I'll give you fair warning that this is going to be another one of those picture explosion posts. My apologies! ;) This summer I went on my first cruise! My parents and I flew into Seattle on Friday and checked out Pike's Market, land of the steepest streets ever! That's ok, though; you can't be a first-timer in Seattle and miss out on Pike's Marketplace. We grabbed dinner there and then hung out in the hotel. Diane flew in late that evening and the next day, we all went to the Space Needle together. I've always heard about the amazing view from the top of the Space Needle and, oddly enough, I was disappointed. Perhaps it was that my expectations were too high or that simply nothing can beat the view from the top of the Empire State Building on a beautiful, clear, summer night. It was pretty cool, however, that we got to see our cruise ship docked and waiting for us to hop on!
A couple of hours, one broken camera, and a crazy Amazing Race-like adventure to find a new one (on foot, without a car, in a completely foreign city) later, we boarded our home for the week.
When we first boarded the ship we got something to eat and then my parents went to their room to unpack and my sister and I went to our room to unpack. When I walked into our room for the first time, I was relieved at how spacious it was. People had described the showers as barely usable in size and told me that it would be a bit cramped, but that it would be okay because we wouldn't be spending much time there. I actually found it to be pretty good sized, relative to what I was expecting! Thank goodness!!! Later, we met up for dinner and then went to see the nightly show in the big theater. It was kind of a preview of all of the shows for the week, so we knew right off the bat that we had good things to look forward to. Also, on the first day of the trip, I discovered my favorite place to sit on the ship: the window sill in our room!
I loved sitting there and staring out the window at the beautiful ocean and all of the pretty scenery. Don't worry, though; I also spent a good amount of time outside enjoying the majesty of the sea from the deck, not just holed up in my room. ;)
The next day was spent entirely at sea. The water was rough and I almost died. Well, not really, but I did take full advantage of the sea sickness patch my doctor so graciously prescribed. We also took our first round of formal pictures and got our very first TOWEL ANIMAL!!! I put that in all caps on purpose, by the way! I was SO excited!
The next morning, we got up, oh so early, so we could catch our first shore excursion in Ketchikan, Alaksa. If you've ever heard that Alaska is beautiful, you heard correctly. In fact, "beautiful" is the understatement of the century. As I felt our ship come to a stop, I pulled open the curtain and what I saw was absolutely enchanting! The pictures can't even begin to do it justice, but I'll post them anyways because, well, that's just the kind of girl I am! Pictures, pictures everywhere!!!
This was my first glimpse of Alaska. The low-hanging clouds hovered over the mountains like fingers caressing the peaks. It looked just like something out of a movie and, in person, it was absolutely gorgeous!
After getting off the ship in Ketchikan, we went to Totem Bight State Park, which was pretty cool! It had a bunch of totem poles and we got to visit a clan house and learn all about the totems, how they're made, what they represent, etc. It might sound kind of lame, but for someone, like myself, who loves anthropology and learning about how people lived long ago, it was perfect! Not to mention, the landscape was super beautiful!
After we finished our tour of Totem Bight, they dropped us back off at the dock by our ship and we were able to spend some time in town.
How adorable is this town???? Little trolley and all!
The big wooden building on the right side of this picture was a store called Christmas in Alaska! If you know me well, you know that I love Christmas and that I collect a Christmas ornament from everywhere I travel. So, of course, this store was like heaven to me!
But WAIT! It gets better. Santa. was. there. Yes! You read that right! Santa (the real one, of course) was there and he I got to sit on his lap. At first when he told me to sit on his lap, I was like...ummmm...I will crush this little old man! Fortunately, he was quite persistent and finally convinced me that I wouldn't break him! haha! So, I got to sit on Santa's lap at a magical store that is so close to the North Pole! Also, if you know me well, you know that I get extremely excited about the dumbest things. This is one of those moments; you'll have to excuse me! :)
So, after that, we explored town a little and discovered that the main thing anyone is selling to tourists in Alaska is jewelry. This was actually true at all of the places we visited in Alaska. I did not buy any jewelry, but I did try some Alaskan salmon. I don't usually eat much fish, but when you visit the salmon capital of the world, you MUST eat some salmon! It's the law. ;)
At the end of the day, we got back on the ship and went to dinner! I actually love this picture of my parents; I feel like it sums them up pretty well. My dad, whom everyone thinks is super serious, was cracking jokes and my mom (and the rest of us) laughed hysterically!
