Jan 19-27
Hi All,
Whoa…..it has now been 4 weeks since we arrived on Dec 30 here in Sitka. While no Jack Nicholson “Shining” moments yet, John-boy is definitely feeling the lack of activity. We now have 8 hours of sunlight which isn’t that bad, but when it is stormy it is just somewhat dark, gloomy and cold (30 to low 40’s F, but damp) most of the time. So today, after 4 days of clouds, wind and rain, Kathy declared a play day. We took a driving tour of Sitka with Hank the cab driver….originally from North Carolina he has been in Sitka for 20 years, loves it, and does tours mainly for the cruise ships. What a lovely town, drove from one end to the other….~20 miles with many stops along the way back up into the hills….he says in March the whales go up into Silver Bay to chase the herring….can’t wait!!
So what else have we been doing:
– Finally posted all of our pictures from the Alaska cruise last year. Over 1000 pictures of Kenai Peninsula, Prince William Sound, Sitka and Glacier Bay NP…..wow, “did they have fun”…..really makes us want to go back for a repeat!!!
– Continue working on the 2020 African Safari….have one itinerary from Africa Adventure and getting second one from Natural Habitat soon. Hope to decide in a week or so!!
– 2019 cruising itinerary almost completed – hope to cruise 6 months….from 3/23 – 9/23…..Sitka, all around the ABC’s….Admiralty, Chichagof, and Baranof Islands….Glacier Bay NP again, up to Skagway, Juneau, Petersburg, Prince of Wale Island, then down through British Columbia, the Broughtons, San Juan Islands, and arriving Port Angeles. ..another great season coming up!!! I think we have written 20+ emails, made 10+ phone calls to various places securing tours and/or marina information. Maybe 100+ hours between the 2 of us doing all the research…..the logistic part of cruising is indeed time consuming….so many places to see, so little time!!!
– Moorage in Seattle area……arghhhhhhh!!!! We can be sooooo naive at times. We are finding waitlists from 10+ marinas in the 1.5-4 year range……really, that sucks!!!! And we thought so naively we could sign up with marinas in Anacortes a year in advance with no issue…..so wish we would have started this search last fall….ugh, ugh, ugh!!! But, we do have backup at least….the Boat Haven marina in Port Angeles where we will have Mystic painted says they have space for us in 2020….of course that marina is the most inconvenient to travel to (2.5 hours by car from SeaTac)….we were hoping to be closer to Seattle and the airports. The search continues……
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Hibernating in Sitka Alaska
PS More pictures on the website:
http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Sitka-and-Glacier-Bay
http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Glacier-Bay-Alaska-Part-2
Several inches of snow a few weeks ago!!
Still lots of Eagles
Beautiful rainbow one day
Swans at a local stream
Long winter nap!!
Scenes from our Sitka tour….kind of a misty, cloudy day…pretty typical!!
Silver Bay…maybe whales in March!!
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Try Des Moines marina – very close to SeaTac