2016 Mexican Riviera Group Photo
2011 Mexican Riviera Group Photo
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Our Diary with Photos for our 2017 Alaska Cruise!
A 7 day cruise with a 4 day land tour in Denali National Park!

Below is some information on where the 2017 Spirit of the West Cruise is going. We hope you enjoy the diary as we head to Alaska. See the map below (or scroll down). We will sail on Holland America's ms Noordam - below is a photo showing what she looks like.

See the map below (or scroll down).
Go to the Itinerary below (or scroll down).

2017 Group T-Shirt
2016 Mexican Riviera T-Shirt
click to enlarge

We will sail on Holand America's ms Noordam   We will sail on Holand America's ms Noordam

Holland America's ms Noordam!


Diary for June 17th to 28th, 2017

The following photos will all enlarge if you click on them.


June 17th & 18th


The day before was sushi night in Vancouver... yes Billie & Hugh too!


Hugh checking out his order of beef short ribs ... hmmm ...


Jim passed on an old music book from a past S of the W cruiser


We're off, and the turn out at the welcoming reception was great!!



June 18th


The center section of the Queen's Lounge (with the King's Lounge sign)


The left right hand side ... probably around 190 of us at the reception


At dinner the first night Hugh Fleming celebrated a birthday


L to R, Flossie and Lorne Bodell and David & Pat Durie



June 18th,19th & 20th


Karen, Steph, & Rich working while Jim socializes with Brian Roberts


All in all a great start to the 16th Annual Spirit of the West cruise


In Ketchikan ... with three other cruise ships - ours is the black hull


We had the day to walk around and explore Ketchikan



June 20th


In Ketchikan on Creek Street ... looking right


In Ketchikan on Creek Street ... looking left


The river rolling down and under the bridge alongside Creek St


Further up the river, close to the fish ladder built for the salmon



June 20th


Back at the dock in Ketchikan as we get ready to reboard


Colleen Hovey (in black) on the gangway as Richard & Charlotte Preston approach


Colleen with Calvin and Judy Bishell looking up at Lorne Reay on the ship deck


Irene & John Romaniuk on the dance floor at the first sing-a-long



June 20th & 21st


Ellen & Dave Brown dancing to the Spirit of the West Cruise Band


The Cruise Band this year is Wayne Terpsma, Hugh, and David Woodruff


Hugh telling everyone where the 2018 Spirit of the West cruise will go


Juneau, Alaska as we dock and prepare for the group tour

The 2018 Spirit of the West Cruise will be starting in Quebec City!! and will then take in the fall colours through the Maritime Provinces and down the US Coast line to New York City! WOW ... and with Royal Caribbean!! See the Cruise Page for details.



June 21st


In Juneau our private tour went to the Mendenhall Glacier


A spectacular view of an amazing piece of nature


Films and talks informed everyone on how these glaciers are formed


One of three Spirit of the West buses returning to Juneau



June 21st


Back in Juneau we popped in to the Red Dog saloon


can you believe it - there we found others from S of the W group


and then more ... they were at table after table


all were celebrating after a great group tour!!



June 21st & 22nd


Even the cruise directors took time out to celebrate a great day


and as we were leaving we found even more ... !!


Bright and early most of our group boarded the White Pass Rail


We had 5 cars for our group, this is the first and next photos are the other 4



June 22nd



June 22nd


Our ship and a Princess ship behind us as we pull away from the dock


One of the many sights along the way was this local graveyard


We rounded corners, crossed rivers and climbed almost 3,000 feet


Standing on the platform I could touch the rock we were so close



June 22nd


Carrie Mashon taking photos and the conductor getting some fresh air


Wooden trestle and wood timber shoring for the tunnel entrance


They made us think we were going to cross this old trestle ...


but I think we were thankful that we rerouted to this newer one



June 22nd


Photos don't do justice to the spectacular views that we had


The engine dropped the cars and went to the other end to pull us back


At the end of the train ride we were in Canada (the flags are the border)


20.4 miles out of Skagway we were at the summit and 2,888 feet



June 22nd


Lots of water was running off the rocks and crevices and down rivers


Alot of blasting happened to make this route passable


Almost back in Skagway we passed the local cemetery again


Hard to imagine these old steam engines pulling those hills



June 22nd


Downtown Skagwag ... a neat little town with lots of shops


This Princess ship gives perspective - the town, ocean and mountains


Can you believe it ... some of the group found another bar / brothel!


