Ketchikan

Today is the first day of our ports. We will be going to Ketchikan. It's known as one of the oldest cities in Alaska. Here we will be seeing about 10 Eagle nests, we will see a bunch of totem pools, and a light house. This excursion will be for four hours out on a boat. So far I've not felt the sea sickness, but I know it will come at some point in time. The reason why this post is so small is because I will be uploading pictures as I can so you all will be able to see some of the things I've gotten to see.

Princess Patter states....

Today we're at sea....

Today we’re at sea the whole time. There are all sorts of things to explore. This ship is huge! I’m already overwhelmed because I can’t find my way around. Tonight since we’re at sea all day long there’s something called ‘formal night’ here we dress fancy and get to eat some great food. Tomorrow we’re off to our first port and our first excursion. Ketchikan, Alaska is where we will be. For our excursion we will see the 10 Eagle’s nests, we will also be seeing some light houses, totem pools and whatever else is in the water. So far I’ve taken many pictures and it’s officially one of the first days to be on the ship. I know that many more pictures will come by the end of the trip, but that’s okay this is something I want to remember forever. I hope to bring you an exciting tour through pictures and text and hopefully one day you yourself will be able to experience what I will be experiencing for a whole week. So sit back, relax, and come sail away with me as the text and pictures take you on a magnificent tour of Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway Alaska. Our last port will be Victoria B.C Canada, so I hope you enjoy everything I will be.

Food Carving Demonstration

I got to see a food carving demonstration and what the chef’s had made were SPECTACULAR! There’s a Parrot, a whole coral and underwater sea like with a fish made from Cantaloupe, ginger, and other various items, an island with a turtle and carrots, there’s also a squirrel made out of eggplant, there’s some sort of bird made from a pineapple, and then a really neat duck playing the drum made out of what seems to be like an orange or a grapefruit. They’re all so awesome and I’m jealous someone can actually make food look adorable to not want to eat it! It makes me want to find food carving classes myself. I'm uploading a picture of the Parrot and the Duck since internet is .75 cents per a minute I'm going to be uploading the minimal amount of pictures, and when I get to Seattle on my return where I have free internet I will upload more, and put the pictures on facebook.




Parrot



Duck

I will finish all posts and pictures where they belong once I get to Seattle the day after Saturday.

Seattle Day 2

Today is the day we board! Check out was early in the morning because we wanted to go find the Jimi Hendrix statue. So my mum had said that this statue was HUGE!! That it was a statue of Jimi Hendrix on his knees playing the guitar like always. As we walked UP the hills and OVER the bridge to Broadway St. we turned right and walked another 5 blocks and found the statue… We went through an artsy area and it was pretty cool in some of the shops we pasted. Like there was this yellow Parka made out of what seemed to be like Big Bird feathers. My mum and I had to laugh at it because it seemed so much like my late grandma, and I just knew if she had seen It she would have gotten it for herself. Well, we finally did get to the Jimi Hendrix statue that my mum had said WAS HUGE! He was small. He was in between a newspaper stand and a trashcan. It was still pretty cool to see it and I do have pictures. It was neat to see it though I do have to say that much! Finally after getting pictures of the Jimi Hendrix statue it was time to do a last minute shopping for drinks knowing it would be higher priced on our ship, go back to the hotel and pack up our things before we left for the Sapphire, Princess Cruise line. Seattle’s weather was beautiful. We were laughing at how many people were complaining about how hot it was when to me because I live in Tx at the time our weather back home was around 95, in Seattle it was about 65. Such a huge difference and I really did love the weather. Mum and I headed out of our hotel, waited for a cabbie, but instead there was this person who was scheduled to pick someone else up who took us to the ship instead. He was making me absolutely nauseated by zipping in and out of traffic in Seattle. He was zooming through Downtown, Boomtown, and I think Uptown Seattle left to right, right to left I felt myself sliding all over my seat. I honestly thought I was in New York for a moment because of how he was cutting in and out of traffic, how he almost ran into people and almost caused an accident. Finally when we got out of his cab van my feet were firmly on the ground I felt a little safer.

