Time to Chill: Our summer trip to Alaska

     I know that usually I am writing about our adventures on some extended RV trip, across the country or up to Niagara Falls but this summer we decided to forego the cramped quarters for some equally cramped quarters on a cruise ship bound for Alaska.   This time, the whole family joined us, my parents, my brother Walt, his wife Heather and my niece and nephew.  It was a family affair.
     We travelled most of the day to get to Seattle where our cruise departed from.  The weather was nice and warm there.  The swimming pools showed no signs of the colder weather we were headed towards!
     Our first stop was Ketchikan, Alaska.  They call themselves the salmon capital of the world!  It was a very beautiful seaside town with amazing views of mountains above seas.  This used to be gold mining country and historic Creek Street was the home of many saloons and brothels back in the day. Now, it houses many quaint little shops with Alaskan souvenirs and one museum, Dolly's, which pays tribute to the brothels that used to line the street.  Kevin got up close and personal with Dolly
herself.

  The rest of the day in Ketchikan was spent on a nature walk where we were blessed enough to see bald eagles, black bears and got to feed real Alaskan reindeer!

Our next stop was Alaska's capital, Juneau.  We took the kids on a gold panning expedition here and although we won't retire any time soon, we did manage to find a little gold in them hills! (or the creek below to be more accurate!)  Afterwards, we were taken to a real Alaskan salmon bake by a waterfall.  It was delicious!  I was never really a big salmon person but after having it cooked over an alder wood fire pit and with a brown sugar glaze...I had a new appreciation for the fish!  They also served salmon caesar salad, wild rice, corn bread and chicken--Yum!
Here are a few pics from Juneau:

I will add another post with more from our Alaska trip--thought I should divide it up so it wasn't too long to read all at once!  Still to come: Amazing glacier pics, photos from our dog-sledding adventure and whale watching!  Thanks for following along with us!