Explore Alaska - Day 4!

We arrived in Skagway, Alaska early in the morning. We had the opportunity to spend the entire day in Skagway! Skagway is a small town of 800 people year round; however, during the summer months the town population explodes to a few thousand. Our ship docked close to town. It was just a 10 minute walk to get into the heart of Skagway.
The water is this amazing green blue color. The color is from the glacier melts.

Skagway looks like a western town from the movies. The building in this picture with the "AB" on it is made entirely of driftwood. It is one of the original buildings in the town from its gold rush days in the late 1890's.

The town of Skagway has a strict building code. All buildings must be built to this old town time period. The sidewalks are made out of wooden planks. It was fun to go into several of the shops in this cute town.

One of the shops we visited was the Sarah Palin Store. This store was opened in honor of Governor Palin because she lived in Skagway when she was a kid.

This granite building was built by the Methodist church in the late 1890's early 1900's. They Methodist Church intended for it to be a school for girls. However, during a gold rush era, there aren't many girls in the area looking for a finishing school education. The building is currently a museum and city offices.

Near the museum, hidden in the woods, we found this abandoned steam train. It is one of the original trains that hauled gear up the mountain toward the gold fields.

Brent loved exploring this train. He climbed all over it.

This train is used for tours up the mountain. Grandma and her friends took this train on their tour up White Pass.

Brent and I took a bus tour up to White Pass. The tour stopped at several locations so we could get out and admire the amazing scenery. Skagway is at the bottom of the mountain in a valley. The reason Skagway was important to the gold rush was that it was a sea entrance to this valley. If you could climb up the mountains and make it to the lake system at the top, you could then navigate through the lakes another 300 - 500 miles to the famous Klondike Gold Mines. To make it up the treacherous and steep mountains, a railroad was built. I wasn't aware that railroads couldn't be built up steep inclines. So this railroad had to be creatively built. It was designed to travel up switchbacks through the canyon to make it up the steep pass.

There wasn't much space along side of the mountain to build the railroad.
At the top of this mountain is Goat Lake. In the center of this picture is Pitchfork Waterfall. It originates at Goat Lake and then races down this huge mountain side. Before it dumps into the river below, it splits itself into several waterfalls like a pitchfork. On the right side of the waterfall you will notice a long pipe. This is not an oil pipeline. This pipe also starts up at Goat Lake and takes in water to run the hydro-electric power plant that supplies Skagway with its electricity.

Behind Brent and I on the right is a suspension bridge. We went over this bridge on the bus. The bridge is only suspended on one side. The other side of the bridge sits on a rubber ledge. This area is right on a major earthquake line so the bridge had to be able to move during the earthquakes. Also because this area gets a good 50 feet of snow each winter, the bridge needed to be able to expand and contract without being damaged. At the top of White Pass, you can see the effects of the altitude we are at and the harsh environment we are in. The small trees you see in this picture could be 100 to 300 years old. The trees can't grow very tall in this area because of the lack of soil, sunlight, harsh wind and the extreme weather conditions. Very few plants survive in this area.
Our trip up White Pass took us into Canada. When we returned back to the United States, we had to pass through customs. Thank goodness we had our passports with us! We had to stop at the Alaska sign for a photo moment. The sign is made of wood and is in great condition. We asked our tour guide if it was new. He said it wasn't; however, each winter they take the sign down and store it. If it was to remain out all winter under several feet of snow, it would get ruined.This is the joining of two separate water systems. On the left you can see the blue green water that is from the melting of a glacier. On the right you can see blue black water that is just normal snow melt. In the middle you can see the sandy ridge that joins the two water sources together. I wish my camera could have captured the stark difference between the two.

On our way back to Skagway we stopped at a bridal fall. The water was raging down the side of the mountain. It is always impressive to witness the power of water!

On our way back into town, our tour guide took us to a look out point to where we could see the entire town as well as our cruise ship. Our cruise ship is the one on the left.

