Whales, a Glacier, and Hottubs

The first stop on the cruise was in Juneau, Alaska.  I was really looking forward to this day as we had planned on enjoying the all-day excursion.  Whale-watching in Auke Bay, salmon bake, Mendenhall Glacier.  Rob got up early and I joined him as we watched the scenery coming into port.

Our whale-watching excursion began with a bit of excitement when we spotted three Orca "killer" whales on the way to the salmon bake.  We were told that while humpback whale spottings are highly expected, only about 10% of these catamaran tours saw killer whales.  We were extremely lucky and the crew showed genuine excitement.

Lunch was served at the Orca Point Lodge located on Colt Island.  Across the way we could see Admiralty Island which is said to have the highest number of brown bears per square mile than any other place in the country.

After lunch, we saw several Bald Eagles simply hanging out in the trees or on the rocks.  Can you see the eagle in the photo to the left?

There was so much great stuff to see on this trip.  I enjoyed watching the Stellar sea lions play for a little while.

I think it was around this time that the memory card filled up on my camera.  Thankfully my friend Jean had recommended that I get a spare battery for my camera.  While I was at it, I purchased several extra memory cards.  I was able to switch it out quickly.

Good thing because it wasn't too long until we found a group of about seven Humpback Whales who were bubble feeding.  Rob got some great photos while I try to get as much as I could on video.  I haven't editing any of the video footage yet, but here are a couple of very nice pictures.

Next stop on our excursion was to the Mendenhall Glacier.  Rob and I were completely impressed with the beauty of the area.  We took a walk to Nugget Falls which was enormous, but dwarfed by the glacier itself.
 

It took me about 30 minutes to walk to Nugget Falls where you could feel the mist even from a distance.  It was really unbelievable how we lucked out on such glorious weather.

Rob and I took several photos.  As we began to walk back to bus, we realized that we were going to be cutting it close.  The bus driver had given us one hour to spend at the glacier.

Well, we missed the bus.  Fortunately, a bus driver from the same line who was there with a different group picked us up as "strays" and took us back to the ship.

It was so warm that Rob and I had left our fleeces on the original bus.  We figured that we may have just lost them permanently.  However, we even got those back after waiting at the dock for a little while.  After all these delays, we were over an hour late for dinner but our waiter served us anyways.

It really was an exciting day!!

I was exhausted and becoming very stiff from all of the walking during the afternoon.  In an attempt to counterbalance the spasticity which was attacking, I made use of the hottub onboard the ship.  I soaked those muscles into submission and went straight to bed as we would be in Skagway the next day.

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In Seattle for a Day, Kissing the Sidewalk
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Whales, a Glacier, and Hottubs
On the Rails in Skagway
Blue Ice and Still Waters
Victory in Victoria, British Columbia
Who Knew Washington Could be HOT!!