Gorgeous eagle posing for me
We boarded the Liseron Sunday afternoon, May 19th – an old minesweeper with 20 passengers. The passengers and crew were fantastic, and everything had an outdoorsy, warm, luxurious feel to it. We were free to wander about the boat, hang out with the captain as he navigated, partake of drink/snacks throughout the day in the cozy salon. We had gourmet meals served around a big table on the back of the boat. Lovely! All as the Boat Company had advertised, and then some.
The Liseron is to the left of the huge cruise ship
The first full day we went to the Endicott passage to see the Dawes glacier – beautiful!
At the glacier
Calving
The second day, John went on a skiff to go halibut fishing while I went kayaking with another group.
Along the way we saw whales, sea otters, sea lions, seals, and eagles! Click to see all of my photos.
Fat loud sea lions
The third day I joined a group to go hiking – skiffs dropped us off on a little island, and no sooner had we started than I had a misstep and broke my tibia. They had to bring over a backboard from the Liseron to carry me out…they splinted my leg with life jackets and tied me to the side of the skiff (the one thing I really wish I had a picture of!) – I have some memory of the crew being waist-deep in the cold water to get me on the skiff, bless them. An old man with a golden retriever let us use his dock – I laid there an hour or so until a tiny seaplane came to get me, John, and our luggage – I have no idea how I got into it since it wasn’t fitted for a medi-vac and I had to be sitting in the seat. They extricated me from the plane at the Sitka airport (where I got a blessed shot of morphine!), and we made our way to the emergency room there, where they realized the seriousness of the break. So onward to Seattle via medi-vac (alone – John had to follow on Alaska Air the next morning).
Long story short (somewhat), I was in the hospital with eternal rods and pins in my leg for a week while we waited for the swelling to go down. Then another surgery to remove that and put in plates. I was lucky to be at a great trauma center for the Pacific Northwest with a wonderful team of surgeons and hospital staff.
I was finally released from the hospital on June 3rd, and John and I stayed at the Westin for the week before flying home yesterday. That was a bit of an ordeal since I can’t bend my leg…I had three seats to myself so I could extend it. We finally made it back to the apartment – yay! It’s good to be home, and especially to see Flavia.
Thanks to family and friends for the calls, notes, flowers, and good wishes! I’m also especially appreciative to my great bosses and RCO colleagues who have picked up my work and allowed me to focus on healing.