I spent a lot of today looking at the ESP8266 as a replacement irrigation controller. I like that it can be WiFi attached which keeps it physically off the network and doesn't have proper shutdown problems like Pi and also not wearing out a flash card. Hopefully it's self contained and independent. I went to Kroger to look for seafood - either Salmon, crab or shrimp. The shrimp was 4.99 a pound so it won. Dinner was shrimp with corn on the cob and Rodney Strong Cabernet.

Woke at 6:30 AM with a headache. I'm also a little dizzy this morning. I hope
it's just getting settled back in to a routine and not something more serious.
I have gained quite a bit of weight since my physical - 8 pounds that I want to
get rid of by my 70th birthday in November.
I went to Costco before lunch to look for a coffee grinder. I ended up buying 2 bottles of Rodney Strong. It was a lackadaisical day. I got most of our home LAN working including the cameras. Still no irrigation controls.
Dinner was salad and a squash medley. We were both tired and worn down so we chose not to go to the studio dance tonight.

After going to bed at 1 AM this morning after our all day flight home yesterday
I woke at 7 AM. I had oatmeal for breakfast since we didn't have milk for
cereal. Went to Best Buy when they opened at 10 and exchanged my burned out
router for a new one. The extended warranty is the best thing I have ever done.
This is the 3rd replacement modem for the 9.99 price of the extended warranty.
Once I got the modem activated with Time Warner I spent several hours trying to
get Internet connectivity. The issue turned out to be the cable. I used the
yellow crossover cable which it doesn't need. It needs a straight through cable
instead. Once this was corrected I tried the house network but no dice. So far
i replaced the cable modem and the router. Later at night when I was going to
bed I replaced the switch under the office desk which supplies Manon and the
switch in the upstairs closet. I suspect the 8 port switch in the office closet
is bad. Once Manon was running I watched some YouNow live broadcasts before
bed. I was shocked by some of the shorts that teenage girls were wearing with
their butt cheeks exposed. Oh my. Dinner tonight was trying to eat light. We
had cottage cheese and fruit for lunch and salad and a squash medley for dinner.

We had a false wakeup when Libbie alarm went off at 12:05 instead of 4:05. It
was not on Alaskan time. We got the correct wake up at 4:05 AM, 4 hours later on
her cell phone. It was raining and dark out when we left for the airport at
4:33 AM. Got there before 5 and dropped the keys into the bin. The airport is
tiny and did not have TSA Pre. They gave us a blue card to use so we didn't
have ot remove hour shoes. We got off on time and had a very smooth flight on
time into Seattle but faced a 3 hour layover. Picked up a very expensive 2
biscuits and 2 coffees for $14. at McDonalds in the airport. Wow.
we had a 3 hour layover in Seattle which is not a bad airport. We got some
seats with power outlets and hung around until it was time to load our plane for
the 3 hour flight to Minneapolis. We had a young college student between us,
Ann, who was flying from her parents assignment in China. She was going to her
boyfriends family in Charlotte before returning to school Aug 29 in Alabama.
In Minneapolis we bought a sandwich and chips for dinner and then boarded a very
cramped flight to RDU. The plane is an MD88 with 3 and 2 seating. We were on
the 2 side with uncomfortable seats for the 2 1/2 hour flight. We got in 10
minutes early and began the drive home which was easy. It cost $133 for
parking. our car once again was first to be dropped of by the Relax and Park.
We got home and found the cable modem was totally dead. It doesn't even light
up. The violet tower watering is also toast. It won't reboot when i tried it.
The great news is the moteinos running the fans worked great. The back room is
circulating and also the foundation fan circulated.
I need to do something to improve the water controllers for the tower and the
outdoor sprinkler.

Did some journaling this morning and also researching on Trip Advisor of some
Juneau venues. We left around 9:30 for The Shrine of St Theresa. it's about 20
miles North of Juneau and was beautiful. There is a little causeway you walk
out across the waterway to an Island. On the Island is a little chuch and
stations of the cross and other religious artifacts. The whole place was
peaceful and reflective. i enjoyed it. Next we tried to go to the Botanical
Garden next door but it was closed for reasons unknown so we headed to the
brewery. We easily found it in an industrial park by the airport. They give
you three beers of your choice from which they are brewing. They give out
bottle caps to be used as currency. I had the Oatmeal stout, an experimental
Spruce Berliner sour and an Alaskan Red which Libbie also had because she liked
the Red Dungeness crab on the label. I ended up buying a tee shirt with Alaskan
Amber on the front and also a packet of sourdough mix. We drove up the highway
to Fred Meyer and picked up a Boars Head turkey and cheese wrap in a Jalapeno
jam spread. We had this with leftover Tims Extra thick and crunch and water.
Had our sandwiches at the Mendenhall Glacier overlook on Glacier Hwy just as we
did yesterday. This little rest area was a find with a good view of the
glacier and yet convenient to the highway. We packed our trash and put it into
the trahs can on the way out. Next stop was downtown Juneau where we turned on
Main and went up the hill looking for the Capitol. We found it but it was
covered in black cloth since it was being renovated. We found street parking
near the capitol and saw the Juneau City museum across from the Capitol so we
decided to investigate. It was an OK museum. Watched the movie and toured the
exhibits. I liked the traveling art exhibits which consisted of a show by a
local artist of oil paintings. We left the museum around 3 PM and came back to
the BnB.
We liked the Alaska placemats in our room so we asked the home owner, Jean,
where she got them. She said they were from the Tee Shirt shop at the Cruise
terminal. We planned to have dinner on the island at the island pub but changed
our mind since we were going across the river to the cruise terminal. Parked at
the terminal for $2 per hour, 4 hours and bought the placemats. Lots of cruise
ship tourists buying chinese crap! We went to Tracy's Crab shack for dinner
instead of the Island Pub since we were in the neighborhood anyway. We ordered
the Captains Premium leg and 2 bowls of crab chowder for a total of $80. We also
ordered 2 Alaskan Ambers with dinner, my new favorite beer. There was a huge guy
who said he was a chef at our table along with his mother. Both came from the
cruise ship. His Mother was buying trinkets to decorate an Alaskan themed lamp.
I'm convinced this is the kind of clientele that takes cruise ships. Overweight
and not very intelligent. This may be a stereotype but walking downtown Juneau
confims my suspicions. I don't think we had any fat people on our uncruise.
On the way back to the island I stopped for gas to top off the tank for
returning the car tomorrow morning. Got back and packed everything and gathered
our other things for the 4 AM wakeup tomorrow. Our flight is at 6:30 AM.

