Hoonah, Alaska

On Tuesday, May 28th we were in Hoonah, Alaska.

Hoonah was a small town with lots of character.  There were totem poles everywhere.

Dock

Ken got a beautiful shot of a bald eagle.

Tram to the other side of the island.

There were a lot of excursions from Hoonah for fishing and whale watching.  We had actually signed up for a whale watching excursion but cancelled it and went earlier in our cruise.  Boats take you out to Icy Strait Point.  

It was this night, at dinner, that Ken felt the first inklings that he might be getting sick.  

 

Glacier Bay National Park 2

On our return cruise, we went back to Glacier Bay National park and viewed the same glaciers.  We got to go in a little closer this time.  And we got to watch the glacier calf, which was so fun.  We also saw a bear on the shore.  It was a much sunnier day than when we were there a few days earlier.

 

Rainbow

We got to see this glacier calf.  That means a big chunk of it falls off and splashes in the water.  See, it's white, and then to the right it is black.  A big piece in the black part, just to the right of the white part fell off while we were watching.

You can see other chunks that have fallen.

Again, rangers came aboard and did commentary over the loudspeakers and television.  Ken went down to talk to one of the rangers, a bird expert, about a flock of birds he saw with some erratic behavior.  The ranger knew exactly what it was.  It was a common loon.  I took a picture from our balcony as they visited.

We were so glad we got to go back to this beautiful place.  It was a different experience the second time.  

Hubbard Glacier

 Sunday was another beautiful day of scenic cruising as we visited Hubbard Glacier.  I think it was this glacier that we saw calf when we went on an Alaskan cruise several years ago.

These pictures show the beauty of Alaska.

The sun was in the wrong place.  We were all ready for formal night dinner.

This picture of the water shows the beautiful color that the glaciers create by depositing sediment. 

This guy with his huge lens was often seen on the deck below us taking pictures.

So beautiful!

The Best of Sterling W Sill

 

The Best of Sterling W. Sill by Sterling W. Sill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sterling W Sill is one of my heroes. He memorized so many scriptures and poems that in his later life, when he was blind, he could speak for a long time with no notes, quoting one after the other. This book is a collection of short lectures on various subjects. There is a lot of food for thought and new ways of looking at things. What a brilliant man!

View all my reviews

Anchorage, Alaska

 Anchorage was the end of the cruise for many passengers and the start of the cruise for others.  Then there were ones like us who just stayed on the ship for the return trip back down to Vancouver.  Passengers who left boarded a train for Anchorage.  The same train brought many passengers back from Anchorage, many of whom were sick, we were soon to discover.

We docked at the Whittier cruise port.  Passengers are brought from Anchorage by train, so they all come at once.  That gives the crew time to clean the balconies.  We have never seen them open all of the walls between the decks.  I had to take pictures.

There is not much out there at Whittier, but the scenery is beautiful.

Here comes the train, bringing passengers for the second half of our cruise.

And now the second half of our cruise!

College Fjord

 In the evening on Friday, May 24th, we did some more scenic cruising of College Fjord.  It was very cold, but very beautiful.  We love the scenic cruising.  It's like a wonderful excursion that everyone gets to experience.  We enjoyed it from our balcony.

On this chunk of ice were two bald eagles.  You can see one took flight just as I took the picture.

The other one stayed firm as we floated by it.

Another glacier

There are five glaciers in this fjord.

Ken loved to stay out on our balcony watching for birds and other wildlife with his binoculars.  He is so patient.

Ken took these screenshots of the fjord on google earth.  The grey dot is our ship.