Crusing Alaska

7-Days of pure luxury.

A dream vacation, a joy beyond measure, a trip to share with our dear children and their dear spouses.

It was my husbands dream to take a wonderful cruise to the beautiful state of Alaska, and to be able to enjoy and share this time with his family, our children and their spouses.

So, the first of this year, we started to inquirer about what such of a trip would entail, and if all of our children would be able to make arrangements and be available for such a trip. 

After adjustments in work schedules and dates cleared, plans began.....

Our children were excited about the prospect of a cruise and having the joy of sharing this time with their siblings, as they all live in different states and different places, and it had been some time since they all had the joy of being together.

Cruising Alaska became a reality June 19 to June 26, 2011.

Come along with me as we cruise the inside passage of Alaska on the beautiful ship:  "Sapphire Princess".

Our trip began Sunday June 19th.  We all flew from all areas to meet in Seattle Washington.  Kirk and I, Mark and Shelly, Brad and Susan all flew from Salt Lake City, Utah, Ann and Kim flew from Phoenix, Arizona, and Marta and David flew from North Carolina.  

We boarded this beautiful large ship around noon, found our state room and settled in.  Then it was time to explore....  which we did, and of coarse we checked out the buffet for lunch.  Mark and Shelly had left the ship for a short period, her daughter lives in Seattle and this was a chance for her to see and have a small visit.  Around 4 o'clock it was time to set sail.  The weather was perfect, the sea was beautiful, the air was fresh,  time to relax and enjoy, we are here as a family, to share and spend these days together...

Our trip took us to the ports of Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Alaska, and Victoria, British Columbia...

We saw beautiful country, lushes foliage of greens, beautiful mountains, gorgeous flowers of all kinds.  We saw glaciers and passed by ice sheets floating by our ship.  We saw whales and more whales and one that put on a show for us by diving in the water, up and down over and over again, waving his tail at us.

We took tours in the different ports. 

Van tour in Ketchikan, saw the Tote pole park, country side, eagles by the dozen and strolled the boardwalk.  We did have a raining day there, but that added to the charm.

Juneau was spent seeing the town and enjoying the sights, we also had fun going on a treasure hunt.  We had coupons for the different shops where we received free charms and souvenirs.  Here Susan and Brad meet up with her grandson Spencer.  He is living there with his father.  She was able to share this special day enjoying his company and the sights too.

Our train trip in Skagway was breath taking.  The history of this place, the settlement and development of it was interesting.  The scenery and country side was picturesque.  Our train ride was enjoyable and relaxing.  We then explored the city.  The town is old, buildings of character, streets of yesterday and sidewalks of boardwalks...  I think the high light was meeting two LDS missionaries, walking down the street and sharing a few moments with them.

Our evening in Victoria was short but very pleasant.  We took a van tour with the driver name "Mark", he drove us around the island and we saw beautiful Victorian style homes, wonderful and beautiful  architectural building.  We saw a castle, the governor's Manson with it's beautiful grounds of lovely green trees of all kinds, blooming flowers of every variety and color.  We saw massive churches along with government buildings, ending our tour with a beautiful sight over looking the city with all the lights.

Our days on board was filled with outstanding musical production in the evenings, wonderful dinning in a glorious dinning room, serve with food that was picture perfect and with names I had no idea what it was.  Our servers were great, helpful and very friendly.  We sat at a table for ten every night and enjoyed being a family and the food.

We had all day buffets, our children enjoyed sitting in the hot tubs and sharing with each other.  We relaxed on the deck and sipped on malts, virgin pina coladas and soft drinks.  We had fun playing a card game in a dinning room, that Shelly brought for 3 hours one day and having the  waiters watch us from time to time.

One evening Marta and David were chosen to play "the newly wed game."  David was asked, "What animal would best describe your mother-in-law?"  His answer was "Tiger"  but Marta said "Dog",  I would say "pussy cat" we all laughed, the master in charge was surprised we were there, but it just set a relaxed mood for a game. 

Our children danced the nights away, enjoyed the comic shows and we had pictures taken that will bring back happy memories for years to come.

Our trip was wonderful, this mother enjoyed every minute of it, and if there was one thing I would like my children to know, is that we, their parents love each and everyone of them very much.  They are our joys and our blessings.  We love their spouses.  Some we have had for over thirty years and some are new to our family, but we love each of them and are so thankful that they have joined our family and how blessed we feel and how thankful we are that they love our children and they love us too.

Our trip came to and end Sunday morning, June, 26th.  We said our goodbyes with hugs and kisses and our love, hoping we will beable to do this again another day.

Yes we had 7-days of pure luxury, and it was shared and shared again with our dear children and their dear husbands and wives.   We love you very much......  Thank you children for this very special vacation and thank you for making this dream come true...