Day 8 -Ketchican

We woke up to smooth seas and a cloudy sky. The boys left in their halibut fishing trip at 9 am and Courtney and I went into town to shop. We had coupons for free stuff that Courtney couldn't let pass us by!

Courtney was our navigator and we ended up going to quite a few shops.  

It started to sprinkle so we pulled out our umbrellas and decided to go to the Discovery Museum. It ended up being run by the National Forest Service and since I had my handy dandy National Parks Pass in my wallet, it was free for us to go in. They gave Courtney a scavenger hunt to do and we were on our way. It was a great little museum where you could learn the history of the area and more about the national forest.

She got to pet a bear...

She learned more about adventures in Alaska..

And we found the beat display. Bryan really wants to see a bear on this trip but all we have seen are stuffed bears in museums.

When she finished her scavenger hunt and earned a prize, we went walking around some more.

We quickly went back on the ship to drop off our purchases and then met up with my mom to go in a "duck tour."

We had a bit of time so we took a little walk down their Boardwalk.

Then we found our tour and were on our way to lean more about Ketican from land (on a bus) and by sea (the bus converted to a boat). It was a fun, really cheesy, tour. But I learned a lot.

Grandma bought Courtney some "quack."

We got to see the stream that the salmon come up to spawn. Look at how fast that water is going. And the fish swim up that!!

We got to see a bridge created to help the fish go upstream easier. It's on the left in this photo.

They then showed us the spawning grounds where the fish lay eggs and die.

It's amazing that any survive.

The town area around the docks are all built on likings. This granite face is where the original town began. You used to be able to tie your boat up to the church dock and go to church. 

The tour took us by some cool houses and stair streets that are just a stairway. Crazy!

The Tes Light District ( I thought the houses were cool).

The it was time for the tour to be over. So we went shopping a little more. Courtney couldn't resist getting another pair of Alaska socks and these slippers...

Then we went back to the ship for lunch and to wait for the boys to return from their fishing expedition.

They had a great time. The guide met them and got them all outfitted with rain gear and fishing gear. They took off and were on their way when the captain got a call that it was too rough where they were planning on going so they changed to another location. 

They got set up and Ethan caught 3 fish before Bryan or grandpa had even caught one!! They didn't get halibut but they caught yellow eye snapper. They pulled the fish up from such a depth that the fish would get the bends on their way up. So if the fish wasn't big enough, they couldn't throw them back. 

They ended up with one fish that was too small so they saw an eagle flying by so they threw the fish in the water and got to watch the eagle swoop down and get it.

When the trip ended, Ethan had caught 3 fish, Bryan had caught 2 and grandpa had caught 1. They had a great time!

Ethan got lunch, because he was starving, and then he cleaned up and we went to dinner.

Courtney keeps out assistant waiter hopping because she drinks a lot of water during the 2 hours of dinner (she also has to leave and go to the bathroom 3-4 times during dinner). The assistant waiter, Ronald, took a paper napkin and made Courtney a rose. It was really cool!

After dinner Courtney ran fast to the kids club. They were supposed to be doing a sports night but the outside sports court was too wet so they switched it to King/Queen night. Courtney came back with a crown because she had won a dance contest.

After dinner, I ran to the photo place and snuck a picture of the formal night picture. It was hilarious because Ethan made the funniest face...

Courtneys picture was cute.

Ethan wearing courtneys crown..

Bryan and Ethan went back to the room to sleep. I went to the Piano Man show and then went to get Courtney. The boys were exhausted.

Day 7 - Icy Strait Point

We woke up in Icy Strait Point. It was a small indigenous inlet that is only large enough for one cruise ship at a time. 

We had breakfast and then left to explore. There isn't much there.

There is a beautiful rain forest in Alaska and we were able to take a nature walk through part of it.

When we finished the short hike we saw some Eagles on the pier. They left their spot and flew right over us. Ethan took some great pictures of them. I can't get over how many eagles are around here!

We walked to the cannery to look at the old canning machinery and stuff. The kids were able to touch the skill of a humpedback whale. 

This was the fish canning display.

Ethan found the fish heads.

I think the fish gutting display was Ethan's favorite.

Courtney wishes this were real...

The kids bought some souvenirs at the gift shop and then we headed back to the ship. It was windy and a bit rainy so it was a cold day.

 

We went swimming and then ate lunch. I went to a lecture in whales, that I slept through part of it, then Courtney and I went to the dance club and learned the Thriller dance. It was hilarious!

