Alaska Cruising III (Juneau)

After a strange day in the tiny port town of Ketchikan, we weren't sure what to expect in Juneau. We thought we knew one thing for certain, being the capital, surely it would be larger. To a certain extent, it was most definitely larger, though calling it a city is not even slightly accurate. In Ketchikan we were only there until 2pm, but in Juneau we had until 9pm.

Our plan for the day was to take an early morning helicopter up to the Mendenhall Glacier and land on it. You're only in Alaska once (or in my husband's case, twice) so we wanted to have really unique experiences. We've taken helicopter rides before (into the Grand Canyon for one which was amazing!) but neither one of us had ever actually landed on a glacier. Unfortunately, to have an experience like this through the cruise ship shore excursions would have costed us $800 for two people. Rather than just accepting this, we had to at least look into other options. In Ketchikan, I can understand not having other things to do because it took you less than 5 minutes to walk the entire town, but Juneau got more tourists than just the cruisers. This was absolutely the right thing to do. We were able to find a helicopter company that offered us the same package as the cruise ship but for only $518 instead of $800.

We were supposed to take the first helicopter of the day up to the glacier around 8AM, but they called us (Juneau is in the USA, so I had normal cell phone reception on shore) to say that the fog was too heavy that morning, and they were bumping us to the 11AM flight. It wasn't a big deal. We were in Juneau all day, and the only other plan we had was to do some hiking up Mt. Roberts. The only problem was that it about 7:30 in the morning, and we had about 3 hours to kill. That's when we looked around and saw lots of "discount" tour guides offering rides out to the glacier for cheap. We should have figured that companies got business from cruisers who didn't book excursions through the ship but still wanted fun things to do.  The white school bus in the middle of the picture below offered to take us to and from Mendenhall Glacier for $8.00/each. SOLD!

Our driver and "guide" out to the glacier

The center bus was our transportation out to the glacier

The helicopter ride would take us to the top and land on the glacier, but other than that, we didn't really have any plans to see the glacier from the ground. So, we hopped on the shady white school bus and rode out to the Mendenhall visitor center. 

Who's that?? ;)

As soon as we arrived at the visitor center, the driver told us our return options. We timed our visit accordingly to make sure we were back in time to catch our ride to the heliport. We browsed the visitor center, walked out to the water, walked over to the waterfall and then back to the bus.

The only problem with the 11:00 helicopter flight was that it didn't really give us any time for lunch. So as soon as we got back from the glacier and before we had to meet the helicopter, we quickly bolted back onto the cruise ship and grabbed some items from our room-service continental breakfast. Then on the bus to the heliport, I munched on some fruit loops.

The helicopter ride and glacier walk was amazing and worth every penny, though I'm glad we were able to save $300 by booking it directly through the helicopter company and not through the cruise ship. Before we took off, they gave us these drawstring black booties that fit on over our own shoes. These had thick staples on the bottom of them that stuck out and make it so we didn't slip while walking on the glacial ice.

Helicopter landing on Mendenhall Glacier

When we got to the top of the glacier we immediately noticed a sharp temperature drop. We knew to pack hats and gloves and were now very glad for that. A guide met us right away and explained some interesting facts about the glacier. We then embarked on a short glacier trek seeing deep glacial crevasses and other unique ice formations.

Walking around on the glacier

You can note the difference in the weather from when the day started. In the picture at the top the ground was wet and the sky cloudy. Here, you can see how the fog went away, and the day was clearing up nicely. One of the coolest things on top of the glacier were the rivers. The guide said that there was no water more pure, so we all took our hands out of our warm gloves and dipped them into the icy water for a cool sip. (Have you ever eaten snow? Same taste. Haha!)

Pure glacial river that runs through the middle of the ice

After we got back from the helicopter adventure, we found our way to the Mt. Roberts tram. The tram takes you up to the top of Mt. Roberts where you can then hike around on different trails. Fortunately, no dangerous wildlife threatened our visit and we enjoyed hiking for a couple of hours. The only animals we saw were a wolves in a pack off in the distance. We could only see specks with our naked eyes, but we packed binoculars and my camera with a 12x zoom lens, so we were able to see them a little better with some eye enhancement.

Hiking on the trail at Mt. Roberts

We walked through the town of Juneau a bit after descending the mountain on the tram, and recognized many of the same "Tanzanite International" stores that we saw in Ketchikan. We rolled our eyes and realized that anytime crooks can scam tourists, they'll do it. Although we were in the Juneau port until 9PM that evening, we were pretty tired from a long, active day. We enjoyed a lovely dinner in the dining room, whatever entertainment happened to be playing that night, and then into bed for us.

The last port of call Skagway was the next day. It's a shame that all three ports of call were bing, bang, boom. It would have been nice to have a day in-between Juneau and Skagway instead of two scenic cruising days at the end, but the geography of the region is not the fault of the cruise line.

