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October 01

Counting Down
71 days until we leave for scuba diving in Cozumel. We have made reservations with our dive operator for a 2-tank dive on December 13th. Now we are just debating about whether to spend $200 for an underwater housing for Ingrid's digital camera...

5:28 AM GMT | Read comments(1)

September 15

Last day of vacation
Well, today is the last day of our Alaskan Adventure. Saturday morning we disembarked from the beautiful Serenade of the Seas. Needless to say, we were sad to leave her, and found it hard to believe that 7 days had passed already. We took a taxi to the train station, then left our baggage with the station's baggage hold service. We took the Vancouver SkyTrain down to Canada Place, wandered around watching the harbor, eating lunch at Elephant & Castle, and wandering downtown. Returned to the train station via SkyTrain, then checked into and got on the Cascades train back to Seattle. Beautiful views on the sun setting as we traveled back to the US. Got in and claimed our luggage around 10:30pm, then took a taxi to our hotel, the Hotel Vintage Park - nice place.

Sunday we slept in, then went to lunch at Purple Cafe. This place is WONDERFUL. If you are ever in Seattle, I highly recommend it. Good service and wonderful food. Went down to the Seattle Harbor and went on the Argosy Harbor cruise. Despite how it is normally advertised, Seattle has been sunny and warm while we have been here. The views were clear, and we could easily see Mt. Rainier in the distance. We then went to the Seattle Underground tour. Quite a bit of untold history UNDER Seattle's streets. Apparently the city burned down in the 1800's, and when it was rebuilt the city regraded the entire city, raising it higher above sea level and pushing the bay back into the ocean. To do this, some city blocks were raised 10 to 30 feet, with the original sidewalks still underneath the new sidewalks. As I said, it was a very interesting tour. Went back to the hotel for a free wine-tasting, then grabbed a quick dinner at Subway (following my mom's recommended and, I think, best pattern of eating a larger fancier lunch and a quick and easy dinner). Vegged out for the rest of the evening at the hotel.

Today, we'll be checking out, then having our luggage held. First visit will be to Pike Place Market, then we are taking the monorail to Seattle Center. There, we will be going up the Space Needle and visiting some other museums in the area. We have to head to the airport at about 8pm local time for our flight out of Seattle to Newark at 10:30pm. I don't usually sleep on planes, but I don't think I should have much trouble with it tonight - this trip has worn me out quite a bit.

Pictures are slowly being added to Ingrid's shutterfly account, but this hotel's internet is slow and there are over 2000 pictures to put up. I'm certain they'll go up faster tomorrow when we get home. More when we get home...

8:09 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

September 12

Day in Juneau, now at sea

As often happens when you travel, sometimes your plans are changed on you. Such was our day in Juneau. We had booked our excursion through the cruiseline to take a helicopter to the Mendenhall Glacier where we were to dogsled on the surface of the glacier. Well, we lined up for our excursion at 8 am, and then found out our excursion had been cancelled due to weather (it was too foggy on the glacier). Disappointed, we searched for other possible excursions to take. We knew going into it that the excursion we chose was one of the most cancelled excursions offered, so having it cancelled did not upset us that much (we'd rather be safe!). However, we were a little upset that the best alternative that Royal Caribbean could offer was to book us on any other available excursion in Juneau. By the time our excursion was cancelled, the options were limited to the Town Trolley tour, panning for gold, and a salmon bake. None of these options appealed to us. We decided we would simply go to town and see about a shuttle bus to at least go LOOK at the Mendenhall Glacier. This is where fortune struck us - there are a number of tour vendors in town offering many of the same excursions that the cruiseline offers. We inquired about dogsledding and were told that there were two major helicopter tour operators - TEMSCO, that lands on the Mendenhall Glacier (that the cruiseline uses) and Coastal Helicopter that goes to the Herbert Glacier. We were told that because Herbert Glacier is in a different location that Coastal was probably still flying despite TEMSCO being grounded. That proved to be true, and we got booked on an excursion to fly to the glacier, land on it and walk around for a bit, then fly back (there was no availability for the dogsledding tour at this point in time). We toured town a bit, seeing Sarah Palin's house, eating reindeer sausage at the Red Dog Saloon, and then taking our helicopter tour. It was AWE INSPIRING. Got some great pictures, and I am very much looking forward to sharing them. Standing on top of the glacier was just such a life experience. Simply amazing.

Spending the day at sea today, and packing up for the beginning of our return home. Will add more in Seattle late tomorrow night.

9:22 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

September 10

Double Update

Apologies for not having an update yesterday. As happens when you are sailing the high seas, we did not have internet connectivity last night when I tried to add my update, so today there will be a DOUBLE UPDATE.

Yesterday, we sailed up Yakutat Bay right to the face of Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in the world. The captain got us VERY close, within two-tenths of a mile. The glacier is HUGE, and put on quite a show for us yesterday. We had front row seats from our balcony. A lot of small calving events, but the highlight was when a giant chunk (about the size of a school bus) crashed into the ocean, and we got great pictures and caught it on the camcorder as well. Can't wait to start sharing these pictures when we get back to Seattle (check for photos sometime on Sunday).

Today, we landed at Skagway, Alaska. Here, we rented a car from Avis and drove up the Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake in the Yukon Territory. The entire trip was about 8 hours (round trip). Distance is approximately 98 miles each way, with a number of stops for great photos. The scenery up here is PERFECT, as the fall foliage is expanding on the mountainsides. We snacked on some cinnamon buns from a little shop near Emerald Lake, toured the tiny town of Carcross, and got some great pictures of the White Pass Summit. Once we returned the car to Skagway, got quite a bit of shopping done.

