8/6/2009 Takin' a Sea Cruise!

It was hard to lay in bed this morning. We were all anxious to get started because quite frankly, we were doing something really cool today.

We packed lunches because box lunches are, well, box lunches. They just aren't as good as what you get from home.

At 10 o'clock I downed Dramamine because I always do the seasick thing. I took one last night before bed and two this morning, I wasn't taking any chances.

We had to be down at the docks by eleven and we were there by 10:45. We had bought our tickets through Seward Army Resort and saved 20% off the going rate. Quite a savings to say the least as regular ticket prices are $136.00 each.

Today we are takin' a sea cruise through the Kenai Fjords a National Park here in Alaska.

We boarded the boat we'll be on the Coastal Explorer.

We changed places where we were going to sit several times. First, outside, then upstairs inside, then downstairs outside, then downstairs inside. We finally ended up downstairs, inside, first table so we had the front windows right in front of us and the doors to the deck just a step away. Truly, the best seats in the house boat.

The morning had started out cloudy and overcast but by the time we were ready to go blue skies were in abundance and the sun warm on our skin. We had thought we could have even worn shorts today. People were peeling off jackets and sweatshirts and it was just wonderful. It would be short lived, but we didn't know that then.

We're off on a six hour tour. It was like the clouds parted for us.

Well, let me tell you. It did not take long to put the sweatshirts and jackets and hoods and gloves back on once we got started. We were moving and it was cold! We were so thankful for our inside seats!

We're headin' out to the open seas and can see Bear Glacier in the distance.

It wasn't too long into the trip that we came to a huge pile of rocks and saw seals and sea lions taking naps.

Birds were certainly in abundance. We learned today that there really is no such thing as a seagull. There is the gull family and they live near the sea but no type is actually named a "seagull". We didn't know that.

Dianne, all bundled up, braving the elements. I took this from inside the warm cabin.

A natural "arch".

A glacier from a distance....

....up close and personal. This picture just does not give you a good idea of just how big this glacier is.

All of these glaciers are part of the Harding Ice Field. Three hundred acres of ICE!

Look how blue the glacier ice is, just breathtaking.

The water was like a sheet of glass, hardly a ripple, but I'm still glad I took the Dramamine, especially when other large boats passed us and we had to deal with wakes.

We passed these sea otters in the water. They were just floating around, passing the time, watching us looking at them.

Did you know that the sea otter has the softest fur of all? Its very dense at 1,000,000 hairs per INCH! Per inch!

This glacier, and darn I can't remember the name of it, we are going to see really up close.

Our Captain took us within a quarter of a mile of it but to tell you the truth it seemed we were much closer.

This glacier is about one mile wide, it goes five miles back from the waters edge and is up to one thousand feet deep in places....all ice.

And even closer yet. It was here the Captain cut the engines and told us to be quiet and listen.

Why is glacier ice blue? We heard that question alot today. It is so blue because the dense ice of the glacier absorbs every other color of the spectrum except blue--so blue is what we see!

One of deckhands took a net and scooped up a piece of glacier ice for us to see. Just as crystal clear as can be.

We looked to the right and saw lots of ice floating in the water.

Remember when I mentioned above that the boat captain told us to be quiet and listen? Well, you wouldn't believe the sounds we heard. Snaps, cracks and pops! It sounded like thunder, it sounded like gun shots and it sounded like rumbling. When you heard the sounds it was a sign to keep your eyes peeled and the cameras ready because the glacier was going to "calve". A chunk of it was going to fall off into the water. It may be just small pieces or it may be a very large section. We were lucky to see it happen and luckier even to capture it with the camera lens.

You should have heard the OOOHH's and AAAHH's. This truly was amazing to see.

Some scenery shots as we floated in the Gulf of Alaska.

Puffins in the wild. These birds can dive as deep as 200 feet for food. When skimming across the water they flap their wings rather than use their webbed feet to propel themselves.

We saw these birds called Murre. They resemble the penquin with their black and white bodies.

The only disappointment of the day was a lack of a picture of "whale tail". We saw juvenile whale off in the distance and went looking for two active adults based on tips from other boat captains but we couldn't find them.

Our view as we headed back to port.

This ship is being loaded with coal.

That was our sea cruise. I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we did!