Planes, Trains & Antitussives, Alaksan Wonder Cruise - All done! Complete 11/21

[rentayenta]

Juneau looks beautiful! It's funny because we just started doing the crisis assessments via tele at Alaska Regional in Anchorage but we send folks to Fairbanks, Ketchikan, and Juneau. It's fun to look at the landscape even if it's not the real *cities*. Just a side note.

Dessert looks delicious. How was the venison? I find it so gamey.

Love love love the pics with Remy and Emile.

 

[dgbg100106]

My parents eventually left our stateroom so that Fran could get up and take a shower and get dressed. While she was doing that, I took pictures as we sailed out of Juneau.
There is that escort that I’m used to seeing, but where are all the huge guns that they have in California and Florida?
There were so many waterfalls as we sailed out of the channel.
And soon Juneau was just a memory.

Sail away photos are very nice.
I guess there is not as much drugs and trafficking in ALaska as there is in CA and FL?

It was Semi Formal night, and the two of us wanted character photos and went down to deck 3 where we got Remy & Emile. My parents had no interest in photos, especially character ones.
Fran is really having a great time! Those meds must be really working!

These pictures are great, you can tell Fran is feeling much better, glad to see that smile back on her face!

Then we got in line for Sulley. We didn’t have to wait too long.
Fran and Sulley are having quite an in-depth discussion.

have I told you how Sulley got his name?

Fran went to the port adventures desk to see about canceling her participation in the excursion the next day. It was just too hard to get into the plane for her. She got a refund, and some strawberries for our hassle in Skagway, along with a note of apology.

Now that is great customer service.

[Continued from Previous Post]

Then it was time for dinner. My parents were already seated.

Our bread was sourdough with Roasted Red Pepper Dip

I went with one of the drinks off the menu, the Tuxedo.

Everyone started off with the Crab legs.

Fran and I got the oxtail soup.

Dad got the White onion soup with salmon.
Fran ordered the halibut.
Dad and I got the venison.
Mom got the lobster.
Then the dessert menu came.
Most everyone got the warm chocolate cake.
Mom and I went with vanilla ice cream.
Dad wanted chocolate.
Fran got the bananas Foster ice cream sundae,
And the strawberry bread pudding.

now that sounds like a lot of food. Hope it was good. It looked great.

I was so tired that I went back to the room before everyone else, but when I got there and wanted to take a picture of our towel animal, I realized that I didn't have my point and shoot camera, so I went back only to find the family on their way back to the room, and yes Fran had my camera.

Picture of the towel animal taken, I fell fast asleep immediately.

Glad she had your camera, hopefully you got some good rest, that was an eventful day, lots of running around.[/quote]

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

There is that escort that I’m used to seeing, but where are all the huge guns that they have in California and Florida?

I guess they're not expecting an invasion in Alaska.

Fran is really having a great time! Those meds must be really working!

She got a refund, and some strawberries for our hassle in Skagway, along with a note of apology.

Well, that was nice of them.

Fran ordered the halibut.

Must...resist...Dad joke...

 

[DnA2010]

I'm back I'm reading, just may not get many comments in for a little while

 

[franandaj]

Fun pictures with the Characters. I love the ones with Sully, he's so cute!

Looks like your dinner was nice, which restaurant was this? How was that Tuxedo drink, that sounded good from the menu I love Chambord.

Thanks, dinner that night was in Triton's for us, but the entire ship was served the same menu. Starting the 4th night of the cruise, the rotational menu is over and they start on the specialty menus that are the same in all three restaurants. The cocktail was nice. It wasn't sweet, which I like it that way.

I loved all the photos from when you sailed away from Juneau. I am glad that you got some photos with my favourite rats. That was great customer service from the Shore Excursion desk. Dinner looked lovely.

I was very happy to get the picture with the rats! We were very pleased with their customer service. Even though it was a pain on that day, chocolate covered strawberries go a long way to right a wrong!

AWwww, I love, love, love this photo of Fran. She looks 1,000,000 times better and so much more happy.

I know! She looks thrilled to be there, in fact this is now her profile pic on FB.

Now THAT's more like it! Kudos to making it better.

They didn't have to do any of that, but the fact that they refunded her money and gave us a sweet treat was certainly appreciated.

I see what you mean about the green in the photos as you leave Juneau. How anazing!

