Embarkation day!

This morning we packed and tagged our bags for pickup by our cruise line! Our first stop was Fortress of the Bear, an organization that rescues orphaned cubs. This was kind of our backup for if we weren't able to see bears in the wild but it was still really cool to see them close up and see how smart they are, learning sign language and manipulating the trainers to feed them more!

We then took a short hike along a river before heading to meet up with our cruise for our predeparture tour. Arriving at the tour meet up, it's obvious that we're the youngest by probably 30 years. We walk down to the Sheldon Jackson museum and admire the collection of Alaskan native crafts. Some of the most impressive were the tightly woven spruce baskets and we were lucky enough to meet and get a demonstration from a local native woman.

Next stop was the Raptor Center, which rescues injured birds with the goal of rehabbing and releasing them. They have a protected area that limits the birds' exposure to humans to improve their chances of release as well as permanent homes for birds that would not be able to survive in the wild.

Last stop was the totem park, where we enjoyed a very wet walk in the forest amongst the totems. Then it was off to our boat!Read more