Alaska: Wild and Free

When I was growing up, my very best friend Maria (hi, Maria!) and I used to spend pretty much every minute together. Maria had a horse, an old gray gelding named Silver. We rode Silver everywhere, two little girls riding double, roaming through pine woods and palmetto fields. We'd even take Silver swimming with us in the many lakes that dotted our neighborhood. This was the best part of my childhood, a semi-idyllic part that helped me escape from the not-so-idyllic parts.

But Maria lived a rather nomadic existence. Her parents were divorced, and she was always being shipped off to a different relative, a different city, a different state. I, never having lived anywhere but the place I was, found all this travel exotic and exciting, never realizing how hard it must've actually been for her. We never lost touch, remaining pen pals no matter where she was, writing each other letter after letter after letter. And it was when Maria moved to Anchorage, Alaska that my burning desire to go there was born. For a girl from a flat state full of heat, mosquitoes and alligators, the idea of a place where snow-capped mountains were the norm, where ancient rivers of ice formed glaciers and iceburgs, and where bear, moose and whales roamed free, fired my imagination like no other place on earth.

And I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. Captain America and I finally took a long-awaited Alaskan cruise last month, and here are a few highlights:

This is the view from Glacier Bay. Isn't it gorgeous?














Here are some actual glaciers, and an iceberg:

























And yes, it was cold!!




We went hiking and saw a gorgeous waterfall:















But I think my favorite day was the day we went rafting. We saw fresh bear prints in the woods as we hiked to the spot where we launched the raft, and once we were in the water, we watched bald eagles soaring over our heads as they searched for salmon in the river. It was glorious.















And then, my husband and I took another of the famous "one-handed" photos that we do every trip, and sealed our great time with a kiss.

(See how multi-talented he is? He can kiss and still get a great shot while holding the camera out with one hand!) :)

So where's your favorite spot? Where's the best place you've ever been on vacation?