Actually it wasn't Juneau that I was thinking of, you'll get to see it when you get back.

That was music to my ears you got a refund and what pretty nails.

Yes it was. Thank you.

I love the character photos. Unusual characters too which is a bonus. Great to see Fran feeling better. I agree you can see it in her face.

That's the nice thing about the longer cruises, you get some of the more unusual characters.

Dinner looks good. I love oxtail soup and venison. Those desserts divine!

I enjoyed both the soup and venison, the chocolate cake was out of this world!

What a fun day. I may go quiet we leave today for WDW for 2 weeks with a b2b cruise on The Dream. This cruise is a result of 3 cancelled cruises due to me being in hospital.. You know the drill. Can I finally make it to Palo? Wish me luck!

Well quiet here, but I'm monitoring you elsewhere! Love the "hat of the day"!

You were on a mission, and it seems like it has grown a lot since you were there. I get tired of seeing all the Diamonds International stuff everywhere, it is in almost every port we have been to. It just gets old. Glad the Dr. was able to get your scripts sent in.

They are in every ocean port and it really is old. On my first cruise, I didn't realize what a racket it was and got some nice jewelry from there, but I have learned since.

I can nontraditional food for breakfast and so can David but I know a lot of people that can't. How were the sandwiches?

I often have nontraditional food for breakfast, in fact in my family that was the norm growing up. I enjoyed my sandwich, it had a horseradish mayo, which I love. Fran seemed to like hers since she polished it off. I really like that they have fruit at that location all day, it's very convenient. You can also get cereal in boxes and pastries during breakfast. They had just switched over to lunch and the salads had not been put out yet.

I hate to hear it was such an ordeal to get her in the plane, but glad she got to experience to flight.

We had done it back in 1998 so it wasn't new to her, I just wish it wasn't so difficult.

What a site that would have been to be a cruise ship and see these glaciers this big and numerous.

And back then you were living in the lap of luxury, travel was not for the middle class back then.

the pictures are stunning, color me green with envy.

I'm going to green with envy of you in about three days.

Such breathtaking views, How many times did you just think WOW when you were looking at them?

The. Entire. Time.

beautiful scenery, yes I can barely see it.

it's just a tiny blip on the screen.

glad to see there was an easier way out. and that is a low tide.

Hopefully soon, she will be in better shape, OK, maybe not soon, but on the horizon.

very cute picture of you, you look good in that color of orange

Thanks, I've been sporting orange a lot more lately. I don't get much use out of that top in So Cal, but I wore in on the Mississippi cruise and then in Alaska. Maybe it will get cold again this Winter.

lunch looked really nice, that lobster ravioli would have been a star for David!

I'd had it before on a previous cruise and knew I liked it. I still couldn't finish the portion they gave me. I would have been OK with the appetizer!

I hate to hear that she was in that much pain after the trip, but glad that you have a work around that would make both of you happy, that is truly the key.

That's pretty much how we have to do it. I know I can't push her beyond her limits or we get in trouble with a cranky Fran and I feel awful. I just hope that she continues to ask for what she needs and doesn't overdo it on my account.

Sounds like that was a rough plane ride for both of you, hope the ibuprofen helped.

I keep a stash of Ibuprofen in my purse, sometimes I feel like I live on that stuff.

 

[franandaj]

Juneau looks beautiful! It's funny because we just started doing the crisis assessments via tele at Alaska Regional in Anchorage but we send folks to Fairbanks, Ketchikan, and Juneau. It's fun to look at the landscape even if it's not the real *cities*. Just a side note.

I'm sure the "real" cities are quite beautiful. I would love to do a summer trip to any of these cities without a cruise just to see what it's sort of really like.

Dessert looks delicious. How was the venison? I find it so gamey.

I loved it, but I always love gamey meats!

love love love the pics with Remy and Emile.

Me too, and she looks so happy!

Sail away photos are very nice.
I guess there is not as much drugs and trafficking in ALaska as there is in CA and FL?

You're probably right.

These pictures are great, you can tell Fran is feeling much better, glad to see that smile back on her face!

I know! I was very happy to see it, even if it was later that I looked at it.

have I told you how Sulley got his name?

No you didn't, how do you know? I am intrigued!

