excursions

The ship was massive, did I mention that? John's mom is a veteran cruiser but had never been on a ship this big. There were 2000 guests, and 1000 crew members on board.

 In Skagway we had our first excursion, a railroad ride to take us high up into the mountains. It was a beautiful clear, sunny day which meant the views from up there were just great. Other weeks it rained and was foggy and people couldn't see beyond the trees next to the train, according to some of the staff.

 We briefly crossed into the Yukon of Canada.

In Juneau we took a helicopter to our very highly anticipated dog sledding excursion.

 My first time in a helicopter, such fun. That's the glacier we were headed to in the photo.

 We landed on Mendenhall Glacier and met the dog sledding camp leaders.

 About 100 dogs lived and trained here in summer. Some of these are Iditarod race sled dogs.

 The girls meeting some of our chosen crew. Those dogs were so excited. As the harnesses were fitted to them they jumped up and down and barked with excitement. They love pulling sleds.

 After they all got into place we were off.

 We'd sled for a while with a guide, and then stop to look around and pet the dogs before continuing.

 When we got back to the camp the kids got to meet some pups while we waited for our helicopter to return for us.

 All suited up for the copter ride back to Juneau.

Around town in Ketchikan

The Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC