Alaska Cruise - Part 1

Dear Friends:

Last week, my wife and I were lucky enough to go on a vacation together.  These don't happen very often, and they only occur with the help of a lot of people.  We dropped the kids off in Utah, so they could be with their grandparents and cousins.  It turns out that they didn't miss us at all, as they had so much fun.

We decided to take a cruise to Alaska...something we've done previously, and really, really enjoyed.  We were also lucky to travel with one of my sisters and her husband.  As you will see from several blog posts in this series - we had a TON of fun.

We began the journey in Vancouver, British Columbia.  I love this city, but we didn't spend much time here.  I did make sure to grab some unique flavors of potato chips, as they have some fun brands in Canada:

Don't knock 'em until you try 'em

We met up with our travel companions at the Vancouver Airport.  It was so great to see them, as it had been a couple of years since we were face-to-face:

We made our way to the ship - the Coral Princess - and stowed all our gear in our room.  For the first time, we booked a "balcony" room, as Alaska is one of the few places that truly warrants it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon discovering the ship - and doing a lot of "people watching"...

We briefly stopped in one of the shops, where I had to try on one of the hats.  I should have bought it....

The view of the city was gorgeous.  It was a beautiful day, as we departed Vancouver and headed north to Alaska:

We spent the next day at sea, as we sailed north above Canada, to reach our ports in Alaska.  It was a quiet day...which is exactly what we needed.

That evening, we spent our first night in formal wear...something I actually enjoy.  It was a special dinner, as the cruise represented some milestones for all of us.  For my sister and her husband, it was their 20th wedding anniversary.  For my wife and I - we were celebrating our 10th.  The crew brought a special dessert to the table:

As anyone who has taken a cruise will attest, the food is a fun part of the trip.  There's no shortage of it - at any time - and the desserts each night in the formal dining room are incredible.  My wife ordered this awesome concoction:

The next day was our first stop in Alaska.  We arrived at Ketchikan.  One thing that will remain consistent throughout our entire cruise, are the incredible and majestic views of the Alaskan topography.  The mountains are simply breath-taking, and can be viewed during the entire cruise (hence the justification for the balcony).  For a guy that marvels at the mountains in Utah and California, every time I visit, it's a dream come true.  The view from our cabin, as we pulled into port:

We disembarked, and strolled through some shops, before heading out for an excursion.  Even though it was overcast, the temperatures weren't that bad.

Apparently, we like to try on hats.  There's no shortage of goofy headwear in these stores:

We then arrived a few miles outside of Ketchikan, to do a little zip-lining.  It's something I love to do.  I even convinced the rest of the group to go along.  They were all brave to try something they've never done before...and it's a little scary to be suspended high above the forest.  We all put on safety gear...it felt like a diaper, really:

We climbed to the top of our first tree, and proceeded on the first zip line.  I have to say, my sister and brother are both a little afraid of heights.  I was proud of them, as they conquered a little of that fear.  

Here is my first zip of the day.  There will be a bunch of videos from this experience, but they are each about 10 seconds long:

During the experience, we met up with the Assistant Cruise Director from our ship.  Matt was fun, and we officially adopted him into our group.  Our new son from the UK made the experience even more fun.

Here is my brave sister on the zip line.  She was really nervous, but made it across....way to go!

The prior evening, I purchased a "Go Pro" camera.  These are small video cameras that you mount on helmets, or surfboards, or anywhere.  They can provide a unique first-person perspective of experiences just like this.  I'm glad I finally convinced myself to get one, because it gives you footage like this:

My sister decided to rest for the rest of the activity.  My wife and brother-in-law and I moved on.  We climbed a really tall tower, that would be used to anchor several more zip lines.

View from the tower

My crazy wife even managed to take the next one, facing backwards.  She was nervous, but did it anyway...

Here's my brother in law, cruising over what is technically a rain forest....

The next two clips show one of my zips, from two perspectives.  The first is what people saw me do, and the second is from my perspective:

The next series was really awesome.  We zipped over the water - Knudson Cove - which was as clear as glass that day:

View from the water tower

Here, you'll see me travel across the water, as well as the docks in the cove, and a ton of ships that were anchored there:

This is my wife, arriving on the same platform, over the water:

Pics from on top of the tower, that sits right in the cove.  We were about 50 ft up in the air, over the water:

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As you can tell from our faces, we had a WONDERFUL TIME.  It was gorgeous and so much fun.  Even if you're a little afraid of heights, it's still a blast.  I can't wait to try it again ; )

That evening, we ended a wonderful day by trying a variety of desserts in the dining room, because - you know - they're really small ; )

That's it for part 1.  The next post will focus on our time with whales in Juneau!