The Trip of a Lifetime to Alaska – Land and Sea – Trip Report - COMLETE!! 4/13/12 - Page 25 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Haven't checked in for a while...been kinda busy. Marnie is not kidding about how fast people go up and down Mt Marathon. And she isn't kidding about the town swelling by 30,000 people over 4th of July weekend. It's completely insane!! We AVOID Seward at all costs on that particular weekend. The Sealife Center is pretty small. Its definately not Sea World. ....but it's all we got. Seward is a quaint little town, just not much there.
__________________
Jennifer / Eeyore is my favorite!! OMG - He's sooooo grown up!!!! And an EAGLE SCOUT!! I can still remember my cute little Tiger Cub! 2016 Reading Goal - 75 books
Well, we had a great time at the game, but they lost, and it was rather lackluster (zero offense)! Oh well. At least the kids can tell their friends they ran around the bases at Fenway Park!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Whew! Marnie I am finally getting all caught up and your trip almost makes me want to go to Alaska! I love the moose sightings. For some reason, those creatures intrigue me.
I cannot remember, but what is the blue ice in the glaciers?
Did Colin ever climb The Rock? Way to go Alexa for doing it! I love the Solarium! The one on the Jewel features tigers.
Day 10 – Monday, July 4th - Skagway – Renting a Car and Exploring the Yukon!
Sorry for the delay in getting this done! We’ve hit crunch time for school starting (one week to go) and trying to get in some last minute trips!
I guess we were up around 7 this morning. My notes say we ate at the Windjammer at 7:45, and that no one was there! We finally timed it right! We packed up our stuff for the day after that, and headed off the ship! We were renting a car and heading up to the Yukon!
Today was the 4th of July, and Skagway was having a parade. Unfortunately we missed it since we were heading out of town! Some roads were blocked off, but not enough to affect us. We walked to the Avis Rental Car Office which was just on the edge of the downtown area and picked up our car. Thankfully there was no one in line ahead of us, as their computers were down and they had to handwrite everything! Map in hand, we headed out to the Yukon!
We decided that we would drive all the way up to Emerald Lake first, and then make stops along the way on the drive back to Skagway. It was cloudy and spritzing a bit in downtown Skagway, but once we started up the hill out of town, the sun came out and the skies cleared. We had no troubles going thru Customs in Canada. We just showed our passports and told him we were going up to Emerald Lake and back again. If you have the chance to do this, I’d highly recommend renting a car. The scenery was amazing. Probably my favorite port outside of upstate Alaska (for scenery). There was hardly anyone on the road which was nice.
We made it to Emerald Lake and stopped in the viewing area.
Matt’s pictures!
Then we stopped at the smallest desert – Carcross Desert.
Matt’s pictures!
We decided not to stop at Caribou Crossing. I had read so-so reviews about it, and since we had already seen sled dogs in Denali and with Jeff King and the museum didn’t get great reviews, we decided to keep on going. We stopped in Carcross to get some pictures of the town. Then headed down the highway.
Next stop was Bove Island!
Matt’s pictures.
Then had a surprise as we were driving along the road! I yelled at Matt to get out the camera, since I was driving! Thankfully it was moving slowly so we could get a picture!
Then we stopped whenever the view was nice.
Matt’s pictures!
We had about a 20 minute wait to get thru customs getting back into the US. As we headed back into Skagway, we decided to stop and do some gold panning, as the kids had wanted to do this. I think the “shows” ran every half hour, so we didn’t have that long to wait. We ended up with a group from one ship, not sure which one as there were 4 ships in port that day. It was cute. As for panning, it was a lot harder than it looks. I think Colin won the most with .15 grams. Alexa had around .14, and I had .12. Matt never weighed his!
Matt’s pictures!
Once done with that, we were hungry, and the kids wanted to swim, so we headed back to the ship. Matt decided he was going to do a load of laundry in town (no self service laundry on the ship) so he filled up a carry on bag and headed back into town (we hadn’t turned in the car rental yet – he would do that after the laundry). The kids and I got lunch (Park Café for me again) and then we headed to the Solarium so they could swim.
After swimming, we headed up to the sports deck and played another round (or two) of mini golf.
Not sure what the theme was for dinner tonight. Colin’s fruit cup was waiting for him again. He had macaroni and cheese this time. Alexa had onion soup, fried shrimp and mahi mahi tempura, and a brownie sandwich for dessert. Matt had the fried shrimp and mahi mahi tempura, and both apple pie and brownie sandwich for dessert! I had spinach dip with chips for an appetizer, strip steak with gorgonzola butter, and sugar free key lime pie for dessert. Then it was off to bed after dinner!
