Hello again! The last two days of the cruise were spent at sea eating lots of food and seeing lots of ice. We went through Glacier Bay National Park Saturday, and then we went through College Fjord on Sunday. You can take a peek at the pictures we snapped here:
Pictures from Glacier Bay
Pictures from College Fjord
As you can see from the pictures, it is pretty much just a bunch of ice. It was a good way to finish up the cruise though. With all the craziness of the excursions in the days before, it was nice to be able to just sit back and watch the ice pass by while taking a nap and watching television.
On Monday morning we arrived in Whittier, Alaska. There really isn't much to Whittier except for the Princess port. The number of permanent residents in the town in around 350, and 90% of them live in an apartment building that was a part of the military base that used to be there.
They took us by "motorcoach", also known as "bus", to Anchorage, Alaska. We went through the longest tunnel in the northern hemisphere to complete the trip. We caught some pictures of that along the way as well.
Pictures of the tunnel and one of the glaciers in Whittier
Upon our arrival in Anchorage they dropped us off at the Marriott hotel which they are using as their hospitality center for our cruise. We took a short walk to the 5th Avenue Mall and ate at the Quiznos in the food court. We decided to head back to the hotel for our remaining time in Anchorage and discovered that they had free HIGH SPEED internet access -- so sweet as it has been 1 week without it.
But we have to head off for the airport now and begin out long trek home.
See you all soon!
Travis
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
3 ports in the last 3 days
So it has been a while since we were able to post about our journey through Alaska because we have been so busy, but we've found some time where we could sit down and write about what we have been up to.
Since our last post we have been to three ports. The first port that we came to was Ketchikan. The ship was only in port there for about a half a day, but in that time we were able to accomplish and experience a lot. We went to "The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show" in Ketchikan which could basically be summarized as 5 comedians with chainsaws ;)
Then we went to a national park where they display totem poles that are recreations of some of the original totem poles that were built by native tribes in the area. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and had a lot of information to offer.
That day was pretty much the first time that we had set foot in Alaska and I think we were both a little taken back by the natural beauty of the place; however, it wasn't until the next day when we were in Juneau, that it really hit me.
Pictures from Ketchikan
Pictures from somewhere between Ketchikan and Juneau
In Juneau we started with a trip to an Alaskan cooking school where we learned about some techniques, background, and recipes for cooking in Alaska. We didn't get any pictures of this but it was a good time.
Then we went to see the Mendenhall Glacier from the Visitor Center where we were able to learn about the glacier, the "river of ice", and how it has been moving and melting/building up over time. In the pictures you can see some really blue ice. The ice is blue inside the glacier when it is in its crystalline form; however once it becomes exposed to oxygen the structure begins to break down and then appears white. So these pieces of blue ice that you can see are recently broken off pieces of the glacier.
Next we went for a tour of the Alaskan Brewery where we learned some of the history of the brewery and the beers that they make. We were also able to indulge in a number of samples of their various beers.
We wrapped the day up with probably the coolest thing that I have ever done. We went sea kayaking in the Gastineau Sound which is between Juneau and Douglas Island. We actually took the camera with us while in the kayak and took some pictures, but I do not think that it even comes close to capturing the experience that we had. This is where the beauty and perfection of it all hit me.
While we were both a little tired before we even went kayaking, afterwards we were both throughly exhausted. After another excellent dinner in the Bordeaux dining room we headed off to bed to prepare for another busy day.
Pictures from Juneau
Finally, today we woke up in Skagway, Alaska -- the smallest of the three ports that we have been to. It only has an annual population of about 750 people. We were supposed to start the day with a trip to the 'Lotus Spa' for a couples massage but unfortunately that had to be rescheduled due to a scheduling conflict made by the spa. We will be able to enjoy a massage tomorrow morning instead.
Since we had some "spare time" we decided to just go walking throughout Skagway, the downtown area is only 5 blocks by 20 blocks. We found some good shopping and a little museum in town.
Pictures from walking and shopping in Skagway
Later in the day we had an excursion scheduled to go to the Klondike Summit, the Yukon Suspension bridge in Canada, and then go to a salmon bake in Liarsville, Alaska. It was a good trip; we had a tour guide that was willing to do whatever it was we asked. We actually spotted some black bears while we were on this tour and got the tour guide to turn around for us to check them out!
The salmon bake was pretty nifty too; we were able to enjoy some more beer from the Alaskan Brewery while pigging out on salmon grilled over a pit fire and an assortment of sidedishes.
Pictures from touring in Skagway
Upon our arrival back in our stateroom we started to review the literature provided on Glacier Bay, where we will be tomorrow. I'm planning on getting up tomorrow for the sunrise, which is at ~3:45am and there will supposedly be some good sights early in the morning as we arrive in the Glacier Bay National Park.
