Taking a 6-month old baby to Alaska is exhausting. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's also exciting, exhilarating, engaging, endless fun, and an enormous challenge. Apparently only e-words apply.
Our flight to Seattle was largely uneventful. Bry fell asleep within minutes of takeoff and we were lucky enough to have an extra (unpaid for) seat between us where he could rest, lulled by the gentle roar of a couple of big airplane engines. If only there were some way to transport those within hearing range of his crib at home. Hmm...
Did you know there's an extra fee for checking a baby?
Steve and I highly recommend Sun Country Airlines, if only for the entertaining in-flight safety cards. This is how you assume a brace position:
There was not, unfortunately, a ballerina sitting next to us.
OK, seems straightforward enough.
Watch out for the guy in the purple tux, though.
Upon boarding the giant ship, we foolishly hoped that the gentle rocking motions of an ocean vessel at sea would further lull Bry into a state of drowsy complacency. This only demonstrated our serious underestimation of the Bry's skills at evading naps. Two days and three time zones later we entered guerrilla warfare mode at nap time. Suffice to say that much of Bry's shuteye time was spent in very close proximity to his mom. Actually, on his mom. Ahem. His sleep never really did regulate itself very well. For a chronically overtired baby he did quite well, charming the pants off of the older (wiser? more mature? more retired?) cruising set with his open-mouthed grins. Sadly, he was also a favorite of many of the crew, some of whom had been at sea for 7-8 months without seeing their children back home in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Exhibit A
The scenery as we cruised through the inner passage was amazing. We saw gorgeous mountain ranges and even pulled up right next to Margerie Glacier as giant chunks of ice broke off and fell into the ocean (aka calved).
There was not, unfortunately, a ballerina sitting next to us.And here are proper procedures for exiting the plane:
OK, seems straightforward enough.
Watch out for the guy in the purple tux, though.Upon boarding the giant ship, we foolishly hoped that the gentle rocking motions of an ocean vessel at sea would further lull Bry into a state of drowsy complacency. This only demonstrated our serious underestimation of the Bry's skills at evading naps. Two days and three time zones later we entered guerrilla warfare mode at nap time. Suffice to say that much of Bry's shuteye time was spent in very close proximity to his mom. Actually, on his mom. Ahem. His sleep never really did regulate itself very well. For a chronically overtired baby he did quite well, charming the pants off of the older (wiser? more mature? more retired?) cruising set with his open-mouthed grins. Sadly, he was also a favorite of many of the crew, some of whom had been at sea for 7-8 months without seeing their children back home in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Exhibit A
Random pretty mountain.
One real-life glacier.There were also rumored to be whales visible from the ship. However, I failed to glimpse a single tail (see: guerrilla naptime above).
We made stops in Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan (or as my dad liked to say, "Catch-as-you-can"). In Juneau, we left Bry behind with the G-rents to take a helicopter tour of nearby glaciers. We (actually the pilot) landed on one of the glaciers where we got to sample some glacier water (yes, it was cold) and hunt for glacier rocks (luckily they moved pretty slowly).
Is there such a thing as glacier-eye view?
The pilot assured us he totally knew how to fly one of these things.There are more tales to tell. Mostly they revolve around food, since we were after all, on a cruise. However, they'll have to wait because it's way past my bedtime. So consider this story To Be Continued...
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