To be continued….

We met before dinner at the Crown Bar, then proceeded to the dining room for our 7:20 reservation. The sun shone through our window, a rainbow appeared (must get the photo from Katie). Dinner was fun, Wyatt announced he was tired after eating, a huge day for him, quickly crawled under the table and slept. The kids, Ruby and Foster, in search for a bathroom, got lost, Nia found them…..a lesson learned. Dinner was delicious-sleep beckoned us. Chris carried Wyatt to bed, the kids swam, we said goodnight. Tomorrow night, the adults will sit closer together, with Wyatt close by. A great day!

Tony and I talked about how wonderful Day One, was.

Night now!

Everyone figured out the ship, no one got lost, they found their favourite pool, the arcade, where to get snacks, the quickest ways to get from A to B, the basketball courts. The spa, excursion lectures, card playing in the Hollywood Sanctuary overhanging the bow of the ship as rain turned to sun was rather nice. Ruby and Foster never parted, Wyatt loved the kids Discovery Camp t-shirt designing and announced he had made a new friend. He wants to go back. Nia and Jessica embraced the spa with facials and a late lunch. It was a day of activity, \240each doing their own thing. While at sea, embrace the sea. While we all planned to meet for cocktails then dinner, our paths crossed numerous times, in numerous places.

A formal night is more casual on an Alaskan cruise but we did dress up and looked mighty fine. We are not the only family on board, but the largest family of 10. Dinner was awesome, yes there is a kids menu that Wyatt, Ruby and Foster are embracing to date; Nia tries something new each night, loving the different menus, not a complaint yet from anyone. Our dining captain, Jerry, loves the kids, makes them feel very special, teases and laughs, while missing his family I am sure. We look forward to seeing him at the end of the day.

Tonight the kids went to the theatre to witness “The Voice”, where passengers are trying out and competing for the title! Apparently there were some hits and some misses but all were entertained. Tomorrow we are in Ketchikan.

Jessica and Nia are heading zip lining, Tony and Todd to the “deadliest catch” and the rest of us will walk the town.

Journal takeover! Jessica here, or should I say, zip-lining zealot! Freshly fed on the fresh air and foraged huckleberries of the Alaskan rain forest (delicious and sour!) and ready to share tales of today’s travels.

Nia and I boarded a bus, guided by our driver and local area trivia “expert” who was aptly named Tree (he stood as tall as one at 7’3”). \240We learned that for every human, there are 5 bears in Ketchikan and being garbage day we hoped to see some (spoiler alert, we didn’t). \240We also learned that if you don’t finish your house, you pay lower taxes, the airport is an emergency landing spot for the space shuttle, and for every bar in town, there has to be a church. \240(We saw many an eagle sitting atop a chruch steeple…what do you call those eagles, you ask? Well…a bird of prey of course!). Last tidbit to share before stories of our day - the athletic budget for the school teams who play on gravel fields (because there is so much rain, the fields would just be mud) is $200,000 because teams have to fly everywhere to play the competition. \240Speaking of athletics…

Nia and I summoned our core strength and sense of adventure for a morning of soaring through various zip lines over land and sea and navigating challenging rope courses. \240It was quite fun as we learned to control our direction, got bounced by our guides and even got to fly down one together, in a launch symbolic of the many mother and daughter feats we must tackle together. \240Our favourite was the karaoke line, as everyone had to sing on the longest zipline - we loved finishing the lyrics (a favourite game of ours when we go road tripping and now zip lining…we may add that to the cliff jumping games too - me yelling the prompt from the shore, while Nia plummets to the water of course). \240We also loved seeing the plethora of purple, red and orange starfish as we were able to explore the shore at the end of our excursion.

After our morning adventure, we met up with Katie, Chris, Foster, Wyatt and Ruby for an adventure down to Creek Street. \240Fueled by local donuts, and a Russian savoury treat known as pelmenis, we followed the not so delicious aroma of dead fish to the natural salmon spawning ladder. \240What we thought were rocks at the bottom of the creek, was the bodies of the sacrificed salmon mothers who, after working their hardest at making it to the spawning grounds, lay their eggs and die; their decaying bodies left behind to nourish their children as they hatch…let’s just say Katie and I could relate.

The massive school of female fish was fascinating to watch, especially when the seals came in on one of the four daily tides to hunt the selfless women creatures. \240We all loved seeing this, but the kids got hungry and yearned for the pool. \240Chris was kind enough to take the kids back to the ship, while Katie and I got to be a little selfish and shopped for a bit before returning, on-time, back to the boat.

