Glacier Bay, Alaska

Perhaps one of the most amazing things that I saw in Alaska was Glacier Bay. It was absolutely stunning! The coolest part was to hear the glacier breaking and then see pieces...LARGE pieces...fall into the water. It was right there...right in front of our faces! Amazing! And...yes...it was FREEZING!!! But so worth the experience! :) Also, we had some fun times out on the boat. It was super windy. Jen, Zech, Mom H. and I all went out to the front of the boat. We tried to run into the wind...it was seriously hilarious. Mom H. entertained us by singing camp songs. Looking at these pictures just make me smile. Hope they do the same for you! :)

Skagway Hall of Fame

I found this to be really interesting when I got off and on the boat in Skagway. On the side of the mountain there, different crews from the different ships had left their mark. If the crews really liked their captain, they would climb to the highest area and paint their ships name and captains name. The higher the artwork, the more they appreciated their captain. There was also a skull painted to represent Soapy Smith...an individual that made a huge mark on the history of Skagway.

Liarsville Salmon Bake

Part of our Yukon excursion was a stop in Liarsville for a delicious salmon bake. The history of Liarsville is really quite interesting. There were a few journalists who had come to see the gold rush in Alaska. They went back to the states claiming that there was a ton of gold to be found in that particular area. Well, when the gold rushers came through, they found nothing. As a result, the area was names Liarsville.

The Yukon Suspension Bridge

One of our excursions in Skagway was the Yukon Suspension Bridge. It was pretty cool to go through the Yukon Pass and on into Canada. This was the route that many of the gold rushers followed when they were searching for gold. It was cold but SO beautiful here! It was also lots of fun to cross the Yukon Suspension Bridge.

Our Second Port: Skagway, Alaska

Our second stop was in Skagway, Alaska. I have a former student of mine, Michelle Hicks, who is working in Skagway this summer. I was lucky enough for her to be my personal tour guide. She showed me all of the beautiful sites in Skagway including Reed Falls. She also took me to the deserted town of Dyea. Dyea was originally set up when the gold rush occurred. However, it was too far inland and so the gold rush town was then moved to Skagway. There are only a few things left of Dyea...a store front, a basement of a court house and a pile of wood from a warehouse. Michelle was super cute and studied up on the history of Skagway before I got there so that she could give me a full history of the place. Supposedly, there was a guy who was a big gangster that came to Skagway and reaped havoc. His name was Soapy Smith. A picture of his grave is in the collage. I also saw the largest gold nugget in the world! SWEET!!! :)

Our First Port: Juneau, Alaska

We left Seattle on Saturday afternoon and traveled towards our first stop, Juneau. We were at sea for a day and a half on our journey towards Alaska. In this time, we spent some quality time together on the boat enjoying some of the different types of entertainment that the ship offered...we went to an art auction and also enjoyed the entertainment of a comedian as well as some singers and dancers. On Sunday, we also took some time out to have a gospel discussion and to share our testimonies with one another. It was a pretty special way to stop and reflect upon the Sabbath day. On Monday, we arrived in beautiful Juneau, Alaska. This was a special stop because the Hoffenreichs lived in Juneau. In fact, Zech was born in Juneau. They have family there and so their cousin, Mariah, came and picked us up and toured us around all day...which was very nice of her. We saw some pretty amazing sights...the Mendenhall Glacier, Eagle River, the Shrine of St. Therese, Water Wheel Plaza (Pops actually constructed this building), and even saw where the first missionaries came to open up the land of Alaska for the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great day...I even got to pick up and hold a piece from the glacier! :)