Skagway, Alaska

Skagway is a cute little town of about 25,000 people. It's far north so it's been staying light until about 11 p.m. There is cell phone service all over Alaska so we are able to talk to the family everyday. Yesterday I spoke to my grandson.

All the houses in Skagway are painted different bright colors and it almost looks like the Caribbean. Many of the residents are seasonal and just work during the summertime. They say it gets unbearably cold in the winter and the wind blows at 70 mph. I can see why they leave!

We took a guided tour of the city and its surrounds and then headed out for British Columbia and the Yukon. Again, the weather was beautiful and the scenery was beyond belief. We had to pass through customs and immigration into Canada and again when we returned to the US.

We had lunch at a musher camp; ate in a chuck wagon, a little cold but bearable. Then the fun started. We piled into a sled, the female musher hooked up the dogs and off we went, careening through the woods, pulled by the dogs. This was really so much fun. After that, we got to play with the new puppies. What a fun-filled day. Then it was back to the tour for the ride back to the ship, with a stop in Carcross, Canada, another tiny town in the middle of nowhere. One of the highlights of this trip was the stop at Emerald Lake, a beautiful Alpine lake which is filled with water that is many colors that keep changing. It was like looking at a live postcard of the Yukon.

We found a great, cheap souvenier store near the ship but were too overwhelmed to buy anything more than a tee shirt for the baby.