Alaska- Day 5- Skagway

Our last port was an old Gold Rush mining town called Skagway.  Because of it's historical nature, Skagway was Cory's favorite stop on the cruise.  We were in port all day so we again chose a longer excursion that allowed us to see several things in the area.  We started with a train ride, then visited a suspension bridge and ended with lunch at the Jewell Gardens.

 

The train ride is the most popular thing to do in Skagway.  The train ride takes you up the mountain and allows you to see parts of Alaska that you can't see any other way.  The scenery is beautiful- rushing streams in between the valleys, waterfalls, lakes created by glaciers many years ago, and huge mountains whose sharp peaks were rounded by the glaciers moving over them.  Everyone had encouraged us to take the train ride and I'm so glad we did.  My pictures don't come close to showing the beauty that we saw that morning.

After the train ride, we got on a charter bus and went to the Yukon Suspension Bridge.  The bridge crosses over the white-water rapids of the Tutshi River in Canada.

For those of you who know me, I've always had a fear of bridges, so walking across this suspension bridge was a huge deal for me.  I'm proud that I faced my fears and did it, but I will not be volunteering to do it again any time soon!

We rode the charter bus back down the mountain as our tour guide taught us a lot about the history of Skagway and the surrounding territories, especially during the Gold Rush in the late 1800s. 

After we crossed back into the US, she stopped and let us take a picture in front of the Alaska border sign.  Again, the views were quite impressive.

Our last stop on our excursion was Jewell Gardens, an organic flower and vegetable show garden in Skagway.  They also have the only public glassblowing studio in Southeast Alaska.

After lunch in their restaurant, we went on a tour of the gardens and then got to watch two guys who were glassblowing a pitcher.   We learned that since there is often 20+ hours of daylight in Alaska, plants grow much larger than they do down in the lower 48 states because there is so much more time for photosynthesis to take place.

This is the largest cabbage I've ever seen!

After our excursion was over, we still had several hours to kill before the ship departed.  Cory had heard about an old cemetery that was a 1/2 mile walk from town and wanted to go see it.  It was a long walk but we finally made it and saw not only the cemetery, but another beautiful waterfall that was close by.  Luckily, some nice strangers (who ended up being from Whitney, TX) saw us walking back into town and offered to give us a ride.  We were so thankful for the ride because we were both really tired at this point in the day.  We enjoyed talking with them (she works with a friend of ours from church- it's such a small world!) and ended up eating dinner with them on the ship later that evening.  

While we were sad that our last day off the boat was over, we truly felt like we got to see the beauty of Alaska while we were in Skagway.  Next up... Glacier Bay National Park!

Alaska- Day 4- Juneau

Our next port, Juneau, was my favorite day.  Since we had all day to explore Juneau, we chose a much longer excursion that included a salmon bake, whale watching, and a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. 

 

We weren't sure what to expect at the salmon bake, but we were pleasantly surprised.  It was an outdoor restaurant that had a great buffet of yummy food, including fresh salmon that had been grilled on a huge outdoor open grill. 

A short, two minute walk from the eating area was a beautiful little waterfall that we enjoyed seeing.

After the salmon bake, it was time for our whale watching trip.  I had been looking forward to this part of our trip since we saw whales in Hawaii ten years ago.  I think whales are some of the most amazing creatures that God ever made and it just gives me chills to be in their presence.  It is very hit or miss whether or not you will see very many whales when you go on a whale watching tour, so you have to go into it with low expectations and then be excited if you get lucky enough to see some.

We purposely booked a tour on a smaller boat that only held 50 people and were thrilled when there were only 18 other people with us.  Our captain headed out and within minutes we found not just one, but a group of about 5-6 humpbacks, including a mother and her calf.  We learned that whales do not usually travel in groups so finding 5-6 together was unusual. 

All of a sudden, we witnessed a very rare feeding technique called bubble netting.  In order to catch a lot of fish, the whales swim in a circle and create a ring of bubbles.  The school of fish will not swim out of the bubbles so the humpbacks can wipe out an entire school of fish in one gulp.  Our captain told us that it was very rare to see this and we didn't just see it once, but a total of four times during our tour.  It was absolutely amazing!

While we were still in awe of witnessing the rare bubble netting, the humpbacks turned and swam within 20 yards of our boat.  Our captain (after freaking out a little!) informed us that they rarely come that close to the boat but told us not to worry because the whales were always aware of where the boat is and would not do anything to harm us.  (Note: the video below is not zoomed in...that is really how close we were to these amazing animals.)

