Alaska

It's been quite the week...a lot of good, a bit of bad that turned out good, and bad that's still bad...the good--Lauren started school--the gift that keeps on giving! Bad turned good--I lost my wedding ring for 4+ days and had to dig through every bag of trash from the week (even the ones that had been sitting in 100+ degree heat in the alley trash cans...yum)...I stayed up till all hours of the night digging through every crack in the house, only to find it in my earring drawer, where I had already looked countless times...and the bad that won't fix itself--I backed the van into a pole, 10 minutes after Charlie fell down a set of stairs...van's still dented, Charlie has recovered...ahhh, life.

But alas, here's to good times that passed far too quickly... Alaska...it's time to recap. We celebrated Andy's parents' 50th anniversary aboard the Celebrity Infinity...All 6 kids and spouses came, making our group 14. Grandkids--none. I have not been THAT rested to the BONE since before Lauren was born. We slept in, ate, read books, worked out, swam, ate, chatted, read, ate, toured, ate, etc...It was the BEST. We were away from the the kids for 8 full days, and I was a tiny bit ready to see one of them (your guess), but I could have kept going...I sort of got used to having my bed turned down with a chocolate waiting for me each night...

Alaska is a camera's dream...the blues and greens are rich and beautiful...here we are pulling into Ketchikan...


We went on a high-ropes zipline course in Ketchikan--flying across the Alaskan forest...







The ship rocked (literally at times, but mostly figuratively)--the outdoor pool was fresh water, and then there was an indoor pool and spa that was salt water...the crew kept telling us how LUCKY we were to have such beautiful sunny warm weather...apparently it rains a lot in Alaska...we didn't see it much...my parents just got back from the exact same cruise and it poured rain a good part of the time, so we were lucky.


I loved the layers of BLUE--the water against the mountains, all layered against each other...

A solo tugboat...although these little boats were everywhere close to the shores...


Sailing to Hubbard Glacier--unbelievably beautiful...the big cruise ship sails right up to it...our captain got to almost 1/4 mile from the glacier wall...the colors were unreal...again, all various shades of blue. It was pretty cold this morning, considering we were sailing through ice...

Andy's dad and 3 of his sisters...Charri, Kristi and Julie...


Had to take a pic of these guys standing in frigid air in their Celebrity bathrobes...


We watched (and heard) the ice break apart and avalanche into the ocean several times...


Juno--we ended up on an all-day walking tour...we headed up this road into a canyon and hiked...






The Governor's Mansion--loved this solo chair and fire ring in the middle of this massive lawn...


Andy and his mom...

One of our dinner tables...


There was a "parade" one night with all the waiters and staff where they all came down the grand dining room stair case to music and everyone waved their napkins in the air...


Victoria, British Columbia--another camera dream...beautiful buildings and colors...again, we walked and walked...this is the Empress Hotel...



The Legislative House

The harbor...


Andy's parents--happy 50th!

And back to Seattle...we had a few hours before our flight, so we took a tour of the city...


The first original Starbucks...
It really was a very restful, relaxing and beautiful trip...I wasn't quite ready to come home...but the kids were ready to have us back...thank you Hyers for a wonderful time!