Now that is great customer service.

now that sounds like a lot of food. Hope it was good. It looked great.

I ate all the crab and soup, but I couldn't finish the venison, I could finish the chocolate cake. I think that's why I had to leave sooner than everyone else. I don't do ice cream well. It puts me out. I still love it, but I try to limit it or split it with Fran.

Glad she had your camera, hopefully you got some good rest, that was an eventful day, lots of running around.

If I had installed the steps app on my phone (I didn't do it until end of July) I bet I would have got an award for my steps!

I guess they're not expecting an invasion in Alaska.

Probably not.

Well, that was nice of them.

It definitely was!

Must...resist...Dad joke...

OK, I can't even imagine what it would be other than something incorporating but.

I'm back I'm reading, just may not get many comments in for a little while

Well I'm glad you're back. I hope you are getting some sleep, but probably not.

 

[franandaj]

Day 9

I did wake up just before the sunrise, but I decided against taking any pictures. It was 3:30AM so I just had a bio break and went back to sleep. Around 6:30AM I woke up and turned on a Bug's Life while I wrote up my journal. Once that was over I got dressed and went to the laundry to start a load. Then I took some of the clothes I knew I wouldn't be wearing again and put them in a suitcase.

Today we would be arriving in Ketchikan around 11AM. There was another character breakfast going on in Animator’s Palate, so Triton’s was again not open for breakfast. I stood out on the verandah and took a few pictures. It would go back and forth between sunny and overcast.

















I put the laundry in the dryer before we went to breakfast at Parrot Cay. I loaded up on protein for my first plate so that I could have some Mickey Waffles.





Fran just loaded up period.







My parents had actually arrived before us and saw us walk in, but let us eat in peace until they left and then my mom came by to say “hello”.

After breakfast we went back to the room for a bit, I watched us as we sailed into Ketchikan and took photos as we arrived.



We were heading towards that cruise ship off in the distance.





This is the main part of the town.















A couple weeks before our cruise a Celebrity Ship crashed into the berth that used to be right here. It completely mangled the dock and did some minor damage to the ship itself.



Ahhhh, the Tongass Trading Company. Fran does some damage here later this day. Although actually not nearly as much as I did at the jewelry store that you can’t see at the far end of the street on the right of the trading company.











We were just arriving in Ketchikan and it would take a little while for the ship to dock and get tied up and prepared for passengers to disembark. I turned my phone back off airplane mode and checked online. Jenny @rentayenta was crying for an update on the WDW TR and since it was written, and I was caught up on replies, I decided why not? We had the large Internet package, so I did that and by then the ship was all tied up and Fran was ready to go. It was just after 11:15 our scheduled docking time.

We disembarked from Mid ship deck 3 and I was a tad bit dicey for Fran getting down the ramp with her scooter, but she managed.



She was all up for shopping, and while I didn't feel that Ketchikan was nearly as big of a tourist trap as the other two stops, it certainly had its commercialism. My knee still hurt, on the one hand, walking helped to stretch it out some, but it also made it hurt a little worse. We ended up buying an At-At T-shirt for me at the Tongass Trading Co. as well as some T-shirts for Jim and Alberto, plus some smoked salmon. Fran picked up a coupon book along the way and was reading about the "specials" they were offering.



All the way up the waterfront we passed jewelers who had "barkers" out there trying to lure customers into their stores. "Hey lady, we got a free gift for Wonder guests!"

"Come inside for your free freshwater pearl earrings!"

I don't remember all the ploys as I tried to avoid them.

Once we had walked the entire block we started to make our way back to the ship. Instead of walking down the waterfront, we decided to go a block into town instead. Upon leaving the ship, Fran had pointed out a specific sort of jewelry that she fancied as a belt buckle. We passed a jewelry store which had a poster picturing something similar, they were Alaskan owned and did not have annoying barkers.

We ended up dropping a pretty penny in there. I got a gold nugget necklace and matching earrings. She got a ring in the material that she liked.

Then we headed off down the street, I noticed a fish restaurant ahead. In every port I had seen Fish and chips shops, but we never had the time, or appetite to stop there. Today I was hungry and we had a little bit of time before I had to be back for my 1:45 excursion.





We split a two piece order of Halibut, which was just perfect.



