alaska

alaska 2010

I will be quiet for a while. Next trip will be to nc to celebrate birthdays wth river, russell and mary. Thn in Nov we go on our paris to nice river trip and I will blog again. Hope all is well with you and yours!

Then the long trip home. Vancouver to dallas and then dallas to pittsburgh. It was a great trip! One I recommend. I did wish my grandsons and daughters could see and experience what we did! I did not get a chance to upload any more pictures but I hope to this weekend.

The last day we visited Victoria and we finnaly encountered rain. Jim and I rode the hop on hop off bus around the city. Then we went to the Royal BC Museum. It was really interesting. The top floor was a history of the culture of BC beginningwith the natives and showing how with each new thing that was introduces the culture changed. First horses, then white men etc. The second floor was the natural history.

Well today it is raining. We are at sea. I did my morning yoga. We disembark tomorrow in vancouver so there is packing to do. Tonight we are in victoria and island off vancouver. We will ride the hop on hop off to see the town. I miss everyone but had a great trip. Saw awesome sights and relaxed!!

Today I saw 100s of starfish. Upclose and personal! one was 3 ft in diameter and had 26 tenacles. They come in all sizess and shapes. Also sea cucumber. No tropical fish but lots of creatures including fish.

The area we have been visiting is a part of the Tongas National Forest. It is the largest national forest. The scenery changes as you go up in altitude. This is my second trip to alaska and I would happily come again!!!

Ketchican is a quaint little town. Alot of it is built on stilts. People had float planes parked outside their homes.

We have continued to have incredible weather! It hasn't rained since monday and they had 15 days of straight rain before that. Today we visited Ketchican. It is on an island. It is a fishing town. I opted to snorkle. Who do you know that has snorkled in alaska?! It was great. Water was 55 degrees but we were covered in neoprin. I was like a floating life vest.

The weather has been unbelievable. A native said that they won't have another day like these for months. It is 70 today. We have had no rain, a common occurance here.

The train In skagway was built to take the men to the gold rush fields. It took two years and 2 months to build which was amazing at that time. The us, canada and britain all helped build it.

Tomorrow we are in Ketcxhican. That is the only alaskan town that developed for fishing. Today we are in glacier bay.

I truly am blessed in soooo many ways, and to see what I have seen is among them. I am grateful!

Also I have used the trip once again to exercise. Besides the kayak yessterday, I have done yoga and spinning. Hopefully I do not gain as most do on cruises.

And stay tuned for tomorrow----I am going to snorkle in alaskan waters!

This is a glacier. They really look blue. They also have layers of silt gathered from moving down the valleys. I sat on deck in short sleaves and watched and listened to the calving. Incredible.

Today I kayaked this beautiful pristine lake in BC. 5 miles! Then we road the white pass train back to skagway. It is warm here. I was hot in vest. The sights are so beautiful!!

This is our second trip to alaska and I would do it again. Great fun!

so you know there is a whale when you see the blow, and when you see the flute they are going down. It is a beautiful sight! Awesome for sure! They eat 2000 lbs. of food a day!

this is a grooup of todays kids carrying on the tradition of a pyramid at the beach.

looking for pictures to post of alaska I found this one of the beach that I have been wanting to post. This is some of the original kids we started the tradition of going to the beach with 30 years ago.

here we are in alaska! Incredible beauty!! and I cannot get the pictures to upload.

We are having a great time but I wish my grandkids were here to see what I am seeing. Here is a picture of a whale flute and blow.

Wow!! Have we been blessed. It was balmy in juneau yesterday! And the whales put on quite a show. First as we boarded our boat a sea lion played near by. Then we found the whales and they put on quite a show. Coming back, we saw a whale playing on its back and flapping its arms(?)

Well after an uneventful flight we arrive in Seattle where we connected with Mark. We got a good night sleep and left for the port to board ncl Pearl. Sunday was marks birthday and the staff sang happy birthday and presented him with a cake. After the sail away festivities on deck I watched us pull out of seattle from the spa. They have chaise that are heated!! Today we arrived in Juneau. I was in teh library and looked out the window to see a half a dozen whale welcoming us. Then came a pod of dolphin! We will disembark after lunch and are taking a whale watch tour. Miss you all! Wish you could see the incredible natural beauty that sorounds us! Hopefully I can put up pictures later. Love yA!

The incredible journey that is my life continues. It was a great summer at the beach! My grandchildren are such joys!