Alaskan Cruise Days 1 and 2

~ Wandering Cindi ~ Leave a comment

It was time! My mom, older brother Sean, his wife Angie, and I met at the airport in Seattle on Saturday to embark on a cruise to Alaska the next day! I had never been to Seattle, but this was not the day to explore that beautiful city. We had a tour planned for when we returned from the cruise. All our excitement and focus was on Alaska!

On the Ship in Seattle waiting to Cruise Away

First Day of the Cruise was at Sea

We were on our way to Juneau, Alaska! The first day was spent entirely at sea. We spent the day unpacking, settling in, and participating in some onboard activities. Mom and I went to a talk about how a cruise ship works, how it manages so many guests and crew, and what supplies it takes to keep everyone fed. Later that day, Sean and I went to a beer tasting while Mom and Angie went to play some Bingo. We also saw our first of many rainbows!

Into Juneau and Whale Watching!

Tuesday, our ship was coming into the capital city of Alaska-Juneau. I woke up that morning and looked towards our balcony. The curtains were drawn, but there was this incredible golden glow emanating from the edges. I had to get up and see the sunrise, causing such a gorgeous glow.

As Mom and I enjoyed the amazing sunrise, we noticed spouts in the water. WHALES!!! We figured out they were humpback whales. It was a magical moment. We could not have dreamed of a better welcome to Alaska. They were quite far, but I managed to get a few decent pictures with my telephoto lens zoomed in as far as I could.

The irony was that we had a whale-watching trip planned for that day while we were in port. Mom even took a picture of 2 whale tails without knowing at the time she was taking pictures of the sunrise.

We enjoyed a cup of coffee and watched the beautiful scenery the rest of the way into Juneau. We even saw our first glacier and waterfall of the trip! We also saw another partial rainbow and an iridescent cloud!

As we got closer to Juneau, there were more waterfalls, and signs of civilization.

After disembarking the ship, we took a small bus to our whale-watching boat. On the way to the boat, we stopped and were able to view the Mendenhall Glacier. It is 13.6 miles long, and 1.5 miles wide. In the photos I took, it looks like a lake, but it is all glacial ice. I have had a lifelong dream of seeing humpback whales, and our sunrise viewing just got me even more excited about this boat tour. It did not disappoint! We saw humpbacks, bald eagles, a sea lion, and even a mean old crab that was missing both his claws and missing four of his six legs.

At one point, I was so focused on taking a picture of a seagull that I did not notice the whale in the background.

The Whales

The Crab, the Sea Lion, and the Bald Eagles

The eagles were quite far away, but I had to include the shots due to the name of the ship that happened to be passing at the moment I took the picture.

This port was an excellent start to our journey. We all had a wonderful time enjoying the beauty of Juneau and each other.

We said goodbye to Juneau, and the ship headed to our next destination- Skagway. Next week will be all about our Skagway adventure, which includes the White Pass, the Yukon, and a train ride back into town.

Into the Targhee National Forest

~ Wandering Cindi ~ 1 Comment

While Aaron and I were still at Juniper Campground, we decided to explore and look for our next campsite in the Targhee National Forest. This national forest is between the Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park and has a beauty all of its own. We found mountain streams and admired the crystal clear water, meadows, and incredible views. We also narrowed down where we wanted to park our home for two weeks. The following pictures are from our scouting for the next site.

A few days later, we loaded up and found our next backyard. When camping in national forests during the summer, unoccupied free campsites are more of a challenge to find- especially near such tourist attractions as Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We did not get our first choice of spots, but we did find a beautiful clearing to set up the house.

During our explorations, Murphy and I came across a man-made shelter that looked like the remnants of a survival show where they show the audience how to make shelters, find food sources, and survive in the wilderness. It was pretty cool to see.

The rest of our stay was pretty quiet and uneventful. I was still nursing my sprained ankle but walking around more, so we did not do much. I was also getting prepared for my cruise to Alaska with my mom, older brother, and his wife. After almost two weeks, it was time for us to move on and get settled even closer to Yellowstone! WE had a campsite reserved at Rainbow Point Campground in West Yellowstone for 2 weeks. Aaron and Murphy would be there while I was in Alaska, and then we would all be there together when I got back from my cruise.

We got to the campground early and quickly set everything up. We then hopped back in the truck to take a quick ride through the west side of Yellowstone National Park. I was flying out the next day, so we wanted a quick drive in before I had to leave.

West Yellowstone

Those dots on the landscape in the second-to-last picture are bison. One thing people tend to forget in national parks is that all the animals there are WILD ANIMALS. They don’t like humans, and they do not want to be bothered by humans. People have been hurt because they get too close to the wild animals. Everyone wants amazing animal photos, but they are not worth injury or a life to get that perfect shot. The people in my next set of photos were lucky; no one was injured, but they very easily could have been trampled by the bison.

