Livin' in a Lexus: Baked Alaska

After over 4000 miles on the road we decided to try something a little different, so we booked a last minute cruise to Alaska. One week later we found ourselves in a large stateroom (that's ship speak for VERY small hotel room) in the Aft or very back of the ship for you land lovers. Apparently these rooms are often available last minute because they are a long walk from the elevators. We suggest booking one...especially if you hit the Lido buffet as much as we do.

Our Veranda ( aka balcony ) was also a really good size and looked right out at the open ocean most all of the time. This was the ideal place to enjoy whale watching! We saw a lot of Orcas and a few Humpbacks as well. It was hard to tell because mostly we saw their backs, tails, and water spouts. We really got excited spotting a group of them and trying to get a good photo in the split second they were out of the water.

Bob also got some other great shots from our Veranda. Check out these cool jellyfish below.

The Highlight of the cruise was the trip through Tracy Arm to Sawyer Glacier. We were able to get closer than the captain had in ten years because the weather was so warm and the ice conditions were favorable. There really are no words to describe how beautiful this is. Even Bob's photos don't do it justice...but he did get some pretty good ones.

These first pictures are from the ship as it winds its way through the narrow passage to the glacier. The mountains were VERY close to us on both sides of the ship. It took over 5 hours to get through to the glacier and the scenery was breathtaking! A native Alaskan narrator was on the speaker system sharing some history and native customs and legends.

Below pictures are of the Sawyer Glacier. The blue ice is really incredibly beautiful!

We were able to watch some large chunks fall off the glacier and into the water. They call this calving. It is quite a site!

The black dots on the ice are sea lions. They hang out on the ice and look for fish.

The cruise to Sawyer Glacier was our favorite day at sea and Sitka was our favorite port. We walked from the ship to Totem Park and saw the Salmon Run. Literally thousands of Salmon jumping and swimming upstream and dozens of eagles circling above us waiting to dive down and grab some lunch.

We learned some fun facts about Bald eagles in Sitka. The young eagles don't get their white head and tail feathers until they are about 4 years old. The females are the hunters and the males raise the young. Males are not large enough to carry the fish as they weigh only about 9 lbs.

Sitka has a lot of native totem poles from the Tlingit people.

The Sheldon Jackson museum in Sitka has a very large collection of artifacts from Tlingit people who were indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. We love learning the history of the places we visit.

Ketchikan was a short stop but a fun town that we would like to spend more time in. We enjoyed Creek Street which is a former brothel area. Rich in history, sea lions, and local shopping this is a refreshing change from the Caribbean port shops that are right off the ship at most every stop we made. As you can see it is built over the water.

We saw this interesting cat like creature navigating below the shops. Anybody have a clue what this might be? The tail loks a bit like a bobcat but it is smaller than the ones we have seen.

This is Ketchikan closer to the ship. I love the homes in the foothills above the city.

Our last stop was Victoria Island, British Columbia. We had an evening stop off there and it was during their Busker Fest. Buskers are street performers. It was a whole lot of fun as they have some very talented people who do this full time for donations only.