0:05

Hey adventures Welcome to the no

0:05

ordinary adventurer podcast, a

0:09

place we call home for adventure

0:09

and the conversations you want

0:12

to have. We bring you

0:12

inspiration stories from the

0:15

field and talk with adventure

0:15

travelers and industry experts

0:18

from around the world. This is a

0:18

place to fill your heart and

0:21

head with travel knowledge. Now

0:21

your host Dan Blanchard, a

0:25

lifelong Mariner traveler and

0:25

CEO of UnCruise Adventures, a

0:28

small boat adventure company

0:28

defining the UN in UnCruise.

0:32

Let's get started. like to welcome you to the

0:36

podcast today. Today we have

0:40

with us Joe Williams from

0:40

Ketchikan, Alaska. Joe is my

0:45

adopted brother is planket

0:45

native, an elder in Saxman,

0:51

Alaska. And someone I think

0:51

you'll find very intriguing. His

0:54

story is wonderful, and he's a

0:54

great guy to the travel

0:57

industry. Welcome to no ordinary

0:57

adventure. I like to introduce

1:03

you today to my good friend,

1:03

tribal brother, and brother in

1:10

heart and soul and just about

1:10

everything can be Joe Williams.

1:15

Joe, welcome. Thank you very much. I'm excited

1:16

to be here. And it's really good

1:20

to see you. You know, it's good to see you

1:21

too. It has been with COVID. And

1:24

everything. We haven't seen each

1:24

other. Well, at all really

1:28

sense. I think I saw you once in

1:28

maybe March sometime, just as

1:34

things were coming down, but I

1:34

haven't been to catch cam sets.

1:38

Man, have you been out of out of

1:38

sketch camp at all? No.

1:42

Since the COVID activity, who

1:42

stayed home literally stayed

1:48

home. We I get actually a month

1:48

of driving one tank of gas.

1:58

Well, that's the best benefit to

1:58

COVID when I use fuel.

2:04

Yeah. So we stay synchronized

2:04

stay pretty close to home. One

2:09

of the things that skipping this

2:09

is all of the things that needed

2:15

attention over the years. And

2:15

I'm fearful now because all the

2:20

honey do list is done. And not

2:20

sure what I'm going to do in the

2:25

next several months or so.

2:29

Well, knowing your lovely bride

2:29

as I do, I just can't imagine

2:35

that that list won't grow. Well,

2:35

I really enjoyed seeing you

2:39

where you're at right now. I see

2:39

you're upstairs. I think last

2:42

time I was there, it wasn't

2:42

painted out in red yet. And you

2:45

certainly didn't have all the

2:45

memorabilia and artifacts up. I

2:51

see pictures of your family

2:51

behind you tell us about that.

2:53

Yeah, I elected this place. This

2:54

section of the room primarily

2:59

because family picture my

2:59

parents and my brothers and

3:04

sisters. And then also picture

3:04

directly behind me is my wife

3:09

and I went on our wedding day.

3:09

And picture directly behind me

3:15

is my father when when he was 73

3:15

years old. Interesting to say

3:21

that because now I'm 76 and

3:21

older than my dad in that

3:26

picture. And that's an unusual

3:26

thought. I elected this part

3:31

primarily because the gas pedals

3:31

that are on the wall and it

3:36

gives you folks a good view of

3:36

who I am and what I'm all about.

3:41

Yeah, and you have a lovely home

3:41

right there and Saxman just

3:45

south of Ketchikan native

3:45

village, locally play bass,

3:51

which I've enjoyed with you many

3:51

times. Of course, I've stayed

3:54

downstairs but one of these days

3:54

I might just camp out upstairs

3:57

just so I can be around the

3:57

beautiful red. Okay, Joe?

4:00

Absolutely. Absolutely. We've

4:00

got a we've got a bed in the

4:05

wall coming out so you can sleep

4:05

on that real good.

4:10

Joe, can you tell me about you

4:10

know, a lot of folks in the

4:14

lower 48 don't even know that.

