Victoria, British Columbia

The last port on our cruise was Victoria, British Columbia.

The first thing I saw when I got off the ship was the Canadian flag.  Canada may not be very exotic, but we were in a different country.  Woot!

We had to figure out how to get from the dock into town.  My parents went and chatted with some taxi drivers and tour companies.  I let them figure it out.  I went straight to the big Victoria sign to take a super touristy picture.

Once we figured out how to get around, we booked a tour bus that would take us out to the Butterfly Garden and the Butchart Garden.

Zack didn't obey the rules on the bus.

The first place the bus dropped us off was the Butterfly Garden.  It was absolutely beautiful!  There were numerous kinds of butterflies.  There were flamingos, turtles, various other birds and billions of butterflies.  We took a million pictures but I'll just share a few.

It landed on me.  Robyn didn't have a chance to change the camera settings before it flew away.  So it's a little washed out but she got the shot.

Robyn was distressed about the one that landed on her.

After the Butterfly Garden, we headed to the Butchart Gardens.

The Butchart Gardens were stunning.  It was something that Robyn had really wanted to do, but I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would.

I loved these corridors made entirely of flowers.  I told Robyn this is a good place to take engagement pictures.  We should have known that 5 years ago.

We came around the corner and looked down on this beautiful sunken garden.

Robyn's job is always to take pictures of flowers.  She had her work cut out for her that day.

Robyn's parents had taken a picture of this globe long ago.  In Robyn's mind, this globe represents the Butchart Gardens.  Naturally, we had to get a picture.

This was a top secret window out to the boat harbor.

Every inch of the whole place was covered in flowers.

One of these is a statue, the other is me.  Can you tell the difference?

We had a great experience at the Butchart Garden.  Afterward, the tour bus took us back to the ship.  We still had a couple hours before we had to be back, but we were tired so we decided our time in Canada was done.

But there was one little thing that I really wanted to do.  Upon our original entry into Canada they didn't stamp my passport.  I really wanted it stamped.  So we went back into the Port of Entry to find someone who could help us out.

When we went in, there was no one manning the station.  I was dismayed, "What if someone sneaks into Canada?"  Robyn didn't think they were very worried about that.

Eventually we tracked someone down and told him we really wanted the stamp.

Success!

After accomplishing our mission we got back on the ship.  It was our last night on a cruise.  Don't worry.  Our adventures weren't over yet.  We still had some adventures planned in Seattle after our cruise ship landed.

Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska

The third adventure on our Alaskan cruise happened entirely on board the ship.  The ship took an excursion into the Tracy Arm Fjord for a viewing of the Dawes Glacier.

The captain came on the loud speaker the night before we entered the Tracy Arm area.  He said that we would enter the fjord at about 5 AM and that we would reach the glacier about 7 AM.  I told Robyn I definitely didn't want to miss it, so we needed to be awake.

Of course,  I had been waking up ridiculously early for the entire trip.  I normally wake up around 7 AM in Utah.  7 AM in Utah is 5 AM in Alaska, so I would usually wake up at 5 and  be completely done sleeping.  Of course, the early to bed, early to rise lifestyle is not the best for a cruise.  They have all sorts of shows and activities late at night.  But by 8:00 every night I was ready for some good sleep.

However, this one day was the day for the early risers.  (If they ever invent a time machine, someone should go back and read this blog to High School me.  It would blow his mind that I am an early riser.)  I woke up ridiculously early as usual.  I still read my book for a little while before waking Robyn.  I figured we could miss some of the fjord, but I definitely didn't want to miss the glacier.

Around 6:30, we got dressed and headed up to the top deck.  If we had a window room we could have just enjoyed the view from our room, but we didn't so we headed up top.  I didn't really mind though, I absolutely loved the chilly Alaskan air.  It's the freshest smelling air you'll ever breathe.  Not to mention, how awesome is it to be in 40 degree weather in July?

When we got to the top deck, we walked around the whole ship to check everything out.  People were crowded around the bow, looking at the glacier off in the distance.  We picked an uncrowded spot on the port side and just watched amazing nature go by.

Every half mile or so, there were these little glacier fed stream/waterfalls.

I loved the greenery with the mountain backdrop and the wisps of fog.

We saw 5 or 6 seals.  These were chilling on the ice, others would swim on top for a moment and then vanish

Before we reached the Dawes Glacier, we saw this one off in the distance.  I imagine there were dozens of glaciers all around us that were too high to see.

After we'd been up there 20 minutes or so, we ran into my parents as they were making their way around the ship.

Notice the mug in my mom's hand.

