CCCP

Russians explored Alaska before other white men did, and therefore, tourist shops up there carry a lot of Russophile merchandise. The Goddess bought me a T-shirt with the old Soviet symbol on it with the letters CCCP like we used to see on all their hockey players jerseys. Of course, those letters come from the Cyrillic alphabet and not the Roman. If you transliterate them, you'd have SSSR. The Enlish translation comes out to USSR. But, the nostalgia makes the point, not the letters.

Mendenhall Glacier

On the same trip that we saw the whales and eagles, we went to the Mendenhall Glacier. It's really something to see. The weather was pretty miserable, cold and rainy in the 40s. We got to the glacier about 7:00 pm. Of course, up at 58 degrees north it stays light until about 10:00 pm. Anyway, it's in a park which has a rain forest too. Rain forest in Alaska? Yeah, it's true. Anyway, Mendenhall was great, even if the weather was lousy.

Alaska

We all had a wonderful time on the Alaska cruise. I truly enjoyed it, and I recommend it too. We went on Princess Cruise Lines, and I had a favorable impression. The best part for me came when we cruised in the Tracy Arm fjord on Wednesday.

North to Alaska

Vacation! Going to Alaska on a cruise ship. We leave Saturday for Seattle. From there we leave on a cruise ship for Alaska on Sunday. One week at sea traveling the Inside Passage. We will stop at Ketchikan, the wettest place in North America, Juneau which has more territory than Rhode Island, Connecticut, or Delaware, and Skagway the gateway to the Klondike. Totem poles, whales, glaciers, fjords, and who knows what else. It promises to have lots of relax time. Well, at least, I hope so.