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Monday, February 3, 2025

Juneau, Alaska - First Stop Of Our Alaskan Cruise

Are you planning an Alaskan cruise? It is as amazing as people say it is.

Read this post - Packing For Our 12 Day Mediterranean Cruise - for some ideas of what to pack before you leave for your cruise.


We left for our 7 day Alaskan cruise from the Vancouver cruise port. We toasted to a fun and safe journey!


The views we enjoyed on this cruise were a lot different from the usual Caribbean cruises we are used to going on. We knew this cruise would be very special.


And we knew we were not going to be using this pool. Even the hot tub would not be hot enough to use this trip.


We arrived at our first cruise port, Juneau, on the third day of our 7 day cruise.


The first thing we had to find when we got off the ship was the shuttle to bring us downtown. All we had to do was follow the crowd. If you didn't book an excursion you were heading downtown.


My sister, Sandie, knew she wanted to see the Mendenhall Glacier when we were in Juneau. We found out that we could save a lot of money by taking "The Blue Bus" Glacier Express downtown rather than book an excursion. We booked a couple of months in advance.
Our tour guide pointed out the most picturesque view on the route to the glacier. He slowed down so that we could all snap a picture.


From the moment we got off the tour bus, we were mesmerized by the beauty of our first views of Alaska.


After a quick look around the Visitor's Center, we headed toward the trail that would bring us to Nugget Falls.


The trail was an easy low-grade 1 mile path that led to the falls.


We were very excited to see the first of many ice flows we would see this trip.


We could hear Nugget Falls crashing into Mendenhall Lake before we saw it. It was powerful and exciting.


After spending some time near the falls taking lots of pictures, we headed to Photo Point to take pictures of the Mendenhall Glacier.


I couldn't capture the stunning blue color of the glacier with my phone.


We posed with the small sign our daughter, Lisa, made us to commemorate our retirement goal of visiting all 50 states!


After our self-guided tour of the glacier and falls we found our shuttle. We were brought back to where we started at one end of downtown Juneau. We had time to walk around the town before we needed to get back to the ship. 


The guys did a great job holding our packages while the girls tried to get into as many shops as we could before we ran out of time.


After our shopping spree, we headed back. It felt really good to take a warm shower and enjoy a hot coffee at the end of a long and fun but cold and wet first day in Alaska.


Stay tuned for:

Juneau Part 2 (Coming soon!)
(Me and Soko got back to Vancouver via a second Alaskan cruise and visited a few of our first cruise stops again.)


Read this post if your ship is leaving from Vancouver.


Have you been to Juneau on an Alaskan Cruise? What did you do there? We would love to hear all about your time there!



Monday, January 13, 2025

Capilano Suspension Bridge Park Vancouver, Canada

Are you making a quick stop in Vancouver? How will you make the most of it? Read this post to find out what we did on our quick day and a half stop here.

Are you traveling with your mom? Read this post, 10 Perfect Gifts For The Traveling Mom and surprise her with a little something to bring on her trip.


We were taking an Alaskan cruise that was leaving from Vancouver, Canada. We decided to fly in a couple of days before the cruise so we wouldn't have to worry about not getting to the ship on time. 


I took this selfie while we were waiting for our luggage. I posted it on social media and joked about arriving in Vancouver and crossing our fingers that our luggage made it too. It didn't. It did show up at our hotel at 12:00 am, thank goodness.


The following day, after all our fellow cruisers arrived, we made our way to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. We walked a couple of blocks to the Hyatt Regency to catch the shuttle bus that would bring us to the park. 


We traveled across Lions Gate Bridge which is a National Historic Site of Canada and enjoyed scenic views of the area which included a great view of Grouse Mountain..


We purchased tickets online a couple of months ahead of time so that we wouldn't have any problem getting in as we only had one day that we could visit the park.


Me and Susan took a selfie with the Capilano Tramps. These are the people who made the long "tramp" to the bridge back in the day.


They were just outside the first exhibit we came to in the park, the Story Centre. We learned all about the early history of the bridge here.



When we turned the corner, after walking through the Story Centre, we were greeted by some very large and very beautiful story poles, (commonly known as totem poles), They were standing in an area called Kia'palano. Here you can learn about the Indigenous people who call this land home.


The suspension bridge came into view once we passed through Kia'palano. It looked a lot longer than 460 feet.


And definitely a lot higher that 230 feet above the Capilano River. 


This sign directed us to attractions on the other side of the bridge.


We made our way to Raptor's Ridge.



The bird handlers here were very knowledgeable about the raptors and were eager to answer any question anyone had.


We had to visit Big Doug when we saw an arrow pointing to him. It turned out to be a very big tree. We took a couple of pictures of it and sent it to our friend Doug.


Then it was time to take a walk on the Cliff Walk. This was our favorite attraction in the park. 


The walkway clings to the granite cliffs above Capilano Canyon.


It is anchored to the cliffs with suspended cantilevers which really does not look strong enough to hold the walkway up.


The viewing platforms take you even further out and over the canyon. I asked Sandie and Susan to pose for a picture while I stayed safely behind on the cliff walk.


