The airport at 5:30am to start our trip to Alaska.
Breakfast of champions?
Just kidding, we had some food, too.
On our flight and ready to go.
Crossing the Rockies.
We bought some treats on the flight to snack on.
We were a big group when we landed in Vancover, so we had to take 2 taxis…
Mathew, et al, were in the other taxi.
Coming in to downtown Vancover.
Our room for the night was really small.
But that’s ok, it was just for one night before we got on the cruise ship.
Welcome to Vancouver!!!!
With plenty of day left, we headed out onto the streets.
Our stop for lunch, a brewery, of course.
We went for a walk around the waterfront, and passed by this seaplane airport.
Vancouver is a beautiful city.
We walked over to Stanley Park.
This is where we had started our walk.
We walked through the trees…
Some of which were really tall. Find Taylor.
Taylor, getting tired of the walking.
There was an area in the park that had totem poles.
Molly really likes totem poles!!!
On our way out, I grabbed this shot of Vancouver.
After a long walk, it was time to relax!!!
The next morning our ship had arrived!!!
Molly and I were out for a run when it came in.
We all went shopping to get some supplies for on the ship.
Champagne for Molly and me!!!
Waiting to get on the ship.
We stopped for a group picture while boarding the ship.
And now we’re on the ship. Time to celebrate with a drink!!!
Our room was nice…
And had a balcony!!!
A very tiny bathroom, as you might expect.
Checking out Vancouver from the top deck before we left.
A map showing our south to north route.
Ping pong is a favorite of mine when travleing.
You could lean over a thick piece of glass that overlooked 7 stories of the ship.
It was a long way down.
We found a boardroom on the ship and decided to goof off.
Molly, doing her stand-up routine.
When we arrived back at the room, my parents had left a note.
You could see the bridge from our room. We watched the captain maneuver the ship as we left.
Time for someone to take a nap while I unpacked.
Going under a bride as we left Vancouver.
A quick picture before heading out for the night.
Well, isn’t that just a great view!!!
Dinner that night.
The ship photographer stiopped by and took our picture.
One of the excursions we had signed up to do.
There was a raffle in the shops, and my brother and Erin won!!!!
The next morning I went for a run…
And we discovered that Molly gets sea sick.
We grabbed some lunch, hoping it would make her feel better.
There was an art auction that I went to, but I didn’t like any of the pieces.
We played a lot of Farkel on the trip.
Formal night, and a quick picture before headding out.
At this point, Molly had the wrist bands on, as well as taking some meds.
We did a group picture with everyone dressed up.
And Molly and I got one just of us.
With Molly not feeling well, I forgot to take pictures of dinner.
She was doing her best to hang in there, however.
The kids were having a great time.
Back in the room, it was voodoo towel time.
Everyone except me changed, and we met in the center of the ship (less movment for Molly) and played Farkel.
Later that night we jumped in the hot tub, where the movement of the ship wasn’t as bad, so it didn’t bother Molly as much.
The next morning we had arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Molly was happy, for the moment, to be on solid ground.
The town was very small.
Not my trail.
Notice the signs…
And the sculpture out front.
We hiked up to the top of a hill for a better look.
And then started walking to the Totem Heritage Center.
Where is my skateboard when I need it?
We made it to the Totem Heritage Center and Molly was very excited.
There were lots of really old toem poles on display.
We left there and headed back towards town.
Legal in Alaska.
We headed into downtown Ketchikan…
And walked over to Fat Stan’s for lunch.
Molly still wasn’t feeling well, so she and my mother headed back to the ship.
My father and I hung out for a little while.
Back on the ship, I brought Molly some food.
Doing her best, but not really feeling too well.
I had to work a little while I was on the trip, but it wasn’t too bad.
I forgot to take pictures of our trip to the Walmart pharmacy. Molly was able to get a prescription filled for the motion sickness patch.
That is the Walmart we went to in order to get it filled.
Much happier!!!
Dinner that night.
The voodoo towel that awaited us in the room.
We saw a show that night on the ship.
Breakfast the next morning before heading off the ship.
We were in Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, Alaska.
See those dots on the shoreline?
It was a momma bear and her three cubs.
Heading off the boat and on to shore.
This place was VERY small.
A nice display of how salmon is processed.
A map of the area.
First sighting of a bald eagle.
We took the bus ride into “town”.
Bald eagle nest.
Totem poles everywhere.
Including this shop where this gentleman was making one.
This bald eagle was very close.
The totem pole carving was being supported by this organization.
This was most of the town.
Although, they did have a brewery.
A small setup…
But the beer was really good.
Interesting to see what people posted on the community board.
Much more expensive then I would have thought.
There were lots of little waterfalls.
We walked the road from town back towards the ship.
It wasn’t that far and it was a nice walk.
