*Lana's Daily Fun Fact*
During our 7-day Alaskan cruise, we traveled a total distance of 1546 nautical miles, equal to 1778 "land" miles (1 nautical mile = 1.15 statute miles). Combine that with the 1100 miles from Ontario to Vancouver, the 2500 miles from Anchorage back to Ontario, and the miscellaneous miles in between, and it's no wonder why we were so tired when we got back from our vacation!

*Dave's Daily Fun Fact*
The Sapphire Princess was built by Mitsubishi (the Japanese build everything!) and delivered on May 27, 2004. It has an overall length of 946 feet, a full sea speed of 22.1 knots (about 25 mph), and a fuel oil capacity of 3300 tons (750,000 gallons). That's almost a million gallons! That's enough gas to keep me going for, I don't know, like 20 or 25... centuries!

All good things must come to an end. Although we would miss eating gourmet dinners every night, exploring new cities every day, and not having to worry about a thing while relaxing on our balcony overlooking crystal-like icebergs, a little bit of us was looking forward to sleeping in our comfy bed and eating 99 cent tacos from Jack In The Box. Because we had booked our cruise so last minute, we had to come up with our own arrangements to get home. We disembarked in Whittier, so we booked a comedy tour to bring us to Anchorage (we might as well have some fun on our last day).

We highly recommend Alaskan Leopard Comedy Tours! The driver was funny, friendly, and informative; the mini-bus was cool and comfortable; all the stops were great tourist attractions. Our first site was riding through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, the longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America (try holding your breath through that). Because it is so narrow, traffic is restricted to one-way flow only, meaning you may have to wait 20 minutes before you can even enter the tunnel. We stopped by a couple of other small locations, including a stream where we would have seen salmon if they weren't running late this time of year. We stopped at the Portage Glacier Visitor Center for lunch and a beautiful view of Portage Lake. Our last notable stop was at the Big Game Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and Safari Park, where we saw bears, caribou, a baby moose and a bunch of other animals.

By the time we made it in to Anchorage, we still had about 10 hours to kill (our flight didn't leave for Seattle until midnight). We left our bags with a private company for $22 (airlines only let you check in your bags up to four hours before departure) and took public transportation (People Mover) to check out downtown Anchorage! The city was very small with a lot of souvenir shops and restaurants everywhere. We walked throught Town Square Park, an Alaskan Mint, and a bunch of little stores. We ate dinner at Orso, a great Italian place on 5th and G street. The food was delicious and we were so stuffed at the end that we had to pass on dessert!

When we got back to the airport, we still had a few hours to go, so we just hung around and tried solving a Sudoku. We wouldn't make it home until 10 in the morning. And of course, what vacation would be complete without a lost piece of luggage? What's that you say? It already happened in Vancouver? Apparently, when it comes to Dave and travel, lightning can strike the same place twice. The same duffel that was left in Denver was left in Seattle this time. What are the odds? Fortunately, it would be delivered to our apartment the next day. But I really can't think of a more fitting way to end our vacation. We had a great time, saw lots of great sights, ate lots of great food, and thoroughly enjoyed our one-year anniversary-celebrating cruise. We can't wait until our next vacation!