Washington, Canada & Alaska!!

We have had such a busy, but totally awesome summer.  We just returned from an amazing vacation; something we've always wanted to do. First of all, who just goes to Alaska??

We flew in to Seattle on the evening of July 1.  I picked Daddy S. up from work, went straight to the airport and off we flew.  S.G. LOVED the 3 1/2 hour flight, along with a portable movie player.

After getting our rental car and finding our hotel, we snuggled up and got to sleep as soon as possible, as our next day was beginning at 4:00am.

 Did I say 4:00am.  Well, if you set your clock to AM, it will go off on time.  However, setting it for 4:00PM does you no good at all.  Thankfully, my dad returned a text to me at 5:00AM.  We had to leave at 5:30.  So we threw our clothes on, ran a brush threw our hair and took off for the 2 1/2 hour drive to get to the Ferry that took us over to Victoria, British Columbia.  S.G. absolutely loved being on the Ferry.We parked our car on the bottom portion of the boat and rode up top.  It was chilly and beautiful!

Once we arrived in Canada, we drove around the island a bit, found a tea room for lunch and continued on with the sight seeing.  We finally made our way to The Butchart Gardens.  Breathtaking is all I can say. 

Of course, our trip wouldn't be complete without a stop in Chinatown for dinner and shopping.

***Click on the pictures for a closer view.  It's worth it!!

 We crossed back over on the last ferry and drove 2 1/2 hours back to our hotel.  We were EXHAUSTED!!  We woke the next morning to take the Mt. Rainier train ride.  It was a much more relaxing day, but just as beautiful as the day before.  We ended our day back in Seattle, dinner on the boardwalk, and a breathtaking view of Mt. Rainier at sunset.  Sorry, forgot to include that picture in my collage.

July 4... off to Wrangell, Alaska.  Our friends, pictured in the upper right hand corner, have been in Wrangell for about 10 years now serving as senior pastors.  They were the youth pastors at our church where D.S. was the business administrator AND Children's Pastor.  They are dear, dear friends of ours, and I'm so glad we FINALLY got to go see them.  The family on the far left side were friends of ours at the same church.  They have been in Wrangell for 4 years now as the youth pastors.

Some of our Alaska adventures included a picnic on Mt. Nemo, climbing a random waterfall, and a walk through the Tongass National Forest. You have to click on this picture and look at the bottom left picture of me with my 2 friends.  We all wore our Chuys shirts, without planning it.  I am taking that picture to our local Chuys for them to hang on the wall.  :)

Check out these pictures of bald eagles. 
They are everywhere in Alaska!

We had been waiting for this trip for a long time.  It was really everything I hoped it would be. Thank you to the Haggards and Geralds for welcoming us and sharing your beautiful island with us!!