The Gusinsky family adventure to Alaska has finally arrived. The original reason for this trip was for Michelle’s 40th birthday. On July 5th, 2005 Michelle turned the big four O and she was presented with a gift of a printed piece of paper that had an Alaska cruise itinerary on it, that was all she got, no bow, no wrapping, no card, just that! Along with the promise that she would get her Alaska cruise in the near future.

I was laid off from The Boeing Company, actually I had been recalled to work by this time but I had no vaction time to take an extended trip so we had to wait until I had garnered enough time for the excursion, I would not get that vacation time until October of 2006. But there are no cruises to Alaska at that time of year unless you want to take the ferry to Haines from Bellingham, Washington. That dog just won’t hunt so we’ll have to wait till spring of 2007.

So, in June of 2006, when Michelle’s parents, Wayne and Eva, were out for a visit to the beautiful Pacific Northwest, we got to talking about Alaska one day. Wayne and Eva both wanted to see Alaska so we said they should go with us. That is when I decided I should begin planning the cruise, so I did.

I researched the cruise lines, we had taken Carnival cruises before, but their schedule didn’t work quit as well as Princess cruise lines, which is owned by the same parent company. Originally my plan was to go on the cruise in August and stay in Alaska for another week to see the sites and visit family. My grandparents are buried in Palmer, Alaska and my step grandmother still lives in Palmer.

At the end of August the state fair is in Palmer and it is quite a place to visit. To see 80 lb. cabbages, 500 lb. pumpkins, 15 lb. tomatoes and all the other overly huge vegetables, is something else, when you have 20 hours of day light and fertile ground there is plenty of time for things to grow. But Wayne wanted to do some fishing and if you want king salmon that means June, so June it is.

I spent well over, at a minimum, 200 man hours researching this trip, calling places to stay, giving mini phone interviews, searching the internet, getting all the ducks in a row to make for a smooth flowing trip. Heck, one day I spent over 13 hours building the itinerary that was put on this site with hyper links to all the points of interest so people, whether they were going on this trip or not, could see and read all about the points of interest, where we were staying, highways we were going to be driving on and all sorts of other information just so everyone would and could know exactly what to expect and where and when things would be happening.

So, after intense planning, most of the trip was in place by July 1, 2006, there was nearly a wait of 11 months till we depart for the great white north on May 25th, 2007 and that day had finally arrived. We invited anyone and everyone who wanted to tag along to accompany us on this grand adventure to the last frontier. The takers are pictured above, except the dog. Sky would have to stay home but going on the trip from left to right is Doug and Diane Cankar, Eva Lundstrom, Michelle, Gary and Nikolai Gusinsky, Eric Gusinsky and Wayne Lundstrom.

On to the trip! Day 1, May 25th, 2007. Our cruise is set to leave on Saturday, May 26th in Vancouver, British Columbia. To get there I booked us all on an Amtrak train ride from Everett, WA. to Vancouver. When we visit “The Couv” we always ride the rails. It is cheap and you just sit back and enjoy the views. How can you beat $23 for a three and half hour train ride?

After getting to Everett station courtesy of our neighbor Steve Fysh and my good friend from work Eric Parfitt, we had an uneventful relaxing ride up to Vancouver. Man, we have a load of luggage and carting that around was a chore but when we finally got to our hotel which is right across the mighty Fazier river from the cruise terminal in North Vancouver. Oddly enough the hotel was called……..The North Vancouver hotel, imagine that!

One of the things I had found to do once we arrived in Vancover was to go just a few miles north to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. I had heard this place was awesome and I was not disappointed in anyway. The bridge across the Capilano river is high and long and very fun, plus they have so many other activities to check out at the park there. We highly recommend this place to anyone ever visiting the Couv.

Also in town is the Memorial Cup hockey tournament. This tournament determines the champion of Canadian junior hockey of which the Everett Silvertips are a part of. Although the Tips didn’t make the tourney it is great hockey and on this night it was the semi final game. I was gonna go see about getting tickets from a scalper just before game time but the logistics didn’t work out as we spent a lot of time at the suspension bridge and then went to eat. i woulda liked to have gone to the game but the suspension bridge was a great time and a great time consumer as well. All worth it, and not a complaint in missing the game. I watched it on TV in our hotel room!

Day 1 of our trip is in the books. Tomorrow we embark onto the Diamond Princess and begin our northward sail.
Check out the pictures that go with this day in the photo sets on the left of the home page. Click North to Alaska day 1 for pictures.