By the time we finished it was time for me to go back to the ship. Fran wanted to keep shopping so she stayed behind and I went to check in at Wave Bands. I also took advantage of being on the ship to use their clean facilities, otherwise I would have tried again to work out a deal with the excursions director, who was on the dock making sure everyone got where they were supposed to go.

Next up flying through the Misty Fjords.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Sounds like a great start to the day. Oh my re that celebrity cruise crashing into the dock! I hope nobody was hurt.

That is nice and rescepful of your space that your parents give you and Fran alone time.

The shopping sounds great Frans belt buckle and your additions sound pretty I hope we see them appear in some photos later!

 

[Steppesister]

Nice looking little town. I like how colorful it is!

A leisurely morning of shopping- sounds delightful. And good to stretch out that knee, even if it was a little painful, it was probably doing it some good.

Nice that you found some pieces that you liked and got them. And the fish and chips looked so tasty. I've sworn off anything fried until the trip and have pretty much gone paleo too, so I'll have to drool over all the yummy food you all post! My mouth is watering. :/

 

[dolphingirl47]

Ketchikan was by far my favourite port on our Alaska cruise and it was nice to see the photos. I am glad that you managed to get some jewellery you liked.

Corinna

 

[rentayenta]

Ketchikan looks adorable. Our good friend's daughter worked there for 2 summers.

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm just caught up. You've been busy while I was away!

Too much to comment on but wow, the scenery has been so magnificent!!! You are really getting me more excited for our trip next year.

Glad Fran was able to get a refund for the next excursion.

I hate to tell you this but you're right about the strawberry soup. Its not on the new menu

The characters are adorable in their special outfits. I must make sure to get pictures of them all. We had a lot of fun with the characters this last trip.

 

[Leshaface]

Whoops!

Man, that wine glass looks humongous!

This is such a cute photo you got of her with the snowy mountains in the background.

Such a beautiful presentation and it looks so delicious!

Gorgeous.

I got an Americano from the Cove Café and headed down to deck 1 where they were disembarking the ship. I was informed that I could not take any food of any sort into Alaska besides bottled water

People trashing the town perhaps?

playing the “open, open, open” game.

The old Mervyns commercial!

No way!!! How cool is that!!! I'd love to do that one day!

Amazing shot!

So cool!

Was it pretty loud on the plane? And how was the landing? I'm not afraid of flying, I love it! However, the idea of flying over water freaks me out a tad (not sure how i'll do flying to Hawaii) But flying over water AND landing on water??

That’s a steep slope!

Sheesh, it is!

I don't care for Rocquette (Arugula)

What is it with you and spicy tasting greens? Both Cilantro and Arugula?!

As we were eating our lunch, Fran said that she really hurt from trying to get into the plane. She asked what our excursion for tomorrow was and I told her it was also a plane like that. She pleaded with me to let her out of tomorrow’s excursion. She said I could still go, but would really appreciate if I didn’t make her do it.

Aw man that's too bad, but do you think she was glad she did it?

It was kind of like people soup

Yuck.

Agh so cute!

Love this picture of you!

Fran went to the port adventures desk to see about canceling her participation in the excursion the next day. It was just too hard to get into the plane for her. She got a refund, and some strawberries for our hassle in Skagway, along with a note of apology.

Very cool.

Dad wanted chocolate.

Good pick, Dad!

urned on a Bug's Life

This movie is so darn cute and every once in a great while, I quote it to DH when I get annoyed with him: "Why am I even talking to you?"

Fran just loaded up period.

A couple weeks before our cruise a Celebrity Ship crashed into the berth that used to be right here. It completely mangled the dock and did some minor damage to the ship itself.

Yikes!

Jenny @rentayenta was crying for an update on the WDW TR

@rentayenta Ugh such a crybaby. It's probably cause she has so much more time now that her hubby cooks!
Jenny, this is me being EXTREMELY jealous that DH isn't retired yet so he can cook for me One day we'll get there...34 years to go

All the way up the waterfront we passed jewelers who had "barkers" out there trying to lure customers into their stores.

That's unfortunate that they have these people out there doing that. I expect it in places like Mexico or the Bahamas, but not here!

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a great start to the day. Oh my re that celebrity cruise crashing into the dock! I hope nobody was hurt.

That video was all over the Internet in the weeks after it happened. Google it! The dock was mangled and the ship did get a large gash, but no people were hurt.