On the ship, you can eat all the food you want in the buffet for free.  However, when ever you come up to the top deck, you always encounter people selling drinks.  I was never interested because I don't drink alcohol, but this particular morning they offered hot chocolate.  It was like 5 dollars, so I still declined, but my mom bought some.  The thing is,  they just asked her if she wanted hot chocolate, they handed her the mug and asked for money.  My dad was mad because he didn't realize it cost money.  They almost gave the mug back, but decided they'd just do it.  I guess we're a cheap family.  That's just how we roll.

Finally we started to approach the glacier.

The ship was able to get about a mile from the glacier.  Then the captain just rotated the ship in place.  I didn't realize they could do that.  But it just sat there and did a 360 degree spin for about an hour, spinning around 3 or 4 times in that span.  That way all parts of the ship had a chance to get a front row seat.  We had staked out a good spot on the edge and just waited for our spot to become the front row.  When the time came, people came and crawled all over us for a minute, but it was all good.  The scenery was beautiful.

We make the glacier look precious.

I was blown away by the deep blue color.

I loved the deep blue color.  It looks like frozen antifreeze or something.  I don't know what causes it, but the little floating pieces of ice were really blue as well.

At one point, we were standing there looking at the glacier and chatting, when a huge chunk of it fell off.  (The word on the street is that they call that "calving".   I call it "breaking off a big chunk".  Calving does seem more concise.)

I looked around to see if we were in trouble for breaking the glacier, as the giant chunk fell into the water.  After a few seconds there was a roaring sound like thunder.  I wish I had gotten video, or even just audio.  The sound was amazing.  We felt like we were pretty close up, but the delay in sound made us realize how far away we really were.  That means the glacier is much more ginormous than I realized.

Finally, after enjoying the view for a long time we made our way to the main dining room for breakfast.  I enjoyed my eggs benedict and watched out the window as the ship slowly made its way back out of the fjord.  We chatted and watched Alaska go by as the ship began its journey toward our final stop in Victoria, British Columbia.

Skagway, Alaska

The second port on our Alaskan cruise was Skagway.

In this city, my mom suggested that we try dog sledding.  I mostly thought it sounded fun just to be in nature in Alaska.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to experience nature from a dog sled.  It turned out to be super fun.  Definitely, an awesome idea.

However, Robyn wasn't very interested in the dog sled so she chose to sleep in and relax that morning.

We got off the ship and immediately got onto a bus which took us out of town.  The Musher's camp was located about 15 miles away, so we rode the bus for a little while through some Alaskan wilderness.

I just kept snapping pictures like this.  It was so beautiful.

The bus took us to the Musher's camp and there was a short walk to actually get into the camp.  During the walk my mom told me that since Robyn wasn't with us, it was my job to take pictures of flowers.

I did my best to fill in for Robyn.

I didn't get very far before the paparazzi started snapping shots of me.

I was loving the beauty, and our adventure hadn't even started.

We went left.  Next time: zipline.

Once we got into the base camp we climbed aboard this Unimog made by Mercedes-Benz.  It was able to climb us up to wear the dogs train.

When we pulled in, we saw the dog version of a parking lot.

These dogs are actual racing dogs.  During the winter they pull sleds, but they need to continue to train for the summer.  So they hook them up to these little wagons and give people like us rides.  Several of the dogs that were pulling us have competed in the Iditarod before.

This is what the wagon looks like when it's empty.

This is what the wagon looks like filled with my family.

This is what the wagon looks like filled with family with dogs ready to pull.

Finally they started to pull.

They gave us quite a ride.  The musher would stand on the back of the wagon and call out commands.  He didn't have any reins or anything, everything was verbal.  He said they get up to about 20 mph.  It was fast enough that it blew my dad's hat off.  You can hear the musher asking my dad if we need to go back for it in the video below.  (Don't worry, one of the other dog teams grabbed it and it was safely returned to him.)



They took us on a ride for about 10 minutes.  After that, they let us meet and play with the dogs.

One of the dogs really wanted a selfie with me.  He's a fan of my blog.

After meeting the sled team we took the unimog back to base camp where we also got to go meet some puppies.  They are future racers and they want them to get accustomed to people, so part of their learning to socialize is letting people like us hold them and cuddle them.

Be honest, which one of us is cuter?

After the puppies we had some hot chocolate and got back on the bus.  The bus offered to drop us off in town, but since I was missing my wife, I rode the bus all the way back to the ship.  I met Robyn for lunch on the ship and then we headed back out together for another adventure.

This adventure was not a guided excursion so we had to use the city bus system.  Their bus system is the SMART bus.  For 5 dollars you can be branded and get all you can eat (or ride) access to the bus.

I'm smart.  My arm says so.

We rode the bus to the very edge of town.  It dropped us off next to a little train yard with a trail running past it.  We began our march onto the trail, and ventured into the wild.