I'll try to upload the pics but the connection isn't very good as I mentioned earlier.
We'll post again when we can!
Travis
Since our last post we have been to three ports. The first port that we came to was Ketchikan. The ship was only in port there for about a half a day, but in that time we were able to accomplish and experience a lot. We went to "The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show" in Ketchikan which could basically be summarized as 5 comedians with chainsaws ;)
Then we went to a national park where they display totem poles that are recreations of some of the original totem poles that were built by native tribes in the area. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and had a lot of information to offer.
That day was pretty much the first time that we had set foot in Alaska and I think we were both a little taken back by the natural beauty of the place; however, it wasn't until the next day when we were in Juneau, that it really hit me.
Pictures from Ketchikan
Pictures from somewhere between Ketchikan and Juneau
In Juneau we started with a trip to an Alaskan cooking school where we learned about some techniques, background, and recipes for cooking in Alaska. We didn't get any pictures of this but it was a good time.
Then we went to see the Mendenhall Glacier from the Visitor Center where we were able to learn about the glacier, the "river of ice", and how it has been moving and melting/building up over time. In the pictures you can see some really blue ice. The ice is blue inside the glacier when it is in its crystalline form; however once it becomes exposed to oxygen the structure begins to break down and then appears white. So these pieces of blue ice that you can see are recently broken off pieces of the glacier.
Next we went for a tour of the Alaskan Brewery where we learned some of the history of the brewery and the beers that they make. We were also able to indulge in a number of samples of their various beers.
We wrapped the day up with probably the coolest thing that I have ever done. We went sea kayaking in the Gastineau Sound which is between Juneau and Douglas Island. We actually took the camera with us while in the kayak and took some pictures, but I do not think that it even comes close to capturing the experience that we had. This is where the beauty and perfection of it all hit me.
While we were both a little tired before we even went kayaking, afterwards we were both throughly exhausted. After another excellent dinner in the Bordeaux dining room we headed off to bed to prepare for another busy day.
Pictures from Juneau
Finally, today we woke up in Skagway, Alaska -- the smallest of the three ports that we have been to. It only has an annual population of about 750 people. We were supposed to start the day with a trip to the 'Lotus Spa' for a couples massage but unfortunately that had to be rescheduled due to a scheduling conflict made by the spa. We will be able to enjoy a massage tomorrow morning instead.
Since we had some "spare time" we decided to just go walking throughout Skagway, the downtown area is only 5 blocks by 20 blocks. We found some good shopping and a little museum in town.
Pictures from walking and shopping in Skagway
Later in the day we had an excursion scheduled to go to the Klondike Summit, the Yukon Suspension bridge in Canada, and then go to a salmon bake in Liarsville, Alaska. It was a good trip; we had a tour guide that was willing to do whatever it was we asked. We actually spotted some black bears while we were on this tour and got the tour guide to turn around for us to check them out!
The salmon bake was pretty nifty too; we were able to enjoy some more beer from the Alaskan Brewery while pigging out on salmon grilled over a pit fire and an assortment of sidedishes.
Pictures from touring in Skagway
Upon our arrival back in our stateroom we started to review the literature provided on Glacier Bay, where we will be tomorrow. I'm planning on getting up tomorrow for the sunrise, which is at ~3:45am and there will supposedly be some good sights early in the morning as we arrive in the Glacier Bay National Park.
I'll try to upload the pics but the connection isn't very good as I mentioned earlier.
We'll post again when we can!
Travis
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
At Sea -- Cruising the Inside Passage
On Monday we were at sea all day long. The crew warned us the night before not to go ashore, as this could lead to drowning. Travis and I spent our Monday eating, sleeping, and then eating again. After lunch, we went to hear a naturalist give a lecture on the inhabitants of the sea. Travis was interested; I took a Dramamine-induced nap in the darkened theater.
Later, we amused ourselves with pizza and beer on the chilly upper deck while poring over European cruise guides to plan our next cruise (haha). We made the mutual decision that Alaskan Amber beer is built for hardy fishermen. Then, we made an appointment for a couples' massage at the Lotus Spa for Thursday. This is my reward for agreeing to go kayaking in Juneau.
During the evening, we had to dress up for formal night with the captain. We fixed ourselves up all pretty and went to dinner in the Bordeaux dining room. It was delicious, as usual. Afterwards, we went to see a comedy hypnosis routine in the Universe Lounge. I was actually able to convince Travis to be an onstage participant, and hilarity ensued. He was one of about 20 who were hypnotized, or to be more accurate, put into a very chilled-out state of relaxation. The hypnotist would kick people off stage who weren't good candidates for hypnosis as the show went on, and I am proud to say that my Travis was there until the very end. By the way, supposedly, the more intelligent you are, the better a candidate you are for hypnosis. Who knows. Anyway, the whole thing was extremely amusing, especially an older woman to the right of Travis who was very theatrical while gallantly protecting a teddy bear. You'll have to ask us if you want more silly details. Oh, and Travis had to lean on older women onstage during the "deep sleep" part of the show. Nice. He is now renowned around the ship as "that guy who was onstage". Haha.
