Anchorage to Seattle and then onto Las Vegas oh yeah baby!! 21st June

Leaving Anchorage (thank goodness!!) going to VIVA LAS VEGAS (I am singing that when I type it!) via Seattle

 

21st June 

 

 

Our view out of our room in Anchorage

 

So here is our shower that we are sharing between I’m not sure how many people in the hostel and I don’t really want to think about it either thank you very much!  Just to cap it all off there were two people (who we felt like were standing next to our ear’s but the gaps at the bottom of the doors didn’t help) one lady broken English and the other lady American having a very loud conversation about random stuff at 5.30am!!  I forgot to tell them I had cancelled my early wake up call, oh boy we didn’t sleep well but Amy did and that is the main thing!

 

Let’s get out of here as surprisingly I don’t feel very clean even after my shower!! 

It is a bit bizarre as we had our times for the flights sorted at 12.30 so we are getting ready when Colin’s mobile goes off.  This was Delta airlines informing us that our flight was delayed from 11am to 11.25am, so Colin says thanks for letting us know but we didn’t know that our flight was at 11am!!  We do generally leave plenty enough time for flights but I think we probably would have missed that flight if we hadn’t got that phone call, that certainly would have been the icing on the cake!!!!  Could you imagine my face if that had happened hee hee!!  All other airlines have emailed us if there are any changes to our flights, weird!!!

 

Amy is happy as we are checking out!!!  Aren't we all as now we have ended up with a few red areas that have appeared, little bites on Colin's forehead, arm and on my thumb of all places!!  Bites of some description and I don't want to think about what has bitten us either just get out of here NOW!!!

 

Oh if I had known that this morning I maybe would have said something to the two ladies

 

It is a yellow cab to the airport, let’s get the heck out of here, no likey!!!

 

Checked in, through security and waiting to board now.  Everyone is excited now for Viva Las Vegas!!

 

The aeroplane we are going on

 

We did a search of who that is on the tail, we all thought someone famous but didn’t know who??  Amy thought it might have been Ben Benson (the guy that designed the Alaskan flag as the tail is on Alaskan Airlines) but no it is a random Eskimo, nobody famous!!

 

Now as you know that we are on a budget along the way too!  But this really takes the biscuit that there are no life jackets only our cushions that make a floatation aid!!  To top it all the flight we are on flies majority of the time over water, we are doomed!!  Seriously I am not having a good 24 hours and Colin's ear is nearly chewed off so we need to get to somewhere that is nicer!!! 

 

Ok so we are trying to get sorted for take off when there is a little boy kicking off a few seats in front of us, the stewardess asks the mum to put him in his car seat as they have taken that on for him to sit in.  So the boy is point blank refusing to sit in it and is screaming the place down!  The boy has good speech so must be 3- 4 years old so should be able to understand the need to get strapped in.  Ok so the stewardess has no luck then a guy steward comes and tries to reason with the boy but he is having none of it.  Next thing is the heavy mob come on board from the check in desk and security and say to the mum if he doesn't want to be strapped in we need you to get off the plane, holy moly!!  So the mum now starts crying saying we need to get this flight and he is tired that is why he won't go in his seat, can he not just lie on the floor, oh what!!  So the prompt answer was 'NO' you need to leave the plane now, so with some brut force the mum man handles the child into his car seat buckles him up and tells him to stay there and there we are we are now preparing to leave.  We hear his seatbelt click on and off a few times and then the stern words of the mum, so a little bit of discipline worked a treat for them as they managed to stay on the flight but boy heck the boy did nothing but cry or moan the whole way.  Does he realise I am on low tolerance levels aaargh!!!  We land okay in Seattle and that is the main thing!!

 

 

Something to sweeten me up is certainly required toot sweet ha ha!!!  We had to buy these as they have the new colours, cool!!

 

Here we are arriving into Seattle for a 5 hour transit time!

 

So we get off the flight and then we check the board to see what our next departure gate is but our flight from Seattle to Las Vegas isn’t listed, oh my what next today!!   So I go and ask at the Alaskan Airlines desk, the guy was helpful and directed us to S gates

 

 

Ok down the escalator, on the train for one stop, across the hallway jump onto another train, one stop, across the hallway onto another train and then one stop, S gates.  So we jump on all the trains but when we arrive at S gates our flight still isn’t listed!!!  So we now ……..

 

NEED HELP???  The voice on the other end directs us to B gates, we have just came from there?!?!?!?

 

Phew when we arrive at B gates our flight is listed at least that is reassuring!!!

So next task is to find some food, we wander through A and B gates, nothing we fancy, we wander through D gates where there is supposed to be a sports bar but the woman tells us that the bar has been advertised wrongly on the airport signs and it doesn’t sell burgers etc only sandwiches.  So we did spy a restaurant we would consider back at A gates so back we trudge again and eventually we.................

 

Sit down with a drink…….

 

and a massive portion of Chicken Tenders that was a starter portion!!!!!

 

Colin and Amy went for a wander whilst I stayed near a plug and charged the laptop and ipads for using on the aeroplane again.  They managed to find USA flag stickers at last, they are not big but safety in numbers will work!!

 

Here is our flight to VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!

 

Oh no it just says Las Vegas sorry I added in the Viva ha ha!!

 

Smiles on our faces again, all of us excited to go to Las Vegas, we are prepared for the zany way of life there hopefully!!

 



 

Wow look at the mountains we are flying over!!!

 

Mmmmm free snacks, biscuits and peanuts with free soft drinks, things are starting to look up!!!

 

The sun has gone down and it is starting to get DARK, something we haven’t seen for over a week!

 

Coming into land, woop woop!!

 

View over the strip, wooooo!!!!

 

COOL!!

 



 

And oh look there is our hotel, the tower with the red spire, how EXCITING!!!

 

We have been back on smaller aeroplane’s just like the Isle of Man where Amy’s hand luggage suitcase doesn’t fit in the overhead locker so it is checked in on the tarmac.  Here is Colin and Amy looking for her suitcase and watching the suitcases offload, the flight was really quiet with only about 16 passengers!!  It was so peaceful compared to our previous flight!!

 

Oh my word as you can tell we are now in Vegas.  When we disembarked off the aeroplane we landed at the gate and as soon as we walked out there were slot machines everywhere!!!!  WOW!!! 

 

Yeehah VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!!

 

The baggage area is absolutely massive, we are collecting our baggage at carousel 16

 

We step outside to catch the public bus and nearly melt with the heat!!  The bus won’t arrive until other 45 minutes as we have just missed one, now there is a debate how to get to the hotel whether to wait or get another mode of transport??

 

Here we go debate over we jumped on an airport shuttle which will take us directly to our hotel, perfect as it is after 10pm!

 

3 Smiley faces tonight, that includes me just in case you thought I had included Yorkie into the equation hee hee but Amy did tell me that Yorkie was smiling!! JJJ

 

Here we go, we have arrived at our hotel the Stratosphere

 

What a cunning plan these people who design casinos have, so we go through the corridor and we are met with slot machines and betting tables but where is the hotel reception, oh yeah all the way through the slot machines to the other side of course make you gamble along the way, clever tactics!!

 

We have checked in, now to find the Select Lifts as the place is absolutely massive there are different lifts around the casino to take you to the right section of the floor that you are on!  There are 2,427 rooms and the casino is spaced over 80,000 square feet, WOW!!

 

We are on the top floor, floor 24, COOL!!

 

Holy moly there is the tower next to us and that is a photo from floor 24, eeek!

 

Here is our lovely big room and we can see the hotel Circus Circus from our room!