Read about the end of my trip HERE.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

Alaska Cruising Part II (Day at Sea & Ketchikan)

The Island Princess cruise ship apart from being a relatively boring ship as cruise ships go (no water slides or movies under the stars or really anything fun), certainly never let anyone go hungry. In the cruise pack that we got before our departure, they instructed us to determine if we wanted to do "traditional" dining or "flexible" dining. Traditional dining is the experience everyone thinks of when cruising. You're seated at a table with 8 or 10 others with the same dining time, the same dining companions and the same wait staff each evening. With flexible dining, you used the other dining room on a first come, first served basis at the timing and party size of your choosing. In addition to the two dining rooms, they had the 24-hour buffet, 24-hour complimentary room service (which was great for breakfast), and 3 specialty restaurants that weren't complementary. There were two pools side by side; one was supposedly indoor while the other was outdoor. They both had glass enclosures around them, but the "outdoor" pool had no glass ceiling. Toward the upper decks they had shuffleboard, a gym, a spa and basketball with a casino, reading room, lecture rooms, and shops down below. Spa treatments were extremely overpriced and the exercise classes at the gym were also extra. Outdoor activities on the ship were out because it was Alaska...and it was cold...really really cold! You would think that in August, the temperatures would be mild, and I suppose they were. The daily temps were in the upper 50s or lower 60s, but coming from hot and humid summer temps along the mid-Atlantic seaboard, the sudden shock of 40-60 degree weather was too chilly for us. 

The ship had more activities in the evening. Twice during the week they had a pretty good comedian, and twice during the week they had performers do a pop/broadway medley show. Other evenings one could enjoy some karaoke or night club-like dancing. I even tried my hand at Princess Idol, though I sadly didn't make it past the first round. Haha! 

Our first day on the ship was a full day at sea. The waters were a little choppy, so I was glad to have taken bonine immediately upon waking. My husband and I tried to have a plan for the day so that we wouldn't be bored, though the daily activities didn't really sound all that exciting. For breakfast, you had 3 options: the traditional or flexible dining rooms with a fancier, sit down breakfast, the 24 hour buffet which had a good assortment of hot and cold breakfast options, and an in-room continental breakfast delivery. When we first arrived we gave a breakfast card to our room "attendant" who was to be our personal "guy" the whole week. The card had our selection of juices, bagels, cereals, fruit, etc. Then every morning, the breakfast would be delivered to our room. This came in so handy. In many cases we still went to the 24-hour buffet for breakfast, but I enjoyed having some food options in our room throughout the day. 

After breakfast on our day at sea, we went to the gym for a run. There were a lot of people there (the gym got less and less crowded throughout the week) on that first day, but we were still able to get 2 side by side treadmills with a view of the ocean. We ran for 45-60 minutes and then made our way to the "indoor" pool for a refreshing swim. I noted above that it was cold. And cold it most certainly was, but the pools were heated and the glass enclosure radiated heat from the sun, so it was plenty warm enough for a dip. We ate lunch at the 24-hour buffet (we ate there a lot!) and then looked at the different afternoon activities. One activity that stood out to me was a lecture about the different precious stones that are native to Alaska. I always enjoy buying jewelry when we travel as a souvenir, so this lecture was right up my alley. Little did I know that the entire thing would be sales pitch for diamonds and investment tanzanite more so than stones native to Alaska, and the next day I would learn why. 

We then walked around the ship for a while, shopped a bit in the shops below deck, and made a reservation for dinner in the dining room. The food in the dining room was amazing! We were able to get a table for 2, but the "flexible" dining room was so crowded and cramped that although we were at a table for 2, there was barely enough room to walk between our table and the other tables for 2 surrounding us. That night we enjoyed one of the evening performances, and walked around the ship some more. I was glad we only had one day at sea. I would get very bored on the ship if we had more than one day. The two days of scenic cruising at the end would be much more exciting, right? Oh gosh...I really hope so!! 

The next morning would be the day of our first port of call: Ketchikan. We approached the port right at dawn, and I was able to capture this picture. 

Our arrival at Ketchikan

Before setting sail, we had pre-registered for all of our shore excursions. This is where we suffered from severe sticker shock. The activities, were all obscenely expensive, beyond the point of reason. Had we not been on a cruise with limited options for how to spend our time in the ports, I would have (and still did to some extent) balked at the prices.

In Ketchikan, we signed up for the Bear Country & Wildlife Expedition. It was only a 3.5 hour tour (which still left us some time for exploring the town after we were done) and for two people, it cost $400. I still have to pick up my jaw off the floor when I think about how we spent that for a hike in the woods basically. Still, we saw some pretty amazing things.