I woke early and had a wonderful shower with a waterpic wand in our BnB. I
liked it because I could adjust the water pressure in addition to the water
spray pattern. This is what our Downing Place wand lacks, it comes out too
hard. I tried downloading pictures from the camera but got a disk full error.
it's hard to believe but the hard disk is full on my laptop. I deleted somee
movies which gave me 10 Gb more space but the reality is this is only 1/2 of an
SD card worth. Libbie and I had our shredded wheat with Blueberries. This is
quite a difference from what we had been having for breakfast everyday. I
surfed the web and purchased the Robert Service collected poems book for $4.50
on eBay. After some cereal with Blueberries in our room we left for the
Gardens. We couldn't find the place at first but we were persistent and asked
at the Safeway Liquor Store and then again and then again at a little rooms by
the hour motel. The clerk used to work in the Garden so we found the place
finally. They don't have a map on their brochure and also don't have a very big
sign in front, it's just a little mailbox sign. The place is spectacular. Kyle
drove us to the top to see the lookout then drove through the Tongass National
Forest. There wasn't much of a snack bar there for lunch so we drove to Fred
Meyer and bought a Cuban from the Deli dept. Picked up some water and Tim's
chips and found a scenic pullout overlooking the Mendenhall Glacier. We walked
the field a little after our picnic lunch then drove to the Glacier. A 2 mile
walk back to the Falls was certainly worth the trip. We watched the glacier
movie in the visitor center before leaving. I couldn't believe the number of
cruise ships that had arrived in port. They send buckets full of tourists to
the glacier. It was very crowded and jam packed when we left for the day.
We had wine and cheese on our patio then our host recommended the Island Pub for
pizza on Douglas island in the little town of Douglas. This was about one mile
away down the highway. We ordered a build your own pizza of mozarella and
provo;one on marinara sauce with /italian sausage. Alaskan Amber accompanied
the meal. The sausage was a little hot for Libbie but i thought it was OK,
not too hot but with a little heat to make it interesting. We drove aorundd
Douglas a little and noticed a second cafe in the town as well as a picnic area
on the water with a shelter where people were grilling food. It's a nice little
community away from the crowds of Juneau. We came sriaght back home with a
slight amount of difficulty since we were approaching our little BnB from the
opposite direction from where we normally approach.

I awoke early and lay in bed around 5:15 AM. I
heard the ship horn go off around 5:30 and decided to take my
shower and finish packing for leaving. Our bags have to be out
at 7:30 which is when breakfast starts. I went down to the
lounge at 6:00 to get a cup of coffee. Samantha was setting up
the continental breakfast which is available at 6:30. GPS is
showing that we are approaching Juno. Through the fog I can
make out buildings on shore along the channel on our approach to
Juneau. I returned the book, the Complete Poems of Robert
Service to the ship library. I'm going to order this book from
Amazon or eBay. We packed our suitcases and had them outside at
7:30 AM. Jose stopped by and said the credit card was declined.
I got a text from Capital One which i acknowledge that it was me
who was using the card. We made the $1500 deposit for our next
cruise on the credit card and it appears to have gone through.
The tip amount of $800 was the issue. They were going to rerun
the batch. After a breakfast of cream cheese omelet with
Anaheim peppers and bacon we said our goodbyes and marched out the
gangplank. The entire crew was in a line greeting each person
individually. We used the wifi at the centennial hall while
waiting for our bus to the airport. In the meantime we walked
through downtown looking at a book store and an Alaskan Crafts
building. Our shuttle driver to the airport at 11:45 was pretty
entertaining. His name was Jake and is a college student
studying Mandarin at a college in Utah. He dropped us at the
airport where I tried the rental counter of Enterprise. It
turns out my reservation was in Fairbanks, not Juneau. The
nice lady got me fixed up with a Juneau rental. We stopped at
the hatchery on the way to the AirBnB. Libbie inquired about
the power failure. They did lose some fish but mostly saved the
run. Found our AirBnB on Douglas Island. Met Jean who did not
get our text this morning. Sprint which is used by Republic
Wireless does not have any coverage in the juneau area. We are
on the third floor of a split level. I really like the house.
Our room is incredibly huge. Our host Jean gave us a pass for
Mt Roberts which is the mountain overlooking Juneau with a tram
to the top. We ran down to the Foodland IGA and picked up
cereal, milk and blueberries as well as a bottle of Ravenswood
Cab and a block of sharp cheddar cheese. We sat on our deck
next to the bedroom and had wine and cheese while watching ships
in the harbor. We saw the Endeavor across the channel and the
progress of events for the new crowd. The embarking and the
fire drill. A little after 6 I woke Libbie up and we headed
out to dinner. We found on street parking in front of the
Alaska hotel and meandered down the street to Tracy's Crab shack
where we met Lynn and Linda. It was pretty crowded with cruise
ship people. I ordered 2 cups of the crab bisque and a Captains
Premium ($45) dinner which consisted of 2 Alaskan crab legs with
one of them being a killer claw. Libbie and I had 2 Alaskan
Ambers to complement the meal. It was a delightful evening
having dinner with friends in a pretty informal restaurant if
you can call it that.

