Kodiak, AK

Welcome to Kodiak, Alaska. We arrive a bit late due to high winds but still is was just before 7 although it took them awhile to tie us up. Room service delivers our breakfast order promptly at 6:30 AM and we promptly tipped him and went back to bed. I am suffering from the residual effects of being tossed around like a goldfish in a bowl yesterday. We finally get up when Bruce makes the announcement that we have been cleared by Customs for passengers to disembark the ship…we have been sleeping for about 45 minutes and our breakfast and coffee (Kay’s tea as she does not like coffee or even the smell of it) is cold. We hurry to get dressed and hear Bruce our cruise director make his second announcement that the bus is for disabled passengers only and the rest of us need to hike it into town which we are told is about a half mile away. No problem. The high temperature here today is 52 and I have no idea what it was last night but it is cold and windy but luckily the wind once we get on the main road out of the terminal area is at our backs so all is good so far. They are using school buses for tours here as they did in Homer because they have no buses. Since this road runs along the water, there is a seafood processing plant every block until you reach St. Paul Harbor. We stop at St. Paul Harbor and those familiar with the Deadliest Catch know this is the homeport of the Cornelia Marie. I don’t see it but we take some photos and keep heading into town. I thought Homer was remote until we got here. One of the first things we pass on our walk into town is crab pots stacked up by the processing plant. We see them everywhere. The people that live here year round are a hardy bunch is all I can say. We went to the Wildlife and Marine Visitors Center and it was quite interesting. They have the bones of a huge gray whale suspended from the ceiling so that you can an idea of how vast these mammals are. I am absolutely in awe of the beauty all around us looking out in every direction. It is a beautiful sunny day, although cold and windy. We are told how lucky we are to see it like this as Kodiak gets 180 inches of precipitation every year and over 80 inches of that in snow or ice. Yikes! They said this is one of 4 days of sunshine they have had in the last 33 days! We are also told (by the rangers at the Wildlife Center) that the first day of significant winds is the first day of fall and today the winds are at 30 Mph so they said this is the first day of fall. We shop, visit the visitors center and walk up the hill to the Russian Orthodox Church and take more photos and walk around downtown where all the locals speak to you when you pass them…even the Police wave from their patrol car. The lady at the visitor center told us that the Cornelia Marie is docked on the other side of the bridge and across the harbor from the smaller boats. She told us how to get there but it is a long way from where we are and we think we will be able to see it from our balcony from the way she describes where it is. We pay a visit to the local version of Walmart known as Alaska Foods/Furniture/Clothing/Toys/Hardware. Truly one stop shopping right here in downtown Kodiak! We buy a drink and some snacks and begin to head back to the ship since we need to be back by 12:30 PM since we are only here until 1PM today. Coming back to the ship is a whole different walk since the wind was now blowing toward us and blowing dust and stones and anything else that happened to be around so it took a bit longer getting back than it was going. We made it and then I was able to see the Cornelia Marie through my binoculars from our balcony. The lady that told us where to find it also said she thought it was up for sale and that’s the reason it is still here. While out on the balcony taking photos we notice this cloud that looks like a space ship..it is the coolest thing and looks as if it is spinning in the wind. Over time it breaks up but pictures are included. We had lunch in the dining room with a delightful couple from Washington and an unfriendly lady from Newark, DE. Kay sentenced me to the “cone of silence” (Maxwell Smart) so once we departed I went to the casino and Kay went to bed to nap. I had no luck at 3 card poker which I did ok with last week (the only other time I was in the casino) but won it all back on the $1 slots so I decided that was where I should end it for the day and came back to write the blog before dinner. Tonight is formal night…..again. Luki are cabin steward is so upset about missing us on his nightly rounds the other night that we can’t get the guy out of our cabin now. He insists on making us towel animals,..last night we got a koala bear (Kay says it could have been a wooly mammoth as everything he makes looks the same). I walked past it later last night and the head had rolled off (heads are gonna roll!) in one direction and we keep finding the eyes (the eyes have it) all over the floor. The seas are very choppy but it is also windy. Time to get ready for dinner so adios amigos until after Hubbard Glacier tomorrow afternoon. No Debbie, I am not just missing Freddy, the service in the dining room for the anytime dining has been horrible. Kay said she never has this problem with regular seating. I also apologize that we didn’t get Kay’s Homer story published on the blog until today. We thought it has posted but didn’t know until today that it didn’t. I hope you had time to read it as we laughed are butts off while she was writing it. Until tomorrow…