Alaska Cruise

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

Fetching a mini iceberg at the Mendenhall glacier		Views 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 Whittier		Dinner the first night


Views from Prince William Sound


		Kenny also saw the icebergs


And even Peter did!


Ann on the balcony		During 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 from		I'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 location		Another 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, too		Later on, walking around in Sitka


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


Getting into Juneau		At 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 here		Making 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 glacier		Some 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 logos		A 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 bridge		We saw a bear along the way


At the top of the pass


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


Dinner that night


Pretty windy!		Peter loved the elevators


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


Tying up the cruise ship is a major undertaking		Enjoying 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 Vancouver		On 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