Alaskan Cruise Adventure

I had the great opportunity to take a cruise with my parents last week. We met up in Seattle, then cruised up to Juneau, stopping in Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria on the way back. I've never done the cruise thing before, and I don't think I would like to have EVERY vacation be a cruise, but I found that I really enjoyed it and would love to do it again some day. It's a completely luxurious way to travel (excellent facilities and service and food), and you can't help but relax with all the planning, cooking, cleaning... taken care of. It was great fun to travel with Mom and Dad (and they were most kind in putting up with me!) and amazing to see some parts of the country that I've never seen before. We had perfect, perfect weather, which only added to the trip. It was a fantastic way to start the summer!

A friend asked me yesterday if I took lots of photos- the answer is yes. But I must qualify that by saying that as I look them over, most of them are of mountains, snow and ice. The landscape and views were absolutely incredible. I've seen snow before, but nothing like this. There's a blueness to the ice that was very unexpected, that the naturalists said is common to glacier ice. Apparently it turns white as it starts to melt. We also saw eagles and whales and mountain goats... that I wasn't able to catch with the camera- I was too busy watching! I've attached some of my favorites.