Oh Canada! and North to Alaska

In May 2014, we took a wonderful two-week vacation to Canada and Alaska.  We flew to Calgary, AB to spend a couple of days touring the city.  I love Calgary.  It's clean and well-designed.  The people are super friendly... but I'd really NOT love being there in the Winter.

Calgary Tower

After touring Calgary, we hopped on a bus to start our tour with Rocky Mountaineer.  From Calgary, we went to Banff.  Oh my... so beautiful!  We stayed at the most gorgeous hotel; it looked like a castle.  We stopped in Lake Louise and Jasper; we did some pretty fun stuff along the way.

Chris and I starting our bus journey.

Waterfall and river next to our hotel in Banff

Our hotel in Banff... so beautiful

Lake Louise

We took a short ride to walk on this glacier.  WOW beautiful!

In Jasper, we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer train.  It was so peaceful to ride the train and take in the sights.  Our car was double-decker.  The bottom was for dining - 4-seater booths with white linens and first class service.  The top was assigned, front-facing seating with full-length windows... awesome!  Chris spent most of his time on the platform at the back of the train car taking pictures of the sights as we rolled by.

View from the train

We stopped overnight in Kamloops - not much to do in Kamloops, and we got there pretty late.  Our train journey continued the next day on our way to Vancouver.  The sights this day weren't at picturesque, but we still enjoyed the service and the relaxing atmosphere. 

We got to Vancouver, checked in to our hotel, and walked around the city a little.  We spent a couple of days in Vancouver (and a few hours at a Laundromat washing clothes to prepare for the next week) exploring.  Chris's Mom, sister, and nephew joined us for our last full day in Vancouver.

Next, we all boarded our ship for a week-long Alaskan cruise!  Alaska is beautiful.  If it wasn't for the harsh winters, I'd love to live there... I just don't think I could handle being snowed-in!  We visited Juneau, Ketchikan, and Icy Strait Point.  We really liked Juneau and Ketchikan.  I wasn't impressed with Icy Strait Point.  Our "excursion" was stated to be a nature adventure with bears, etc.  It was actually a 30 minute ride in a school bus to someone's land where we looked at an empty field.  From the docks in Icy Strait Point, you could see whales, eagles, and other wildlife.  It would have been much better (and cheaper) to just sit on the docks and watch the water.  oh well... we learned.

The most exciting thing we saw at Icy Strait Point... a wooden bear.

View from the ship during scenic cruising.

It was so hard to return to work after spending 2 week relaxing and enjoying the beautiful scenery.  I can't wait to go back!

Titles from "Oh! Ca.nada" by Cal.ixa Lava.llée and "No.rth to Ala.ska" by John.ny H.orton.