DAY 6 ALASKAN CRUISE

On day 6 of our cruise we sailed Glacier Bay. It was almost surreal. The blue water was slick as glass and the ship seem to glide across it. There were rivers of ice coming down the mountains to the sea. There was snow on the mountains, but it was not that cold in this protected place. We spent time sitting on our balcony, but most of the time we viewed this magical world from the deck of the Great Outdoors. We sat in the warm sun, drinking cappuccino, listening to sea birds waiting for the sound of the CRACK which indicates a possible caving of the glacier. We were lucky enough to catch a couple of very small caving's, but nothing like you see on National Geographic. There were pieces of ice floating all in the bay. They are called crumbles.

The colors of the glaciers are just amazing. White to blue to turquoise to grey to black.

As we were sailing out of Glacier Bay Jackie and Betty went to take a nap but I couldn't bare to miss anything. I sat in the Spinnaker Lounge at the front of the ship. It has big floor to ceiling windows with comfy chairs and couches all around. I sat almost dead center and almost felt if I were sailing the ship myself. We watched with binoculars and camera lens for whales and other signs of sea life. We were fortunate enough to see many sea birds, Otters lying in the water cracking open there treasures on the tummies, seals lounging on small islands that dotted the bay. We also saw 2 whales playing in the bay. They were too far away for the naked eye, but I saw them breach and blow dozens of times. Maybe they were courting. They were very active.

Here is my one shot of the whales. Don't know if there is any hope of blowing it up to see more. This is a pic of the Sea Lions on a small island. I will have to edit and crop it to get a better pic.

Otters are one of my faves. They are just so cute lying on their backs in the water and washing their faces and cracking open the crustaceans that have gathered. It was a great afternoon visiting with lots of other travelers (some were even from Austin). We talked about what we had done so far on our trip. you meet the nicest people when you travel.

That evening we dressed for dinner and went to the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is the Pearl's main dining room and much more upscale. The food was incredible. We were seated at a table by the window and watched the sun begin to set from our table. you know it never really sets this time of year in Alaska. After dinner we went back to our room. The movie that night was Twilight. I have seen it, but the Bells hadn't. I showered and went to bed. The Bells kept waking me from my "twilight" sleep to ask me questions about the movie. I told them it would spoil it for them and turned over. I melted into my comfy bed and slept right through everything else.

Hope you are enjoying this journey with me. I am reliving it all as I journal. I would go back in a heart beat. Wait till you see the pics of Ketchikan and the Aleutian Ballad. Ketchikan might have been my fave...hard to say though.