4:14

The name clinked it. Tell us a

4:20

little bit about the clinical

4:20

people and how they came to be

4:24

in SE and where it's at today.

4:28

Oftentimes, I'm asked, So where

4:28

did you click? People come from?

4:32

Did you come across the land

4:32

bridge to end up here where you

4:36

are? And my response is this?

4:36

Yeah, we could have come across

4:42

the land bridge. But you have to

4:42

know which way the footprints

4:45

were going. They're going south

4:45

or they're going north. I in

4:50

taught by my grandparents, my

4:50

parents and uncles that we have

4:56

been in this location of

4:56

Southeast Alaska since Time and

5:00

memorial, which is time of

5:00

beginning. Within our clinical

5:05

culture. In Southeast Alaska, we

5:05

have three major tribe groups.

5:09

Click at Heidi Simpson. Heidi

5:09

people now have come come up

5:14

from Canada about 500 years ago,

5:14

since the end people came from

5:20

Canada, just about 250 years

5:20

ago. And so, the properties of

5:27

what was given to me by the

5:27

clicky people, to the hydro

5:31

folks and to, to the cmcm,

5:31

folks, by the clicker, people,

5:38

within a critical culture, we

5:38

have two tribes, Eagle and

5:41

Raven, you one or the other. And

5:41

then we have clans which is the

5:46

families and their total 33

5:46

clans with significant culture.

5:52

In my grandfather's generation,

5:52

I would be able to say, Kokesh,

5:58

myself, and those that heard me

5:58

say this, they would know who my

6:02

mother is my grandmother, my

6:02

uncle, where I live, when I was

6:07

born. Folks could pretty amazed

6:07

by that. But you have to keep in

6:12

mind, everything we did was

6:12

fertile, not putting down

6:17

today's world. And you've given

6:17

me a piece of paper from it. I

6:20

know who your mother is, who

6:20

your father is, when you were

6:24

born, and where you were born.

6:24

That's called a birth

6:27

certificate. Some people lose

6:27

her birth certificates. And if

6:32

you get rid of them were born.

6:32

In a culture that isn't just the

6:37

way it was, some of your The

6:37

rest will come on you on a tour.

6:41

I've heard that appropriate. You've just faded

6:43

our breath. Joe, you're just

6:46

putting that out there force

6:46

excited to learn more? Well,

6:49

tell me Joe, um, you know, you

6:49

and I have go way back. But I'm

6:54

interested to go back even

6:54

further. I mean, how did Joe

6:58

Williams get to be the man that

6:58

he is today? What what happened

7:01

in those early years and

7:01

Ketchikan that turns you not

7:06

only to the cultural leader, you

7:06

are but the spiritual leader.

7:12

And and just Well, I'll say the

7:12

most important to me, just

7:16

heartfelt friend and brother, early on in person and the baby

7:18

the family, that should say a

7:22

lot. Okay, I have always said, I

7:22

made the statement, that I was

7:28

the kind of little boy that

7:28

every mother and father prayed

7:31

and dreamed about having. Now,

7:31

if you spoke to my older sister,

7:36

she would say how untrue that

7:36

was. So Cindy grew up in a

7:43

loving, nurtured home with a lot

7:43

of directions from my older

7:48

siblings. earlier days, it was

7:48

not culturally appropriate to

7:52

speak about her klinkt culture

7:52

when I was growing up. And that

7:57

changed. Era was right around

7:57

late 60s, mid late 60s, was when

8:05

it was recognized that we're

8:05

losing our culture, losing our

8:10

heritage. And so truly made an

8:10

exerted effort to turn that

8:15

around. I can safely say today's

8:15

world, that our children, my

8:21

grandchildren, know more about

8:21

our cricket culture than I did

8:25

when I was your age, because I

8:25

didn't start learning what

8:29

clinker culture till I was 3536

8:29

years of age. So it was a

8:37

totally new immersion project

8:37

for me, and I'm still doing that

8:42

today. What little I come to

8:42

know and pass it on to my

8:47

children. You never really know

8:47

how much you know until people

8:52

start asking you questions. And

8:52

early on in my business where

8:57

the eagle walks would receive

8:57

questions of which I absolutely

9:02

didn't know the answer to. But I

9:02

certainly did my research,

9:06

asking elders much senior me so

9:06

I can truly give her an

9:10

appropriate answer. Because I

9:10

fitted industry firmly believe I

9:18

was always telling a true story.

