Tuesday Travels - Glacier Bay National Park

After three days of land excursions, we were all happy to have a day on the ship, relaxing and looking at glaciers.  There are several types of glaciers, but we saw mainly tidewater glaciers.

I'm not sure what this one was called...

The Park Rangers boarded the ship and set up shop.  We could purchase national park goodies and get our NP passports stamped.  One Ranger stayed in the Bridge and gave talks over a speaker about what we were seeing...sometimes it was hard to hear, but very interesting when you could.

The Margerie Glacier.  We spent about an hour or more here.  The ship would practically stop, and then after about thirty minutes it would rotate so the other side of the ship could have a great view.  This was a day you could sit on your balcony and enjoy the views.

Auntie and I ran back and forth, from side to side taking it all in...

They were just beautiful and fascinating to watch and hear.  They cracked and creaked and sometimes would calve into the sea.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture that experience.

Another one I'm not sure the name...Guess I wasn't paying too close of attention!  I'll have to research before making my scrapbook.

No straws for your drinks today...

The rangers leaving us...we still had an environmentalist on board who was giving lots of talks, so we were still learning!

Next week, College Fjord.

Tuesday Travels - Juneau

Our second Port was the capital of Juneau.  The day started out misty with a slight drizzle, but we were hopeful it would clear up later.  We had until 1:30 before our whale watching cruise, so we spent the morning walking around the town and shopping.

There were bald eagles hanging around, on structures, light posts, etc.  They were hard to photograph with my phone because they were some distance away.  The guides always told us to look for the "golf balls" in the trees...those would be the eagle head.

Day grew weary of shopping so mom threatened to drop him here.

He changed his attitude and was able to continue on with us :)

Our first stop on the whale watching was Orca Point Lodge for a salmon bake lunch...

These weird worms/caterpillars/insects were everywhere! 

After lunch, we were back on the boat and heading out to find whales.  We were looking for Orcas and the Humpback.  This is a humpback here.

A blow hole shot.  We learned that this was not water, but was in fact snot.  

Now there are two whales...one in front and the one behind is where the puff of snot is..

Here are both going for a dive...

Tail shot... 

This whale is named Flame.  She has a baby named Bunsen.  She gave us quite a show.  Auntie took a nice video you can watch below.

Click here to watch on YouTube

These photos are grainy because we were not super close to the whale...

Each tail is unique, like a fingerprint, so that is how you can tell the whales apart. 

Our last stop was Mendenhall Glacier.

There was a trail to the glacier and visitor center, so we decided to take that route..

Sockeye salmon in the river...

A count of what has been through the area so far...

Another bald eagle...

The glacier...

Well, there you have it.  Next weeks post, we will stop in Skagway...

Tuesday Travels

Oliver Update first: He is improving and much less painful!  The cultures came back and we are using the correct antibiotic, so we will continue for another 3 weeks, and then he will go in for a recheck.  I am still getting pus and "cheesey stuff" out of his chin when I comb, but he is tolerating for longer sessions and I can squeeze some if necessary to get the globs out.  I have a chlorhexadine pad to wash his chin with after each combing session, or whenever I think it needs to be cleaned.  Thanks for the continued purrs!

Now on to the real post...

So, I will post a few pics each Tuesday to showcase our trip to Alaska.  We did a Land-Cruise tour with Princess Cruises. This trip was to commemorate our parents 50th wedding anniversary.  It was our first family vacation, with all 4 of us, since I was in 9th grade, so about 13...over 30 years ago!

Here are my parents heading down the gateway to the plane.  This is mom's first airplane ride!  She was nervous, but made it with the help of her seat mates, dad and a preacher from Ghana holding her hands.

The family getting ready to board a bus to go to the port... 

Our cruise left from Vancouver.  I would like to visit this city more one day.

The family waiting to board the ship...we have made it through the Princess Check-in, and Immigration and Security.

Our rooms were be on the Dolphin Deck, near the back of the ship.  Two days prior to leaving we were upgraded to mini-suites.  Not sure why, but we will take it!

Here are some pictures of our room...sink and toilet...

Full tub and shower.  They provided bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash on the wall of the shower so you didn't have to waste so many small plastic bottles.

Looking out to the balcony...This couch would also fold out into a bed, if needed.

Two twin beds for me and Auntie.  Mom and Dad were next door.

Views of Vancouver from the balcony

Another cruise ship in the harbor

Where we would meet in the case of an emergency...

This was Princess Cruises 50th anniversary of traveling to Alaska. 

Our cruise left at 4pm, and then sailed the whole next day to reach Alaska, so we had plenty of time to explore the ship.  This is the main lobby area in the middle of the ship.  There are shops, the casino, several bars, and the customer service desks.

Auntie and I were glad to find our favorite slot machine...the Lobster game!

Mom found she enjoyed it as well...

Auntie did pretty good.  The game did not like me at all this time and took my money!  I finally switched to a Panther game with more success.

Dad (ball cap and red shirt) preferred the black jack tables.

There were many good cocktails and mocktails on board.  My favorite was the non-alcoholic Mojito, known as the Zero Mojito.

Next week, our first port of call - Ketchikan Alaska