Our big family adventure for 2024 was Alaska. This trip has been a dream of ours for more than 20 years and we finally made it happen!
We started our Alaskan trip in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Juneau is completely landlocked - there are no roads connecting it to the rest of the state, so it is only accessible by water or air. Although we weren't scheduled to board our boat until Sunday afternoon, we arrived in Juneau on Friday afternoon for a few reasons. Because our flight connections were so tight, we were worried that our bags wouldn't make it (they did); we also wanted to deal with the jet lag in advance of our trip. Lee struggled the most with the jet lag - he's not a great sleeper to begin with, and coupled with the fact that he gets up around 4:15 am every morning, he was awake between midnight and 2 am the first few nights. Although that was tough, our hotel was right on the water, so he had a unique perspective regarding the comings and goings in the harbor. It also made for some early morning walks, as I was usually up by 5 am and we'd head out to take it all in before everyone else was up. Juneau itself is very touristy - there are massive cruise ships docking every day via the Gastineau Channel, and people pour off of the ships and into the shops.
View as we walked out of the airport.
Aside from the jewelry stores, there were between 20-30 stores selling items made by Alaskans. We always try to get a keepsake from our trips and ended up purchasing a painting by a local artist.
The state legislature.
Once you left the main road, where all the shops were located, walking became quite strenuous - straight uphill.
Governor's Mansion
Our first night was sadly the only night that Lee was able to feast on Alaskan king crab.