Then, I saw it: the most beautiful sunset ever. It was gorgeous!
That night, my mom and I went to one of the lounges for pina coladas and to watch Dancing with the Jewel Stars! It was pretty entertaining! Passengers paired up with crew members in an awesome dance competition. It was fun to have a mommy-daughter night out!
The next day we stopped in Juneau. For this shore excursion, we hiked to Mendenhall Glacier. It was amazing! I know I'm making it sound all dramatic, but truly, I could not believe what I was seeing. When our tour bus pulled up to the visitor center, where we began our hike, we could see the glacier in the distance and were awestruck. It was so perfect it didn't even look real.
Like with everything else on this trip, pictures just can't do it justice.
This is us before the hike. Diane was there too, but she went on a different, more rigorous hike, so we didn't get a picture with her.
This is Nugget Falls, which was right next to the glacier and emptied into Mendenhall Lake. It was crazy how close you could get to it! So powerful and beautiful, and...cold!
The bluer the ice, the older it is. Some of the ice was the most beautiful blue color I had ever seen.
After our hike we went back into town (Juneau) to look around and do some shopping.
We had to be back on the ship fairly early that day because we were going to sail up the Tracy Arm Fjord to see Sawyer Glacier. This part of the trip was really cool because we were able to sit on my parents' balcony and enjoy the scenery as we sailed. Since it's such a narrow passageway, we could see little waterfalls and other land features beside us. Since the water was glacial water, it was a light turquoise color that was incredibly beautiful! Another perk was that it was pretty cold. Being from Southern California means that you don't often get to sit around, all snuggled in blankets, very often. It was fun for all four of us to be together in such a setting. We couldn't believe how many icebergs there were in the water and how we still just powered through the passageway. We knew it was safe since the ships do this all the time, so we got to spend our time relaxing and looking at the ice and marveling at how pure the water was and how huge the bergs were under the water.
After we stopped for a bit, my mom and I went to another part of the ship for a better look.
Amazing!
The next day, we stopped in Skagway. We didn't actually spend much time in the town itself because we took a shore excursion that took us into parts of Vancouver and Yukon, Canada. We started out on a bus that took us several places and the tour guide told us interesting information and made a few stops along the way.
Behind me, you can see little piles of rocks, called inukshuks. They're supposed to look like people and they're kind of like calling cards to let someone know that you were there or to signal that they're on the right path. It's an Inuit tradition and they were kind of cool to look at.
Next, we went to Carcross in Yukon. We ate lunch there and then got to look around. It was awesome! They had tons of animals to pet and things to see.
We also got to see and play with Alaskan Huskies, and even saw some Husky puppies! So cute!
Mom, Diane, and I got to go on a dog sled ride (it was a dog cart ride since it was summer and there was no snow) pulled by real Alaskan Husky Sled Dogs! It was the coolest!
Something I found interesting was how badly the dogs wanted to pull the sled. They were barking and running, definitely in a way that was begging to be picked to pull the sled. When they let them off their leashes, they ran to the sled and waited very impatiently to be hooked to the harness. So, if anyone ever tries to tell me that it's cruelty to animals to make them pull the sleds like that, I know better from first-hand experience. The ride was so much fun!
Next, we went to Caribou Crossing and were able to get a super awesome stamp in our passports! It had reindeer on it! Getting a stamp in your passport is always fun, but getting a very unique one is even more fun! :)
The last thing we did on this excursion was take the White Pass Railway. It took us through some very pretty countryside and allowed us to see some things that we wouldn't otherwise have had access to. I must admit that, although we saw lots of amazing things, by this time I was getting a little stir-crazy from sitting in a bus and then sitting in a train for so long. However, it was still an amazing experience!
The next day was spent at sea. Mom, Diane, and I participated in a photo scavenger hunt that had us running all around the ship trying to get pictures of as many things on the list as possible. Some of the highlights:
Mom high-fiving a photographer
Diane and I having a pillow fight
Diane and I playing a game in the game room
Diane ballroom dancing with a complete stranger outside the lounge
Mom and Diane playing ping-pong
Me pretending to hit the jackpot in the casino
It was so much fun! And did I mention that WE WON??? Well, we did!
