Wardrobe Wednesday: Just Cruising

This is the last time I will make reference to my vacation on this space, I promise!  While I spent most of my week on the cruise looking like this:

or this:

or this:

I did wear some cute clothes on board when I wasn't freezing/hiking/whale watching. Here's a few outfits from our days and nights on board and in port. We had two formal dinners on the ship so I rocked my beloved lace and feathered frock from our friend's wedding last winter.

Dress - Jessica Simpson, Shoes/Sunglasses - Cole Haan 

 I wore this outfit on our last sea day and whale-watching in Victoria, British Columbia because it was the warmest day we had all week after we left Seattle. 

Hat/Earrings - Forever 21, Tank - Filene's Basement, Shirt- Marshall's, Skirt - Target, Sandals - Ross, Necklace - Gift, Sunglasses - RayBan via Nordstrom

I'm so glad I wore these pink pants and sleveless ruffle top in Seattle as we departed because I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.  These pants are on super sale at Loft (or they were at the beginning of the month.)

Shirt/Capris - Ann Taylor Loft, Jacket - Old Navy, Shoes - Ross, Purse - Macy's, Sunglasses - RayBan via Nordstrom

 How's your week going? I'm so glad it's almost Thursday! If you are heading back to school (or not) and need some new duds use this coupon code (CA20ASH) and stop by eShakti.com before August 31st! 

Skagway/Victoria: Wildlife Adventure

After seeing so much beautiful scenery in Ketchikan and Juneau, we were itching to see some wildlife when we docked in Skagway.  We took a bus, a ferry and another bus down the foggy fjord to the teeny tiny village of Haines, AK.  We spotted a bunch of seals, a humpback whale and two bald eagles on our ferry ride.  My science-loving self geeked out over the eagles, little did I know we'd see another 50(!!!) eagles on our raft trip through the world's largest bald eagle preserve.  It was so peaceful and beautiful  riding the river and spotting majestic birds around every bend. Did you know bald eagles stand 3 feet tall and have an 8 ft. wingspan?  They are ENORMOUS!

It was sooo foggy when we arrived

One of the preserve's mating pairs with their baby on the branch on the left. Eagles mate for life.

A young eagle, they are spotted as babies.

Just chillin

Floating through the preserve

This guy looked directly at us as we took his picture! 

Following our day in Skagway we had several sea days we filled with relaxing activities including on-board nature lectures. The lecture about orcas got us so excited about them we spent our evening in Victoria, B.C. whale watching.  We spotted a number of orcas that I once again geeked out over, too bad I forgot my zoom lens on the boat. As the sunset on our vacation, we got the most killer pink sunset on our boat ride home.

Two orcas, the one in the back is a male. 

Two females, one up, one coming up behind it

 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing/hearing about my trip to Alaska! We had such an amazing time and it was hard to pick a few pictures to share of the hundreds we took. We'll get back to normal crafts and recipes next week! 

Juneau: Day o' Glaciers

While we did not see Russia from our house balcony upon arriving in Juneau like Sarah Palin said we would, we did see several amazing glaciers.  Our second day in Alaska started at 5:30am when we cruised through the Tracy Arm fjord up to the Sawyer glacier.  It was gorgeous at every turn of the corner, totally worth getting out of bed for.  We spent the morning wrapped in blankets sipping cocoa and coffee, reading on our balcony and watching the world pass by.

Glacial ice loses its bright blue color several days after breaking off; this ice block is approx. 5 days old

The Sawyer Glacier - the cruise ship got SO close! 

Bundled up with a book and beautiful vistas

When we finally arrived in Juneau we helicoptered up to the Mendenhall glacier where we spent the afternoon hiking the glacier with guides for several hours. Our ride to the glacier was unbelievably beautiful; we saw waterfalls, mountain goats, a suicide glacier. We even had good enough visibility to fly over the ice field that feeds the glacier (apparently that almost never happens.) Flying over the ice field was like seeing the surface of the moon, I literally gasped at its size and splendor. Once we landed and were outfitted with cramp-ons for our boots, ice picks, helmets and harnesses we set off to explore the glacier.

Thums up, aka before I thought I might lose my lunch on the helicopter

There's a glacial stream flowing below us, hence why we are walking on the sides of the ice - not easy for shorties like me!

Cold, delicious glacier water

Everything really is bigger in Texas Alaska

The start of an ice cave/canyon

At the edge of a 1,000 ft. deep crevice...I was terrified.

I hope you enjoyed our pictures, we took literally a hundred that day.  I'll share pictures from Skagway and Victoria, B.C. this week, rounding out our trip.  I hope you all had wonderful weekends!

Ketchikan, Alaska: Misty Fjords National Park

Our first day in Alaska was spent in Ketchikan, a far southern city known as the salmon capital of the world. It rains 250+ days a year so the fact that we had an almost moisture free day was pretty special.

J and I took the chance to fly through/over Misty Fjords National Park in an 8 person seaplane. The cool mist hung over the mountains all day creating a quiet and dreamy setting for our day. It was an incredible and beautiful experience that gave us the opportunity to view some amazing vistas.

Halfway through our flight, we landed on a pristine lake in the heart of the fjord.  It was one of the quietest, most serene places I've ever been. We were allowed to step out onto the sea planes floats for a photo and to listen to the loon swimming around us.  Here I am carefully standing on the float praying my klutzy self doesn't fall in the 40 degree glacier fed lake.

 All that flying worked up an appetite which we satiated with dungeness crab legs, clam chowder and some Alaskan Amber.  The chowder was amazing, and that's something coming from a New Englander!

We walked off lunch on Creek Street, an adorable step back to Gold Rush times.  Some playful seals and salmon were hanging in the river so we hung out and watched them for a bit before exploring further and stumbling across six totem poles.

Ketchikan was a great way to get our trip started, next up Juneau! 

Alaska Sneak Peak

We got home from a fantastic week cruising Alaska late Friday night with enough time to repack and head to PA for a wedding today.  We're all out of sorts with the time change(s) and are knee deep in dirty laundry.  While we get back on track and separate the whites from the colors, here's a glimpse of what's to come this week as I recap our trip! Thanks to Morgan, Kim and Sage for guest posting for me last week - I hope you found their travel tips and blogs fun!

Spending a day perusing Seattle's beautiful Public Market

We spent some serious time reading on our room's balcony

A pristine lake in Misty Fjord's National Park near Ketchikan, AK

Creek Street - Ketchikan, AK

We lived in these blankets all week since we packed so poorly for the weather

Hiking the Mendenhall Glacier

Floating through a Bald Eagle preserve near Haines, AK

A post dinner drink on the balcony

Sunset while whale watching - see the Orca fin there?

I hope everyone had a great weekend, I will be making the rounds to your blogs this week.  Can't wait to catch up on what you've been up to. :)