That is nice and rescepful of your space that your parents give you and Fran alone time.

I think they wanted the privacy themselves!

The shopping sounds great Frans belt buckle and your additions sound pretty I hope we see them appear in some photos later!

It will appear later!

Nice looking little town. I like how colorful it is!

It seemed very cute, I would have liked to get out of the touristy area more.

A leisurely morning of shopping- sounds delightful. And good to stretch out that knee, even if it was a little painful, it was probably doing it some good.

That's what I kept telling myself when it hurt.

Nice that you found some pieces that you liked and got them. And the fish and chips looked so tasty. I've sworn off anything fried until the trip and have pretty much gone paleo too, so I'll have to drool over all the yummy food you all post! My mouth is watering. :/

As long as I don't do anything crazy food wise (like eat part of a Monte Cristo tomorrow and a burger for dinner tonight ), the swimming seems to be helping me drop a few more pounds. I hope the Paleo is working for you.

Ketchikan was by far my favourite port on our Alaska cruise and it was nice to see the photos. I am glad that you managed to get some jewellery you liked.

I think I liked it best too. And it was so easy to get around, no shuttles or anything. I'm glad this is the port that Fran felt her best.

Ketchikan looks adorable. Our good friend's daughter worked there for 2 summers.

I had an ex who's sister lived there. We never visited, but I always found her stories interesting when she came to California.

 

[franandaj]

I'm just caught up. You've been busy while I was away!

Too much to comment on but wow, the scenery has been so magnificent!!! You are really getting me more excited for our trip next year.

Not that busy, just trying to wrap up before my next trip! It was so beautiful, I never got tired of standing out on the verandah!

Glad Fran was able to get a refund for the next excursion.

That was a nice bonus, it was quite pricey.

I hate to tell you this but you're right about the strawberry soup. Its not on the new menu

I know, I've already seen versions of the menu. All the reason to keep going to 1900 Park Fare.

The characters are adorable in their special outfits. I must make sure to get pictures of them all. We had a lot of fun with the characters this last trip.

They are so cute in the special outfits. I wish I got more pictures of Mickey and Minnie, even if we weren't in the pictures with them.

Man, that wine glass looks humongous!

It just looks big, they never came even close to filling it up.

This is such a cute photo you got of her with the snowy mountains in the background.

And it was just by chance that she happened to be walking around back there.

Such a beautiful presentation and it looks so delicious!

My Dad really enjoyed it!

People trashing the town perhaps?

No, it was something more like the idea of not bringing produce from out of state into California, something about the environment and not allowing foreign food.

The old Mervyns commercial!

Finally someone recognized it!

No way!!! How cool is that!!! I'd love to do that one day!

We did it back in 1998 and I couldn't wait to do it again!

Was it pretty loud on the plane? And how was the landing? I'm not afraid of flying, I love it! However, the idea of flying over water freaks me out a tad (not sure how i'll do flying to Hawaii) But flying over water AND landing on water??

We had to wear headphones. I think they were partially noise canceling as well as a way for the pilot to talk and we could hear him tell us what we were seeing. I found it cool. Much less scary than landing on hard solid ground, it was smooth and not nearly as jolting.

What is it with you and spicy tasting greens? Both Cilantro and Arugula?!

And I also don't like Micro greens salads, I'm not sure what it is, but I do like seaweed. I'm just weird.

Aw man that's too bad, but do you think she was glad she did it?

I'm not so sure she was glad about it.

Agh so cute!

Love this picture of you!

We got some pretty good character shots this trip!

This movie is so darn cute and every once in a great while, I quote it to DH when I get annoyed with him: "Why am I even talking to you?"

@rentayenta Ugh such a crybaby. It's probably cause she has so much more time now that her hubby cooks!

Ask her about #pension!

Jenny, this is me being EXTREMELY jealous that DH isn't retired yet so he can cook for me One day we'll get there...34 years to go

Well first your hubby needs to take cooking lessons from the chefs at L'Opera!

That's unfortunate that they have these people out there doing that. I expect it in places like Mexico or the Bahamas, but not here!

I know, you wouldn't expect it, but I guess anywhere there are tourist dollars at stake, you get that bad behavior.

 

[mvf-m11c]

That is neat that you got to take pictures with Remy and Emile from Ratatouille. Dinner looks good as always.

