Steve got up a little while after Angie and decided to hit the gym. He was thinking about getting a massage, but when he called the number that the hotel gave him, it just rang and rang. He decided to pass on the massage.
After finishing up at the gym, Steve ate breakfast in the hotel. There was more confusion about our luggage. The day before we were told to bring it downstairs and today we were told to keep it outside our room. I am really glad I did not lug it downstairs to find out it had to go back upstairs.
Angie got back from her trip with about thirty minutes to spare for our bus. We relaxed (sleeped) in the lobby until it was time to board the bus. Our time came and we boarded the bus. Our tour today was going to take us down to the portage glacier and then Alyeska.
The trip down the Seward highway to the Portage Glacier was beautiful. We heard all about the mud flats again. The driver had a ton of Sven and Oli jokes. Some were really corny, but some were really funny. We arrived at the glacier and boarded a bus right away because the visitor center was not open yet.
Angie was all bundled up like she was going to be in a blizzard. It was a pretty funny site. The boat trip was cold, but not THAT cold. Steve took some good video and Angie took some photos.
The most amazing thing about the glacier was that everywhere you could see the rock there were gold veins. It looks like nobody is allowed to touch the land. There must be a small fortune in gold just laying in the rocks.
The lake that the glacier feeds into is about 900 feet deep. It is the deepest lake in Alaska, perhaps in the world. I don't remember what the skipper said.
The glacier was very cold on one end, but then warm at the other. I think it might have been the way the wind blew over the glacier. We sailed back to the docks and disembarked the ship.
After the boat cruise, we re-boarded the bus and drove back up the Seward highway. The bus stopped at a wildlife preserve and we saw a grizzly bear, moose, sitka deer, and bison. It was neat to finally see moose and a bear, but not quite the same thing as seeing them in the wild. They had a gift shop, gee go figure. We didn't find anything to purchase, so we headed back to the bus.
After the brief stopped we headed to the Alyeska hotel. The hotel looked wonderful from the outside. We got off of the bus to be greeted by the most inefficient employee of Holland America we have met so far. She would not hand out the room keys to people, until we finally went up to her and took them out of her hands. She was more interested in talking about herself and how great she thought she was. (more about her incompetence later). Both Angie and I were were grumpy by this time.
We went to our room, but the luggage was not there. I guess it was still on the bus. The room was very hot, but the view was wonderful. We opened the window and turned off the heater in the room. After putting down our carry-ons we went down to forage for food. It appears that everyone that we knew had the same idea. Each couple came in one after the other for lunch. It was very funny.
Angie ordered a sandwich that came out wrong twice. It finally came out right with the manager and it was free. At least at this restaurant they made no excuses and took responsibility for the mistakes. A BIG change from the Holland America owned hotel.
We went down to the Holland America desk to book a kayaking trip for tomorrow. The woman was actually quite snooty and both of us and another couple felt we were getting the corporate sales pitch. When she was actually trying to tell us how good she was and that she moved to Alaska from Boston to be less stressed. She was also into complimenting herself. As we found out later, she was one of the worst employees we have ever met. She was so bad, we are writting a letter to Holland America about her. She caused a lot of grief for just about everyone on our tour.
Steve went to the jacuzzi with some of our new friends and Angie worked out. I guess she didn't want me to get ahead of her in the workout department ;-) After working out, we took a short walk around the pond in the back and then went for drinks at the bar. The service was slow and forgetful and she forgot our order on two occasions. Again, the bad had no nuts or pretzels. One of the employees brought her baby into the bar. Lots of crying, so Angie and I left to go back to our room and go to bed.
The room had cooled down enough to be able to sleep. Some of the other rooms in
the hotel were very hot. It appears they had a problem with the air conditioner.
We got ready for bed and for our trip tomorrow.