We started this free day afternoon with six other brave
people on the Alaska Excursions Grizzly Falls Zip line. All we can say is - what a blast!
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| Garry, Caroll, Pat, Tom, Penny, Ivy, Arnie, & Robbie |
We rode up the steep mountain in a Unimog (smaller but
similar to those we rode in at the Columbia Ice Fields) to the zip line base
camp. We suited up in attractive (yeah,
right) helmets and zip line safety harnesses.
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| Here comes Ivy |
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Caroll & Pat are ready to move on &
Penny & Tom are waving a Big Good-bye |
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| Tom is having a ball |
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| Pat is ready for what ever comes next |
These zip lines went through a beautiful mountainous
rainforest and over glacially fed waterfalls and creeks. There were a total of 11 separate zip lines
with the longest being 750 feet. Our two
guides, Steve (Stache) and J.T., were quite entertaining and encouraged us to
do different “tricks” on each zip line.
We even tried somersaults! That
was pretty daring from one who doesn’t do well with motion, be it from rough
seas or bumpy roads. Apparently, you can
go as fast as 45mph on some of the lines – it sure seemed faster than
that. There were a few suspension
bridges to walk across too so other people could make them sway while you tried
to keep your balance but were really so we could take pictures of the beautiful
forest . We would definitely do this
adventure again!
Later that evening, we went to the Days of ’98 Show. It started off with a Monte Carlo gambling
hour. We were given $1,000 worth of
phony money. They had a 4-5-6 table,
blackjack table, and roulette. It was a
fun way to while away some time. Our dealer, Jeff, was very generous with
giving us more phony money whether we really won or not! Too bad the $20,000 I
(Robbie) won was also phony money!
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| Everyone is having fun with the phony money |
We then attended the show. It depicted the life and death of Jefferson
Randolph (Soapy) Smith while he was in Skagway during the Klondike Gold Rush of
1897 and 1898. Soapy was a con man that
used a band of cohorts to swindle and rob newcomers (cheechackos) out of their
money. His band eventually robbed a man
of $2,800 in gold, which resulted in an organized protest by J. D. Stewart and
the Committee of 101. This committee was
trying to clean up Skagway by getting the crooks and con men to leave. Soapy went to confront Stewart at this organized protest, and he was
shot and killed by one of the guards.
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| 'Soapy Smith' and the Days of 98 Show |
The show included skits
with “dance hall” girls also from the Klondike Gold Rush era and their
interaction with Soapy and other men.
The girls decided that Jim was their choice to “proposition” and pulled
him up on stage. They sang to him, and
then forced him to go upstairs! He laughingly
and good naturedly went along with it, even when they had him dress up in a
nightshirt and cap after being upstairs with them!
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| The girls sure LOVE Jim |
The girls then decided to do a can-can routine and pulled
Tammy and I up on stage. Talk about
embarrassing. I am too old to dance like
that! I will admit it was fun and a lot
of laughs though! My knees will never be
the same…
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| Tammy and Robbie kicked as high as the 'Dance Hall Girls' |
Submitted by Rig # 17
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| Arnie & Robbie |
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