On August 30, 2008 we flew to Vancouver, BC Canada and boarded Princess Cruise Lines Ship, Diamond Princess, bound for Fairbanks, AK.  Jim and Donna Barnes accompanied us and in Vancouver, we met up with long time friends, Bill and Sue Hollon and Don and Nancy Witt.  Since this was our first cruise, we were a bit apprehensive, but the trip far exceeded out expectations.  We took a few pictures along the way, I hope you enjoy them.

the Diamond Princess

952' long

123' wide

205' high

3,078 passengers

1,115 crewmembers

Vancouver Harbor

Billie and I getting ready to board the ship

First Stop:  Ketchikan Alaska where we shopped and saw the Lumberjack Show

We didn't know it but they measure rainfall in feet in Ketchikan where they get over 12 feet of rainfall per year.

Donna Barnes and I getting ready to watch the lumberjack show

Totem Poles and clan house in Bight State Park

The infamous Red Dog Saloon in Juneau

The governor's mansion in Juneau (currently Sarah Palin's home)

The Mendenhall glacier just out of Juneau.

Billie getting ready to board the ship in Juneau (ours is the ship in the distance that you can barely see over the top of the blue and white bus.

On to the city of Skagway, gateway to the Yukon where gold was discovered in 1898.

Glaciers in Glacier Bay

College Fjord

College Fjord

College Fjord - To us this spot actually was more beautiful than the glaciers in Glacier Bay

We shot this picture of Mt McKinley and the Alaska Range from the train just north of Anchorage. The mountains in the foreground are about as high as those in 
Colorado, they are about 15,000 feet high. Mt. McKinley is the highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet high.

Billie at our lodge just outside of Denali National Park 

(ps don't pay any attention to the date on this and some of the following pictures as my camera's date got off)

The leaves were changing in Denali National Park, these two pictures just don't do justice to the beauty of God's work.

In Fairbanks Nancy and Don Witt, Sue and Bill Hollon and Billie, taking a river boat cruse down the Chena River where we listened to Susan Butcher (4 time Iditirod winner)'s husband give a dog sled demonstration, saw a bush plane and a float plane land and take off and saw this beautiful Eskimo coat, valued at $16,000.

We also went to see the 48" diameter Trans Alaska Pipeline that transports 20% of American petroleum 800 miles from the North Slope (Prudhoe Bay) to Valdez, AK where it is loaded onto tanker ships.

We also had to make a trip to North Pole, AK where we visited Santa's workshop.

And took a picture of Rudolph

Unfortunately he has his head down and you can't see his shiny nose.