Alaska, baby!

Last week, Brad and I got to join his parents, siblings, and their spouses on a cruise to Alaska.  It was truly delightful! 

The nicest thing about this trip was, of course, the company. I loved just sitting around with Brad's family and chatting, playing cards, or rocking at Team Trivia. It was nice because it was all adults (except for John and Lili's baby, who is nursing, so she couldn't be left at home), so we were able to relax and enjoy each other without being interupted/worrying about kids.

And, of course I loved spending time with my Favorite Mann.

Look at us dancing at the club - how very Love Boat of us!

We traveled with Holland America Lines, and I must say, we were impressed with this cruise line.  We have taken two other cruises (brag, brag, I know), and this was by far the best cruise as far as clean entertainment goes.  Because Alaska is so big, we spent a lot more time on the boat than we have on other cruises, so we were very glad that the on-board entertainment was as good as it was.  There were shows after dinner everynight, and they were all completely within our standards.  There was no cringing at dirty jokes or covering Brad's eyes at the dancers' costumes, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Part of the entertainment was a karaoke competition that Brad's sister Becky took part in.  They set up judges like American Idol, and guests performed on stage for the passengers.  Becky was truly groovalicious singing "Cowboy, Take Me Away" from the Dixie Chicks.

And she won!  Yay Becky!

Another night, they did this trivia game show.  Haley got chosen to be a contestant, and she almost won (with Becky's help from the audience, mouthing the answers as big as she could).

Juneau, AK

The first port we stopped at was Juneau.  We all went on an excursion that took us to the Mendenhall Glacier and then whale watching.

Brad, Dave, and Cameron by Mendenhall Glacier.

Casey, Becky, and me by the waterfall.

On board the boat ready to watch some whales.

We saw this batch of sea lions sunbathing on a rock island.

A humpback whale disappears into the water.

We even got lucky and saw some orca.

Glacier Bay, AK

The next day we sailed through Glacier Bay on the cruise ship. I think that may have been my favorite day. We all just hung out, talked, played 5 Crowns, and drank Diet Coke while we were surrounded by beautiful scenery.

After all the whale-watching the day before, Dave favored us with his Whale Breaching Imitation.  It was stunning.

Sitka, AK

In Sitka, Brad and I joined Becky and Dave on a 4X4 Adventure that took us through a rainforest to a black sand beach on a little island.  It was awesome!

Dave and Becky in their rhino.

This is what we saw as we drove through the rain forest.  I wish the picture did it justice - it was really beautiful.

Stopping for a quick (and cold) break on a bridge over looking a river and meadow.  We saw some brown bear cubs playing in that meadow a few minutes later.

My favorite part of the ride was the time we spent on the black sand beach.  It was completely deserted, and we felt like we were the only people in that little corner of the world.

Ketchikan, AK

In Ketchikan, Brad went deep water fishing with his dad and brothers while the rest of us went on a zip-line course. If you think strapping yourself to a cable hundreds of feet above the ground and zipping along the top of a rainforest sounds fun, well, you are RIGHT! It was scary at first, but by the time we were finished with our morning of zipping thru a rainforest, we didn't want to be done. I loved it!

Lois and me on the ride up to the zip line.

Haley, Katie, Lois, Cam, and Casey getting ready to zip.

 The zip-line course was a series of cables strung through the top of a rain forest. I think we zipped along 10 or 12 different lines. So fun!
 

I didn't even know my picture was being taken - that silly grin is genuine.

Proudly wearing our zip-line medals.

Yay me!

 
Victoria, British Columbia

On Thursday, we finished up the cruise with a night-time stop in Victoria, British Columbia. Unfortunately, knowing that the cruise was almost over and we'd be returning to Berlin the next day kind of soured the whole evening. Oh well.

We only had a couple of hours in Victoria, and we weren't really in a shopping mood, so we went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.

We learned that Madame Tussaud got her start making wax molds from severed heads of executed people (yeah, gross).  They had a wax mold on display that she made from the head of Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's ill-fated wives.  So, I'm guessing this display of all six of his wives is pretty accurate as far as showing what they really looked like.

We were surprised and delighted to see Brigham Young included in this display of prominant religious figures.

We owe my mom BIG TIME for coming to scary Berlin to stay with the kids while we went.  For a long time, we didn't know if we'd be able to go because we didn't know who we could ask here to watch the kids.  Mom saved the day by offering to come and brave the German-speaking world so we could go remember how it feels to speak English in America.  Thanks Mom!

And, of course, thanks to Mark and Lois for organizing the trip and giving us the cruise tickets for Christmas.  I loved every minute of it, and I am so glad we could go!  Alaska rocks!