Alaska’s Ketchikan

I left Skagway by B.C. ferry, heading south to Prince Rupert on a two-day journey through the Inside Passage. Earlier during my wanderings, I had bumped into a Swiss mother and daughter, and we ended up on the same ferry in cabins opposite each other. We passed glaciers and a whale pod during the relaxing hours we spent in conversation or wandering the deck.

Confusion at the U.S./Canada border

My original plan was to see the Arctic Ocean, visit Tuktoyaktuk, and return through Dawson City to Whitehorse. After that, I wasn’t sure. Only when I reached Skagway, I decided to exit by B.C. ferry through the tail end of the Inside Passage and head south towards home. But first, I had to return the rental car to Whitehorse and get back to Skagway.

Alaska’s Skagway

In Skagway I stayed in a cute hotel, once a brothel, and while having a hotel breakfast the following morning, was reminded I was in Alaska, U.S.A. A woman nearby, talked incessantly about the guns she and her husband had brought on the trip. It wasn’t my kind of breakfast conversation, so I made a hasty exit.

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

We whipped through Lincoln City and Florence because my friend was keen on a buggy ride over the sand dunes.

We booked a tour with one office and when we arrived, were told the other people in the group were going to be an hour late so we’d have to wait till they arrived. Excuse me! We weren’t late, we chastised the woman and demanded our money back.

Oregon’s beaches

Driving south into Oregon State, we passed over the Columbia River and through Astoria. I had somehow held a very different image of what the area would look like. Instead, I discovered beautiful countryside, quaint towns and quiet beachside resorts.

Long Beach, Washington State

Photo: Whale skeleton, Long Beach. Photo courtesy: From Texas with Love – wikimedia.org

A friend suggested we drive south over the boarder into the States for a late summer trip before it was time to head back to work. I jumped at the opportunity thinking we’d fit in some beach time and a swim in the surf. We left sweltering thirty degree Vancouver and skipped through Seattle to Long Beach.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art

My daughter wanted to shop with no desire to visit an art gallery, so we spent the morning absorbed in our own addictions.

The Empire State Building

I believe most people visit the Empire State building for the view at the top. While it was spectacular, I was waylaid on the way up by the tasteful Art Deco interior.

New York City

We roamed the city where every corner or square I passed had a name I was long familiar with: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Sotheby’s, Madison Avenue and on it went. I imagined some of these locations to be larger than life and was disappointed to find Rockefeller Center, for example, squeezed into a tiny space amongst high-rise.

New York’s High Line

Traffic and noise was always in the background but we at least escaped seeing it while traversing the High Line.

We climbed to a tree line walkway above ground which crossed a small section of the city. Views of high-rise buildings stretched out on either side but the real gem was the leisurely stroll without the hoards of pedestrians like the downtown core.