After we parted at the docks we used the pass from the BnB and too the Tram to
the top. There was only one other couple on the Tram. They were from Boston
and staying at an Air BnB. I looked for coffee at the top but found some very
expensive $16 bags of coffee. On the way back on Douglas island I found a small
convenience store where I was able to pick up and bag of Klondike Heritage
coffee.

I was up early and had coffee cake and coffee at
6:30 in the lounge. Outside was very foggy but did lift a
little so that I was able to wander around and take pictures of
the mountains in the mist reflecting in the calm waters of Idaho
Inlet. IT was so beautiful. We had breakfast with a couple from
Tennessee who used to live in Orlando and a couple from
Asheville. I had the caramelized French Toast with bacon and
potatoes. Once again the French Toast was very thick which
means the batter doesn't soak all the way in. In the morning we
went out with Kate on a skiff. We did a wildlife tour finding
otters, dolphins, eagles, a deer, a sandpiper and some water
fowl. When we came back had 4 minutes t get to dinner which was
a Tostada which we had with a beer. which was probably well
worth it. The entire crew seemed to work incredibly hard for
their pay. i've never encountered a harder working group of
people. We went out for our forest meander at 2:15. Our guide
was Arianna and it was an incredibly great walk through some
forests that didn't have trails. How beautiful! Arianna
identified moss and berries as well as old growth forest wood
and fernss. What a great experience. We ran out of gas on the
way back in our rubber boat which they called a zodiac.
Switching over to the aux tank fixed the situation. once back
the polar plunge was going on. I ordered a Martini then
switched to Sauvignon blanc before having a Zinfandel with
dinner which was a Sockeye Salmon. Dinner was chocolate pie
which was yummy of course. They showed slide show of our weeks
activities then we watched whales on the deck. The whales were
our last hurrah for the sea. Libbie and I went up to the bridge
to see the boat being driven which was a treat. Shep spent some time explaining
the radar navigation and triangulation system and the VHF transponders where
each ship displays it's position, name, speed and other pertinent info. It's an
amazing system and is probably the same as used on airplanes.
We never got our galley tour. It was scheduled for 2 and we had a 2:15 forest
walk. We waited around the galley until 2:10 but then left to get our rain pants
and boots on for the walk.

Everything is pushed back today due to our timing at the far end of Glacier Bay
National Park. We have a 24 hour permit that starts at midnight. We picked up
a ranger that we picked up onboard at the Visitors Center at the Park entrance.
We then sailed 65 miles to the Glacier end of Glacier Bay and woke early in the
morning at John Hopkins Glacier where we stayed until 8 AM. I was up at 5:50
and walked around the boat at 6:15 enjoying the glacier. There was coffee and
croissants available at 6. We enjoyed the glacier and all the ice floes. There
was loud roars of white thunder but it was coming from glaciers behind John
Hopkins. I saw a small calving and timed the sound at 8 seconds which indicates
it was about 8,000 feet away. We had a wonderful breakfast of bacon and
hotcakes with berries at 8 AM. We sat with four other people from the ship
including the 2 guys from Asheville and a couple from
A little later we had a talk about glaciers and the area from the Park Ranger.
Outside the scenic was the classic Alaskan scenics. I took hundreds of photos
and videos and actually ran the battery down. I had to put it on the charger
before lunch so I could photograph our journey as we exited the park which I
assume will be later today.

We had lunch of a Salmon crab cake accompanied by a glass of
Cabernet. Daniel the bartender said the Cabernet tap was out so
I had the Cabernet out of a bottle. Each wine tap is fed by a
keg which holds approximately a pony keg size wine barrel. I'm
not sure what a pony keg is. Our lunchmates were Dottie and the
87 year old guy from Waco, TX and a couple from Phoenix. The
Phoenix couple said they booked through their travel agent. I
was surprised to hear people still use travel agents. Lunch was
the Salmon Crab cake on a bed of Caesar salad. Strawberry
shortcake for dessert. After lunch my battery was fully charged
so I dropped it back in just as we were passing Fairweather
Peak, one of the prettiest mountain ranges in the Park and also
the highest peak in the park. Next a brown bear was walking
along the shore on the port side of the boat. We watched him for
quite a while. This animal was huge. I shot some movies and a
number of stills which did quite well surprisingly at 30x zoom.

We listened to Captain Shep talk about other uncruise adventures
and all about the Uncruise loyalty program. Annie covered
tomorrow's activities which will include forest meandering,
skiff tours and independent paddles. During the afternoon
Ranger Daniel gave a bird talk. We passed Marble island but we
were going too fast. There were thousands of birds on the island
but i thought we were going too fast to really see anything
which is too bad. We had the cocktail hour food which was
ceviche and salmon chunks. Yummy. i had two mixed drinks, an
Alaskan Coffee and a Martini before switching to wine for
dinner. many glasses of Merlot later and dinner was done. We
had Alaskan halibut with a salad and berry tort for dessert.
Libbie got a chocolate cake we all shared that had a candle in
it. They sang a group happy Birthday which was pretty nice.

