Skagway

Meh. Skagway is what the cruise folks want I guess but it was a bit Disney-esque. We went kayaking (that's where we saw the bears) so we only spent a few hours in town. We managed to find a great brewery and had a few beers off boat. It was so nice to get off the stupid boat.

Most of you know our last cruise pretty much sucked. Really bad boat and the cheese factor of the cruise in general was nearly intolerable. This cruise is much better and I wouldn't change a thing about our vacation, but the cheese factor is still there. The bars/entertainment is all geared to the old folks. When you get off the boat in a port they have crew members dressed in costumes and they want to take a picture with you. And then there is "formal night" I hate formal night and on this cruise it just seems extra wrong. I just hiked through the tundra and saw huge mountains and bear poo and you want me to put on a gown? No thank you. All that said the cruise is the way to go if you are going to AK. The Hubbard glacier is generally not accessible by anything smaller than a cruise ship and to have come here and missed that would have been a crime. The food on board has been good so far and we have managed to find some people that are nice.

Kayaking was completely amazing and we ended up with a beautiful day. The guides were saying they hadn't had a day this good all season. The forecast called for rain and high winds but the forecast was wrong. Not only was it dry but the sun came out and apparently that is a rarity. We'll be taking a helicopter to a glacier today. Cross your fingers for good weather.