Tonight was formal night again so we got ready and went to the dining room. 

Courtneys pretty hair..

It was lobster and steak night! Ethan was in heaven. He had mushrooms for an appetizer (so he can say he tried them and still doesn't like them but he ate them all up!) and then 2 lobster tails with 4 shrimp, asparagus and other mixed vegetables. For dessert we all had baked Alaska.  Courtney had chicken fingers and fries with ice cream and a lady finger for dessert. 

During the formal night dinner they always have photographers going around taking pictures at the tables. I don't like this part because it feels less like they are trying to preserve a memory and more like they just want our money.

You know about Ethan's habit of pulling faces, right? This photographer comes over dressed nicely in a tuxedo and asks to take photos of us. He is taking individual shots and gets to Ethan. The man counts "one-two-three" and Ethan makes a face right as the man takes the picture. The mans face was priceless!!! I giggle just thinking about it. He was so startled by Ethan's face! I was sure he was going to lecture Ethan or et upset when he suddenly said "That was awesome!" We all cracked up. It was great!!

This is dessert time. Ethan is trying to figure out what face is the worst. 

Courtney hurried and left after dessert so she could change and go to the kids club. It was carnival night. They played games and she won a water bottle.

Ethan went back to the room after dinner while Bryan and I took a walk up on the top deck. But it was so cold and windy that we didn't last long.

So we went back to the room, changed our clothes and Bryan and I went to the show. The man who sang the theme song to "Happy Days" was doing a show. He had a wonderful voice but we are kind of young to recognize all he was singing or talking about. But it was still a good show.

Bryan went at 10:00 to pick Courtney up from kids club. The seas were pretty rocky so the boat was rocking from side to side. It was strange because it had been so smooth so far. But we went to bed without problems.

Day 6 - Skagway

We woke up this morning in Skagway to this strange sight...

The story goes that back in the day, crews would write a city name in the Rick wall and then hang a mail bag under the name. When a boat would leave, they would grab the mail bag for the city they were going to. When there was no longer a need for the boats to carry the mail the crews would write the name of their ship and captain on the wall. The higher up the name on the wall, the higher esteem the crew held the captain in. So if a captains name was at the bottom, his crew didn't like him. ;)

After we left the ship, we met up with out group and went in a quick tour around Skagway. We had a lot of fun. It was a quick tour but told us a lot about the area.

The first place we stopped was at the Skagway cemetery.  They have some characters buried there and it had a haunted mansion feeling, I thought.

This was the grave of Frank Reid who killed a con man named Soapy Smith who was controlling the entire town.  Reid is considered a hero while Soapy got a small grave.

We loaded back on the bus and followed Te road to the White Pass which goes to Canada. There were a lot of waterfalls and a crazy bridge the was build sideways to help it withstand earthquakes.

We stopped at the top of the mountain, right before the Canadian border. We took pictures in Alaska and then ran over to cross into Canada quickly.

Ethan is going through a Calvin and Hobbes stage where he has to make a face every time he has his picture taken. Ugh!

This was by far the coldest day we have had. The wind was blowing a lot and it was rainy. We were taken back to Skagway to explore around before getting back on the ship.

This cleans snow off the rail road tracks.

Just in case you want to know which way to go...

Another way to say our name...

Bryan saw this shirt in a gift shop in town. If you watch Studio C you will understand why he bought it for Courtney. ;)

When we got back on board we ate lunch and then the kids and I went swimming. We swam in the Solarium, indoor pool, then went outside to sit in the hot tub. It was great!

Bryan napped...

When Bryan woke up it was time for the outdoor water slide to open. Courtney wanted to go really badly so we went up so she could try it. It was outside and really cold! But she did it!!

She was so cold that she decided to jump in the kiddie pool. It shouldn't be any surprise that she was the ONLY ONE there!!

She decided she wanted to go to the hot tub to warm up.

But she decided it was too hot so she got in the outdoor pool. Again, she was the ONLY ONE!

By the time she was cold enough to get out it was time to get ready for dinner. We had a great dinner in the dining room and then Courtney went to the kids club for Pirate Night.

Ethan leaned to use the force to call elevators and open their doors. He was having fun playing with his new power.

When we got back to our room and found a turtle!!

When Courtney was finished I went to pick her up and saw this...

We had been walking around and saw the kids all in a train walking to do a treasure hunt. Courtney pretended she wasn't having fun, but she was!

This was Ethan's snack. When Courtney was gone we went for a snack. He had ice cream and bread rolls.