 

Amy’s bed has arrived now!!  Time for bed!  Night Night everyone, tomorrow will be a better day after some nice sleep in lovely crisp white sheets, a King sized bed and having a shower in a nice clean shower that is for our use only over these next few days!!



Arriving in Seward, disembarking cruise and train to Anchorage - 20th June

Friday 20th June

Today we are leaving the cruise, spending the day in Seward and then our big train journey to Anchorage through the Rockies!!!

We arrive in Seward at 5am but we have opted to go for a later disembarkation of 9am.  So today we will be exploring Seward as the train to Anchorage doesn’t depart until 6pm and arrives in Anchorage at 22.15pm.  So late night tonight but there is only one train to Anchorage or we had to fly from Seward or hire a car.  We chose the train as we thought it would be an amazing journey through the Rockies!

 

Friday already, oh yeah it’s the weekend the day you used to always long for but now everyday is the same, no routine we just know how many days we have in one place and then move on!  Colin has started laying out his contact lenses so when I see the little pile decreasing then I know it is time to move on!!!  Scary how time is flying by though!!

 

Final breakfast on the ship, oatmeal, pancakes and the croissant has already gone!

 

Our check out time is 9am so we have a dander around on deck to check out the views of Seward

 

Those are pretty mountains

 

A bit industrial around the port

Lovely marina next to us



 

Looking towards Seward

 

We went for a wander round the decks as Amy wanted to show Colin the glass area to look all the way down to the Centrum

 

Wow that is a long way down!!  The Centrum felt like the hub of the Legend of the Seas but on Radiance it is certainly lacking in space around the Centrum.  It felt quite close nit on the Legend as we met some lovely, lovely people but we haven't met any new friends on Radiance, it just felt more disjointed!  We enjoyed it all the same but did find the Centrum made a huge difference on the ship!

 

We went to have a look in the Royal Suite as when people check out the staff prop open the doors but this door is closed with ‘Do not disturb’ sign so there must be somebody still in it, wow that would have cost a pretty penny

Just before we disembark we see Mac N Cheese one of the kid’s club staff so we ask how many children were on board and she tells us 280, WOW!!  No wonder Amy struggled with the amount of children at kid’s club at the start of the cruise that is a massive difference between 40 on the Legend of the Seas!  But wait for it next week as in check in later on today there are going to be 350 children on board, wowcha!!

 

Ok here we go, we have our hand luggage now time to disembark and find our suitcases in the terminal building

 

The crane lifting the luggage on and off on the cage

 

The suitcases have been found in the terminal building, just an array of suitcases in rows!

 

The gateway to Alaska Seward is going to be our gateway to Anchorage and then fly to Las Vegas

 

Here is some interesting facts about the Alaskan Flag.  They ran a competition in 1928 and a 13 year old boy who lived in an orphanage won, Ben Benson.  The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, the Alaskan state flower. The North Star  is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the union. The Dipper is for the Great Bear —symbolizing strength.  That is so cool he must have been so proud of himself and what a great honour to have his flag flying high!  What an amazing story of how the Alaskan flag evolved!

 

See you later ship, no hard feelings we loved you by the end of the week!

 

That is exactly where we are heading.  So there are people sitting in the terminal building giving out maps and directions, so I ask which way to the railway.  The woman laughed at me and said it is too windy and too far to walk today so jump on the free shuttle which is a yellow school bus and they will take you there.  The sign says the Railway is just half a mile away so easy walking!  The woman is a bit reluctant to give me directions but she does and we didn’t find it too windy, it was an okay walk!

 

 

 

Nearly there, woop woop!

 

Okay so tonight we are going to Anchorage and it is 75 miles away from Seward but look how far we are away from Hawaii 2705 miles, wow and Los Angeles 2303miles!

 

We made it to the railway station and we can get our boarding passes and check our suitcases in, phew as didn’t fancy exploring Seward with 3 suitcases too!  Colin helping the luggage guy, oh maybe a change in career again, maybe and then again maybe not!