The cliff walk was so much fun that we could have walked another mile on it but there was still more things to do and see once we got over to the other side.

                   



After doing some shopping in the huge gift shop we got an order of poutine (a Canadian dish of french fries, cheese curds and brown gravy) to try. We saw them listed on the menu at the small snack kiosk and thought we should try some. We were happy that we only got one order to share. I guess you need to acquire a taste for them.


This fire and these chairs were so inviting that we had no choice but to sit and have a drink before we headed out of the park.


Then it was time to board the shuttle after a wonderful day at this amazing park.


The next day we would be boarding a ship that was taking us on our Alaskan cruise. Stay tuned...


Read this post if your dad is also joining you on your trip to Vancouver.



This post was featured:







Have you been to Vancouver? We would love to hear about your trip to this amazing city in Canada!


Monday, July 15, 2024

A Quiet And Relaxing Ending To An Amazing Road Trip


Are your road trips usually quiet and relaxing? Ours usually aren't but sometimes we are surprised by how amazing they can be when they are.

If your road trips involve an RV like ours did, take a look at our list of 10 Items You Should Have On Your RV Camping List before you hit the road.


2022 Cross-Country Road Trip Stop 25

The last two stops of our cross-country road trip were in the beautiful states of Kentucky and Alabama. The stop we made in Kentucky was just a quick stop to get us closer to our last stop to see our cousin in Alabama. We didn't do any sight-seeing in either state and that was fine with us after being on the go non-stop for the past 2 1/2  months! But we took advantage of what these two campgrounds had to offer and had a great time at both.


The first campground of the two was Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park in Dawson Springs, KY. We got to the campground late and discovered our campsite, and the whole section it was supposed to be in, was being renovated. It was dark out but we could see that there was no one camping here. We found a place to park and Soko walked to where he saw a camper in the distance. It was from a fellow camper that we found out that there was an lodge at the entrance to the park and if we went to the lobby we would find out where our campsite was. We found out it was in the Horse Camping area. We expected to see horses all around us and wasn't too sure if that would work for us but we didn't see or hear any when we got to our site. We settled in and relaxed around the campfire Sandie made for us.


The following morning we headed out to the trails to do some hiking in the park . The trailheads were located near the parking lot of the lodge. 


We went into the lodge to check it out. Me and Sandie were happy to see that they had a small gift shop. The boys were happy to see that there was someplace comfortable for them to relax as they waited for us.


We hiked two short 1/4 mile trails, Indian Bluff and Clifty Creek Trail.


We saw some unusual rock formations on these trails.



After the short hikes, we went back to our campsite to have an elk sausage and pierogi lunch. We never had elk sausage but we were curious about it and bought in Colorado where they sold a lot of different meats we never had. The elk sausage turned out to be leaner than a pork sausage and was surprisingly very good!


After lunch we hiked the longest trail of the the day. The Lake Trail was an easy trail with nice views of the lake.

               


We were on a flat, smooth paved road, walking back to the parking lot where we left the car after our hike, and before I knew it I found myself falling off the edge of it and into the dirt. I landed on my left hand hard and got deeps cuts, that were bleeding badly, on two of the knuckles of my right hand. 


It could have been worse. I could have rolled off the trail of one of the beautiful national parks we hiked in but it was bad because I was going to our see cousin Chrissy the next day and, knowing Chrissy, she was going to take one look at my swollen and bloody knuckles and laugh her head off! But off to Prairie Creek Campground we went. The last stop of our 2 1/2 month cross-country adventure!


2022 Cross Country Road Trip Stop 26

Our cousin Chrissy and her husband Larry arrived a couple of days before us. Chrissy cooked a chili dinner for us and Larry made cornbread to go with it while we set up the RV. The campsite was really nice with a picnic table overlooking Woodruff Lake, one of the Alabama River lakes.
Good To Know: At $26 (+taxes and fees) per night, this campground was a bargain compared to most of the campgrounds we camped in this trip. And it included water, electric and a beautiful view. My cousin's site even had it's own private dock.


After dinner, me, Sandie and Chrissy chatted outside of her RV. (Yes, she laughed at me after hearing the story of me falling!)


The guys fished for bait until it got too dark out to fish anymore.


The only plans we made for day 2 in Alabama was to relax and fish. It was wonderful!



The four of us started day 3 at church. It was Sunday. When we got back to the campground we had a southern brunch of biscuits and sausage gravy, grits and scrambled eggs waiting for us. I noticed, this trip, that Chrissy, who was born and raised in the North, had become a real Southern girl since marrying her "born and raised in the South" hubby!


We could have stayed here forever enjoying Chrissy and Larry's delicious cooking but it was time to go home. We caught one last sight of Alabama, one of the 17 southern tiered Cotton Belt states...


and then caught sight of this sign and we knew that our adventure had come to an end. 


But we made memories that we won't forget and that lets us relive this road trip over and over again!



Read about the first stop of our cross-country road trip.



Have you ever planned a quiet and relaxing road trip? Did it work out for you or did you find yourself doing a lot more than you wanted to? Please let us know in comments.