Catch you in Ketchikan

Fact: Ketchikan, Alaska is the Salmon capital of the world - and Alaska's first city.

Our stay in Ketchikan was for a few hours in the afternoon, but we surely made the most of our time! Mommacita, Marcus and I geared up in our Gorton's Fisherman clothes, while Papas explored the town, and we were off to board our guide boats!

I love, love, love to ride in a boat. Seriously, one of my most favorite things to do. And these little blow up boats didn't disappoint me! Mommacita was such a great captain; she knows how we love to go fast and bounce on the waves, so she made it happen!

The wildlife in Alaska just makes it so easy to take beautiful pictures. Our guide threw a frozen fish in the water, to coax the eagles out of the trees, and I was able to snap this beauty below!

There were so many colorful sea stars lounging among the rocks. They kind of creep me out in theory, but the colors are just beautiful!

Our fearless leader and her montly crew!

Alaska was so the trip of a lifetime! I hope you've enjoyed my pictorial tour of our Alaskan cruise! Are you ready to plan your trip now?

xoxo, E

Join me in Juneau

We had such a blast exploring the capital of beautiful Alaska. Juneau is so lush and green! This was our busiest port - by far - in terms of excursions!

When we first docked, we immediately hopped onto the tram to the top of Mt. Roberts. While I'm not scared of heights, I definitely have a fear of falling. And we had a steep, steep, STEEP climb up the mountain! This tram is a glorified ski lift - although, I did feel much safer enclosed in the tram than dangling on a ski lift! ... I digress.

We ducked into the gift shop at the top of the Mountain - aren't they so clever in their placement of these shops? Have a bunch of tourists at the top of a mountain? Put up a gift shop! To our delight, they had Diet Dr. Pepper! It had been a long 5 days for this girl without her DDP - I won't speak for my 2 cohorts here, but I think they felt the same way.

One of the main reasons to go to the top of Mt. Roberts, aside from the amazing views that we've already covered, is to meet Lady Baltimore. This bald eagle was rescued after an injury and is out for viewing for a couple of hours a day while she rehabilitates.

It's so funny, at this point in our trip, I thought this might be our only bald eagle sighting... oh, how wrong I was. They're everywhere!

Our next excursion in Juneau was the one that we were all most looking forward to - Whale Watching! Can I tell you something? I'm a worrier. That's no surprise. But I was incredibly worried that we'd go out whale watching and not see a thing - again, I was SO wrong!

You would truly be overwhelmed if I showed you all of the pictures of our whale sightings. Seriously, we saw so many killer whales. Some of them were pretty close to our boat as well. I think Marcus captured a picture with 9 killer whales in the frame all at one time!

Without a doubt, this is my favorite picture of the killer whale that I took on the excursion. I just love seeing his tail out of the water with another boat in the background!

As we continued to move through the waters, our captain shouted that he saw a water spout up ahead. It was the first sign of a humpback whale! Luckily he did it a few more times, so I was able to snap a pic!

I seriously think these whales look like slugs until the final flip of their tail. Did you know that once a humpback whale flips his tail above water he will not re-emerge for up to 15 minutes? There's your new knowledge for the day! They flip their tail above water to give them that extra oomph to go after their food.

I was so psyched to get a shot of the humpback's tail. After 3 attempts, I finally got it!

We also saw our fair share of sea lions. These guys were so funny (mean?) barking at one another and pushing each other off of the water booey!

After we left our whale watching tour, our bus driver had one more treat in store for us. She took us to an open patch of land, and we saw a few of our nation's finest military personnel standing near an ice chest. As we pulled up, they opened the cooler and started throwing fish out onto the land. Out of nowhere came a FLOCK of bald eagles! I was speechless - there were so many! These are definitely some of my favorite eagle pictures from the trip.

Next up, we were off to our first helicopter ride! We flew up to a glacier where we did a dog sled ride.

Seriously, to say that it was cold up on the glacier is like saying that gelato is a decent dessert. MASSIVE UNDERSTATMENT!

Although we were freezing, I absolutely love this picture of my family. We all look so happy! Our day in Juneau was definitely one to remember. So many new experiences!

Taking a brief interlude from Alaksa posts tomorrow, so my last Alaska post will be on Tuesday - it's all about Ketchikan!
xoxo,
E

Going Ashore, to Icy Strait Point



Our first stop on our Alaskan cruise was Icy Straight Point. Also known as, the home of the world's largest zipline. That's right, you plunge 5,400 feet in 90 seconds. Eek! Needless to say, this crew did not zip.

