Travel – Page 6 – Geeky Girl Engineer

Totem Bight State Historical Park

Posted on June 18, 2021 by geek

I visited Totem Bight State Historical Park in Ketchikan today. It contains numerous totem poles, some of which are reproductions and some of which are inspired by older totem poles. Because they are newer, they are still colorful, which helps in understand both their meaning and also what the original poles looked like. There is also a gorgeous clan house, which you can go in. The park also features a short but nice walk through the temperature rainforest and also a beach.

Clan House

Land Otter Pole

Sea Monster Pole

Kaats’ Bear Wife

Kadjuk Bird Pole

Thunderbird and Whale

Trail

Beach area

Ketchikan hiking

Posted on June 17, 2021 by geek

Ketchikan has lots of hiking trails, and many of them are close to the town. We went hiking on the Rainbird trail this afternoon. Ketchikan is located in a temperate rainforest, and the Rainbird trail goes through that temperate rainforest ecosystem right to the side of the town. The trail is located in an area that was last logged over 50 years ago, so it does not have the old growth trees, but it is pretty none the less. The northern trailhead warns that the trail is not maintained, and they are not kidding. We lost the trail a couple of times. The southern half of the trail is maintained and is much easier to hike.

Ferns and moss growing on a fallen tree stump

Moss and ferns growing near a stream

New tree growng on top of a fallen tree

Cedar trees and ferns everywhere

Trail through the forest

At the south end of the trail, there are spectacular lookouts

Moss growing on a fallen tree

Berries

Wild flowers

Ketchikan, Alaska

Posted on June 16, 2021 by geek

Ketchikan is a great town to wander around. A must see is of course Creek Street, which is built right on Ketchikan Creek, for what I am sure were sensible reasons when the town was first founded. Now while it is very photogenic, it also looks like an engineering challenge. Creek Street is right where Ketchikan Creek empties into the sea, so the tidal influence is visible. Right before Ketchikan Creek enters the Creek Street area, the creek is white water going over rocks, but then just a little further back, it is a calmer, mountain creek. Hence it is an interesting walk to follow the creek a bit. The rest of downtown is filled with what for the most part seem to be original buildings from when the town was expanding or buildings built to resemble old buildings. The dock area is huge, and there appear to be more boats than cars in the downtown area.

Creek Street, built along Ketchikan Creek; the mint green building on the far right is Dolly’s House, “where both men and salmon came upstream to spawn”

Creek Street

Ketchikan Creek right before it gets to Creek Street

Ketchikan Creek is more an alluvial stream just a short distance before Creek Street

Downtown sign: Welcome to Alaska’s 1st City, Ketchikan, The Salmon Capital of the World

Downtown Ketchikan where most of the buildings seem to be original

Ketchikan wharf, in the middle is the Potlatch, a famous and popular with the locals bar

Ketchikan’s very crowded docks

Totems at the Totem Heritage Center

Alaska State Ferry: Bellingham to Ketchikan

Posted on June 14, 2021 by geek

I have started a three week vacation in Alaska, which will involve planes, trains, ships, buses, cars, and perhaps a helicopter and raft. Thirty years ago or so, I cruised the inside passage with my family, but this time I wanted a little more time to see the southeast area and interior. Thus, the cruising will take place on the Alaska State Ferry. I took the ferry from Bellingham, Washington to Ketchikan, Alaska, which is about 38 hours or so of travel. The ferry cruises the inside passage. There was a map in the cafe that shows the route, and in two different places, the route can go either in the open ocean or the inside passage. It is not clear why one is chosen over the other, and the crew (that interacted with the passengers) didn’t even seem to know, but presumably the navigation crew knew. In any event, our route was entirely the inside passage, and a lovely route it was. It was a nice way to travel. I spent the entire time reading and taking photos along the way. Below are some photos I took along the route. Note that basically all of these photos are of British Columbia, Canada and those of the water we passed through.

Alaska State Ferry: MV Kennicott

Posted on June 14, 2021 by geek

Thirty years or so ago, I took a cruise to Alaska starting in Vancouver and ending in Whittier through the inside passage. I wanted the cruise portion of that trip again, that is, the part where the boat takes you through the inside passage. However, I wanted more time in some of the cities to explore. The solution I came up with was to take the Alaska Marine Highway System, i.e. the Alaska State Ferry to a couple of cities then because the schedule is a bit infrequent for parts of the trip, to fly for a portion of the trip.

The ferry goes as far south as Bellingham, Washington. I flew to Seattle and then took a bus to Bellingham. There is an Amtrak train and also a bus that drops you off about a block or so from the ferry. Then after a lovely lunch in Bellingham, I boarded the ferry, in this case the MV Kennicott. We reserved a four berth cabin. There are only two of us traveling, but the two berth cabin does not have a private bathroom. We splurged for the four berth for the private bathroom and extra room. The room is rather small, unsurprisingly. It is rather spartan really. Cruise ship cabins are small, but generally they are well designed with lots of drawers, shelves, and other areas to unpack things. The ferry was not designed for that. The ferry cabin was designed for you to sleep but not really for you to place your luggage anywhere.

Our four berth cabin, made up for two people

We didn’t spend that much time during the day in the cabin though. They have a cafeteria for meals, but you can also bring your own food and use their microwave or their hot water. The food is ok, but if you have any dietary issues, you need to bring your own food. There is not that much choice with the food.

Also, there are a couple of sitting areas, including the popular forward observation seating area. The front observation seating area is set up like a theater, so you can relax and see where the ship is going.

The front observation area where many passengers spend the day

There are also several outside decks where passages can go. Many people choose not to pay extra for a cabin and camp on the ship. There were camping tents set up in on several of the wider outside decks. Some people had rather fancy set ups for their tents.

A tent set up on an outside deck of a ship

One of the upper, outside side decks where people camp

There was also a large enclosed solarium where people camped. The area was quite warm, so people might be able to camp there without an actual tent.

Person walking down an inside passageway on ship

The solarium where people camp

People’s camping areas in some cases were involved. One had an entry rug. One hung a hammock between poles. There were clearly experienced campers on the ferry.

Someone’s tent set up in the solarium including rugs

The ferry is definitely not luxury travel. However the route is wonderful and allow you to cruise the inside passage without having to be tied to a cruise ship’s schedule of one day per port.

Bellagio, Italy

Posted on February 24, 2020 by geek

My final full day in Italy, and Bellagio was the final city to visit. Lake Como is essentially the shape of an upside-down “Y”, and Bellagio sits where the three arms come together. The name came from Latin meaning “two lakes” because it sits between two arms, but really since it sits where all three come together, I think it would have been better named “three lakes” but whatever. Anyway, it is a tiny little village on a steep hillside right on the water. It is a favorite tourist destination, and it is a cute little village to spend a day. Besides being cute, it has amazing views of Lake Como and the surrounding hills. You can even see snow-capped mountains in the distance. Like many towns in the area, the streets are made of river rock, which is not real fun to walk on, but it certainly lends to the charm.

Pretty buildings right across from the docks

Former church now a residence near a public park

River rock steps up one of the many alleys

View to the west with a snow-capped mountain in the distance

View south towards the western arm of Lake Como

Como, Italy

Posted on February 24, 2020 by geek

This morning I wandered around Como. It is in a nice setting next to Lake Como and nestled in a valley between hills. However, it is not the cutest little Italian town I have been to on this trip.

Caffe Duomo evidently allows teddy bears to have tea when the table is not needed. There were two other pairs of bears in the cafe and more in their outside sitting area.

Boats in Lake Como next to downtown Como

Residential building with painted exterior

Old building with carved and painted stucco

Bergamo, Italy

Posted on February 23, 2020 by geek

Today, my tour group left Verona for Como. We spent a couple of hours in Bergamo along the way. The new area of Bergamo is in the lower (elevation wise) part of the city. The older part of Bergamo is on top of a hill surrounding by a wall because everything old seems to be surrounded by a wall in these parts. I now believe I understand just how much the Romans were all about the walls. Bergamo is a cute little town that has two real important parts. First, it has a gorgeous chapel that is a mausoleum for a rich military man named Bartolomeo Colleoni, who evidently switched sides between Milan and Venice, and importantly is not to be confused with the fictional Corleone family of The Godfather. [Our tour guide was clear on this point.] Second, it was the birthplace of Pope John XXIII, and the cathedral has a permanent exhibit about this including his coffin, but not his body.

Palazzo della Ragione. The middle carving has me thinking of questions.

Sirmione, Italy

Posted on February 22, 2020 by geek

Today, my tour group visited Sirmione, which is a little town at the end of a tiny peninsula in Lago di Garda (Lake Garda). There is a well preserved castle there and an archeological site from the Roman era. There are also many hotels and spas in between. Climbing to the top of the tower of Castello di Sirmione provides amazing views of the lake and surrounding area including the mountains to the north. The archeological ruins appear to be of a pleasure villa at the very end of the peninsula, so it seems the area has been used for the same reason since the Romans.

Archaeological site of Grotte di Catullo

Verona, Italy

Posted on February 21, 2020 by geek

Yesterday, my tour group arrived in Verona, and today I had the whole day to explore it. Verona is a lovely, old city. It has remnants of when it was part of the Roman Empire, and it also has Venetian influences, as well as others. The city is the setting for Romeo and Juliet, and it fully embraces it. [It is also named in the title of The Two Gentlemen of Verona and part of its setting, but the city doesn’t seem to care about that.] According to our guide, Romeo and Juliet seems to be a mix of myth and truth. There were two families who lived here named Cappello and Montecchi, and there may have been teenagers from those families who committed suicide after falling in love. Short stories were written about it, and supposedly Shakespeare used those as starting material. Interesting note, Juliet is very popular here, and people write letters to her, and everyone goes to see a balcony that did not exist before Shakespeare that was supposed to be hers. [Juliet having a balcony seems to be partially a translation issue, as in the play, she was probably opening her window shutters.] Anyway, Romeo doesn’t seem to be nearly as popular as Juliet. Hardly anyone writes him letters. Poor Romeo.

Besides Romeo and Juliet, the old part of Verona is lovely to walk around. The Adige River flows around the old part of the city, and walking along it provides lovely views of the city and surrounding area.