We have been so blessed over the past two weeks. Our parents graciously agreed to love on our precious kids for two weeks while Eric and I escaped to the state of Alaska on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. This was not an expected vacation but we found a last minute deal that was going to be hard to pass up and found ourselves boarding a plane, eight weeks later, knowing that our children were in excellent hands with their grandparents. This was the first major vacation that we've taken with each other in 10 years and I'm so glad that we were able to do it. It was wonderful to learn that we still love to just "hang out" together and that we do have other things to talk about other than our offspring. :-) Here's a few of the highlights. Someday, hopefully soon, I will get a photo album together and will be happy to bore anyone with it.
Our first three days were spent exploring the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a beautiful city and it was fun to be able to picture the excitement of the Olympics. We spent our time there mastering the public transportation system and looking for fun, mostly inexpensive things to do.
Eric's attempt at posing for a dreamy picture. I think he's a master at it.
The beautiful skyline of Vancouver in the background.
The Totem Pole Village at Stanley Park.
The Olympic flame which is under construction to be a permanent fixture in the city.
A highlight for both of us was a trip to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This thing is 447 feet long and about 230 feet over the river. It does actually shake when you walk across. It was amazing. We really missed the kids on this day, because they would have loved to see this.
Eric resting between bridges. It was really like walking on a pathway high up in the trees.
We were quickly realizing that traveling by ourselves made it hard to get pictures together, so we took any chance we got.
Our first view of the ship as we lugged our bags to the port. Eric had voted that we splurge for the $35 taxi but he lost to my vote that we take the $5 Sky Tram. He was glad we did in the end and we actually met another couple that we were able to build a friendship with on the ship.
Ready to sail.
The first formal night. It was fun to get dressed up, go to a nice restaurant and not have to worry about the prices on the menu.
Ketchikan was our first stop. I didn't realize I was in the picture but had to laugh at how thrilled I look to be in a place where they measure the rainfall in feet!! This was actually our driest port.
My husband contemplating how tired he is on the Married Man's Trail. :-) I do wear him out at times, I'm afraid.
This is Eric regretting agreeing to my suggestion that we pretend the ship didn't have elevators. Our legs got a really good workout on this trip as our stateroom was on Level 12 and most of the restaurants were on 5, 6, and 7.
At dinner, one night.
A beautiful sunset. The mountains just made it more breathtaking.
Another rainy day at the Medenhall Glacier. It was amazing. This stop followed our whale watching excursion where we were able to spot 7 humpback whales, a couple of porpoises, several sea lions and probably at least 25 eagles. It's amazing to see them all in the wild. Unfortunately, they're not used to posing for pictures and it was really hard to capture them with the camera, especially in the pouring rain. We did buy some great postcards. :-)
At the Skagway port we decided to pan for gold to hopefully replenish our bank account. :-) We were bound to be disappointed.
I unfortunately missed this glacier that was right up close because I was too tired to come up on deck. I was one of around 300 people who set their alarms for 4:30 am and went to stand out in the freezing cold because it was prime whale watching time. The whales didn't disappoint us as we probably saw 9 of them as well as porpoises and several seals but I was a very tired woman that day. Fortunately, Eric was able to get a couple of shots.
A second formal night with my new white gold and sapphire necklace from Eric. :-)
The first formal night. It was fun to get dressed up, go to a nice restaurant and not have to worry about the prices on the menu.
Ketchikan was our first stop. I didn't realize I was in the picture but had to laugh at how thrilled I look to be in a place where they measure the rainfall in feet!! This was actually our driest port.
My husband contemplating how tired he is on the Married Man's Trail. :-) I do wear him out at times, I'm afraid.
This is Eric regretting agreeing to my suggestion that we pretend the ship didn't have elevators. Our legs got a really good workout on this trip as our stateroom was on Level 12 and most of the restaurants were on 5, 6, and 7.
At dinner, one night.
A beautiful sunset. The mountains just made it more breathtaking.
Another rainy day at the Medenhall Glacier. It was amazing. This stop followed our whale watching excursion where we were able to spot 7 humpback whales, a couple of porpoises, several sea lions and probably at least 25 eagles. It's amazing to see them all in the wild. Unfortunately, they're not used to posing for pictures and it was really hard to capture them with the camera, especially in the pouring rain. We did buy some great postcards. :-)
At the Skagway port we decided to pan for gold to hopefully replenish our bank account. :-) We were bound to be disappointed.
I unfortunately missed this glacier that was right up close because I was too tired to come up on deck. I was one of around 300 people who set their alarms for 4:30 am and went to stand out in the freezing cold because it was prime whale watching time. The whales didn't disappoint us as we probably saw 9 of them as well as porpoises and several seals but I was a very tired woman that day. Fortunately, Eric was able to get a couple of shots.
A second formal night with my new white gold and sapphire necklace from Eric. :-)
This will be a forever treasured memory for us and we are so thankful for the support of our parents which allowed us to do it. Our kids had a fabulous time with their grandparents and while we were very excited to see them, the experience was great for all of us.
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