Aloha Everyone,
Ketchikan is our first port of call. Based on the 2010 census, Ketchikan has a population of 8,050 making it the fifth-most populous city in Alaska.
This morning, our older son had pre-arranged to meet one of his colleagues who also happened to be visiting Ketchikan. I accompanied him, our daughter-in-law and granddaughter on their hike. Less than a mile out of town, we began our climb into a temperate rainforest. Rainbow Trail is an improvement project by UAS (University of Alaska) Southeast Ketchikan. The day was unusually hot for Alaska and I was over bundled with my Alaskan jacket which ended up being wrapped around my waist.
We had a wonderful bird’s eye view of the port with our cruise ship. My granddaughter also was delighted in spotting bald eagles.
Back on Emerald Princess and reunited with J.J., the two of us headed to downtown Ketchikan. The city is beautiful, photogenic but very touristic. Many shops were selling Native Culture inspired works of art. J.J. and I are not traditional tourists but we met fellow passengers back on the ship who confided in us that they have no idea why they bought so many souvenirs and this is only the first of our four ports of calls.
The ship’s clocks were set one hour back to match the local time in Ketchikan. I needed to make sure that I was not too early when I called my Mother in California.
Aloha -- Cathi
