Our Cruise to Alaska!

What a Christmas present! Jed's parents gave all of their kids a cruise for Christmas last year. We all had different ideas of where we wanted to go. There are so many options for a cruise that I started to wonder if we were ever going to actually decide on where to go. Well we finally found an Alaska cruise that Gordon and Jackie go on every few years with a tour that they put together. So we decided since they were already going that we would tag along. It was amazing! I have to admit that I was all for the warm weather and crystal clear blue water of the Caribbean, but was I in for a surprise. Alaska is so beautiful and very scenic. The best part was that since Jed and I have been married we haven't been on a family vacation with the Anderson's. Spending time with them was a blast. We had such a great time doing all of the excursions together, Our first stop was in Juneau, Alaska. There we had to chance to go whale watching. WOW! I can't believe how amazing that was. We were able to get as close as 300 yards to humpback whales as they were feeding. Unbelievable. Then we went to Skagway, Alaska where we went on a train ride that went up the beautiful mountains. Along the way we saw glaziers that were crystal blue. ( I guess I did get my crystal clear water after all it was just frozen instead!) We were scheduled to go on a bike ride as well but we were rained out. We were ok with that because by then we were due for another buffet meal. We were at sea for the next day as we went into Glazier Bay to see these huge glaziers. They were incredible. As they broke it sounded like thunder as they fell into the ocean. Our next stop was in Ketchikan, Alaska and this was definitely the highlight of the trip. We went on a zip line excursion. I was so nervous because we were about 150 feet in the air on the tops of these trees as they were swaying back and forth, but so excited at the same time. There were seven zips and two bridges that we were able to go across. The longest one was about 650 feet long. It was as close to flying as I think you could get. If we wouldn't have had a ship that would leave us on the island I know that we would have gone back and done it again. The views that we had as we went across the trees was breathtaking. Some even saw a black bear fishing in the stream for salmon. Our last but not least stop was in Victoria, BC. What a beautiful place and enchanting town. We were able to catch the Butchart Gardens before it got to late and dark. Amazing! For those of you that know me well know just how much I love flowers. This was the garden of all gardens, and I could have stayed there for hours. This was a family vacation that we will have forever in our memory. I want to thank Gordon and Jackie for this wonderful experience and for the quality time we were able to spend as a family. Thank you so much!