Btimmer

Here's our walking track from today. The high points were the Thompson Cultural Museum "that was cool", lunch at Costco, a stop at the Blue Door Antiques house on Illinois Street "that was very cool" and ice cream at the espresso stand south of the post office and in the parking lot of the furniture store (a very kind lady paid for our treats without our knowledge or opportunity to thank her). I picked up our welcome packet upon return to the Westmark hotel. We'll ship our roller suitcase from hotel to hotel and not send anything on to the ship. Oh, and the smoke is downright oppressive even in the hotel room. Just needs a little restoration Toad flax

BTW, it's super smokey here in Fairbanks today. All 3 of us are getting congested and wearing a KN95 mask really helps reduce the pungent smell.

I've consulted closely with my Doctor and he does not recommend the second booster at this time since we had Covid just a month ago. Last night we passed our rapid Antigen test to start our land portion of our triple Denali.

I'll add her comments from time to time. Yes it was root beer, and she loved the salad. Pizza seems to be her favorite so far.

This GD is our youngest. Having a great time.

Yup, still tapping away the reports on my iPhone. We visited the cultural museum and the granddaughter report was, "That was cool!" There are all sorts of interactive exhibits. We're now enjoying a Costco dog for lunch along with pizza for the GD. The GD has logged 6,822 steps so far today while I'm at only 4,576 steps or just a little over 2 miles. Fun times!

Fairbanks - Day -1 After arriving in Fairbanks on a hazy day due to some lightning strike caused fires, we deplaned and headed for the baggage claim area. We were greeted there by friendly HAL/Princess representatives. I explained that we were a day early, and they didn't have our materials ready for us. They would be available at the hotel tomorrow. The agent then arranged for us to check into the Westmark hotel 24 hours early which was a tremendous help. We gathered our luggage and boarded the motor coach along with another guest. We had just left the airport when the bus was called back and two more passengers were loaded on. They were dropped off at the Princess Hotel which is quite near the airport. Our driver then dropped us off at the Westmark where we received room keys at 1pm from a very friendly desk clerk and we deposited our luggage in the room. Normal check in time is 3pm. It was really quite smokey and wearing a KN95 mask really helped as we ventured out walking north to the park along the Chena River. We visited the Antler Arch and a number of memorial monuments in the park before heading into downtown in search of some lunch. Across the street from the Golden Eye Plaza was a little restaurant called the Fudge Stop. It looked appealing, so we ordered lunch and weren't disappointed. After lunch we continued wandering through downtown using a street a couple of blocks to the west of Noble Street. Along the way we encountered a GIANT rubber ducky along with a Veteran's Memorial. It was in the 80's and quite humid as we reached the Westmark Hotel. Back in the room we cooled off before heading back out in search of pizza for dinner. We found it at Sicily's Pizza a couple blocks south of the hotel. It was good and way more than we could finish, so we brought it back to the room to store in the refrigerator. I scheduled three Covid-19 tests with Total Testing Solutions. They proctor the Antigen tests using covid test kits I obtained from the US Government. They also have an option to sell you a test kit for $7.50 each if one doesn't have access to an authorized kit. They have a wide range of test kits that are acceptable and those are listed on their website. In the past we've used Emed.com, but these tests are $19 each compared to $30 for the Emed tests. When I logged onto the session using my iPhone and a portable tripod, Angelica, our proctor, conducted all of three of the tests simultaneously which was an efficient way to do it. We all tested negatively so we are good to go on the land trip from a testing standpoint. Results were sent to us in PDF firm as well as links. Tomorrow we'll explore more of downtown Fairbanks and visit a couple of museums and do some shopping. We're really glad we came in a day early as it really helps with getting familiar with the area and start off our trip in a more relaxed state of mind and body. Some granddaughter smiles tells it all! Below are a few pictures from today. I use Pocket Earth for tracking our activities. It was recommended by Ian Page our Cruise Director while on an Asian cruise some years ago. We really like using it all over the world and once the maps are downloaded, no internet is required. Turkey & Provelone on Potato Bread

We actually are enjoying the Westmark in Fairbanks. The staff is super friendly and they graciously and with a smile allowed us to check in a day early. i have a long report that I'll post later tonight after we finish our Covid-19 testing. Did they ever ask you for your pre-landtour Covid test?

And we're off. The weather forecast looks terrific.

After 6 months of waiting, scares about the cruise being cancelled, contracting & recovered from Covid, tomorrow morning we're flying to Fairbanks a day early before we start our triple Denali land tour with our 11 year old granddaughter who is anxious to do her first cruise. We even booked a balcony cabin on the port side so we could enjoy the view of Alaska from our stateroom (and not get the granddaughter feeling claustrophobic on her first cruise). She's especially interested in the wildlife. We'll do our pre-cruise Covid testing in Fairbanks tomorrow using tele-medicine before joining the land tour on Tuesday. As is my custom, I'll be posting pictures and commentary in this thread. We are especially keen on sailing on the Noordam which is our second to last HAL ship we've not sailed on before. One of our last views of the Noordam was when it was rusting while moored at Puerto Vallarta in September, 2021. It did look much nicer in Skagway in May, 2022 when we visited that port using the Quantum of the Seas. I realize there have been a number of Alaska cruise / tour posts this season, but I'd like to add my Almost Live spin on the tour/cruise experience. The weather forecast looks spectacular, so here's hoping Denali is in full view. I'll also do my customary day by day blog posting and I'll post a link when that's set up. Feel free to ask any questions about the tour and the ship and the ports. Depending upon internet connections, I'll try to respond promptly.

We did B2B transits of the Panama Canal on the Zuiderdam in January, 2022. We were tested before both transits. Nobody was put off the ship after each test (that I'm aware of).

Thanks for the postings and pictures. We leave for a triple Denali on Monday, 6/27 and I'll also have an "Almost Live" thread.

We're leaving Monday, 6/27 for a triple Denali starting 6/28, and I confirmed with my TA earlier this week that all is still a go. So, we're ready to head on out early Monday morning.