My all time favorite excursion on our cruise was the bus tour of the Yukon Highway tour out of our final port of call, Skagway. Trivia fact: of the 3 towns we stopped at, Skagway was the only once accessible by road, the others were only accessible by water or air.
Around every turn and bend, there was a breathtaking view as we entered into Canada. The forests stretched as far as the eye could see in between mountains and the striking blue waters of the lakes fascinated me.
We stopped at Emerald Lake, which radiated stunning colors from all the mineral deposits. Driving further north, we stopped for lunch at an "interesting" lodge/ranch/farm/tourist-spectacle. We drove past a desert (in the cold mountains) carved out centuries ago by glaciers, and we stopped in the quaint little town of Carcross, where I received my first stamp ever in my passport.
Back to Skagway, we took the White Pass Railroad on one of the most specatular rides of my life. Built during the great goldrush and completed over 100 years ago, it's a testimony to many who died building it and it's an engineering marvel. Though shut down for a few years, the fabuous ride has been revived in the past decade and is a must-do for all tourists.
We traveresed this amazing country-side in such a awesome and unique way. We crossed over numerous rivers- some whitewater rapids that had never been successfully paddled. I can't say enough wonderful things about this excursion, but Gram sure was happy when we were back on level ground (or the gently swaying boat!).
Our next day on the cruise awoke to find us touring Glacier Bay National Park. Being so close and near to these amazing glacier was a truly awesome experience. Learning about the history of the area, the geology that created such remarkable feat of nature and watching for wildlife made the bitter cold somewhat tolerable.
Gram and I drank lots of hot-chocolate out on the deck.
We ended our trip at the port in Fairbanks, Alaska. A short little bus ride across the Kenai Penninsula, past Cook Inlet where the landscape had been carved by the sea & moutnains, earthquakes & volancos. I would have LOVED to extended our stay a few more days to visit the highly-acclaimed Denali National Park, but instead I had to return home for the first day of my last semester of college!
We arrived in Anchorage early in the day, and I wandered around the funky and fun downtown area while Gram rested from our long journey. That evening we boarded our plane back home, and we were treated to one more breathtaking view from Alaska.
Glaciers are cool.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: A trip to Denali gives me a great excuse to go back.
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