9:18

I tell my nephews now who are

9:25

helping with you walk into a

9:25

business Tokay to say, I don't

9:31

know. What's most importantly,

9:31

about the I don't know is then

9:35

to find out what the proper

9:35

response is to that. A lot of

9:40

the leadership is within the

9:40

leadership was because my father

9:45

was involved in the Alaska

9:45

Native brotherhood, earlier

9:49

years. He was the mayor of a

9:49

small village of Saxman for 38

9:53

years before he retired, and so

9:53

just emulated as much as I

9:58

remember from that It carried

9:58

over to, to where I'm at today

10:04

to learn and teach the songs of

10:04

which I was taught from, from my

10:09

parents, grandparents. It was

10:09

really, truly a different time

10:15

than, than it is in today's

10:15

world. Hiding, I enjoyed being

10:20

Vinny young child, I enjoyed

10:20

being a teenager, I enjoyed

10:24

being a younger adult. And what

10:24

cruelly exploded for me was when

10:29

it was okay to learn butter

10:29

clinking culture, I look forward

10:34

every summer to the visitors,

10:34

because they remind me of, of

10:39

fifth and sixth graders that are

10:39

hungry for information about

10:44

extinct culture. That the more

10:44

questions is, if it's asked, the

10:50

easier it is, for me, to give

10:50

her a good tour, I always

10:54

welcome questions from from our

10:54

visitors. So

10:58

Well, Joe, one of the things I

10:58

remember from you, and you and I

11:03

first met sometime in the

11:03

probably in the around 88, or

11:08

89, someplace in there. And, you

11:08

know, I was the captain of a

11:11

boat called the sheltered seas,

11:11

I remember coming to catch cam,

11:14

looking first for somebody to

11:14

get some color and, and I met

11:18

this guy, Joe Williams. And, of

11:18

course, we are a lot younger men

11:22

at that time, Joe. But, you

11:22

know, I, one of the things that

11:26

intrigued me about you from day

11:26

one is you not only share the

11:31

story, but you're a prankster,

11:31

and you're always smiling. And

11:36

somehow you tell a story that

11:36

just puts a smile and laughter

11:40

in on people's face. I mean,

11:40

where did that come from? How

11:43

did you get to be this wonderful

11:43

man of knowledge of culture, but

11:48

yet, just put that out there in

11:48

such an easy way for people to

11:52

understand and smile about all the years of giving, giving

11:54

cultural lectures. And the

12:00

clinker culture. What I've

12:00

learned from those earlier

12:04

years, is that lecturing can be

12:04

really dry. If you don't throw a

12:09

joke or two in there. Usually

12:09

when he people are engaged, and

12:14

the follow the story, follow the

12:14

joke, and then they burst out

12:17

laughing, that wakes up the

12:17

person who's sleeping and say,

12:22

what was that? What did I miss?

12:22

So that keeps your attention.

12:27

And I've learned to include my

12:27

species or give politically, and

12:34

I just have a lot of fun

12:34

watching the reaction of the

12:37

folks who hear the joke for the

12:37

very first time.

12:41

Well, amen to that. I feel the

12:41

same way. And I have heard you

12:45

speak probably hundreds of times

12:45

over the years, both as a part

12:50

of your own business where the

12:50

eagle walks but also in

12:53

political and industry events.

12:53

And I always appreciate that you

12:58

bring humor to that table. Joe,

12:58

it's been a wonderful thing. So

13:03

tell me from from your

13:03

viewpoint, where where is

13:08

cultural tourism going? How are

13:08

you seeing it catch? Can is

13:12

that? Is that something that is

13:12

growing? Is it something you

13:16

want? I mean, how do you view

13:16

this idea of cultural tourism?

