Alaska Vacation Photo Journal

For our summer vacation this year, we went on a cruise to Alaska with the rest of my family. My parents, sister and brother-in-law all went with us which was really nice. We went on Holland America's Westerdam ship which sailed from Seattle to Juneau, Glacier Bay National Park, Sitka, Ketchikan and Victoria.

The weather was really warm and sunny for most of the trip which felt really strange. I was expecting it to be much colder and rainy, but we ended up having gorgeous weather the whole time.

As for Alaska itself, it was absolutely breathtaking and like nowhere I've ever been before. It was so exciting to get so close to nature and wildlife and see animals in their natural environment. Overall, our trip was adventurous but also really relaxing and peaceful. The cruise moved at a slow pace which was nice and we had plenty of time at each of the ports to experience each city.

Of course we took tons of photos and wrote Gabriel's name whenever we had the chance to. Even though he couldn't be with us physically, he was definitely there in spirit.


Here is the photo journal of our Alaskan vacation:

Alaska
August 10  - August 17, 2013

SUNDAY:

On our first morning at sea, we woke up early to watch the sunrise from our balcony. It ended up being the only really good sunrise the entire trip. Most mornings it was just too foggy or cloudy to see anything.

About five minutes later, we watched the sun rise again as it peeked out from behind the mountains. 

MONDAY:

Our first port of call was Juneau, Alaska which was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The downtown area is mostly comprised of shops, bars and restaurants. 

We took the Mount Roberts Tramway 1800 feet up to the top of Mount Roberts. Once there we took the trail further up the mountain. It felt like we were standing on top of the world. 

There, we carved Gabriel's name in the wood of the ledge overlooking the port. 

Also, in Juneau, we had dinner at a local salmon bake which was held in this beautiful rainforest. About 100 feet from where we ate, we discovered this beautiful waterfall. 

We used a river rock to write Gabriel's name and then left it in the stream.

TUESDAY:

We spent the entire day at sea while the ship sailed around Glacier Bay National Park. We were blessed with an amazing view from our stateroom balcony. 

We stopped for about half an hour at Margerie Glacier which was spectacular. We got there just in time to witness an enormous piece of ice break away from the glacier and fall into the sea. 

This is a video my sister took of the glacier calving. 

WEDNESDAY:

Our next port of call was Sitka, Alaska. We pulled into the port very early in the morning and the weather was extremely cloudy and foggy. 

But by the time we got off the ship, it was hot and sunny. 

We had a little bit of time before our scheduled boat tour, so we decided to take a walk to Swan Lake, where we saw dozens of ducks (but no swans). 

Before leaving, we used stones to spell out Gabriel's name on the bank of the lake. 

Then we headed back to the port to meet up with my sister and brother-in-law. The four of us spent the remainder of our time in Sitka on a boat tour that took us around the islands where we saw sea otters, humpback whales and bald eagles.

THURSDAY:

Our final Alaskan port of call was Ketchikan where we took a guided hike through the Alaskan Rainforest Sanctuary and got our first glimpse of Alaskan rain. 

Most of the tour was learning about the plant life in the rainforest, but we were lucky to see a black bear catching salmon in a stream near the trail. 

I also spotted a purple cosmo just as we were leaving the rainforest... a little reminder that Gabriel is with us wherever we go :)

FRIDAY:

We spent the majority of our last day at sea sailing out of Alaska and into Canada. The sky was especially beautiful as we sailed down to Victoria. 

Before stopping in Victoria, we spelled out Gabriel's name on our balcony window as we passed by the coast of Washington. 

We ended up getting to Victoria later than expected due to stronger than expected headwinds. Because of the delay, it was dark by the time we got there so we only spent about an hour off the ship. 

We decided to go for a walk and ended up at Fisherman's Wharf.

SATURDAY:

Saturday morning, we had to disembark the ship in Seattle where we had boarded just one week prior. 

Even though the time went by way too quickly, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to visit such a beautiful and magical place. I hope that one day I'll be blessed to return to Alaska.

Italy Vacation Photo Journal

For those of you wondering how our vacation went, it wasn't nearly as bad (or sad) as I was expecting it to be.

The weather was freezing, but also very sunny and surprisingly there was no wind or snow, which is unusual especially during winter.

We were very busy the entire time as this trip was only 1 week long. We spent most of the time with family and friends in Genova, but one day we were able to go to Cinqueterre which was beautiful. Of course, the entire time I missed Gabriel and everywhere there were things that reminded me of him. I often found myself wishing he could have been there with us, but it made me feel better to do nice things to remember him.


Here is a photo journal of our vacation (specifically the parts that included Gabriel)... I apologize for the length but I'm kind of a picture fanatic.

Genova, Italy
December 6 - December 12, 2012

THURSDAY:

We arrived in Milan after 16 hours of traveling! (I've taken this trip so many times and it never gets any easier)

For fun, we drove to Como and were planning to spend the day there, but since we couldn't find anywhere to eat that was open and it was freezing, we ended up just walking around for about an hour.

