Our vacation to Alaska was one of the most exhiliarating experiences of our lives.

We arrived in Vancouver a few days early for the "must" city tour (including Stanley Park), motor coach/ferry excursion through the isles to Victoria, and a drive to the mountain resort of Whistler.

We choose Holland-America's Ryndam, which travels one-way in seven days between Vancouver and Seward. Our port calls were Ketchikan (took a canoe rowing adventure on a mountain lake), Juneau (rented a car, visited Mendenhall Glacier and the island town of Douglas, and ordered the requisite glass of microbrew at the Alaska Bar), Sitka (successful whale-watching excursion in a small boat), Valdez (motor coach tour to glacier). Our glacier-peeping on the ship included Hubbard Glacier and College Fjiord. We had one day at sea. Ship was beautiful. A staff naturalist enhanced our knowledge of the topography and wildlife. Food was unexciting. More than half of the passengers were retirees.

From Seward, we spent a couple of nights each at the Westin Alyeska Prince Resort in Girdwood (at Alyeska Ski Area, a scenic 40 miles south of Anchorage) and two nights in a B&B on a mountainside overlooking Homer, Katchemak Bay, and assorted glaciers on the mountains beyond the bay. Many cruisers purchased a rail package from Anchorage to Denali National Park for a few days. Denali lies in our future.