You may have noticed that the title is Day 2 and not Day 1. That’s because our Day 1 consisted of getting lost, getting overly expensive Wendy’s, and napping for 15 hours. So we’re going to start on Day 2. :)

First, let me explain a little about why we decided to go to Alaska. Ever since we traveled to Jamaica for our honeymoon we knew we wanted to see the whole world. We both have a list of places where we want to travel (mine is a bit more extensive and specific – Type A personality) and Alaska has been at the top of both of ours. We felt that since we already did a tropical vacation we should try something different (actually that was more of the way I felt – Paul is good with anything) and so one random day we were talking about our future and whatnot and just decided to go for it. We felt that if we always wait until we have an abundance of money, we’ll probably never go. So here we are in Alaska!

A huge thank you goes out to Tracey from Birch Leaf Photography – we met randomly on Facebook through photography and she has helped us with tons of ideas for our trip. If it wasn’t for her I don’t know if our trip would have been as wonderful as it has been – she is an amazing person and takes amazing photos of Aurora and other places in Alaska. Check her out, friends!!

Anyways! We knew we wanted to go on a cruise but we had a dilemma – Paul gets carsick and seasick. One of Tracey’s ideas for us was to go on the 26 Glacier Cruise in Whittier – this cruise was perfect for us! It went through the Prince William Sound instead of directly into the open ocean so it was a much smoother ride in comparison to other cruises. We saw so many amazing things on this cruise and absolutely loved the town of Whittier. Instead of driving ourselves down to Whittier, we took the Alaska Railroad (another one of Tracey’s ideas!) and it was breathtaking! The views along the shore line are absolutely gorgeous. Paul and I had such an amazing time – truly something we’ll never forget! Anyways! I’ll stop writing so you can enjoy the photos. :)

Beautiful views from our seats on the train.

This is what it looks like when the tide is out.

An earthquake brought down the elevation 12 feet causing the trees to die. Salt water that came through has help preserved them for another 100 years or so. We saw lots of these on the way to Whittier.

The port at Whittier!

Sea lions!!

Alaskan cod is amazing!

Glacier!!

The sky changed quite a bit during the 5-hour cruise. It would be sunny one minute and then completely covered in clouds the next.

One of my favorite shots!

‘”Surprise Glacier” – one of the best glaciers for watching ice calving!

Cute little sea otters!!

Look closely in the middle and you can see ice calving!

Kittiwake Bird Rookery – so many birds!

I hope you enjoyed a tiny glimpse into our trip to Whittier! I’ll post more of our trip this week! :)