Final Day on Cruise - Victoria, BC

One of the best food items on the ship was the chocolate chip cookies. But most of the time they were out of them. On the last day I found out you can order them from room service. So I picked up the phone and ordered six cookies and look what I got, six orders of cookies. I still have a few in the freezer. Of course I had to order some ice cream to go with the cookies.

As we docked in Victoria, the sun came out. This is a picture of Mount Rainier, in Washington State, over 50 miles away.

The flowers in Victoria are some of the most beautiful in the world. We didn't get to Butchart Gardens, since our ship didn't get into port until 7pm.



I hope you enjoy reading about our entire Seattle/Alaska/Victoria vacation in this and the next four postings.

Raining in Sitka and Ketchikan

I think this sea plane picture was really taken in Juneau, when it was sunny. We had rain for three days, in Sitka, Ketchikan and on the way to Victoria, BC.

Looks just like one of our hurricane evacuation signs.

This was a close call, but I escaped from this black bear. We did see a real black bear from a distance by one of the glaciers. We also saw a pod of Orca whales, a sea otter and porpoises.

This is the marina in Sitka.

This is Creek Street in Ketchikan, old buildings converted to tourist shops.

Juneau Alaska - Helicopter and Dog Sledding

Here's our first port of call where we could get off the ship. The weather was amazing, sunny and warm. In the morning we walked through town - it took almost 20 minutes. Above you can see an eagle posing by the American flag.

The big event of the day was a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier, where we went dog sledding. Here's captain Eric in the back seat of the helicopter. I was in the front where I was able to take some amazing photos.

Here we are as we left the helicopter and get ready for the real fun.

Yes that's me, taking the huskies out for a run.

And here we both are on our own dog sled.

I took this as the dogs were mushing along. We went about 6mph, less than racing speed of 10-12mph.

And here is part of our dog sled team. Below is a short video of our ride.

Alaska Cruise - Glacier Bay

It was a little cold, but beautiful in Glacier Bay. The water was calm and the only noise you heard was nature itself.
Eric bundled up more than me. Doesn't he look like an eskimo?

We stopped at three glaciers, this one being the largest. The color is amazing. I think this one is 200 feet high, and 100 feet below the surface.

This photo is just following a calfing (where the ice falls away). It happen when the ice below the surface melts, and the weight of the ice above crashes into the water. It is beautiful and very loud.


Here we are enjoying ourselves as we leave Glacier Bay. Below is a video of the glacier.

Seattle - Pre-Cruise Visit

Eric and I were in Seattle the two days before our Alaska cruise. The first night we had dinner with Tom and Jeanne and their family. The next day we spent with Allen and Tim, two of my Frontrunner friends who moved to Seattle. We had a nice breakfast, went to Pike Place Market, The Seattle Art Museum and had a nice dinner at a Greek restaurant.

These are some of the Dungeness Crabs we had for lunch.

The flowers were amazing throughout Seattle.

Of course Seattle isn't Seattle without the Space Needle.



And with a little help from Eric, the needle is still standing.



Remember these erasers from the 50s. I wonder if you can still buy them.