Everyone having fun in the Red Onion Saloon in Skagway



June 22nd


No shortage of entertainment by the girls in the Red Onion ...


and the guys were definitely taking it all in !!


In fact it was probably the highlight of Skagway :-)


Then Rachel & David Woodruff celebrated their anniversary



June 22nd & 23rd


Jim and Karen took the 5 year S of the W cruisers to a special dinner


Heading up towards Glacier Bay there was a fair bit of wildlife


The weather broke for us leaving a truly amazing blue sky


The sea was blue / green and clean and the mountains were spectacular



June 23rd


As well as the colour we couldn't believe how calm the waters were


There were the mountain goats, seals, and a couple of whale sightings too.


As we got into Glacier Bay we started meeting icebergs


The mountain peaks and the huge snow pack was awesome to see



June 23rd


Colors and layers of compact ice!! Amazing!!


Again, look at the size of the boat compared to the glacier.


Spotted this guy - as nimble as a mountain goat on the rocks


The land looks like rock, but its actually a dirt covered glacier



June 23rd


Look at the boats in front and you can see how huge these glaciers are


You can also see the blue colour in places that's the pure clean ice


Then the group gathered for the Annual Spirit of the West Group photo


We're not sure if all 197 made it or not but definitely most are here



June 23rd


Lorne Reay and his daughter Colleen Hovey in their group tee shirts


Photos started with Billie and Hugh posing with Gordon and Irene Trost


Then Charlette and Richard Preston posed for their photo


This is Calvin and Judy Bishell taking their turn



June 23rd


Then it was Vicki and Gary Hetrick's turn with Billie and Hugh


David & Rachel Woodruff with daughter Julianne & James Sanders


Jim and Fontella Reinbold taking their turn with Billie & Hugh


Lorne & Flossie Bodell wrapped things up for the photo session



June 23rd


At the Sing-a-long Richard Preston read a couple of his poems


New this year, Erma Kastner played a couple of songs with her autoharp


Billie joined the guys for a song, too, which is always nice to hear


Jim read a poem written by Ed Peak (who didn't make it this year)



June 25th


Off the ship and on the bus to Denali National Park


Spectacular views to the left, right and center


On the bus Mark yelled out "Moose, left side 9:00 o'clock!"


A few of our group enjoying lunch with a view at Wasilla



June 25th & 26th


We were all treated to a pretty good selection at the feed trough


Really cool accommodation at the wilderness setting of McKinley Lodge


The gateway to Denali National Park


Part of our group were extremely lucky, as our driver said "because of clouds only 28% get to see the top of Mt Denali



June 26th


(used to be Mt McKinley) and only 4% get to see the whole Mt" - & we were welcomed us to the 4% club!


A crew built & stayed here when building the original road into the park


Bear proofing on the back side of the window shutters


On the side of the road we saw the National Bird of Alaska, the Ptarmigan



June 26th


and with mom and dad were a whole bunch of baby Ptarmigans running around


Forget-me-nots ... the National Flower of Alaska grow wild


The tail end of the lineup at one of two pit toilets after two buses unloaded


Mary & John Dafoe pose for a photo with the Native Alaskan interpreter



June 26th


"Wildlife - 9:00 o'clock" on the walking trail was only about 8 inches long


Volunteers walk the park sled dogs down the road every day


Hurricane Gultch from the bus as part of the group headed to Talkeetna Lodge


In the lobby of Talkeetna Lodge was a massive fireplace and chimney

June 27th


Fontella and Jim Reinbold pose as Kathy takes a photo for them


Talkeetna Lodge was a very nice clean lodge not far from town


that seemed to stretch a long way from left to right !


A few of the goup went on a dog sled tour - 65 dogs all yelling "pick me"!



June 27th


Kathleen, the owner, with the help of two hired hands, hooked our dogs


Jim, Fontella and Henry (with another couple) in the "summer sled" ready to roll


The dogs pull so hard they have to keep their front feet off the ground


The last dog is here and now they all get harnessed & tugs hooked



June 27th


As the last dog is hitched Kathleen hurries to the driver's seat


The lead dogs are released and they are off and running!! Amazing!!