13:20

Actually, cultural tourism is

13:20

taking off quite a bit this,

13:25

when I initially started,

13:25

started the walking tours, I was

13:29

probably the only one for 1520

13:29

years comfortably, or the

13:35

familiar hat with eagle feather

13:35

in which brown hat. I use that

13:41

primarily because we have a

13:41

group of 15 people and they need

13:45

to follow, it's easy to see it

13:45

go further follow the eagle

13:49

feather. And when I when I have

13:49

private tours, I just tell the

13:54

folks when you get off the ship.

13:54

Look for me, I'm wearing brown

13:57

hat with eagle feather in

13:57

today's world. There's a lot

14:01

more folks that are giving

14:01

tours, cultural tours, private

14:07

tours, that are viewed in a

14:07

personal car, and others that

14:13

are viewed that actually had

14:13

purchased in 12 passenger

14:17

vehicles, those end up to be

14:17

private tours or a group of

14:23

eight people. And then if

14:23

they're able to, to view a lot

14:28

of other other things within the

14:28

watch catch can has as to

14:33

present. I'm not sure how in

14:33

depth, the cultural aspect of

14:38

those tools are but I certainly

14:38

in my tour, I cover all as much

14:44

as I can within the allotted

14:44

time given. So used to my tour

14:50

last 90 minutes. Keep in mind

14:50

when I started out I often think

14:56

about what did I say all during

14:56

that time? tours that I did for

15:03

Alaska sightseeing. Years ago,

15:03

when we initially started out

15:09

the 90s in my tours were two,

15:09

two and a half hours. Sometimes.

15:15

I remember this one time, it was

15:15

pouring down rain in September,

15:20

blowing probably 3040 miles an

15:20

hour. And I just got a group

15:24

together, there were 28 of us.

15:24

And I said, if you're too afraid

15:29

to get wet, you just as well get

15:29

back on board ship, because

15:32

we're gonna get wet. We did two

15:32

and a half hours in the all

15:39

stayed with me the entire time,

15:39

I was really blessed and pleased

15:45

about that. I've now just

15:45

learned to speak faster. As a

15:51

result, the tune of hours, went

15:51

down to 90 minutes, covered the

15:56

same amount. Just Just speak

15:56

faster.

16:00

Well, I remember Joe one time I

16:00

invited you not that many years

16:04

ago, maybe eight or 10 years

16:04

ago, you came down to Seattle,

16:08

and I came down to Seattle, and

16:08

we met and you helped him

16:11

christening the SS legacy. Oh,

16:11

gosh. I remember, as we were

16:17

getting together before the

16:17

ceremony, I said, Hey, Joe, this

16:20

is going to be like, you know,

16:20

just a quick five minutes, kind

16:23

of blessing and this guy. And

16:23

you looked at me and you said

16:28

Dan Blanchard clink at like me

16:28

cannot speak for five minutes.

16:34

And I think you carried on for a

16:34

half an hour, 45 minutes. And it

16:37

was superb I my staff. That's very true. You give a

16:39

clinic and a microphone and an

16:42

opportunity to speak to 100 or

16:42

more people. You're in for a

16:46

long, long haul. It was a wonderful, wonderful

16:48

time of trading gifts and a

16:53

little bit of one upsmanship on

16:53

your part. As I remember, I

16:57

still have a really wonderful

16:57

drum that you gave me that day.