Lastly, we went to the Gold Rush Cemetery. Outside of the cemetery was this huge nugget of gold. Thankfully, it was chained to the tree so no one could run off with it. I'm sure it weighs more than a ton. Mitchell and Grant think we should have chipped some of the gold off and took it with us. ;)

After our tour and exploring the town some more, we headed back to the ship. The next day we would be going to a glacier that was located at the end of the Tracy Arm Fjord.

Explore Alaska - Day 3!

When we awoke on the third day of our cruise, we were in Alaska waters. We could see the coast line of Alaska. It was a breathtaking sight!There were magnificent mountains on both sides of the ship. The mountains were covered with thick forests of trees. The water around the boat was clear and calm.We spent much of our morning on deck just taking in the sights of beautiful Alaska.We saw small fishing ships that were dwarfed by our huge cruise ship. We saw small cabins along the shore line that appeared to only have one way to get to them, the sea.Here is our first glimpse of Juneau, Alaska. Juneau is the capital of Alaska. It is a small town and their are no roads to or from Juneau. The only way you can get to Juneau is by ship or by plane. Once we left the ship, we went on a bus tour to Mendenhall Glacier. As we rode through Juneau to the glacier, our driver pointed out the capital building, the governor's mansion and several other important sites. We saw two bald eagles along our drive too.

Glaciers aren't soft billowy piles of snow. Glaciers are created by years of excessive snow fall. As the snow compacts, the oxygen is squeezed out of the individual snowflakes. This turns the snow into solid ice. The blue you see in the glacier is the densest part of the ice. This glacier has been receding for several years. As it recedes, it has carved out this valley and left a glacier lake. Floating in the glacier lake at Mendenhall Glacier are icebergs. These icebergs are parts of the glacier that broke off in a chunk. There are many icebergs floating around the lake.

Near the glacier on the side of the mountain was a roaring waterfall. We didn't have enough time to hike to the waterfall but we could hear its roar from the observation deck.

The brown you see in this glacier is dirt and rocks that the glacier has ripped up off of the mountains as it has slid down the valley. The glacier starts further up the mountain in a snowfield. Parts of this glacier are a mile thick. That's a mile of solid ice!

Because we are standing so close to a huge ice field, it was definitely chilly! I'm so glad I had a sweatshirt on!

Brent's parents came with us on this tour. Grandma and her friends came to the glacier too but they went to a creative garden first. Ask Grandma to see the pictures. You won't believe what someone did to create this unique garden!

From the observation deck we could see the visitor center. All of the land you see up to the visitor center used to be covered by this Mendenhall Glacier. Just 70 years ago, this entire area including where the visitors center is standing was all beneath thick layers of ice.

After we toured the glacier we had the bus drop us of in the thriving town of Juneau. We had lunch and then explored the tourist trap part of the town. To my surprise, 70% of the stores on this street were jewelry shops. I had no idea that so many people went on cruises to go and buy jewelry!

There isn't much room for the shops on the small street. As you look up the staircase in the middle of the picture, you will see the thick forest and a steep mountain right behind the stores. We were told that there are small homes at the top of the staircase. However, we didn't hike the stairs to find out.

Brent and I had fun shopping at a few places and enjoyed the rugged culture of the town.

After a fun afternoon exploring Juneau, we headed back to the ship for a relaxing evening of sailing to Skagway, Alaska. This is a picture of the sun finally setting. The sun didn't set until around 10:30pm. Spectacular sight!

Cruising to Alaska - Day 2!

The second day of our Alaskan vacation was spent on the open seas. We couldn't see land from either side of the ship. Although we weren't in a storm, the sea was choppy and we would go up and down. Brent and I didn't get sea sick; however, there were many times that we would be standing or walking and get very wobbly.

This is a clip of what it looks like to watch the waves out on the open sea.

Part of the day was spent just watching the ocean. There were plenty of windows to look out of that were within the warmth of the ship. It was very relaxing to just sit there and watch the water.

