North to Alaska

Alaska is a no filter needed destination. This waterfall stretched from the top of this hillside into the water. As we cruised by you could hear the water slide into the ocean and seconds later we saw a whale surface and wave his big tail at us. There were so many wildlife sightings from the deck of the ship we didn’t need to purchase a sight seeing excursion.

Our first stop was in Juneau. We took the tram up Mount Roberts and enjoyed the views and explored a bit of the trails. Purchasing the ticket onboard saved us a few minutes when we arrived though there was scarcely a line at the ticket window, it did save us 5% off the total and the pass is not a timed entry which is nice.

We splurged for lunch at Tracy’s Crab Shack right on the pier. As Pacific Northwesterners, we love our dungeness crab and it was as good here as we catch ourselves at home. The Red King Crab was tasty also – of course everything is delicious when it’s dipped in melted butter. The crab cakes were okay and the bisque was fine, but the crab was worth the price – well, if you were buying for two and not six!

Skagway and Sitka are very small towns, mostly places were you would take an excursion from though walking through to get a cup of coffee or fry bread or pick up a souvenir or two was worth the exploration. We picked up Alder Smoked Salt in Sitka and had it on a steak when we got home. We untied and moved loungers onboard the ship so we could sit at the aft and enjoy the views of Alaska. We saw harbor seals and eagles but the bears stayed hidden though we were keeping a keen eye out for them. Alaska is definitely Washington State on steroids, the surrounding islands of Sitka reminded us of Friday Harbor.

We had a few bed picnics throughout the cruise. I have to say their cobb salad and the salmon platter for room service were better then anything we found in the buffet area.

Victoria, BC is a beautiful destination. We walked from the cruise terminal to Government Street where we did a little shopping – chocolates at Rogers’ and maple syrup of course. We stopped at the pharmacy to get extra strength tylenol to take home and then to Chinatown for lunch at Little Yunnan. Victoria’s has the oldest Chinatown in Canada and we had been looking forward to visiting. We had the Crossing the Bridge Noodles* and a side dish of stewed pork belly with rice and vegetables. The noodle dish is similar to a hot pot but is based on this story – begins with a scholar who was studying hard for his imperial exams on a small island. His wife, who would bring him food, found that by the time she had crossed the bridge to the island the soup would be cold and the noodles were soggy. She then decided to load a large earthen pot with boiling broth with a layer of oil on top that would act as insulation and keep the broth warm. The noodles and other ingredients were kept in a separate container, and when she arrived, she mixed the two containers together for a warm soup. We would go back and have this again and are actually looking for a place close to home where we could go to have it.

While the scenery and the itinerary were amazing, the best part of this trip was the gift of time spent with family. There were a total of 20 of us, two tables of ten in the dining room, where we were all sure to sit in different seats each night so we could have a chance to converse with everyone throughout the week. We watched karaoke together and cheered for those who did the Ifly, we watched the younger ones crash the bumper cars and play the arcade games. We had group photos taken and giggled at the photographer as he tried to get us to pose how he wanted. We ordered Duck Farts (!) and enjoyed the casino together. We met up in the hallways or in line at coffee or in town and were able to see how everyone was doing and compare plans for the day. We stayed up late and talked for hours. It was a gift we will never forget, never be able to repay and will appreciate for the rest of our lives.

#homeiswhereyouparkit #alaskacruise #RCL #Juneau #sitka #skagway #victoriaBC #travel #retirement #familytime #rekindle #livefortoday #planfortomorrow #liveyourbestlife #thankful #duckfarts

*The ingredients for the traditional are: Chinese cabbage, Bamboo shoots, tofu skin, carrots, black mushrooms, Chinese pickle, quail egg, deep-fried mushroom, pork slice, homemade fish balls, Yunnan ham and crispy pork.