16:59

Oh, yeah, thank you. But Joe

16:59

kind of moving along. You know,

17:03

I one of the things that

17:03

fascinates me about my brother,

17:07

Joe Williams is not only the

17:07

cultural side that he has

17:11

learned and your abilities, a

17:11

storyteller and just your love

17:15

of people. But you also got

17:15

involved politically, some years

17:20

ago now both in Sacramento and

17:20

catch can and with within the

17:24

Native group organizations are

17:24

what causes a guy who just has

17:28

this love for life, and has

17:28

always got a smile on his face

17:33

to get involved in politics. Well, following in my mother and

17:36

father's footsteps, they were

17:40

involved in politics earlier

17:40

days, to Alaska new brotherhood,

17:43

as I stated. And then my father,

17:43

as I mentioned earlier, is the

17:48

mayor of Saxman, 38 years, it's

17:48

pretty hard not to get involved

17:53

if your father's involved. And

17:53

those days, and meetings were

17:57

held in our living room in my

17:57

parents home because there was

18:02

no public facility and Saxman to

18:02

hold the meeting. So that's we

18:07

just listened to following their

18:07

footsteps and the been in the

18:13

leadership of of Alaskan the

18:13

brotherhood. I became the local

18:18

president when I was 16 years of

18:18

age, still involved in the

18:22

Alaskan two brothers 1015 today.

18:22

So as far as the city of Saxman

18:27

is concerned, I was on the city

18:27

council for 12 years. Mayor for

18:32

five years. One of the things

18:32

when you do something, and you

18:38

got to follow through. And that

18:38

one thing that I did is that

18:43

attended Bureau meeting and

18:43

addressed the mayor, Mayor, two

18:51

or one week before

18:51

unfortunately, driving while he

18:56

was intoxicated, front page,

18:56

Ketchikan Daily News. And so I

19:02

addressed the mayor at the

19:02

meeting and said, I asked him to

19:08

resign. Because if you don't

19:08

resign, you know you are telling

19:13

our children that it's okay to

19:13

do what you did. He said I'm not

19:19

going to resign. So then I

19:19

adjust it to the assembly

19:23

members I said, then you have a

19:23

responsibility to to remove him

19:28

from office. They didn't because

19:28

it was actually about formance

19:32

before election. So then when

19:32

you open your mouth, you better

19:36

step up to the plate. I got

19:36

talked into running for mayor

19:40

and it was surprising to me that

19:40

I got elected. So I was the

19:46

Ketchikan gateway borough mayor

19:46

for three years and and that was

19:50

good. I felt my heart and mind.

19:50

That was good leadership. That

19:55

was a good exposure. But really,

19:55

the need for Joe Williams is in

20:01

Saxman. So that's what I've been

20:01

doing since?

20:05

Well, it's a it's certainly a

20:05

wide array of very strong

20:12

efforts that you've had across

20:12

the both political venues and in

20:18

the industry of travel and

20:18

guests. And one of the things I

20:21

know about you, Joe, is you're

20:21

all you are all heart and soul,

20:25

and you are the most ethical

20:25

moral man I have ever met. And,

20:30

of course, I like to add the

20:30

laughter and you just always

20:33

make me happy, which Which

20:33

reminds me, I received call now,

20:37

probably six years ago or so. It

20:37

was my my friend, Joe Williams.

20:42

On the other end of the line, he

20:42

said, Dan, I want you to come to

20:48

a test can to a ceremony, and I

20:48

want to adopt you as my tribal

20:52

brother. And of course I was I

20:52

to this day, I'm still I'm

20:57

getting goosebumps right now,

20:57

Joe? You know, I mean, that is

21:01

such a an unbelievable honor.

21:01

You know, how am I worthy is

21:06

what I think I've shared with

21:06

you many times. But from your

21:10

standpoint, share, share that

21:10

story about you know how this

21:13

all happened with you and me and

21:13

what happened in your heart to

21:17

make that something's so

21:17

wonderfully connected between

21:22

you and I, please, no, you're the first

21:23

person that I've adopted ever. I

21:28

say that with great pride,

21:28

because oftentimes, people adopt

21:34

other non natives just on the

21:34

whim, just because it felt good

21:38

at that time. And for me, it

21:38

took nearly 10 years, for me to

21:44

get to that point. And seeing

21:44

that, Dan Blanchard is who he

21:50

says he is, and he doesn't by

21:50

his actions, my mother has

21:55

always said, Action speaks

21:55

louder than words. And by your

22:01

actions, it's your desire to

22:01

share this great community of

22:06

Southeast Alaska. It isn't just

22:06

that you assign someone to do

22:11

it, you jump in there, and you

22:11

do it. And to me, to me, that's

22:17

the kind of brother that I want

22:17

in my life. And so that where he

22:23

takes great pride and joy in

22:23

sharing query, I look at this

22:28

point, my part of Alaska, and

22:28

I'm certainly you know, more

22:33

about our clicky culture, and

22:33

have a better have an

22:37

understanding of how our click

22:37

through culture works more than

22:42

a lot of clinical people.

