Well . . . this is a first for me. Actually it's two firsts: One, I'm writing about cruise adventures. This is our 12th! And two, I'm writing the blog about Alaska after-the-fact . . . we are home already and preparing to embark on the next two cruises in Europe! So for this portion of the summer by sea trips I must rely on my memory triggered by photos. I don't write blogs about cruises because unless the reader is actually on the ship, eating, playing games, lounging by the pool or being entertained all day and all night, it's pretty boring reading material. But this cruise is a bit different. It's a visit to Alaska. I am going to try my best to deliver a picture of our experiences because Alaska is a very special place.

In order to start our Alaskan trip, we had to first get to Vancouver where the ship disembarked. But before that we had to travel to California to visit Shea and Paul and to grab Tessa!!! This trip would be nothing without Tessa!

Off to California!