Many moons ago, a young woman named Adele was part of our wedding party. She was from a “taxidermy family” that for years operated a business preparing animals to hang on the walls of family rooms and dens.
A few years later, she took her mother to Alaska. It was the first trip for both and they had little anticipation of seeing “wildlife” because there was barely an animal they hadn’t seen, in one form or another. When their cruise started, and wildlife began appearing on the landscape, they were amused at the comments of other passengers…
“Look, there’s a bald eagle!”
“Oooh, a cariboo!”
“Ahh, a grizzly!”
Within a few days, Adelle and her mother were captivated by the wildlife. There were still many “Looks!” and “Ooohs!” and “Ahhs!” The difference was they joined the chorus.
What happens in Alaska is that, at the first hint of wildlife, people reach for their cameras in the hope they can catch a moose memory before the moose disappears or the train or bus passes the hot spot. What often happens is the wild animal seen through the window is indistinguishable through the lens — can YOU find the cariboo in the Alaska picture above? — but that doesn’t stop everyone from being on wildlife alert, does it?
Tomorrow, you’ll be able to read about our first Alaska adventure, starting with a week of Princess Cruise Tours followed by a week on the Coral Princess. We fully expect to be scrambling shutterbugs when there’s a wildlife spotting…or rumor. We anticipate being unable to control our vocal chords, never mind our enthusiasm.
If even people with a taxidermy background are left breathless by Alaska, what chance is there it won’t happen to us?