I will try to give another update tomorrow after our helicopter/dogsledding tour. Don't expect an update on Friday (we're at sea on our way back to Vancouver, so probably nothing exciting happening). Will update very late Saturday night after getting back to Seattle.

Until next time!

8:38 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

September 09

Icy Strait Point

Another beautiful day of vacation is now under our belts. We spent the day at Icy Strait Point in Alaska. It is quite a rustic little village with a lot of roots to the native Tlingit heritage. The highlight of the day, however, was our whale-watching expedition through a small company called F.I.S.H.E.S. We went out at about 1:30pm local time with only four other tourists (so, six total). The tour started off with us sighting FIVE wild bald eagles. We also saw 4-5 humpback whales, sea lions, and sea otters as well. The only major wildlife type we haven't seen up here yet is bears, but we are told we are likely to see those in Skagway.

Tomorrow is another day up here in the Great North. We are supposed to arrive in Yakutat Bay in the morning for our viewing of the Hubbard Glacier. Here's hoping that our (relatively) good weather continues to hold!

More tomorrow...

12:23 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

September 07

Hello from the Pacific Ocean!

Greetings from onboard the Serenade of the Seas! After decent flights, a very scenic train ride, and two beautiful days in Vancouver, BC, we are now at sea on our way to Icy Strait Point, Alaska. So far, the weather has been gorgeous - sunny and mid 60's to low 70's. It's a little cooler out today and noticeably more breezy, but so far the scenery has been spectacular. No sightings of exotic wildlife just yet, but perhaps a better opportunity will come later this afternoon.

That's all for the updates for now. I will try to update again tomorrow after we get back from our whale watching excursion.

-Andrew

9:10 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

September 04

Heading Out

Hello again friends and family! It's 7 am EDT, and we will be leaving in less than 3 hours to head to the airport. We have lots to do in that time (breakfast, pack the car, etc.) So, farewell for now, and I will update again sometime Saturday as we are departing Vancouver for Alaska.

Oh, but one more note. Vacation pictures will be posted up to Ingrid's Shutterfly account, found at norticprincess.shutterfly.com.

4:06 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

August 28

T Minus One Week to ALASKA

It seems somewhat surreal, but there is only ONE WEEK (and a mere 4 work days including today) until we leave for our Alaskan Adventure. In celebration, here is the finalized (though still rough) itinerary of events:

Thursday, September 4th:

-Depart Baltimore-Washington International Airport at approximately 1pm.

-Land at Newark, NJ approx. 3pm to change planes.

-Depart Newark at 6pm for Seattle, WA. Land in Seattle at approx. 9pm local time (remember- three hour time change to the West Coast).

-Settle in at the Doubletree Seattle Airport for the night.

Friday, September 5th:

-Depart the hotel at approx. 6am for the Seattle Amtrak station.

-Board the Amtrak Cascades train to Vancouver, departing approx. 8am.

-Arrive in Vancouver, BC at approx. 12 noon.

-Check into our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.

-Spend the afternoon and evening exploring Vancouver, including Stanley Park and Canada Place.

Saturday, September 6th:

-Board the Serenade of the Seas, approx. 11am.

-Serenade of the Seas departs for Alaska, approx. 5pm.

Sunday, September 7th:

-Cruising the Inside Passage of Alaska, all day.

Monday, September 8th:

-Arrive at Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska.

-At approx. 1:30pm, meet F.I.S.H.E.S. for whale watching tour.

Tuesday, September 9th:

-Visit the Hubbard Glacier.

Wednesday, September 10th:

-Arrive at Skagway, Alaska.

-Here, we will be renting a car and driving up the Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake in Canada's Yukon Territory.

Thursday, September 11th:

-Arrive at Juneau, Alaska.

-Board a helicopter for scenic flight to the Mendenhall Glacier, where we will try our hands at dogsledding.

Friday, September 12th:

-Day at sea.

Saturday, September 13th:

-Arrive back in Vancouver, BC approx. 7am.

-Spend the day exploring any remaining sights in Vancouver.

-Board Amtrak Cascades bound for Seattle, WA approx. 6pm.

-Arrive in Seattle around 10pm.

-Check into our new hotel, the Hotel Vintage Park.

Sunday, September 14th and Monday, September 15th:

-Explore Seattle. Sights we are seeing include the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, Puget Sound, and more.

-On Monday, board redeye flight bound for Newark.

Tuesday, September 16th:

-Arrive in Newark, NJ.

-Board flight to BWI, approx. 8am.

-Arrive at BWI (HOME!) approx. 10am.

BLOGGING SCHEDULE:

I will try to update the blog as we travel as often as possible. However, there will likely be very few updates until after we have boarded the ship. On the ship, I will try to blog at least once a day, adding a photo of the day. Once we have returned to Seattle, we will have complimentary internet access which should allow me to post a massive update and to post photos from the adventures we've had. The photos will mostly be hosted over at shutterfly. I will post that link shortly before we leave. Stay tuned!

4:56 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

July 30

Website Updates

Well, I have started the enormous undertaking of converting this website from wedding info to a blog about our life and travels. The website will be an ongoing work in progress to update a lot of things, including pictures, comments, and perhaps even video. If you have any suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comments section here. Thanks!

10:10 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

To view pictures from our wedding, please visit:

http://ingridandrew.shutterfly.com

Andrew and Ingrid Graves

Life, Times, and Travels