Alaska 2017- Skagway: Part Two

Our afternoon excursion was the "Musher's Camp and Sled Dog Discovery." Excursions to Iditarod training camps are offered at several ports in Alaska. I'd venture to say that it is one of the most popular Alaska excursions. They advertise puppies and who doesn't want to go see puppies? 

We were picked up by buses near the cruise port and taken on a short ride to the base of the training camp. Here are some gorgeous pictures of the area. Alaska is so pretty!

The main part of the camp is located in the mountains and we had to take a special open-air,  all-terrain vehicle, named McGyver. On the way up, Felix and I got to sit up front with the driver. I can't remember his name, but he was a great tour guide and that's him in the picture below. This was a special experience, especially for Felix, who loves all manner of vehicles. 

The purpose of the camp is to train dogs for the Iditarod race. In summer, when there is no snow, they use sleds with wheels to run the dogs through a forest trail. They use the tourists to not only give the dogs exercise, but also to acclimate them to being around different people and situations. It's a win-win scenario.

The sled ride is a lot of fun, but only lasted about fifteen minutes. The dogs are really excited to run. They bark and are a bit unruly when they are stopped, but as soon as the musher gives the command to run, they get in the zone and all you can hear are their paws pounding the ground. 

After our ride, we had an opportunity to pet the dogs, while they cooled down with large buckets of water.

Next, we saw a short presentation about the Iditarod race.

The best was saved for last: the puppies! We were able to cuddle puppies that were just a few weeks old. This is the part where everyone melts. Puppies. 

Just before ending our excursion, we visited a look-out, where the views were stunning.

The "Musher's Camp and Sled Dog Discovery" is a fun excursion (Puppies!), but now having done similar tours on both Alaska Cruises, I don't think I'd do it again if I returned to the area. It's a great pick if you're traveling with children or an animal lover, but the entire tour is very rushed. The time on the sled and with the puppies is short, maybe 15-20 minutes each. They really jam in the tours, right behind one another, so there is no time for lingering. It's a cool experience, but it doesn't feel personal. 

Next stop= Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve!

Book Review- Melissa Broder's The Pisces

Thank you to Crown Publishing for providing me with a copy of Melissa Broder's novel, The Pisces, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Thirty-eight year old Lucy, has spent over a decade living in Arizona and working on her thesis involving the poetry of Sappho. Lucy is struggling with her thesis and when her boyfriend dumps her for a younger a woman, Lucy hits rock bottom. 

Lucy needs a break from her desert life. Her sister, Annika, is spending the summer traveling and needs someone to dogsit, so Lucy moves into Annika's California beach house for three months. While in California, she tries to get her life back on track by attending group therapy for sex addiciton. Nothing seems to be making her life better, until one evening while sitting on the rocks at the beach, she meets Theo, a handsome and mysterious man, who likes to swim by moonlight.

LIKE/DISLIKE- I usually separate what I liked and dislike about a book, but in the case of The Pisces, I feel the two are so intwined that I need to speak of them together.

I likely would not have read The Pisces, if I had realized that it was erotica. The description of the novel said that it was erotic, but did not list it as "Erotica," which is a big distinction. I'm not a prude, but I also don't read erotica. It's not a genre that I'm familiar with, so perhaps someone who is familiar with the genre would have a very different reaction to The Pisces. 

I found much of the erotica elements to be icky. There are plenty of vivid descriptions about fecal matter and period blood that are just gross. Broder writes incredible sensory descriptions, but they were often of things that I did not care to imagine. I thought erotica would be sexy and a turn-on, but there was nothing sexy about The Pisces. I felt that a lot of it was for shock value.

The Pisces is narrated by Lucy and she is a self-centered, bitchy character. She makes snide judgements about nearly ever other character in the story. She's terrible to her sister, who loves her. The worst part is she neglects the elderly dog that is in her care. I'm not sure if I've ever read a story with blatant animal abuse. As an animal lover, this was hard to stomach. Although, I think all of this is Broder's way of showing us that Lucy is a deeply disturbed person and as a reader, we really not supposed to like or connect with her. There is a subtle shift in her character in the last few chapters, but most of the novel she is not someone who is learning from her mistakes or even wishing to make changes.

