Visiting Alaska was on our "bucket list" and a last minute situation bumped it up to the top and allowed us to go - although for too short of a time - in June 28th. Yes, it would be alot easier to wait and stay up there longer, but I think we were excited enough to get the 7 days on the cruise. Without a doubt, we'll definitely return!

We love the cool weather and it is slightly decadent to leave Virginia (90 plus weather) and spend one week away from the heat. We flew first to Seattle, courtesy of JetBlue free flight coupons. My first mistake was booking the round trip flight. Turns out that the one way flight from Anchorage to Seattle was actually the same cost as it would have been to fly from Anchorage to Washington, DC! I'll remind myself to check stuff like that out the next time.

Arriving in Seattle, we rented a one-way vehicle to drop off in Vancouver. We were happy to at least get the 24 hours beforehand in that lovely city. Our compact car was switched when they realized our destination. Turns out they had a Canadian rental on the lot and there is apparently some sort of discount the vehicle rental companies get by returning each other's car. Who were we to complain with a Chrysler 300? The 3 hour drive was very nice...no traffic at all...and going through the Canadian checkpoint was all of 2 minutes. Read more