Alaska Cruise, Yukon & Denali

 Wednesday, 9 August – Vancouver
We had begun our vacation with a marvellous 6 days in Nelson BC, visiting our family there. Lots of sightings of eagles and wild turkeys and one of a bear 

 on the property. [we saw the bear while there, but it came back for Nicole's plums while we were on the ship]. But mostly we just had great family time. We flew from Castlegar to Vancouver on Tuesday and spent the night at the Pinnacle Hotel. We were awake early, listening to the sounds of the city – birds, trucks, mysterious clangs. We were packed and ready to leave about an hour early, after enjoying the hotel’s generous buffet breakfast. It was raining, so we kept out raincoats to wear on our walk to the cruise port. 

By the time we left, the rain had stopped but we were glad to have our coats anyway, since it was chilly. Boarding is never fun, but this time we had priority , so we spent a bit less time in uncomfortable chairs. We were the 3^rd and 4^th people to board, and although our stateroom wasn’t ready, we scored a good table on the Lido Deck and enjoyed lunch. By then, we got into the room, though our bags didn’t arrive for another couple of hours. Our stateroom is large and has a very big balcony (Larry says it is a “double-wide” ). There’s a lounge down the hall where we can always get a snack or drink, and there are concierges to make arrangements for us. We set sail at 4 and soon had great views of Stanley Park and the water traffic as we sailed under the Lion’s Gate Bridge. Dinner was delicious with attentive servers and an opportunity to pre-order for tomorrow [no garlic, etc]. We found a piano bar with a wonderful entertainer and met a couple from the Chicago area who were also enjoying the music. We left for long enough to hear the interesting story of Holland America’s first 150 years, then returned to the piano bar before retiring for the night.