Alaskan Cruise

I just spent the most wonderful week in Alaska on my first-ever cruise. My little sister and brother graduated from high school in June, and my parents decided to go on this cruise as their graduation present. Of course I jumped at the chance to go (even though it meant missing my 10 year high school reunion - boo hoo), and I couldn't have had a better week. I decided to break my trip up and post about each port separately. I'll just start by talking about the weather. I had heard that it rains all summer long in Alaska. I watched the 10-day weather forecast for weeks, and all it showed was low to mid-50's and rain every day in each of the Alaskan ports of call. I bought a travel umbrella, a new rain jacket, packed a winter coat, hat, and gloves, etc. I was ready! We ended up being SO lucky. The weather was absolutely fabulous practically the entire trip. At each port the locals would tell us how lucky we were and that it was rare to have a day without rain. The sunshine and warmer weather made the trip even that much more enjoyable! Anyway, here goes!

Juneau, Alaska

I could hardly keep the smile from my face for weeks before the cruise whenever I thought about my Juneau excursion. I was so stoked for this day! It started out with a narrated bus ride through Juneau to the small airport. From there, I got to ride in a helicopter to the Mendenhall Glacier. The helicopter ride was amazing, and the scenery from the air was stunning. It was only a short ride, but I think I would have been happy riding in that helicopter for hours. I definitely need to do that again! The helicopter landed on the glacier, where I got to ride (and take turns driving!) a dog sled! How cool is that!!?! The dogs were beautiful, and it was just incredible to try my hand at mushing on the glacier. Some of the dogs had even raced in the Iditarod. Here's a picture of me on the dog sled with the musher Shawn and 2 other cruisers from Mississippi.

Skagway, Alaska

In Skagway, Beki and I went on the horseback riding and canoing excursion. I was most worried about the weather for this excursion - I REALLY didn't want to be out in the rain for 3 hours. It was forecasted to be rainy and in the 50's, but the sun was out in full force, and I think it reached 70. Wahoo! We saw magnificent scenery along the horse trail. Riding was fun, even though I didn't have to do much to guide my horse (he pretty much just followed the horse in front of me). The lake we canoed in was SO beautiful. It was a glacial lake and was greenish in color. The water was super clear. I thought it was going to be really cold, but I think the Boise River is colder! Beki and I pretty much rocked at canoeing. We did great and didn't even tip :-)

Ketchikan, Alaska

Snorkeling was the activity of the day in Ketchikan, Alaska. I went on this excursion with my dad, Beki, BJ, Mandi, and her husband TJ. We all had a blast! We wore full wet suits so we stayed nice and toasty in the water (even though at first the wet suits totally choked us). I saw a lot more in the water than I thought I would. The water was pretty clear, and I saw tons of star fish, kelp, jelly fish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and more.

Victoria, British Columbia

Our last night of the cruise was spent at Victoria, British Columbia. I decided to take a break from the excursions and just walk around and enjoy Victoria. I love the lamp posts with hanging flower baskets that line the streets. It was a beautiful evening, and I loved just hanging out with my little brother.

Seattle, Washington

We landed in Seattle Sunday morning, and it was so sad to leave the cruise ship one last time. Since our plane didn't leave until late that evening, we took advantage of our time in Seattle. What is a trip to Seattle without visiting Pike's Place Market? Pike's Place is an absolute must go if you ever visit Seattle. It is a huge farmer's market with fabulous seafood, produce, flowers, handmade crafts, etc. I have been probably a dozen or so times, and each time, I admire the beautiful flower arrangements that are dirt cheap. I broke down this trip and bought a huge bouquet... It was quite the adventure going through airport security with the flowers. I had to try three times to drain out all the water before I could go through security! People thought I was crazy to want to carry the bouquet all the way home, but it was only $10 and I couldn't pass it up. Plus, "all the way home" was only a one hour plane ride.

And of course, what's Pike's Place without the fish tossing?! Whenever anyone purchases fresh fish from this stand, one worker tosses a fish into the box that another worker is holding behind the counter. It is fun to watch and always draws a big crowd.

Just Cruisin'

So basically, the cruise was awesome. In fact, I am already planning my next one! Here are some more highlights from the cruise ship:

The library was one of my favorite rooms. I read the entire book Breaking Dawn, as well as most of another book that I borrowed from the on-ship library. The library was the quietest place that I found on the cruise ship. I loved that there was an entire wall of windows so that I could enjoy the ocean view as I read.
There are hand sanitizers EVERYWHERE on the ship. You can't walk into a restaurant or on board the ship after visiting a port without someone spraying sanitizer on your hands.
I didn't forget that I was training for my 5k, so I made sure to visit the gym. In addition to running 3 nights of the cruise, I attended 3 early morning fitness classes - stretching (twice) and aerobics.
I got my first ever facial on the cruise ship. It was amazing. I totally and completely loved it, so of course I had to purchase some of the products that she used on my face. Beautiful skin, here I come!
On-board bowling was quite the experience! I'm not that great of a bowler on land, let alone on a rocking ship. I didn't break 100 my first game, but was pretty proud of my 124 on my second game!
Of course I have a lot more pictures than what I've posted here. More can be found on my PicasaWeb Album!