Under the Sea

I just finished a submarine tour of Sitka and my mind is currently overloaded with all the scientific names of all the urchins, fish & creatures I saw. My fingers were never fast enough to catch a photo of any of them though so instead I have tons of kelp and coral pictures. I'm not really sure why I was worried about it when I could just download better pictures on the internet, but here's a recap of my view behind the glass. I asked a guy to take my picture and somehow he managed to change the setting to black & white and turn off the flash without me noticing.

The tour guide threw on a dry suit to grab some sea urchins so we could get a closer look.

Grandparents & Glaciers!

My Grandpa & Grandma McNay came to cruise last week! They must have brought the California weather with them because we had some of the best weather of the season while they were here. We had a great time and I was even able to sneak away from work in Ketchikan to go on a tour with them.

We enjoyed the glaciers from inside, but quickly went out to snap a picture and hear the cracking and calving of the glacier.
Hubbard Glacier.

Saxman Village in Ketchikan. We took a trolley tour to the park and around the city.

Welcome to Ketchikan, Alaska!

Enjoying the last sunset on their balcony!

This is Alaska

Last week in Glacier Bay national park we saw 3 bears eating a whale carcass that had washed up on the shore. I don't think it gets anymore Alaska than that.

Butchart Gardens

The shore excursion team asked if we wanted to go to Butchart Gardens last week when we were in Victoria, Canada. We thought...why not? It was amazing & I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go. They keep the gardens open late just for the cruise ships. We quickly ran around to see everything before sunset and then took another loop through the gardens to see it at night.

First Class

Christian became BFFs with a family that was on our last cruise. There was a major family blowout and a few of them actually got off in one of the early ports. To our luck though, they had a booked a private chartered plane in Ketchikan and after the crisis there was a few extra seats. They invited us both to join, but since it was a big shopping port, we both couldn't go. Christian took full advantage of the offer.

The empty chair that I could've been sitting in...

All aboard!

Last week we had a charter cruise so our itinerary changed. We visited Skagway for the first (and last) time for the season. The big thing to do in Skagway is the train up into the mountains where all the gold mining happened...so that's what we did. It was a gorgeous & sunny day... and it was great to get out of all the shopping and into nature!

Hopping on the White Pass Railway!

Downtown Skagway. They try to keep it looking like it did in the gold rush days!
The train snowplow that is still used during the winter.

They look like actors, but we passed these guys on our way up the mountain. I'm not really sure what they were doing or how they got there.

The tracks started right outside the ship.

T-Shirt Weather

It was my birthday last week and Christian and I spent a full day playing in Seattle...in short sleeve t-shirts. This might not seem like a big deal, but it was the FIRST time since MAY that I'd gone outside in just a t-shirt without a jacket. We went to Pike's Market, ate lots of treats, and grabbed lunch with my good friend Mitzi that works in Seattle. Such a great day!! For my bday I asked Christian for Candy & a Louis Vuitton...I just got double the candy and a spa treatment:) maybe next year... At Pike's Market

The famous fish throwing. The guy from the sopranos was also there for some taping thing.

We couldn't resist the smell of this amazing cookie shop downtown.

The evening prior we were walking around Victoria, Canada and watched this crazy street performer throwing fire and knives.

More Ice

We recently visited another national park/glacier called Hubbard Glacier. We weren't going to bother going up to look at it. We figured one glacier is going to look like another glacier, but we were so glad we did. It was one of the most spectacular things we've seen since being up here in AK.

Here's a couple pictures...

Oh Canada!

We were in Victoria, Canada last night for Canada Day! We might miss our independence day, but we were happy to be there for Canada's. They handed us Canadian flags as we left the ship so we joined in the celebrations with the thousands of other people. I opted to just wave mine instead of actually wear it like the many crazed teens parading the city. There was a huge festival with live music and the night ended with a firework show over the water.

Let the party began.

Getting ready to head into all the madness.

Without a paddle

Christian went on a kayaking tour in Sitka. There was limited space so I went on another excursion. He said it was great except for his kayak partner didn't know how to paddle so he was doing double duty the whole time....details.

Face Shot.

Motion of the Ocean

Last week we hit a terrible storm and the ship was rocking and rollin'. Fortunately, Christian and I don't get sick, but just about every guest was passed out all over the ship. A lady threw up inside the bingo machine and during our shopping show a lady was lying on the floor in the back (barf bag in hand) because she didn't want to miss the raffle. We received these pictures from the captain of another ship that was passing. Enjoy land for us:)

Wildlife

This humpback what was following us for about 30 min.

There was huge packs of sea otters everywhere.We are finally getting into whale watching season in AK and we've started seeing whales from the ship. Today I went on a wildlife watching excursion. They only had room for one person so I went solo while Christian went kayaking. We saw everything from bald eagles to whales. I may have missed the best whale shots because I was too worried about spilling my hot cocoa to get out the camera...oh well.

Birthday in Sitka, Alaska

Last week we were in the densely populated (3000 pop.) Sitka, Alaska for Christian's birthday. My grandparents were also cruising with us, but I never had my camera so I only have these two pictures for the whole week they were here. Happy Birthday Christian!

Grandpa & Grandma gave Christian an acupucture treatment for his back and they got matching hats for his birthdayScouring the town for a place to buy diet coke.