Alaska Trip Ends

Before I finish up the Alaska recap I just want to thank everyone who responded to my question on Friday. Thanks for all the encouragement and I'll be responding to everything. If you have anything else to add, please keep them coming. In case you didn't know it already - I really love it when people take the time to comment.

Ok, back to the trip recap. Where was I? We left Sitka and had one more day at sea. Even though the boat didn't dock anywhere, it was another stunning view day as we cruised through College Fjord. Check it out


(see those little black dots on the ice chunk in the middle? Those are sea otters!)

On Tuesday night, we arrived in Whittier.


That day we scheduled a boat ride to see some more glaciers. To be honest, we scheduled it mostly because we had the entire day to kill. We figured it would just be more of the same. But the excursion was definitely better than we had expected. To start off we got to see this amazing rocky face waterfall with a million birds on it. The sound of all those birds flying around was pretty cool.


We saw some more wildlife including eagles, mountain goats and the adorable sea otter.


In some spots, the water was so still it was like glass. This photo is not doctored - it really did look just like this.


We arrived at the edge of the glacier and stopped the boat. Not too long after everyone collected themselves outside, we got a great show of the glacier calving.

Awesome!

With all but bear and moose sightings checked off the list, our Alaska experience was as complete as it was going to get.

Actually there is tons more to do here than we could have ever done in just a week...but I have to say I don't know if I could go back. We had such amazing weather on our trip, we've been completely spoiled. I don't know if I would have had half as much fun if we had encountered the notorious moody Alaska climate. Or maybe its always this nice and thats what the locals tell tourists to keep more of us from moving there!



Hope you liked taking a blog trip with me. If travel is your bag and you're new here, check out my past travel posts: London, Tokyo, Prague, Krakow and Budapest.

Like my photos? You can buy select prints starting at just $6! Click here to browse.

Alaska Trip Recap

I hope you don't mind but I'm going to do a stream of consciousness sort of recap. If you're like me, all you care about is the photos anyway! But if you have any questions, just shout and I'll be happy to answer them.

The deets: 7 day Northbound Alaska Cruise departing from Vancouver on May 13. Ports visited: Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Whittier/Anchorage.

Obligatory airplane window shot


We didn't get to do very much in Vancouver - it was raining and time was tight so I didn't take many photos there. We just putzed around until it was time to depart. Getting on the ship feels sort of like cattle to the slaughter...one mindless, snaking line after another until we are finally allowed on.


The first of many sea planes take offs I was to see that week. I stitched this one together for a sequence shot.


We got a balcony room which I would definitely recommend. We would have missed so much without it. Anyway...it wasn't long before we were off to open waters.


Some gambling but no winning took place.



Our first stop was in Ketchikan.

Weather was overcast all day which threatened to put a damper on things but thankfully the rain waited until we left for the evening. I really liked the taxidermy shop. If they weren't so expensive, there would be a large stuffed bear coming home with me!


We just so happened to be traveling with a large contingent of the World Beard & Moustache World Championship participants. Who knew, right? I got lucky and got three of the most creative moustache guys to stop for a photo with me.


Overall, a nice day under gray skies.


And then we were off to Juneau and woke up to gorgeous weather. We got so lucky and the weather stayed warm and clear for the rest of the week. Yipeee!


These photos really don't do the views justice. Pretty much everywhere we looked from this day on was just jaw droppingly beautiful.




In the morning we took a float plane tour of the ice fields




And then that afternoon we took a helicopter to actually walk around on a glacier. That was definitely the highlight of the trip. Totally amazing!










We finished our day off by strolling the streets and having some yummy king crab!




Before we knew it, the day was over and it was time to get back on the ship. Off to Skagway we went... (continued here)

Like my photos? You can buy select prints starting at just $6! Click here to browse.

I'm back!

Its been a whole two weeks without a peep from me. Have you missed me?

I'm sure many of you have already guessed my blogging break coincided with some travelling for us. Well, you'd be right! We visited not one but two fabulous locations. Since I went right back to work, I haven't had a chance to go through my photos yet but I'll be posting more about the trip next week.



Anyone have a guess of where we went? (For those in the know, keep mum.) Two photographic hints above - one for each locale.

If you're itching for a virtual vacation right now, please fly off for a peek at some past trip recaps: Moscow 1 & 2, London, Tokyo, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Alaska 1, 2 & 3 and Paris.



I'll be back tomorrow with the big reveal for my Halloween invites.


Last but not least, I want to give a giant bear hug to each of my guest bloggers - Paula Grace , raenovate , Fixing it Fancy , Restyled Home , Emmy Lu , casaCARA , Home in the Country and From the Right Bank. Your contributions made made it so much easier for me to go offline and really enjoy my blogging break. I really can't thank you enough for the time you took out to share your projects while keeping this place interesting. In case you missed any of them, please check them out here: Guest Bloggers.