Friday, May 23, 2008

Fun Monday - Vacations

This weeks Fun Monday Hostess is Alison.  Here's the assignment she's prepared for us.  I'm really looking forward to all the great photos and stories this one should generate!

Vacations...this is the time of year when most of us go on vacations. Show us and/or tell us about your favorite vacation - where you went, what you did, etc. Pictures would be great. Let's all take a trip around a the world via our FM friends!!

I love vacations.  It's really hard to choose one as a favorite.  So I decided to go with my most recent favorite.

In July 2007, we headed North to Alaska to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary.  Kilowatt and I were married in Alaska, at the Alyeska Resort.   Ironically, we didn't visit the resort in 2007 because it was raining so hard the day we were in that area.  Alaska is hard to describe with just words, so I'll let some of my hundreds of photos do the talking.

We started out in this lower 48 city - do you recognize it?

Yes, there is a mountain in the distance.  The city is Seattle, and the photo was taken from here.



Next, we took the Amtrak Cascades to this wonderful city:


After we departed from Vancouver, we sailed North up the Inside Passage.  We stopped first at Ketchikan, where it was raining.  I've give up on ever seeing Ketchikan in the sun.  Next stop Juneau, where it was quite lovely.  We took a photography tour - of course, if  you are in Alaska, what do you photograph?  These:

And these:

And then some of these:


Next stop, my favorite port, Skagway.  We took the White Pass and Yukon railroad over some white-knuckle territory:


Once we reached our final port, we headed inland.  We only saw these at the Alaskan Wildlife refuge, although that may not be a bad thing.  Don't think I'd want to be this close to one in the wild:


We went hiking at an abandoned mine:

Participated in this:



Enjoyed a ride behind Iditarod competitor Vern Halter's dogs:


Finally, on our last day, look who peaked out to say hi.  We took a ride on a Mahay's Jetboat (a tiny one shows in the photo.) I should note here that our last visit McKinley never graced us with a view, so this was an extra special treat.


Sigh... everytime I look at these I want to go back and do it all again!

14 comments:

Alison said...

wow, your photos are stunning. Alaska is top on my list of places I want to visit, thanks for giving me a peek today!!

Thanks for playing this week!!

Pamela said...

I want to go, I want to go.
Now I'm stamping my feet - and holding my breath.
(:

beautiful pictures. beautiful vacation.

Joy T. said...

LOL 'moose poop toss' LOL!! Visiting Alaska is on my Bucket List and your photos remind me why. Loved it, thanks for sharing your great holiday!

Anonymous said...

Moose poop toss? your pictures are lovely

Betty said...

These pictures take me back to Alaska when we visited there in the month of July. We only had one day when it rained. We lucked out on that. Thanks for sharing the pictures and thanks for visiting me today.

Mariposa said...

I've never been to Alaska...and I love the photos...wow, so many places to visit...so little time!

Thanks for sharing...have a nice week!

Molly said...

Your trip does look wonderful. I have not been to Alaska. Your fabulous pictures give me an idea what it is like. Maybe a trip to Alaska is in our future.

Faye said...

And I can see why you want to go back! I want to go for the first time. Have two dear friends who go to Alaska every year to bed 'n breakfast and volunteer to help with the Iditarod. Keep hoping they'll invite me in a year when I can go too.

Sounds like you have other connections to Alaska other than place you got married?

Sayre said...

We fling cow pies and mullet here in the South. And grunt for worms. And spit watermelon seeds.

I think I like Alaska's version better.

Meg said...

Wonderful photos! Just saw Into The Wild last night and cried my eyes out at the end.

ChrisB said...

I think this is the closest I'm ever going to get to Alaska. It looks so beautiful; thank you for letting me enjoy your holiday.

Hula Girl at Heart said...

We have pondered a trip to Alaska a few times. I'd like to get there before I get too old to Moose poop toss.

Melanie said...

Oh my goodness- Moose Poop Toss!! How funny is that!!

Amazing pictures!

Our Happy Happenings

Sauntering Soul said...

Can you believe I have a cousin who has lived in Alaska for ages and I've never gone to visit her? How crazy am I? Your photos are fabulous!