This year was a big year for me (Mark) as it is my 40th birthday. I was content to spend it at home with Amy and the girls with a simple day off (maybe a trip to WhiteWater) and a small celebration with a couple of friends, however, Amy had other ideas.

She had apparently been planning a surprise cruise to Alaska since last November. As a travel agent, she’s usually on top of some of the best travel deals and had found an amazing deal for an Alaskan Inside Passage cruise and booked it without telling anyone.

Amy had to let Grace in on the secret in February so that Grace wouldn’t be upset when she wasn’t signed up for an orchestra camp she usually attends in the summer, and the two of them enjoyed planning the trip and keeping the secret from the rest of us.

Working like thieves in the night, Amy and Grace put together an album as a present for me. This album includes photos from our 20 years together and all the trips we’ve taken as well as other highlights of the past. The final pages were how they announced that we were going on a bucket list trip to Alaska for my birthday.

Now that the rest of us were let in on the secret, we were able to plan and finalize our trip. 

We’d head from our home on the 5th of July to Seattle, WA, where we’d board the RCCL Explorer of the Seas for our cruise to the untamed frontier, exploring glaciers, the Klondike and some of the best that Canada and the Pacific North West have to offer.