Later, we stayed for a bit of a trivia show but quickly decided we were tired and headed to bed. It turns out when you hang around old people all day you start to act like them and go to bed early.
That's all for now!
Love, Hil
--pictures here!
Later, we amused ourselves with pizza and beer on the chilly upper deck while poring over European cruise guides to plan our next cruise (haha). We made the mutual decision that Alaskan Amber beer is built for hardy fishermen. Then, we made an appointment for a couples' massage at the Lotus Spa for Thursday. This is my reward for agreeing to go kayaking in Juneau.
During the evening, we had to dress up for formal night with the captain. We fixed ourselves up all pretty and went to dinner in the Bordeaux dining room. It was delicious, as usual. Afterwards, we went to see a comedy hypnosis routine in the Universe Lounge. I was actually able to convince Travis to be an onstage participant, and hilarity ensued. He was one of about 20 who were hypnotized, or to be more accurate, put into a very chilled-out state of relaxation. The hypnotist would kick people off stage who weren't good candidates for hypnosis as the show went on, and I am proud to say that my Travis was there until the very end. By the way, supposedly, the more intelligent you are, the better a candidate you are for hypnosis. Who knows. Anyway, the whole thing was extremely amusing, especially an older woman to the right of Travis who was very theatrical while gallantly protecting a teddy bear. You'll have to ask us if you want more silly details. Oh, and Travis had to lean on older women onstage during the "deep sleep" part of the show. Nice. He is now renowned around the ship as "that guy who was onstage". Haha.
Later, we stayed for a bit of a trivia show but quickly decided we were tired and headed to bed. It turns out when you hang around old people all day you start to act like them and go to bed early.
That's all for now!
Love, Hil
--pictures here!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Embarking
Yesterday, 2008.06.16, we embarked on our journey from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to various locations throughout Alaska, USA.
We boarded the Island Princess at one of Vancouver's two ports for cruise ships, Canada Place after taking a short drive via taxi from our hotel to downtown. We ended up on East Hastings Street again and again the poverty and crime appeared ubiquitous. All and all I wasn't too impressed with Vancouver. Maybe my expectations were too high. Everyone seemed to talk it up as some kind of utopia but I certainly didn't see it.
Anyways, I have been impressed with Princess so far. We were able to sign up for all the excursions that we wanted to do -- I can't wait for the kayaking in Juneau! The food has been great so far, and it seems that this is going to be a very exciting trip.
We are at sea all day today so we'll have plenty of time to check out all of the opportunities available on the ship. Tomorrow, early in the morning, we will be in Ketchikan and we are going to visit some totem park as well as see a lumberjack show/competition.
We have some pictures from yesterday that you can see here:
Pictures!
More posts and pics to come!
Travis
We boarded the Island Princess at one of Vancouver's two ports for cruise ships, Canada Place after taking a short drive via taxi from our hotel to downtown. We ended up on East Hastings Street again and again the poverty and crime appeared ubiquitous. All and all I wasn't too impressed with Vancouver. Maybe my expectations were too high. Everyone seemed to talk it up as some kind of utopia but I certainly didn't see it.
Anyways, I have been impressed with Princess so far. We were able to sign up for all the excursions that we wanted to do -- I can't wait for the kayaking in Juneau! The food has been great so far, and it seems that this is going to be a very exciting trip.
We are at sea all day today so we'll have plenty of time to check out all of the opportunities available on the ship. Tomorrow, early in the morning, we will be in Ketchikan and we are going to visit some totem park as well as see a lumberjack show/competition.
We have some pictures from yesterday that you can see here:
Pictures!
More posts and pics to come!
Travis
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Vancouver Adventure
We began our day by dining in the fine establishment known as McDonald's at the nearby mall. While munching away on Egg McMuffins and hash browns, Travis and I sat and people-watched by the window. It turns out that Vancouver has a very large Asian population. I recall sitting there very oddly, feeling like a minority all of a sudden. According to Wikipedia, the reason for the mass immigration has to do with Hong Kong switching from British sovereignty to Chinese rule during the early 1980s, or something along those lines.
