Cruisin' it up with my family

It's crazy to believe that it has been a month since we left on vacation and I'm just now getting around to the actual cruise pictures. I'd have to say it was the time spent on the boat that I loved the most. I have such an amazing family and it is never ever a dull moment. The entire trip was full of inside jokes, lots of laughing, and some very very late nights. It was the first time we all went on vacation together and it was way overdue. As some of you know, my family is extremely close like we still have sleepovers close. My cousins are like my brothers and sisters and my aunts and uncles are my other parents. I wouldn't have it any other way because it's so rare to have a family so close.

As you'll see below, we had so much fun together and there were so many amazing memories that I will cherish for the the rest of my life, as cheesy as that sounds.

Inside the Pharaoh's Palace

Chocolate Mustaches

Alyssa on the Game Show

Curtis in the Hairy Chest Contest, obvs he was the youngest haha

Rainboot Twins

Tea Time

Formal Night

My brothers

In the club

Elevator 

The first time I've ever seen my Dad in a hood

Tracy Arm Fjord

Cousins, Mark & James before going on the water slide in 40 degree raining weather

Jacuzzi time

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

Mama and I on the second Formal Night

Wine time

Fancy dinner

There was lots of wine.

The women

My family

I hope you've enjoyed reliving my trip through these posts. I've had a great time sharing it with you. Stay tuned for a new post tomorrow, darlings.

xx - Dan

Ketchikan, Alaska

Our final port in the Inside Passage of Alaska was the Salmon Capital of the World and also the Totem Pole Capital of the World. On our excursion we visited the famous Misty Fjords National Monument on a very very long catamaran ride. It was absolutely beautiful to see all of the waterfalls in the fjord. It was relaxing, so relaxing that I actually took a nap on the way back to Ketchikan. I wish I had more pictures of anything else in Ketchikan, especially totem poles, but our tour ran late and we were almost late getting back on the cruise.

Bald Eagle's Nest

xx - Dan

Juneau, Alaska

After Skagway, we stopped in Alaska's city, Juneau. D'you know? haha Seriously, we must have used Juneau as "D'you know," every five minutes we spent there which then made us crack up until we said it again. Our excursion there was called the Mendenhall Glacier and Wildlife Excursion, I believe. We took a bus to the famous Mendenhall Glacier in the Mendenhall Glacier Valley near Auke. It's constantly receding and is currently about 12 miles long, which is seriously unbelievable until you see it in person and stand in awe of how massive, how old, and how big the lake it has created. It literally makes you feel like you're in the movie, Ice Age, seriously.

Leave it to my family to make the glacier funny by taking pictures "licking" it.

After visiting the glacier, we went to Auke Bay to whale watch, which was SO cool and literally so cold being on a catamaran in the middle of a rainy day in Alaska on the water. We saw lots of humpback whales, bald eagles, sea lions (seals, maybe?). It was so incredible to be constantly on the look out for whales as they came out of the water to breathe. Sadly, my camera died during this excursion, so my pictures of whales are lacking.

Bald Eagles

Humpback Whales

Seals

Also, on our catamaran was Amanda from America's Next Top Model Cycle 7!!!

xx - Dan

Skagway, Alaska

I've decided to break my posts down into each port on the Inside Passage and then the last post will be all pictures on the actual cruise. I'll also be splitting them with other posts in between, so you don't get so sick of looking at my vacation pictures. haha. After a few days at sea, our first port was Skagway, Alaska. This city is mostly famous for it's former mining history and it's place in Jack London's book: The Call of the Wild. 


Our first excursion was located in the small town of Haines which is a fairly quick catamaran ride from Skagway where we drove Kawasaki 4x4 Mules onto the Takshanuk Mountain Trail. It was by far one of the coolest experiences of my life minus all of the bugs. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. We drove the Mules up into the mountains stopping at a gorgeous lake and then up to a look out point that left us speechless. We saw lots of running streams, water falls, and it was the first wild life we saw, A BALD EAGLE. It was incredible to take in such an amazing place and have fun getting there.

Our excursions took up most of our days in port, so we didn't get to soak in a lot of the town life, but seeing the surroundings was more than enough. I did find time to grab a shot glass from every place we went which was super cool.

xx - Dan