Our lovely ship
For awhile, my family has talked about going to Alaska. After much dreaming, hoping, and saving, we finally did it! We cruised to Alaska with my parents and brother. Cruising was a first for them, which proved to be interesting! But a great time was had by all. Here is a day by day recap of our trip. (I promise not all future blogs will be this long, but it was a long trip to cover!)
Day 1 - Matt stays home to lock up the house (as usual) and Andrea puts in a half day of work (also typical). I leave work early, and once I am home, we head over to my parents, and discover that Dad has yet to pack...apparently he doesn't feel like it. While the rest of the family convinces him that he needs more than a pair of shorts for this trip it turns out my luggage was overweight, and 30 minutes were spent rearranging clothes so that I could bring everything with me! Eventually, we made it to our first stop...In-N-Out! Ate this meal for the last time for the next 10 days (oh the horror!) and as we left...we were followed out of the restaurant by an employee who realized I forgot my purse! Thank God for her honesty! I seriously haven't left my purse somewhere like that since I was 10...I must have been just a little excited! We eventually made it to the airport, survived switching flights, and arrived in Seattle. After hauling all of our luggage for what seemed like 2 miles, we made it to the Light Rail...Seattle's fantastic public transportation service which I highly recommend! After an hour, we made it downtown Seattle, and I with my expert cab snatching abilities, flagged down 2 taxis at the same time, which was just what we needed with 5 of us and nearly 2 weeks' worth of luggage (This also turned out to be my mom's first cab ride!) and we held on for dear life for the next mile and a half! We checked into our beautiful hotel a little before midnight and finally got a little bit of rest before our big adventure began!
I don't want to pack!
Day 2 - My Dad had received one of those patches you put behind your ear for motion sickness and today was his first day wearing it. Let's just say that while he was with us physically, he was definitely absent...he was in a walking coma all day. We strolled on down to Pike's Market and grabbed some breakfast before heading over to the ship. Unfortunately, all of the shops at the market were closed, but breakfast was delicious and we had a gorgeous view! After picking up our things from the hotel, we headed on down to the docks to board the ship! The rest of the day was spent exploring our new home for the next week and making sure that Dad didn't fall overboard in his dug-induced stupor.
Our view from breakfast in Seattle
Day 3 - First full day out at sea and boy was it a rough one! Mom and Matt spent the day sick and mostly in bed. The water was so unbelievably rough, I don't even know how to describe it. While it didn't make me sick, I was so annoyed by the constant moving by the end of day. It was almost like earthquakes all day long. I went running on the track at the top of the ship and it was the weirdest sensation! As I would pick up one foot, it would take forever for me to find the ground again since the ship was dipping inside a wave every time. While I only ran 2 miles, my legs ended up being so sore just from trying to maintain my balance up there!
Seattle skyline as we leave for our adventure
Day 4 - LAND!! We finally got back on land today...Praise the Lord! We ported first in Juneau...the lovely capital of Alaska, population, about 35,000! Nick, Matt, and I went on a bike ride that took us up to Mendenhall Glacier and through some beautiful forests in the area. I was a little shaky at first on the bike, but picked it up fast enough to enjoy the 9 mile ride. Mom and Dad took the tramway up to the top of Mt. Roberts and enjoyed some beautiful scenery from way up there! Everything was beautiful, but this land-locked stop wasn't my favorite. The ship really pushes going to their diamond stores in port and so there wasn't a lot of local merchandise to purchase, and while this place was beautiful and we had great weather, we didn't really feel like we were somewhere unique and special.
Mendenhall Glacier from the bike ride
Eagles in flight
Day 5 - Skagway! I loved this sleepy little town, winter population, 750, summer population, 1,500! This is what I'm taking about! The family went horseback riding here which was beautiful and then strolled through down town for a bit where Nick ate a reindeer sausage and consequently got sick, almost immediately. He spent the rest of the day resting on the ship, while, Mom, Dad, Matt, and I went for a hike up to Reid Falls through the old cemetery. This was beautiful! We then enjoyed some lovely snacks from the Skagway Brewing Co. We also got some great take home items here...Christmas ornament made from glacier silt, hand made glass earrings from a local artist, and some glasses from the brewing company! My Dad also took this opportunity to go swimming in Dewey Lake which rang in at about a warm 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Crazy guy! At least he got to live out his dream of swimming in Alaska!