Seattle Day 1

While being in Seattle we have had the chance to do many things. For one I did over come my fear of heights by going up the 520 ft Space Needle. Though I was in a closed elevator shaft going upward into the sky the whole thought of actually going up scared me. There was a beautiful scenery once we got to the top I planted my feet firmly on the floor below me so I could get over the adrenaline rush. There will be quite many on this trip and I can’t wait. We also went to this SkyCity Arts Centre and it was like one huge outdoor art festival with many different things to do. Walking up and down the streets of Seattle you have more of an incline then you would in Humble, Tx. I loved it though and Seattle is like a place I wouldn’t mind moving to. So many people are free spirited there, are able to be them self. It was a peaceful area and the entertainment was awesome. There was this guy who created a whole drum set. He attached two D’jimbe drums together in between and there was a milk crate with two foot peddles on either side. He attached some sort of wires to is feet so with each step he made whether it was his left foot or his right foot he would make one of the drums sound off. As he did that he played the harmonica and the banjo. It was pretty cool to see what one musician was trying to do to make a little extra cash on the side. There was this tortoise that was walking around giving out free advertisement for his owner’s business. If you were to take the card you’d get a free tour from the Reptile Man. I thought it was horrible at how someone could make the tortoise walk around like that especially when people were poking at him and trying to touch his legs.

Then we got to see a dog jumping competition. The entry fee was gong to raise awareness of an illness a lot of dogs tend to get [I don’t remember the name of the illness, but I don’t think it was cancer.] The owner of the dogs would put them on the platform, encourage them to run and grab the bar. If they grabbed the bar that meant that they were still in for the next round. If they didn’t then they were automatically out of the competition. Many people were doing this with their dogs. I thought personally about how cool it was for people to be able to do this because if you think about it you have to wonder…. “How long did it take someone to train his or her dog to jump that high?” It was pretty awesome. We walked around the SkyCity Arts Centre for a bit before I realized the time change and it was nearly 8pm. My stomach was growling and I wanted to eat so my mum and I settled on Center House Bistro & Bar. Here I had an AMAZING salad, and I also had an AMAZING Portabella Grilled Mushroom Sandwich on some sort of Italian bread that I can’t remember at this time, but when I do I will let you all know. I was going to take a picture of it, but since the camera was dying I wasn’t able to get a picture of the dinner I had.

Today's the day!!

Quick update though it's 2:31 in the morning. IN EXACTLY 12 hours I will be on my way to Austin, where my grandmother is staying with my uncle. We will be flying out of Austin the next day for Seattle, Washington. I'm so excited! The past three months have been nothing but counting down the minutes until it finally arrived. Once in Seattle, Washington I think my mum and I will be going to the Space Needle as soon as we get there! This trip is going to be so much fun. The funny thing about it is my old neighbour is currently LIVING in Alaska and she had messaged me asking when I was going, where I was going and that we should completely meet up! My mum agreed to it and so after we get done zip-lining on Thursday we're calling my neighbour up and she's going to take us around Skagway before we have to board the ship again. This is a thrill of the lifetime, and I know that the suspense can't be more then it is now. Pictures will be shown! I don't know how many times i will be able to get on the net to post, but when I do I will make a blog post by day so you all will know what we did! It's supposed to rain all week long, but honestly it's not going to stop me from having fun. Until next time I'll be posting from Seattle!

With the sea at our gate

...----- we'll have kippered herring..."

The clock is ticking! In exactly 2 days I will be getting ready to set sail for Alaska! I can't wait. Just like in the 'Amazing Race' when they talk about 'legs of tour' I hope to captivate your imagination, bring you a tour by words and photographs and hope you enjoy it with me! Soon I will create a flickr account so you can view all of the pictures as a slideshow. I plan on taking thousands on this trip. Call me crazy, but it's Alaska, and I've always wanted to visit this state because the pictures you see in travel magazines, or online doesn't do it's justice as if you were to see it in person. I'm taking a pedometer with me to see how many steps I walk. I've always wanted to know how much differently it would be when on a cruise, rather then day to day so this will be a little game. During the whole week my goal is to walk 500,000 steps, if not that then 525,600 [teehee] Here's the schedule of events for what's to happen while on the cruise. Not including Friday where I'm driving to Austin.

