Luggage all set out and we’re anxously awaiting tomorrow morning early to set out on our first cruise to Alaska!

At the airport waiting to go through TSA then board.

We’re in the pre-TSA line on the right . \240Non pre-TSA filling the rest of the room. \240First time experiencing the pre-TSA. \240It \240well worth every penny!

Annnnd we’re off! \240Heading to Seattle on the first leg of our journey where we’ll change planes and continue on to Anchorage.

In flight to Seattle we passed over some beautiful snow capped mountains. \240Little did we realize we would encounter many more when we landed. \240I think perhaps we were somewhere over Utah or Colorado.

Finally we landed in Anchorage! It was more beautiful than we imagined! \240This shot was taken from within the airport looking out at the mountains.

We’re on the bus that takes us an hour and a half to Whittier, AK where we will board our ship.

The bus had stopped, waiting to enter the one way tunnel that leads to Whittier and we were able to stretch our legs and view the beautiful mountains!

The tide was moving out as it does twice a day according to our bus guide. \240What looks like sand is actually silt, which our guid says if you step in it is like quick sand. \240You \240will sink.

Looking at the Chugach mouintains we encountered on our way to Whittier. \240They were beautiful!

Girdwood mouintains.

A glacier and a waterfall in the Girdwood mouintains.

I managed to capture an ice floe in Portgage Creek.

Waiting for the light to turn green so we can enter the tunnel.

Beautiful waterfall as we enter Whittier.

And finally we’re here at the cruise terminal, anxious to board ship. \240But first we have to go through more security, just like at the airport. \240Just as thourough but much quicker.

And there she awaits. The beautiful Norwegian Jade! One of the smallest ships in the Norwegian fleet.

Celebrating my wife’s birthday aboard the Jade!

Catching some fresh air on deck with family.

A beautiful waterfall as we’re leaving Whittier. \240Notice the time? \2408:13 P.M. and still daylight. \240The sun didn’t set until midnight and rose around 4:00 A.M.

We had cruised all night and awoke to rough seas and rain. \240The seas looked wicked, as the ship churns the water and you can see the turquoise and black colors of the sea.

By that afternoon the seas had died down with light showers every now and then. \240We started entering Yakutat Bay where you can see ice floes floating in the distance. \240Some spotted whales blowing. \240We saw a couple but not very well because they were off in a distance.

Some more shots of Hubbard Glacer. \240The sun began peeking through the clouds and it was dazzling to look at all the snow cover on the mountains!

People gathered at the bow, all bundled up to look at the glaciers.

Spectacular view of Hubbard Glacier! Giant wall of ice thousands of years old and beautiful to behold! \240You can see the different hues of blue as sunlight filters through the ice. \240We could hear at times the glacier “calving” as the glacier moves and makes an astonishing sound.

Sea lions sunning on the rocks near Hubbard Glacier. \240Even though we were a long way from them you could hear them barking and roaring. \240The sound carried across the water.

Not far from where the sea lions were sunning, my wife captured a picture of a bear resting in the grass. \240You have to blow the picture up to see it. \240It’s the dark object just to the right side, at the top of the small hill in the lower center of the picture.

A large cave near where the sea lions were. \240I wonder what creatures you might find in there? \240Maybe some gold?

Another spectacular view of Hubbard Glacier!

Well it’s Wednesday and we awoke to some rainy weather. \240We are at Icy Straight Point also known as Hoonah. \240We went to see the cannery where they used to can fish and salmon. \240We actually went to the village and walked around a bit. \240The population of Hoonah is around 800 people.

My wife posing on the beautiful trail leading up to the cannery. \240Bear sightings had been seen in the area.

We saw a lot of bald eagles in the area. \240Here’s one we caught perched in the harbor.

Unfortunately we didn’t see any Orca’s but here’s a statue of one at Icy Point Straight.

Thursday morning and we awoke in the port of Juneau, AK. \240Juneau is the state capital. \240Accessible only by air, or boat. \240Here we are viewing a waterfall from the melting snow atop this mountain.

Cold? \240Nah! \240Just right! \240This was the temperature through most of the trip until we got to Vancouver, Canada where it warmed up to the low 60’s.

Oh my! \240A bear in town! \240Haming it up in Juneau downtown while doing a little shopping. \240This afternoon we go on our whale watching excursion.

On the boat with our whale watching excursion and we spotted a humpback whale breaking the water.

Well a lot of cold wind and rain and we weren’t finding many whales, but we did find these sea lions hanging out on this bouy. \240Our luck was about to change though.

The sightings are starting to become more frequent as our boat captain guides us down this straight,

Eagles and sea birds swarming where a bunch of fish were. \240I was sure we would see a whale pop up feeding on the fish. \240Not here but soon after we would see many more sightings.

A pair of humpback whales putting on a show for us as they blow and show their tails!

Another pair of humpback whales off in the distance.

Our captain had just told us we had to turn around and go to port when we saw an adult humpback breach the water. Everybody was shouting and oooing and awwing, but before anyone on the boat could snap a picture or video, the whale had slipped back into the water. \240All I have of it is where it landed. \240You can see the trail it left behind. \240A memory i’ll always have in my mind but alas none to go back and see on video.

That afternoon in Juneau we viewed the Mendenhall Glacier. \240Simply beautiful!

Nugget falls as it comes rushing out near the Mendenhall glacier in Juneau.

We found these Lupinus Nootkatensis growing wild near the Mendenhall Glacier.

Look who we found…Sasquatch! \240Enjoyed shopping here in Skagway. \240We enjoyed this small town of about 1200.

A look st downtown Skagway.

A waterfall we encountered in Skagway.

Enjoyed seeing these crows come in close to people. \240I knelt down and had one pick a piece of bread out of my hands. \240I enjoyed Skagway the best of all the ports of calls we visited.

Saturday in Ketchikan. \240We spent th morning in town doing a little shopping the we headed back to the ship where we stayed the duration of our trip until we disembarked. \240It was raining pretty hard that morning but cleared up quite nicely that afternoon.

I didn’t take but this one picture of the interior of the ship, although i can say it was a beautiful ship. \240This was midship in the commons area. \240A favorite for entertaining and a meet up point.

Sunday was cruise day all day and night until we got to Vancouver. \240There were no ports to stop at. \240Sunday afternoon we had to get our belongings ready to disembark early Monday morning.

What a great cruise and great memories with family and friends, but sadly all good things must come to an end and thus on the evening of our last night we were able to catch a glimpse of the setting sun before it slipped behind the mountains.