I liked the colorful characters that Lucy meets in her group therapy, as they add another dynamic to the story. But the whole time the therapist and things there are being told to do in sex therapy, disturbed me. The advice was terrible, further damaging already damaged women. I kept looking for the plot or character that would redeem the story and shed some positive light, but this was hard to find. Annika seems to be the only normal, good-hearted character and her part is minor. The Pisces is a story about deeply damaged people. 

This is also a fantasy novel with mythological creatures that requires a heavy suspension of disbelief. Logistically, there were elements that didn't add up. The scenes with Theo hanging out with Lucy in Annika's house were bizarre. I was paranoid about the white couch.  I wondered why Lucy didn't question him more, she was too accepting. 

I liked the ending. It's creepy and unsettling. I didn't anticipate the twist. 

RECOMMEND- Probably not, although I think if you love to read the genre of erotica, maybe give The Pisces a try. This book wasn't for me. 

Alaska 2017- Skagway: Part One

Skagway is charming. It reminded me of the fictional town of Storybrooke on the television show, Once Upon a Time. It's so darn cute and filled with more things than we had time to do. On our previous Alaska cruise, Skagway was not one of ports, we visited Sitka instead. Sitka was lovely, but if you're planning a cruise, I highly recommend picking an itinerary that includes Skagway.

Our Ruby Princess Skagway picture, with a bald eagle and a fisherman.

Pictures right off of the dock.

The local news.

Pretty summer wild flowers.

Skagway was important during the late 1800's, as prospectors traveled through to Canada for the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon. The town grew and built a notoriety for lawlessness and immoral behavior. John W. Nordstrom spent a few years in Skagway, before settling in Seattle to start his shoe business, which would grow into the Nordstrom retail empire. 

We had several hours before our afternoon excursion, so without a plan, we set out to explore the town. We took a lot of pictures. 

Sugar Mamas sells cupcakes and hot dogs. On the recommendation of the employees, I tried a rhubarb cupcake. I think it may have been the first time that I've ever eaten rhubarb in any form. It was delicious.

One of the must-see attractions in Skagway is The Days of 98' Show. We saw this as an optional excursion, but did not pre-book it. We were drawn in by the ticket sellers on the street, promising a family-friendly, fun show. 

Tickets were twenty-five for adults and twelve fifty for kids for the hour long show. When we shelled out the money, we thought it was a little steep, but we were also in vacation spending mode. 

That said, the show was worth every penny. It was one of my favorite things that we did on our vacation. It was highly entertaining and we all loved it.

The show is about Soapy Smith (Bill McCarthy), a con-man who lived in Skagway during the late 1800's. The show has been running continuously since 1923, when steamships first started bringing tourists to Skagway. 

The Days of 98' Show is a musical- comedy with a dose of local History. It is very audience participatory. Your chances of being pulled on stage are fairly high, especially when the theater isn't full. It was about half-full during our performance. Don't think that you can hide in the back either, they will find you.

Normally, this would scare me off, but I actually had a lot of fun when I was pulled on stage to dance the can-can. I thought I did pretty well considering I was bundled up in cold-weather clothes and I was in pain from sciatica. The best part of the video is hearing Dan and the kids laughing. 

After the show. we ate lunch in The Red Onion Saloon: a former brothel. We didn't do it with the kids, but they have tours of the brothel. The restaurant has a lot of character and it was jammed with tourists. The food was good, but I think the ambiance is really what sells the place. It was like being in an episode of Deadwood. 

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If you're traveling with children, you must stop by The Trail Center: Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park.

The Trail Center offers interactive educational exhibits geared towards children, explaining life during the Klondike Gold Rush. It's small (we spent about thirty minutes) and it's free. Zoe and Felix are from Sweden, so they were unfamiliar with this part of North American history, that I had learned at their age. Dan and I each took a kid and went through the exhibits. It's very well done and worth doing. When they finished, they were given a short quiz by a park ranger and earned a National Historical Park pin and sticker. I had no idea that this was a thing with our National Parks, but it's a wonderful way to teach kids. It's fun and interesting. Heck, even if you're not traveling with kids, it's worth popping in to take a look. 

In Skagway: Part Two, our excursion to an Iditarod training camp and husky puppies!