Tuesday May 22nd 11:45 pmI woke up around 8am. I slept better but it wasn't the perfect night of sleep. We ate breakfast, my favorite meal on the ship and headed into Skagway. It's a sleepy town of 800 that swells to thousands when the cruise ships arrive. It's a cheesy tourist trap of a gold rush town. I've never seen so many jewelry shops in all my life. We finally found Caffiene-Free Diet Cokes at the Fairway Market. (Score!)
We went back to the ship for a quick break and a pizza lunch before heading off for the train ride. The White Pass and Yukon Railroad was an amazing ride! Pure Alaskan wilderness...and a little bit of Canada. (we found out about later) The pics I took won't do what we saw justice. There were quite a few photogs in our car and the clash of the Nature Papparazzi was quite hysterical! I was drooling over my new photog friend Aundrea's SLR and mack daddy lens.
Because of some problems with our train (and another that we found out about later), the 2.5 hour trip turned into a 5 hour excursion. We didn't complain. It was worth it. I stayed out on the little balcony between cars for most of the trip. I just couldn't be inside while all this great nature was passing me by. It was by far my favorite day of the trip.
We got back to the ship around 5ish, grabbed some french fries, a little rest and then headed to dinner with Steve and Justine. After dinner, we watched a few minutes of Willie Tyler and Lester but we had to leave. It was just too painful. It's sad when old entertainers don't age well. (not them personally but their act) I did get a bushwacker tonite and it was yummy. I haven't had one of those in a long while. That drink was invented on Pensacola Beach. I'm so proud.
After a quick trip to the buffet we went up on deck and I shot a few pics of the moon and the sunset. These shots were taken at about 11 and it wasn't completely dark yet. After that, we went to bed.
Afterthoughts: I just can't get over how wonderful that train ride was. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. If you go to Skagway you have to do it. It's the best way to see the beauty around Skagway and to get away from the cheesiness of the town. Oh, and that little town of 800...well...it costs a pretty penny to live there. I think the average price for a home there is 400K. And none of the homes are big. There are no mansions. That's 400K for a regular old house. And I thought Seattle was bad.
The weather was amazing while we were gone. In Juneau, they told us that they average about 44 days of sunshine a year. It was sunny and beautiful there and in Skagway. Before we left the weather prediction was rain. Wow! We felt really blessed by that sunshine. I didn't ever wear a coat on the train and I was fine.
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