Alaska

The "Great One"

Pete and I went on an Alaskan cruise just the two of us a couple weeks ago. It was so nice to get away just the two of us, it has been almost 8 years since the last time we did. We started out doing a 4-day land tour. We stayed two nights a the Mt McKinley Princess Lodge, where this first picture was taken. We had a gorgeous sunny day and were repeatedly told we were very lucky to get to see "the mountain" at all as most days it is socked in with clouds. On this same day we went into the nearby town of Talkeetna (the TV show Northern Exposure was modeled after it), did a little shopping, took a river tour, then we signed up for a flight around Mt. McKinley with a glacier landing. Pete was like a little kid he was so excited, and I have to admit although I've never flown in that small of a plane before it was really cool and not scary at all.

The view of the mountain and a huge glacier from the air.

On the glacier. (If I look cold it is because I was!)

The next day we stayed at the Denali Princess Lodge just outside of Denali National Park & Preserve. We caught this picture of a cow moose on the tour through the park. We had also seen a grizzly bear on our bus ride to the lodge but weren't able to get a picture of it. Our luck ran out as it rained all day.

The last day of our land tour was spent on a dome-top train from Denali to the port in Whittier. We were driving through some gorgeous wild country, unfortunately due to the movement most of the pictures we took were blurry. We saw some bald eagles and Dall sheep. We got off the train and onto the cruise ship.

Our first day was at sea while sailing through College Fjord, we did a few things onboard (Bingo, movie "Star Trek") but mostly relaxed and slept alot (3 hour nap!). The next day was also at sea sailing into Glacier Bay (Marjorie Glacier pictured below). We saw a humpback whale and a few seals out in the water. We mostly hung out in our room reading or watching TV or on the balcony viewing the glaciers. (This vacation was all about relaxing and being together.)

Day 3 we were in port in Skagway. We did some shopping and site-seeing down the old-time main street, still with boardwalks. We then went back to the ship for lunch and decided to stay, Pete napped while I read. Day 4 we were in Juneau. We did a little shopping then signed up for a tour to Mendenhall Glacier and a tram pass. Back on board we both took a nap (again). Day 5 was in Ketchikan. We again did a little shopping and site-seeing around town. The weather was nice at first but then it started to rain (it is the rainiest town in Alaska) so we headed back to the ship, and relaxed in our room for awhile. The next day was at sea so we slept in and spent all morning in bed watching a movie (these are the things you cannot do with kids either on vacation or at home). We finally got ready and did a few things onboard (Bingo again, eating of course). The weather was cool but not raining so we spent some time on the balcony and saw a whole bunch of dolphins, a couple sea otters, a few bald eagles, and even a killer whale! Our last day was spent getting off the ship, driving on a bus from Vancouver, BC to Seattle, WA, and then spending 7 hours or so sitting at the airport. I mostly read and we both spent sometime surfing the web. We got home very late, long after the kids were asleep. It was hard not to wake them up, we missed them so much. I don't think I'll be leaving my kids for that long (11 days) for a long, long time - maybe when they are teenagers I'll be ready again! We had a wonderful time, relaxing and spending time together without many interruptions or distractions and seeing some beautiful sites.