Earlier this month, my family went to Vancouver and from there, went on a cruise through Alaska. Alaska is the largest state – and also the coldest state – in the United States. In fact, when Alaska became a state, it increased the size of the U.S. by one-fifth.
Dawes Glacier, Alaska
Our Alaskan cruise was seven days and stopped in ports in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, as well as Icy Strait Point, Skagway, and Ketchikan. We saw Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, which was spectacular. We also sailed through fjords, which are long, narrow, deep inlets of water connected to the sea which has been cut by glaciers. We sailed through the Endicott Arm fjord one afternoon, which is a near frozen waterway full of glowing blue ice. We saw a lot of ice, waterfalls, and wildlife, including sea life. We got to see Dawes Glacier, which is a giant glacier that is leftover from an even bigger ice block that formed the fjord centuries ago. Alaska is home to a lot of wildlife, like Bald Eagles, Salmon, Halibut, brown and black bears, moose, reindeer, bison, caribou and whales.
In Skagway, our family went hiking in a lovely forest, then went rafting and saw bald eagles. Bald eagles are much bigger in person and quite intimidating. We saw the adult eagles teaching their young how to catch fish. We learned that sometimes the young underestimate the weight of fish and are unable to fly, and die by drowning so it’s important to get lessons from the parents on how to catch fish.
Sailing through the icy fjords
In Ketchikan, we went salmon fishing, which was the highlight of the trip. The day started out cold and rainy, yet it was so much fun! My brother caught the largest fish, a huge silver salmon, which weighed in at 17 pounds. My Dad caught a smaller silver salmon. I caught an even smaller pink salmon, which my mom will cook the way my grandmother does – Japanese style – which is also the only way I’ll eat fish. It’s called shiojake, which basically means salted salmon, where the fish is salted and then pan fried. I’m sure there are more steps, but since I don’t know how to cook, I wrote the dummy way to do it.
My pink salmon
These were my favorite parts of the cruise.
Like the cooking comment.
Good men who want to survive in the world need to learn that skill!