Derrick and I were able to take a trip of a lifetime. A few years ago a group of my parent's friends decided to take a cruise to Alaska. It was so far in advanced I had no idea that I would even consider going. We decided a year ago that we would save almost everything extra we made to be able to go. We were not sure until recently that we finally had enough money to go! Here are some pictures we took along the way! We had so much fun and this post may be a little long but the pictures have captions!
Day 1 Driving to Seattle
I started the day off by driving first to Boise, Id. All 5 of us decided to drive because we would spend $400 in gas there and back; that beat having to buy 5 round-trip tickets. What a long drive to Seattle, we stayed at a Navy Base north of Seattle in Everett. My father is retired military and they have really nice hotels available service men or retired ones. Derrick was super excited to go on the cruise; he had been counting down the time for weeks. He never let a night go by without telling me his count down. I was excited too but it was fun to see him like a child on Christmas Eve!
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| Lov'n the Space Needle |
Day 2 and First day on the Cruise
Sleepless in Seattle, I did not sleep, lets just say there were more people snoring then not in our room. We had a little time to stop by the Seattle Space needle before checking in. There are so many things to see and do on a Cruise ship! We were hungry and after making our way to our room we found the never-ending food! We met up will all of my parent’s friends. All in all I think there was about 30 of us.
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| Dad, Mom, Me, and Mary boarding the cruise. |
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One happy boy!
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Day 4 and day 2 on the Cruise
Day 2 on the cruise was a full day at sea. Both days I was extremely dizzy and often confused where everything was. I was given peppermint oil and then Meklezine. I think that is what it is called and supposively it is better then Dramamine. I was way better after a good nights sleep, but before I went to sleep... I had nightly hot coco! I have a rule that I cannot drink liquids after 8pm because my body will want to go potty in the middle of the night and I refuse to get out of bed! It is a bad idea to not get out of bed because it eventually causes pain. Our room was pitch black and I was sleeping on a bunk bed.... I had to wait til it was wakey time to go potty and I still drank it every night for some reason!
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| These next few pics are of the cruise ship. |
Day 5 and day 3 on the Cruise Our first port was Juneau, Alaska. There were 5 of us in my family and we decided we did not want to pay for any off cruise excursions. All of the ports my family decided to rent a vehicle and go and see the things we wanted without the unneeded expenses. This was Sunday and since most of us on the trip were LDS we held a little service on the ship before we got off. It included a thought and a prayer; the prayer was nice in all but the ship started blasting 70’s music and I giggled through the prayer. We drove to Medenhall Glacier, hiked to a waterfall, went geocaching along the way, visited St. Terese’s chapel in the woods, hiked to a old gold mine, panned for gold, visited the Alaska State Capitol and headed back to the ship. What a beautiful clear day!
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| Mendenhall Glacier |
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| Hiked over to this water fall near the glacier |
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| Derrick found the Geocache! |
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| Found real GOLD! |
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| Us in front of the Alaska State Capitol |
Day 5 and day 4 on the Cruise
We sailed all night and our next arrival was in Skagway, Alaska.
This was the cutest little town EVER! Not more then 10-city blocks squared. We rented a car and drove up the Alaskan Highway into British Columbia and then the Yukon. WOW, so many awesome things to see. We even spotted a brown bear and a little cub following. We saw stunning lakes, the smallest desert in the world, waterfalls, ate on a pretty beach, mountain ranges, built rock people, went to a cool cemetery, panned for gold (only to find large quantities of fools gold), hiked to another water fall, shopped in town, and headed back to the ship. Another amazing beautiful day, could not ask for better weather.
