Leaving Ketchikan and heading toward Juneau on the Inside Passage, very smooth ride. Alaska’s Inside Passage is hundreds of miles from Puget Sound, Washington, through the British Columbia coast and into the Gulf of Alaska, the Inside Passage includes more than 1,000 islands, seemingly endless shoreline and thousands of idyllic coves and bays. Beautiful and serene.Mountains on both sides.Sunset in the Inside Passage.
Our first port of call was Ketchikan, known as the Alaska’s First City, and the Salmon Capital of the World. This is the view from our cabin as we headed into port.This is where we disembarked. They scanned our medallions for us to leave, and we needed to go through security like an airport, plus have our medallions scanned again, to embark.We are officially in Alaska!Float planes are everywhere. It is one of the major ways of travel all over the state, along with bush planes.Our excursion in Ketchikan was on the Bering Sea crab fishermen’s boat the Aleutian Ballad. This boat was featured in the TV show Deadliest Catch a few years back. It is famous for being slammed by a 60-foot rogue wave, turning it on its side. The video is still available on Youtube.Captain Kevin and tourist Kevin.These guys told many fascinating stories about crab fishing while demonstrating their craft.Beautiful Alaska shoreline.Some of the Inside Passage of Alaska, calm water.Crabbing gear. Industrial crabbing is big business.Sea Star.Box King Crab.Snow Crab.King Crab.After the crab fishermen’s tour, we walked around town a bit. A scenic tourist trap.Creek Street was once a bustling Red Light district, now a tourist spot.This what salmon spawning looks like. I was like this for the entire creek above the waterfalls. It was an incredible sight. Once the fish lay their eggs, they die, so the creek banks were full of dead salmon!Raven Stealing the Sun totem pole.The Rock sculpture – a depiction of Ketchikan’s history: Tlingit Chief Johnson, Tlingit storytelling woman, logger, miner, fisherman and pioneer woman.
Grapefruit tree.Our hotel.Sunday morning in Palm Springs.The desert.These cacti are known as “mother-in-law stools”!Grave of Frank Sinatra.This was once Jack Benny’s Estate.Side view of Jack Benny’s Estate.Mid century house famous for a 1970 photo called “Poolside Gossip”.Poolside Gossip, 1970.Elvis Presley estate.Marilyn Monroe’s estate.Elvis’s Honeymoon Hideaway. Elvis and Priscilla spent their honeymoon here in 1967. This house opened for tours the week after we left Palm Springs!Mid-century house.Dean Martin’s house, in disrepair.Liberace’s house.Frank Sinatra’s house, Twin Palms is a historic site now. It is available for rent like an Air BnB. Not cheap.Front of Twin Palms.Back of Twin Palms. Not in view is the famous swimming pool shaped like a grand piano.Palm Springs.Another mid century house.This is known as Robolights, an art and light display that was created in 1986.This mural was actually a paint-by-numbers creation that was painted by many visitors to the La Quinta Arts Festival in 2019. Visitors were invited to add their finger paint marks to the montage.“Forever Marilyn” by Seward Johnson, 1996.The Cake in Palm Springs by Decluuz.The Palm Springs Babies by David Cerny.Lucille Ball sculpture.Lunch at Elmer’s. Great choice.German pancake was delicious!Palm Springs Airport, outside.Mt. San Gorgonio from Palm Springs Airport.
Rocks that can be seen in Joshua Tree National Park: Cottonwood Pass Monzogranite, Phyllite, White Tank Monzogranite, Basalt, Pinto Gneiss, Skarn Deposits, Granite, Twentynine Palms Quartz Monzonite, Foliated Gneiss with Intrusive Granite RocksJoshua Tree has more interesting rock formations than Joshua Trees!A few Joshua Trees in front of a rock formation.Field of Joshua Trees.Can you see why this is called Skull Rock?Skull Rock.A Joshua Tree.Another Joshua Tree.Cholla Cactus Garden. Pronounce “choya”.Close up Cholla Cactus.
I looked forward to this evening since planning our trip. The Purple Room goes back to the heyday of the Rat Pack in the 1950s and 1960s. This has a real Frank Sinatra vibe to it. First dinner, then a show.Dinner with friends.Filet with asparagus and potato cake.Braised short ribs with roasted carrots.Our show tonight – Billy Stritch and a jazz trio. All three were very talented!Billy Stritch, a long time confidant of Liza Minelli.