The whale watching tour was by far the highlight of my trip.  Have I mentioned how amazing it was to be that close to humpback whales?!?!?  I seriously could have stayed on that boat watching them the rest of the day.  But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. 

 

Fortunately, Alaska is full of beauty and we still had one more part of our excursion to see- the Mendenhall Glacier.   This was the first of many glaciers that we would see on our trip and it was neat to start learning more about glaciers and actually see one in real life.  Did you know that glaciers look blue because the ice is so compacted that there is no oxygen remaining in the ice and all colors are absorbed except for blue? 



Our day in Juneau far surpassed all of our expectations.  It was awesome to finally see the Alaska that we came to see.  Little did we know that our next port in Skagway would be just as amazing!

UPDATE- I realized after I posted that I forgot to include one more thing that we saw in Juneau.  After we got off the boat that morning, we were waiting for our tour guide to arrive and started talking to another tour guide.  He asked us where we were from and Cory made some comment about wanting him to show us something we couldn't see in Texas.  He immediately pointed to the mountain in front of us and said. "See those two white dots in the trees?  You won't see that in Texas every day.".  We got out our binoculars and saw this:

 Two beautiful bald eagles just sitting in the branches. 

Later, during our whale watch, another bald eagle swooped down and caught a fish, right in front of our boat.  Moments later, another bald eagle flew in and started fighting him for the fish.  It was like watching a Discovery nature program but we had a front row seat!  It all happened so quickly so my pictures are not great, but the tour guy was right... this was definitely something we don't see in Texas!

Alaska- Day 3- Ketchikan

Our first port was Ketchikan, Alaska.  We were only in port for about 8 hours, but it was nice to finally be on land again.  Since it was our shortest stop, we chose an excursion that only lasted a few hours... zip-lining.  It is something we have both always wanted to try but have never had the chance.

 

Ketchikan gets up to 160 inches of rain per year (yes, you read that correctly!) so it pretty much rains at some point every.single.day.  It wasn't raining when we got off the ship, so we were hoping it would wait until after we finished our zip-lining. 

Our trip included 7 zip lines and we were able to make it through 5 of them before it started raining.  Luckily, the trees blocked a lot of the rain and we were able to stay fairly dry.  We both loved zip-lining! It was a lot of fun and I'd love to do it again one day.



At one point in the course, we had to cross a log and a rope bridge to get to the next zip line.  I was a little worried but Cory did it without any help or trouble at all.  I was so proud of him!  I guess the balance work he's been doing in physical therapy paid off!



 

 

When we got back into town, we still had a few hours before we had to be back on the ship.  We tried to walk around and let Cory see some of the historical sights, but the rain was just too cold for me so we headed back to the ship a little early.  Even with the rain, our first port was definitely a success!  We both really enjoyed zip-lining together and couldn't wait to see what the next day would bring.

Alaska- Day 1 & 2

Cory and I just returned from an incredible 7-day Alaskan cruise to celebrate our 15th anniversary.  This was definitely a bucket list trip and it was just as amazing as we had hoped.  We took so many pictures that I don't really know where to start, so I guess I'll just go day by day. 

 

After a difficult good-bye (I've never been away from my kiddos for this long!), we flew into Vancouver, Canada on Tuesday night.  We didn't get to the hotel until bedtime, but we were able to get up and walk around downtown Vancouver a little bit on Wednesday morning before we boarded the cruise ship.  From the hour or two that we walked around, Vancouver seemed like a city that I'd love to go back and visit one day.

Wednesday afternoon, we boarded the ship and started checking out our home at sea.  Our room was actually a little bigger than I had imagined but the bathroom was tiny!

Before the ship could depart, every passenger had to attend a meeting that showed you how to use your life jacket, just in case of an emergency.

After departure, we had plenty of time to explore the ship.  It was so big and definitely easy to get lost!

After dinner, we decided to attend the Movies Under the Stars.  They were showing the new Jack Reacher movie and since Cory really wanted to see it, I bundled up and went with him.  I'm not sure how I made it through the entire movie because, even with the blankets they provided, it was FREEZING outside that first night.  And raining.  I got some serious brownie points for enduring until the end.

The next day, we were at sea all day and it just happened to be our 15th anniversary.  I'm really not sure what we did all day on the ship, but that night we got all dressed up for one of the formal dinners and enjoyed a nice dinner together.  When our waiter found out it was our anniversary, he surprised us with a special dessert and a "Happy Anniversary" song (which you know I loved- ha!). 

Our room steward also surprised us with balloons and a sign on our door.  Overall, it was a great anniversary!

 

Our first two days on the ship were nice, but we were very ready to reach our first port on Friday and start seeing Alaska.