Sunday July 16, 2023
Hi Folks! Our lucky streak continued today! It was an unbelievably beautiful day, sunny skies, highs of 68, light breeze… heaven! We got started early since our excursion started at 8:30 AM and lasted 6 hours so it would be an early and long day.
Our excursion was really like 3 different trips. First we rode the White Pass and Yukon Railroad which is one of the most beautiful train trips in the world. We had used our raffle money to upgrade to a VIP type train ride experience as well as being able to see the Iditarod dogs and puppies!
On the railroad we got to sit in the first car and so we spent a lot of the trip on the front platform of the train as it headed up to the peak. The views were incredible. We also were the only railcar that had its own private tour guide named Runaway Jim and he was hilarious. He told lots of funny stories and shared lots of history. Before the railroad was put in, during the gold rush, men would have to put tons of food and utensils on their backs and climb up the mountain to get the chance to mine for gold. Crazy!
The second part of the excursion was to learn about the Iditarod race and meet some of the dogs that do the race as well as some of the new puppies who’ll be trained to do the race. Of course the puppies stole the show! They were only 4 weeks old so they were tiny but soooo cuddly! Kathy and I each got to hold one and wanted to smuggle them home! We also met the dogs that have run several races as well as saw them do a test run around a track. It is amazing to think that the race is 1,000 miles long from Anchorage to Nome and can take 10 days so those dogs are really great athletes!
The final part of the tour was explaining all about the gold rush and letting us pan for gold. That was fun and we both ended up finding some specks of gold in our pans that added up to almost $20! It ain’t $300 but every little bit helps!
After the last part of the tour we had them drop us off in the town of Skagway so we could walk around and do a little shopping. Yes, the grandkids needed one last thing! It is a cute little town surrounded by mountains and still looks like a gold rush town. We then walked back to the ship and got ready for dinner.
Tonight we ate at the Pan Asian specialty restaurant called Pacific Rim. OMG… The food was amazing! Wish we were able to get another reservation there but not likely. We tried a little of everything. The pork Dim Sum, the Duck Spring Roll, the Duck and Watermelon Salad, the Miso Black Cod, the Chinese Ribs, the Lamb Chops, and the yummy desserts of Chocolate Mousse and Tres Leches. Wow!
After dinner we went to the show which again was really good. It was all the music from Broadway Shows. This entertainment team is really talented!
We then pulled some slots and listened to Nano our new favorite piano player.
Tomorrow we sail to Icy Straight Point which neither of us have ever been to so we’re excited about that. Hope everyone had a great weekend!
The Wandering Italian 