August 8th – Alaska Day 1

August 8th – Alaska Day 1
It doesn’t seem how many lists I make or how I organized I try to be, the night before we leave is always a busy and a late one for me. Our morning wake up time of 5am seemed to come right on top of when I finally fell asleep and I feeling tired. It has been with much anticipation that today has finally arrived. It seems like we have been talking and planning our Alaska trip for many months and then suddenly it is the morning of Day One. We arrive at the airport at 6:30 and board our flight at 7:30. When I was young-I loved to fly, I loved the airport noise the hustle and bustle that traveler’s exhibit and I loved the anticipation of the actual flight. Today, I see it more as a means to getting me to my final destination and I don’t enjoy it nearly as much. Our flight was smooth, no turbulence and 5 ½ hours long from LAX to Anchorage. The transfer from the plane to the ship was unbelievably easy. We collected our baggage and moved it 50 feet to the Princess transfer bus depot, waited about 20 minutes and then were loaded onto a very nice touring bus. First impressions of Alaska: green and more green, mountains and lots of trees. I think I was expecting snow to be covering the ground was surprised when there were not feet of the white stuff everywhere. During our bus ride we were given the history of the state and the area. It is beautiful country made even more appealing by the lack of people. In the whole state which is huge there are only 600,000 residents. Going through several towns you could see the roof tops of houses but because of the dense forests surrounding them, the effect was soft and almost unnoticeable. We travelled along the coast line going inland, following a long sliver of ocean flanked on either side by steep lushly covered foliage. The tide was out, and what we saw was the fine silt that is deposited by the glaciers. It is a grey color, thick and had created interesting patterns on the ocean floor – I couldn’t think o f it as a beach as there was no sand. The water beyond the silt bars was smooth and glass like, tranquil, with the backdrop of the mountains being reflected in the water. It was once we had left the coastline that we say our first glacier which was quickly followed by another and another. There were what is called a hanging glacier, up in the mountains a wall of ice exposed and not ending in the ocean. While small, you began to get an idea of the immensity of power that they possess and the stark beauty of ice formations and color. We travelled though a 2.6 mile long tunnel that was carved out of the rock originally for trains, and about 15 years ago converted so that vehicles could also pass through it. It was narrow-narrow enough that I wondered if I could have driven through it myself or would I have it the walls.
We arrived in Whittier, a very small port town and saw our ship the Diamond Princess for the first time. It was not as big as I thought it would be. It is 952 feet long 15 decks high, holds 2700 passengers and has a crew of 1300. Now that I have walked around it for a day or so, I have revised my initial opinion and now realizes it is huge, a floating mini city. Our room is small but comfy, a queen size bed and a mini bathroom. We have an inside cabin, maybe after today I will regret the decision not to have paid more for the balcony room, but so far it has been ok. But to anyone who takes this cruise going forward, book the balcony. Our first afternoon on board was spent walking around the ship getting our bearings and figuring out where things were. I have to be honest; I will be getting lost for the whole week. Aft, starboard, port and forward mean nothing to me, I need to hear front, back, left and right. We had a delicious dinner and took a walk around the boat and had an early night….we were tired