A very quick 5 miles later we swap passengers for the return trip


The last turn on the road where they stopped at a creek for water



June 27th


Back at home they are unharnessed and fed a pretty nice looking salmon steak


At that point the passengers are allowed to go and socialize with the very


friendly dogs ... which Steph just hated to do :-)


so did Fontella ... but Jim thought he might stick to horse teams



June 27th


Kathleen shows us the "mail" that they have to deliver at the end of the Iditarod


They have run this 1000 mile race 15 times & one of their dogs has done it 7 times


Kathy & Fontella holding a couple of the four puppies from this year's litter


For Henry, I think this was the highlight of his whole trip!



June 27th


The view from the back of the Talkeetna Lodge was great (even when cloudy)


A photo from the train station platform of the McKinley Explorer


The last of the Spirit of the West group getting on the McKinley Explorer


The dome cars were roomy, comfy, and we had an awesome view



June 27th & 28th


Our tour guide even sang and played the banjo - very entertaining


And speaking of entertaining - The Sons of the Pioneers were amazing!!


Hugh being interviewed by Dennis, the Sons' sound man & media guy


Promoters Aurele & Margaret, Elizabeth Drake McDonald (Bob Nolan researcher) with Hugh and Mark



See the Spirit of the West Cruise Face Book page.

For more photos (come June 18th) see the Spirit of the West Support Crew web site diary page at: www.MeadowSprings.com.



Our Itinerary!         Top of Page

Day

Date

Port

Itinerary

Day 1

June 18th

Vancouver, BC

Early afternoon board the ms Noordam in Vancouver.
4:30 - Sail away and Spirit of the West Welcome Reception.
We sail under the Lions Gate Bridge and head North to Alaska!

Day 2

June 19th

Cruising Inside Passage

The Inside Passage - one of the most scenic sea-lanes in the world - unbelievable scenery!
11:00 am till noon - S of the W hospitality desk will be open for questions and information.
8:30 pm to 9:30 pm - Spirit of the West Concert and Sing-a-long under the stars.

Day 3

June 20th

Ketchikan, Alaska

This unique Alaskan port is famous for its rich native culture and scenery.
8:30 pm to 9:30 pm - Spirit of the West Concert and Sing-a-long under the stars.

Day 4

June 21st

Juneau, Alaska

A day exploring Alaska's capital with our included shore excursion and extra time to shop.
Arrive 10:00 am and we head out on our private group Mendenhall Tour
10:50 am for group one and 11:50 am for group two.

Day 5

June 22nd

Skagway, Alaska

Back to the days of the great gold rush - optional shore excursion and extra time to shop.
Arrive 7:00 am. 8:10 am the Spirit of the West group departs on the White Pass railway.

Day 6

June 23rd

Cruising Glacier Bay Park

Cruising the ice-studded fjords for a full eight hours as a Park Service Ranger narrates.
8:30 pm to 9:30 pm - Spirit of the West Concert and Sing-a-long under the stars.

Day 7

June 24th

at sea

A leisurely day of cruising
3:30 to 4:30 Bon Voyage Group Cocktail Party!

Day 8

June 25th

Seward (Anchorage) to Denali

6:00 am disembark and take the narrated motor coach tour to Denali National Park.
4:00 pm approximately arrive at the Denali National Park McKinley Chalet Resort.
An evening of entertainment (with a possible sing-a-long).

Day 9

June 26th

Denali National Park

Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour. 6:00 am or 9:00 am - a 4 to 5 hour sightseeing excursion in Denali National Park. Our group splits in two at this point with half staying at the McKinley Lodge and half transferring to the Talkeetna Lake Lodge. This is because of our large numbers (close to 200 of us).

Day 10

June 27th

Denali to Anchorage

9:45 am one half leaves the McKinley Lodge and boards the luxurious domed rail cars of the McKinley Explorer. The second half of the group will join the train at 2:30 pm ... bound for Anchorage and the Westmark Anchorage Hotel.

Day 11

June 28th

Anchorage, Alaska

7:40 am ... our Alaska Journey concludes this morning in Anchorage with flights home.
7:00 pm (with a lot of luck) we'll be at the Sons of the Pioneers concert in Kamloops!

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Here is a map - showing the Alaska Cruise stops - click to enlarge.

For information on the cruise, and contact info on how to join us, see this flyer

2017 Group T-Shirt
2016 Mexican Riviera T-Shirt
click to enlarge

2017 Alaska Cruise
The 2017 map of the Spirit of the West Alaska Crusie
click to enlarge

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