We got up early today to see everything. All I can say is AMAZING!! Not very many people can get to this National Park without being on a cruise ship, but it really is what makes the trip fantastic. We were sailing so close to the beautiful snow capped land on both sides of the boat. We saw otters off the side of the boat and spotted a few whales on our way in and out of the bay. Picture time!
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| Mountains on either side of the boat Entering Glacier Bay National Park a park ranger boarded our boat and did announcements while we cruised. You read that right. WHILE our boat was cruising the park service pulled up a boat alongside and with both boats moving a few rangers climbed a rope ladder onto our cruise ship. WOW!!! |
Here are the best pictures we could get of the glacier calving:
After the tour of Margerie Glacier, we went by 2 other glaciers, but didn't get as close. We did see a Grizzly Bear on the land coming down to fish the river. That was fun!
We exited Glacier Bay around 2:30, and then sailed on to Ketchikan. The rest of the ride was beautiful as well. What a day!!
Ryan had not been feeling well for the last 2 days, so since we were on the boat today I finally convinced him to go see the on board doctor. $250 later, we had antibiotics and mouth wash for strep throat in hand.....he started to feel better about a day later.
Day 5: July 6- Ketchikan Temp. 68 degrees (best weather of the trip so far, perfect for Kayaking)
Today was a short day in port so we booked an excursion. We were both really looking forward to it, and the weather decided to make it the PERFECT day for Kayaking! We got on the bus at 8:30am and drove through the cute town of Ketchikan to the spot where the Kayak would take us around Eagle Island.
We had a brief orientation, put on our life vests, and very gently.....I went first and just hoped Ryan wouldn't tip me into the water.....got into the boat and learned the ways of the Kayak. We had a small group with us, about 8 other Kayaks, and 2 guides. Try as I may, being in the front of the boat, I got Ryan wet with my paddle, which he kindly returned the favor to me, but it was so much fun! Paddling in the open waters was tricky against the breeze, and we had some waves come over the side, but we were smiling the whole time!
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| Practicing before we head out. Beautiful dock in Alaska behind us! |
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| Taking off....the view as we start out! |
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| Part of the group as we start out from the dock. |
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| Photo taken by the guide at Eagle Island. |
The bus took us back to the dock just in time to leave. We had lunch on the boat and spent the afternoon doing our favorite boat activity.....quiz shows. Teresa even got called up on stage to play a 2 min yes/no game. I almost made it......just 25 seconds left, then I said yes....ugh! Oh well!!!
Day 6- July 7 - Victoria Canada
So, Teresa had read the iternery wrong and thought we had all day in Victoria. Turns out we only had from 7pm- midnight there. Oops.....7pm is way different then 7am.
Anyway, the morning on the boat was just spent relaxing, packing up, eating....eating.....quiz shows.....eating....you know the drill.
Finally at 7pm we were allowed off the boat. We had paid for a bus to take us back and forth to town, so we got on and went into the center of Victoria. This was Ryan's first time out of the U.S. (besides Mexico), so he was excited!
We went and found a nice place for dinner along the water, then went into a local pub where there were bands playing. The town in general was beautiful, well kept, and full of people out for the night.
We got back to the boat around 11pm. We had to be up early the next morning to disembark .
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| The boat as we were getting back on board. |
We woke up already docked in Seattle. We had an early time to disembark, so like the rest of the boat, we got up and had some breakfast in the buffet. Our bags were being brought straight to the airport so we decided to go into Seattle until our flight (1:35pm). We went to the Pike's Place Market and then took a taxi to the airport.
Our flight ended up being overbooked, so we volunteered to give up our seats for a $1,000 travel voucher each!!! Can you believe it! All we did was get bumped to the flight that took off and hour later. So now we paid for our family to fly to Virginia this summer for the family reunion.
It was a GREAT trip! Coming back was hard...as it is with any great trip, but Ryan and I had a blast! Alaska is amazing and definitely a place we both want to go back to again!
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