Saturday July 17th:

I'm flying out of Austin with my mum. We should be arriving in Seattle, Washington about 3 in the afternoon so I think it will give use some time to where we can see a little bit of Seattle before going back to our hotel and get settled for the night before Sunday. I will take pictures on Saturday, blog and upload a few of them. We're going to the Space Needle. I'm not sure if we're going to go up inside of it and to the top where it revolves so tourists can see the whole city of Seattle, but it'd be great if my phobia of heights doesn't get to me and I'm able to last! From there we might go to Pike Place Market. It's a famous market in downtown Seattle and if I'm not mistaking it's one of the oldest Farmer's Market around.

Sunday July 18th:

On the first leg of the tour the boarding is between 1pm and 3pm so prior to that we will explore more of Seattle. There's a Jimi Hendrix statue we might go see, and there's the Experience Music Museum that looks pretty interesting. All of the prior events before boarding depends on timing, where everything is located, being able to get a taxi, and also depends on the traffic.

Monday July 19th:

On this second leg of the tour it happens to be one of the days at sea so mainly there will be lots of exploring around the ship, watching the water as we go by, the nature, scenery and everything in between. There's a lot of things to do on a cruise ship such as taking part in games, gambling, swimming, working out in the gym, comedies, shows, and fine dining. We're going to check out everything to get a feel of the ship and just walk around while hopefully not being sea sick.

Tuesday July 20th:

Ketchikan, Alaska will be the third leg of this tour. We arrive at 7am and begin the first set of excursions. What we planned to do in Ketchikan is the Lighthouses, Totems, and Eagles. From the Sapphire, Princess we will sail on a smaller boat and cruise past 10 Eagles nest's as well as a Whale area to where we will be able to see the Whales too! In the afternoon one of our excursions is to hike a trail through the temperate Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary. Another excursion is the Southeast Alaska Discovery Centre that we plan on touring. Once all of that's completed we board the ship at 3pm to spend the rest of the time there. We may decide to get off and on every now and then to possibly explore some parts of Ketchikan. Our next pit stop is Juneau, Alaska

Wednesday July 21st:

At the fourth leg of the tour In the morning there is a scenic cruise through the Tracy Arm Fjord. I know there will be lots of pictures taken during this time. People on the facebook fan page for Princess Cruise lines have taken some already and just looking at their pictures it's breathtaking, but I GET to experience it first hand! We will be docking in Juneau at 2pm and on the second leg of the tour. This excursion is 4.5 hours. We will be seeing the Mendehall Glacier that is a combination tour of four things to see! Not only the glacier it's self, but the Alaska State Museum, Salmon Hatchery, and finally the Green Angels Garden. Next pit stop Skagway.

Thursday July 22nd:

On the fifth leg of the tour we will conquer the heights of the rainforest! Our excursion is Zip-lining! "Embark on a thrilling adventure as you walk along raised balance beams, cross exciting suspension bridges and fly through the air on a series of raised balance beams and cross suspension bridges." Once we master that we will then fly through the air on a series of zip-lines for this pit stop of the tour. Once we've completed we pretty much have a break to tour Juneau on our own and go through the downtown district. Next pit stop a day of relaxation at sea.

Friday July 23rd:

On the sixth leg of the tour most likely I will be working out on this day. Swimming, Hot tub, Sauna, work outs... And exploring more of the ship! Sit out on the balcony and watch the whales go by and do what ever I want because I know I will be a little out of it from zip-lining but it will be fun! Next pit stop Victoria, British Columbia.

Saturday July 24th:

On seventh leg of the tour we will be visiting Craigdarroch Castle. From pictures of what the website shows it's stunning, and I get to experience it first hand. The second part of this leg of the tour we will embark Mt. Tolmie. Apparently it's a breathtaking sight. It looked interesting on the list of excursions that we were deciding to chose from. There are so many on the Princess Cruise line for activities, and who knows this may not be my only trip to Alaska! The leg of the tour has come to a complete end on this day for we fly back on Sunday.

Sunday July 25th:

On the eighth and final leg of the tour as our journey ends we will arrive in Seattle, Washington on Sunday and do more exploring of the city! Because we've got a very early flight the next day it's going to be important we're close to the airport, but it won't stop us from taking a cab where ever we decide to go to. Next pit stop, the airport.

Monday July 26th:

We have an early morning flight [6am ish] where we will fly back to Austin and stay the night there after rest and drive home the next day!

Here's all of what we're doing for the week and a few days look forward to more blogs, pictures, and so much more!