Afterwards, we took to the streets of Vancouver looking for entertainment. We took the SkyTrain to downtown Vancouver and discovered several neat stores and landmarks, such as the church in our pictures. We also saw breathtaking views of the nearby snow-covered mountains. Travis wants to let everyone know that we did walk down Hastings Street, which is renowned for prostitution, beggars, and drugs. He also wants me to link this page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insite, which tells an interesting little tidbit about that area that we find particularly ridiculous. However, feel free to make your own judgments.
After this, we took the SkyTrain again to visit the waterfront. One of Holland America's ships was leaving the port today, which gave a good preview of what is to come tomorrow when we board ours. The ship didn't appear very full, but who knows, maybe everyone was already inside at the casino. I mean, that's where I'll be. After waving farewell to the ship, we headed back to the Hilton on a very crowded SkyTrain. Watch out for the passenger with the bicycle.
pictures here
Afterwards, we took to the streets of Vancouver looking for entertainment. We took the SkyTrain to downtown Vancouver and discovered several neat stores and landmarks, such as the church in our pictures. We also saw breathtaking views of the nearby snow-covered mountains. Travis wants to let everyone know that we did walk down Hastings Street, which is renowned for prostitution, beggars, and drugs. He also wants me to link this page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insite, which tells an interesting little tidbit about that area that we find particularly ridiculous. However, feel free to make your own judgments.
After this, we took the SkyTrain again to visit the waterfront. One of Holland America's ships was leaving the port today, which gave a good preview of what is to come tomorrow when we board ours. The ship didn't appear very full, but who knows, maybe everyone was already inside at the casino. I mean, that's where I'll be. After waving farewell to the ship, we headed back to the Hilton on a very crowded SkyTrain. Watch out for the passenger with the bicycle.
pictures here
one car, four planes, a tram or two, and a taxi
Our honeymoon began yesterday with my dad, Bill, driving us out to RDU to catch our flight that was originally scheduled to go from RDU >> Detroit >> Seattle >> Vancouver.
Picture of us leaving RDU!
However, the flight out of Detroit to Seattle was delayed about 30 to 45 minutes so we ended up missing our connector for Seattle to Vancouver after running across the Seattle airport -- not a big deal -- we had alloted an extra day of travel for precisely this type of incident.
They got us on a flight to Portland that connected with a later flight to Vancouver. The absolute best part about this was that they managed to get all our luggage to the right place at the right time as well -- INCREDIBLE! -- cheers to Horizon Airlines!
After getting to the hotel via a taxi cab (minivan) and checking in we were able to score some food a place called 'Boston Pizza'. Ironic that we came the whole way across the continent and into another country to eat a place called Boston Pizza.
After eating we finished up our day at what felt like about 3am due to the time change.
So here I am, up early because my body refuses to let me sleep in, creating a blog for our honeymoon adventures waiting for my sleeping beauty to wake up. I think I'll try to find some food downstairs...
Travis
Picture of us leaving RDU!
However, the flight out of Detroit to Seattle was delayed about 30 to 45 minutes so we ended up missing our connector for Seattle to Vancouver after running across the Seattle airport -- not a big deal -- we had alloted an extra day of travel for precisely this type of incident.
They got us on a flight to Portland that connected with a later flight to Vancouver. The absolute best part about this was that they managed to get all our luggage to the right place at the right time as well -- INCREDIBLE! -- cheers to Horizon Airlines!
After getting to the hotel via a taxi cab (minivan) and checking in we were able to score some food a place called 'Boston Pizza'. Ironic that we came the whole way across the continent and into another country to eat a place called Boston Pizza.
After eating we finished up our day at what felt like about 3am due to the time change.
So here I am, up early because my body refuses to let me sleep in, creating a blog for our honeymoon adventures waiting for my sleeping beauty to wake up. I think I'll try to find some food downstairs...
Travis
And we're off...
So we started off on our honeymoon today and it has been quite a trip so far. There will be more to come in the following posts!
But before we get into that I wanted to post the link to our pictures from the wedding just in case anyone who wants to hasn't had the chance to see them yet. You can find them here on this site that Bruce was kind enough to publish them to:
http://pro-pix.smugmug.com/
Click 'Weddings' >> 'Hilary & Travis'
Also if you would like to take a look at the blog that Dan, the Father of the Bride, has been keeping throughout this process you can check it out here:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/father_of_the_bride
That's it for now -- honeymoon posts and pics inc!
Travis & Hilary
But before we get into that I wanted to post the link to our pictures from the wedding just in case anyone who wants to hasn't had the chance to see them yet. You can find them here on this site that Bruce was kind enough to publish them to:
http://pro-pix.smugmug.com/
Click 'Weddings' >> 'Hilary & Travis'
Also if you would like to take a look at the blog that Dan, the Father of the Bride, has been keeping throughout this process you can check it out here:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/father_of_the_bride
That's it for now -- honeymoon posts and pics inc!
Travis & Hilary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)