Ketchikan, Alaska and Victoria, British Columbia

Ketchikan was our last Alaskan stop on the cruise. Despite being one of the rainiest towns in Alaska, it was ultimately our sunniest destination.

The picture above is of Ketchikan's harbor. Below is a picture of Creek Street, which used to be Ketchikan's Red Light District. Now it is made up of tourist shops selling t-shirts, reindeer sausage, Native art and salmon. You can't see it in the picture, but the creek is literally teeming with salmon swimming upstream to spawn.

We took an early morning boat ride to the Misty Fjords National Monument, which is pretty much what it sounds like. It was beautiful.

I've included our trip to Victoria, British Columbia on this post because -- well, it just wasn't interesting enough to merit its own. For a while, I have wanted to travel to Vancouver Island (where Victoria is located) to visit Sooke Harbour House, an inn about an hour from Victoria whose restaurant is internationally renowned both for the quality of its food and its commitment to local ingredients. Almost all of the food served there is grown on Vancouver Island (much of it in Sooke Harbour House's kitchen garden), or caught in the waters nearby. Alas, our ship was only docked in Victoria for a short time, and a two-hour round-trip drive plus four-course meal was not in the cards. Instead, we took a leisurely horse-drawn trolley tour of the city. That's the legislative building, below.

We have now been back in California for a week and have settled back into real life. My fall semester begins tomorrow, so I am trying to get myself organized and mentally prepared for the new school year, which will be my last. I hope you've all enjoyed your summers and have interesting plans for the fall. We probably won't be up to much beyond work and school, but we'll try to keep you posted.