Alaska Ho!

Dave and I spent a week on a cruise to Alaska with four good friends. It was truly beautiful although very wet and cold. Surprise!!! We left Portland on Sunday morning driving up to Seattle where the Norwegian Pearl (our ship) was docked. The weather in Seattle was warm and beautifully clear. The next day when we woke up cruising into Canadian waters it was cooler and bleak. It got colder and darker the closer we got to Alaska.

When we arrived in Juneau, our first port-of-call, it was raining so hard they canceled our kayaking excursion so we were a bit disappointed. We spent the day exploring the town where Dave drove tour buses way back about 20 years ago. He loved his work while he was there and coming back brought back really good memories. The city of Juneau itself is nothing but tourist traps and expensive jewelry shops. They did have some beautiful fur coats for sale; everything from mink to bear. Even though we didn't get to go on the kayaking trip we still ended up very wet and tired by the time we got back to the ship for lunch.

There was a really cute Russian Orthodox church in Juneau called St. Nicolas'. You forget that the russians were such a large part of Juneau's and Alaska's history. But in Juneau there were tons of stores that sold Russian chotchkes and souvenirs.




Our next stop was Skagway, where the weather was dryer but still cold. We took a ride on a historic train that took us into Canada. Incredible views. Despite the bad weather in most of the places we visited, it was always beautiful.


















After we left Skagway we cruised the rest of the day until we reached Glacier Bay National Park where we watched calving glaciers. Spectacular to say the least. Here's a small movie I caught just at the end of one really large calving.





Ketchikan was our last port-of-call and supposedly the rainiest spot. It turned out to be the dryest and the warmest. We walked around without coats. The ship docked in Ketchikan only a couple of hours so we walked around for an hour or so. The most interesting sight was when we saw thousands of salmon just swimming under the bridge all waiting to spawn and die. But it is a charming little town with some cute spots.














On our last full day on the cruise we slowly got back to beautiful weather again and landed in Victoria, British Columbia for our last port. A lovely evening which we spent walking around the city enjoying the late summer day.














We enjoyed cruising but I wouldn't do it again for awhile. It was very expensive in the end. They charge you for everything except the room and food. We like our cocktails and wine with dinner so when we got the bill at the end of the cruise, we had a few moments of buyers remorse. But it was worth it. Alaska is beautiful and it's a once in a life time experience.