I want to add, that I took those pictures from the safety of our truck.

The west side of Yellowstone is OK. It is not quite as picturesque as other parts of the park but still majestic and beautiful. Hopefully, I will have another post with tons of photos of other sights and animals from Yellowstone. But next week, and probably the week after that, the blog will be all about Alaska. I have tons of pictures to edit so that I can share the awe-inspiring beauty of Alaska. I will leave you with a quick teaser picture I took with my phone.

Welcome to Idaho

~ Wandering Cindi ~ Leave a comment

Aaron, Murphy, and I headed north from Utah Lake State Park into Idaho. Our destination was Castle Rocks State Park. We were excited! This park had great hiking trails, biking trails, and really cool granite rock formations. This was our first time camping in Idaho, and we were looking forward to experiencing a new state, new geography, and new experiences.

Unfortunately, we arrived during peak wildfire season. There were fires in California, Utah, Idaho, and other states. The views were very hazy, and sometimes, we could not see anything but smoke in the distance. We knew there were mountains around, but we just were not able to see them very well. This picture was of one of the clearer days.

The second morning we were there, Aaron was on a work meeting, I had just woken up, and Murphy was really ready to go outside. I hurriedly slipped on my shoes put the leash on the dog, and stepped out of the door. I did not remember that when we had leveled the camper the day before, we added a temporary third step because that side of the camper was quite high. I missed the improvised step, twisted my ankle and hit the ground pretty hard. So much for enjoying the hiking and biking trails, now I was nursing a sprained ankle.

Hopefully we can visit this state park again and actually enjoy what it has to offer. The only photos I was able to get were from the truck as we were leaving and heading to our next campground a bit further north in eastern Idaho.

Next Stop…Juniper Campground

Juniper Campground was very aptly named. There were juniper trees everywhere. We had a one week stay planned at this county run campground. I was starting week two of the ankle injury and was spending almost all of my time in the camper with my foot elevated trying to use it as little as possible. I needed it to heal! I have a cruise to Alaska with my mom, my older brother, and my sister-in-law coming up in a few weeks. So minimal walking and weight bearing was my plan.

Murphy kept me company for most of the week while I was nursing and babying the ankle.

We had only planned on staying for a week, and then we had planned on spending two weeks in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. About mid-week, Aaron found out he needed to take a three day trip to Dallas, Texas for work. Since Juniper was close to Idaho Falls regional airport, we decided it would be better to stay there for a second week. We looked, and the campsite we were at was not available for the next week, so we drove around the campground looking for other available sites. They had two loops of sites that were first come first serve only. We spotted a couple that we really liked and decided that on moving day, we would claim one of them.

Shortest moving day we have ever had! The site was better than the one we had the week before. We were closer to the Snake River, had more room for the dog to play, and more privacy. My ankle was healing some, and I started to slowly walk on it a bit more each day.

While Aaron was gone, the dog and I took short walks exploring the cliff overlooking the river. It was good to get my ankle moving, and the pup needed to run and sniff and explore. The pup and I found an almost complete deer skeleton. The skull was missing. We saw a partial rainbow during a sunrise on a stormy morning. We really had some beautiful views!

Murphy also found out that he really like playing in sprinklers! There were two of them in front of our camper, and when they came on he would run back and forth between them playing in the streams of water.

Aaron got back from Dallas, and we enjoyed the rest of the week at Juniper Campground.

Our two week, two campsite stay at Juniper came to an end. We assured the camp host that we would return, and headed northeast into the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.

Family, Field of Dreams, and a Basilica in Iowa

~ Wandering Cindi ~ 1 Comment

It was time for my quarterly visit to Iowa to spend time with my mom, my brother and his family, and my dad. Aaron and Murphy stayed with the Airstream in Utah in Provo at Utah Lake.

Even though this is not the best picture of Dad, I am happy I actually remembered to take one this time. We stopped for pizza, at his request, before his doctor appointment. He suffers from dementia and other health issues and resides in a nursing home in Illinois, so any trip away from his residence is exciting for him. He is very content and well taken care of there, but just like anyone else, he enjoys getting out and about every now and again. It was good to see him doing well and happy. We sang to 50’s music in the car, which brings him lots of joy. After saying goodbye to Dad, I went back to Mom’s house in Iowa to enjoy another week exploring Iowa and spending time with family.

One of my all-time favorite movies, Field of Dreams, was filmed in Dyersville, Iowa. The farmhouse, the ballfield, and the corn fields are all still there and open for visiting. It was about a three hour drive from my mom’s house, so we decided to make a day of it. It was pretty cool to see where most of the movie was filmed.

