Alaskan Cruise Vacay Day 14: Going home/Trip overview 071117

Get up and out on time and cab not there. Start to get worried. Eventually he pulls up, better late than never; turns out people in that complex apparently wait on the back street no the front street so he was back there and came to the front just to check to see if we were there. Good thing he did. We get to the airport quickly as no one else is on the road at 430am. Check our bags, get through customs/immigration rather quickly, and then walk around the airport a little bit before grabbing a sandwich for breakfast then waiting for our flight back. Flight back uneventful and get through customs rather quickly before our ride shows up and get back to our places.

Trip Overview:

This trip was a trip of firsts. First trip with each other, first trip to Alaska, first cruise, and first experience with constant daylight.

The good:
1. Alaska - Whether you talk about the weather which was a nice break from Texas summer heat, all the natural beauty that exists as you drive/cruise around the state, or the quaint small towns that let you get a glimpse into the history of the area, there is much to appreciate with going to Alaska. Granted this comes from only 1 summer visit, but we had a great time driving around and exploring areas in/around Anchorage. Food was delicious, our AirBNB host was amazing, and there were many options for activities (hiking, biking around town, sight seeing, bar hopping, etc.). I would love to go back during the winter (decked out in cold weather clothes naturally) to check out an iditarod, see the area/city with snow around/on the ground, and to experience constant night/ the auroras.

Cutie bear. 

One of many spectacular views.

Beauty abounds in mighty Alaska!

2. Cruise - I was told by people who cruise semi religiously that this cruise was a great one which got me out of my anti-cruise mentality and made us check this out. I am glad I did. The food was absolutely superb (do not go on a diet as you have access to food essentially 24/7), there was a steady stock of social/entertainment activities, drinks were priced like a normal bar I would go to (much cheaper than I was expecting which I really appreciated), AND the views were non-stop postcards. Glaciers, purple mountains with still water in front of them, occasional sea life sightings, and the miles and miles of untouched landscape just never got old.

How do people spend anytime inside?

A little perspective 

Was amazing seeing whales in the wild.

sun bleached the photo a little but the beauty from the boat is pretty evident.

3. Vancouver - Even though I have been before and we didnt get a chance to check out whistler or any of the natural beauty outside of Vancouver, I still love the city. It was a little dirtier than I remembered (granted I didnt go to these areas last time), but the variety in architecture, the emphasis on nature that the whole city seems to embody (go out and enjoy it, plant trees on your roof, etc.), the public transit making getting around a piece of cake, and the options of what to see and do make the visit a fantastic time. Food was tasty (clearly I enjoy eating when I travel :) ), it was great checking out different areas and seeing their respective identities, and it didnt hurt that the city is nestled between the ocean and mountains for some stunning views as you ride along the rails. Next time Ill check out some of the museums, whistler, and maybe even try out the paddle boarding through the waterways :).

Vancouver BC

Even cities have natural beauty within

I bet thats a higher tree/building ratio than most metropolitan cities

A city around nature.

The bad:
1. Port of Calls - Juneau as a city I would love to go back to and spend a few days exploring as it had some beautiful houses/streets and I saw some potential as we walked around a little bit. Not quite sure about the other 2; however this is more about what the cruise industry has turned these towns into. These towns are little tourist trap, jewelry peddling, cruise towns which I am sure some of the locals make some money off of, but I think detracts from what these cities could be/were and the cruise itself.
2. Wildlife sightings - From stories I expected moose to be everywhere, while running into random other animals on the side of the road and at some specific stops we made. The only wildlife we really saw was in the rescue center (which was a great time in and of itself).
3. Taxi service/availability - granted this probably isnt an issue if you have service up there, but the fact that they didnt have uber/lyft or one of their alternatives and you couldnt book a taxi online for a future pick up without submitting a request and wait to get a response was nerve racking for people wanting to go see the city but had to have wifi to check on this and try and communicate.

The indifferent:
1. Constant day - was cool but didnt really affect anything (still went to bed when tired and slept until needing to wake up).
2. Drink availability - Would be nice if they had more happy hours and were able to bring more alky onto the boat from each port of call :) But with prices being cheaper than I expected, was all good. I am just being greedy.

Alaskan Cruise Vacay Day 13: Last day antics 071017

Had a slow start to the morning as we tried to plan out a general schedule for the day based on the bus schedule/routes while we had wifi to plan it all out. Go get a day pass from the metro stop and then take a bus over to Frasier st. to get some indian food. Get over there and walk around for a little bit before we walk into a cafe for a light bite and some coffee and realize we dont have our money. Whoops!