We had our tickets for the tour, and they were numbered. As soon as we got off the boat, we saw a huge sign with our number on it, so we knew exactly where to go. We hopped in a 15 seater van and were on our way. Along the 30ish minute drive, we saw this guy just hanging out. That's right, it's a bald eagle. I thought it was really cool to see one of those in the wild.

Bald Eagle in Ketchikan

We got to the place for our hike through "bear country". The guide gave us some important instructions about what to do if we actually encountered any bears. But the layout of the adventure was very well designed. Most of the time, we were on these ropeways which were above the ground.

I think this sign speaks for itself! :)

Rope bridge system that kept us off the ground

We had been walking for about 45 minutes with no sign of any bears when suddenly someone saw this little guy in a tree near us.

Young black bear just out for a morning climb

Sadly, he was the only bear we saw that day. We would see grizzly bears off the coast a few days later playing in the water...and I was glad to be on a giant cruise ship.

After the hike through black bear country we went to a wildlife preserve to see where they rescue animals who are hurt. Here are just a few friends we met.

Where's Santa?

A Who from Whoville

Since our day began at 7AM and only lasted a little over 3 hours, we were back to our ship around 11AM. We went on board and ate lunch at the buffet. Ketchikan certainly had some eateries, but we had the mentality that we already paid for our meals on the ship, so we made a point to take advantage of being able to hop on and off the boat at our leisure.

As soon as we got off the boat after lunch, it became very clear to us why the person during yesterday's lecture pushed diamonds and investment tanzanite so much. The streets (all 2 or 3 of them) were positively lined with one jewelry store after another. Every once in a while there would be the souvenir junk shop with every magnet, shot glass, key chain, and tshirt you could ask for, but the overwhelming majority of stores sold precious and semi-precious gemstones.

I certainly enjoy looking at jewelry, so I indulged a little bit. I got myself a pretty pair of topaz (inexpensive) earrings and a ring. The cruise ship staff told us that it was almost the end of the season, and soon the shopkeepers would close the shops here and take their wears down to their Caribbean shops. I should have realized that Ketchikan wouldn't be my only opportunity for shopping of this nature. It wasn't until Skagway when we had a chat with a local that the truth unfolded.

One jewelry store after another...

Our day in Ketchikan was shorter than the others, and we had to be back on the boat by 2pm in order to sail up to Juneau. Back on the boat, tonight was one of the 2 "formal" nights. Since we are light packers, we decided that we would skip the formal nights. We ate dinner at the buffet, enjoyed the evening show, and hung out in our itsy bitsy cabin the rest of the night. Neither of us were interested in going to the headache inducing night club, so we turned in early, excited for our big day in Juneau.

Read all about my exciting Juneau adventures HERE.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

Alaska Cruising Part I (Seattle & Vancouver)

In 2009, we took on the challenge of planning a two week adventure all over France and England (read about that trip here: France/England). As fun as that trip was, it was also pretty exhausting. Every teensy tiny detail had been meticulously planned which takes a lot of time and research. For our next trip, I was happy to let someone else take on that burden for me, while I just sat back and enjoyed the ride (or should I say, the boat ride). Alaska cruises have become wildly popular. Having never been on a cruise before, we decided that there was no better way to experience our first cruise than while checking another destination off of our bucket list.

Before I get into the specifics, I should mention several things right off the bat. Alaska cruising is expensive. It is far more expensive than any other cruise destination out there. The cruise ship companies have really cornered the Alaska cruising market driving up the prices (especially for shore excursions) to the point of ridiculousness. In some cases we were able to circumvent the cruise line and get better deals, but other times we couldn't. To just give you an idea of the cost (which I'll break down into more detail throughout the four part Alaska blog series), our 15 day trip to France/England cost us around $8.5k (or about $560/day). For only 10 days on this vacation, which included 7 days on the boat, we spent about $7.4k (or $740/day). I'm not saying that it's not worth doing, but it is very important to have a full understanding of the cost before signing up. We originally had the idea to do a cruise to Alaska because it would be less expensive than planning another trip abroad. And while, yes, overall the trip was over $1,000 cheaper than most of our trips abroad, the daily value was, in our opinion, excessive.

I think our experience also had to do with our choice of cruise line. We chose Princess Cruise Line mostly because it had the itinerary we liked the best on the dates that worked for us. We soon came to realize that we were some of the youngest people on the ship, and that the entire experience caters to an older crowd. And while we avoided "party" cruise lines (yet cheaper) like Carnival (because we often behave like senior citizens when we travel), we should have looked for something with at least a few more exciting things to do on the ship itself instead of bingo, art auctions, and precious gem seminars. In conclusion, cruising probably isn't for us, but we left Alaska with a ton of memories and experiences to share. I hope you enjoy reading about my Alaskan adventures!

