Lake Chelan

Back in April we went on a mini vacation to Lake Chelan.  It's east of us in WA but to be honest, most things are east of us.  The Man was going to present his thesis paper at the regional conference of the history honor society that he was (is?) apart of.  Since none of us had ever been we all wanted to tag along.

Multnomah Falls

The Man and I spent the past weekend in Oregon by the Columbia River.  We were there for a marriage enrichment retreat.  You know, because traveling four hours south when you’re 35 weeks pregnant is a good idea.  We’ve been wanting to go to one for a few years and figured if we didn’t go to this one who knows when we’d get a chance to make it to one!  Anyway, it was fine and we had a great time.  We were encouraged by the things we have already been doing and given some great tools and ideas on how to improve.  One of my favorite parts of the weekend was date night. 

Riverfront Park, Spokane, WA Part Two

Riverfront Park in Spokane is so awesome that it deserves TWO posts!  We had stopped and only scratched the surface on our way to Helena, MT.  So on our way back through Spokane when were headed home we decided to stop again.  There were some things we wanted to do, namely, ride the carousel again, ride the train and let Munchkin ride the ponies.

We were afraid the ponies would be gone by the time we got there so we rushed to get there.  Thankfully the pony people were still there!  We got the very last ride of the day.  Talk about great timing!  Munchkin was SUPER excited and kept pointing to ponies and saying “horsies” while we waited.  We were on the outside of the fence, since they had already closed up shop.  Then they were asking who was still left to ride and we said US!  They let us in and got Munchkin up on a pony.  Her daddy walked with her.  She did great petting the pony while riding and holding on.  She wasn’t scared at all!  She loved every second of it.

Enjoying The Beach

We decided to stop at a consignment shop we passed a few times on 101 in Gearhard, OR just because it was something to do.  Believe me, neither of my girls are in any danger of going naked.  We were tired from the previous day and a morning walking around Cannon Beach.  So we headed to JoAnn’s (and got more duck fabric, YAY!) and on the way back to the hotel stopped at Watch Me Grow Kid’s Resale.  It’s a fantastic consignment shop! I must admit I was surprised by how much I liked the store. The prices were excellent (I got 11 items for $13.25) and the owner, Tanya was super friendly.  While we were talking with her, she mentioned to us that there was a beach near by that we could drive on and not have to deal with the soft sand like we had to the day before at Cannon Beach.  I love driving on the beach because it’s not something I grew up doing.  It’s pretty common here so feel free to laugh at me because of it.  Mom was all for it because we were in her Jeep with 2 wheel drive.  Plus she had never driven on the beach so it was a new experience for her.

Haystack Rock

On our way back to Seaside from our morning at the Tillamook Cheese Factory we stopped in Cannon Beach.  Mom wanted to see Haystack Rock, a well known tourist destination on the Oregon Coast.  When The Man, Punkin and I visited in April we didn’t see it so it was a new sight for me.  I was a little tired from the factory tour but am always up for the beach.  I just love the ocean so I wasn’t going to say no!

Visiting The Tillamook Cheese Factory

When mom said she wanted to go to the Oregon Coast, she mentioned that she wanted to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  Since I’ve been wanting to visit too, it worked out perfectly.  We love Tillamook cheese and their other dairy products.  I’ll admit I will buy store brand cheese but when there’s some room in the budget Tillamook is what we get.  I had never had it or heard of it until moving to the West Coast but it’s quickly became a favorite of mine.  It’s just so tasty!

Riverfront Park in Spokane, WA Part One

In August The Man, Munchkin and I traveled to our niece’s wedding in Helena, MT.  It was 520 miles and even though it’s doable in a day, we decided to break the trip into two days.  We spent the night (both ways) in Spokane, WA.  We got there in the late afternoon (driving with a pregnant lady= lots of potty breaks!) and wanted to get out and explore and let Munchkin burn off some energy.  We did some internet searching before heading out and I found out about Riverfront Park.  It sounded great, with a carousel and other things to explore.  Once we found our hotel we dropped off our bags and headed out.

Seaside, OR

After exploring the batteries at Fort Stevens and the Peter Iredale Shipwreck and taking a nap, we spent the evening in Seaside, OR.  It’s a smallish town with a nice sandy beach, something I’m not really used to seeing in the PNW.  It was sunny and breezy on the beach and we were quite comfortable wearing jeans and sweatshirts.  We were surprised by the sun…a sunny day on the coast?  That’s not something that happens all the time!

