July 9, 2016

It has been about 2 months since my last post.  So much has happened during that time that it will take a couple of posts just to get caught up again.  I will try to do this over the next two or three days.
First --- the Alaska Cruise.
We flew from Birmingham to Seattle on the 26th of May.  Once there we met up with Chuck and Mary Jane Wood, and then took a shuttle to the Embassy Suites which we called home for two nights. We spent the 27th going to the Space Needle and Pike's Fish Market.

I used the digital zoom on the camera to take this picture of the cruise ship.

I don't think Amy was enjoying the height.

I had read about this place in the book 

Fish!: A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results 

so this was high on my list of things to see in Seattle.

The next morning we boarded the ship and for the next 7 days it was our home.  Great food, good friends, very restful and did I mention COLD!   We left Alabama temperatures in the 90's and expected temps of mid 60's. Instead the temp was mid 40's.  Just a little cold for the shorts and short-sleeve shirts I had taken.  There were a lot of others on the ship that had not planned on the cold.  They were probably from the south also.

View from our stateroom balcony looking over Seattle.

Amy "enjoying" the balcony.

Our first stop was Juneau

Eagles were everywhere.

We rode the tram to the top of the mountain to do some hiking.

View from inside the tram, about half way up the mountain.

Mary Jane and Chuck

Amazing views along the path we hiked.

Of course Amy was always in front.  My excuse was I lagged back to take pictures.

Carvings in the trees.

Tram ride coming back down.

Back on board the ship and sailing again.

Our next stop was Skagway.

Beautiful snow covered mountains everywhere.  We hiked this trail system.

Just part of the uphill climb on this hike.

Of course note who is leading and who is bringing up the rear.

View from the trail overlooking the cruise ship.

We did not hike the 3 additional miles around the lake.

Next we sailed in Glacier Bay.

Next stop was Ketchikan.  Cold and rainy.

This boat was once on the "Deadliest Catch". Now it has been converted to a tourist attraction to teach people about the crab fishing industry.  The ships skipper was one of the speakers onboard our cruise ship. Very interesting. 

Front view of our cruise ship.

Our last stop.

Then back to Seattle.

Our ship docked about 8:00 am on June 4th.  We pre-shipped all our luggage so we would not have to carry it around the airport.  Our flight out of Seattle was not until 10:30 pm which meant we spent the whole day at the airport.  We arrived in Houston at 2:00 am and had a four hour wait before flying to Birmingham.  Stepping out of the airport we knew we were back in Alabama, high humidity and mid 90's temperature.  Finally home at 12:00 pm on June 5th.  All in all, it was a fantastic trip.  I would highly recommend this cruise and the Crown Princess on the Princess Cruise Line (featured on The Love Boat)