 

 

We walked a while and then stopped at the Harbourmaster’s station to use the free Wi-Fi just a quick check of the emails and some very good news my good friend in Adelaide at the big hospital  has looked into my case and I can now apply for a casual position at the big hospital and she will process it as soon as possible once I have applied!!  How great is that, just need internet access and some quiet time to concentrate!

Walking through Seward and I could live in those houses, they look smart

 



 

We came across a play park called Balls Park as there were large areas to play Baseball, Softball or such like but Amy was on the tyre swing for ages

 

There was a big RV which stands for Recreational Vehicle park on the seafront, ideal spot with the snow-capped mountains on the other side too, idyllic

 

Yorkie and I having a turn on the swings

See-saw before we head off further into Seward.  Seward is a bit spaced out but we have loads of time so we may as well explore!  Got to be the best view ever on a see-saw!!

 

 



 

Oh I have never seen a sign like that before, but there was an earthquake here in 1964 so they must be cautious and warn people just in case it happens again!

 

Little fishing boat going out to sea

 

Nearly time for the new holidaymakers to check in!

 

 

 

Perched on the post a juvenile Bald Eagle

 

This is giving Colin ideas when he gets a Yute in Australia, we’ll see Mr A we need to get there first and remember you need a JOB!!

 

Beautiful here so we wander a bit along and then we find another …..

 

 

 

Play park, so off Amy goes again!  Colin and I are sitting enjoying the sun with a temperature forecast of 20degrees C but it doesn’t feel like it!

 

The little monkey on the monkey bars

Beautiful backdrop Amy maybe if you turned round you could swing and look at the view but she enjoyed swinging on the normal swings and facing into the park keeping an eye on all the other children as there were lots of children around, lovely to see a play park being used!

 



 

No I like swinging this way, thanks!!

It is a big play park

 

We headed out for a wander and came across these apartments up for sale, advertised as a second home/holiday home!! 

One home would be sufficient for us poor homeless family of no fixed abode hee hee!!

When we were at tea on our last night Andi our waiter asked if we were all packed for home, well you know what came out of Amy's little mouth.  'We don't have a home' the look on Andi's face was a picture so we explained what we were doing and he kept on saying wow and told Amy she was a very lucky girl!

 

Beautiful with the mermaid on the front made of wood and next door to the holiday homes, either one's would do me, the mermaid does make that one more special though so maybe this one please, thanks!!

 

We walked all the way to the Aquarium but didn’t go in as Amy not keen on Aquariums then headed up to the shops to get some water for the thirsty girl after bombing round the park

 

 

I wouldn’t have thought the white and blue building was a church if it didn’t have the sign up, it is in the middle of a residential area blending in well

 

Amy thinks this could be a Fisherman’s Christmas tree but as it transpires it is ….

 

an old man having a Garage Sale, wow what a load of rubbish it must have taken him hours to move this rubbish into the garden!!

 

Wow really are you going to get any $ for any of this??

 

All the buses had names but this is a great name for the bus!!! 

 

 

 

When we eventually find somewhere for lunch we find a cracking spot right on the marina overlooking the cruise ship and snow-capped mountains

 

I am for sure staying away from the Alaskan beer, water for me thanks very much!

 

 Beautiful view and the food was gorgeous too.  Amy and I tried the Alaskan fresh caught Cod, it was delicious, yum yum!!

 

 

 

We went across the road and got our pudding!!

 

I think Amy has started her ice-cream already, mmmm not sure though ha ha!!

 

Amy looks like she is auditioning for being a clown with the state of her chocolate face hee hee!!

 

Here we are, we can board the train at 5pm, woop woop or should I say Choo Choo!!!

 

The carriages have a gold or standard class, the gold carriages have the outside deck bit and bigger windows but we couldn’t justify the extra $’s so we went standard hopefully we don't regret our decision!!

