Alaska photos (raw)
 

Here are some teaser shots from my Alaska trip. I'll be working on a full trip report but for now please enjoy these shots!

http://moonliner.smugmug.com/gallery/735999

Cool shots, Moon! It must have been weird climbing on ice during the summer. Okay, get the rest up already!:snap:

OOOH! I soooo wish I had been a stowaway! Denali has been my dream for ages. Add the amazing wildlife in there and I'm in heaven.

I can't wait to hear more about your trip. Tell us also who you booked through. I'm sooooo interested.

NA:

Of course the criuse was booked with Princess (via a travel agent friend) but the rest of the trip (Denali, most shore excursions, lodging, etc..) I booked independently. I have a bit of a phobia about the way cruise lines tend to treat people like cattle so I pretty much avoided them where I could.

This trip was over two years in planning, reading books, trolling news groups, searching on the Internet, etc... A somewhat obsessive trip report web site will follow in a couple of weeks. I need to clean up some of the photos, edit the video and get it all typed up nice and neat. I promise it will be worth the wait, The "Mr. Brown Bear takes a bath" sequence alone will be worth the price of admission!

Hey -- were you on the Sapphire Princess that kept stalking us all week?

Nope, Island Princess - Southbound.

Skagway Aug 9th
Juneau Aug 10th
Keitchickan Aug 11th
Vancouver Aug 13th

Did we miss each other?

One other big question, Moonie......Is a cruise a "must" to see Alaska? I have never been a big cruise fan, but, if it is a must, I'd do it for Alaska. Or are there other ways to see the water sights?

You can DEFINTLY see the sights and have a great time without the cruise. It takes more planning on your part but it can be very rewarding. We did the cruise because it was a family thing (age range 9 to 85) and it just made sense. We each did our own thing during the day and then met for dinner to tell our stories.

I had my reservations about the cruise however I would like to say (post first cruise) that I could get used to the cruising life style and it was an efficient way to get around.

Yup. We were:

Juneau Aug 9
Skagway Aug 10
Ketchikan Aug 12
Victoria Aug 13.

Love the photos!!

Although the one of the moose made me start singing the "Moose Song" in my head. (If you're wondering what "moose song", I'll post it - just keep in mind, it's not for the um.... clean-hearted. ;) )

Wow, great photos! I've wanted to do a cruise there for a while. I've been to the tropics and don't have an interest in doing a carribean cruise. But Alaska? Oh yeah.

Very cool pictures Moonliner, looking forward to the trip report!

Moonliner, the pics are awesome. They make me want to go back really soon. My friend wants to take the train from Anchorage to Denali. You're pics of Denali are so beautiful, I can't wait to get there. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip!!

NA, the cruise is the best way to get around on the panhandle. It' very hard to travel by car down there. But if you went into Anchorage, you have a wider range of places to go....North to Denali (but it's about an 7 or 8 hour drive. Moonliner?) or south to Kenai Peninsula. All sorts of places to go down there. Harbor cruises out of Seward. You can drive out to Exit Glacier. It's a very beautiful drive.

It's ~235 Miles from Denali to Anchorage. I think it took us about 5 hours (not including a dinner stop)

Can't wait to see the rest! :)

Those are some incredible pictures. Just seeing Alaska sans tons of snow, makes you appreciate it's beauty

Cute puppies (and cool dog-house!!!):

I'm jealous. I'm jealous. I'm jealous.

This is a new song I have been singing. But only jealous in the way that I have not experienced this...YET!! :)

Great photos and I do love how you took pictures of the doggies, the menu and the street. I loved that. I wish I were there. There seemed to be a lot of people. Were the areas that were more accessible very crowded? Or were those people from the cruise? Are those areas less crowded on days the ships aren't around?

And, dang, you and Disneyphile really passed like two ships in the night! Talk about close!

Thank you for sharing! I love to see your pics and can't wait for your story.

Mr. Brown Bear??? Curiouser and curiouser...

That's downtown Skagway and that's about all there is to Skagway. It's very accessible from the cruise ship and about 98% of the people you see are cruise folks.

By about 98%

Shhhh! Frodo thinks that was the REAL Disneyphile he proposed to!! (I think you meant Prudence)

There has been a small delay. In addition to the salmon and trinkets we apparently also brought home whooping cough. I've been in bed most of the week...

Oops! Ha! Well that will teach anyone who comes to ME for info!! :blush:

LOL I like your percentages. :cool:

Oh no. Whooping cough? You must be drained. All of you picked it up? Sorry to hear this. {that any of you did}.

Rest up and when you can I will enjoy what you share. I am sure of that.

Drained, and coughing till I puke. Always a fun combo... :( The kids are immunized so it's just the wife and me.

I thought the kids were safe but afraid to assume. I was also afraid that you guys weren't safe because you weren't immunized because how many adults are??? That is a bit unnerving to me. Did they tell you that there is an immunization for adults?

Sorry this thread is taking a freaked out germaphobe turn.... :eek:

Yep, I bet you are coughing. I have had serious coughs before, of course not whooping cough, but they were bad. Chest hurts, stomach hurts, taking a shower and puking up in there was no fun at all either. {the steam?} How long do they predict that you will be ill?

I feel for you and your wife.

Whooping Couch still exists? That's was a diseasse my Mom talked about in the 20's and 30's. Along the same lines as Polio and getting your tonsils yanked out by a rusty coathanger while sitting on the kitchen counter.

It was certainly news to me also. The kids are immunized (even kids around our age) but it wears off as you get older. It's really only dangerous in infants. I expect I picked it up from someone on the cruise ship. The crew was a regular united nations.

Crap, Moon! I just got home and was checking the boards prior to passing out. (We had a very great time, btw). Whooping cough? My sis and I had that when we were young- it can still be caught if one is innoculated, although that's very rare. We were very, very sick- I missed three months of school. (Which just broke my young heart, of course). Are you doing better?

Better but far from normal. Turns out there was an outbreak in Anchorage so I probably cannot blame the cruise line. I hope your post vacation goes MUCH better than mine.

Stories and photos to follow after you get some rest and return to normal life right? Oh and welcome home!