The boat was able to find dock space which they said they are not always able
to do. We went ashore and visited the Glacier Bay visitors center then took a
short walk in the woods along an interpretive trail. We talked with a park law
enforcement officer who was outfitted with a bullet proof vest and gun. Our
conversation was about needing the vest. He said he was required to wear it.
The officer was from Washington State.

The girls on our ship are pretty strong woman and all beautiful. We watched
Heather put on a hard hat and start working the boom to fetch the gangplank. On
the front of the boat I did a movie of Lindsey pulling in the rope that tied us
up while Heather unhooked us on shore then jumped onto the boat grabbing a
hanging buoy. She was wearing a swimming life preserver. These ladies all seem
to be beautiful and quite capable of handling things. We watched a beautiful
sunset from the sun deck while the boat was delayed searching for the couple
from 308 who did not check back in on the magnetic board. It was about 9:30
before we got underway. I lay in bed catching up on my journaling until about
11 PM. We both noticed a choppiness to the ride that we had not experienced
before in addition to the occasional rolls of swells and wakes from cruise
ships. I peeked outside and did see a rather large wake so a cruise ship
probably did pass by.

I went down to the lounge at 6:47 and picked up a coffee and a very tasty
vanilla bean scone with powdered sugar. I accompanied this with some huge
blackberries.
While sipping coffee and organizing some notes on my tablet the sun came out.
It was a beautiful blue sky with mountains rising surrounded by rings of fog or
low hanging clouds. The boat continued moving into the icy straits and alas
during breakfast we moved under a deck of clouds. Breakfast was a tasty
Italian sausage and egg scramble with spinach and onions. This was served with
toast and potatoes as well as a side of bacon. We had breakfast with Dottie and
Don from Waco, TX and Anne Cain. Paul was outside taking pictures.
It was a lazy morning. The program was cruising for critters as we made our way
through Icy Strait. We saw many many sea otters while the sun kept playing hide
and seek. It was nice to see the sun and blue sky. We passed a cabin at the
water's edge that looked like it had an outhouse. It's pretty remote. I spent
some time sitting at a table in the lounge while writing on my computer. We
also did some people watching, seeing a group of 4 young girls in their early
twenties playing a game that involved 4 plastic pistols and some cardboard
cutout characters. They later switched to a card game that Libbie said was
Rummy.
Just before lunch I grabbed an Alaskan Ale at the bar and went down to lunch
with Anne and Paul. Rick and Linda from Asheville joined us. I need to look
up their vacation rental company which is called "couch surfing". Dinner was a
tomato basil soup and ham and cheese Focaccia sandwich with Alaskan Chips.
Spice pear cake with caramel sauce was the dessert. The sandwich was too big and
the dessert was more food than I should have had. We checked out the skiff tour
assignments and once again my name was not on the list. Annie checked her
spreadsheet and found that my name was a reference instead of a named cell which
was why it wasn't printing. The water where we are stopped during lunch is an
emerald green and very pretty. Libbie got the best shot of the vacation at this
spot.
After lunch we went out in a skiff tour. We were in the tiny rubber raft with
no seats, just the rubber raft to sit on with some ropes to hold onto. It
started out calm and sunny but soon the rains began. This was topped off by us
heading out into the open sea with large swells which caused our raft to bounce
and joust across the water, it wasn't very comfortable. I didn't enjoy too
much of the trip although it was nice to see the hidden cove we sailed into and
then visit the island with all the seals laying about and once in a while
fighting each other. It was so nice to get back. We went down to the lounge
where Libbie ordered a buttered rum and I had an Alaskan coffee. Samantha our
ponytailed blonde bartender is incredibly pretty and personable. After the
Alaskan coffee I had a few glasses of Sauvignon Blanc before switching to a
Sonoma Zinfandel. All were very nice. Dinner was a carrot ginger soup followed
by an Alaskan Ling crab served over sweet potato, bok choy and brussel sprouts.
Desert was a chocolate mousse with a chocolate sauce and a vanilla cookie. Wow.
We watched a presentation about bears which I slept through part way. I need to
find a way to stop sleeping through the evening programs.

I took a walk around the boat anchored in the beautiful Keku Islands area. The
rain is on and off and surprisingly there is a weak cell phone signal. Libbie
got a number of text messages. All is well in Providence according to Mary and
Joe texted back that Christa and "sister" are still doing well. No baby yet.
Breakfast was with a couple from Asheville and a couple from Flagstaff. I had
the open face egg and tomato on an English Muffin with potatoes and bacon.
Earlier at 6:30 AM I had coffee and an Apricot bread in the lounge while I
caught up on my blog. I enjoy the lithesome tall figure of Samantha, the blonde
bartender. She was attending to the continental breakfast buffet set up in the
lounge.
I went out on the shore walk with Sarah. She gave the talk last night with the
subject being the critters in the tide pools. She was great at finding all the
little guys on the shore that we talked about last night. We had a couple of
kids that were really curious and found lot of the critters first. I found
that Sarah was a teacher and this was her break time. She has been with
Uncruise one year. She is really good. We came back in a pouring rain. The
lunxh was perfect. It was a hot bowl of vegetable and kale soup. We liked the
food so well that we ended up buying the Uncruise cookbook from the ships store.
We went out with the skiff tour at 2:15 instead of the kayak tour. We had
Lindsey, a very capable and pretty blonde. It's amazing how many beautiful
young adventurous woman there are on these boats. We had a nice excursion but
only saw some eagles and a seal plus a few other birds. On the way back we went
into a driving wind and got unbelievably soaked. Salty water was spraying over
the boat and a times we got hit by large waves that totally soaked us. By the
time we reached the Endeavour we were saturated with dripping salt water and
cold. We went to the lounge for hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps. Earlier
in the day I had an Alaskan Coffee. This time i ordered a gin martini from
Samantha followed by a couple of glasses of Cabernet. I had 2 more glasses of
Cabernet with dinner. This evening we had Alaskan Dungeness crab. They brought
us out some extra crab which was nice of them. It turned into a social meal.
We spent much more time at the table than normal cracking crab claws. For
dessert we had an orange pound cake with raspberry ad cream sauce. The talk
tonight was by Lindsey and was about Salmon. I fell asleep part way through the
talk. The boat is going through some rough seas as I write this after dinner.
They warned us about this saying that we were gong with the wind which was
strong but contributing to swells on the water. The boat is pitching to and
fro but it isn't anything too bad.

I woke at 6:10 AM and chose to skip yoga which started at 6:45. I didn't feel
like laying on the cold ground and twisting my body around. Maybe tomorrow will
be different. I went to the lounge and had coffee and a blueberry muffin. When
Libbie came back fro Yoha it was time for breakfast. I ordered a tomato, basil
and Mozzarella Omelet which came with potatoes and bacon. At 10:45 it was time
for Kayak 101. We suited up and got into kayaks on the back on the boat. They
launch 4 at a time. I got into the front of one and Libbie had the steering in
the back. They said that over 6 foot one tall you can't really fit in the back
and control the steering pedals. We seemed to get going OK but then Libbie
lost the pedal with her right foot so we were behind the group. This was OK
since we ended up getting a private lesson from Kate which was great. She's an
enthusiastic young lady. We paddled to shore and saw some star fish and coral
then headed back to the boat. It seemed short but we learned a little about
kayaking. Annie said we all graduated. I doubt it but I feel much better about
it and feel I can manage on my own easily. We had lunch with the two guys from
Asheville who don't seem to be very smart. They said they returned a Go Pro
Camera because it came with too many cables and they were faced with installing
drivers and software. All of it was too much. For lunch we had Tacos Carnitas.
I had a hot sauce and a seasonal Alaskan summer ale beer. It was great.
Dessert was a cupcake with whipped topping and a strawberry. Very nice but way
too much. We barely finished lunch before we had to go out for our shore walk.
it turned out we never did the shore walk and went out amongst the humpback
whales instead. Heather was our captain, a very shapely and pretty twenty
something who had several years in the service including an assignment in
Fayetteville. She said Raleigh was the big city when she was in service in
2006. On the whale watch we had 3 or 4 humpbacks surface next to the boar and
dive under us. We could almost reach out and touch the tails as they dove.
What a sight. They also were pretty loud as they did their blow out of water on
the exhale. Wow! I hope I got good photos. We never did do the shore walk.
This was so much more spectacular.
We went down to cocktail hour and had a glass of Cabernet along with some
Bruschetta. The bruschetta had mozzarella, tomatoes, olives and French bread
toasted. Our entertainment was the young Heather outside with a pipe guiding
the chain into the hold while they pulled the anchor up. She is a very capable
young woman with muscles.
At dinner we sat with Prudy and her grand daughter Elizabeth Ann, a nine year
old in the 4th grade. The Cains joined us. Dinner was seared scallops with
green beans over polenta. We had several bottles of Malbec on the table.
Dessert was unpronounceable, a policetta??? which was a tapioca or vanilla mold
on a plate with fresh peaches. It was quite good.
After dinner we enjoyed a presentation by Sarah of tidal pools and intra tidal
areas of the coastline. Topics covered were the various crustaceans such as the
mussels and then the starfish that eat mussels to keep them in heck. Acorn
barnacles and their reproductive habits. I especially liked her description of
the reproductive appendage and how it's used. There are kids in the audience so
the topic was family friendly. Other critters covered were hermit crabs and the
adornment credit, a crab that decorates it's shell with bits and pieces of rock
and coral that it finds. I'm impressed in general with how knowledgeable the
staff is.

At 6:30 AM we
went to the lounge where they had set up a continental breakfast
of yogurt, cereal, fruit and sweets. I grabbed a coffee and a cheese danish
then went outside to the rear of the third level.

At the end of our level where they set out a protective mat on
the floor. We grabbed a blue yoga mat and a blue block object
and found a spot on the floor. Tomorrow I may do this earlier to
make sure we have a better spot. i have never done yoga before.
Our leader started us at 6:45 with some shaking then we
stretched overhead and right and left followed by a sequence of
arm and leg movements on the floor. I think the whole time was
worthwhile. I felt alert and awake. I'm not sure if it is really necessary or
not. Breakfast was next at 7:30. We sat with two guys from Raleigh. At the
table were Anne, the two guys and Libbie and I. Paul did not make it to
breakfast, I had a ham and egg omelet with bacon and some hash browns. It was
quite good. During breakfast the ship stopped. We had reached Dawson Glacier
in Endicott Arm. Later in the morning we donned life jackets and boarded a
skiff. John, a mate, lent me some neoprene gloves and I bought an uncruise knit
hat. I also borrowed a rain coat from uncruise, wore my rain pants and a tee
shirt under a flannel shirt. I was dressed quite warmly for the ride.