The Shipwreck at Fort Stevens {Semi Wordless Wednesday}

On the beach at Fort Stevens Park is the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale.  The metal skeleton of the boat that ran aground in 1906 rises out of the sand and your eyes can’t help but be drawn to it.  While we were at the beach we realized that Munchkin doesn’t like waves…something we hope she’ll grow out of!

Nassau, Bahamas

Our second port call on our cruise was Nassau, Bahamas.  I had been there before, on my first cruise when I was nine.  I didn't remember anything about it other than the fact that nine year old me thought it was dirty and didn't like it. 

In my mind I was thinking it would be like Bermuda.  That’s probably the worst thing I could do.  Nassau is NOTHING like Bermuda.  We were mobbed by people offering rides as we left the customs area.  I should have been expecting it but wasn’t, so that made it worse for me.  We were looking for where we would meet our tour (we booked it on the internet before we left) and it took walking around a bit but we finally found it.  We had a little time to spare so we looked at souvenirs but didn't buy anything.


We got to the meeting place for our tour early and people watched.  When the van like bus arrived, we boarded it and filled out our release forms.  There was one for swimming with sharks that I didn’t think we had to sign cause we were going snorkeling, not swimming with sharks (I don’t have a death wish!) The lady said to sign it and I figured it was because we might see sharks.  Cause they go where they like to go and some like reefs.  Cool beans, we signed it.



We drove for awhile,with the roundabouts throwing my mind for a loop since they were going in the opposite direction from what I was used to.  We arrived at Stuart Cove’s, signed in and hopped on the boat.  After about 15 minutes and several other people getting on, we were on our way out of the little cove.
The captain of the boat told us that we’d be visiting three sites.  It took us about 15 minutes to get to the first site.  One of the staff members gave a quick refresher course for those of us who had never snorkeled or if it had been awhile (at least 8 years for me…YIKES!)  After that we hopped in the water.  I was one of the last people in the water.  See, I don’t like it when fish touch me or are too close.  Yes, it’s ok to laugh at me.  They had thrown fish food in the water and there was a feeding frenzy and the fish were still all around.  I was scared and was almost hyperventilating.  I had told The Man I didn't like the fish to touch me but he was surprised at my reaction. I was kinda of surprised too-last time it wasn't this bad- but I almost didn't get in the water.



I did get in though.  Once I was in I swam away from the boat, and the fish surrounding it, as quickly as possible.  Once I was away from the fish and they were under me, I was fine.  The Man followed me and we swam together, away from most of the other people.  I was a little disappointed as I was expecting the reef to be more colorful (I was expecting Thailand, the last place I snorkeled.)  There were pretty fish, though not a huge variety.  I looked for Nemo but he was nowhere to be found. I was bummed about that.
I was the first person back on the boat and shortly after I got on they called everyone in so we could go to our second dive site.  I liked the second snorkeling site much better.   There was a greater variety of fish there.  The Man saw a nurse shark and tried to get me to see it but I refused.  I had heard another man saying that there was  shark and I swam in the other direction.  I like seeing sharks from a safe place, like on TV. 

From there we went to the third dive site.  Imagine our surprise when we were told that we were going to swim with sharks!  EEK!  My first thought was there was absolutely no way I was going to swim with sharks.  The captain explained to us that we would go in one at a time and would hold on to a rope line.  We were not to move our arms or kick a lot.  I figured I could handle that.  I wanted to be one of the last people in so I could be one of the first people out.  Two people got in and then the captain called them back in because he didn’t like how the sharks were acting.  So the crew threw out food and our boat was surround by reef sharks.  They were so close to the surface and really easy to see.

 
After the shark excitement, we headed back to the cove.  From there we went back to the cruise ship.  It was a Sunday and most of the shops were closed so we weren’t able to do any shopping.  We considered walking to the Dunkin Donuts but decided against it cause we figured we could get it at the airport on the way home (which we did.)  We spent the rest of the day on the ship, relaxing in the spa and napping.  It was a great day!

Recovering

Last weekend The Man, Munchkin and I travelled to Maine for a wedding of a dear friend, Megan.  My goal was to blog about it on Monday but I’m still recovering.  Flying back and forth across the country has made me more tired than I expected.  The trip was well worth it and I’m so glad we went.

