Cruising In Alaska With My Sweetheart! 2012!!

First I just what to say....Best cruise EVER!!!

Tom is a warm weather kind of a guy but this girl is a cold weather kind of our gal!!!

Nothing better than cold crisp air!! The BEAUTY of this cruise is just absolutely gorgeous! 

Cruises are by far our favorite vacations and are always relaxing yet...I always seem to worry as Tom usually ends up scuba diving when we cruise to warm places....and this is always a little stressful for me but there was no where to scuba dive here! All we could do is enjoy the PEACEFUL beautiful surroundings of Alaska as we walked around and toured each port. I have to say  though, my most favorite part of my cruise was having TOM SCHEURN ALL TO MY SELF!!!!!

I know this sounds a little selfish but....I loved being with my sweetheart for TEN days....just the two of us!!

SO FUN!!!!!!!!   

We arrived in Seattle Wednesday, the 23rd of May! We spent the fist two days in Seattle! We had a great hotel  down town! I had never been to Seattle, and Tom has only flown in on his way to ski in Canada. We know for sure two days was not enough time to see all we wanted to see so will for sure go back. The first night we ate at a fancy eatery on the water called Elliot's! The food was ok, but the atmosphere was fantastic!We had rented a car but there is not a lot of parking down town so we did not use the car to much.  Did a little walking up and down some pretty steep hills and was ready to call it a night! Thursday morning we slept in a little. We then got up and hit the day at a run! We walked, shopped and ate and we walked, shopped and ate some more!!! The fish markets and fruit and vegetable stands were something to go see just in them selves!!  The weather was amazing!! We ended the night at Benihana Japanese Restaurant! AND we walked back to the hotel!!! 

Friday morning we managed to go to Nordstroms one more time to find some gloves and a few last minute things!  At 1:00 pm we boarded the ship! I will say it was pretty pain free! Sometimes it takes hours to board going through customs, room assignment ect... It went very smooth! I think one thing that helped, this ship was....It smaller that any other cruise ship we had been on, there was only about 1600 people so I am sure this help!!  We unpacked our suitcases and Tom want to go.....EAT!!!!!!! 

We had a fantastic stateroom on the ship! We departed from Seattle, WA at 4:07 pm!  We went out on our balcony to say goodbye!!!  

Last minute business!!!!\

We were at sea all day Saturday! We had a great day! Being at sea is actually one of my most favorite days of a cruise!!! We read, played cards....We both are champs :), played some backgammon, we both are champs :) and ate! AND we walked stairs! We had some favorite places on the ship and this was one of them, the library. I am telling you this was a slice of heaven!!!! 

Take a GOOD look! You very rarely see Tom Scheurn so relaxed and STILL!!! Did I tell you I adore this  sweet boy!!!

This would be our first so called stop. We entered the "Arm of Tracy" about 1:00 pm Sunday! We had traveled 848 miles since we left Seattle! The temperature was around 46 degrees with a moderate breeze. When we saw the first floating piece of ice we were so excited!!! The glacier was more than impressive and beautiful! 

The ship did hit a few large pieces of ice....And I was thinking....please no "Titanic". Sometimes this area has to much ice so you do not get as close to the glacier. We were not sure how close we would get to this glacier! Again words don't describe the beauty!! 

This picture is from the front of the ship as we leaving the glacier around 5:00pm. Just so fun!!!

As we looked across at this little island by the glacier, we saw two little dots of color! When we zoomed in with the camera we realized someone had set up camp! We are not sure how they got on the island! We saw no boats and it did not look to soft or level to camp but....they were camping!!!

We could see someone in the green tent! The blue iceberg looked like a blueberry shaved ice!!! 

We saw many Bald Eagles!! This one seemed to just keep a close eye on our ship! Never flew away!!

Random pictures from the same day!!

The water looked very deep green, yet the ice was so blue!!

This is the "Mendenhall" glacier from land in Juneau! We hike back a short way to get closer!! 

Mendenhall Galcier!

This pieces of ice looks small but were huge! As I sat out on my balcony....I was praying we would go by it, instead of into it!! PHEW.. barely!!! 

These icebergs were nerve-racking!!

The water falls were just GORGEOUS!!! They were a lot bigger than it looks from here!!

We arrived in Juneau Monday the 28th of May at 7:00 am! It was 49 miles from Tracy Arm to Juneau. We were cleared to disembark shortly there after!! What a great town!! We took a small tour of the town by a man that was born and raised there and he was a wealth of knowledge!! The weather was in the low fifties and forties! 