The ride on the skiff was cold and interesting as our captain
drove around several icebergs with his 90 hp Yamaha pontoon
boat. The glacier was a pretty shade of blue. They say it makes
it's own weather and it was true. It was windy and cold. I
first thought I heard thunder but later I found that it was the
ice calving. It cracks with a roar when it hits the water and
explodes. Ice shrapnel is thrown into the air and huge wakes
are created. We were only allowed to be 1/4 mile from the
glacier. The glacier itself is 1 mile wide. There is a delay.
The ice falls and hits the water followed by the crack of
thunder a second or two later. We saw a whole wall of ie
collapse and drop into the water with a loud roar. It was
pretty awesome. When we were out there we had hot chocolate
with peppermint schnapps. Outstanding!!!! What an environment
to have this concoction. Nnxt the skiff started rolling in the
ensuing wake. This was the awesome power of nature. We sat
down for lunch when we came back and had a chicken salad on a
pita along with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The wines are on
taps - Melbec, Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc.
Dessert was warm peaches and raspberry crumble with vanilla ice cream.

We then went outside to watch the boat approach Fords Terror
which is a white water rapids caused by rapid changes of the
tide. There was a bald eagle perched on top of a pine tree
watching us. A few people were on the beach next to Fords
Terror. They were from small skiffs which came off a smaller
boat than the Safari Endeavor. I received a pair of boots,
size 12, on the upper deck. These will be used for shore hiking
in tide pools. Cocktail hour is at 5:30 every day. I went down early and
ordered a martini which was my second this year. I really liked it.
We saw an incredible number of humpback and orca
whales in a little bay we pulled into. It was pretty spectacular,
there were easily 20 whales putting on a show. One even
breached and went vertical launching himself into the air. So
cool. All this activity took place shortly after dinner. We
discovered the sun deck which is on the 4th floor. It was
pretty empty and a great place to take whale photos. Dinner
tonight was 50-50 cod and duck, both of which were delicious.
Dessert was cheesecake with blackberries. Wow. We had dinner
with a couple from indiana who owned a used semi truck business.
Also at our table were Paul and Anne. After dinner I stayed in the lounge for
the evening talk about some Alaskan lore. I may have dozed partly through the
talk.

Up on a rainy juneau morning. We watched our ship dock at 6:10 AM from our
waterfront window then got dressed and walked to the Sandpiper Cafe for
breakfast. it was pricey - 17.99 for Libbie's eggs and bacon. i had the
Vanilla and cinnamon French toast which was excellent. however, the sourdough
was cut so thick the batter didn't soak all the way through. Coffee was another
$3 each so it was expensive. We walked back in the pouring rain then stopped
into the civic center where the Uncruise people were set up to take our luggage
and feed us some snacks and coffee. We brought our suitcases over there then
went with Paul and Anne to the Alaska State Museum which was outstanding. i saw
lots of Alaskan history and artifacts as well as some art which i thoroughly
enjoyed. Once done with the museum we went back to the civic center where we
hung out waiting for the orientation. We received our badges then went as one
to the boat where we met in the lounge and had champagne and cheese and
crackers. Dinner was an outstanding King Salmon and asparagus paired with a
Sauvignon Blanc which was age in Oak and had a stronger bouquet than a normal
Sauvignon Blanc. Dessert was a chocolate grenache in raspberry. Wow, talk about
a good meal. We settled into the lounge afterward for coffee and chocolates
before going to our cabin. While in the lounge we saw a brief slide show of the
coming weeks activities. I stopped in the ships library and picked up a book
which was the complete poems of Robert Service. I'll look for that book on
either Amazon or eBay. Need to photograph the cover.

We used our voucher and had a very nice made to order breakfast with both of us
facing the lake. i ordered ham and cheese omelet and english muffin. We got on
the bus promptly at 10 nd went to the airport where we waited some more. I
found the Robert Steve book in the bookstore which I purchased. This has the
poems Wde was reading to us on the journey. The plane ride was smooth and on
time except for the last few miles into Juneau where we had high winds and the
plane rocked. We ordered the northwest Deli package on the plane which was
cheese, salami, crackers and trail mix. Our limo driver gave us a little
downtown tour after which we walked to the Red Dog Saloon for food and drinks
while a country singer played his guitar and sang. Libbie and i split an order
of fried fish and had an Amber. We walked downtown juneau concentrating on
stores with native art, not chinese crap. We went back downtown with Lyn and
Linda, Anne and Paul and us and had dinner at Tracy's Crab shack. I had the
Alaskan King crab which came with a roll and also had an Alaskan Amber. We
walked back in the rain and stopped into the Red Dog for another Alaskan Amber
before going to the hotel for the night. We're in the Gold Belt hotel on the
harbor. We lucked out and got a beautiful view of the water.

We had a leisurely morning with the usual buffet breakfast at around 8.

On FB this morning i sadly learned that Jimmy Musnicki had died.

We got going on the bus about 9:30 and went to the Alaska
Heritage Center in Anchorage for a few hours. I enjoyed the
crafts people and the native costumes of the Alaskan Natives.
Lib and I sat in the front row and watched young people perform
Alaskan Native dances before I went for a walk in the rain
around the lake which was set up with typical Alaskan native
living quarters across various regions of Alaska. We took a
group photo in front of the sculpture in front of the facility.
Our bus next went into downtown Anchorage where we had lunch at
the 49th state brewing company. I ordered a bread bowl of
chowder which came with a salad. Accompanying the chowder we
had a glass of Alaskan Amber. What a lunch. We were dropped in
front of the Egan building and headed straight for JC Penny and
found the optical center on the third floor. The very nice lady
put a missing screw into Libbie's glasses and crimped the end.
She was friendly and did not charge for the service. After
Penneys we found North Face and bought rain pants for me but
they didn't have any for Libbie. A trip around the corner to
Rays Outfitters resulted in a pair of rain pants for Libbie as
well. She was the one who wanted them in the first place. We
got to the Lakefront Inn near the airport and pigged out on the
WiFi which was excellent. I got to post a few glacier pictures
and the Talkeetna general store pics. A surprising number of
people knew about the cat who was elected mayor according to the
comments on Facebook.