I met Megan in 2008 when I moved into an apartment in a nearby town.  The apartment was in a three story house that had been turned into three apartments.  I was renting the one on the second floor and lived alone.  Megan was renting the first floor apartment and had a roommate she met through Craigslist.  The roommate turned out to be strange (she left a stick of butter on the couch…who does that?!?)

We became friends and we decided to rent a new place together.  She needed a new roommate and I wanted to save money for my upcoming wedding.  Megan is my friend that The Man knows the best (from before marriage) and she helped me cope with his deployment and kept me sane through the wedding planning process.  Oh, the stories we have!

When The Man was confined to the boat for drinking and was unable to fly to MA for Thanksgiving and drive my car back to WA, Megan took on being my co-pilot.  She was not working at the time and was excited to drive with Molly and me.  She didn’t even hesitate when I asked her.  She even drove over Mt. Shasta in the snow because I didn’t want too.  We had a great time stopping in Ohio, Missouri, Texas (where we made sure to see Cadillac Ranch), seeing snow in the Southwest, a  three hour stop at the Grand Canyon and a drive by the Las Vegas Strip.

I’m been so blessed by Megan’s friendship.  I’m so happy that she has found an amazing guy to take care of and that he’ll take care of her.  I’m sad she’ll be moving out of the country. A silver lining is we now have a great reason to visit Australia! 

New York City at Night

I was super excited to be leaving on the cruise out of NYC.  Mostly because I wanted to get some great skyline shots as we cruised out.  New York has a great skyline with the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, along with One World Trade Center Tower.  There was one little problem with this: I forgot how early the sun sets in the winter!  We were scheduled to leave at 4pm and we left late.  The sun set before we left.  I was not prepared with a tripod so I did the best I could with what I had.  I think we got some great shots.  Here are a few of my favorites:

 

I was in the right place at the right time for this one.  A helicopter just flew on by!

It was really cold out.  There weren’t many people out on the top decks at all.  I think they were in the covered part of the ship partying.  The pictures were well worth it.

 

You can’t take NYC photos without getting a few of the lady.  We have about a hundred, most of them blurry.  I was happy we got a couple of good ones!  I really like the American flag in the second one.

One World Trade Center. 

There are no words.

 

So long New York City. 

New York City

My husband, being the amazing man that he is, took me on an eight day Bahamas cruise out of New York City for my birthday.  We flew into La Guardia the day before we left and spent the night in a hotel near Central Park West.  We wanted to make the most of our time in the city so after we dropped our stuff off in our small hotel room we hit the town!

We walked by Central Park (it was dark out and I’ve watched way too much Law & Order to want to walk in there at night!) and browsed through some cute vendors that were set up for the holidays.  We thought about taking a carriage ride but I’m cheap and decided that we’d do that next time.  We did have to stop and get a hot dog from a vendor cause I was STARVING.

We made it to 5th Ave and enjoyed the Christmas decorations on the stores.  We stopped by St. Patrick’s Cathedral on our way to see the Rockefeller tree.  It’s as gorgeous in person as it is on TV.  We considered going ice skating.  It’s $26 a person and I would only skate for maybe 15 minutes so we decided to pass. We were super excited to  find a Dunkin Donuts on our way to the subway.

After getting off the subway, The Man and I walked by Macy’s to see their Christmas display on the way to the theatre. It was MUCH smaller than I expected.  It was nice to be able to picture he worked for years ago.  One of the guys he worked with still works there and just happened to be there and I got to meet him.  We were hoping to get some Chinese food from the place that The Man used to eat at but it was gone.  We were super sad.  We got a slice and some garlic knots instead at a nearby pizzeria.  I must admit that food was high on our list while in the city.  There’s just some food that the east coast does better!

I was pretty tired and was getting cranky (no surprise there!) so we decided to head back to our hotel.  We took the subway cause I didn’t want to walk all that way again.  We stopped at Gray’s Papaya for another hot dog.  The Man used to eat here all the time when he lived in the city.  Two dogs and a drink used to be two bucks; it’s now five.  I still don’t think that’s bad!

We were pretty full after all that food but we fell asleep pretty quickly.  We didn’t sleep in though cause we still had places to go and food to eat before boarding our ship!

