Comprising a Life

The Bonsai, Travels and Haiku of Vaughn Banting

Alaska trip

A few years ago my youngest sister Ivy decided to take my mother to Alaska on a cruise and my wife Gayle and I decided to go along.  Mother was almost 80 years old and on a cane and I could walk very well due to my last brain surgery.  So mother and Gayle had their hands full.  We had one wheelchair between us but we all managed to have a good time, mother even opting to take the helicopter trip out onto a glacier.  The scenery was breathtaking and totally upstaged the Caribbean based cruise ship we were on, although at times the juxtaposition of the two seemed laughable.  In order to scan them more efficiently I have included three photographs linked together in most cases so just scroll down to make sure you have seen all of the pictures.

 

Mt. Mckinly

Going to meet our ship

Large dallia

Cabbage

Loading mother

Lunch on board

The group

Layout of ship

Viewing deck

Postcard of our ship

Gayle and I

Myself

Valley of glaciers

Postcard of ship at glacier's face

Calving glacier

Right at its face

Like rings in a tree

Glacier Bay

Rivers of ice

Approaching a glacier

Our ship from the helicopter

Frozen rapids

Glacier's texture

Mother in helicopter

Deep cravasse

The color of cold

Port call - visiting a small town

Gayle and I with bear

Meeting our train

Valley

Salmon

Flowers

Mountains

Closer view

Waterfall bog

Waterfall

Mt. Mckinly and others

Mother

Ivy