Beth Blair

Archive for the ‘Adventures’ Category

My family recently cruised through Wisconsin during our travels to the East Coast. Along the way we came across this random pink elephant with black geek glasses next to a gas station somewhere in the middle of the state. We had to stop a check him out. Here are a couple of the photos my husband and I shot of our kids and this random Wisconsin elephant…

Amongst the numerous highlights of my Alaskan Princess Cruisetour this summer our summit flight around Mount McKinley was indeed one of the more memorable experiences. Flying around this massive mountain was humbling, especially when I felt I could reach out and touch the snow resting on the peaks, only to discover the plane was still at least two miles away.

View from Denali National Park – looks like a cloud

Talkeetna Aero Services

Pre-Flight

From a distance

Oxygen

Getting Closer

Summit

14ers Camp (14,000 feet climber base)

14ers Camp

Returning

After the flight

The other side of the mountain: View from Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge

“I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean“

This is one of my favorite lines in Lee Ann Womack’s song I Hope You Dance. Every time I visit the ocean I feel so free and relaxed and indeed “small.” Here are some of my favorite beach and ocean photos from my recent travels. It never ceases to amaze me how no two photos ever look the same, even of the same ocean.

Fort Bragg, California

Puerto Rico – San Juan Marriott

Grace Bay, Turks and Caicos – Ocean Club West -

Huntington Beach, California

Kauai, Hawaii

Mendocino, California

This past week has been filled with some of the most spectacular scenery. My mom and I are being hosted on Princess Cruises Alaskan Cruisetour and we’re posting about our experiences on Twitter. This is my first time on a cruise and to visit Alaska. The days have been full of delicious culinary delights, especially halibut and salmon, and we’ve been on some pretty incredible excursions. We took a ride in a helicopter and landed on Yenert Glacier and took a scenic summit flight around Mt. McKinley. The next day we went ATVing in Sunshine, Alaska through trails lined with ferns and Alaskan Roses. It has been pretty remarkable to see Alaska from so many different perspectives. Here are few of my favorite shots.

Ready. Set. Go! Today I’m on my way to Alaska for the Princess Cruises Twitter Cruisetour. My family is staying behind with my (brave) inlaws, but you can be certain I’m going to be scouting for family-friendly adventures for next time when they will accompany me. In the meantime, I’m hoping the weather is appropriate for all of the exciting excursions my mom and I plan to partake in. Rumor has it Alaska weather is extremely versatile and rain tends to make frequent appearances. I’m happy to have found the perfect London Fog hooded raincoat for my adventure (thank you Sam’s Club).

Here are the land and shore excursions we selected:

Land:

• Denali Glacier Landing by Helicopter
• Mt. McKinley Glacier Landing by Plane
• Black Bear ATV Adventure

Shore:

• Alaska Sled Dog and Musher’s Camp in Skagway
• Whale Watching and Salmon Bake in Juneau
• Rainforest Canopy and Zipline Expedition in Ketchikan

Follow along on our Alaska adventure at: http://twitter.com/BethBlair

Follow everyone in our group by searching Twitter for: #FollowMeAtSea.

Blog posts to come on The Vacation Gals.

I’m extremely excited to announce that I’ve been invited to partake in the Princess Cruises Twitter Cruisetour June 15-26 along with several other travel bloggers and their guests. This 11-day Princess Cruises excursion starts off in Fairbanks, Alaska. We (my mom is joining me) then journey through Alaska, staying at three Princess’ wilderness lodges: Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge, Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. We have the opportunity to partake in various land excursions and ride on the Princess Rail.

After our days on land we will set sail on the Coral Princess for our seven days at sea which includes viewing Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay National Park and ports Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Vancouver, Canada.

I’ve booked our land and hore excursions which was no easy decision for this adventurer: Alaska Sled Dog and Musher’s Camp in Skagway, Whale Watching and Salmon Bake in Juneau and Rainforest Canopy and Zipline Expedition in Ketchikan. As for our land excursions, it looks like a Glacier Landing by flight and helicopter is in our future and an ATV adventure!

Here’s a glimpse of our daily itinerary:

4-Day Land Tour

Tuesday, 6/15  Arrive Fairbanks; overnight at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge

Wednesday, 6/16 Depart for Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

Thursday, 6/17  Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

Friday, 6/18  Depart for Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Saturday, 6/19 Depart for Coral Princess

7-day Cruise Aboard Coral Princess

Saturday, 6/19   Anchorage (Whittier)

Sunday, 6/20   Hubbard Glacier

Monday, 6/21   Glacier Bay National Park

Tuesday, 6/22   Skagway

Wednesday, 6/23  Juneau

Thursday, 6/24   Ketchikan

Friday, 6/25   Inside Passage (scenic cruising)

Saturday, 6/26   Vancouver (Head home)

I’m  looking forward to learning about cruising and passing along my discoveries to my readers and followers – and taking photos!

Wish to follow along?

Follow me at: http://twitter.com/BethBlair

Follow everyone in our group by searching: #FollowMeAtSea.

I will also be vlogging and writing blog posts from sea and posting here on BethBlair.com and on TheVacationGals.com.

See you at sea!

Amelia Earhart was one of my childhood heroines. I loved reading about her adventures and found her passion and zeal for flying inspiring; therefore, it’s no surprise that before I became a travel writer my time was spent in the sky as a flight attendant. Over the years I thought it would be interesting to learn to fly the plane and, even better, get a private pilots license, but I never enrolled in lessons. However, my interest has piqued again -  I had my first flying lesson! In March 2010 I had the opportunity to take a discovery flight with the Let’s Go Flying! program which was created by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The flight was one of my most memorable experiences as I was able to taxi, take-off and fly the Cessna 172 myself!

I know flying seems like a far-fetched dream for some people but the Let’s Go Flying program really is a great way for future pilots to get a sample of flying, learn some terminology and fall in love with the adventure – because after you do it once, it’s very likely you will want to return.

You can read more about my flying experience on The Vacation Gals.

Thank you for stopping by my *new* personal website: BethBlair.com. While I’ve been writing for nine years, I’ve been in the blogging world for almost four. I’ve contributed to mostly travel, culinary and parenting blogs and currently own TheVacationGals.com and TheSpaGals.com with two other writers.

BethBlair.com is a place for you to learn about me and find links to my work. The blog is where I will share my personal news, announcements and latest endeavors. I always have something fun in the works so check back frequently. If you have a project, assignment, sponsorship or spokesperson opportunity that you think is right for me please see the Contact page for my information.