A Day in the Life

Lately Andrea has been spending time during Adelyn’s naps trying to get caught up on her scrapbooking. As a result we have gone through lots of our old photos trying to decide what photos we should print. Going through these photos has reminded us of some of the great times we have had together and this trip was definitely one of them. Last May Andrea and I went on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate our graduations from college. Although the trip was amazing we never blogged about it. So here it goes almost 10 months late.

We started our cruise in Seattle Washington and we stayed at a hotel neat the space needle. While we were there we spent a lot of time visiting the Pikes Place Market where we looked at lots of fresh flowers and fish. It’s a really cool place, but don’t mistake the underground shops for the real Pikes Place. They are dodgy and not worth visiting.

Seattle's Space Needle

Fresh Fish at Seattle's Pikes Place Market

In Juneau Alaska we went on a whale watching excursion. We saw tons of whales, actually just like 5 whales but we saw them come up and down a bunch of times. There was a tour guide on the boat who taught us all about Alaska’s wildlife. Some people claimed they saw a black bear, but we know they were lying. They were like, “oh look, you can see its fingernail through the trees, 7 miles away!” I’m sorry that I don’t believe you. We also saw lots of bald eagles, but our photos didn’t turn out that great but we did get some good ones of the whales.

Humpback Whale Tail

Orca Whales

When we were in Skagway we had an amazing day touring the Alaskan Frontier. We rode on a bus deep into the Yukon Territory of Canada and rode ATV’s in the worlds smallest desert. After we had learned tons about the Alaksan gold rush in 1898 we rode the White Pass Railroad back to Skagway. The train was great and I spent the whole ride standing between the train cars taking photos. It was awesome.

Four Wheeling in the Worlds Smallest Desert

Between the Train Cars

White Pass Railway

Old Railroad Bridge

We spent another great afternoon in Glacier Bay National Park. The cruise ship pulled deep into the park and then stopped beside the Marjorie Glacier. We stood and marveled at the sheer size and color of the glaciers for hours. The boat turned in very slow circles so everyone could see the glacier before we left. Luckily for us we were able to see the glacier break off a few times and fall into the water. One time I happened to have the camera poised and ready and caught the action on film. The sound of the ice cracking was surprisingly loud. Although everyone else was fighting it out on the top deck trying to get a good view, we spent most of the day on our balcony just relaxing, which made the additional cost for balcony room well worth it!

Glacier Break

Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Bay

Our last stop in Alaska was in Ketchikan. This was Andrea’s favorite excursion because we went zip lining. Did you know that Ketchikan is home to the earth’s largest, intact temperate rainforest? Neither did we but it was beautiful and very green. We got to ride in an old Army truck to get us up into the mountains because the terrain was so steep. Andrea and I both fibbed a little so we could go zip lining. Andrea was pregnant with Adelyn at the time (13 weeks) and I have a history of back problems. We were told by our guides that these were the only two things that would keep us from going. So we just failed to mentioned that we each suffered from these things. Don’t worry we repented! The other thing you should know is I am terribly afraid of heights, and this whole excursion made me feel very unsafe. It ended up being a lot of fun, but walking across the sky bridges almost made me cry. The worst part was when our tour guide started jumping on the sky bridge and the whole thing started shaking and swaying. I think I kept my cool for the most part but I was very relieved when we got back on the ground. It was fun, Andrea LOVED it and we made some great memories.

Our Zipline Truck

Ready to Fly on the Ziplines

Ziplining in the earth's largest, intact temperate rainforest

Narrow Skybridge

If you ever got a chance to go to Alaska it is amazing. The sheer size and majesty of the area is breathtaking. We loved our time there and plan on going back someday at the end of the summer to see everything in bloom. What an amazing trip!