So, this one time . . .

I was on a cruise to Alaska. I'd had a super great day checking out glaciers in Glacier Bay, and warmed up with a cup of Irish Hot Chocolate. Then, I tried a new cask strength scotch that I hadn't had before (don't ask what it was because I don't remember; you might find out why in a bit). Shortly after my scotch, I found out that martinis were half price. My bartender made one for me that was so dirty he said it was like the glass had never been washed. It was delicious. Then A got a martini, and decided it wasn't his thing because it was too dirty (even though I stole the olives for him). So I drank his. When I walked (Yes walked, not stumbled- I have very good balance. This applies even after drinking while on a cruise ship - you can ask Jeff) into my stateroom I squealed with delight when I saw a thug bunny on our bed!

(this is the thug bunny)

Imagine my (inebriated) horror when I went to move the bunny for more appropriate picture taking and this happened:

(oh yes, THIS happened!)


(here's a close-up in case you haven't yet truly grasped the horror. Even his EYE fell off! It wasn't bad enough I knocked his HEAD off, I also knocked off his EYE.

I knew I was in biiiig trouble, because rabbits are lucky. Thankfully, in my quick thinking state of mind, I fixed the problem of killing the lucky rabbit to my satisfaction (after peeing):

(oh yes, I totally saved the day by giving myself lucky bunny ears)

Fortunately, the rest of our towel animals did not suffer such a terrible fate.

(the puppy made me cry because it made me think of Nandi)


(doesn't this remind you of one of those turtle things in the movie The 5th Element?)


(awwwww, swans!)


(I'm pretty sure the entire cruise ship heard me squeal when I saw the monkey hanging from our ceiling)


(it's a mouse!)


(just for you, Mom! : ))

The End.

Ketchikan, Alaska

In Ketchikan, we took a boat tour of the Misty Fjords. Safety always comes first, and is even better when it rhymes!


We had to be up ridiculously early for the excursion, so we got to enjoy the sunrise on our way to the Fjords.





On our way, we saw two Orcas. They were so much fun to watch, and I wish we'd been able to watch them longer and get more pictures.



Jeff and I braved the outside for most of the morning so we wouldn't miss anything, and another passenger thought we were cute so he took our picture. : )


Here's where the Misty Fjords began. It was named appropriately, yes?



So, living in Oregon I feel like I take waterfalls for granted. They're not as exciting as they used to be two years ago.


But, it had rained for two straight days before our ship docked in Ketchikan which meant that the Fjords had tons of waterfalls that normally don't have enough water to be flowing. And there were SO many!







I loved this tree, sticking out on the edge of the cliffs while hanging on for dear life.




We "kissed" this waterfall. Meaning our captain drove the boat until it was literally inches away from the wall, and the waterfall was falling into the boat. Look at the texture of the water as it cascaded.




I think the orangey color on the rocks near the waterfall is kelp.




Here's a picture we decided we needed to take. A, J, Jeff and I were all wearing Marmot shells to keep dry. I think we need to send this into Marmot to tell them thanks for making awesome jackets.



We saw a ton of eagles while visiting the Fjords.





And some harbor seals.


And more eagles.



Then we headed back to shore. The sun came out for awhile and was gorgeous!

Skagway, Alaska Part 1

White Pass Railroad

A White Pass Railroad train

A small part of Pitchfork Falls that flows out of Goat Lake.

The full Pitchfork Falls

The William Moore Bridge, anchored only on the downhill side because it spans an active earthquake fault.

A butterfly/moth guy that A caught.

Hoary Marmot!

Two Hoary Marmots!

More Hoary Marmots. Aren't they cute?

Summit Creek; people made piles of rocks called Inukshuks. Apparently, the locals knock them down every year but people just keep rebuilding them!

A looking at Summit Creek.

Tutshi Lake, with fog hiding Mt. Racine.

A skipping rocks at a beach on Tutshi Lake.

Jeff and I at Tutshi Lake.

More of Tutshi Lake. It was gorgeous, but freezing!

Teepee Valley/Tormented Valley.

A & J and Jeff and I after making it officially into the Yukon! I kept looking out for Yukon Cornelius and Ruldolph, but never saw them. : (

Tagish Lake

Bove Island in Tagish Lake. See the strip of red on the island? I think if we'd been visiting one week later the entire trip would have had amazing fall colors all over!

More Carcross Dunes.

Carcross Dunes system - it's often called the World's Smallest Desert.

J on the Carcross Dunes.

A& J on the Carcross Dunes.

Our final stop - Emerald Lake!

Look at the amazing turquoise color of the water.

Gorgeous!

Jeff and I at Emerald Lake.

A mountain peak seen from Emerald Lake.

Jeff and I at Emerald Lake again.

Randomness along the way. These valleys were so pretty!

Somewhere along the Dyea Road heading to the ghost town.

A Bald Eagle hanging out with his salmon on our way back from Dyea.

Holy frustration, Batman! So blogger made me change my template to their new and improved version last night. But it's not so improved if you ask me. :-P So, as you can probably tell, this was the day we were in Skagway. We rented a car and followed Murray's Guide on a trip through Yukon to Emerald Lake. Seriously, if you do an Alaskan cruise, skip the random nonsense the cruise line will offer for excursions (minus the one that will show up in my next post), pay the $5 for Murray's Guide, rent yourself a car, and do this drive. The views along the way were amazing, as you may have noticed. There's not much to blog about, though (thankfully, otherwise I'd have had to redo this post to make this show up at the top), except for captioning the pictures.