22:42

Because of that separation took

22:47

place back in the early 30s, and

22:47

40s, and some clickers who live

22:52

outside the state of Alaska, or

22:52

point south. You know more about

22:58

our culture than they do. And

22:58

you share it with pride to me.

23:04

Like I said, Action speaks

23:04

louder than words by your

23:08

actions. I wanted to be my

23:08

president. Christ. I don't think

23:14

I've ever shared that with you.

23:14

I know those words

23:17

you have it. So I'll share a

23:17

story along that line a little

23:21

bit came a couple years later,

23:21

maybe a year and a half later.

23:27

And as you know, we have

23:27

celebration in Juneau. Every

23:30

June or every other June. I

23:30

missed it the first year that

23:34

after I was adopted, but the

23:34

second year, right. I had my

23:38

beautiful robe that Suzy made up

23:38

on my wall I remember seen it

23:43

and I placed the journal and I

23:43

had it up on the wall there is a

23:46

piece of just thanks and art,

23:46

but I hadn't actually other than

23:52

when I was at family events that

23:52

you and I have had I hadn't

23:56

worked it out in public and you

23:56

always encouraged me to but I

24:00

just was up until that point I

24:00

had this this kind of like why

24:03

am I worthy of this I just felt

24:03

it was so humbled I just felt

24:08

like I couldn't wear it. And but

24:08

then it celebration a year and a

24:13

half later after receiving the

24:13

blanket from yourself and Susie.

24:19

I worked for the first time at

24:19

Publix. I remember wearing it

24:23

and and they're you know, I'm

24:23

it's white guy, right? But but

24:27

there was total acceptance. I

24:27

even met some of my family from

24:31

the killer whale clan, killer

24:31

whale house, which I belong to

24:35

through you. And it was one of

24:35

the most phenomenal moments and

24:41

since then I've learned the

24:41

ropes are several times as well.

24:44

In fact, even when we went out

24:44

to Cape pox, what year year and

24:48

a half ago or so, where our good

24:48

friends Rooney was was adopted.

24:52

It means a lot to me to this

24:52

day, Joe. And that can tell you

24:57

now that I'm really comfortable

24:57

wearing one Are the road. So

25:01

what what's what's the future

25:01

for Joe and Susie? What do you

25:05

guys dream about? Post COVID?

25:05

Yeah,

25:10

one of the things that we want

25:10

to be able to do real soon after

25:15

is activity of present day to be

25:15

able to visit her grandchildren.

25:22

And this year, I believe it will

25:22

be Susie's last year to be

25:29

employed. So will give us

25:29

additional freedom to be able to

25:33

travel about, I'm praying that I

25:33

have a lot of good summers to

25:38

continue with the with the tour

25:38

business, and then have the

25:44

winter to enjoy that. That's on

25:44

our heart and mind. We've always

25:51

wanted to drive and visit folks

25:51

who have come to our part of the

25:57

country and said when you're in

25:57

Kansas City, or when you're in

26:02

when you're in Tennessee Lucas

26:02

happen. So this kind of thing.

26:05

So we thought of perhaps taking

26:05

the train going across country,

26:11

or just driving. There's numbers

26:11

of folks that would be able to

26:16

visit doing that. My preference

26:16

would be to drive in. So driving

26:22

between nine and three o'clock

26:22

in the afternoon, will take some

26:27

time to get across country. And

26:27

that's okay.