The first thing we came upon was an old 1850s cemetery

The cemetery has definitely been restored.  The headstones were too readable to be original.  But it was fun to walk through and look at the dates.  If that cemetery is any indication, it seems that 40 years old was truly ancient back then.  Most of them died in their mid twenties or early thirties.  Can you imagine having your mid life crisis at your sweet sixteen birthday party?

We hiked through the cemetery and the trail went into a heavily wooded area that was green and beautiful.

Robyn said that Alaskan wilderness had a peaceful, zen feeling

At the end of the trail was a beautiful waterfall.

This is Reid Falls

It was beautiful.  The air was fresh and cool.  The trees were green.  Alaska has joined the ranks of my favorite places on the planet.

Finally, it was time to head back to the ship.  We had to hike back to the bus stop.

We're cute when we sit on the ground waiting for transportation

The bus got us back just in time for a delicious dinner on the ship.  Cruises are awesome.

Juneau, Alaska: Sea Lions and Glaciers and Whales Oh My!

As most of you know, I recently returned from a cruise.  It's taken me a while to get around to writing about it.  It was amazing!

Our first port was in Juneau, Alaska.  I saw whales!

Before I tell you anything else, I just need you to see this great picture Robyn took.

It's a tail of a whale!

I feel better now.  That just had to be done.  Did I mention I saw whales?

But I suppose I can tell you the story of what happened the entire day.

First of all, I wore pants.

This is my view while waiting for the ship to dock.

People had told me tales of how cold Alaska is.  Since we were going whale watching, I figured the boat moving quickly over water would make it pretty darn cold.  I should have stuck to my gut and worn shorts.  Even Alaska doesn't get cold enough for long pants.  At least not in July.  (I imagine if I was doing the Iditarod, I'd want some long pants.)

The first thing we did in Alaska was get on a bus.  The company that we booked our whale watching with had a tour bus that took us around.  The driver was super knowledgeable and super fun.  She drove a school bus in the lower 48 during winter and came up to Alaska during the summer to drive a tour bus.  She gave us lots of information about Juneau.  Things like the fact that you cannot drive to the city of Juneau.  Alaska's capitol is only accessible by air or sea.  Who knew?  Also, Juneau has a Walmart.  She was very excited to tell us that.

The weather forecast: Cloudy with a chance of bears and eagles

The first stop the bus made was at the Mendenhall Glacier visitor's center.  We had only paid for whale watching, but they said the bus stops at the Mendenhall Glacier first, so that was included for free.  I'm really glad we got to do that, it was beautiful.  

The hike to the best viewpoint for the glacier was about 1 mile round trip.  We booked it out there as fast as we could because our time there was limited.

The Alaska wilderness was rejuvenating, as evidenced by Robyn's pose

Zack and I were precious as we approached the glacier.

The closest you  can get to the glacier without getting in a boat or swimming is from nugget falls.  Here is a panorama to show you the view from the shore.

As you can see, the glacier is still across a bit of water, but Robyn was able to get some sweet shots, nonetheless.

This is about what it looked like with the naked eye

This is with Robyn's telephoto lense.  I love the blue color.

We enjoyed the view of the fall and the glacier for about 15 minutes, then it was time to book it back so we didn't miss the bus.

Our next stop was at Auke Bay Harbor, to go see whales!

I took a selfie with the locals

We learned some fun facts.

Finally we got on a boat

The cold wind made Robyn sad

The boat didn't have to go very far before we started to see wildlife.  After just a few minutes the boat slowed down to let us see the eagles.

They also took us by this little buoy where the sea lions like to hang out.

How the one climbed into the higher area is one of life's greatest mysteries.

Finally, we got to see whales.  I think my favorite picture was the awesome tail shot up above.  But here are a couple others.

Here is a whale hump.

Here is a whale spouting 

Whale watching was a neat experience.  Our guides would pull up to an area in the boat.  They would point to an area of water and tell us there is a whale out there.  We'd keep our eyes peeled until we'd suddenly see a spout.  We probably saw 10 different whales during the time we were out there.  It was super amazing.

After the whale watching, we still had some time before we had to get back on the ship.  We walked around downtown Juneau.  We noticed there were several Russian shops.  I guess that's the thing when you're that close to Russia.  

I really wanted this hat, but I didn't 85 dollars want it.

Robyn is the cutest babushka ever.

We did see a bear while we were there.  Unfortunately, it was stuffed.  It was the only bear I saw in Alaska.  It is my belief that all Alaskan bears are stuffed.  That is based on my extensive experience in Alaska.

Also, I never saw Sarah Palin.  Based on my experience, she is not in Alaska.