For our 10 year anniversary 2 years late we decided to go on an Alaskan Cruise with our friends Brian and Jen who were married same day, same place and probably close to the same time as we were. We left dark and early Saturday morning to head to Seattle. The whole day went very smoothly, no problems at the airport, found our shuttle van quickly and easily, and the ship early. They let us board earlier than they said we would, food was ready and waiting and when we left there was some smooth sailing (that day anyway). We cruised the Inside Passage up to Alaska and saw some beautiful scenery, some dolphins swimming right next to the boat and some whales (mainly their tails, the splash, and the water from their blow hole) from a distance. We quickly started trying to talk whale talk, much like Dory from Finding Nemo, but the whales weren't willing to do what we asked them to do. However, for the rest of the trip you would often hear us using our whale talk on each other to get someone to do something. Turns out people understood our whale talk better than whales do. The best part about speaking whale talk on a cruise ship is that we didn't have to pay any extra to act like fools, unlike the people who paid big bucks for cruise line alcohol.
On Monday we were in Ketchikan. We walked the whole town in a couple of hours. We saw thousands and thousands of Salmon trying to fight their way up stream. We went and watched a Lumberjack show which was quite entertaining and worth the money. On the other hand we rented a little golf cart type thing, so not worth the money. We were going to go explore more around the town until after we paid the money they give us the routes we can go on....everywhere we had already walked. Oh Well.
Tuesday we went to Juneau. There we were able to see the Capitol Building, Governors Mansion, Mendenhall Glacier which was beautiful. We even held part of the Glacier and Tom ate some and tried to feed me some. We then went to this other spot and we saw another whale and saved ourselves the $150/person fee they would have charged us if we would have went on a boat tour looking for them. We then got back on the ship and Cruised through the Tracy Arm Fjord (yes, fjord not ford). This was by far our favorite part other than the freezing cold temperature outside. The water there was a beautiful emerald green, there were waterfalls everywhere and it was so narrow it was all right there to see. Once we got up closer to Sawyer Glacier inside the fjord there were too many ice chunks to go any further so we turned around and went back. But it was sooooo amazingly beautiful to behold.
Wednesday we went to Skagway. While there we went on the White Pass Rail train ride. It was very beautiful relaxing ride, unless you looked down when we were on some of the very high bridges then it wasn't quite so relaxing. We then got back on the boat and headed for Prince Rupert Canada.
Thursday morning around 5a.m. we were awakened by the rocking of the boat and some strange banging noise (large waves hitting the front of the boat). We slept (or tried too) then got up ate breakfast, couldn't handle the swaying of the boat after too long. Went back to bed and slept till noon (benefit of having an inside room pitch black all hours day/night). Every so often we would check the ship weather station. For part of the time the storm had winds up to 100 miles/hour and for a long time the waves were 18-24.7 feet high. By the time we finally got of the storm we couldn't wait to get off the ship even if it was in Prince Rupert, Canada, in yucky rainy weather and absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, to do there. After wandering around Prince Rupert finding a phone to call home, we got back on the boat for our long journey home.
Friday was a beautiful day. The sun actually shone for a while and we were able to sit out on the deck an lay out (completely covered in long pants, and sweat shirts of course). That night we played games outside and watched dolphins and whales again and enjoyed our last sunset over the ocean.
They told us Friday night we wouldn't be able to get off the ship until 8 a.m. so don't line up early. So we didn't but long before 8 a.m. they told us we had been cleared to get off the boat. Our shuttle wasn't supposed to pick us up till noon. But we lucked out, got off the boat, passed through customs, and was on our shuttle and half way to the airport by 8:00 a.m.
We had a wonderful trip had some great entertainment and some not so great entertainment but we enjoyed it all. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has given all the beauties of the earth for us to enjoy. I'm grateful for a loving husband and the time we had to actually talk and be together without being interrupted every 5 minutes. I'm grateful for 4 wonderful kids whom I missed so much and was so excited to get home early (excited enough we paid to transfer our tickets for a flight that left 5 hours earlier). And I'm super grateful for my parents and Chelsie and Robert and all the friends that helped out with our kids while we were gone. A great big THANK YOU goes to you all!!!
6 comments:
What a great vacation! Your pictures are beautiful!
Fun times! When's the next cruise? Jen says it's going to be a long time before she goes again. :)
What a great trip. Happy Anniversary!!
I loved your write up... I mixed up Skagway and the Glacier, maybe I'll fix it, maybe I won't. We too had fun with you guys. Thanks for going, and for the post vacation cookies! It's our turn next time.
Sounds like you took the exact same cruise we did. Alaska is beautiful, isn't it! SO worth going back!! Cruising is the way to go...you just have to watch out for those pricey excursions! Glad you had so much fun!
I sometimes really miss it up there, I am so glad that you two had a great time! I know I have been out of the loop, I will try to call soon. Miss you!
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