Although we were only in our 2nd day of our vacation, Brent already looks relaxed and rejuvenated. :)

Today we had lunch at the Windjammer. This buffet restaurant was on the 9th floor of the ship. It had windows all the way around the dining area. Today was an extra special day because we were able to eat with entertaining company. Sitting at the table (from left to right) are Haley, Brent, Carole, Lyn, Elmer, Della, Eddie, and Grandma. We loved hanging out with Grandma and her friends. They always had funny stories to tell; especially, Della. Just ask her anything about her mother and you will get a great tale.

This evening was our first formal night on the ship. Brent looked great in his tuxedo and I was sporting a new purple dress. One of the activities on formal night was to meet the captain of the ship, Rick Sullivan, and get a picture taken with him. Next there was a reception in the Shall We Dance Lounge where we could have a variety of beverages and appetizers. While we were at the reception, the captain introduced the top members of his team. Then we were off to our 6 o'clock dinner in the Edelweiss Dining Hall.

Lyn and Carole Jensen looked great in blue for formal night.

After dinner, at about 8pm, Grandma and I had our picture taken on deck. It doesn't look like it is 8 o'clock in the evening. However, it is windy and COLD on the deck. I can't hide the fact that I'm freezing during this photo shoot!

After dinner we were off to another show in the Broadway Melodies Theater. On this night we were entertained by two gentleman; one was on the piano and the other was a comedian. They put on quite an act together. Sometimes I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. Great fun!

Brent and I pose for a picture on the staircase at the Broadway Melodies Theatre. Each night when we returned to our state room, we were welcomed with an animal figure made from bath towels. I think this one is a puppy. Very cute!

Exhausted from a day at sea and dressing up, we eagerly went to bed knowing that the next day we would begin our adventures in Juneau, Alaska!

Cruising to Alaska! Day 1

After two years of marriage, Brent and I finally had our Honeymoon! We decided to take a cruise to Alaska!!!! Our trip started out by flying to Seattle, Washington. This is the view from the plan looking at the Grand Canyon.

Grandma and her friends at the Senior Center were on the same cruise! It was great to hang out with her and her friends. Grandma and I are modeling our custom made Alaska t-shirts created by Uncle Scott. The shirts say "Alaska 2010" on one side and each person's name on the other.

This is our spectacular cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas. The ship had 2,239 passengers plus 770 crew members.

Before getting on the ship, each person had to get their picture taken to be linked to their room card. The room card was more commonly known as your Sea Pass Card. This card was used to get on and off the ship, into your room, and to purchase anything on the ship.

Our lovely windowless state room was fairly small. This is pretty much it. Needless to say, you could go to sleep anytime in here because when the lights were out, it was pitch BLACK!

If you think the room was small, here is the itty bitty bathroom.

The hallway where our room was located was SUPER long and narrow. This is a view of only half of the hallway. Brent's parents also happened to be on the same cruise as us. After we found our rooms, we explored the ship together. Here Brent and his Dad are lounging around the deck 9 pool. This is the outside pool. Although it was heated, I didn't want to get in and out of this pool when the outside temperature was 50 degrees or less. Brrrrrr....

This is what you could look at while you were lounging around by the outside pool.

At the back end of the ship, there was a rock climbing wall. When the ship was cruising in the open seas, it was very WINDY back here.

This is the indoor pool. It was nice and warm in here. There were also ping pong tables in here. Lots of things to do.

This is the view from the Centrum. This is in the middle of the ship. Floors 5, 6, 7, and 8 have balcony's looking into this area. It is a beautiful part of the ship and a great lounging area.

This video clip will show you around the Centrum from the 4th floor where it begins.

Every night we attended a show in the Broadway Melodies Theater. It was a huge auditorium with sofa like seating, very comfortable. The first show we attended, we sat in the balcony. The first show was a comedy act.

The first day of our trip was spent exploring the ship. We left the Seattle port around 5pm. The rest of the evening we cruised through the Puget Sound and out into the Pacific Ocean. As I have never been on a ship before, it was exciting to be out on deck watching the ship pull out of the harbor. It was cool and windy. We had beautiful views of the homes along the shoreline as well as harbors filled with sailboats. We were both anxious to see what a full day on the open sea would be like!