We had an appetizer of Salmon mousse and Nachos in the bar which
we called dinner. We had an Alaskan Amber to accompany the
meal. It was very noisy. Mary and Alan from Great Britain
joined us. It was a nice evening in a very noisy bar fo

Woke early and gave Libbie her birthday card. After a nice breakfast buffet we
went for a hike in the woods behind cabin 8. This was a challenging hike even
though it was supposed to be moderate. Libbie was having much difficulty on the
steep sections. We ended up turning around at the stream we had to cross by
holding onto a rope which is too bad. The rest of the group said it's a good
thing we turned around because there was a steep vertical section that required
a rope to climb. After the hiking we came back wet and muddy. We got soap and
some quarters and used the sole washer and dryer in the basement of the main
building. This takes care of any potential problem of running out of clothes.

The weather cleared a little in the afternoon which means the
helicopter flight was a go. We got suited up with hat, gloves
and over boots then climbed into the chopper. Libbie had the
front seat since it was her birthday. What an experience. the
views were awesome. We landed on a cold snowy and foggy dog
camp. The wind was blowing and the dogs were howling. They had
a sled all set to go across the ice. We got some instructions
then climbed aboard and we were off at 9 mph. I drove first and
was a little worried about falling off the runner since I had
one foot on the runner and the other on the brake ready to step
on it. After we changed places a few times we made it back to
Dog camp and then met each of the dogs individually. I'm not
into dogs but it was a fun experience anyway. The fog lifted a
little when it was time for the chopper to pick us up. We got a
nice sight seeing tour around and over the glacier on the way
back instead of just transportation. It was wonderful. We got
back and then went out onto the little porch next to the restaurant and had wine
and good conversation. The wine was covered by uncruise which was a nice
surprise. I had a delicious piece of Salmon for dinner followed by NY
Cheesecake. The wine total for the night was 3 glasses of Cabernet. It was a
nice day and fun birthday for Libbie.

Early pack up this morning. We had our suitcases out for pickup at 5:15 then
went over for a 5:30 buffet breakfast. Breakfast was the usual cheesy eggs with
bacon. We got into the roadhouse bus and started the 95 mile trek back to the
park entrance. it was still raining as Kirsty drove and told us her story. She
used to drive race horses around then decided to stay in the US as an illegal
immigrant for 7 years before making it legal. She gave some hilarious tales of
her and her sister driving Roadhouse buses up from the factory in Georgia to
Alaska. They camped on the buses as they traveled. At one time they
accidentally ended up on the Las Vegas strip in the Roadhouse bus. We gor to
the train station in time for the arrival of the train which we boarded into the
dome cars once again. This time we had a noisy and obnoxious cruise tour in
front of us. The scenery on the trip was awesome in spite of the low
intelligence level of the morons occupying the front section of the car. our
train narrator told many personal stories. My favorite was his prom date. He
lived in a trailer and had a rusty old pick up truck. However, he had his own
plane and a pilots license. He took his date up to Denali, had a picnic lunch
and asked her to be his girlfriend. She refused and only wanted to be friends.
The same with a kiss goodnight at her door. It wasn't going to happen. We had
a nice lunch on the train. We satA with Ron and his wife. Ron is a doctor at
Hoag in New port Beach.I ordered the Alaskan Seafood salad which had crab, cod
and shrimp over noodles in a sesame and ginger sauce. It was reminiscent of a
trader Joe's Thai salad I like. We got off around 4 in Takaneeta, a cute
authentic Alaskan town. We walked with Paul and Ann, bought a beer at the
General Store and walked all the way to the river. We walked back and had
dinner at the Denali Twisted Creek restaurant and Brewery. I ordered an Alaskan
fish sandwich which came with curly fries. This was accompanied by a Sockeye
Red beer which is one of their amber offerings. After dinner we boarded a
comfortable motor coach and went to Anchorage where we went to the Knit River
Lodge at the end of a road. It was quite luxurious for a rustic Alaskan lodge
and is quite new.

We had the buffet breakfast in the lodge at 7:30. We got the time wrong and
thought it was 7 so we went down and had coffee instead and waited. It was the
traditional American breakfast - eggs, bacon, hash browns and yummy. After
breakfast we had signed up for a moderate hike with a botanist. Ananda was a
twenty something who went beyond our expectations. She stopped and identified
every single plant and shrub along the way, it was totally enjoyable. We ate
from the plentiful blueberry bushes, cranberries, etc We saw miniature azaleas,
miniature dogwood, miniature birch and other plant species including the bear
favorite, the soap berry. This is a small bush with edible but soapy
tasting red berries. We had a turkey wrap box lunch on the river before turning
around and going back the way we came. It started raining on the return trip,
sometimes it rained pretty hard but the walk was totally worth it. Door to door
was 7 hours time although we only covered 5 miles on the trail. Our van ride
back was an unexpected wildlife treat. we saw one moose along side the lake on
the other side and then a moose next to the road with his whole head in the
water. Ananda told us what he was eating in the water but I didn't remember
the name of the plant. That night we had a family style dinner. I chose the
Cod which was a little dry but fine. At the beginning of our hike Libbie lost
the screw to her glasses which meant the lens fell out. She was one eyed the
entire hike. At the clubhouse we found a guy, John, who was traveling with his
grandsons. His wife was an optometrist. He temporarily fixed her glasses with
a paper clip and needle nose pliers. We hope they stay together. We had an
evening presentation by Chris of wolves in the park. This young man is
passionate about wolves. I fell asleep through part of the presentation. it
was dry.

