2022 Angel’s Alaska Trip

We’ve been waiting for three years for this trip……
As you may know, I love to travel. I love planning a trip, I love seeing new places, I love to take photos of all the places I have visited.

Our most recent trip had been postponed a year due to the pandemic. And we were super excited that we were able to travel this August, after so much planning!!

One of my goals in life & in my love of travel, is to travel to every one of our 50 states. Now I mean not just driving through the state or having a layover from a flight. My goal is to experience the state, enjoy a meal or spend the night there!! This year—I can check Washington & Alaska off my list!!!

Traveling with friends & family makes the experience even better. So, me, Glen, my bestie Susan & our sister-in-law Maureen headed west! We had an uneventful flight from Philadelphia to Seattle. Then we quickly hopped in the rental car & drove 2 hours east to the adorable town of Leavenworth, WA. Did you know that Leavenworth is inspired by the Bavarian towns of Germany? And they host the second largest Octoberfest in the world, only second to Munich, Germany! We fell in love with this town—it was adorable!!

We spent one night here, then headed south to Mt Rainer National Park! The drive to this gorgeous mountain was breathtaking! The air was clean & crisp, we had perfect weather.

Susan & I love to take all kinds of photos of the wildlife and the flora & fauna in the area!! Look at those clouds!! We took our time driving through this park & drank in all the splendor.

After Mt. Rainer National Park, we hit the road again. Our next destination– Sequim, WA & Olympic National Park. We spent two nights in Sequim, so we could enjoy as much of the park as time allowed.

Did you know that Olympic National Park has three different ecosystems—rainforest, beach & mountains! We were so very blessed to experience all three during our short time there.

The mountains…

The rainforest…

The beach…

By the way—if you are a fan of the Twilight book & movie series, we visited the town of Forks, WA, where these took place!! They even have a Twilight themed tour you can take through the town. Unfortunately, there was just not enough time to take this tour.

After two nights in this beautiful area, we loaded up the car & headed back to the Seattle area!! Today, my sister Vickie & her family are flying in to join us in downtown Seattle. Our friends Anne Marie & Wayne & their boys also flew in & would join us on our cruise.

While in Seattle, we went to the top of the Space Needle, the waterfront and enjoyed the Pike Place Market – yes we saw the fish throwing!!!

We packed a ton in to our short visit to Washington—but on Sunday it was time to board our cruise ship to South Eastern Alaska!!

The Norwegian Encore was our home for the next week. We stopped in Juneau, Icy Straight, Ketchikan & finally Victoria, British Columbia. Here we gathered for dinner, drinks, games on board, dance classes, Broadway level shows & quality time. Also drinking in the splendor of Alaska!

During the cruise, we went on a whale watching tour where we saw whales, bald eagles, sea lions and glaciers. It was magical!

There was a pod of blue whales feeding, can you see the spray from their blowholes?

My first glacier sighting!

This trip was truly special! It was out first time traveling together as a group. The boys enjoyed hanging out, the adults too. Everyone was able to do their own thing & enjoy their trip.

Since this was our first group trip, I wanted everyone to wear the same tee shirt for a photo op—