Our 7-day cruise went from Monday to Monday in August 2010. The Island Princess cruise ship departed from Vancouver, BC and arrived a week later in Anchorage, Alaska with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. We've heard so many horror stories about people not getting to the ship in time due to flight delays or other problems, so we wanted to make sure we got there with plenty of time. We also saw this as an opportunity to see Vancouver for more than a minute. Upon closer examination of flights, however, we were sticker shocked by the cost of a multi-city flight from Washington, DC to Vancouver and then from Anchorage back to Washington. Instead of just accepting our plight and paying the overpriced airfare (which you should NEVER do unless you're booking last minute), we started looking at alternate dates and alternate options. (Quick note: some cruise packages included a small airfare credit or gave you the option of purchasing airfare through the cruise line with the guarantee that if you get delayed, they'll hold the cruise ship for you. They offered us airfare for the bargain price of $1,000/pp, so we said thanks but no thanks.)

Since we had until Monday to get there, we started looking at other major airports that were within driving distance of Vancouver. Seattle is just a short 2.5 hour drive from Vancouver. We'd have to rent a car to get from Seattle to Vancouver, but getting there a full day early would allow us some time to see both cities before embarking on our cruise. For just under $500/pp we were able to book nonstop flights from Washington DC to Seattle, and then from Anchorage back to Washington. I considered this a WIN!

We flew United to Seattle on Sunday morning. Thanks to a 3 hour time difference, after a 5-6 hour flight, it was still Sunday morning when we arrived. We had precious few hours in Seattle before driving up to Vancouver, so we didn't waste any time. We hopped over to the "budget" car rental counter, picked up our Hyundai Sonata (pretty nice for a cheap-o rental car) and parked in the Westin parking garage, a pretty central location in the city.

Our first stop was a little pizza place called Bambino's pizza. We shared a meat lovers pizza pie and kept going on our way to the famous Seattle Space Needle. We got tickets for this ahead of time online. What we didn't realize is that the needle is not actually the tallest structure in the city. Many postcards and city views show the city skyline from a vantage point that makes it seem like the space needle is taller, but they're deceiving. I still enjoyed the visit and the views from the top. The guide was very informative and my pictures turned out great!

Space Needle, Seattle

View from the Space Needle

After the space needle, we took a stroll through Pike Place market. We got there in the afternoon, so we didn't catch any fish mongers tossing seafood around, but it was still a neat place to walk around. I wish we could stay longer because the bouquets of flowers were so ridiculously cheap. If I lived there (and didn't have 2 furry kitty cats who think plants are their own personal chew toys), I would always buy fresh flowers from there.

We still had a little bit of time before we had to get on the road, so we took a stroll and found ourselves in a unique sculpture garden. It was rather pleasant at first until we found ourselves smack in the middle of a hemp festival. Yes, that's right. A hemp festival. (For any who doesn't know what hemp is...it's pot, marijuana, weed, etc.) Now keep in mind, this was back in 2010 before marijuana became legalized in Washington, though that didn't seem matter. You could buy anything from pot leaf mardi gras beads (nevermind that it was August), all manner of "food" items, bongs, etc. We just had to throw up our hands and laugh. How could two of the most "goody goody" kids in the world find themselves in the middle of hempfest, I'll never know. But it's certainly one of those things you never forget.

So, after getting a good chuckle, we found our car, and drove 2.5 hours up to Canada. Crossing the border was no problem. There was a bit of a line, but after a quick passport check and a peek in our trunk (glad we didn't do any shopping at hempfest), we were on our way again.

Our hotel/motel for the evening, North Vancouver Hotel, was kind of a dive, but it was very clean and suited our needs just fine for one night. I wouldn't recommend it for a week long holiday, but we slept their comfortably and the $120/night price was right! We booked it through Travelocity and had no issues.

We arrived at our hotel in time for dinner and were please to find a Denny's right across the street. Neither of us could remember the last time we ate at a Denny's. The whole area was a bit run down and slightly lower class, so the Denny's was a hot spot for Sunday dinner. The hotel had breakfast in the morning, so luckily we didn't have to worry about a breakfast rush at Denny's the next morning. :)

We picked this hotel in particular because we wanted to be close to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. (The bridge is featured in the TV show Psych which is a comedy crime show. It's on netflix now and is super hilarious!) Anyway, the bridge isn't far from Vancouver, so we planned on seeing that in the morning and then spending a few hours in Vancouver before embarking on our cruise in mid-afternoon.

When we got our cruise documents a few days/weeks before the trip, they said that we could board the ship within a certain time frame, but encouraged us to wait until the afternoon to avoid crowds. So, our plan was to do just that.

Entrance to the Capilano Suspension Bridge

At the bridge, there are a few options for how to spend your time. The admission price gets you access to the entire park. You can cross the bridge and be done or you can cross the bridge and hike along one of the many paths. From the paths, you also get better views of the bridge.

