Ketchikan, masks....and a give-away

Next port of call on our cruise was Ketchikan, our first stop in Alaska and oh, the beautiful scenery was just beginning!

Every time you turned around, at the end of the street there was another beautiful scene with mountains, trees and snow! Coming from the very flat lands of Western Australia, this was just so wonderful, even though it was a bit cool!

I was telling my atc girls in the class last night that one day while getting rugged up ready to go outside to brave the elements, my hubby made a comment that sort of took me aback. There I was with 4 layers of clothing on including gloves, a scarf wrapped right up around my neck almost to my mouth, a beanie on my head and Grant looks at me and says ......"You know, you're eyes are really pretty with the rest of your face covered up like that". Well, I stood there, contemplating the statement for a few moments, then asked him "was that a compliment?"........I knew what he meant but it just came out so funny.

This next pic is the famous Creek Street, as you can see it's actually a street that IS a street! Very picturesque, Joan and I walked along the boardwalk and visited some of the shops along the way as we were heading to the Totem Heritage Centre. Joan bought a lovely silver & gold nugget ring as a birthday gift for herself from one of the stores as it was her birthday & her wedding anniversary on the same day while we were on the cruise.

There were a lot of Russian dolls in the stores too, bought a couple as gifts and one for myself!

My big purchase of this trip (besides a "little" splurge on a blue diamond ring on the ship.....but we won't talk about that!) was a mask made by one of the American Indian tribes. Now I don't know whether I've mentioned before that I just LOVE masks and have been collecting them for several years. I have masks that my folks bought me from their last Alaskan trip as well as others from Venice (they went, not me!), Bali, Thailand as well as Australian ones. I also picked up a couple in Acapulco and Costa Rica on this trip.

First, here's a pic of some masks that were in the Totem Heritage Centre....it was one thing I made sure to do, check out each and every shop that even looked like it might have had a mask or two in it. Love the scary looking dude with all the black hair!!!

These are my masks that I've collected and take pride of place in my entrance hall in my home....starting with my newest acquisition and my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE!!!! He is called "The Defender" and is 15" (38cm) in height. Bought from an authorised Indian seller, the one I really coveted was about 2-1/2 feet in length, but also cost $2,000! Nah.....

These are a couple from a previous trip to the US 25 years ago.....Idyllwild, California! Lovely place, great shops.

Next are various wooden masks from Thailand and Bali.

Love this set of metallic Comedy & Tragedy masks bought in Australia.

Next two are the Alaskan ones that my folks bought for me on a previous cruise 8 years ago. The one below those is a leather mask made by a French woman bought from the Sydney Markets years ago. To the right of that one is an enamel mask.

Next few were gifts from various people.

Last 3...first 2 from Acapulco and last one from Costa Rica, all bought this trip.

If you've managed to last the distance and read this far, then check back in the next couple of posts as I'll be putting details up about another blog giveaway that I'll be doing. Haven't done one for a while so figured it was time....stay tuned.....