"All this beauty, we traveled all night, we drank the ocean dry, and watched the sunrise..." -All This Beauty, The Weepies

View of wildflowers through the train window

So...the very late blog. Lots has been going on! Brian and I got back from our cruise to Alaska last week and it was fabulous, so I'll start with that!

We flew to Anchorage, spent the night, then took a train (very fun) to our port and boarded our ship. The train ride was beautiful, and we saw more of Alaska that way. Everything was so lush and flowers bloom EVERYWHERE. In Anchorage, they have them hanging from the streetlights, it's quite picturesque! We met a nice couple on the train and enjoyed talking with them as they were our age and had been to Alaska before.

The ship was lovely, and just like a really nice hotel. It was definitely nicer than our Carnival cruise (And we really enjoyed that one too!). This time we went on Princess and we loved it! Honestly, the food tasted just as good to us as the food on Carnival. I had to pace myself with the multiple course meals...it's very easy to overeat! We were at sea the first few days, which was relaxing. We got a mini-suite this time and it had a balcony, so we enjoyed watching the scenery/cooling down by stepping outside!

Here's a shot of a small glacier we saw from our balcony!

Our first port of call was Skagway, and it was my favorite town! Probably because it was tiny, and easy to find my way around, but also it was what I thought a little town in Alaska would be like! While we were there, I went shopping and then on a bus tour that went into Canada. It was beautiful! I went with some of the other gals on the trip, and Brian went and hiked up in the mountains with his buddy Hugh. They had a blast!

This is a shot I took while on the bus tour. As you can see it is just gorgeous! It was probably in the upper 50's temperature wise.

Our next port was Juneau, and I loved it as well! The city, I could take or leave, it was just a city. Although I did see Palin's former governor's mansion...from a distance as we traveled to get on our small boat to go whale watching. That was awesome! It was a bit bumpy on the way out and I will say that I got a bit nervous...and everyone kept asking me if I was feeling alright. I was, but Brian told me that my face was pretty ashen. I think I was just worried that all the bouncing wouldn't be good for Creighton! You can see, I'm holding my tummy in our pic to try and steady things! We saw around 8-10 Humpback whales bubble feeding and two Orcas...but the Orcas were pretty far off! We also saw a lot of bald eagles and Alaskan Seagulls!

Here I am holding on to Creighton...and trying to stay warm with Brian!

A super cute mamma bear we saw at Mendenhall Glacier. One of her cubs was high up in the tree above her sleeping, while she was getting some food!


This is a waterfall in the forest near Mendenhall Glacier. This is a fairly new growth forest, as it was covered about 140 years ago by the Glacier. It was just beautiful! This was probably my favorite part of our trip, walking through this forest!

Our last port was Ketchikan (Catch-eh-can). This was by far, the town that was the most fun to say outloud...but my least favorite town overall. I think Ketchikan would have been better if it hadn't been pouring rain the entire day! I just put on my poncho and went with it, but by the end of the day, I was not feeling so hot and maybe my socks/shoes were full of water! We went up to the Totem Pole National Forest, which was pretty nifty, but also pretty wet. The totem poles are awesome, I just wish I had gone on a tour. We decided to do a self guided tour, but I missed all the stories that would have been told (or I imagine would have been told) if we'd had a guide. I also did some shopping with Hugh's wife, Brittney and I found a cute onesie for Creighton that has moose on it. It says, "I Moose Have a Hug" I know it's cheesy, but it's pretty cute! Hah!

We finished our cruise with a few more days at sea, beautiful weather, and great food! I actually saw two dolphins playing in the wake of the ship as we were sailing, but I wasn't near my camera so I couldn't snap a picture. They were very cute!

Overall it was a wonderful vacation and a great time to kick back with Brian and relax! I'm so glad we went! The last morning of the cruise I woke up when the sun was rising as we were sailing, and was amazed by how peaceful it was. I sat and watched the sun come up...then I drew the curtains and hopped back into bed!

If you get a chance to visit Alaska- do! You won't be disappointed!

Next blog: Update on Creighton's nursery...