Just before crossing the suspension bridge

After a healthy mix of woods hiking and urban street hiking, we returned our rental car, and found our way to the Canada Place port. We actually scoped it out earlier in the day to make sure we knew where we were going, but it was finally time to get this party started.

That's our ship!

My husband accused me a being a little too camera happy while we were walking through the giant terminal to get to the ship. It was a weird place. I wasn't sure what to expect. Imagine an airport terminal, but then make the whole thing very industrial. Or take an airport terminal and put it in a parking garage; that's what it was like. (How are those mental pictures?)

Following the signs!

It was very straightforward, and we had no trouble. Since we waited until the afternoon to get on the ship, we had no lines at all. It was almost weird how empty it was. We walked right up, walked right through, went right on, etc. It was a little weird to go through customs. The cruise ship is considered US soil, so we had to cross from Canada back into the US. There was also a place where we could have dropped off our luggage to be delivered to our cabin, but since we each only had a suitcase and backpack, we didn't bother. The staff looked at how little luggage we had and laughed us through. Should we have been offended by that? Did we not pack enough? As cruise virgins, we had a lot to learn apparently.

I wasn't sure what our accommodations would look like. We decided to "splurge" for a balcony room because 3 full days of the cruise (out of 7) were on the boat either at sea or doing "scenic" cruising. Sure, there were decks with chairs for that sort of thing, but I was glad we opted for the balcony (minus all of our smoking neighbors). One nice thing happened when we booked our cabin; we chose the absolute cheapest balcony room we could find. Of course we were offered to pay for an upgraded deck at every step of the way, but we kept refusing. About a week after we booked our cruise, we got an email from Princess Cruise congratulating us that we had been selected for a complimentary upgrade. After calling Princess to confirm, sure enough, we had just been bumped from the cheapest balcony room to a more expensive balcony room on a much higher deck.

See how <<insert sarcasm>> luxurious our accommodations were!? You had a bed, a small desk, and just enough room for one person to walk around. When my husband wanted to move, he had to crawl across the bed. It wouldn't be until our trip to Japan two years later that we would see rooms this small again. It's not even worth showing you the bathroom. Talk about claustrophobic.

After a quick cruise ship safety drill, we got ourselves oriented and spent the evening exploring the ship and sampling the cuisine.

Check out Alaska Cruising Part II which covers cruising days 1 & 2, our day at sea and the port at Ketchikan. 

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

San Francisco & Yosemite - Part IV

Well, we've finally arrived at the last day of our short adventure to California. With a full day ahead of us, we ate a nice big breakfast at the Embassy Suites, and headed into the city of San Francisco. As I mentioned before, our hotel was about 20 minutes outside the city (near the airport), so keep that in mind when you're planning. For us, it worked out well because we wanted a car at our disposal to drive to places like Yosemite without paying a fortune for parking each night.

Today, our mission was to see all of the classic San Fran sites that we missed earlier in the week. Our first stop was to find the street where the Painted Ladies were. I am admitted a huge Full House fan, and while I know that the Full House "house" is actually in Los Angeles, the view of these colorful homes pans across during the opening credits, so it was still fun to find them. We stopped at the nice park across the street for a photo op and went along our way.

Painted Ladies

Our next stop was to find a good place to park our car for the remainder of the day and walk around instead of driving. As we looked, we passed this crazy looking place: Lombard Street. I saw it on the map and told my husband that we weren't truly experiencing San Francisco until we drove down this windy, crooked street. As we drove passed the bottom of it and saw some cars attempting the drive, I concluded that they were crazy. I was content with walking up the side like a tourist and getting a picture at the bottom of all the flowers.

Lombard Street

From the painted ladies and lombard street we headed toward the bay. For the rest of the day we spent out time browsing the trinket shops and stopping to appreciate some iconic places. The first one that we came to was the classic sign at Fisherman's Wharf.

I remember being slightly disappointed by this. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I felt like this area is where all tourist shops go to die. It was such a bizarre street to walk down. As we went from pier to pier, the shops were junky, the people were shady, and it wasn't anything like I thought it would be. Perhaps I couldn't shake the disney-esq Full House scenes that always showed this area full of sunshine and flowers, but it wasn't that way for me. Sure the day was sunny enough, but the atmosphere made me go into timid traveler mode.

We finally made our way to Pier 39 and everything changed. Depending on the time of year you go, you should stop and see the sea lions that gather there. My sister said that when she visited San Francisco in the summertime that they weren't there. When we visited in October, they were everywhere. See for yourself.

There were soooooo many of them. Some were sleeping, lots of them were just barking. It was quite a site to see. I probably stood there and just watched them for 30 minutes. I found them absolutely fascinating.

The rest of Pier 39 was pretty fun. As opposed to another city street like the rest of the San Fran, Pier 39 was a cross between an outdoor shopping mall and a carnival. I thoroughly enjoyed myself shopping in the different boutiques. I bought souvenirs for myself and others, fell victim to the Hawaiian pearl jewelry stand, and ate a scrumptious seafood dinner.

