My journalism journey part 29

A year after I hurt my knee, I got a call from the insurance company's worker's comp division, offering me a settlement for future claims against the company concerning my knee. I would get $8,000-plus in the settlement. I thought it was a good deal.

At one point, I thought about buying a house in Aberdeen, South Dakota. I even looked around at a few small houses and went to some open houses. But after a run-in with the then-managing editor, I decided I didn't want to spend my whole life in Aberdeen. I just had that feeling I would probably be moving on. Turns out the managing editor was moving on instead. But I knew I would eventually be going elsewhere.

So, let's see, what could I spend this on? If I had been smart, I would have taken that money and gotten a new car. Because a year later, I needed a new car. But instead, I looked to have some fun.

I booked a cruise and tour to Alaska instead. This would a trip I would never take otherwise. And it proved to be one of the best times of my life.

I went on a Princess cruise-tour. I had a one-week cruise planned from Vancouver, B.C., to Seward, Alaska, followed by a one-week land tour with a two-day stay in Kenai, Alaska, then up to Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks.

Not long before my trip was set to take off, my right knee started to swell and hurt. My orthopedic doctor advised me just to take two ibuprofen four times a day. Well, this turned out not to be a good solution but I did as I was told. He told me I had no further damage to the knee at least.

The closest airport out of which I could fly was Bismarck, North Dakota, so I drove up there the night before my flight and stayed at a motel, leaving my car there. Then I left early in the morning for my flight the next day.

I had never cruised before, so the ship was an eye-opener. The only boats on which I had been were ferries and nothing like this. I couldn't afford a single room, so I had accepted to be paired with a roommate. I lucked out with this one. My roomie was a 50-ish woman who had been a Cuban refugee in the 60s when Fidel Castro came to power. She had worked for a doctor who knew something was going to happen and got out, also getting out the woman and her family. We had different dining times, so we barely saw each other. When we did, we had some things in common. We got along very well.

The 7-day cruise took us up the Inside Passage, where I saw massive glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park, totem poles, and eagles in Ketchikan, the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau as well as the folksy hospital of the Alaskan capital city. We saw humpback whales breaching in the ocean during one chilly morning when a naturalist came onboard.

In Glacier Bay, I saw massive glaciers thundering off into the water as they calved. The sight was awe-inspiring.

I took an airplane ride over one of the glaciers in Skagway. I wanted to do a helicopter tour, but I was deemed too overweight. The airplane ride was my second choice and even then, it was iffy.

The pilot had to balance the plane so I was put in the back. It was very windy as we went high over the glacier field and it wasn't long before I barfed up the lun*****luded in our tour (the tour also included a float trip to see eagles). The woman next to me snickered, but then the rest of the plane started to upchuck their meals, too, and it wasn't long before she also vomited. It was karma.

The plane tour was cut short because of the windy conditions and we headed back to solid ground.

On to Seward, and most people headed to buses for flights home. I took a tour of the city and visited a sled dog kennel and heard how a couple trained the dogs for runs and competitions.

Then it was on to the Princess Kenai Lodge, a wonderful two-day respite. I had a cabin in the woods with a wood-burning stove for chilly nights. I could get a van ride up to the hot tub on the hill or down to the river to walk along the river among the trees.

The next day, I did a cruise on to Kenai Fjords National Park to see sea lions, whales and other sea life and more glaciers. The water was so choppy everyone experienced motion sickness often during the journey. The crew told the passengers to stay seated and not to go inside the restrooms because that would make the motion sickness worse. But there was one person who didn't listen and locked himself in the restroom. Bad move: The crew had to break down the door to get him out. The rest of us ate crackers and drank 7-Up to calm our queasy stomachs.

On the way to Anchorage the next day, we stopped at more glaciers along the way. We spent the night in Anchorage before boarding a train the next morning for Denali National Park.

The glass-domed rail cars allowed the passengers to see everything along the route without any obstruction. We got to Denali late in the evening and into our rooms at the lodge.

Our tour through Denali the following day included a trip through the park where we saw caribou and other wildlife. Then I took a power boat trip on a river to see more wildlife and more eagles. I think I saw more eagles in Alaska than I ever will see again in my lifetime.

Then we got back on the train again, going to Fairbanks for two days of sightseeing. We took a sternwheeler along the Chena and Tanana rivers. One of the highlights was stopping for a visit at the sled dog camp of Iditarod winner Susan Butcher and her husband, David Monson.

Monson was a native of Roslyn, South Dakota, so I tried to get an interview with the two of them. When we stopped at the camp, I talked to Monson and gave him the phone number of the hotel and my room number. I had a chance to go to a salmon bake that evening and didn't go, expecting a call. Monson never called.

We also went to a gold mine and panned for gold, keeping what we were able to find. I still have some small flakes in a locket on a gold chain. Then we saw the oil pipeline.

The trip ended with an early morning flight out, with a stop in Denver and then back to Bismarck. It was one of the best vacations. I was tired when I got back to the hotel in Bismarck to rest for the drive home to Aberdeen.

Someday I want to go back. But at least I've seen it once. And every now and then, I pull it up with photographs and memories.