A Little Spoiled

Last December I was talking to my husband about how great it would be for just the two of us to get away someplace warm someday.  We’ve never vacationed someplace warm together as our Honeymoon was an Alaskan Cruise.  I was just talking about someday, when the kid(s) are older and we can leave them with Nana for awhile. 

Well, that amazing man took matter into his own hands.  He booked a cruise for the two of us for my birthday, which is sometime this month. I had no idea at all about the trip.  When he booked it we didn’t know my mom was going to be living with us.  We thought she was still going to be living in MA.  I got suspicious because they were talking a lot when I was out of the room and would stop when I came in.   So The Man told me that we were going to spend my birthday in New York City.  The Man lived there in his early twenties and I’ve often said that I’d love to visit with him so he could show me more of it.  Munchkin was going to stay with my Mom in MA so we could have some us time. 

Sometime in June he finally spilled the beans about what we were really going to be doing.  We’re leaving from NYC and heading to Port Canaveral, FL.  From there we’re going to Nassau, Bahamas, where he has already booked a snorkeling excursion for us.  After that we head to Freeport, Bahamas before heading back to NYC.  To say I’m excited is an understatement.  It’s has seemed a little unreal that it would be happening.  It’s getting more and more real and is vey real at this moment, as this is a scheduled post.  As you read this I’m on my way to NYC or am already enjoying the ship. 

I was shocked when he told me.  I was also very excited.  I mean, he had booked and paid for it without me knowing.  I was not expecting two cruises in one year!  I’ve really been looking forward to some alone time with the husband.  It’s been 17 months since we’ve had more than a few hours alone together.  It will be nice to reconnect as a couple.  On our last cruise we LOVED the spa hydrothermal room and he booked us a spa room, which allow us 24/7 access to it.  I think we’ll be spending a lot of time in there.  In one of the ports we’re planning on going parasailing as well and I’m looking forward to that too.  It’s so fun!

I’ve been nervous to leave Munchkin with Nana.  I know that she’s going to be fine but 9 days is a long time to be away from her.  The longest I’ve been away from her was in September for the Alaskan Cruise.  I think it’s more that we’ll be hard to reach if there is an emergency.  I’m going to miss Munchkin so much but I know she’ll be fine with Nana.  I am looking forward to alone time with The Man.  And the warm sun and sand.  And beautiful blue water.  We’ll be back in time for Christmas.  The next two weeks are going to be full of fun and family time. 

The only problem now is what am I going to look forward to after this?  I think it might be time to start planning a trip to Disneyland!

People You Meet

While on the cruise I saw a lot of people.  I made small talk with some, smiled and nodded at others.  There was this one couple, Teresa & Dave, that we saw in the spa a few times and we had light conversation.

Then one evening towards the end of the cruise we saw them sitting and enjoying some music.  Dave stopped us and said to me how much he appreciated that I was spending time with my mom and how happy it was making her.  He said he could tell by her smile how much she was enjoying our time together.  Dave reminded me that people, not things, are what are most important.  (I know this picture of chairs seems to have nothing to do with this, but this is where they were sitting when we talked.)  

Dave is 58 and has been diagnosed with Dementia.  Really, it’s Alzheimer's but since he’s young they won’t diagnose that.  He had  an excellent, high paying job, making multi-billion dollar deals and all the stress that goes along with it.  His doctors have told him that his job was a large, contributing factor to his current condition.  His wife of 30 years has retired so she can take care of him.  She’s seen a decline even in the past week.  He doesn’t want pity or sympathy, but wants to continue to be a contributing member of society.  He’s on the cruise with his wife and their daughter and son in law.  They are making wonderful memories which he won’t remember but his wife and daughter will. 

I think because of his condition he was a little more open than most people would be with a stranger.  He told me that he was a good judge of character and could tell I was a good person.  He told me again how important it was to spend time with my mom.  At the end, and he apologized if it was inappropriate, he told me that he loved me.  Maybe it was inappropriate, as he has no clue who I am, but in those words I heard my dad.  It wasn’t this man I didn’t know, but it was my dad.  He touched my nose as he said it, much like my dad might have done. 