That night we had dinner at Moderno, the Brazilian grill restaurant on the ship. It was delish!
The next day was the 4th of July and, we spent it in Canada. Our stop for the day was on Victoria Island in Vancouver. We visited Butchart Gardens and it was a very pretty place to be. Sadly, it was raining, but it all worked out anyway. The flowers were still gorgeous and we still had a great time!
On the way back to our ship, we took a Victoria Highlights tour. It was cool to see The Empress Hotel where lots of famous people and royalty have stayed. In fact, according to our tour guide, when the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped, Shirley Temple's parents brought her here to hide her for a bit, just in case. The horse drawn carriage was a nice touch.
We also went by the Parliament building. I loved the architecture here! So pretty!
It was our last night on the ship, so we were glad to come back to a towel monkey hanging from the vanity!
One last awesome thing happened that night. I've never had a 4th of July without fireworks and, although I knew I would be having an amazing time, I was a little bummed that I would be spending our Independence Day in Canada and that I would have my first firework-less July 4th. At bedtime, I sat in the window in my room and looked out at the stars as we sailed toward our final port. Suddenly, in the distance, I saw fireworks bursting in the sky! One, right after another! As I looked out at the skyline I could see lots of fireworks in the sky! It was amazing! I turned our TV to the channel that tracked where our ship was and noticed that we were right by Port Angeles, WA. As I watched in amazement that I was getting my Independence Day firework show afterall, I could see the entore skyline continue to light up! It was my little 4th of July miracle! I know it's silly, but it meant alot to me! :) The next morning when we woke up, we had already docked and were just waiting for our departure time. It was sad to leave the ship after spending such a great week on it. It's amusing to me that I was so skeptical about going on a cruise in the first place! It was an amazing week that I will never forget!
Here are a few of the formal pictures we took on the cruise:
After we got off the ship, we got our bags, rented a car, and drove back up to Vancouver, Canada. We went to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park where we explored nature and walked on a super long, super high suspension bridge. I thought it would be scary, but it actually wasn't. The swaying of the bridge wasn't my favorite, but the view was fantastic!
After this, we headed back to Seattle and Diane flew home very early the next morning. We had a great time and I'm glad we were able to spend time together!
Mom, Dad, and I continued our vacation in Seattle by going to the Museum of Flight. If you're ever in Seattle, visit this museum. It was amazing! I've been to many air museums over the years and this one definitely stands out. We got to take a tour of a B-17, like the one Grandpa Wheeler flew in and see lots of other historical planes and replicas of historical planes. We also got to have some fun in the play area and, of course, I had fun playing in the not play area too.
This is the Air Force One on which LBJ was sworn in as president while Jackie Kennedy stood beside him in her little pink dress, which was still covered in blood.
B-17
Next up: The Seattle Underground Tour! I love cool historical stuff like this!
The following day we went headed to McMinville, OR to see the Spruce Goose, but on the way, we decided to take a detour and see Mt. St. Helens. Here's the view of it from the visitor center:
Can you see it? Me neither. Determined to see it, we decided to head up the mountain so that we could get a view of it from above the clouds. Mission accomplished!
When in Bigfoot Country... ;)
We got to see the Spruce Goose at Evergreen Aviation Museum! It was awesome! All I could think of when I saw it was Yogi Bear and The Spruce Goose! I used to love that movie when I was a kid!
Dad and me inside the Spruce Goose!
Then, we went to Portland where we would spend the remainder of our vacation. We got to visit the Portland Temple and then went to VooDoo Donuts!
The following day we went to the Portland Aquarium, which actually was pretty cool for such a tiny place. They had lots of hands on things to do.
After leaving the aquarium, we saw Maleficent in the movie theater at the mall and then went to the airport to wait for our flight. It was such an amazing vacation, but it was also very much time to go home. I will never forget the amazing things I got to do during this trip! What a reminder of how very lucky I am to have such wonderful opportunities. Opportunities I thought I would never get to have! And, of course, I'm so grateful to have family that I love spending time with, who make every experience so much better!
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