Hawaiian pearl jewelry stand you ask? Ha! It was my own fault. At the time, I had it in my mind that I wanted to buy jewelry from everywhere I traveled that was unique to the place. I had already picked up a jade pendant in Chinatown, so I had no interest in getting anything else. Then I saw a sign on the pearl booth where I could pick a pearl out of an oyster for just $15.00. It was vacation, and I thought it sounded fun. So, I tapped on the oyster with the magic spoon, said "ALOHA" and then they cut open the oyster and found the pearl. I should have stopped there because that was all I intended to do. But then they started showing me different settings that the pearl could fit into, and they sucked me in. I ended up getting a white gold flower with the pearl in the center. I do still wear and love the necklace, but it certainly wasn't worth the price they overcharged me for it. Hey! I was on vacation. And I was young and naive. Oh well. Live and learn.

The last thing on our itinerary for the trip was something I'd been excited about all week: touring Alcatraz Island. Since it was October and about a week or so before Halloween, I thought what spooky fun would it be to take the "Alcatraz at Night" tour. This was both good and bad. It was good because we took the ferry from San Francisco over to "The Rock" during sunset. The sunset behind the city was absolutely beautiful and well worth it.

Approaching Alcatraz Island

Although the idea of visiting Alcatraz at night was "frightfully" fun (like my pun?) there were several downsides. The first being the fact that your ticket was good for a specifically timed ferry ride over but your choice of a ferry ride back. If we would have taken a ferry over earlier in the day, we could have taken any number of ferries back. Instead, we took the last ferry over and caught the last ferry back thus limiting out time on the island. Not that we needed much time because after sunset, it got dark very quickly. Y'know, like it usually does at night.

The other negative part about seeing Alcatraz at night was the fact that it was too dark to explore the island outside of the main prison block. They give you a map of the entire island when you arrive, and had it been daylight, we could have really had some fun exploring other parts of the island.

That being said, the rest of Alcatraz is amazing! I mention the two negative things because the island was so fascinating, I wish we had spent more time there. When we traveled to Italy, we took a lot of audio tours of different places. Most of them weren't so great. My sister assured me that the Alcatraz audio tour was worthwhile, and she was right. It is one of the most interactive and well done audio tours I've ever been on. They have prisoner excerpts and stories in addition to the basic historical facts. It is thoroughly entertaining and very memorable. No trip to San Francisco is complete without a tour of the Rock. Make sure you get your tickets in advance if you go during a busy season. Tickets sell out quickly, but they're easily obtainable online.

From Alcatraz, we stopped for some cinnamon-y churros at a food stand in Pier 39 before heading back to our car and ultimately our hotel. Our trip to California was nearing its end and it was time to head home.

I hope you've enjoyed my adventures in San Francisco and Yosemite National Park. For any of you timid travelers like me out there, this is a very easy and low anxiety adventure. You don't have any of the worries you have with foreign travel like language and currency yet you can still have a wonderful time. (It's cheaper too!) But not all domestic travel is cheap. For my next blog segment, I'll stay stateside once more and tell you all about my cruise to Alaska. After that, I'll change gears and take you with me to the Far East island of Japan.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

San Francisco & Yosemite - Part III

After a day and a half in the Northern Californian city of San Francisco, we headed out to Yosemite National Park for 2 full days of sightseeing and hiking. I know I've said this several times, but it's worth mention again in this particular post. I'm not a backpacker. I don't "rough" it. And my idea of hiking usually involves a defined path with a clear destination. Camping overnight? Forget it! Give me a shower. Give me electricity. Bugs? No thank you! Soft pillow? Yes please!

Having said that, I'm certainly not opposed to nature. Since San Francisco is so close to Yosemite, I couldn't rationalize NOT taking a few days to go and see it. And to anyone traveling to that same region, I encourage the same thing.

Since the Tenaya Lodge (our hotel) was not actually inside the park borders, we planned a guided tour of Yosemite our first day. We selected the full day tour of the park through Discover Yosemite mostly because they covered all of the main highlights of the park, and they picked us up and dropped us off right at our hotel. This day couldn't have been more perfect. The tour was supposed to go from about 8 or 9AM to about 3 or 4PM. When our driver and tour guide greeted us, the first thing she asked was, "Does anyone have to be back by a certain time?" When no one raised their hand she said, "Great, because I usually run a little bit late." And by a little bit, she meant a lot. We didn't get back to the hotel until well after 6PM. Did this bother us? Not even slightly. She was an amazing tour guide. She was so knowledgeable about the park, the animals, the history, everything. She took her time when we visited things, giving us plenty of time to walk around. She took pictures for us, and stopped when we saw wild animals.