I miss my dad.  Two year later and three simple words from a stranger had me crying.  I really wish Dad could have been here to go on this cruise with my mom as I know he would have had a great time.  However I’m thankful that I was able to go and have this time with her and make these memories.  As much as I haven’t wanted to face it, my mom is getting older.  She can’t do as much as she could (though she can still do a lot.)  She’s getting slower and sometimes I have repeat myself.  I’m so thankful she’s moved near us so we can spend more time with her.  I’m thankful that she’ll get to be apart of my daughter’s life.  When it all comes down to it, family is the most important thing we have.  Treasure them.  Enjoy them because you never know when they won’t be around anymore.

Juneau, Alaska

Our ship pulled into and docked in Juneau, Alaska at 6 am in the morning.  As the sun rose all you could see was fog.  We were a little nervous that it was going to be rainy like Ketchikan but after an hour or so the fog burned off.  The day was sunny and while I wouldn’t say warm it wasn’t too cold.

We were excited about Juneau because we were going ziplining!  We had been looking forward to this all week.  From the ship we took a 5 minute bus ride downtown.  Then we took a little express boat to Douglas Island.  The trip lasted all of 10 minutes.  Once we were at the location we got all suited up in our harnesses, helmets and gloves.  We rode an oversized ATV type thing into the Tongass National Forest.  It was gorgeous!  It’s a temperate rainforest and green was everywhere.  We had to climb a little way to get to the first platform.  We climbed beside a little creak and it was charming. 

At the platform we got our lesson.  It was pretty simple.  Keep your left arm up on the metal thingie, use your left wrist/arm to keep yourself straight, use your right hand to break by grabbing the lower cable and cross your legs.  Easy peasy, right?  It was, except I have short arms so reaching up and holding onto the metal thing wasn’t all the comfortable.  I also had a hard time not spinning around but it gave me a better view of the area so I wasn’t to worried.

There were 9 zip lines and two suspension bridges.  This part of the forest used to be Treadwell Mine and it produced about 70 million dollars worth of gold.  We zipped over some of the old mines and one of the glory holes.  It was spectacular! We also had amazing views of Mt. Roberts and the channel from the platforms.  The weather was perfect.

Our guides, Sara & Stewart were friendly and knowledgeable.  They shared about the area and did their best to make everyone comfortable.  We had 8 people, including ourselves, in our group.  There was some nice banter between us all that made it even more enjoyable.  Come to find out, it is a small world.  Stewart is originally from a town about 1o minutes from where I grew up and our high schools were in the same league for sports.  He graduated the year before I did.

It took us a little longer than normal as the group ahead of us and some older people (two of them had canes!) that had some difficulties.  They got stuck in the middle of the line and had to be pulled in more than once.  Other than having to wait around, the whole experience was amazing and I HIGHLY recommend this is you ever find yourself in Juneau.

Once we got back to town we had just enough time to do a little shopping.  We were afraid we wouldn’t have enough time but the shopping area is small.  Many of the shops were having end of season sales.  It worked in our favor as it was the last day of the cruise season.  Our ship and her sister ship, the Oosterdam were the last two ships in Juneau.  We found our deals and headed back to the ship.

I’d love to visit Juneau again someday.  The Mendenhall Glacier is not that far from town and I have yet to see it, even though I’ve been here twice.  The first time The Man & I went panning for gold and this time zip lining.  I’d love to see it by helicopter or float plane but those two options are very expensive, so I need to start saving my pennies. 

Linking up with:

Glacier Bay, Alaska

As I type this, I’m enjoying the scenery of Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska.  I’m nice and comfy in my stateroom, though I do make frequent trips outside to take in the scenery as well and the clean, crisp scent and the sound of water against the cruise ship.

The water is a gorgeous blue/green, reminding me of Caribbean waters.  It’s not the dark blue one might expect from cold water, often found in the northern oceans.  The color surprised me the first time I saw it.  I’m sure the ocean here is frigid but since I haven’t touched it, I’ll just go with my intuition.  Mountains rise up all around us.  As we’re in the lower part of the bay, the mountains are covered in trees, some two hundred years old.  There are clouds and haze, lingering where the sun’s rays haven’t yet reached. 

Since the view from my balcony was limited, I explored the ship.  I visited the back of the boat on the upper deck, where the scenery was just as gorgeous.  Mom & I walked around the promenade deck, visiting both the port and starboard sides of the boat.  We also ventured to the bow, where it was quite windy and cold.  We were served hot pea soup and it was very warming and hit the spot.  We eventually made it back to our room.  What was nice about being in the public, outside areas was the occasional commentary by a visiting park ranger.  Two boarded our ship to share their knowledge with us about the bay.

