During our cruise to Alaska we sailed from Vancouver to Ketchikan, Alaska's first city. Ketchikan is located on an island and began as a fishing camp. Ketchikan comes from a Tlingit Indian phrase meaning "eagle with spread-out wings" and refers to a waterfall near town. Truett and I spent most of our time on our balcony of the Princess ship photographing mountains, water, birds and other cruise ships. I liked this ship particularly because it was so colorful.
It even looks like it has lips.
While in Ketchikan we toured the dense forest of the Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary. We strolled through tall stands of hemlock, spruce and Alaska cedar. The whole time I kept my eyes open for a bear which the young tour guide said was a possibility. I did see a bear in a clearing but it ducked into the forest opposite us so I was unable to photograph it. You will find that many of my pictures will be of wildlife.
I was able to feed Reindeer and observed a totem pole carver at work.
Here is an injured eagle and Great Horned Owl living in the sanctuary. Eagles in Alaska are as common as cardinals in Florida.
The next day we headed on up the Inside Passage toward Juneau, Alaska's state capitol. Many people want to change the capitol to another city because there are no roads into Juneau. The only way to get there is by boat or plane.
Whale watching was one of our major events. I must have taken thirty pictures of whales, orcas and Stellar sea lions in all, but will only share a few.
The humpback whales were swimming shallow because the krill were near the surface. Many of my pictures show part of the whale's back, so I decided to show the tail since it's easily recognized as belonging to the whale.
The Stellar Sea Lions were so cute. Here is a photo of them huddled on a bouy to escape being eaten by the Orcas.
I do believe this is enough for one post so tomorrow we'll pick up with the Mendenhall Glacier and an original Alaska Salmon Bake. Yummy!
These are great photos. I know it must have been even more thrilling to see all of these things in person. Madeline took the pictures you gave her to school today and proudly showed them to her teachers and friends.
Posted by: merryjennifer | June 23, 2008 at 12:21 PM
These are wonderful photos. I can't wait to see more. I was afraid you would lose your sense of humor, but you didn't (ship with lips).
Posted by: Sherry | June 23, 2008 at 01:03 PM
Your photos are great. I'm anxious to see more and hear about your trip!
Posted by: tina | June 23, 2008 at 01:38 PM