When we found out we were pregnant we decided we'd better hurry and plan our last big vacation with just the two of us. My mom's work was going on an Alaskan Cruise so we decided to tag along and we're so glad we did. It was such a fun and relaxing trip! We really enjoyed ourselves. And it just so happened to be the week of our birthdays. Eli celebrated his 27th birthday in Seattle, WA, where our cruise started and finished. None of us were prepared for the 80+ temperatures in Seattle, so we were all sweating to death in our long pants. Who packs shorts for an Alaskan Cruise?
Happy 27th Eli!!
Notice the trails from the jets in the sky? We got to watch an airshow from the cruise ship. Everytime they'd fly out over the water and back into the city it looked like they we're going to run right into the buildings. There were some pretty cool acrobatics.
We were so ready to leave Seattle b/c we were just too hot!
Our first port was Ketchikan, Alaska.
Had we known we were going to see a bra and pantie set for ladies in another town we might have made a purchase! :)
Eli had to have fish and chips.
We went to the Great Alaskan Lumber Joke Show. I told these guys I wanted to see their muscles in my picture, next thing I know I was being picked up. Bet he didn't know he was picking up a pregnant chick!
This was the host of the show. She talked and smiled and looked just like my sister-in-law Melody, it was trippy!
Moose Head!
These cute dogs were hanging out of this two story window just watching all the tourists go by.
Totem Pole just below Creek Street.
Me and my parents at Creek Street watching the Salmon run, I've never seen anything like it in my life - it was actually very cool.
The entire stream looked like this! They would jump out a lot too.
Eli, my mom and I had fun in Juneau while my dad stayed back at the ship. We rode up Mount Roberts Tramway and hiked around. Then my mom and I had to ditch Eli to go whale watching because there was only room for two on the boat. I felt bad for Eli, I was nearly in tears about it (thanks to the pregnancy hormones). But my mom and I had an awesome time and I'm so glad I was able to go. It was the highlight of the trip for me. Thanks Mom!
We went out with a Co. named Whale Tales.
Make sure your speakers are on. My camera kept dying so this is the best video I got. I never got the whales jumping completely out of the water. :( They were bubble eating. One whale would go down and blows bubbles in a circle, the fish get trapped in this circle because they are too scared to swim through it. They eventually swim to the top and that's when all the whales jump out! It was a powerful sight!! I wish I was a better photographer and I had a second set of batteries with me. Oh well, just to catch the sounds they make on video was cool enough.
It was a little frightening knowing how big the whales were and how small our 6 person boat was!
These two were the last shots I took. We saw a total of 16 whales but these 10 swam about 20 yards in front of our boat - it was surreal!
Back in town... A pregnant lady in a saloon - not good P.R.
A beautiful from the top of Mount Roberts Tramway.
This eagle is in captivity because someone shot it and it detached the retina in his eye. He can only fly 5 feet high and runs into things...sad.
His bad eye....
His good eye....
Our ship still looks huge from the top of the Tramway.
We sailed through Tracy Arm Fjord to see a glacier. It basically looked like dirty snow to me. Since the weather was so beautiful there weren't a ton of iceberg's, but the ones we did see were cool and much prettier than the glacier itself.
Eli with his "hunter eyes" spotted this mama mountain goat and her little one. The entire ship was breathing down our necks with their binoculars and cameras when they caught on to what we were looking at.
This was the only time during the trip we had to break out our heavy coats.
Nice face dad!
We passed by this beautiful waterfall and you can see a few iceberg's. The water really was this awesome blue color.
I spent my 29th Birthday in Skagway, Alaska. That night the waiters on the shop sang to me. It was the most culturally diverse rendition of Happy Birthday I've ever received, there were guys from Thailand, The Philippines and Mexico, it made for an interesting rendition!
Skagway was a pretty town and a little slower paced which was nice.
The front of this building is made entirely of drift wood.
Notice the skull face in the graffiti?
I never got over how big this ship was.... that's Eli walking by.
This is some random decoration outside a restaurant.
This horse followed me up onto the boardwalk to get his treats. I was a little freaked out he was going to bite my hand right off.
We took a carriage ride tour of Skagway. This town operates for the tourists, come late September everybody's out of a job.
Nice Caboose Eli!
Eli and I took a hike to Lower Duey Lake. It was nice to get our land legs back. The forest was so dense that it was a little scary to hike through.
We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was in the low 70's everyday and we a lot of beautiful sunsets, and clear nights. There was a fire somewhere in the Yukon Territory so it made for some awesome pink sunsets! Even though the water looks like glass you can see just how fast the ship is going by the pics of our hair. My mom's 80's mohawk gave us a good laugh!
Ahhhhhhh.....Cute!
Ahhhh... cute again.
The cruise was 9 days long and 2 of those days were at sea, those were the days I got sick. We still had a good time. We took a ballroom class with Romeo and learned the Meringue, we played shuffle board, watched movies outside by the pool, ate a lot of ice cream, watched the fruit and ice carving, went to all those shows and we went to both formal nights and purchased pictures - but Eli's hidden them for whatever reason, so I can't scan them in.
We saw a handful of whales right from the cruise ship.
As long as I had food in my hand, I was happy. An Alaskan cruise is perfect for a pregnant lady...all the food you can eat and nice cool weather. And if you gain weight it's seen as an accomplishment!
Eli schooled me at Shuffle Board, I think the score was 7 to 50.
Our last port stop was Victoria. This was Eli's first time out of the country! We went to The Buchart Gardens. We have so many beautiful pics, but I limited myself to a few.
Notice the bee?
This is probably Eli's favorite flower. He has a picture of one from his mision in Florida. I guess I should find out what it is and if it will grow in Utah.
We were being goons the entire time, this is just some of the proof.
Eli and I were being total goons most of the time, this is some of the proof.
From here it was back to the cruise ship and home. We really enjoyed our "babymoon" and loved seeing all that beautiful country. We can't wait to share vacations like this with our little one someday!
