We're Back!!!

We have just returned home from a wonderful 4 week vacation. We spent most of the summer in Vernon & Salmon Arm but Tanya and I ended the vacation with a 7 day Alaskan Cruise...we sailed the Norwegian Sun out of Vancouver. We highly recommend it! It was wonderful....Freestyle Cruising is the way to go. If you want more information about this concept, let us know!

We left Vancouver on Sunday July 29, sailed the inside passage on Monday, stopped in Ketchikan on Tuesday, Juneau on Wednesday, Skagway on Thursday, were at sea on Friday, sailed the inside passage Saturday and arrived back in Vancouver on Sunday August 5th. We ran into Murray and Cheryl Ogilvie on the ship (Cheryl is Uncle Leo's daughter)...it was a surprise but very nice at the same time...we were able to enjoy each others company throughout the cruise!

We quickly found out that Jewelry is a major part of the shopping experience on this cruise and in Alaska. Each of the ports we stopped in had many stores. Almost every other store had jewelry in it!!! When we boarded the ship in Ketchikan, they informed us that they had picked up a $3 million dollar diamond. They offered to sell it to any takers for $2 million noting that it would fetch $3 million at auction. There were no takers to my knowledge!

While in Juneau we had the chance to go whale watching (saw some very large humpback whales) as well as the Mendenhall Glacier. Wow, was that ever a sight to see. One of the shore excursions that we could have taken was to fly, via helicopter, to the top of the glacier and get out and walk around on it. Maybe next time!!

After leaving Juneau, we sailed up the Tracy Arm Fjord to the Sawyer Glacier....it is 30 miles up this narrow passage...but what we saw along the way was absolutely awe inspiring! After seeing the Glacier, and spinning that big boat on a dime 180 degrees, we headed towards Skagway.

My mom was able to come down from Whitehorse and take us back there for the day...the last time Tanya and I were in Whitehorse was 1994...It has undergone some major changes since that time....On the way back, we came across a Grizzly Bear right on the side of the road. There were people standing out on the road with this bear less than 50 feet away from them...absolutely nuts!!

The friday night of the cruise, they had a Chocolate buffet...every and anything chocolate...cheesecake, strawberries, bananas...you name...it was awesome...they had ice and chocolate sculptures...the chocolate sculptures included whales, dinosaurs, fish and a bear.

We had a long trip back home left Vancouver Sunday arrived back in Tumbler on Tuesday but it was certainly a great summer vacation....first time ever that I have had that much time off at once...it was wonderful!

We are now trying to get back to "normal"....I have started back to work and have lots to get caught up on...Tanya has been trying to get the trailer and house organized since our return...no easy task...the kids are just happy to play in the back yard with their friends!!

We hope you are having a good summer! Hope to hear from you all soon!