Victoria, BC

Of all the places we stopped on the cruise, the one that I can say with 100% certainty that we will absolutely go back to is Victoria. We had the least amount of time here and still probably loved it the most. Because we had such a time crunch, we lined up to leave the boat before we had even docked, and we literally hit the ground running in order to catch a cab into the city. Unlike the Alaskan cities,  in order to get into town, you have a bit of a drive (or a really really long walk). Our first stop was Tim Hortons, obviously, and then we took in the sights downtown. The Parliament building is absolutely stunning, especially at night, and the rest of the city is beautiful too--it has a sort of European feel to it. Since Canada is a commonwealth country, and Victoria itself is named after Queen Victoria (there's even a statue of her in front of Parliament!), there were little nods to England all over the place. I was in heaven. Seriously, if I never get to live in England, I'll take moving to Victoria as a consolation prize and be very content with it. 

Ketchikan

Ketchikan is a trip! I really wish we had more time here; we packed so much into just a few hours. (So much so that I barely filmed anything, so the video is a little sparse. Yikes.) If Skagway is really proud of it's mining history,  Ketchikan is really proud of its native heritage--there are totem poles all throughout the town and an entire heritage center dedicated to them (in addition to the Ketchikan Indian Community Building). We spent the better part of an hour at the Totem Heritage Center, and it turns out I knew basically nothing about totem poles. Don't worry, I'm basically an expert now. :)

Not that Ketchikan doesn't have it's touristy areas;  Creek Street is about as touristy as it gets (even though it does have a fairly interesting history as the red light district), but it's all in good fun I suppose--especially since that area is so pretty! Ketchikan as a whole is an incredibly photogenic town, and the weather was practically perfect the day we were there. It was a great way to end our time in Alaska. Onward to Canada! 

Snow

The past couple years, I've really fallen in love with winter. I don't know if it's the fact that Kansas City tends to see more snow than Springfield (which has more of a tendency toward ice--yikes!) or if it's that, working for a school, there is the magical possibility of snow days. Whatever it is, winter has really grown on me, and it might be giving autumn a run for its money when it comes to my favorite season. It's not that I love the cold, but the cold does make certain things more enjoyable--like long hot baths and curling up with a blanket, a book, and a big cup of tea. Winter is kinda an introvert's heaven.  And really, doesn't everything look so much better coated in a thick blanket of fluffy white snow? 

The day we snapped these photos, we woke up to a winter wonderland, and I felt a little bit like a kid on Christmas--when you go to bed, the world is one way, and when you wake up, it's sort of magically transformed into something else. I always feel different too.  It's strange, the way something as simple as precipitation can change your whole mood, but I don't mind it--I think I'd love to wake up every morning and feel like I've stepped into a fresh start. Hopefully we have a few more weeks of winter weather left, and I'll take all the snowy mornings I can get (and all the snow days too)!

Juneau

If Skagway was a quaint little Alaskan town, Juneau was every bit a city (right down to the drunken man on the sidewalk yelling obscenities). In a lot of ways, it felt like it could have been any number of American cities, but there was still a definite Alaska feel. As I mentioned in my post about  Skagway, it was really important to me to find geniune local shops to support on our trip, so we started out strong with a visit to a coffee shop to get our bearings (and the best chai I have literally ever had). By far, my favorite shop was the post office--no, seriously! It was housed in an adorable shop called Kindred Post, and I could have spent all afternoon (and a serious hunk of cash) in there.