I moved to our balcony and by this time we had sailed into the upper part of the bay, right next to Marjorie Glacier.  We were so close and I feel like I could have reached out and touched it.  Parts of the glacier are dirty and remind me of the yucky snow on the side of the road after it’s been plowed.  Other parts are white, where I’m guessing the glacier has calved.  Parts of the glacier have a bluish hue.  The water is still green but has sediment mixed in so has a brownish color to it.  The glacier is noisy as it moves.  The Marjorie is moving 7 feet a year.  I was able to see some small pieces fall; it’s not a quiet process. 

Right next to the Marjorie Glacier is the Grand Pacific Glacier.  It does not look as large as the Marjorie but it is the glacier responsible for carving out most of Glacier Bay as it receded.  Glaciers, as they grow, remove everything that’s living, right down to the bed rock.  As it recedes, it leaves the bare bedrock behind.  Slowly things start to grow again.  Lichen and moss come first, preparing the way for small flowering plants, which prepare the way for the trees that eventually start growing again.  The trees closer to the glaciers are much smaller than those in the lower bay as they have had less time to grow.

We had a gorgeous day to be in Glacier Bay.  The sun was shining and was warm on my face as the boat turned around and we headed back the way we came.  We’ll head up another “arm” to see a few more glaciers.  They all tend to look alike.  They are stark but beautiful and they command your attention.  The seeming barrenness is also beautiful.  If you look closely you can see life.  There were a few harbor seals playing and eating near the base of the glacier.  There were lichen and small flowering plants and bushes and trees growing where there once was glacier.  Fresh water streams flow down, little streams of melted snow, making its way back to the ocean.  There are also mountain goats around as well as birds.  And who knows what kind of fish and mussels and other kinds of life are abundant underwater, hidden from view?  In Johns Hopkins Inlet we saw a Humpback whale surface twice for air. 

We visited Johns Hopkins Glacier, named after the university in Baltimore, MD.  It is one of the few glaciers that is growing.  It is a mile wide and the ice towers two hundred and fifty feet above sea level with another two hundred feet of ice below.  The glacier is an amazing blue color with towering snow covered mountains behind it.  The mountains that are ten thousand feet high and the snow from them feeds the glacier.  Right beside the glacier is Mt. Abbey, which is eight thousand feet.  In it’s shadow is Gilman Glacier, which is a tributary of the Johns Hopkins.  Johns Hopkins moves 10-15 feet a day and while we were there we were able to see some calving; the splash from the dropping ice was incredible.  It sounded like a freight train.  It amazes me that you can hear the glacier moving.  I found it fascinating that cruise ships are not allowed to this glacier until  after September first.  The harbor after Jaw Point is a Harbor Seal breeding area.  The number of Harbor Seals are in decline so they are doing what they can to protect them.  We were able to get extremely close to the glacier, something we were told that doesn’t happen very often.  It was incredible! 

My words really do not do this place justice.  It is a place that must be seen to be fully enjoyed. 

Ketchikan, Alaska

Due to bad weather our port call schedule changed and we stopped in Ketchikan, Alaska first.  It calls itself the shopping capital of Alaska.  The downtown area is right next to the piers and is lined with shops.  There are totem poles around and Creek Street is a short walk.  I’ve heard that it’s also one of the rainiest cities and I believe it.  I’ve been there twice now and it’s been pouring both times.  If you ever visit, make sure to bring your rain gear.

We had decided to do a Duck Tour in Ketchikan.  We’ve done the Boston Duck Tours more times and I can count and we love them.  The Duck Tour concept began in Boston and they do it well.  I didn’t realize that we had high expectations but did.  Mom & I DID NOT enjoy the Duck Tour at all.  At the end, I knew more about our tour guide (a 28 year old woman who was heading to Baja, Mexico to nanny for an American family and she grew up in Colorado & Kansas) than I did about Ketchikan.  She did give us some information on salmon and we did get to see the salmon elevator.  We also drove by the city park that used to be a salmon hatchery.  We drove right by Creek Street and the Totem poles while she was cracking corny jokes.  She did make sure to tell us about where Burger King used to be and why it went out of business.  I really don’t care about Burger King and would have preferred to learn more about the beginnings of the town. 

