Vacation Day 7 - Skagway, Alaska

In Skagway, we splurged on our one and only excursion - the White Pass Railway. This was built during the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890's and took us into Canadian territory up over

the mountains.

This is a great picture showing the fjord carved out by glaciers. The town of Skagway is at the water's edge, with our cruise ship in the harbor. Here, all groceries are either flown in or delivered by cargo ship, and most purchase groceries in bulk on-line from places like Costco. A gallon of milk costs $6 and usually expires in 1-2 days. It's not uncommon for people to fight over milk with a 5-7 day expiration date, since it's rare.

The rail cars are nicely heated, but we occasionally stepped out to breathe the crisp, cold air and take a few pictures. Of the 100,000 gold rushers that started on the journey, only half actually reached their destination, only a few thousand actually found gold, and only about a hundred actually struck it rich. Nordstrom was one that struck it rich, and he used the gold money to invest in a shoe store back home (you know the rest of that story).

Once at the peak of this mountain pass, the terrain was very different. The lush green fir trees were gone and replaced by sparse vegetation, including a rare white moss that is only found in very clean environments. This moss is extremely fragile, and has a unique ability to break down the granite rock, allowing other vegetation to survive.

Vacation Day 6 - Juneau, Alaska

Temperatures were cooler in Juneau, and our jackets came in handy. The air was so cool & crisp that we decided to take another hike. About 2 miles of steep roadways led to an old gold mining operation back in the gold rush.

Justin wanted to try his luck at panning for gold, so for $8, we bought a pan, siphon, and a glass container. It was worth it though, because we ended up with about $15 worth of gold, silver, and copper combined. Since it would cost more than that to refine and process, he decided to keep it to treasure.

In the evening, the inside passage was breathtaking. Whales were spouting and their tail fins broke the surface. Although I never saw one jump completely out of the water, other passengers on board did. They surfaced in areas I didn't have my camera focused, so unfortunately, no picture of the whales.

At dinner, it was formal night, so we all dressed up for pictures. This one is taken in the ships' main deck at the foyer.

Vacation Day 5 - Ketchikan, Alaska

Our first port of call was in Ketchikan, a town with annual rainfall around 14 feet (168 in). We were there during perfect weather:

sunshine, mid 60's, and dry (very rare for this

town).

Rather than spend money on an expensive excursion, we decided to enjoy the weather and hike Deer Mountain Trail. A 4 yr old black bear was spotted at the trail's entrance just an hour before, but fortunately we didn't cross paths.

We didn't quite make it half way on the trail because the little one fell asleep. We also didn't want to risk taking too long to get back or we'd miss the ship - only 6 hrs at port.

Vacation Day 4 - At Sea

While at sea, we took advantages of some great programs on board. They had several activities for kids-only, like an indoor playscape for the littlest ones, a Wii tournament for tweens, and dance parties for the teenagers. Below is a cupcake making event for the whole family.

In the evening, all the little ones from 2-5 yrs made crowns and marched in a prince & princess parade around the ship. Then, every time they wore their crown throughout the week, the stewards on the ship would bow to them and address them as little "prince or princess" and their name, giving them royal treatment. It was really cute.

Vacation Day 3 - Boarding the Ship

As soon as the ship was ready for embarkation, we hit the lunch buffet and then grabbed our swim suits. Since we're headed to Alaska, we figure this may be our only day to enjoy the pools on board.

In the evening, the cabin steward turns the rooms down and always leaves us a cute towel animal waiting for us. Julia wanted her picture with the pig.

Vacation Day 2 - Seattle

On our second day, we met up with family from Texas. We toured Seattle on steep roads that resemble San Francisco, and saw beautiful homes and wonderful views of the city. Although you don't see it here, Mt. Ranier is off in the distance to the left and is magnificent! Eric wants to come back and summit this 14,000 ft peak.

Vacation Day 1 - Mount St. Helens

We began our vacation with a day trip to Mount St. Helens. This is the only active volcano in the continental US. It's last major eruption was in 1980, but still has smoke & ash spewing frequently.

They had a beautiful hike around the blast zone area, so we couldn't resist. Although the eruption was over 30 years ago, you could still clearly see the areas that were devastated and transformed. Vegetation is slowly coming back, and so are the animals. We saw snakes, chipmunks, squirrels, and birds.

First Garden Produce

My garden is starting to produce. I picked the first red tomato today from the upside down tomato plant. I have already picked some green tomato and made some southern fried green tomato's. A rabbit got first pick at my green beans so I don't get to enjoy any of those this year.

Here is a picture of the sweet basil growing on top of my upside down tomato planter.

The bell pepper plant has some nice peppers forming

illuminations

July 3, I woke up early this morning to run a 5K. After the race I was hot so went to the pool and swam 1 mile. I feel like I got my exercise for the day.

Later in the day, I went to the local stand and purchased some illuminations (fireworks) for the kids. The kids didn't want to wait until Independence Day to try out the illuminations. So we light some of the illuminations.

Justin Luke and Julia had fun writing their name in the air with a sparkler.

July Fourth Cake

This week I have been watching Julia and Luke while mommy works from home. I wanted to do a fun, easy, and tasty project. We waited till Friday (since it's the closest to the holiday)and we made a Fourth of July Cake! Unfortunately, Luke went to a water park with some of his friends, so it was just Julia and I who made the cake. We put on our aprons and started cooking. She helped me mix ingredients in a bowl, watch the cake while baking, and decorate with sprinkles, strawberries, and flags. Once we were all finished, we took some bites of our masterpiece!