Personal

More pics… many are from Glacier Bay but also a couple from Haines and Skagway.  A couple of the pics show calving, where bits of the glacier break off and fall into the sea. The eagle was seen at the America Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines. I’m shown eating a Klondike Doughboy and a shaved ice. The big hammer is at the Hammer Museum which has 2,127 different types of hammers on display (not counting the one out front). They have another 5,000 in storage.  

This evening we set sail to Juneau Alaska, our stop for tomorrow.

Of the 1200 or so pictures I’ve taken so far, this is probably my favorite. This was before we actually got to the glaciers. Click to enlarge.

Overnight we entered Glacier Bay Alaska.  We should have some awesome views today. 

  View from our balcony at the rear of the ship.   Click to enlarge.

The weather cleared up and we had a beautiful sunset.  It appears that there is a large ship right in front of the setting sun, but a zoom in reveals one large lonely cloud blocking the actual sunset.  Click images to enlarge.

It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day here on the Gulf of Alaska.  We’ll be at sea all day today and arrive in Glacier Bay Alaska early tomorrow morning. The skies are clearing and it’s currently 57°F (14°C) at 10:15 am.  The TV in our cabin also tells me we’re 264 miles into our trip out of Seward and the ocean depth here is 4,290 meters. We’re trying to get our sea-legs.  It sort of feels like I’ve had those 15 free drinks a day that I get, but I only had two yesterday.

Click image to enlarge.  Note: I think the ocean not being level is due to the panorama effect in the camera. I guess I was swaying a tad too much trying to stay upright.

And we’re off…

We had a 7:30 pm ‘All Aboard’ call and a mandatory 7:45 pm lifeboat drill.  Then at 8 pm, they untied the ship and we slowly backed out of the port and are on our way.

We had an overcast day and it apparently rained but I never saw it rain.  A view from our 8th deck balcony at the rear of the ship. Click smaller images to enlarge.

Sunset from our hotel balcony in Anchorage Friday night.  Click images to enlarge.

Our motor coach ride to Seward took about four and a half hours instead of the normal two and a half hours because our driver stopped several times for us to see things like the glaciers below.  Notice the melting trickle stream going down the mountain.  The glaciers have gotten smaller and smaller as the years go by.  One of many swans on one of the many lakes we passed on the way to Seward.

Tomorrow we board the cruise ship for a leisurely journey down to Vancouver British Columbia.

Friday we took the McKinley Explorer train on the Alaska Railroad from Denali to Anchorage.  It was a relaxing 8-hour ride complete with breakfast and lunch in the dining car. Today we’re taking a 2-hour bus ride to Seward. No excursions planned and we board our cruise ship tomorrow.  Click on smaller images to enlarge.