Alaska 2002

Once again we embark on a Holland America ship.

This time the Veendam is our home.

We're off to Alaska, our 49th state,

A long way from Texas to roam.

We soon settle in to the grand ship's routine.

The food is a gastric delight.

It's all you can eat at breakfast and lunch,

Dinner too, and a snack at midnight.

In between have some coffee at the neat Java Bar,

With a cookie or two if you please.

Or in mid afternoon have a great cup of tea

With cakes as you look at the seas.

Then a movie, perhaps, with popcorn to munch.

Or cocktails with hors d'oeuvers to eat,

As you dance to the strains of a lovely refrain

Or just relax in your seat.

Showtime at night brings a variety of acts,

A juggler, a pianist too,

A master magician and showgirls and guys

Who make up the Veendam crew.

If you like games of chance, there's bingo each day.

A casino for those wanting more.

There's so much to do that it boggles the mind,

Making choices is almost a chore.

Search the web, tour the kitchen, watch the ice carvers work.

Get massaged, try the sauna, makes your blood really perk.

Play ping pong, take a swim, use the treadmill every day.

Get a manicure or maybe have them wash away your grey.

And the library has books, the shops have all things

From trinkets to clothes, wine, cigars, even rings.

But the headline attraction on this lovely cruise

Is the scenery we see and that's not news.

For Alaska is noted for snow capped peaks

And glaciers galore that we see these weeks.

No grander sight in all the Earth

Than seen in the land of the Eskimo's birth.

From drizzley Ketchikan in a horse drawn trolley

And lumberjacks dancing on logs, by golly,

To the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau town

With light rain falling all around.

The Mendenhall glacier, largest by far,

Looming over the area, no other on par.

Sitka with its colorful Russian past

Preserves the dance to make it last.

The Raptor center saves hurt eagles and owls,

As well as many other kind of fowls.

Totem poles here and lots of places,

Tell a family's history with grotesque faces.

In College Fjord, as well as Glacier Bay,

Spectacular scenery seen all day.

An awesome sight for which we came,

One after the other, no two the same.

Set anchor at Seward and disembark,

It's on to Anchorage and Denali Park.

Learn of the Native Alaskan culture,

Soar over Denali like a circling vulture.

No words can express the feeling of grandeur

Climbing high in the sky through white clouds so pure,

Breaking out at 12,000, sun shinning bright,

The peak of Mt. McKinley, so pristine and white.

So Majestic it looms over all below

In its beautiful glistening mantle of snow.

A breathtaking sight, still high above

As the plane skirts the edge like a circling dove.

So close it would seem one could touch the ice,

It makes the trip well worth the price.

A wildlife tour in an old school bus

Adds more excitement for all of us.

Moose and marmot and red fox too,

Sheep and eagle and caribou,

Ground squirrels, ptarmigan, snow shoe hares,

Magpies, ravens and grizzly bears,

Exciting ride over narrow road

With sheer drop offs for this bus load.

A train ride takes us on our way

To Fairbanks for the final day.

Explore the river on a paddle wheeler,

Four decks high but no poker dealer.

Native village with lots of lore

To wander through on going ashore.

Then try a hand at finding gold

In a pan of ore like in days of old.

We leave this land of the midnight sun

And I must say we had real fun.