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

Hair Chalking 101

Happy 4th of July!! I was going to post about my nails that I did for today, but I figured I'd save that for another day. :) I've had a few questions about how the ins and outs of temporary Hair Chalking that I tried a few days ago. Colored ends have been trendy for quite some time now and this is a great temporary alternative for a fun night out or a couple of days without a crazy commitment. After, my cousin, Alyssa suggested we try it, we watched Kandee Johnson's Youtube Video on it.

Watch it there^

It seemed easy enough. You only need:

• Soft Pastels from the craft store (Not oil pastels)
• Water in a squirt bottle (optional)
• Gloves (optional, but less messy)
• Towels and clothes you don't mind getting messy
• Blowdryer
• Curling iron or straightening iron

1. Brush out your hair before beginning and get your work area set up. We used the bathroom without a squirt bottle and without gloves, but we understand why you'd want both of these things.
2. Wet your hair strand and when I say wet, I mean get it soaked, so the color sticks better. 
3. Using your white soft pastel, completely coat your strand. 
4. Quickly apply your chosen color to your still wet hair. Cover it completely and fully because it will fade. If you think you're doing too much, you're probably not. I promise. The trick is to rub downwards in a fast motion to avoid knots while coating well.
5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 on a few more strands and then blow dry almost completely.
6. Continue doing steps 2 - 4, stopping every so often to blow dry until you're satisfied. 
7. After finishing all of the strands you want, use your curling iron or straightening iron to set the color. Do not brush or comb as the color will transfer easily. Touch up color as necessary if you're not satisfied.

Tips

• Soft Pastels make a HUGE mess. We broke a lot of them and our counter, hands, and clothes were covered.
• They transfer easily, so don't lay or sit against anything you don't want rainbowed afterwards. I slept with a towel on my pillow just in case. 
• Your chalked hair will not feel soft, it may feel slightly crunchy. This is normal. There is chalk in your hair. 
• Make sure your hair is completely saturated. The color adheres the best to soaked hair as I said.
• It's time consuming and you will get frustrated because it takes a lot to get a rich color.
• White soft pastel isn't necessary, so when you run out don't worry.
• You will see the color best in person and in different lighting, pictures don't pick up the colors very well.
• Don't expect to keep this for more than a day or two because you won't be able to brush through your stiff hair without wincing. 

We were pleasantly surprised at our fun new temporary locks. Alyssa did a variety of colors: purples, reds, green, and even some blue. I stuck with minty green and teal on my ends.

Let me know if you try this super fun and inexpensive hair chalking that might be really cool in Red, White, and Blue for the 4th!!

xx - Dan

Seattle

I talked about how exciting it was turn 21 in Seattle, WA, but the whole city was just really wonderful. I'm definitely a city girl at heart, so seeing a skyline made me so happy. We got to visit a lot of really cool sights that Seattle has to offer through walking and on a really cool "Duck Tour" which took us around the city and on Lake Union.

We were pleased to get three days of Seattle sunshine which is rare. The weather was beautiful compared to Arizona's stifling 110. Seattle was like nowhere I'd ever traveled to before. I loved the famous Pike Place Market with all of the fresh flowers, fruits, and fish. (complete with EYE BALLS!) We also went into the original very first Starbucks which was like traveling to Mecca for the Starbucks addict in me. haha

Seattle was so full of history and unique culture that I highly recommend you visit sometime. I had an amazing time there.

the original Starbucks

Pike Place Market

Touristy in front of my AZ home away from home

Famous fish throwing

Our Duck Driver, Bob La Blah

I got to sit up front while they sang "Sweet Caroline" to me

Seattle Skyline

Houseboats

Where they filmed 10 Things I Hate About You

Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks)'s houseboat in Sleepless in Seattle

Seattle Grace!!

First time getting id-ed

Anthony's Fish Bar's famous Mai Tai's

The Space Needle

xx - Dan