This is the farm house from the movie. They offer tours, but we decided that we did not need to see the inside. It was kind of strange that there was a sign that said “If you build it” but, there was no sign that said “They will come.”

The bleachers James Earl Jones and Kevin Costner sat on during the movie.

One ting that was really great-anyone could play on the ball field. There was an older gentleman and his son playing catch, a younger father pitching to his kids while they took turns batting and running the bases. The have a supply of gloves, bats and balls for everyone to use if they want to play. There was one little guy who would hit the ball off of a tee, go get the ball with his bat in hand and then proceed to run the bases with bat and ball in tow.

Centerfield corn where the ghost players appeared in the movie. I also grabbed a few pictures of the ballfield.

When we were leaving, we saw this plaque, so of course we had to her face as well. As you can see in the next picture, her nose is the most popular spot to rub for good luck.

Denise Miarecki Stillman and her husband purchased the movie site property in 2012, adding a youth baseball complex and preserving the movie site as well. She also worked towards a Major League ball game to be played there, but passed away from cancer before it happened. But, it did happen, and there are youth tournaments on the property every year.

Our second stop in Dyersville was to the only basilica in Iowa, Basilica of St. Francis Xavier . There are only 93 basilicas in the entire US. Neither my mom or myself are Catholic, but the chance to see a basilica is rare, so we decided it would be a great stop.

The basilica was very ornate, had beautiful stained glass, a very pretty pipe organ, and tons of detail and symbolism everywhere you looked.

We spent 30-45 minutes just wandering and looking at all the sculptures and art work.

I enjoyed my time visiting with my brother’s family. We had dinner together a few times, and as usual, I did not get any pictures. We were busy running our mouths and enjoying each other’s company. My mom and my niece and myself were able to go play some indoor mini-golf. We had a great time, kept score, were terrible players, and threw away the score sheet before we tallied it. My niece, Tori, and myself know that Mom kicked our butts. It was great fun!

While I was enjoying Iowa, Aaron and Murphy were settled in at Utah Lake State Park in Provo, Utah.

On Saturday, Aaron and Murphy picked me up from the Salt Lake City Airport, and I settled into the camper for the night. Sunday was moving day, and we were headed out of Utah up into Idaho. Our next stop was planned for Castle Rock State Park, just over the Idaho State Line. Next week, our journey continues there,

Into Utah

~ Wandering Cindi ~ 1 Comment

We continued north after leaving the Grand Canyon. We stopped in Kanab, Utah for gas and lunch, and this car just caught my eye. We had an overnight stay planned at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, and after filling the truck and ourselves we headed there.

This was a great campground, and an overnight stay was probably not enough. They offer ATV and UTV guided tours of the dunes. The scenery was outstanding. My pictures of the dunes do not do the size of them justice.

In the following picture, you can judge the size a little bit by looking at the tiny dots that are people walking on the dunes.

The colors were beautiful, we enjoyed our stay, but we needed to keep moving north. Aaron had a flight out of Salt Lake City coming up, so we need to get closer to the city. Our next stop was Soldier Creek Campground on the Strawberry Reservoir.

About ten minutes after we got on the highway, we were stopped due to a head-on collision on a curve on the mountain road. It was a stark reminder to be cautious and careful as we pull our home behind us. We saw two Life Flight helicopters land, load the crash victims, and take off again. Those pilots were incredible.

After the people were taken care of and the crash scene was cleared, we mindfully continued to Soldier Creek Campground. It was still a desert environment, but with a large body of water. I think all three of us were happy to see a body of water again.

There were boats out fishing every day. Murphy got to swim every day. Every day there were prairie dogs running all over the place. Murphy really wanted to catch one, but those guys were just to fast and had too many hiding places for him to succeed. For that, I am grateful, even if the dog is not. I was really thrilled to catch these two pictures!

Murphy and I held down the fort (Airstream) while Aaron had to go out of town for work for a few days. We spent the time walking down to Murphy’s swimming spot and just enjoying the water and the boat watching. The water was cool and so clear, until the dog got in and it clouded it up.

I saw some beautiful flowers, and even a thistle bloom with a bee, a ladybug, and two other bugs that I do not know what they are. One of my favorite things I love to spot is the moon in the sky during the day. I got to see that as well. The skies looked like rain quite a few times, but we never did get any rain while we were there.

On Friday, the dog and I headed to the airport to pick up Aaron. When we got back, it was time for me to pack my bags. I had a flight out of Salt Lake City to go visit my family in Iowa again. Aaron had a solo moving day coming up, and I had family time. I packed my bags, got the Airstream as ready as I could to make Aaron’s moving day easier on him.

Aaron and I said another “see you later” at the airport. He headed towards Utah Lake State Park in Provo, Utah; I headed east to Iowa.