Early morning wake up and had our bags outside the door at 6:00
AM. They picked up our bags for Denali while we went to the
lobby to get coffee. The bus left for the rail depot at 7:15
where we boarded the train for our ride to Denali. We sat in
row 21 behind a very nice couple from the UK who had a daughter
in Houston. Their names were Alan and Mary. We had breakfast
with them in the dining car downstairs. I ordered the Blueberry
pancakes with reindeer sausage. The breakfast was incredibly
good. We lucked out because we were in the back of the train and
the back went first. I also enjoyed the outside platform on the
back of the train. What a neat experience. We rolled into the
Denali park entrance then loaded up into a bus that looked like
a school bus. Our bus driver named Kirsti was incredibly self sufficient and
multi talented. I am convinced there is nothing she can't do. It was very
rainy and at times incredibly foggy. The highlight of the trip besides the
incredible views was seeing a Mother Grizzly bear and her 2 cubs. Once at the
Roadhouse i was blown away by how nice it was. This is written up as "rustic"
but it certainly is not rustic. Every bit of it is luxurious. After checking in
we each ordered an Alaskan Amber which ended up being 2 Alaskan Ambers. Dinner was Sausage manicotti with a salad and peanut butter pie. It was an incredible day followed by a wonderful meal and a nice people.

We had the hotel buffet which was a nice breakfast for $30. Met
a couple there who were starting a Road Scholar program at this
hotel. Good to hear that Road Scholar chooses this place to
stay. When went to the lobby to try the internet i saw Anne and
Paul just getting t there. They left Raleigh before us and were
just getting in. Long night for them. We used the hotel
shuttle at $5 each and went to downtown where we got a walking
map and MP3 player. We took a fun walk in the rain listening
about historic buio;dong. While downtown we had lunch at Big
Bobs BBQ which was outstanding. It was featured on diners,
dives and drive ins on the food channel. We had our orientation
at 3, the wine and cheese reception at 6:30 and then walked to
the Chena Salmon Grill where we waited for a table. Libbie and
i split a planked salmon which was over the top excellent. This
was the best salmon i ever had. Dinner was done at 9:30 and it
was surprising that it is still light out.

Last minute packing this morning gathering things for Alaska. We left for the airport at 3:30
and easily checked in and got through TSA to our plane gate. The plane left Raleigh on time. We lucked
out in that there was no person sitting between us for the 6 hour flight to Seattle. I really liked Alaskan Air. The plane had very nice chargers at each seat. The fight was more or less smooth.
it was n easy transfer with little waiting in Seattle to board our flight for Fairbanks. We had a pretty
High School girl in our row flying back from a reunion in Utah. She lives in Fairbanks and shared wit us
stories of the white nights. We were amazed at the 4 hours of sunset and when we landed at midnight it was still
light out. I like the 24 hours of daylight. WE eventually got to our hotel at 1 AM.

I did some packing for Alaska today. It's pretty hard pulling together clothes for possible cold weather for 18 mornings. There is a possibility of doing laundry in Juneau when we are on our own so we can wash clothes for the next 3 days before we fly home. I put together a DHT-22 temperature sensor Anarduino but did not load code into the thing yet. This will be my base to experiment with an MQTT gateway as well as accommodate the one device I can't easily change which is the ceiling fan Moteino.
Dinner was spaghetti with fresh basil and cheese. We went to dance tonight and had fun. It was a light turnout. I tried the new parallel walk in Rumba that we learned Monday night, even did it once with Lana. She is expecting a new grandson about the same time that Christa is due. After dance we went out to Taza which is at the corner of Davis and High House. This was a good choice, it's a quiet upscale restaurant. I told Libbie I may consider coming here for dinner some night.

Drove to Grainger this morning and picked up the new controller at WillCall. Capital Blvd had a problem Southbound with a water main break so after I picked up the controller at Grainger I went North to I-540 and came home 540 to I-495 to the beltline. This was a pretty good way to get back from Grainger. The road is wide, new and empty and the speed limit 70. After lunch I put the new controller into the furnace. This went well and it works OK. I threw the old controller away since today was garbage day and I don't need more junk hanging around. For dinner we had hamburgers again with tomato, onion and baked beans. The frozen Sirloin burgers are pretty good, we both enjoy them.

The A/C had problems today downstairs. I went under the house and found out the vent stack blower was turning on and off. Even with the blower power unplugged, the relay continued to chatter. I was worried that the igniter was also doing this so I didn't leave it powered up for too long. There were new controllers online for around $90 and also in stock at Grainger for $179 plus tax. Libbie didn't want to leave with no air flow downstairs so I opted to spend the extra $100 and ordered it from Grainger for will call pickup tomorrow. I spent quite a bit of the day studying how to implement a moteino to MQTT gateway. I found a nice one on instructables that uses back to back arduinos. I'll substitute a Moteino for one of the arduinos. This looks do-able. Dinner tonight was hamburger again with tomato, onion and baked beans. We finished another bottle of Rodney Strong Cabernet with dinner. For dessert we went over to Brewsters and had a waffle cone.