Seattle and off to Ketchikan, Alaska

After a really fun-filled weekend in Port Townsend, we took a ferry to Seattle to meet up with our cruise ship

On board the cruise ship "Star Princess" leaving the Seattle harbor

Soon after leaving Seattle the weather turned pretty ugly and was cold (In the 50's) for almost the entire week of the cruise. This kept the crowds down on the upper decks of the boat. Big game of chess going on while I am chillin' in the hot tub. This is a night club behind with the blue windows.

Chels and Becky (cousin Clai's girlfriend) sipping wine before a formal dinner on board the ship. There were two of these on our week-long voyage.

Cousin Clai having a cocktail at one of the many nightclubs on board. Outside of the massive boat swaying every now and again in big swells, it was sometimes hard to remember we were actually on a boat and not in a huge hotel on land.

Seals and a lighthouse viewed from a smaller boat that we took on one of our "on shore excursions." Most of the time the huge cruise ship would sail through the night and then get into a port town in the early morning. Then you would have the opportunity to get off the boat and explore whichever town you were docked at for most of the day.

Cool shot of an island outside the Ketchikan harbor

We must have seen close to 100 bald eagles on our 3 hour boat tour around Ketchikan, AK. Can you spot the one in this pic?

Clai and Becky attempting to stay warm on the top deck

After our on shore excursions were finished, the timing normally allowed for Chels and Me to do our favortie activity when in a new town. That is, simply walking through towns and exploring and essentially getting lost just trying to see what the town is like behind all the tourist shops hawking goods right off the cruise ships. All of Ketchikan is only accessible via airplane and or by a ferry and there were these boardwalks going all over town to give access to houses. The cars in town that are brought in by ferry can only drive 30 miles before the roads ends.

Click on this shot to get a closer look and you can see exactly where our room for the week was on the "Star Princess." We were on the 12th floor and got plenty of exercise walking up and down the stairs boycotting the elevators! At port in Ketchikan, AK

Enjoying Alaska's finest right from the source! Everything was pretty expensive in AK, even in local establishments not affiliated with tourists whatsoever. Beers at this bar in Ketchikan were $6.50!

This shot is a classic!!! You may remember last fall when all Sarah Palin could talk about was the famed "bridge to nowhere." Well, here is the exact location that the bridge was proposed. It was supposed to go from Ketchikan (on right bank) to the Ketchikan airport (on the left side). As it stands now, you fly into Ketchikan airport on the left and take a ferry over to the mainland on the right. The bridge was proposed to go across the water, however, it had to be at least 16 stories tall to accommodate cruise ships coming under it. Off course, as you can clearly see, it was a boondoggle "pork-barrel" congressional expenditure extraordinaire!

The sun did come out every now and again treating us to awesome views. This is a shot sailing north along the "Inland Passage" from Ketchican up to Juneau, AK.