A knock at the door came way too fast. The sky barely dimmed and again was making a bright comeback. Breakfast coffee on a tray delivered by a perky steward and away she went.

Heather was sound asleep until her driver/husband woke her to our cabin filled with the aroma of fresh brewed coffee. Wake ohh weary one. Time to rise and head to a new breakfast spot on the aft end of our floating sea. We had not yet made it to port in Ketchican Alaska.

We had a wonderful breakfast with our new friends it seems by fate we see daily. One would think by chance of over three thousand people, what are the odds of seeing Bill and Anna for breakfast let alone be seated at adjacent tables. We joked “Let the stalking begin!”

Well the story continues with Heather and I disembarked at 8:30 a.m. to do some shopping before our bear excursion. Little did we know our time went flying by as I found an Alaskan Gold Rush aka “Oracle Ring” calling loudly… “buy me!” and I did. It would be ready for pick up after our expedition. We spent so much time shopping we barely made it to our excursion meeting point.

We took a bus ride through the rain forest and unloaded for a restroom break before loading into a jet boat. A young man gave vast amounts of interesting stories, folklore, and knowledge of wildlife, origins of the settlers, and the Alaskan educational survival requirements.

All 8th graders have to complete a 3 day wilderness survival course before they can graduate to the next grade level. Wow! I couldn’t even imagine sending my kids to the Wal-Mart alone.

We learned of the different fishing boats, types of salmon, and the stories of the three bears. Polar, black, and brown bears. Nope, nothing about Goldilocks or grizzly bears and yes, bears do scat in the woods!

Heather and I counted three black bears on this endeavor. Over 50 bald eagles and 2 million salmon! Well worth the effort of tracking over 5 miles.

Once back in the town of Ketchikan we had 25 minutes to run a mile get my golden nuggets and scadoodle back to the boat. We made it with 5 minutes to spare.