Day 6 and day 5 on the Cruise
Today was a full day at sea and a breath-taking excursion into Tracy Arm Fjord (Fyord). At the end of Tracy Arm was Sawyer Glacier. Everything I had ever seen in a National Geographic and on TV came true. We woke up at 4:45 am just to watch the boat maneuver up this narrow Fjord. About 10:30 we finally came to Sawyer Glacier. Stunning blue, cracking of the glacier, Eagles flying, endless amounts of seals, ice surrounding us in every direction, even seals having babies on the ice. This was more of a wet and rainy day. Each evening on the ship we watched an hour-long performance in a beautiful theater. These performances ranged from jugglers, ballroom dancers, comedians (I left early because it was a little crass), musicals, the guy from good ‘ol Happy Days. It was fun but I would nearly fall asleep from exhaustion during these performances. I have no idea how people could stay awake.
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| Derrick disappeared somewhere, so I got the picture taken without him! |
Day 7 and day 6 on the Cruise
We stopped in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I fell in love with this costal sea town! I wish more then anything that this town was on American soil! I loved it there! They did not receive any snowfall this last year, it does not have fog like the Seattle area, has ocean on 3 sides, and is breathe taking! We went to a cool light house, the oldest school house in Canada(still standing), ate lunch at a park that was elevated to we could have a 360 degree gaze over the valley, visited a castle, took cool pictures of churches, walked down one of the narrowest streets in the world, and visited china town. I was sad to have to get back on the ship early today. On our way back to the ship we decided to walk instead of taking the shuttle, yea, some old man almost made us miss our boat! Ok so we arrived 15 minutes before departures, we were still worried! The Captain had to recalibrate his compass just off the coast of Victoria. We had dinner with a full view of the beautiful city and I felt like I was eating in the Space Needle. Our boat made half a dozen circles before we headed back to Seattle. While twirling in circles we played Shuffle Board.
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| Walking the Streets of Victoria |
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| These intriguing floating houses! |
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| The light house |
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| Here we are! |
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| Fun interactive game in the light house! They have really taken the time and money to keep it up! |
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| In China town this is a public school. |
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| Really famous street, smallest in the world! |
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| The real address, so fun to walk down the alley! |
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| Cool Castle. |
Day 8 and day 7 on the cruise
A day at sea and I really can't remember what we actually did this day although I am sure Derrick drug me to the shops and I probably wanted to read a book. Ohh and we ordered Room Service for breakfast! I had been on a Cruise before and I don't remember getting sick, but I constantly felt the motion of the ocean!
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| Love Reading books! I slept on a bunk bed! |
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| Room Service |
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| The theatre |
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Playing shuffle board with Derrick
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| Derrick and I at our formal dinner! My mom and dad's friends are all scouters. |
Day 9 and day 8 on the cruise/drivingIt was sad to leave the cruise but a week is long enough. We headed for the Kingston Ferry to head over to Port Townsend, WA. My dad has an Aunt that he calls every week and sends her packages every month. She has not immediate family but him and as it was good to visit with her. I did feel like it was déjà vu. I went on a trip last summer with my in-laws; we went on the same ferry, visited the same towns, and ate at the same restaurant. I loved it the second time just as much as the first! My Aunt was sick and didn’t want to visit long. We were able to walk the town and look at the cute shops. We caught the Ferry over to Wigby Island and stayed there on a Navy Base. We all still felt like we were on a moving boat.
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| Our Ferry that we drove our car onto to take us over to Wigby Island, |
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| Beautiful coastal town! |
Day 10 driving to Lewiston, Idaho.
I was coughing so hard I was up most of the night. What a long day! My dad let the GPS choose our route. We drove on so many obscure roads it was crazy! We did stop in Levenworth, WA for an hour of so. This is a German town that flocks tourists! We love it there! Leaving at 7am we met our friends in Lewiston, ID for dinner about 7:30pm. Wow…. About 11 years ago I lived across the river from Lewiston in Clarkston, Wa. It was fun reminiscing and honestly most of my friends that I know from there, no longer live there. We didn’t have time to go and look at the homes we used to live in or where I went to school. A place I once called home and loved!
Day 11 driving home
We left at 7am to drive a road that I had forgotten because it made us all sick. We stopped in Boise to see my cute nephews for lunch and then headed home. 12 hours later with swollen feet, achy back, and a tired bum. We were ready for a nice cozy bed!
