Alaska - Hurrah for Celebrity

Cruising to Alaska

Bob and Eugenia joined us in our cruise, it was a great time, we had two other table mates, Candy and Chuck but I can't seem to find their pictures.
Cruising is much better than driving, though we did not get to see some of the great sights like Denali National Park I think the great dining and balcony with greats views was a good trade-off.

Ketchikan -

We went sea kayaking in Ketchikan,yes the water was cold (48 deg), and had a great, if somewhat tiring time.  Orcas, seals, sea cucumbers and starfish where the sights of the day.  The Orca's where a bit away but clearly visible.  We figured the trip was a success when we returned relatively dry.

Glaciers

Captain Tasos tried to get us up the Tracy Arm Fjord but it was iced in, we took a side route to Dawes Glacier.  I saw some calving and lots of floating ice.  The glaciers are huge, there is not enough perspective to see that in the pictures.

This wall is about 110 feet high

Juneau 

Humpback whales abound here and we went on a boat trip to visit them, we even saw one do a full breach which was really exciting.  Sorry that the pictures are not worthwhile posting, it's reeeeeeally hard to get the camera shot when the boat is bouncing, people are shifting and you don't know when to press the shutter.  To top it all of while trying to set the exposure rate I deleted all the pictures on the chip.  (Most were recovered but a bit of panic there).

There is a whale in this picture.

Richard, another whale watcher on our cruise, and his son sent me a couple of awesome pics of the breach.  Very nice of him.  I think his son took the pic.  

But we did get to the Red Dog Saloon.  3 inches of sawdust on the floor and the beers were not cheap, but the music and ambiance (if you called stuffed assalopes ambiance) was nice.

Skagway

Helicopter to the Mead Glacier, the only way to go.  The pilots said that this week was the only week so far that allowed them to fly through the passes instead of just up the river to the glacier.  Awesome views.

Liz had a front seat, right next to the pilot, and took lots of great pics

We had a drink from here - cold, crisp and blue.

Liz is ready to explore the glacier in her blue puffy coat.

Victoria

Liz gets to check off another country

The seals looking for fish

A beautiful day for a walk in Victoria, British Columbia

A quick overnight to Seattle after a nice afternoon in Victoria