We started out our day in Mariposa Grove: home of the giant sequoia trees. Our guide explained their connected root system and took us to some of the parks most famous trees.

Mariposa Grove

Along the drive we were constantly on the lookout for wild animals and birds. We didn't see any bears, nor did we see any cool birds like bald eagles. We did see a couple of these gentle beasts along the way.



Since our visit to Yosemite was in October, we stopped at the various waterfalls, but they were barely more than a trickle. Spring is the best time for the waterfalls because you get to see all of the snow melt.

For lunch, we stopped at the historic Ahwanhee Hotel for about an hour or so. There was a pricey restaurant, but we just picked up some snacks and sandwiches at the cafe and picnicked on the grounds.

The day was beautiful (a little windy) and we were able to get some great pictures of Half Dome, El Capitan, the Cathedral Spires, etc. This picture below is one of my favorites from the end of the day.

Half Dome reflecting pool

Back at our hotel, we ate dinner at the bar and grill that they have onsite. There aren't many places around the hotel to eat, so we were just as happy to eat on the premises.

The next day, we got a little closer to nature. While our Yosemite tour was absolutely outstanding, we were pretty sheltered in our temperature controlled 15 seater bus. On our second day in the Yosemite area, we didn't venture back into the park; we instead did some local hiking up to the Tenaya Falls followed by some horseback riding in the afternoon.

Hike outside Yosemite to Tenaya Falls

The horseback riding in the afternoon was pretty fantastic. Having only been horseback riding once before (in Ireland), I was excited but unsure what to expect. In Ireland, our horseback riding adventure was less than an hour and was on a pretty calm trail. Having only that to compare to, I simply thought that this horseback riding experience would be the same. I couldn't have been more wrong in the most wonderful way. After we were all saddled up, the guide gave us a few basic instructions and then told us a few very specific things: 1. to lean back if we were going downhill and 2. lean forward if we were going up hill. Little did I realize how valuable that advice would be.

For the next TWO hours, we went riding through the woods of Yosemite. It wasn't only beautiful, but it was terribly exciting. The horses never went faster than a trot, but we went up and down very steep hills (which were exciting and terrifying all at the same time) and through streams. I've never experienced anything like that before. It not only gave me a new found respect for horses but it was also a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

Knowing that we would be sore and tired from our day of hiking and horseback riding, that night, we splurged and upgraded ourselves to a jacuzzi suite for the night. Yes, we broke our $200/night rule, but just for this one night. Looking back, it was incredibly silly, but we were young. And I must say, it was lovely to relax in a jacuzzi tub after riding horses and hiking through the mountains. 

Our Yosemite journey had come to a close, and the next morning we headed back to San Francisco. Instead of going the same route we took out to Yosemite, we took a very different way back so that we could make a very special stop. About an hour north of San Francisco is a place I've wanted to see for a very long time....The Jelly Belly factory. (Don't judge!) :-)

It was a good 3.5 hour drive from Yosemite, so we left good and early and got to the Jelly Belly factory in time for a late lunch. They have a small cafe, so we were able to get some food before going on the factory tour. The tour itself wasn't terribly exciting although I found it interesting and informative. Plus, they gave you samples along the way. Yum!

After the tour, you end up in the massive jelly belly gift shop which contains a tasting center in the middle where you can request any jelly belly flavor for a sample. They also had belly art prominently displayed throughout the building which I found utterly fascinating. I was slightly disappointed by the "belly flops" that I had heard about. I assumed the belly flops would be flavors that never became popular, but instead, they were giant bags of jelly belly rejects in all of the normal flavors. If a jelly belly came out too big, too small, or melted together with another one, they were rejected and sent with the other belly flops. They also weren't terribly discounted either, so I opted for a bag of my own bulk candy where I could individually pick the flavors I wanted (really just like any other bulk candy store that sells jelly bellies). 

Outside of the Jelly Belly Factory

We spent a good couple of hours there before driving the last hour or so to get back into the city. That evening we drove about an hour south of the city to Santa Cruz where we met an old friend for dinner. Late that night we drove back to the Embassy Suites where we stayed at the beginning of our trip and got ready for the last full day of our vacation. 

We've already done some pretty great things, but our activities on the last day were some of my favorites. Don't forget timid travelers. Save something you're really excited about for the last day of your trip. It will keep you from getting sad that the trip is ending until after it has actually ended. 

Read all about our last day in San Francisco HERE. 

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

San Francisco & Yosemite - Part II

After having skimmed the surface of all San Francisco has to offer, we woke up, ate a hearty breakfast at the Embassy Suites and set out for our first full day in the city. Not wanting to deal with heavy traffic and not rushing to beat any crowds at any sort of tourist attractions, we headed into the city around 10AM. Our first stop: Chinatown. It might seem silly to visit Chinatown as a tourist, but I've always heard that Chinatown in San Fran is the largest and most authentic in the USA maybe with the exception of NYC. (The Chinatown in Washington DC is ok, but not very big.)

