The flowers in Haines were beautiful as they were everywhere we went in Alaska!
This morning, Wednesday, June 16, we awakened to find our ship in port at Haines, Alaska. As we peered out at Haines from our ship’s windows we were quite amazed at how tiny the community appeared. Later we learned that Haines has a population of about 1500 people. Most of their jobs are related to tourism. One young woman who drives a shuttle, getting tourists from the ship around the town to a variety of small museums including one displaying the history of hammers, told us that her husband operates a helicopter business and they have a skiing service in the winter. During the winter they leave Alaska and travel wherever they like, skiing and enjoying life. By the way she didn’t charge for her shuttle service, but accepted tips in a jar. So far we have found the people of Alaska to be very friendly and helpful to us. When they find out we are from Texas, they enjoy teasing us about various t-shirts for sale here in Alaska poking fun at the size of Texas in comparison to Alaska. The more we explore the area the more we are amazed at the differences in the life styles of Alaska and Texas. Haines along with most other Alaskan towns is so isolated. Food, clothing and so many of the items we take for granted are very hard to come by, arriving only weekly or monthly from far away via boats across the ocean.(No Wal-Mart nearby) Often water or air is the only means for getting to stores or medical services.( very few roads and highways) Even buying via the Internet is slow both because of poor service and extended wait time for purchases to find their way into the isolated parts of Alaska. One man told us today that the children in Haines play sports, but usually spend 18 or more hours traveling by boat to get to the games. Sometimes we just need to talk to our far away fellow citizens to have our eyes opened to what it means to live in the United States somewhere besides Texas or most of the rest of the lower 48.
We have found our new calling in Haines!
Today was also the day for our first excursion off ship. Our trip was to Skagway about 20 miles from Haines. While Haines is off th
e main routes for most cruise ships, Skagway boasted at least 4 huge cruise ships in the harbor. Unlike the sleepy laid back streets of Haines, the streets of Skagway were crowded with tourists, tour busses, restaurants, cars and all the rest. We were taken by a ferry across to Skagway where we were loaded on a tour bus and taken to a “lovely” little place called Liarsville where we receive a humorous re-enactment of the Alaskan gold rush and then we were given the opportunity to pan for gold. Cole loved it and treasures the little flakes of “gold” that he sifted out of his pan. From there we were taken several miles to the top of White Pass Summit, and then we boarded the White Pass and Yukon Railroad for a fascinating and awesomely beautiful trip back down to Skagway. The trip was full of the history of the building of the railroad back in the days of the gold rush in an effort to get supplies in and out for the gold miners. Sadly, we also learned about the hundreds of horses and mules who were killed, starved, or worked to death all because of man's greed. (Did I mention how cold it was?)
It is a story of tragedy and success in accomplishing such an impossible task. But for us today, our senses were totally overwhelmed with the beauty, the smells of the trees, the sound of the streams of water rushing over the rocks, and the overwhelming knowledge of what had occurred so long ago in that very place. By the way were in Canada for part of our trip so we got to show off our passports! After 5 ½ to 6 hours were ferried back to Haines and our waiting ship. I do highly recommend riding the White Pass Yukon Railroad if you have a change. I am just sorry I didn’t get to explore Skagway more, but we did eat lunch at a great place called the Skagway Fish Company. Awesome Halibut fish and chips!!!
When we wake up tomorrow we will be in Juneau and off to another excursion that promises me that I will finally see MY whale which hasn’t happened yet so I am cautiously hopeful!
As a side note we are very grateful for our warm clothes and the layers we are wearing as it is extremely chilly when the wind is blowing. Jennifer, my Uggs didn’t get to come with me this trip. Maybe next time??
If you visit Haines, Alaska, be sure to look for this
Totem dedicatd to our grandson, Cole! LOL
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