26:30

That is okay. Yeah, yeah. Well,

26:30

that's, uh, that sounds like a

26:35

really fun idea. And, of course,

26:35

we're looking forward to

26:40

hopefully a season coming up

26:40

here and in April, May in

26:44

Alaska. I am curious. So Joe,

26:44

you, you walk a lot on your

26:50

tours. I mean, how many more

26:50

miles a week do you normally get

26:54

actually, when tourism is truly underway,

26:57

I do three days a week, 10 miles

27:03

a day, good for you. And three

27:03

off days, they do five miles a

27:09

day with the training or not? I

27:09

do that, how I shared with folks

27:15

that and you're the reason I'm

27:15

in good shape. Because with like

27:22

I said we'd like to or not, I

27:22

have to walk

27:24

out that's always been quite a

27:24

motivator for me. Because it's

27:29

now been about five years ago, I

27:29

started giving guest walks in

27:34

judo for guests that are going

27:34

on our boat. And I would tour

27:38

them around town not I took the

27:38

tips on how you did a bit

27:42

different content more of a

27:42

history tour. And of course,

27:46

every time I finish up and it's

27:46

the boats going to catch Kanye,

27:50

I basically say, you know, make

27:50

sure to look up Joe Williams and

27:53

we just kick him in the shin for

27:53

me. Just because I'm sure that

27:59

that's happened, I gotta believe

27:59

it's happened. Those are good

28:03

things. And I, you know, look at

28:03

you as a mentor in life and a

28:07

friend or brother. I remember

28:07

thinking about it. When I first

28:12

went on when you're walking

28:12

tours, I thought you know what

28:15

kind of his life is progressing

28:15

on and I don't maybe don't have

28:18

as much daily responsibility, I

28:18

want to get to a point like Joe

28:22

and be able to do these blocking

28:22

to me, I was able to start them

28:25

up and still do them a little

28:25

bit. We'll see how that holds up

28:28

post COVID. Report, Joe.

28:32

I remember one year when I

28:32

initially started out in this

28:36

business, and I was doing

28:36

lectures for cruise West at that

28:40

time, when in the morning, when

28:40

the evening and had to others to

28:46

do a press my walking tours. And

28:46

I figured it out. It's about

28:50

close to 10 hours of continuous

28:50

talking.

28:55

Well, Joe, as we're starting to

28:55

wrap up here, you've shared a

29:00

lot about you know what you what

29:00

you hope to do get them out on

29:03

the road and a car and such when

29:03

you're thinking of those travels

29:07

in your own personal travels, in

29:07

the future. And in the past. Are

29:12

there any any travel stories

29:12

that you can share with our

29:15

group of travelers about just

29:15

what what hit home for Joe

29:20

Williams, one of the big things for us, my

29:21

wife and I was when we were

29:25

blessed with the opportunity to

29:25

go to Hawaii and do unchoose

29:31

tour there. I've been to Hawaii

29:31

and many times. And I've seen

29:34

more of Hawaii in their cruise

29:34

than it did so many times

29:39

before. And I appreciated that

29:39

because we're able to views the

29:47

earlier day settlement of

29:47

Hawaiian islands but also Biggie

29:51

was being able to view the

29:51

whales. That was phenomenal. A

29:57

phenomenal show. Five, six six

29:57

hours of seeing these whales in

30:02

the water huge coming across our

30:02

bow. The meeting just worked out

30:08

real well for them, we were able

30:08

to view that he is that

30:12

particular Cruise was when the

30:12

captain said, the first thing.

30:17

He pulled out a letter and said,

30:17

This is the letter you got from

30:22

me to tell you how, what we're

30:22

going to do it, crumbled it all

30:27

up and threw it in the

30:27

wastepaper basket. He said, now

30:30

that you're here, we're going to

30:30

do what you want to do. Really

30:33

interesting part about that was

30:33

this. You're a couple of college

30:36

boys on board. And one of the

30:36

college boys. I think it was the

30:41

third, third day or so. And you

30:41

know, it's absolutely beautiful

30:45

day, and I don't know where

30:45

we're going. But the ocean was

30:50

calm. At four degrees. He said,

30:50

Wouldn't it be nice if we just

30:54

stopped and went swimming? 10

30:54

minutes later, we stopped. And

30:59

when swimming, and that was the

30:59

captain living up to his word.

