Alaska 08 Day 12 - Inside Passage

Our final day on the cruise began with a fabulous brunch with everything from eggs benidict to prime rib.

The remainder of the day was spent leisurely cruising through the inside passage to our final destination of Vancouver.

Alaska 08 - Day 11 Ketchikan

The famous "Creek St" in Ketchikan.

We took a float plane excurision to a nearby salmon that was a known black bear hangout.
5 of the bears enjoying the unlimited salmon buffet.

After our float plane trip, we returned to the ship for a special vow renewal ceremony performed by the capitan.

Alaska 08 - Day 10 Icy Strait Point

On day 10, we anchored off Icy Stait Point, a pristine forested setting. From our cabin, we could see several humpback whales. After a relaxing breakfast onboard, we went ashore and enjoyed a walking tour of the cannery wharf and found a trail took us through the woods and then along the beach.

In the afternoon, the kids, Rebecca and mom & dad went on a whale watching cruise on the boat in the foreground and had several up close encounters with Alaska's largest resident, the humpback whale.

Alaska 08 - Day 9 Skagway

We awoke on day 9 to find our ship docked in Skagway and looking forward to two different excursions.

The kids went with nana, papa and auntie on a narrow gauge train that followed the gold miners route from the port town up to White Pass. Their pictures show incredible views of this amazing territory.

With everyone else on the train climbing Whitehorse pass, Shelly and I enjoyed a leisurely float down the Haines river seeing bald eagles and spectacular mountains.

That evening back onboard, we enjoyed a special dinner in the premer dining room. Unbeliveible food and wonderful time together.

Alaska 08 - Day 8 Juneau

We enjoyed a little fellowship meeting in our stateroom before venturing out to explore the town of Juneau. Mendenhall Glacier was a few miles out of town but definetly something that had to be seen.

After seeing the sights and touching a real piece of 1,000 yr old ice, we decided to go on a little hike. Signs warned of bears in the area and they were right!

Just a dozen feet from the trail was a large black bear. Luckly he/she was more interested in the stream full of salmon than the trail full of us.

The bear's lunch!

Alaska 08 - Day 7 Glacier Bay

We spent our first evening exploring the HUGE ship. It is over a thousand feet long and 13 decks tall. The kids had their own room across the hall from us and it took them about 10 minutes to figure out the room service thing and it wasn't long before a steady stream of pizza, ice cream and cookies began arriving at their door. Later in the evening they discovered the onboard kids club and that was pretty much the last we saw them for the week. ha

After spending most of our first day cruising through smooth waters, we got our first look at Glacier Bay.

Pretty soon the ship was surrounded by bits of ice as we approached the wall of ice.

Pictures do not come close to capturing the beauty of this active glacier.

We got within a 1/3 of a mile and it was at that point you realized the true size of the glacier as it towered over the 13 story ship. You could literally hear it moving and we witnessed several large pieces come crashing down.

Many of the larger ice bergs carried seals.

That night we enjoyed our first formal dinner on the ship.

Alaska 08 - Day 6 Fairbanks to Seward

The final day of the land portion of our trip began with a one hour flight from Fairbanks back to Anchorage. From Anchorage, a bus then took us south to the port city of Seward where our cruise ship was waiting.

My sister met us at the airport and joined us for the cruise portion of the trip.

Ready to board!

Erica with her favorite aunt.

Not a bad way to spend a week!

Alaska 08 - Day 5 Denali to Fairbanks

With the train portion of our trip over, we loaded unto a bus and headed northeast again for the 4 hour drive to Fairbanks.

Along the way the bus stopped and we got an up close look at the Alaskan pipeline.

After a lunch break in downtown Fairbanks, we boarded sternwheelers for an afternoon riverboat trip.

Along the way, we were given a float plane demonstration.

and a riverside visit to a sled dog training ranch.

The highlight of the riverboat trip was a visit to a native Alaskan village.

There were demonstrations of native dress, agriculture and even animals.

We were begining to feel a little native ourselves.