Intro to an Alaskan adventure

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Ten years – a decade – a significant passage of time.  When Jim and I married ten years ago, we understood clearly that time is precious.  After both being widowed, we knew that we needed to make the most of our time and here we are, ten years later.  So to celebrate our tenth anniversary, we decided to take a grand adventure to Alaska.  We debated several different scenarios to accomplish this – camping in our van for part or the whole trip or driving.  But with the help of our partner-in-crime, Lilly at AAA travel, we decided on a cruise and land trip.

The plan is to board a cruise ship in Vancouver, British Columbia and cruise up the Inner Passage, just off the coast of Canada and Alaska. Over the next 7 days, we’ll make various stops at ports in Alaska and disembark at Wittier, Alaska.  From there, we’ll travel inland by train to Denali National Park and we’ll spend 3 days there.  We’ll end up in Fairbanks, Alaska where we’ll fly home.

But to start the trip, we needed to fly to Vancouver.  We were originally scheduled on Air Canada from Philadelphia to Toronto, where we’d pass through customs into Canada, then fly on to Vancouver.  The flight left Philadelphia around 4:00 and would put us into Vancouver about 2:30 am EDT. That’s a long day but we had time to grab dinner in Toronto and hopefully a nap on the plane.

There’s an old saying about the best-laid plans of mice and men, and we arrived at Philadelphia to find our flight had been cancelled.  We were re-booked onto United into Denver, and then Air Canada to Vancouver.  On the plus side, it would get us there 2 hours earlier but we’d have to pass through customs in Vancouver after a long day of flying, but we should still be at our  B&B by 1:00 EDT.  Even though we didn’t have seats together, we were on our way.

After a pleasant flight, we arrived in Denver.  Jim met a nice young man who was from Denver and he helped us navigate the large airport.  In return, we’ll be sending him info about our trip since he and his wife are taking the same cruise in July.  When we arrived in Denver, the outside temperature was 98 degrees and we could feel the heat as soon as we stepped from the plane to the airport.  Even though the airport was air conditioned, the system could not keep up with the extreme and unexpected heat.  We were scheduled to be there for a little over an hour, so we grabbed some Chick Fila and ate quickly.  But then the delays started.

 Air Canada kept delaying our flight and we boarded the plane 2 hours late then sat on the tarmac waiting for fuel for another 45 minutes.  One bright spot – we watched an amazing sunset as we sat waiting. 

We finally arrived in Vancouver about 11:30 local time (which is 2:30 EDT).  We picked up our bags and then walked close to a mile to get to customs.  Fortunately, this was a quick and easy process and we were able to find a taxi and arrived at the B&B after 4:00 am EDT and collapsed into bed.

We stayed in a small B&B listed as the Richmond Airport Cozy Home aka Vickie’s Bed and Breakfast.  It was the lower level of a private home located in Richmond, BC which is basically the suburbs of Vancouver – just a small room with a queen bed and small desk.  There was a shared bathroom and kitchen.  But for a quick stayover, it was just what we needed.

The next morning as we were traveling to the seaport, we could see that it was a beautiful neighborhood, full of flowers and trees and upscale homes.  Our taxi driver had explained the night before that these homes were between 1.5 and 2 million US dollars.  Where we live in Bucks County, these homes would probably have sold for about 500,000.  He was also lamenting the price of gas, which sells for about $8.50 a gallon in USD.

Our B&B host, Patrick, drove us to the seaport in Vancouver and we got our first glimpse of this beautiful city.  Among the many highrises, trees were planted everywhere.  We saw a building with a “live roof” where the entire roof is planted like a lawn.  Several of the larger buildings contained rooftop gardens.

The seaport in Vancouver is a striking building which appears to have sails.  We quickly passed through the processes, had our souvenir photo taken, and boarded the Westerdam, our floating home for the next 7 days.  From the decks of the Westerdam, we could see more of Vancouver.  From the walkway near the docks to the lush green parks along the waters edge, Vancouver is a city which cherishes its beautiful surroundings and provides ample access to its natural environment.

After about an hour, we were able to get into our stateroom and were pleasantly surprised.  It’s not as small as we had anticipated – we have a king bed, a loveseat, a small desk, nice bathroom with a tub and shower combination, and lots of storage. 

We unpacked, stowed our luggage under the bed and stepped out onto the veranda. We watched as the beautiful landscaped passed gently in and out of view.  The ship is amazingly quiet and glides gently through the water. The only way we could tell we were moving was by seeing the landscape outside.

Around 6:00, we went to dinner and afterwards caught a broadway-style show, welcoming us to the cruise.  We finally went to bed around 9:00 and slept wonderfully.

After showering and dressing for the day, we’re heading out to breakfast.  We are currently traveling 303.2 degrees Northwest at 14 knots and are expected to make our first port of call, Ketchikan, Alaska about 6:30 tomorrow morning. Let the adventures begin!