Day 10 – Monday, July 4th - Skagway – Renting a Car and Exploring the Yukon!
Sorry for the delay in getting this done! We’ve hit crunch time for school starting (one week to go) and trying to get in some last minute trips!
I guess we were up around 7 this morning. My notes say we ate at the Windjammer at 7:45, and that no one was there! We finally timed it right! We packed up our stuff for the day after that, and headed off the ship! We were renting a car and heading up to the Yukon!
Today was the 4th of July, and Skagway was having a parade. Unfortunately we missed it since we were heading out of town! Some roads were blocked off, but not enough to affect us. We walked to the Avis Rental Car Office which was just on the edge of the downtown area and picked up our car. Thankfully there was no one in line ahead of us, as their computers were down and they had to handwrite everything! Map in hand, we headed out to the Yukon!
We decided that we would drive all the way up to Emerald Lake first, and then make stops along the way on the drive back to Skagway. It was cloudy and spritzing a bit in downtown Skagway, but once we started up the hill out of town, the sun came out and the skies cleared. We had no troubles going thru Customs in Canada. We just showed our passports and told him we were going up to Emerald Lake and back again. If you have the chance to do this, I’d highly recommend renting a car. The scenery was amazing. Probably my favorite port outside of upstate Alaska (for scenery). There was hardly anyone on the road which was nice.
We made it to Emerald Lake and stopped in the viewing area.
Matt’s pictures!
Then we stopped at the smallest desert – Carcross Desert.
Matt’s pictures!
We decided not to stop at Caribou Crossing. I had read so-so reviews about it, and since we had already seen sled dogs in Denali and with Jeff King and the museum didn’t get great reviews, we decided to keep on going. We stopped in Carcross to get some pictures of the town. Then headed down the highway.
Next stop was Bove Island!
Matt’s pictures.
Then had a surprise as we were driving along the road! I yelled at Matt to get out the camera, since I was driving! Thankfully it was moving slowly so we could get a picture!
Then we stopped whenever the view was nice.
Matt’s pictures!
We had about a 20 minute wait to get thru customs getting back into the US. As we headed back into Skagway, we decided to stop and do some gold panning, as the kids had wanted to do this. I think the “shows” ran every half hour, so we didn’t have that long to wait. We ended up with a group from one ship, not sure which one as there were 4 ships in port that day. It was cute. As for panning, it was a lot harder than it looks. I think Colin won the most with .15 grams. Alexa had around .14, and I had .12. Matt never weighed his!
Matt’s pictures!
Once done with that, we were hungry, and the kids wanted to swim, so we headed back to the ship. Matt decided he was going to do a load of laundry in town (no self service laundry on the ship) so he filled up a carry on bag and headed back into town (we hadn’t turned in the car rental yet – he would do that after the laundry). The kids and I got lunch (Park Café for me again) and then we headed to the Solarium so they could swim.
After swimming, we headed up to the sports deck and played another round (or two) of mini golf.
Not sure what the theme was for dinner tonight. Colin’s fruit cup was waiting for him again. He had macaroni and cheese this time. Alexa had onion soup, fried shrimp and mahi mahi tempura, and a brownie sandwich for dessert. Matt had the fried shrimp and mahi mahi tempura, and both apple pie and brownie sandwich for dessert! I had spinach dip with chips for an appetizer, strip steak with gorgonzola butter, and sugar free key lime pie for dessert. Then it was off to bed after dinner!
I cannot remember, but what is the blue ice in the glaciers?
Did Colin ever climb The Rock? Way to go Alexa for doing it! I love the Solarium! The one on the Jewel features tigers.
More please!!
I believe it's just the water/ice and it's reflection in the sun. I think Colin did climb it once, but I don't have any pictures. He wasn't as big a fan of it as Alexa was. Mini golf was his thing! And ping pong.
About This Page: 
The Sealife Center is pretty small. Its definately not Sea World. 
....but it's all we got. Seward is a quaint little town, just not much there.
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Oh well. At least the kids can tell their friends they ran around the bases at Fenway Park! 
PassPorter Guide Author
Sorry the game wasn't that good but it sounds like the kids had fun.
Map in hand, we headed out to the Yukon!
He wasn't as big a fan of it as Alexa was. Mini golf was his thing! 
Linear Mode