 

Here are our seats though, wow this is standard class with big seats like that and they recline

 

The girls are on one side and ……

 

 

Colin chilling on the other side of the aisle!!  There are only 16 seats in this part of the carriage

 

Colin and Amy went off for a wander through the carriages before we departed, upstairs in the snack bar area

 

Upstairs in the snack bar

 

Look at these guys messing about with the camera still in the snack bar area, Amy’s shot and then ………

Colin’s shot!!

 



 

Snack bar

Tables at the snack bar

 



 

Back in his seat now behaving for a change and enjoying the scenery before we depart Seward

 

Now we have departed the Dome area has opened up and this is upstairs from our carriage with the big windows that go all above so you can enjoy the view above too!  You are only allowed to spend maximum 20 minutes at a time to allow everyone a chance to look out of the Domes.  It is amazing being on this train.  We are all excited about what we are possibly going to see along the way through the Rockies

 

Oh cool I can see the carriages in front of us up in the Dome

Enjoying the views from the Dome

 



 

People in the gold star carriages

 

Not sure what Amy has spied but we just went past a Bald Eagle’s nest with an Eagle sitting in the nest

 

 Having a wander again through the doors, I went to check out the snack bar and the restaurant car, cool!

 

We now have the carriage to ourselves as the group of 10 decided the commentary that was telling everyone of the places we were going by was too noisy for them so they moved into the carriage that had no commentary and they were also getting annoyed with people walking through the carriage to go to the Dome so they went to the last carriage that had no volume and no people passing through!  Not sure what they thought they were on but they were searching the internet to check out how fast the train would go as they wanted to get to Anchorage sooner than 22.15pm.  It is the Coastal Classic train service on the last full-service railroad in the USA, you are supposed to sit back, relax and enjoy the views!!

 

Snack time

I have Grizzly Bear crisps, we are hoping to see a bear from the train.  As we were having snack the announcement came over the tannoy that there was a moose in sight so we saw a MOOSE!! 

 

 

Moose Pass where there are a few houses but the amazing thing is that there are more moose population than people in this area, wow!

 

Lake Kenai which is 26 miles long

 

Amazing scenes going by our windows!

 

Heads out of the railway carriage door!!

 

Looking back down the train from the door

 

Amy chilling with all her toys around her and enjoying the views!

 

Our first glacier from the train, Trail Glacier in Trail Creek and Trail Canyon

 

This waterfall going all the way down the mountainside

 

And another massive waterfall, beautiful

 

And then all of a sudden we stop and 4 guys get on the train they have been at the Glacier as there are guided tours to the glacier

 

Looking forward

 

Trail Creek

 

Bartlett Glacier but this is nothing startling to us now after seeing the Hubbard Glacier yesterday!

 

The full train

 

Amy playing with her bendy man hee hee!!

 

Not sure if you can see it but we went past a Porcupine next on the train journey!!

 

The tunnel is coming, choo choo!!

 

Looking down into the Canyon

 

 

Another glacier called Bartlett Glacier where Frank Bartlett disappeared with a large sum of money in a tin box!  They found his body bud they have never found the $’s I’m not willing to look for it!!

 

 

The loop an old section of the railroad

 

Another glacier, these are two a penny now!!

 

Amy loving her binoculars that Father Christmas brought her, he obviously knew that Amy was going to use them on this train journey and on our Big Holiday Adventure J

 

 

 

 

 

The sun is going down now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is our approach to Anchorage hopefully we are not heading towards that rain cloud!!

 

 

 



 

Civilisation we must be nearly there now!

