Yukon territory, Canada

The train ride that took us into the Yukon territory was fantastic.  We got to see some very remote and beautiful places.  We went into Fraser, Yukon, Canada.  Small place....in fact, the only people that live there are the border patrol officers!  It is a subartic tundra and the temps go to 60 below zero in the winter.  Needless to say, I still needed my long sleeves and fleece in July.  

Skagway, Alaska

Just chillin' out with a cup of coffee after breakfast.  We were in Skagway on Wednesday.  It also is a fairly isolate little town, but I believe it's one that you can drive to at least.  It has about 2400 residents in the summer and then after tourist season is over, it goes down to 400 residents.  One tiny little IGA grocery store that is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS in its prices (ask me how I know this---I needed some Crystal Light at $6 and Bottled water at $2.90 each!) 

We did book an excursion here on the train that took us through the old gold mining country and up into the Yukon territory (or is it a province?) of Canada....a place I never thought I'd get to go.

But while in Skagway, I couldn't not shop and go to the Sarah Palin store! 

Juneau, Alaska

See this little town at the base of the mountain?  Well, that's Juneau....the state's capitol.  It didn't seem that big.  But was nice.

The Alaska Governor's mansion.  I'm sure you all remember seeing it in on the news a lot when Sarah Palin lived there.

Juneau is apparently a city you pretty much can't drive to.  You have to come in by plane or ferry or cruise ship.  It did look a little rough around the edges, but everyone seemed very nice.

Seattle

Saturday afternoon we flew into Seattle, Washington to catch a cruise ship to Alaska.  We've been wanting to take an Alaskan cruise for quite a while and finally decided to do it.  Because of the total 7 hours of flying time from east coat to west coast, it was a good idea to fly into Seattle the day before so that we wouldn't be rushed. 

We flew Southwest, and had a very short layover at Midway in Chicago.  We forgot to check in online early and didn't get to sit together.  That's one of the few things I dislike about Southwest.....no assigned seating.  Ugh.  We arrived at about 10 p.m. Pacific time and after a forty dollar cab ride to the hotel, we didn't get in bed until about 11:30pm, which is 2:30 a.m. eastern time.....needless to say it was WAY past our bedtime.  But with our bodies still on eastern time, we were wide awake at 5:30 a.m. and the sun was coming up.  We have an awesome view of the bay from our hotel windows.  Mark did an awesome job of finding this great little boutique hotel, El Gaucho.

Hunger started to set in and we decided to take a walk at 6 a.m.  The temp is in the 50s here, a nice break from the 100 degree weather we've been experiencing in Raleigh.  We hit a Starbucks for breakfast, and then I simply HAD  to get my coffee from the ORIGINAL/VERY FIRST EVER Starbucks down in Pike's Place by the water.  I was shocked at how small it was.  They didn't sell anything but coffee (and it's variations), no muffins, etc.  And there was not a single place to sit.  Very different from the Starbucks we're used to nowadays.  

After that, we went down near the water and took some pictures.  Unfortunately, the lighting was terrible and you can't see the snow capped mountains in the background very well.   Then we walked several blocks to see the Space Needle.  Neat to see it in person.  And then we went on a quest to find a Rite Aid that was supposed to be near the hotel to acquire the MANY things that we forgot to pack--both of our razors, hair products, his deodorant, dental floss, shaving gel, and much more.  Yeah.  I did a pretty poor job of packing this time. I will be making a list of items to pack so that this doesn't happen again.

The Original Starbucks.  Or, as Shonda said "The Mothership". LOL

Guess where we've been....

Here are some hints: