Vacation Part 2 - Seattle to Ketchican (plus some other stuff)!

Hi All!

Well, I finally got my pictures onto blogger - one darn picture at a time!

Here is a continuation of the vacation story starting at the Seattle Airport.

Look! I saw an Orca up close and personal!

Hubby saw the Orca too!

This particular Orca was outside a shop in the Sea-Tac airport. We got there with loads of time to spare so . . . we messed around a bit!

Speaking of messing around - look who emerged from my suitcase while we were waiting! T.O.D.D.! He didn't end up saying too much but he was certainly hamming it up for the camera!

He chased an old woman out of this seat at the airport just because he could! Luckily, there were lots of empty seats - there were only about 50 people on our plane to Ketchican.

Hubby and I insisted that if T.O.D.D. was going to sit in a seat he had to buckle up and read the emergency procedure card. I am not sure if he was happy about that and waving to us or what . . .

Once that "fasten seatbelt" sign blipped off T.O.D.D. had a field day. We looked away and he literally dove into our M&M box and ate them all!

When he found out that he could get a snack and a soda he managed to ask for these from the flight attendant. Oddly enough, she didn't even blink at having an alien ask her for a Jones soda.

T.O.D.D. spent a lot of time looking out the window. Apparently, they don't have mountains or snow where he is from.

I managed to look out myself. It is beautiful country which isn't done justice by my pictures. Snow peaked mountains were everywhere. I couldn't help but think what the first people to explore this land thought when they struggled to the top of that first mountain only to see these as far as the eye can see!

The fog among the mountains intrigued me - Hubby said it looked like water from the plane. It sort of does.

Here is a picture of our plane at the Ketchikan airport. Yes, it was a jet. No, it wasn't a little prop-jobber. We saw larger cargo planes take off from the airport here. It was impressive when you consider the size of the airport!

Here are ALL the hangars at the airport. Apparently, jets don't stay too long!

The airport consisted of ONE gate, a snack bar/bar, a small gift shop and a pair of restrooms. Jay and I were tickled by how tiny the place was. At least you never have to worry about which gate you are leaving from!

Okay - this picture - I don't remember what it is of. I don't even know if it was really taken in Ketchikan so . . . let's just move on!

We had to cross this channel on a ferry. This is the dry dock and the water plane airport (apparently!) right next to the ferry building on the other side.

Here is the ferry! We walked on with all our luggage. It was fun when an oil tanker got on - the whole ferry tilted!

From the ferry, we took a taxi to our hotel for the night. We were given a warm welcome as you can see below!

Actually, this is one of the totem poles out front of the hotel. I just love that big tongue!

Here is a view of all of the totem poles. They are pretty neat.

This is the entrance to our hotel - the Cape Fox Lodge. Very nice!

Once we got to the hotel and got all of our stuff into the room we decided that we were a bit hungry. After polling a panel of locals, we ended up at Annabelle's. We chatted with the server and decided to take a shot at his favorite - crab cake sandwiches. They were WONDERFUL! For dessert I had peanut butter pie. Very, very yummy! I hope that if we ever end up in Ketchikan again, we will get a chance to eat at Annabelle's.

As you can see, T.O.D.D. went with us. He got a bit of crab cake (his tiny little tummy doesn't hold too much, thank goodness) and some of Hubby's beer. He was a happy alien!

After Annabelle's we did a bit of shopping. I found a very neat bead shop which I had seen on a previous trip but which had moved leading to disappointment before we found it again which led to happiness. I bought three Alaskan themed beads for some bookmarks and T.O.D.D. enjoyed looking at beads.

He really didn't want to leave but Hubby was getting restless!

Our next stop was a fabulous bookstore called Parnassus. In the bookstore I met Maggie. She had great suggestions for books and also agreed to have her picture taken with T.O.D.D.

Maggie decided to match T.O.D.D. scowl for scowl to honor the fact that he is a demon.

I will certainly be visiting this bookstore again if we get to Ketchikan again!

Hubby and I strolled through the entire town (okay, mostly the "touristy" section) and saw this at the waterfront.

Isn't it cute? They had several others - seashells and stuff - but this one really caught my fancy. It looked so good just hanging on the top of the post! It was tough to get a halfway decent picture because of the shadows being cast by nearby buildings but I think I did okay!

Speaking of the waterfront.

This picture is of the creek which runs literally under Creek Street - a boardwalk supported by tall stilts. All day we walked back and forth and lots of people were crowded around this spot preventing me from taking a picture. Later in the evening I finally got my chance!

From looking at this place would you think it had the best burgers and some of the best food in town? Well, apparently, it does. Hubby and I decided to eat here for dinner but, when we arrived there at 7:15 P.M. we learned that it closed at 7:00! Rats! Another "next time" place.

Let me stop for a moment to talk about the whole "closed at 7:00" thing. Since the touristy areas of Ketchikan are primarily for the ships which come into port and they leave around 7:00, the entire town rolls up the sidewalks at 7:00! We were walking around trying to find a different place to eat - after walking through the tunnel to find out that Burger Queen was closed - and found that the town was pretty much shut down. There were a few places open though.

We ended up at the Pioneer Diner - another local hangout. The food was good and the service was fun. Our waitress was named Lou and she was a real character. She did win my heart by leaving me an entire pitcher of ice water! The diner is the kind of place where old men gather to solve the world's problems. I like those places!

More waterfront. Such neat scenery!

Meet Leanne (I hope I spelled that right!), T.O.D.D.'s new friend. Leanne works in a shop where I bought two CDs of local Ketchikan music. She was kind enough to talk to me about the various CDs and groups that were represented by the CDs. So far I have listened to one (Partial to Blue by David Reynolds) which I really like. The other I am still waiting to listen to during my drive to work sometime soon.

Okay - I am finished for this post. Have you had enough pictures yet?

Trisha

Voice Update: See Wednesday's post for the update.