After driving around a little we headed to the water.  While in the water she told us about three kind of fishing boats and how they work.  It was interesting.  Then we “sailed” around for no reason.  I had the feeling that it was to waste time and fulfill the hour and half requirement of how long the tour was supposed to be.  Overall I was very disappointed in this tour.  If you find yourself in Ketchikan, do yourself a favor and skip this one. It’s not worth your money.

The good news is that Mom & I still had plenty of time to walk around.  We did some shopping (yay for end of season sales! I scored a warm Alaska sweatshirt for $10 and mom got a fleece jacket for the same price, both normally priced over $50).  Munchkin made out like a bandit!  I love buying stuff for my little girl.  Some of it will be for Christmas.  I had wanted to get her a stuffed puffin and after looking in several shops I finally found one.  Everything else was icing.  She got books, socks, pj’s,and t-shirts.

We walked Creek Street and did some shopping.  There were still a lot of salmon in the creek.  There were also a lot of dead salmon along the edges, spent from spawning.  In the creek lives a family of otters who like to feast on the salmon, as it’s easy pickings since there are so many.  We saw two, maybe three of them.  One was white and the other one or two I saw was black.  They were having a great time! 

We made our way through the downtown, see and taking photos of a couple of the totem poles.  I’m not big into totem poles (as in I don’t want to buy small replicas to bring home) but I do think they are cool looking.  I know they are culturally significant and I would love to know more.

Overall we had a great day in Ketchikan.  We were excited to get back on the ship though, to warm up and eat some lunch!

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone, the first national park in the United States, is as amazing today as it was when it was created (or so I would imagine.)  It’s huge and full of incredible nature.  It’s hard to use words to describe it.  The shear beauty of Yellowstone takes your breath away.

We arrived through the east entrance in the afternoon.  Last time I drove through this entrance it was midnight, so I enjoyed being able to see where we were going this time.  Munchkin was crying/screaming for most of it.  We stopped at the General Store at the Fishing Bridge to stretch, eat lunch and of course we browsed the merchandise for sale.  Munchkin was ok getting back in the car after and we headed up to the loop road.  It was slow going because there was bison everywhere.  I lost track of how many herds we saw after 6.  There were thousands of them, just about everywhere you looked.  People were stopping and taking pictures from the middle of the road.  It was kinda insane.

We took the loop road towards the West Entrance.  On the way we drove through the Virginia Cascade Loop.  It took a little but but we finally found the falls.  There was a river leading up to it and I had mom pull over at a turn off so I could go see the river.  Munchkin was asleep (thankfully!) so mom stayed in the car with her.  The air was cool but clean and crisp smelling.  It was quite and you could hear some birds and the river gurgling as it headed to the falls.  It was so peaceful.  I wish Munchkin had been awake because I would let her go wading, even though the water was cold. 

 

The next day we headed towards the geyser section of Yellowstone.  We stopped to walk along a path around some and we saw three go off.  It’s amazing to see water shooting out of the earth.  After that we headed to Old Faithful.  It was going off as we drove up so we waited around to see it again.  It was worth it.

After a quick lunch at the lodge we headed to the Continental Divide, where we left the crowds behind (thankfully!) It was nice and peaceful, perfect for a Munchkin nap.  There was a little lily pad covered pond and it smelled clean and pure.  It was heavenly.

After that we continued driving the loop road.  We ended up back at the fishing bridge where we had come in the day before.  We decided that we would drive the whole loop.  Munchkin was doing great and it really wouldn’t take that long, would it?  I should have known better cause that’s what The Man & I said when we were there.  Yes, it does take all afternoon.  You would think that I would have learned from last time but no.  So we drove around and while we enjoyed it we were exhausted by the end.  We did manage to stop at Mammoth Springs and walk around.  Munchkin was sleepy so I carried her in the Ergo.  While we were heading back to the car I saw a man carrying a baby in an infant car seat.  While I agree it’s totally your choice to use one, I really wanted to let them try my carrier.  Who wants to carry a heavy car seat around Yellowstone?  Baby wearing is the way to go…so much easier and so much better for your back!

We were super excited to get back to the hotel but the mule deer and line painting slowed us down.  We really need more time in Yellowstone.  I think we have to plan another visit…soon!