Alaska Cruise

We took a cruise to Alaska on the Inside Passage with Eric's parents

Fetching a mini iceberg at the Mendenhall glacierViews on the drive from Anchorage to Whittier




First view of the cruise boat, the Carnival Spirit. We chose Carnival because they're the only cruise line that will take 2 year olds into their kid program.


Looking back at WhittierDinner the first night


Views from Prince William Sound


Kenny also saw the icebergs


And even Peter did!


Ann on the balconyDuring the lifeboat drill


Walking around the boat


Look carefully - I think that thing sticking out is an orca fin


Towel animals


I think the crew was practicing towel animals in the gym locker room - that's where this picture is fromI'd love to go on an extended kayak trip around here


Guess where we are?Tons of bald eagles around - there's one on one of these tanks


Taking a boat out to a kayaking locationAnother view of the Carnival Spirit


We went to a very quiet little bay to do some (very slow) paddling


Ken and Ann did the kayaking, tooLater on, walking around in Sitka


Getting on board the tender, to take us back to the ship


Getting into JuneauAt the Mendenhall glacier


I pulled this hunk of ice to shore for the kids to play with






Close-up through the binoculars - someone in a kayak on the glacial lake


You can see the glacial striations on the rocks








Hiking along the Outer Loop Trail near Juneau - Kenny ran ahead and found "surprises" for us


Interesting area of stunted trees








There were lots of good flat skipping rocks here.


Voila! The tide receeded to expose a little land bridge hereMaking rock piles, and Kenny had a little "workshop" where he smashed the thin rocks. Peter got to have his binky all day because he missed his nap.




Another view of the Mendenhall glacierSome old structures near the dock in Juneau - World War II structures? Or old mines?


Near the port in Skagway was a place where people had painted lots of ship logosA lot of the ports had banks of phones right next to where the cruise lines docked, for the cruise employees


The town of Skagway. Pretty much 100% tourist.On the White Pass train out of Skagway




The train no longer goes over this rickety old bridgeWe saw a bear along the way


At the top of the pass


A beautifully clear little stream ran alongside the train for a whileThe old trail


Dinner that night


Pretty windy!Peter loved the elevators


The town of KetchikanThere were 4 cruise boats docked here, and one out in the water


Tying up the cruise ship is a major undertakingEnjoying ice creams


We took a kayak trip in Ketchikan. It was VERY windy, and hard to paddle! Beautiful clear water, though.




These weird things out in the distance are sonar testing devices




Arriving in VancouverOn our way home, we witnessed a drunk driver hit a car right in front of us, and stayed to give a statement to the state troopers