But today...today was one of the four best days they've had weather-wise all summer. Today was a gorgeously sunny, clear blue sky, clean air day with temps in the low 70s.
We may have used up our weather luck for the full two weeks!
We left the ship after breakfast and had about two hours to walk around before G had to meet up for a short shuttle ride to the Sea Winds Aviation float plane dock. The first thing I noticed is that this entire town smells like smoked salmon. Strongly of smoked salmon. How bad can that be? I sure thought about Dad a lot today, smoking salmon in his backyard so that the entire neighborhood smelled the same way as Ketchikan.
We walked along the waterfront in Ketchikan to the Tongass National Forest Discovery Center. This is a fabulous educational museum about the history of the Tongass National Forest and the people who have inhabited it over the centuries. We didn't make it through half of the displays, because they announced that a movie was starting in the theater, and that movie alone was worth the admission price (although admission is free with the National Parks Senior Pass, which can be conveniently purchased right there).
The movie features breathtaking scenery taken from the air, flying over the water, mountains, forest and Misty Fjords National Monument. Sure, it wasn't as amazing as actually doing the flyover, but we did that 15 years ago. This was pretty close, and we saved about $400.
Eventually, it was time for us to move on. G received a call from the floatplane company that they were back on schedule after being slightly delayed due to the early morning fog, and we met up with their shuttle in the center of the waterfront area. Although I wasn't flying, I went with the group to the floatplane dock; I wanted to video their takeoff and landing.
Many thanks to Iliana from our Cruise Critic roll call for setting up this adventure with Sea Winds Aviation. The five passengers and the pilot climbed into this De Havilland Beaver float plane, maneuvered into open water and took off.
Interesting note: when the plane is in the water it is subject to maritime laws and rules; when in the air the FAA calls the shots.
While they were gone, I went inside the office and watched a video on the history of salmon fishing around the Ketchikan area, awaiting their return. There are so many floatplanes taking off and landing on the water in Ketchikan that I was afraid I'd miss their return, but Leslie, the office manager, said she'd let me know. And she did.
I followed their landing and return to the dock. All five people said the flight was incredible. For a moment I was sorry I hadn't gone along, but when I looked into that tiny, enclosed space, I knew I wouldn't have been happy. The floatplane we were in in 1997 was considerably larger. But the small size of this one meant a more personal experience for those on board, and I think it's great that G has been able to do it both ways.
Speaking of great- the sunny weather continued and, in fact, got quite warm. I knew that my SPF15 wouldn't stand up to the hours we'd spent in the sun (and I did come back a smidge pink). We hadn't yet tackled that hill we'd seen from our balcony, and so we set out to do that before returning to the ship.