I had promised my granddaughter, Aspen, a trip after she finished the eighth grade. In January of this year, I began looking for a place to take her. After much searching, I called Adventure Life to see if they did Alaskan trips. I had taken three trips with Adventure Life and felt good about traveling with them. I was excited to learn that …

Sunday morning we ate breakfast at Victorias and checked out of our hotel. Mary Watson, our scientific guide for the cruise, gathered people from our hotel and we walked to the Alaskan Dream hospitality room a few blocks away in the Sitka convention and visitors' bureau. We then toured as a group to the Russian Bishop's House and St. Michael's …

I awoke at 5 and got up shortly before 6. I walked to the lounge which was about six steps for our cabin door. There was fruit on the bar and coffee and hot tea always available. I drank a cup of hot tea with local fireweed honey. I sat in the lounge and watched the mountain and islands glide by. After eating a breakfast of buttermilk pancakes …

After yet another peaceful night of sleep, I got up at 6:15 and ate a hearty breakfast of baked eggs(a new dish to me) and bacon and cranberry juice. We had docked at Juneau and got on bus #281 from the Gray Line bus company. Ben, our driver, took us to Mendenhall Glacier. There were many buses there as several large cruise ships had docked in …

I got up at 6:30 and went to the lounge where Lamech, our fabulous baker, had put out eight different kinds of doughnuts. I ate a coconut and half a maple and bacon(very different) one. For breakfast, I tried the lox and bagel (salmon , cream cheese and capers), but I am not overly fond of salmon for breakfast. As backup, in case I did not like …

I don't know how much more joy I can stand, but am willing to try. After a breakfast of an egg and cheese omelet, bacon and cranberry juice, we began our day. When we went back to our cabin after breakfast, we found a red tag to wear around our neck that had three different activities and times for us to do them. The passengers were divided into …

We docked at Petersburg, a Norwegian settlement, the next morning at about 8 AM. We walked the short distance to the Sons of Norway Hall. There was a replica of a Viking boat out front and a deck with a large statue of a fisherman. There were hundreds of plaques on the fence giving names and dates of fishermen and women who had lost their lives …

We docked early in Kake this morning at 8. This is a traditional Tlingit Indian village. After another hearty breakfast(guess you can see a pattern here), a Tlingit elder from Kake gave us a brief overview of Kake and it's history. Our driver, Ellie, took us to a totem carver, Mike Jackson, where he gave us a demonstration on totem carving. …

I bemoaned that I would not be sleeping on the ship tonight as the bed was so comfortable and having the window open made sleep come so easily. For my last breakfast on the ship, I ate scrambled eggs and bacon and banana French toast with syrup and slivered almonds. That was simply scrumptious. Our ship docked in Sitka at 8 AM and we disembarked …