After viewing Tracy Arms and all that beauty, we are due to arrive at Junea early afternoon.  It is amazing how many of the towns in Alaska can only be reached by boat or planes.

Shortly after arriving at Juneau, we met our excursion crew, and headed to Mendelson Glacier welcome center.

We were very close to the glacier, and how beautiful it is.  The Alaskan glaciers are thousands of years old, thus they must carry a great deal history within the layers of ice.  Some of our co travelers took a hike while we were there, and saw a brown bear. 

Next we headed to a nearby harbor, and boarded a catamaron.  We were going whale watching.  We were only out about 20 minutes when a humpback whale was spotted, so we drew near and turned off the engines to watch.  There happened to be a mother and baby humpback and they were really putting on a show. I guess the mother whale was trying to teach the baby how to act like a whale.  They jumped out of the water, did there turn, and came back down into the water with the beautiful tale going in last. We have learned how intelligent whales are, and wonder why we let people slaughter them for no reason for many years.  The waters were rough, which seems to be a favorite weather condition for whales which makes them very playful.  We watched them for about 20 minutes and marveled at how graceful they are in their jumps, turns and dives back into the water.  However the baby seemed to do a number of bellyflops.

  We moved on and then found a group of about 5 orca’s or killer whales.  Their antics were equally amusing and at one point they actually got very close the the boat.  We moved on and found another group of humpback whales which were bubble feeding.  This means that the whales get in a circular ring, and blow bubbles to the surface which traps the small shrimp and krills, so that they are confined to the inside of the bubbles.  The whales swoop up with their mouths open, catching the little fishes.  Now, isn’t that smart.  They were so beautiful that it kind of left us awestruck about these amazing creatures.  Apparently they eat about 1000 lbs of fish a day. Look what we have in common.  When we are on a cruise, we eat & eat & eat, and the whales each a great deal everyday. 
and then returned to the ship to eat another gourmet meal.  We are so moved by the amount of care the staff does to serve us perfect meals.’
We went to a late Broadway show, and it was wonderful.

We have learned a lot about Bald Eagles, which are plentiful in this area.  We are quite aware that they are birds of prey, and could rip us apart with their talons (claws).  And it happens that we encountered an Eagle while in Juneau, 
We were not afraid, because we are very brave.  We knew that if we were kind to the Eagle, she would not hurt us.  Here is the proof.

And the ship is now heading for Skagway.

What in the world are we doing up at 6:30 a.m.  Oh yes,  it’s time to bundle up and get ready to go to the observation deck to watch our trip through Tracy arms.

  It was most breathtakingly beautiful and well worth the early rise.  We sat on the observation deck until almost 9:00 a.m. and drank hot chocolate and took pictures.  Finally we approached Sawyer Glacier.

 Stunningly beatiful in it’s magnificance. We are told that a new record was set as the captain got quite close the to glacier.  There were many small ice break offs floating everywhere, and we were able to see some seals sitting on the ice, and slipping in the water.  I get cold just thinking about it, but it was exciting to watch. 

 When we came back inside, we watched one of the kitchen staff, carve an ice sculpture of a whale.    Wow, what an art.

We are now back at sea heading for Juneau. Here is Juneau, in a beautiful mountain cove.   We have an exciting excursion scheduled to come back and find out what the Venclauskas’s are doing in Alaska.

Up early today, to get breakfast, and then bundle up for our first excursion.  Ketchkan is a cute little harbor town in southern Alaska. 

  We had chosen the Misty Fyords Wilderness trip.  We boarded the catamaron and the excursion began. 

 The Fyords were majestic, beautifully surrounding the channel that our boat traveled.  The clouds were low in someplaces, and looked beautiful against the green, blue, purple and gold colors in the mountains.  This area is completely unspoiked and because of the frequent rainfall, it is gorgeously green.

 What a beautiful state. We found Ketchikan to be a cute novel town, with population around 14,000.  Most of the industry has to do with the cruise ships, and pier stores which are jewelry and souveniers (most of which are imports from China).  I think the harvesting of Salmon is also profitable for this city.  Well, back on board and we went to a lecture on whales.  Very informative, and I hope everyone I know will support the save the whale groups.  They are beautiful, intelligent mammals, who are monogamous with their mate through life.  There is no good reason to butcher them.  Another tidbit I learned today is that salmon are also monogamous with their mate, and do not choose another mate, unless theirs dies.

Michael & I are two of the bravest people you will ever meet.  Today we encountered a bear.  We treated him very kindly, and he did not bite us, or mall us.  Yes, we are so brave!!!!!

Saturday Aug. 13

Today is our first day at sea. Breakfast was delicious and we were off to hear the Naturest talk about the history, and traditions of Alaska.  His name is Brent, and he has made me fall in love with the Alaska that I haven’t even seen yet.  I will definitely try not to miss his lectures.  Michael tried to get into an iphone class, but it had filled too quickly.  I went to a watercolor class which I loved.  It’s been a long time since I painted, and it was fun and challenging.  Big lunch again, and boohoo, we both took a nap.  We missed the lecture on bears, but all his lectures are available on the big screen in our room.  Dinner was wonderful, and we are learning a few words to help us order our meals with some of the gourmet ingredients that we aren’t familiar with. We went to the later show, which was Broadway.  Wow, so much talent.  Definitely my cup of tea. It’s been a great day.

Friday    Aug. 12

Finally our cruise day has arrived.  It seemed like a lot of check points between Seattle and the cruise Ship, but we made it through without a hitch, and finally on board.

  Our Suite is lovely, being both roomy and attractive.  We were rewarded once on board with a great buffet lunch, and champagne chilling in our room.

Michael and Sharon love the balcony.

Sharon loves the balcony too

 We went to the new cruisers lectures, learned a lot, but the highlight was the welcome show in the theater.  The dancers and singers as well as the arealist were amazing.  Because we are in a suite, we were given a complimentary dinner at the US dining room.  Delicious lobster tail, steak, and more.  The attention was remarkable, and already I can see why people love to cruise so much.  It is truly a vecation, as you don’t have to do anything for yourself.  Our butler will be bringing us a new fruitbasket each day, and at 3:00 pm, he brings us hot tea, cookies, and mini sandwiches.  I absolutely love this. Maybe we will just decide to live on a cruise ship.

We made it to the airport and it was like Deja Vu as we traveled from Tallahassee to Atlanta.  We were in a little put put plane that seemed to be held together with fishing line that might break at any moment.  But we mae it, and then boarded a big sturdy plane that seemed somewhat safe.  For those of  you who know me well enough to know my flight anxiety, you will be impressed that I made it all the way to Seattle with no medication assitance.  Hurrah.  And I arrived at Seattle with a smile on my face. 

We had an amazing surprise as we approached Seattle, and saw out the window,  snow topped mountains peaking above the clouds.  It was awe inspiring. 

After arriving in Seattle, I thought since I had spent 5 hours flying 10,000 feet high, I could certainly ascend the Seattle Space Needle and so we did so. 

 The views were amazing, and we find Seattle to be a beautiful city.

Michael thinks the view is more masterful, when you eat a Mt. Ranier Chocolate Marshmellow Sunday on top of the Needle.

We took a monorail to see the famous Pike Market, which is like a huge flea market with many shops carrying a variety of items.  Fresh fish, flowers vegetablets, handicrafts, and more could be found throughout the market.

We have fallen in love with Seattle, and think it is a very beautiful city.  Tomorrows the big day, and we board the Cruise ship around noon for a spectacular adventure. 

Stay tuned for updates, when we are able to access the net.