31:04

We're going to do what you want

31:04

to do. The other really

31:08

interesting part that I really

31:08

had a lot of fun and, and my

31:12

wife did as well as that was,

31:12

when we did our 45th wedding

31:17

anniversary. We went to Hoonah.

31:21

Remember that? Well, Joe, did you read time? That was what's in

31:24

Hoonah? Who takes out question

31:29

was asked me who takes her wife

31:29

to cooler Alaska on their 45th

31:35

wedding anniversary? Yeah, I

31:35

did. And the reason I wanted to

31:40

go there was I wanted to

31:40

experience the world in the

31:45

world's longest supply. I really

31:45

wanted to do that. But in rope,

31:50

we got to see whales. Oh, gosh,

31:50

it was so many whales, once we

31:56

got to Hoonah. And we're

31:56

underway to go to ziplining 45

32:01

minute drive to get up to the

32:01

top of the mountain, six minutes

32:05

to get down. That was such an

32:05

invigorating time. The final one

32:09

was for me was when my son Joe,

32:09

who is in the yachting business,

32:15

had his yacht, Barcelona, Spain.

32:15

He bought me a ticket and he

32:20

said, when when can you depart?

32:20

I told him the date. When can

32:25

you return? I said, I really

32:25

gotta be back by the 21st of

32:30

October. And I could leave

32:30

unanswered. I'm thinking two

32:35

weeks. He was thinking the

32:35

entire time. So we didn't we

32:40

take the Barcelona that that was

32:40

such a great trip. Being able to

32:47

view this cathedral that had

32:47

been building for good how many

32:52

years and it's supposed to be

32:52

done 2021 been able to do to all

32:59

the touring that we were able to

32:59

at the time, and having my

33:03

grandson with me. That was a

33:03

truly memorable event. We went

33:08

to Italy to get the road Rome

33:08

thing. And that was a great

33:14

time. While jell O's are great travel

33:15

experiences, and I will just

33:18

comment on one of them. And you

33:18

know what I'm going to talk

33:21

about, I remember so well

33:21

harassing you heavily about why

33:26

you took Suzy to Hoonah rather

33:26

than Florida or California or

33:30

white. And, and of course you

33:30

came back with wonderful

33:34

retorts. And for the next two

33:34

years about once every three

33:38

months, you sent me some little

33:38

tiny piece of memorabilia from

33:43

Hoonah. Alaska. Just in a white

33:43

envelope doesn't say who it's

33:47

from it but you did that

33:47

religiously to Shay, my brother.

33:55

Well, Joe, you you have a

33:55

wonderful business in Ketchikan

33:58

and of course, folks with

33:58

UnCruise Adventures Good to see

34:02

you on the trips and such but

34:02

how can people best reach you?

34:06

Should they be coming to catch

34:06

can and looking for a way to see

34:10

the town and surroundings that

34:10

are much more meaningful man,

34:13

I have always told people who've

34:13

taken my walk into a cage can 90

34:18

minutes you will know more about

34:18

Ketchikan and a lot of local

34:22

people. That's very true because

34:22

I've had many local people take

34:26

a tour and said I didn't know

34:26

half didn't know half the stuff

34:29

that you shared. So it's not

34:29

surprising to me. The best way

34:34

to get ahold of me is by my

34:34

phone. It's 907-254-0134 and

34:41

that's probably the best way.

34:41

The other would be my email JC W

34:47

and sons. It's JC W AMD

34:47

[email protected]

34:56

Well, I always love that where

34:56

the ego walks There's a

35:00

wonderful business headed by

35:00

this wonderful man and brother

35:03

of mine, Joe Williams. Well,

35:03

thank you very much, Joe. It's

35:07

been absolutely wonderful seeing

35:07

you my brother. I hope that that

35:11

that not too long passes before

35:11

we step across the water and

35:15

have a chance to join again,

35:15

man, man looking forward to it.

35:19

Me too. Me too. And please give

35:19

Susie and the family a hug for

35:23

me and look forward to the day

35:23

we can reunite.

35:27

Cheese. Thank you.

35:31

Thanks for listening to no

35:31

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