Before we left, we wanted to write Gabriel's name some way. There were tons of autumn leaves on the ground so we decided to write his name on a leaf and then drop it into the lake. I really like to do things that symbolize that he has returned to the earth.

Then we went for a walk around the park and I just happened to notice a corner of the lake (Lake Como) where the water had receded, uncovering a small patch of sand. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited that I ran to find a stick so I could write Gabriel's name in the sand. (I'm a little obsessed with writing his name in the sand.)

FRIDAY:

We spent the day relaxing with Corrado's parents as we slowly acclimated to the time difference. We went downtown for some quick shopping and while there, we decided to go to San Lorenzo Cathedral and light a candle for Gabriel.

SATURDAY:

We had a small party with close friends and family in honor of Gabriel. It was held at a restaurant on the sea and everyone we invited came, so we ended up with a pretty big group of people. We had a "family style" lunch and for dessert we shared a cake that we made and also one that we bought (ours didn't turn out that great, so we brought a back-up.)

Gabriel's grandparents had the bakery write his name on top of a Sacher cake. It was really beautiful. Unfortunately I didn't take a very good picture.

After lunch, we gathered outside on the beach for a balloon release. We spelled out Gabriel's name using 7 balloons and a different person held each letter. It was so special to do something as a group to remember Gabriel. I'm so touched that everyone wanted to participate.

After taking a few photos, we released the balloons along with several others.

It was such a sweet surprise to see them drift out over the sea. Usually there is a strong wind that comes from the sea (and by usually, I mean always), but that afternoon it was so calm and the balloons were able to float freely over the water.

After everyone left, we stayed to watch the sunset. It had been such a gorgeous sunny day and watching the sunset was the perfect way to end the day.

SUNDAY:

We took the train to Cinqueterre. As soon as we got off the train in Monterosso, we crossed the street and unexpectedly discovered this beautiful beach.

We weren't planning to write names in the sand at this beach (originally we were going to go to Santa Margherita), but we figured it would be difficult to find a beach as perfect as this one, so we spent the next 30 minutes writing names in the sand.

It was such a lovely sunny day and the sea was so calm, I can't help but believe that Gabriel was there with us.

I really wish we could have written more names, but since we weren't planning on writing names at all, we were limited by time. Now that we know about this beach, I'd love to go back during our next trip and write more names.

After spending a couple hours in Monterosso, we took the train to the next town, Vernazza, which is my favorite of the 5 Cinqueterre towns. Isn't it beautiful?

We accidentally ended up climbing up to Castle Doria which was lucky for us. From Castle Doria (located at the top of the cliff), you can see the entire coast of Cinqueterre and the view of the sea is endless.

We thought that watching the sunset from up there would be gorgeous, but decided instead to go down to the beach.  Like most of the beaches in this part of Italy, it was covered in rocks (as you can see above).

We gathered a few white rocks and spelled out Gabriel's name and photographed it just as the sun was setting.

MONDAY:

We went to the cemetery to visit Corrado's grandfather, great-grandmother and high school friend. It took us awhile as the cemetery is huge (a little more than a square kilometer).

As we were walking around, we stumbled across the baby section. It was so heartbreaking to see the headstones of so many babies, especially the matching headstones of triplet babies who had just recently grew their angel wings. I imagined their parents coming to the cemetery to bury their 3 babies and I realized how deeply I knew that pain. As a BLM, it's impossible to not ache for all of the other babyloss parents out there missing their precious children.

Saying a special prayer for all the sweet angels buried at Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno.

TUESDAY:

We went to the local church near Corrado's parents' house in Genova. Inside, there is this beautiful altar and church members can light candles and leave small pictures of their deceased loved ones.

After Gabriel died, Corrado's parents added a photo of him next to the photo of Corrado's maternal grandfather. It's such a precious reminder that they are together in Heaven.

Before we left, we lit a small candle for Gabriel and his great-grandfather.

Then we walked down to the shore to see the sunset and since the sea was calm, we wrote Gabriel's name in the sand. (See, I'm obsessed!)

WEDNESDAY (our last day):

We spent our last evening in Genova at the beach. We thought it would be nice to write baby names on sea stones and photograph them at sunset. Again, I wish we could have written more names, but unfortunately it took awhile to photograph each name and before we knew it 2 hours had passed and the sun was gone.

We didn't have time to photograph Gabriel's sea stone, so I'm just going to share a couple pictures of the sunset.

We left all the stones on the shore as the tide was rising so that within a few hours they would be taken by the sea. 

Afterthoughts:Though I was anxious to go on this trip, I'm happy we went. This vacation made me realize how easy it is to find Gabriel in the beauty of the world. I think of him whenever I witness a glorious sunset, whenever a balloon floats up to the sky, and whenever the waves of the sea roar and calm. It doesn't matter where I am in the world, somehow, we always manage to find each other.<3 Gabriel <3