North to Alaska.........

Spring is supposed to be coming according to the calendar, and I was overdue for a pedicure.  My move had been completed and my hands also needed a little TLC.  I told my guy I was going to book some spa time.  A couple of days later he told me I had a mani/pedi booked.  Yeah for me, now I just had to call and add on one more service.  Then he had to break it to me, my appointment was on a cruise ship.

We were Alaska bound in 2 weeks.  Our ship left from the port of Vancouver, BC so we got dropped off at Canada Place and proceeded into the bowels of the convention center, us and about 9873 other outbound passengers. 

After getting through a highly organized cattle drive, we were greeted to this upon arriving in our room.  Travel on Princess Cruise lines and you are treated like a princess!

Leaving on our big adventure.  My first ever cruise.  I had no idea what was in store for me.

We left Saturday under sunny skies, and sailed to the north end of Vancouver Island, and then headed to open seas.  Sunday was a sailing day, and we had some rough water.  I thought it was the result of celebrating too much on my first night of my first ever cruise, but I came to learn many others had queasy sessions.  Monday we arrived in Glacier Bay.  What a sight.

My little camera couldn't do this sight justice, but you can see some of the 'blue' to the glacier.

Click for a closer view.

We could hear the chunks breaking away from the main glacier and roll and crash into the water.  It sounds like thunder.

First port was Skagway and I loved this rock cliff.  Crew from ships have some how scaled these rocks and left their ship and/or Captain's mark.  I thought it was pretty fun. 

Once we got into town, we quickly realized that the downtowns have been severely commercialized with jewelry stores owned by the cruise lines that dock in the town.  My guy found the library, I found the quilt shop and then I walked around the side streets.

We then headed out of town, over the bridge and visited Jewell Gardens.  There were 4 other ships docked so I was glad to be getting out from the shops.

 It's a good walk from the ship, (you can see them in the distance) approx 1.5 miles but the sun was shining and we needed to move.  They have a glass blowing workshop on site, but I really just wanted to look for something hand crafted.  Mission accomplished.  The gardens were just getting started, so we visited with the shop staff, did a little shopping, and then headed back to town.

The landscape was magnificent, the weather was fabulous.  It was the best day of spring that we had seen so far this year!

By days end, I had logged 18,000+ steps on my fitbit, so it was an excellent day.

Next up, Juneau and Ketchikan, AK

Stay tuned,
Sharon