Aloha!
We celebrated our 20th wedding
anniversary by taking a cruise to Alaska out of Seattle. We spent two days in
Seattle before sailing and had a great time sightseeing around town. We went to
the Space Needle and Pike Place Market and on Saturday we went to a Mariners
baseball game.
We sailed out of Seattle on July 3rd on the Sapphire Princess. It’s a beautiful ship and we had a really nice stateroom with a balcony.
The first day out we were at sea so we had a chance to check out the ship and find our way around. That night was formal night so we got all dressed up. The food – of course – was wonderful and there was lots of it!
Our first stop was Ketchikan on July 5th and it was raining. We
called and talked to Seth from there and also met friends that we knew from
Hawaii - Lindsay Gray and her mother, Chris Booth. Lindsay and her husband Ronan
and her brother, Jarrod Booth, had been in our congregation in Mililani for
awhile before moving back to Ketchikan. It was great to see them again! They
picked us up and gave us a grand tour. We saw a world famous totem pole carver
at work at the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary and also saw local Indian dancing, a
salmon hatchery and eagles. We went to the Totem Heritage Center where we met
Lindsay’s sister-in-law, Valerie Gray, who gave us a tour there. Not bad for a
rainy day in Ketchikan. All thanks to our expert tour guides.
We also had lunch with Lindsay & Chris before going back to the ship and this
picture looks like the view from the restaurant where we ate. We got up there
by taking a tram.
The next day was July 6th – our 20th anniversary. That morning we cruised Tracy Arm. It was beautiful. We saw ice from the glacier and we also saw a humpback whale. We had a champagne breakfast in our stateroom as we watched the view from our balcony. Well - actually – it was kind of cold for us on the balcony so we kept going in and out.
Around 2pm that same day, we arrived at Juneau. It was a beautiful day there and float planes were taking off and landing. I had cell phone service there so I called Gary and told him all about it.
We went into Juneau and looked around the shops but wanted to get back to the ship to have our anniversary dinner onboard. We had planned to ride the Mt Roberts Tramway but it ended up that we didn’t have enough time.
We got back to our stateroom and got ourselves ready for a nice dinner – and we weren’t disappointed. It was excellent. We had a really nice anniversary.
The next day we were in Skagway and as we got off the ship we had our picture taken with a bear and a moose. Pretty cute, huh?
We walked around Skagway in the morning and found the telephone office for the
company where Gary used to work. We went in and told them who we were and they
were all glad to hear that Gary is enjoying his retirement.
In the afternoon we took a ride to White Pass Summit on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad. That was really something. Rugged country! And beautiful views. It follows the trail of the Klondike gold prospectors. It’s hard to believe that they made that trip.
The next day we were at sea all day and it
was formal night again. This is our formal picture.
Here are some that are a little more casual.
On Saturday evening, we were in Victoria, BC and we took an excursion to Butchart Gardens which included a bus tour of Victoria. Another beautiful place!
Then – we woke up Sunday morning and we were back in Seattle. Our cruise was over.
But - our trip wasn’t over yet. Our flight back to Hawaii wasn’t until Monday morning so we spent Sunday afternoon visiting my cousin, Angie Clausen and her family who live south of Seattle. We had a really nice visit. We had dinner with them and they took us for a boat ride on the lake by their house. We were really happy to be able to spend some time with them.
This is me and Angie in front of her house with all the beautiful flowers.
So – Monday came and we headed back to Hawaii. It was nice to be home but we had a wonderful trip – one that we’ll never forget.