Your day at Ketchikan is off to a nice start. I believe my dad has been to Ketchikan for fishing but I will have to talk to him about that. The halibut fish and chips looks good.

 

[franandaj]

When we left off, Fran stayed behind in Ketchikan after our lunch to buy some T-shirts at the Harley store and who knows what else she had up her sleeve! I was on my way to a float plane excursion to the Misty Fjords.

Soon we were on our bus to the Air Terminal. All the folks from the Disney boat were assigned planes and left the waiting area. I was the only one left from the ship and thought I had been left behind. Evidently there was one more family who had lagged behind and they were on the plane with me and our captain had not yet picked up his assignment.

Finally we got underway. This dock was much more friendly than the previous day.



We were also on much smaller planes than yesterday.



It was even harder to get into this plane than the plane the day before.



I got to ride shotgun.



This is the route we took. We took the Green route.



We took off in the opposite direction where we were headed and pulled a U-turn in the water.



We start to get airborne as we were passing our ship.





We flew past all kinds of spectacular scenery. Near to the water there were trees covering all the mountains.



At this point we are flying a little south of the Behm Canal. I like these shots with parts of the plane in them (for some of the shots) because it reminds me that I was actually flying in a plane like this.











Another textbook example of a glacially cut valley.





See all those gouges cut into the rocks? Those are called glacial striations and they are the signs of a glacier having moved over the rocks and causing glacial abrasion.



This is my favorite shot and I remember it from our previous fly over that we did in 1998. It is Glacier lake and Waterfall.





We just sort of flew around various jaw dropping scenes for a few more minutes.





Another classic glacially formed valley.



Look at all these waterfalls!





I think that this might be punchbowl lake, but this map is harder to decipher than the other flight plane map. Plus I think our pilot improvised at bit. In both cases, my plane was the last to leave so I think that gave the pilot a little leeway to do what he wanted in a different order.





[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Here are some more of those glacial striations.





Even though the weather in Ketchikan was beautiful and sunny, up here in the peaks there was still a cloud cover.





Then we began to head towards another highlight for this excursion. Along this body of water, it’s hard to see but to the left the water continues on to a very calm lake. See the one mountain that looks really green and the one behind it that it very sparse, we turned in between those.







And then we started to descend onto the lake.







Then we landed on this small body of water. We all got out on the side of the plane and the pilot was kind enough to take this picture of me. I tried a few selfies, but they didn’t come out so good.



This waterfall was visible back in the distance. I could even hear it from the plane.



See I’m actually standing on the float of the plane.



If you look in the far right edge of this picture, you can just make out a boat that cruised into the lake as we were taking off. It’s very possible that my parents were on this boat as they did an excursion which included seeing the Misty Fjords by boat. And here we go headed back to Ketchikan.







On our way back, we flew past New Eddystone Rock, a 237 foot (72 m) tall column of basalt in the middle of Behm Canal. It was formed within the past 5 million years by volcanic activity. In this picture, you can just barely make it out on the horizon.



Here is a better picture.



Then we flew over the lush green countryside.














[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

We were approaching the channel where we would make a right turn to head back to Ketchikan.







And there we are heading back. As the Wonder came into view, our pilot told us little fun facts like: these planes do not only carry passengers for sightseeing, but they deliver mail to the very remote rural areas, they perform a passenger transportation service, and all kinds of other things for the local economy. Flight planes are one of the most used forms of transport in this part of the state.

















Coming in for landing.









The pilot took a couple shots of me in front of the plane.





As we walked back to the terminal, I noticed these little weird jellyfish things in the water. Well he just reached in a grabbed one to give me a closer look! It kind of creeped me out, but it was him touching it and not me!





Then we were given a certificate and got on the bus back to the ship.






Next up, Fran gets her second wind and dinner!

 

[franandaj]

That is neat that you got to take pictures with Remy and Emile from Ratatouille. Dinner looks good as always.

Your day at Ketchikan is off to a nice start. I believe my dad has been to Ketchikan for fishing but I will have to talk to him about that. The halibut fish and chips looks good.

Thanks! I really liked the Remy and Emile pictures, unique characters that you don't see much.

I'd be interested to hear if your father has been fishing in Ketchikan, that sounds very interesting.