Again we shopped and walked. Tom would look good in anything...Don't you think? Me not so much! :)

Sitka was our next stop!! We arrived Tuesday May 29 at 7:15 am! It was 213 miles from Juneau to Sitka. This port is the only one that we were tendered into the town, We loved this little town! This would be one I would like to go and spend the summer there, actually I would spend my summer any where in Alaska! This town just had a sweet small town feel! The people were so friendly.

The weather here was warmer. Sitka does not get a lot of snow. It weather is like Seattle! 

(for some reason my camera date is one day off need to fix this.)

New golf hat??? What do you think???? Tulips EVERYWHERE!!!! 

We arrived in Ketchikan Wednesday May 30, 2012 at 7:00am. It was 225 miles Sitka to Ketchikan. The weather was in the 40's. This is when we received the sad news Ken Ellsworth was in an accident, he was on our mind allot as we walked around this cute town!

Ketchikan...LOVED this town! I know I keep saying loved but I love Alaska!! I know, I know I have not spent a winter in Alaska but...I think I must be part Eskimo! Love the cold weather and always have! If  I had to pick white sandy beaches or cold snowy mountains and pine trees....hands down....The cold!!

Had a nice visit with Sarah!! We talked about salmon fishing! She prefers Coho  Salmon!

 We find a cute little Cafe and had some "DELISH" hot chocolate and caught up on a little busines!!!

And did I tell you I love this cute boy!!

Ketchikan is where we bought two cases of different types of Salmon! It was great, we were able to sample them and they shipped both cases home! Yum Yum!!! We left Ketchikan 12:45pm. This was a short amount of time SO...It looks like I will for sure go back to Ketchikan!!!

We sailed the rest of the day and through the night 574 miles, and the next evening we arrived in Victoria, BC close to 8:00 pm. This day at sea I had finished my book and this is when I became the champion card player between Tom and I!! :D)!! He might not agree! We also received the news of Ken passing away! I felt very helpless and sad! We had arrived late due to a big head wind and our time was very short! We did not feel like doing to much. We caught a cab and went quickly into town and ate a nice dinner!!

We walked around quickly and find Darth, listen to him for a while! He could really play the violin!

This is the Parliament building before and after dark! This too was a great town we would like to come back and see! We set sail for Seattle at 12:00 am. 

Victoria to Seattle was only 77 miles and we arrived at about 7:00 am Friday morning! We were cleared to leave to the ship at 9:15 am!

I feel like I should explain this picture! No this is not Tom's suitcase!! Tom gave me this set of luggage years ago and everywhere we go people stop and ask where it came from! Then the next comment is.....I bet you never get your luggage mixed up with anyone!! No I don't!! It is by far the strongest suitcases I have ever owned! They are super light weight and super durable! AND when you are a real man you are ok with pulling them around for your wife!!

And did I tell you how thankful I am for Tom and I love him!!! 

So to sum this post up.....This was my favorite dessert!! Not sure what it was called but let me just say...it was warm and full of dark chocolate!! (it was small not as big as it looks) Actually by Wednesday night I could no longer go to our dinner table! I was just over the food! Tom never got that way! He ate 3 meals a day... along with some extra fruit we bought in Seattle and don't forget the midnight buffets Tom hit! I swear Tom can out eat ANYONE!!! We would barley get done with a little lunch and he would look at me with a smile and would say....I wonder what we will eat for dinner AND what time do you want to eat!!! Just like his Nanna!! It got to be a joke with us! On Saturday when Tom was back at work he text me and said...What is for lunch and then he would text me and ask what is for dinner? He is a  CHOW HOUND!!!!!

And did I tell you he thinks he is so funny and I love him!!!

Tom's favorite clam chowder...mine too! We love clam chowder. It is hard to find some as good as my homemade chowder, but this one for sure was! We found this at a little food stand in Seattle!

 I can't believe how much this vacation was needed!!  We enjoyed every minute of every day! At first I was thinking TEN days!! Are we going to be able to stand each other 24/7 for TEN days!! 

In concluding this post I have to say how thankful I am for such a great husband who planned this vacation many months ago! Who works so hard to provide for our family!! There truly is not  better husband in the world!!....But what I am most thankful for is the  knowledge I have that Tom and I have Eternity to spend together!! 

Tom Scheurn....I LOVE YOU!!!