Alaska

Our trip to Alaska was amazing. The beauty of it all is just breath taking, and pictures just don't do it justice. I seem to be on a kick with lists lately so I'm going to list 10, okay 12, favorite things we saw/did and include a picture with description. This will give you a little taste of what our trip was like.

Before boarding the boat we stayed at a ski resort in the village of Kaliaska which is outside of Anchorage. We had dinner at the top of the mountain where this photo was taken. It is the longest or the only (I can't remember!) double black diamond in North America. You couldn't see the bottom. I would not have dared to even walk down it let alone ski.


Before boarding the boat we went fishing on the Kenai river. We spotted dozens of bald eagles!

Yes, I caught the biggest catch of the day! A 26 inch rainbow trout. You'll notice our boat captain didn't think I could handle it myself. I reeled the whole thing in by myself though!
Jerry, Jay (Jerry's boss), and Bob hanging out on our balcony. This was our first day at sea in Misty Fjords, Alaska.

Glacier Bay, Alaska. The size of these glaciers is unbelievable! The top deck of the boat is 16 stories high so that gives you some reference point. When chunks of the glacier fall into the ocean it sounds like thunder!

Another photo of Glacier Bay. The water and ice are a beautiful blue.


Our first port stop was in Skagway, Alaska. We took a bus up to Fraser, British Columbia (population 8), and then took a train back down to Skagway. This was only 40 miles from the Yukon and the location where many people traveled in search of gold during the Klondike/Yukon Gold Rush of the late 1800's. It was amazing to see the tundra terrain of Fraser slowly change to more green, lush vegetation as we reached Skagway.

Our boat, The Diamond Princess, docked in Skagway. About 250 people live in Skagway the entire year. With all the tourism, the population rises to about 2500 in the summer. During the Yukon gold rush Skagway was the biggest city in Alaska with a population of 10,000. They definitely rely on tourism to make a living now.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was ziplining through the Juneau rainforest. I felt like I was on the forest moon of Endor and expected to see some Ewoks running beneath me. (Watch Return of the Jedi if you're wondering what I'm talking about). We did 10 ziplines in all and reached speeds of 35 mph!
Our third and final port stop was in the city of Ketchikan. Jerry took an awesome float plane ride while I toured the incredibly boring Saxman Native village. Jerry's pilot landed on several lakes. There are a few cabins on each of these lakes that people can rent. However, because of all the mountains the only way to get to the cabin in by plane, and there's no electricity.


Jerry in the float plane over the city of Ketchikan. I'm probably hearing some story about a totem pole right now.

We stayed over an extra night in Vancouver with friends Jay and Cyndy before going home. Vancouver is a beautiful city! We had fun walking along the shore and enjoyed a leisurely lunch while listening to the live jazz festival in downtown.