Interesting tidbits

We found out some interesting things while on our cruise - so I thought I'd share!

1. When in Canadian waters- a Canadian captain must sail the ship. Here's a picture of that Canadian captain getting off once we hit US waters outside of Alaska.

This little boat pulls up to the BIG cruise ship, they open a door and he hops over to the other boat. CRAZY!










2. Daylight hours. In the summer- Alaska has super long days. There are even a few days in June when the sun is out all day long- seriously nuts! When we were there, the sun (grayness) would subside around 11:30pm and then come back about 3:45am. We didn't see much sun while we were there- just grayness. But it made for long days.

This is one of the only sunsets we saw- and it was 11:10pm when this picture was taken.






3. We also learned that the population per square mile is 1 and that Alaska (including permafrost areas) is three times the size of Texas. 87% of all towns have no roads going in or out....so all supplies are brought in via barge or airplane. And most travel is done the same the way.

Here is a supply barge- you see them all over the place. Gas in Alaska was almost $5.






4. Land prices in Alaska are definitely appreciating... Here is a picture of an island that is currently on the market for $30,000,000. No electricity, no water, no leveling- just an island full of trees...


It's only about 2 square miles too...crazy when you think all of Alaska (662,327 sq. miles) was bought for just $7 million.






This next tidbit isn't about Alaska- but happened on the cruise. About an hour after leaving port in Seattle- John and I were hanging out in our cabin we heard a 'code alpha at the pool' called over the intercom. It was only on hour into the vacation and there was a serious incident.
We came to find out a little boy had been swimming in pool, slipped hit his head and became unconscious in the pool. He had to be rescued from the pool and taken to the onboard clinic. He was then taken off the boat to a tiny island just over the Canadian border then airlifted back to Seattle. Here's a picture of him being offloaded from the ship.

His mother got off with him while the rest of his family stayed. He had some neck injuries aswell. He was in serious condition most of the cruise, but on the last day we were told he was downgraded to stable. Hopefully the little guy is doing well.