 

We went past some Dall Sheep on the side of the mountain next to the railtrack and we went past a couple of Beavers in one of the lakes.  So in total we saw two moose, porcupine, two beavers and about 10 Dall Sheep.  Pretty good going but we didn’t see any bears but that is okay we saw some amazing scenery as we made our way to Anchorage

 

 

This photo is a bit blurry as we were going a bit faster than we had been previously on the train but it shows the private propeller aeroplane’s in people’s back gardens.  Sso here is a crazy fact from Alaska, you can learn to fly an aeroplane at the age of 14 but can only learn to drive a car at the age of 16.  Amy promptly starting counting how long she needs to wait to fly a plane, scary thought!!   1 in 7 people own and fly an aeroplane but some areas of Alaska are only accessible by aeroplane WOW!!

 

We have made it to Anchorage what a pleasant way to arrive!

 

Now the bedlam starts of collecting our bags from the cages which are getting forklifted to the collection area

 

So we have grabbed a map and off we go to the Alaska Backpackers Inn, yes our only visit to a Backpacker Hostel but we have booked an en suite and we only need a bed for a few hours!  Not looking forward to staying there though.  Just as we start walking there are a few spots of rain but nothing that would harm us so off we toddle with the suitcases!

 

Ok Amy is tired and wet now as not long after I took the previous photo the thunder and lightening started and boy the rain was teaming down!  We took shelter at its heaviest but still not pleasant walking in the rain.  So we thought the hostel was going to be a straight run all the way down the road and round the corner but when we get near the straight road at the end there is an extremely steep hill and no sidewalk so we need to get a Plan B going and get one FAST as it is raining!  Colin takes out his map which is now getting drenched too, oh this is causing a few fraught moments!!!  Ok so there is another road but we start climbing up and it is steep windy, windy road, oh boy this is horrendous!!  Amy starts crying as it is raining and she is tired as it must be nearly 11pm so don’t blame her really.  So as it is I run up the rest of the hill, put my cases down and then come back down for Amy and carry her up to the top.  We weren’t looking forward to the Hostel and then this welcome is horrible through her tears Amy said ‘I am never coming back here again’

I second that tooty!!!

 

So we take a few more turns and then we see a bright blue building and that is the Backpackers Hostel.  This shows how bad the rain was I didn’t even stop to take a photo of the outside we went straight for the shelter of the entrance.  We took our cases to the front door and then we see a sign saying to check in you need to go across the street and up a bit so Amy and I stay put and Colin goes to get the keys.  Colin comes back and says there are no rooms with en suite available now but we could have a bedroom with a double bed and a bunk bed on top and share a bathroom with everyone else in the hostel (well not quite!) or get a room with an en suite that is only meant for 2 people in a queen bed!!  So we check out the room with the 3 beds and bathrooms before we make a decision, the bathrooms are okay and by this point it is after midnight so we need to just get Amy into a bed so for easiness sake we take the room without an en suite as that is the key the guy gave to us.    

 

 

Oh don’t remind me what the differences are with hostels and hotels as Colin is away back to the guy to rent towels for our shower in the morning!!!   Aaaaargh!!!!

 

 

Our corridor to our room

 

Hilarious as we didn’t really say to Amy what a hostel was before we arrived as we didn’t think it would make a difference to her but as soon as she walked in the room she looked around and said ‘Oh where is the bathroom?’ That was when the bombshell was broken that we have no bathroom and you need to share with everyone else, her face was a picture.  Observant though for it being midnight!!!

I’m not sure what type of traveller Amy will be if she ever decides to go travelling in the future!?!?!  Maybe not a backpacker?!

 

Colin collects the towels and the guy says they are damp but they are not used they have been mis-dried, icing on the cake really!  Get me out of here now.  As you can imagine my face was a picture by this point and I wasn't best pleased!!!  I did say to Colin I am just going to sit on this metal chair until morning, part of me was half joking but also half serious as I didn't fancy the look of the beds and Amy wanted to share the double bed with me which meant being squished just to round it all off!!!

 

 As soon as Amy's head hit that pillow she was asleep!!!  Amy wasn’t bothered but she won’t sleep up on top bunk so Colin is up there and I need to squeeze into that space that Amy has kindly left for me!!

Can't wait for the morning and we can check out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!