Monday, September 9, 2013

Alaska Cruise

Wayne and I were lucky enough to go on an Alaskan Cruise at the end of August. It has always been on our dream vacation list, so when his parents said they were going we were really tempted to join them. Problem was we were just starting to build the house when they booked the trip.... Well after dreaming about it for a few weeks we decided we just couldn't pass up the opportunity. Two of his brothers and their wives and his moms cousins came too. We had a wonderful time!
We flew into Seattle and took a bus out to the dock. It was the first time either of us had been to Seattle, a pretty neat place.

Our first night we explored the ship: The Celebrity Solstice. It was a pretty fancy ship: real grass on the top deck, two pools, a water feature, glass elevators, beautiful dinning rooms, a hot glass show and more.

The second day we were just cruising so we watched for wildlife, enjoyed learning about Alaska and its animals from a featured expert, went swimming and had a fancy formal dinner. Wayne tried the frog legs. They were pretty good, tasted like chicken of course!  

Our waiter said that he had a special card for us saying it was our Honeymoon and they'd made a special little cake. We tried really hard to explain it was a mistake and it wasn't really our Honeymoon,  but he insisted on bringing it to us. We had to hold our hands and blow out the candle and make a wish. We were both just chuckling...
 

The next day we were in Ketchikan, Alaska. It was a little windy and overcast but didn't rain too much. Wayne, his dad and brothers and thier wives went fishing. They were supposed to fish for halibut but ended up fishing Salmon because of the stormy weather. They each caught 3 nice ones. Wayne didn't have a camera, so I'm waiting on getting pictures from the in laws. Meanwhile Connie and I went shopping around Ketchikan, and went on a little tour.

The salmon were running up the river right through town. It was fun to watch I can't believe how they can jump and swim up these waterfalls, they are pretty strong and determined fish. 


Our guide took us to this little place where they usually see bears and we saw a couple from a distance, but it was pretty cool. 

The next morning we went up Tracy Arm and saw the South Sawyer Bay glacier. It was really pretty, and amazing how our huge ship could navigate that narrow fijord! 

Later that day we arrived in Juneau. It was a nice day, we had great weather for the whole trip! 

We went ziplining here, it was a blast! There were 8-9 ziplines and they were pretty long, one of them was almost 200 ft off the ground. My heart was pumping! But I had a lot of fun! 
 

There were also 2 rope bridges, these were more scary for me, too much time to look down and think about it ;) 

The next day we were in Skagway, Alaska. It is a pretty little frontier type town. 

Wayne and I went on an Ocean Raft Adventure. It was fun, again nice weather. We saw lots of bald eagles, harbor seals and beautiful waterfalls. 
 


That night we had another nice dinner and enjoyed relaxing and taking some pictues. We saw a whale pretty close to our ship while it was docked at Skagway and Wayne saw some more further out. It was a really fun trip, so glad we got to go. Thanks Steve and Connie for inviting us!

Fancy Baked Alaska


The last night we docked in Victoria, British Columbia for a few hours. It was a beautiful place, we went on a little tour around the city and the harbor on a Hippo bus. It drove right into the water ;)
After seven days of being pampered and stuffed with food we were glad to get back home to our family. Thanks to Angel and Lonnie and Mom and Dad for taking care of them all while we were gone!! 
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