officers walk through the establishment while we are paying our admission and showing ID. 

After I return to my room, I settle in for the night. The Wi-fi is too weak from my room, since I’m across the street from the router, so I make use of my mobile LTE service, hot-spotting to my notebook computer. At midnight, I go outside to take a photo of the hotel at midnight, since the sky is still bright blue – the midnight sun at Dawson City, located at 64° North latitude.

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Victoria to Vancouver – May 2022

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May 22, 2022 – Flying from Victoria to Vancouver

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

I finalize packing this morning, since I leave this afternoon on a 1:05PM flight to Vancouver – the first leg of my Alaska Cruise with Holland America.

We leave for Victoria airport at 10AM, which is incredibly early, but I want to check in and navigate security without having to stress about the new procedures. The Pacific Coastal Airways agent tells me I have about a half hour before the security area will be very busy, so I proceed directly there. It is all very easy – all I need is my boarding pass QR code, my passport, and my federal COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination QR code. I have a couple of hours to kill, but after a few flights depart, my aircraft arrives and the flight is announced. We take off 5 minutes early at 1:00pm in a Pacific Coastal Airways Beechcraft 1900D (10 rows of 2 seats). Chad is our pilot, Tyrone is our copilot, there is no flight attendant, and there are about a half dozen passengers aboard the flight. Once we arrive at the South Terminal of Vancouver Airport, three of us collect our checked bags and then take a shuttle to the main terminal. I walk back to the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel, which is right inside the terminal at the east end and check-in.

Joe having a martini with lunch in the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel bar overlooking the gates and mountains

Once I unpack a few things, I go downstairs to the bar for some lunch. There are seats right beside the windows that look out on the gates and aircraft aprons, with the North Shore mountains and the City of Vancouver visible in the distance. My lunch is rather expensive ($60 with tip), but I don’t care since I am hungry and I have a martini to celebrate my first time travelling in over two years. When I return to my room, I freshen up and have a nap. After waking up, I go for a walk through the pocket park, which is just east of the hotel, located between the main road approach to the terminal (Grant McConachie Way) and the servicing areas for the aircraft. The Canada Line Skytrain runs overhead, but it’s good to get outside for some exercise – the fresh air smells good believe it or not!

My room faces south over the southern 08/26 east-west runway with the South Terminal visible in the distance. The main road approach to the airport is directly below and the Skytrain is there as well. Despite all this, my room is quiet and very comfortable. Since I had a late lunch, I don’t bother with dinner.

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Ft. Lauderdale to Canada

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April 3, 2020 – returning home to Canada from Fort Lauderdale

2020 South America cruise

Fort Lauderdale

By mid-morning, we are called to leave the Rotterdam, so we put on our face masks and gloves before leaving the ship. US customs and immigration wave us through, as does US Health, since ship’s staff pre-processed the required paperwork the previous day. As we board our buses, many of the staff in the terminal wish us well, and one woman is waving a Canadian flag – very touching and much appreciated! We wait in the buses for about an hour, and then the Broward County Sheriff officers on their Harleys escort us on a half-hour motorcade to a private area of the Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood airport (FLL). I must say that despite the circumstances, it’s a very impressive ride!

We are then checked in by US officials and airline staff, and walk aboard the aircraft to find our seats and get settled. We wait for over two hours while the rest of the passengers board the aircraft. The Eastern cabin attendants are fully-suited up (see banner image above) and only offer basic services. The 1978-era Boeing 767-300 charter aircraft is a wide-body cabin with 2-3-2 seats across two isles, and has a capacity of 375 passengers with every seat taken. Once we take off for Toronto, we have several hours to get into the bagged meal given to us as we boarded.

Flight path from FLL - YYZ - YVR - YYJ
Flight path from FLL – YYZ – YVR – YYJ

Canada

After our arrival in Toronto, we are processed by Canadian Border Services and Public Health Canada, given a kit describing the quarantine conditions we will be operating under for the next two weeks, a digital oral thermometer and a new mask. They take my temperature, ask me some health questions, and get me to dispose of the mask and gloves I’ve been wearing all day on the aircraft. I’m on my way to Terminal 1 and my domestic flights from Toronto to Vancouver, and then Victoria. I barely make it aboard the Toronto-Vancouver flight, since the shuttle driver doesn’t know where she is supposed to take us, and once we arrive at the terminal, the Air Canada staff are confused about how to get us to the gate!

The flight to Vancouver is otherwise uneventful. Once we make the short hop from Vancouver to Victoria, my travel buddy and I drive (independently) to our respective homes, adhering to the Canadian quarantine rules we are now bound by for the next two weeks. Air Canada manages to lose my checked bag, but the baggage claim clerk takes a description of my bag and assures me they will deliver it tomorrow afternoon (which they do).

It’s a huge relief to finally be home with my family, as we ride out this pandemic together!

2020 flight home from Fort Lauderdale
2020 flight home from Fort Lauderdale
7 photos
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida

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March 31 – April 1, 2020 – Sailing from the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale

2020 South America cruise

Ship’s route – sailing from Panama Canal to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

I make no journal entries and take no photographs for the two days it takes to sail from the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale, since by that time I am pretty well shut down mentally. I concentrate on surviving the ordeal of being confined to our cabin for nine days, so I am able to ultimately return home to Canada. As can be seen by the ship’s route map, both ships proceed at full speed on a northerly course across the Caribbean Sea, rounding Cuba to the west by Havana.

April 2, 2020 – arriving in Fort Lauderdale

9:15am – We are 22 miles offshore from Fort Lauderdale, and still awaiting permission to land, so we can start the pre-clearance process today. We put our main checked bags out this morning, which are taken to a holding area on board the ship, ultimately to be transferred ashore for us.

1:50pm – Both Zaandam and Rotterdam are approved to come alongside and dock at the cruise port terminal within the next hour. We sail up the shipping channel to the cruise terminal, with lots of friendly waves coming from people on shore, however under the watchful eye of the US Coast Guard (see banner image above). We are designated to disembark the ship tomorrow morning – the first wave of Canadians leaving the ship to return to Canada!

People ashore waving to us as Rotterdam sails up the channel to the dock.
People ashore waving to us as Rotterdam sails up the channel to the dock (Shot through a dirty cabin window!)

Once docked, the pre-clearance process aboard the ship involves yet another health questionnaire and submitting to a health screening. We are then given the treasured “Approved to Disembark” card, walk off the ship into the terminal where we are waved through by US Immigration and Customs officers. We then walk back on board the ship, where we will stay overnight until tomorrow’s actual disembarkation. What a strange procedure!