This summer, my family and I went on a vacation to Alaska. Our vacation started with a plane trip from Los Angeles, California to Anchorage, Alaska. I always thought that Alaska would be icy and cold, but it wasn't during the summer. We took a long bus ride to a city in Alaska called, Whittier. Whittier wasn't much of a city, just a small port. The bus driver told us that all of the people who lived there, lived in one building. Docked in the port of Whittier, was a huge cruise ship, and I couldn't wait to get in it and start sailing. My family was booked for a seven day cruise down the inside passage of Alaska, which stops in the cities of Hoonah, Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan.
"The Norwegian Sun" photo by : my Dad
Once we got inside the ship, I was amazed at how big it was. I was most impressed by how many activities the ship had on it. The ship was so big, it even had a basketball court! They had a kid's club, a teen club, two pools, basketball courts, shuffleboard, golf areas, ping pong, (table tennis) and last but not least the ship had shows every night for seven nights. My favorite city in Alaska would probably be Hoonah. I really liked Hoonah because it was an island, and there was a lot of wildlife. I also liked it because the population was only 700 people. I've always wanted to live somewhere where its not too crowded. The people of Hoonah live modestly and the live off of the land. The natives of Hoonah are from the Clinket Indian tribe.
The City Of Hoonah
The next city we stopped in was Juneau, which is the capital of Alaska. In Juneau we saw the Governor's mansion (which was not really a mansion in my opinion). In Juneau our bus driver told us that Alaska has the second largest rain forest in the world ( The largest is the Amazon in Brazil ). In my opinion, the most important fact from my Alaska trip was that the Russians owned Alaska, but then the Americans bought it from them. Our last stop in Juneau was to the Mendenhall Glacier. When I first saw the glacier, I noticed the blue color of the ice. It almost looked like a giant crystal. The ice turns blue because of the many compressed layers of ice. I thought the glacier was going to be smaller, but it was huge!
Governor's Mansion in Juneau Photo by : Me
The next city was Skagway. In Skagway we took a long drive to the Yukon, which is actually in Canada. My absolute favorite thing from our trip was going to the Musher's camp! We saw the trainers training the adult husky breed to eventually run in the Iditarod race! Then we got into a cart, and the trainers had the husky's pull us on a trail! I was so impressed, because the dogs knew exactly where to go. I loved the part when we got to play with the husky puppies. They were so cute!
Alaskan Husky Pup
Our final stop in Alaska was Ketchikan. One thing I remember about Ketchikan was all the shops. We also took a nature tour. We looked for bears... sadly we didn't find any, but we did see a lot of bald eagles. In Ketchikan, I was introduced to the Salmonberry bush, which is a common berry used to make Salmonberry jam (no, it's not actually made of salmon). When I tried the Salmonberry jam, I was blown away. I have to say it is now one of my favorites. If you ever get a chance to try it, do not hesitate.
Alaskan Salmonberry Bush
Bald Eagle
Alaska was a great experience and I am so glad I went. I got to see and try a lot of new things. I hope I get to go back to Alaska again.
Have you ever been to Alaska?
Have you ever seen any wildlife creatures up close?
Would you like to try the Salmonberry jam?