Once we tendered to shore, we were met with the most lush and draw-droppingly beautiful landscapes. Seriously, Alaska is everything you imagine it will be!

We joked that it looked like Twilight could have been filmed in Icy Strait Point.

For our activity in Icy Strait, we took a cooking class from a native and learned all about Alaskan Salmon! Our teacher explained the various ways the people use and preserve this delectable fish - and she even fileted a gigantic salmon and halibut for us to whip up on the outdoor grill. Folks, this was the best salmon and halibut I've ever tasted. YUM-O! Made it real hard to come back to land-locked Oklahoma and order fish, that's for sure!

Mommacita thought it was funny that I took a picture of this boxed wine, but I couldn't get over how tastey our white wine spritzer was during dinner. I will definitely be purchasing and indulging in this

Mr. Marcus cannot pass up the opportunity for a great photo op, so we took a few pictures near the "Icy Strait Point" entrance - and got a couple of great shots with our boat in the background. After I took the twenty couple pictures that Marcus requested, I offered to take the same picture for another couple on our boat that was waiting in line. (Sidenote: does anyone ever feel awkward asking someone else to take your picture? I do; that's why I always offer to take one for others! LOL) After that couple, another came up... then another... then another. We joked that the cruise ship needed to hire me to be the official photographer in Icy Strait.

Following our day in Icy Strait, we had a sea day as we approached the Hubbard Glacier. It was SO cold standing on the deck of the boat!

It was so cool (no pun intended) to see all of the blue ice broken off in the water as we approached the glacier. I think we finally "docked" 7 miles out from Hubbard - we had to stop a little pre-maturely because so much of the water was ice, and the captain said we couldn't navigate through it safely. I was cool with that - I'm not looking to relive the Titanic!

Is it just me or did it get a little chilly in here after looking at all of these pictures of snow and ice?!

Tomorrow we're "going" to Juneau. It was our busiest day of the trip with THREE excursions!

xoxo, E

Bon Voyage!

To celebrate my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, Papas booked an Alaskan cruise for him and Mommacita - then, he extended the invitation to Marcus and I! We had to think it over for all of two seconds before shouting "YES!"

Our first stop was flying from the great ol' U.S.of A. to Vancouver. This was my first trip to Canada - other than as a baby - and I absolutely fell IN LOVE with Vancouver!!

After a good night sleep, we were all dressed and ready to head to the cruise ship a little ahead of schedule. One of our favorite things to do in a new place is to take an open air bus tour of the city. I truly think it's the best way to sightsee and determine what areas you want to go spend more time in. So, we dropped off our luggage at the ship's loading area and hopped on a tour bus! It did NOT disappoint!

We love the Olympics in this family, so it was pretty cool to see all of the "added benefits" that Vancouver implemented for the 2010 Olympics. The Laughing Statues were one of our favorite things on the tour. You can frequently see visitors posing like the statues and having their pictures taken. Our guide said the whole idea was to inspire laughter and joy, simply by looking at and imitating these crazy statues.

One we finished the tour, it was time to head to the ship!

Naturally, one of the most fun things to do when first arriving on a cruise ship is to explore and get the lay of the land! We happened to wander into the jewelry store, and while looking around, and one of the ladies working in the shop asked if I would be interested in modeling some jewelry in the fashion show on one of our sea days.

The jewelry loving, performer inside of me practically jumped up and down and squealed - the practical Elizabeth smiled and said "Sure, what do I need to wear?" Luckily, I'm a chronic over-packer and had packed a few long dresses for our time onboard.

When I arrived at the store the night of the fashion show, one of the participants was a no-show. They asked if anyone would be willing to model twice... crickets... "I'm happy to do it!" That's right, this girl is willing to do whatever it takes for the show to go on! Even if it means wearing beautiful white diamonds AND tanzanite. It's hard work, but someone's got to do it!

As you can see, my escort and I had some fun during our walk - we had to be the best of course - and the spin was his idea! Got to love Boston boys! What you don't see in these photos, though, was the mad dash to switch my jewelry and run up the back stairs - in heels and a long dress - for my second walk. We made it back with literally 2 seconds to spare. Smile... and go!

We had SUCH a blast on the ship. Even though we all tend to get "cabin fever," we enjoyed the down time on the boat. There were many games of Kings in the Corner and we even took part in cruise organized bingo and trivia games! Marcus and I dominated the "Name that Broadway Tune" trivia.

Because we took so many pictures, I've broken my Alaska re-cap into 4 different posts. You are going to love the pictures in the upcoming days. I still find myself gazing at them in total awe of the magnificent creation that God whipped up!

xoxo, E