Before my final semester of college, I wanted to take a trip with my grandmother. She's not in very good health and has limited mobility, so we decided a cruise to Alaska would be perfect for us. As much as I love the mountains, I was STOKED! Continental was so kind as to upgrade us to first class on our flight to Vancouver.
We cruised with Princess and I was very impressed with my first cruise. Although the Alaska Cruise on the Inside Passage is generally an older crowd, I still had a great time and loved all the amazing scenery. At our first port of Ketchikan, I did my only solo day-excursion without Gram. I took a float plane into Misty Fjords National Monument, then road a boat back across the bay. Check out the Wiki link to see some beautiful pictures.
Riding in the float plane with a bird's eye view was a truly spectacular experience. The fjords themselves were stunning, and sightseeing by boat was a great way to see wildlife and get an up close view on things. Crossing the bay back to the port, I did get a little seasick (well, VERY seasick) but everybody else saw some whales.
Our 2nd port was the capital city of Juneau, where we did a tour of the city that included a trip to Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier is carefully monitored, and the amount of melting on the glacier over the past few decades is shocking.
In Juneau, we also visited a Salmon fishery, where it took me the whole trip to get Gram to pronounce it sam-on instead of sal-mon. She still calls is sal-mon. Finally, the tour included entrance to a museum that had some interesting things on the history of Alaska and the area and a short walk through a temperate rainforest.
Next Stop: Skagway & Glacier Bay on our way to Anchorage.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I am so blessed to have been able to spend that much time with my grandmother.
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