Starting the day in a cafe with some cool wall art.

We go get the bus back to the place, grab our money, head back and pick back up where we left off. Start walking around and after a bit has passed, we grab a late lunch (of course I got me some butter chicken and it was delicious). Take some busses over to commercial street which was more bar/night life looking than frasier st. We had been looking for a taxi all day to stop and ask if we could schedule a pick up in the morning and naturally when we are looking we find none. We walk around commercial street to get a look around and eventually a yellow cab just appears on the street so we ask to schedule a ride. He gives me a card with a number to call from a pay phone and when I try, the number no longer works (surprise surprise). Head back to the place to get some wifi signal and come to find the company I emailed earlier through their online form submission, Bonny's taxi, emailed me back confirming we would have a ride in the morning (huge relief there). Send response to make sure they show up on time and then go to the mall area to grab food; wind up at Neptune wonton noodle and sports bar for an end of trip beer and dinner. After we eat, we head back and finish packing and get some sleep as we have to be up early for this cab we just finalized.

Alaskan Cruise Vacay Day 12: Walk all over Vancouver 070917

Get up and out and onto the skytrain heading downtown and start our walk towards Stanley park. Walk along the coastal path for a little bit before heading into the park to explore the interior. Wind up by the aquarium and debate whether we want to go in or keep walking. We decide to keep walking to check out more of the park and wind up finding the mounted police headquarters in the park where they have their horse stables.

Vancouver is a trail blazer. Good job!

Boat house at the entrance of Stanley park. 

Trail sign... funny name for a trail.

Makes so much sense.

Little critters feasting.

Found some pretty flowers as we walk around a lake.

More and different pretty flowers. :)

So beautiful!

Sorry last one. multitone flower for the win!

Where is this lady taking me? haha just kidding we are heading through the park to get to the other side.

..... choose wisely

Sad Beach but beautiful view.

Tide being out makes this slide not as appealing.

Found a cool stone structure as we walk along the coast.

What I would call a residential looking house in the middle of the downtown metropolitan area.

House or apartment?

This house looks like part castle. With a nice little garden out front as well.

Bridges and boats galore.

That is where we will head to, the public market.

Found some cool flowers on the way.

And some other cool plants. Look like land coral.

Walking over on the bridge and get this nice view down on the market area.

After market exploration, time to take a lil ferry ride. Bye Granville!

What to do with old silos? Paint them

The whole set.

Flags galore and boat houses. Must be peaceful living there.

Thanks for the ride lil taxi.

Cross over the highway and go to beaver lake which has a bunch of flowers to enjoy. Continue through the park to third beach (west side of the park) and the beach does not look too appealing as it is low tide and there is algae everywhere. Head south to check out the public pool and second beach which had a floating slide in the water, but once again since it was low tide, was unusable. Keep heading south and make our way to granville island over the bridge (free but a long walk when you can just take the little water taxi). Wind up grabbing some delicious food at Sen Pad Thai before exploring the island shops and public market (sunday is so crowded all over the place on the island which I guess should be expected). Once we have had our fill, we take the water taxi over a few stops to stamps landing to catch the canada line rail to go explore Queen Elizabeth park. In the center of the park they have a beautiful garden that you are welcome to casually explore and a relatively cheap biodome that we didnt explore as it had been a long day already and we were getting to the point of wrapping it up.

We made it!

Such a beautiful park. Time to explore.

That is a huge selection of plants in a small area.

Why dont all xmas trees have this color?

hahaha jk more flowers!

View from the park.

The top of the Bloedel conservatory.

glad to see people can read/follow instructions. This is why we cant have nice things as humans.

Done with the flowers yet?

Ok I lied before, but this will be the last flower pics (of this post)

Wedding photos in such a beautiful park? Not a bad idea.

Make our way back to the rail to take it to the metrotown stop where we walk around the mall and exit the opposite side, eventually deciding to go into Sushi Garden for dinner; great decision. Their portions are huge and incredibly tasty, while some of the combinations were weird at first (yam and smoked salmon? Crab and papaya?). We gorge and struggle to finish all the food then walk back to our place to shower and relax a little bit after walking 14+ miles around the city. Then we start trying to figure out how to secure our way back to the airport since our flight is extremely early, before the rail is on.