There’s the seal!

This city, known as “the Salmon Capital of the World” has five species of wild Pacific salmon traversing its waters; has the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles and is often referred to as “the first city” being the first community heading into the Inside Passage.

As for the “Deadliest Catch” aboard \240“The Aleutian Ballad” seeing Box Crabs and King Crabs was great, eating the King later was apparently amazing!

Todd working hard!

King Crab @ $75.00 U.S. per pound!

Another great day!

What a view!

Happy Campers!

Up the tram and a hike at the top foraging salmon berries which are orange and red, the orange being sour, the red, sweet with a texture of raspberries. I was told they were yummy.

We received great news today when Jes turned on her cellular she cried, “Jane and Jordan had a baby girl, Evelyn Grace 5 lbs. 8 ounces” We were thrilled for them all. Big brother Beau will take good care of her, I am sure and show her off. Can’t wait to see her.

Another baby on the beach!

From afar

Closer, the powerful roar of the water…

(close enough to get wet) bringing down those rocks, glaciers and outstanding views along the Chilkoot Trail. The kids walked into Canada at the top, one foot in the states the other “home”.

On our return the bus dropped anyone off that wanted to do the town, Jes and Katie did some retail therapy in the numerous shops, the rest went to get fish and chips as their lunch was missed.

Skagway is quaint and full of character. In summer the population does climb in this gold rush era town. In winter the population drops as citizens head for warmer climates away from the harshness of winter, \240returning again in late spring to previously held jobs within the tourist industry. We noticed the train still remained at the station, good thing because while on our tour, we saw rain rushing through a culvert along the track filling it and bursting through; Andy said “that is very troublesome”.

At 7:30 we sailed, it was a big day!

Some facts: over 3.2 million acres of forest, inlet and shore, mountain peaks rising over 15,000 feet, water with depths of 1,000 plus feet in most places and of course the glaciers, the rivers of ice that stretch over and between the mountain ridges until they meet the green tidewater. We will visit three glaciers, the most famous, Margerie!

We spent the whole day outside at the stern of the ship, it was cool, crisp, sunny and bright. The air is clean. The water calm, tourquoise, with pure white ice bits dotting it’s surface. We saw mountain goats, seals, sea otters AND humpbacked whales. The whales announced their presence with a blow of fountain like spray as they dipped down to feed, rising and rolling again in search for more. The seals bobbed up and down, their heads barely above the surface, climbing on ice flows that passed, their only entertainment. The sea otters take pure joy, swimming and gliding across the water on their backs, their paws clasped across their chest.

The Margerie Glacier was outstanding, pure ice blue, her face chiselled, and active. She calved, dropping a layer of her edged coat to our amazement three times. Crackling like thunder, splashing with a roar spraying ice cubes and snow in every direction. The group cheered with the excitement of it all. A glacier can move approximately 5 feet forward in a day, with the weight of the ice behind them.The park rangers, who boarded the ship early this morning and stayed with us guiding through the day, said “you have all been very fortunate today, you have had perfect weather, you have seen all there is to see, but pay attention, take your photos, because when you come back, it will look different”.

We all kept our eyes peeled on the horizon, spotting whales often, we gathered our tables together, cozied in blankets, the kids would wander, return, wander again. \240They have this ship figured out. We had our lunch outside, shared appetizers, tried new drinks. Wyatt spent the afternoon with a park ranger and received his camp badge in honour of todays activity. No one should hesitate bringing a young child on board, especially to Alaska.

Perfect

Perfect day

In front of Marjorie!

Eyes peeled for the whales

One of our favourite days, we rehashed our experience over dinner, all of us quite speechless at what nature taught us today.

A small tourist boat joins us along shore

A pod of Orcas appears, the kids were thrilled to see “a baby” jumping along with the others. The day flew by and we embraced our last night.

We were happy

shared photos

Laughed

Made memories. Tonights best was yet to come when Wyatt on his own, got up and announced he was going to sing Karaoke. He registered, was not the appropriate age but since it was the last night they let him do it. Proudling and with emotion he sang “Let it Go” from Frozen word for word and in tune. He received a standing ovation, proudly nodded his head and sat down. The Cruise Director was speechless. We were gobsmacked! He was fabulous!

Perfect way to end the day!