They saved the biggest horses for us
Reid Falls
Skagway, Alaska
Day 6 - Back at Sea! Today we went through the Tracey Arm Fjord and it was absolutely breathtaking!! In the back of the Fjord is the Sawyer Glacier and this one was much more impressive then the first one we saw. It's completely untouched and pure out in the middle of nowhere and reachable only by boat. As we cruised our way back into the Fjord, we saw ice bergs and seals galore! We even saw an iceberg covered in blood where someone had recently enjoyed breakfast there! And everywhere you look, there are waterfalls...some that must be a few hundred feet long! While we were back near the glacier, you could hear the cracking and even see pieces of it just fall off and into the ocean, it was a truly phenomenal experience!
Waterfalls, waterfalls, everywhere!
Kickin' it on an iceberg
Sawyer Glacier in the Tracey Arm Fjord - AMAZING!!
Day 7 - Victoria, British Columbia! Once we landed in Canada, we decided that we were going to find a whale watching tour. While we had seen a few whales in the distance from our cruise ship, we hadn't seen as much as we were hoping for...it really was just a little spouting here, the back of some monstrous sea creature there...and even though we didn't want to complain, we were all a little disappointed in the lack of wild life seen on this trip. The first few stops produced either canceled or completely full trips...this was not a good sign. And then...we went into the most helpful place...their trips were all booked for the day, but they called around and they found a tour leaving early enough in the day for us that could accommodate 6 people! We walked around the town some while waiting, and then the time came...we suited up in our flotation suits and were promised that no one had ever fallen out. We anxiously awaited for our raft with a motor to arrive and then we headed out to sea! We had the best guide ever! The ride was rough, but such a blast, we saw some porpoises, and a few other animals and were enjoying ourselves so far. And then we slowed down...and we knew it was coming...our first orca sighting! There it was...a killer whale...and it wasn't Shamu! WOW! And then we saw another! And another! Oh my goodness....they were everywhere! One would poke his head out of the water and we would all scream with delight! And then another would slap his tail on the water and we would get even more giddy! And then they started breaching...all over the place! And then....it happened....our guide cut the motor...he knew it was coming before we did....one of those curious creatures broke off from the pod...it was headed in our direction...and as we sat there floating out on the ocean water, we could only hope for what was about to happen...and it did! It went right under our boat!!!! We literally could have stuck my water in the hand and touched this majestic creature! We were silenced with amazement!! We spent a good hour or so following this pod, letting them cross in front of us, watching them play and communicate with one another. We were more than satisfied! We saw the whales we had hoped for in the best possible way! (Only trouble was, these suckers were hard to catch on camera!)
Canadian Government
Wale sighting!
Suit up!
Our raft/boat
My new Canadian friend...he loved me!
Day 8 - We had to disembark today. While it was sad to leave the ship and all the fun we had, it was nice to be on solid ground again! The night before we had to say goodbye to our wonderful waiters, Joseph and Clarel, and all of the wonderful food they had served us. We had to say goodbye to Shirley our room attendant and our towel animals and room service. We had to say goodbye to the open water, icebergs, waterfalls, wild critters, and breathtaking, postcard worthy scenery. We had to say goodbye to vacation....well, almost....
Our assistant waiter, Clarel...he LOVED me and my mom!
I love towel animals!
We had one last chance to do a little Seattle exploring. We checked out Pike's Market (when it was actually open), saw the Experience Music Project, and watched the US Opening World Cup at a little place down an alley with a few hundred of the most enthusiastic fans! It was a great game and we enjoyed sharing it with all of our new found friends! After which, we made a few last purchases, packed up our stuff, and started the long journey home. A fantastic vacation in all!
