Ketchican, Alaska

I'm in Ketchican, Alaska on the 3rd day of our cruise. It's a cute little town that is known for gold mining in the beginning of the century and currently for fishing. This time of year, salmon are spawning and we actually got to watch them swim upstream. It's fascinating to me that nature would choose for them to do this...it looks so hard! There was one section of the stream called "the falls" which was particularly harsh. Humans built a fish ladder on the side which is there to make it an easier trip for the fish. It's hard to explain, but I've got pictures. We'll see if they come out alright. It's very overcast and wet here. Apparently Ketchican gets something like 25 feet of rain a year...and they don't get much snow! It's definitely wet.

Overall, I'm having a fabulous time. Tuesday we flew into Vancouver and did some sightseeing. It's such a new and beautiful city. I especially liked Stanley Park which is kinda like Central Park. The weather is bound to be pretty temperate all year long based on the folliage and the amount of windows in all the apartment buildings. If the exchange rate was a little bit better, I'd think seriously about working in Vancouver. It was a very appealing place.

Wednesday afternoon we boarded the Carnival Spirit. We spent plenty of time running around the ship getting the lay of the land so to speak. The cruise ship is amazingly large (12 decks and over 900 feet long). There's 2100 people on the ship, but surprisingly it doesn't feel all that crowded. We've been eating tons...of course, the food is amazing.

We spent Wednesday night and Thursday at sea, so there was much laying around and relaxing. It was a gorgeous day yesterday so we laid on deck mostly. I'm already halfway through the newest Harry Potter which I only started two days ago. Saw my fist whale even! It was like he was doing a show for us - flipping his tail in and out of the water over and over.

It looks like the next couple days are going to be very similar. Some sightseeing, nature watching, eating, reading, relaxing, hanging out with the family, etc. This has already been a fabulous vacation and I'm so glad to have more days to come!

Also, today is Mom and Dad's 34th wedding anniversary! Mom said the cutest thing, "I gave your dad a card this morning and today he's going to buy me something expensive." Ha! It's such a blessing to have parents that have stayed together for so long and still have such a good humor! Congrats, you guys!

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