Our plan was to browse some shops, take pictures of the iconic things like the gates and the historic bank, and find a place for Dim Sum. Unfortunately, I completely chickened out on the Dim Sum. We ate a huge breakfast at the hotel, and I couldn't muster up the appetite or the courage for anything new. Looking back at my 7 year younger self, I laugh at how timid I was to try this new food. We all have to start somewhere, right?

So, we enjoyed our morning walking the streets, looking at the funny Chinese signs and buying trinkets like a jade necklace and "dirty" fortune cookies. (I say "dirty" because we had the option of normal fortune cookies or fortune cookies with more "adult" themed fortunes. For a laugh, we got the "adult" themed ones. Were they dirty? No. In fact, they were so bizarre, we brought them with us when we visited a friend for a dinner a few nights later. They had fortunes like, "the butterfly will find the lotus blossom." That's some PG-13 stuff right there.) :) We tried to find a fortune cookie "factory" and after much searching down shady alley ways we finally found one, but it wasn't anything significant nor could I even tell you how to find it again if I wanted to.

Gates at the entrance to Chinatown

As we continued walking through Chinatown, I suddenly noticed a big change. No longer were there signs with Chinese characters. Instead we started seeing pizza shops and Italian flags. Without realizing it, we had gone from Chinatown to Little Italy in a matter of blocks. It wasn't that Little Italy was distinctly Italian, but the streets were all decorated as if there was going to be a parade. 

While just minutes earlier I couldn't muster up the appetite for Dim Sum in Chinatown, suddenly I found myself very hungry for some Little Italy pizza. We found a little pizza parlor and sat right by the window so we could enjoy some people watching with our salami pizza. It was almost 1:00 in the afternoon and suddenly we noticed that the streets were filling up with people. Sure enough, before too long, a parade started. A parade?? It was the middle of October? Why would there be a parade? We sat watching from the pizza parlor window in amazement when we then realized that the parade had a distinct theme to it. We were in the middle of Little Italy on Columbus Day, and we had the chance opportunity to catch the San Francisco Columbus Day parade. Talk about a random stroke of strange luck. And it was very strange. The different types of characters that this parade drew out of the woodwork made for some very interesting people-watching to say the least. 

With tummies full of pizza and our minds full of strange parade images we headed out of Little Italy and toward Coit Tower, one of the tallest points in the city. The day was beautiful, so I was excited to see what sort of views we would get from the top of the tower. Getting to the tower was a big of an aerobic exercise.

I've seen many movies set in San Francisco where they show the hilly streets (Mrs. Doubtfire and The Princess Diaries to both date myself and show just how girlie I am). I guess I just didn't think that all of the streets in the city would be like that or that they would all actually be that steep. I was completely wrong. In some cases, the roads were so steep that they added stairs into the sidewalk to make it easier for pedestrians to walk them.

Very steep sidewalk in San Fran

Walking to Coit Tower wasn't just another walk in the city. It was uphill and then uphill again and then again and again and again. We certainly got our workout that day. We thought about driving to the top because there is a small parking lot surrounding the base of the tower, but when we arrived in the late afternoon, the lot was completely full with cars driving around waiting for people to leave. That would have been very frustrating for us, so I'm glad we walked instead of driving. (Despite my calves aching the next day.)

Walking up to Coit Tower

Just as I suspected, the views from Coit Tower were stunning. There were angles from all over the city and the day was clear, so I was able to get some great shots of Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge.

The walk up to Coit Tower and the subsequent downhill walk away from Coit Tower helped us work up an appetite for dinner. Our final destination for the day was Ghirardelli Square. Before dinner, however, we took a walk through their gift shop partaking in some delicious free samples. 

We at dinner at a restaurant right near Ghirardelli Square before heading back to our hotel for the evening. Today we saw lots of classic San Francisco sites, but not all of them. The last day of our trip covers some of the rest of them like Pier 39, Fisherman's Warf, Alcatraz Island, etc. But that won't be for a few more days.

The next morning, we got up early, checked out of the hotel and started our drive from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park. On the way, we stopped at the USS Hornet aircraft carrier and museum. It was only about 40 minutes from our hotel to the USS Hornet Museum, and I'm glad we took the time to stop there. This carrier has a pretty amazing history and it gave us something to remember the day other than just a long drive.

USS Hornet Museum

From the USS Hornet, we buckled up for a good 3.5 hour drive out to the Tenaya Lodge. We picked the Tenaya Lodge over a hotel that was actually inside of Yosemite park mostly for ease of access and price. The hotel got great reviews, fit our budget and really ended up working out well for us.

Click HERE for my next blog for our adventures in Yosemite.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler