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USA: San Francisco, California

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  Wednesday, June 12, 2023, San Francisco, California We arrived back at our starting point at 9 am 6 months after we started our voyage. We’ve been to San Francisco a lot, so didn’t schedule a tour. Instead, we arranged to meet our travel buddy, Albert and Karen, another of the nice people Charlie had worked with for during his Fed/State job survey days. The weather started out warm, and we walked comfortably to a new attraction, Salesforce Park. Not an inspiring name, but a terrific garden walk amazingly placed above street level. A subway runs under it. Trees, plants and flowers were labeled. There were some sculptures to enhance the area, and places to sit and have coffee and snacks. Karen had to leave after that, and the three of us caught a city bus that went all the way to the beach. That’s where it got cold. The bus seemed to go on forever, San Francisco is a big city! It was a bargain for sure, and we saw the City from a new perspective. From the bus Wires necessary i...
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USA: Astoria, Oregon

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  Monday, June 1, Astoria, Oregon The ship arrived to Astoria about 10 am and it was raining. The free shuttle dropped us off in town.  This is a charming town with many Victorian houses. We’ve been here many times, but always with a car. Here we were, just a two hour drive to home, but no way to get off the ship with our luggage. It was not possible to rent a one-way car home (we had looked into it—Enterprise was the only car rental company and the car had to be returned to Astoria).  We tried to make a day out of it, but Charlie’s heart wasn’t into it, so after a lunch and a little shopping we went back to the ship for the final leg of the journey. Homesickness made this a tough day.  Our last formal-ish dinner on the ship with friends.
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Canada: Victoria, BC

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  Sunday, July 9, 2023, Victoria, BC The ship docked at 9 am quite a ways from downtown. There was another immense cruise ship next to us. We got off the ship a bit later, to find the shuttle would not run until noon. We walked up the hill to find a city bus into town. We weren’t the only ship passengers at the bus stop. When the bus came, the driver advised us he would be taking a detour due to the parade. It turned out to be our good fortune to be in Victoria on the morning of the Pride Parade. On the bus It seemed like most of the town had turned out to support the LGBTQ community. A vast array of businesses, churches, schools, and service organizations had a presence in the parade. There was a city bus professionally painted in rainbow colors, a lasting symbol of support. The streets were lined with cheering supporters. We found the outpouring of love and support very moving and watched to the end. Pride day in Victoria It had been a long time since we’d been in Victoria...
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Canada: Prince Rupert

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  Friday, July 7, 2023, Prince Rupert, BC The ship arrived at 8 am. We walked off the ship onto a shoreside quay and headed to the information booth for a map. The town was conveniently right off the ship.   This was our first time to this Canadian island, and the first visit to Canada for many years. It was a hot July day - it seemed like we couldn’t escape the heat anywhere. We followed the map to our first destination at this relatively tiny town.  The Sunken Gardens was created by a philanthropist/gardener. Everything was in bloom and organized beautifully. The site had been a quarry, making it a perfect spot for anything “sunken”. See pictures! Sunken Gardens were gorgeous Another hilly destination by the sea, we headed uphill to the Museum of Northern British Columbia. A handsome building with rooms of amazing exhibits including our favorites: totem poles! Continuing up the hill, we came upon the Prince Rupert Island Fire Department Museum. Very small and amu...
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Alaska: Ketchikan

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  Thursday, July 6, 2023, Ketchikan, Alaska We didn’t arrive until 12:30 pm. A huge Norwegian cruise ship was across from us, and there were long lines of people returning to their ship as we arrived. Our ship is the small one.  It was another beautiful day. The sign said Welcome to Alaska’s 1st City. Most everyone took a shuttle into downtown, almost a 30 minute ride. Holland America was able to dock right near town, but not us. We were taking the Duck Tour in the early afternoon. It provided its own shuttle to their pickup point a little past the ship’s shuttle’s destination.   We climbed on the amphibious vehicle and listened to the safety briefing. Then we rode us through the historical district with the guide pointing out major sites in a lighthearted manor. We took pictures of places we wanted to go back to later, like the Salvation Army Thrift Store and Parnassus Books.  In the Duck tour vehicle, with the Ketchikan sign in the background. That’s my hat. F...
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Alaska: Sitka

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  Wednesday, July 5, 2023, Sitka, Alaska The ship arrived at 11:30 am. We tendered in to a large dock and walked into town. The weather was good.  Arrival to Sitka We walked through town to the Sitka National Historical Park, with its fabulous totem poles. The last time we were here it was raining so hard we didn’t make it that far. There was a building with many preserved totems, and many more outside along a path through the woods. Spectacular! We could see our ship anchored in the harbor at points. We also saw an eagle protecting its salmon catch from an interested crow. There is also an area that contained a Tlingit fort built to fight the Russians. This beautiful totem was at the entrance Eagle protecting his catch We visited the wonderful Sheldon Jackson Museum, small but containing every artifact you can imagine from native Alaskan culture. The museum is relatively small by the collection is beautifully displayed, with drawers containing smaller items. Our second vi...
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