Oh What Secrets The Ice Glaciers Keep

For months and years my favorite Uncle Leon would tell me about his favorite place on this earth....Alaska. He could never specifically tell what his favorite part about it is, but that it is somewhere I need to consider going at least once in my life. So "thinking" I was done with school, I booked a cruise up there (only to find out that I was short one more class to graduate, so I would be schooling and cruising at the same time).

I booked our trip on his favorite ship The Norwegian Pearl and set sail. Our ports would include Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, Victoria BC and back to our starting port in Seattle.

If you happen to see a few gambling pictures (I'm not bragging too much) but it seemed everything I touched turned lucky....from Deal Or No Deal, BINGO, Slots and Blackjack.....they ended up paying for the trip!

We leave Seattle, get settled and go down to have a glass of wine and peruse the art collection...many in the 10's of thousands; we did go to one of their auctions.





Each night back I decided to look at the pictures I had taken that day and try to copy my favorite one with the water colors that Dayna had given me for a past birthday present (I found that I love water colors and really want to take classes in it).




Winning....



Our first port stop in Juneau,our off shore excursions included see Mendenhall Glacier and Mr. Roberts Tramway. Mendenhall Glacier was my first glimpse and touch of a glacier.







Back on board along with more food, more drinks and more winning.... we are on our way to Skagway.



In Skagway I chose to take the White Pass Railway which travels along the Yukon Route Railway, passing by Dead Horse Gulch and stopping at the Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp. (I was thinking maybe the conductor would be this trips' Hot Guy...but I found the ultimate Hot Guy a little later on).












Our wonderfully talented town guide "Ophelia" (loved her name!)







Back on board we have a night of traveling....




....only to awake to the most beautiful sight ever ~ Glacier Bay. The ranger had told us previously about not counting on even seeing a glacier calving let alone getting a picture of one. The God's were there that morning and we got both!! The extreme quietness and the background crackling leaves you with a feeling of awe and eerie combined.






It was then I remembered about the times the Artist Way women would talk about the Breitenbush Hot Springs and in the background the ranger was talking about the secrets that these ice glaciers must know. I decided to give them one more secret to keep.



I then talked Stan into sharing his secret with the ice glacier, which ultimately lead him to being this trips' Hottest Guy!



On to Ketchikan where I signed up for a land/water tour and also a lumberjack show. Stan and I also just toured on our own where we happened to stumble across "Dolly's", a house of ill...well, let's just say that it had a condom-rosette shower curtain!











Back on board there is still....more food, more drinks and more winning (I'm in the first seat!) A short stop in Victoria BC where we get off to visit the Craigdarroch Castle.








The trip was fantastic ~ meeting new people and seeing new sights, along with fantastically too good to be true weather. And now I think I am ready for Breitenbush!