Molly and Amber spent some time together.
I took a picture so I would know where we were.
We had an afternoon excursion to go whale watching, and wow, did we get some great views.
How about an orca and her calf?
There was a whole pod of them swimming togeher.
Not a bad start to the ride.
Then we found the humpback whales. This one was about 20 feet from the boat.
There were probably 10-15 in the area.
Bald eagles were everywhere.
I was hoping these two would be in sync.
We saw some sea lions on a buoy.
The male was very vocal when we got close.
See all those little bumps?
As we got closer…
You could see they were sea otters.
After about 2 hours, we headed back to the ship.
Molly was so happy to have seen all the great wildlife.
We stopped for another beer before heading back.
Thank you for having us!!
Dinner that night back on the ship.
My mother hung out with Molly and I that night…
And we all went to see a show together.
Our next stop was in Juno, the capital of Alaska.
Cool mural in town.
The top of the mountain was obscured by clouds. (Any Pink Floyd fans out there?)
Another mural.
Bear-proof garbage can.
We had lunch with my parents at Red Dog Salon.
The food was just OK.
Why am I so obsessed with the cloud cover?
Becuase it was now clear enough for us to do our excursion.
Boots with spikes, check.
Helicopter landing pad, check.
Helicopter, check.
Front seat of the helicopter…
Check!!!
We were off to walk on a glacier. It looks really small from this far away.
That is our landing spot.
We touched down and it was difficult to fathom the size when you were standing on it.
The Alaska state flag.
There was lots of water melting and running off the glacier.
So we got down and drank some fresh glacier water.
It was cool and refreshing.
Glacier selfie!!!
The helicopters were on the way back to pick us up, so we headed back towards the landing zone.
Ice plus time equals mountain removal.
The scenery was great!!
Back on the helicopter.
This was Molly’s first time riding in a helicopter.
She was super excited!!!
Back in town, we met up with everyone for some drinks.
Barnaby Brewing was very small, but we liked their beers.
We stopped at a saloon for another drink.
Before hopping on a shuttle…
To go to Alaskan Brewing Company.
We got a quick tour…
And then hit the sampling room.
Lots of good beers to try.
Molly bought a piece of folk art here.
Molly was still excited at dinner about the helicopter ride.
Dinner that night.
The next morning was our last stop on the cruise ship, Skagway, Alsaka.
We hopped on a train…
And headed up the Yukon pass.
The ride up.
Letting the other train go by at the top…
And then the ride back down.
Back in town we decided to walk around a bit.
Interesting building.
You know I had to check out the brewery.
It was a nice sized restaurant…
But not many beers from which to choose.
I had to work a little while we had a few beers.
The food was good, too.
This was pretty much the whole town.
We did a little shopping…
And then stopped by the snow plow train.
Days of 98 show? Sounds interesting.
There was a casino area that I checked out before the show.
The show was a lot of fun.
But it was time to leave Skagway.
Having some fun with the ship photographer when we got back on the ship.
Ah, time to relax in the hot tub.
Leaving Skagway.
Another formal night.
Dinner that night.
A show after dinner…
And then some Farkel with my parents.
I never really like these things.
The next day we swung by a very active glacier.
I believe it was a few miles across the face. It’s hard to get the scale in this picture.
Another glacier selfie.
She was so happy being in nature.
In this shot you can just see a chunk splashing into the water.
Back in the room we watched the ice chunks float by.
We headed up to the shipshape center for some relax time…
It was massage time!!!
Then we watched the egg drop contest…
And then watched the Lego Batman movie in the ship’s theater.
Last dinner on the ship.
Dinner that night.
Molly loved the pool in rough seas because it helped her motion sickness.
Coming back from the pool. I love the long hallways on cruise ships.
Our final port, and point of disembarkation. Find my brother’s family.
We met up with everyone and then headed to our next adventure.
A quick hike in town…
Around a couple of lakes.
It was really pretty.
Looking back to the water.
Everything was very serene.
I took the high road…
But was soon back with Molly.
From there, it was on to a dog sled adventure.
There were lots of dogs!!
So we got loaded up to go.
They train the dogs with these “sleds” when there is no snow in the summer.
It was a really fun ride.
Molly loved the dogs!!!
Of course, there were puppies, too.
Everyone got to hold a puppy.
The Seavey familythat runs the operation is legit.
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race trophy.
A modern sled.
On our way to the airport, we stopped at Moose Pass for lunch.
I tried some local beer.
I just coudn’t get enough of the landscape.
From there we went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
This was an area for animal rehabilitation.
Bear selfie!!!!
At the airport, I found another brewery and had a beer before the flight.
We had a 6 hour, overnight layover in Seattle…
And then a celebration beer when we got home. It was a great trip!!!!