Life on the High Plains

Our second stop on the cruise was the port city of Skagway, Alaska.  This is a small town that still has many of the structures from the last 1800s.  Many prospectors came through Skagway on their way to find gold during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896-1899. Prospectors were required to carry a year's worth of food and equipment which easily weighed a ton.  They had to hike the 35 miles over the White Pass Trail hauling their food equipment from cache to cache.  It was a tedious journey over mountains and many of those who made it went home without any gold.  After our first trip to Alaska about 15 years ago my dad told me that my mother's father went to the Klondike in search of gold, but obviously came home empty handed. We boarded a bus for a tour of the Klondike highway.  It was a small group and we had a great tour guide who has lived in Skagway for 13 years.  She said it's expensive to live in Skagway during the summer so during the summe...

Our first port of call on the cruise was Juneau, Alaska.  There are three things to do in Juneau:  go see Mendenhall Glacier; go whale watching; or go shopping. If you've ever been on a cruise you know their excursions are ridiculously overpriced.  Someone advised us to forego the ship's excursion to Mendenhall Glacier and instead just take the shuttle that is parked right outside the ship.  That's what we decided to do and it worked out very well. The glacier sits in the beautiful Tongass National Forest which is actually a rain forest.   Irv and I have been to this glacier twice before.  Usually it's cold and rainy, but this time the weather was perfect.  I'm going to try to find my photos from our first visit about 15 years ago to see how the glacier has receded. We watched a movie at the visitor center and made the 2 mile hike out to the waterfall.  I'll also have to find the previous photos  of Irv...

Alaska Cruise #3 for Irv and Ellen.  Departed Vancouver July 27, 2019. We boarded our ship as early as possible on the day of departure which turned out to be a very wise decision. Three cruise ships were in port so getting registered, dropping off the luggage, and going through customs could have been a lengthy process had we arrived later. We walked onto the ship around 11:30 and were immediately treated to a delicious lunch.  Our cabin was ready not long after.  Then there was the bon voyage party on the back deck of the ship.   Goodbye Vancouver! Let the adult beverages begin...nothing better than a fruity drink in a tall glass to start off our cruise. Then there was the mandatory emergency drill.  They no longer make you wear the life jackets.  You just assemble at your muster station with your key card which is how they take attendance. We were off to one of the most beautiful places on earth--Alaska's inside pas...

This is going to be a lengthy post so I apologize in advance. I made a last minute decision last week to jump in the car and drive up to South Dakota for the Norgaard Family Reunion.  I had been to this reunion a few times in my life, but my dad had always been there.  This would be the first time without a parent there, but luckily my brother was going to attend also. We never spent much time with my dad's family so I don't know much about them.  This year I went up there with the thirst to learn as much as I could. Pictured above are Nels and Carrie (Sorenson) Norgaard.  They left Denmark in 1869 to flee two things:  Nels' conscription into the army and religious persecution.  You see, the state religion of Denmark in those days was Lutheranism.  The Norgaard clan was a bunch of Baptists. Nels joined a family member in Harlan, Iowa and by 1871 Nels had saved enough money for this own farmstead and headed north to the Dakota territ...