June 20 thru 23 - Mostly ailing

 On Friday, our ship called on Ketchikan. It was unusually sunny for one of the rainiest towns in the USA. We were staying on the ship again. Leon was feeling worse with the beginnings of a nasty cough. We enjoyed various parts of the ship throughout the day. Leon ate nearly nothing and was just not himself. He went to bed early while I went back up to Deck 9 to look for wildlife. 

We were travelling through narrow passages at this point, so the likelihood of seeing wildlife was greatly increased. As soon as I got to Deck 9, I spotted a whale. She blew 2 times then went down for a dive. Not long after, I saw another whale doing the same thing, but this time we were close enough that I could see the pattern on her tail as she dove. It was really exciting, but nearly as much fun as if Leon had been there to see it with me. As I was looking at the water, I noticed a strange splashing pattern that caught my attention. When we passed the pattern, I was able to see that it was Dall's porpoises swimming/jumping very near the ship. Boy, were they fast! I stayed for at least another hour trying to see more, but the great sightings I had in the first 15 minutes was all there was. I went to bed afterward, noticing that my eyes seemed to be watering. I hoped I wasn't getting sick.

On Saturday, we both slept in until 10am - highly unusual for us both. I suspected I may be getting sick, but I still felt mostly fine. Leon was really sick by this point, barely getting out of bed. When we went to breakfast, he ate very little and then went straight back to bed. I spent much of the day looking for wildlife from Deck 9 and playing my NYT games and puzzles.

It was clear that I needed to all the packing, so I worked on that so we could get our bags out into the hallway that evening for them to taken off the ship. Leon's cough sounded terrible and he could barely speak without it sending him into another coughing fit. He also was weak and fatigued. I turned in, wondering how we were going to manage all of the moving around we were going to have to do tomorrow if Leon was still bad off (none of the bags we brought rolled, so everything had to be carried).

On Sunday morning, Leon was weak as water. He couldn't stand long enough to brush his teeth and shave. It was clear that we were going to need help getting off the ship and back to our car at the airport. The staff were very helpful in helping us. We had to get to a lounge on Deck 2, and then he would be taken off the ship in a wheelchair. Disembarkation was really easy this way (we didn't have to go through the labyrinth of the line getting off the ship; we were allowed to exit directly).

I wasn't sure what would happen once we got to the cruise port, but they had it all laid out for him to transfer to another wheelchair once I had collected our luggage. We also got a porter to handle the bags. Again, we didn't have to wait in line with all of the able-bodied folks, so we were in a taxi in about 3 minutes of stepping out/wheeling out to the taxi line. I was so relieved; while not feeling truly sick at this point, I could tell I wasn't feeling my best and I was worried about Leon.

Our taxi driver delivered right to our car, which we loaded up quickly. I had reached out to our VRBO host to see if we could get an early check-in, but there were still other guests there and the place had to be cleaned. We had about 4 hours to kill before we could check in.

I drove us to Stanley Park and we toured it by car; the day was overcast, so it wasn't the prettiest we had seen while in Vancouver on other trips. Then I took us across the Lionsgate Bridge. We toured a bit on that side on the water, stopped for very disappointing pizza slices, but at that point it was just about getting something into Leon to keep him going. Traffic was heavy everywhere we went, so it took us 45 minutes to go 8 miles. We stopped at the store to get breakfast for next few days and then went to our VRBO.

The place was a perfect little suite with a comfortable bed - Leon went straight there while unloaded our bags. Later, I walked a few blocks to Main Street, where I got Vietnamese Pho to go. Leon only managed to drink a protein drink we had picked up for him. I binge watched a detective mystery on Netflix so I didn't go to bed until 1 am - still feeling ok, but my eyes were still watering.

We woke up at 10am the next morning - very late again. I could tell I wasn't feeling well by this time, though I didn't have the congestion or cough that was plaguing Leon. Mostly I was really fatigued and was achy. We ate a small breakfast and then went straight back to bed. In fact, I slept most of the day, with Leon mostly resting in bed. We got out around 2 to walk to a nearby place for lunch. Ramen suited us both and Leon ate the most he had in several days. The little walk took it out of both of us, so we returned to our flat and went back to bed. 

Around 6:30, Leon realized that he needed more Nyquil. I was feeling better, so I decided to walk the .5 miles to the drugstore. By the time I got back, I was tired again. We watched TV, Leon turning in around 10 and me going to bed around 12.

June 19 - Juneau and King Crab!

Thursday we called on Juneau, Alaska's capital. Sailing in, we passed through a fairly narrow channel and there are great views of waterfalls coming down the mountainsides. Leon rose early by himself (I didn't even know that he had gotten up, which is quite something considering how small our cabin is) to try to catch the sights. Unfortunately, he was about 5 minutes too late. He let me sleep in until 8:30, then we went for breakfast in the Lido. By the time we got there, most other folks had gone ashore, so it was nice and quiet. Unbeknownst to me, I dropped my earbuds. I realized it later when we were sitting on the pool deck, but I couldn't locate them after retracing my steps. We checked with Guests Services (on deck 1; we were hanging out of deck 9) just about an hour later - and they had them! I couldn't believe that I was able to get them back so easily. This is one small example of how efficient and attentive the service is on HAL ships.

After breakfast, Leon did a spa cycle and I enjoyed quiet time on the Lido pool deck. Around 11:30 we got off the ship to get the King crab that I had been anticipating. Since I was a kid, crab legs have been one of my most favorite special things to eat. Then I developed a crustacean allergy and thought I would never be able to have crab again. I am so grateful that I heeded the advice of family and friends to get re-tested to see if the allergy had gone away! I ordered 1 pound of crab legs, and thankfully it came with a bib! They were absolutely delicious!!! 

Leon enjoyed some crab cakes while I hollowed out every last bit of the crab from this cluster. Then we toured around the waterfront before reboarding the ship. 

By this time, it was about 1pm, so we did a spa cycle (I really just relaxed on the heated tile loungers since I didn't want to get wet).

The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed the ship, spending time in a few lounges.

As we pulled away from Juneau around 5:00 we made sure to catch the fantastic waterfalls just a few miles from town. They were majestic as always, falling over 1,000 feet down the steep sides of the mountains near the shore. We considered an earlier dinner in the Lido but that didn't look good. We were pleased that they were able to seat us in the early seating in dining room in the same section as our normal waiter. We pursued the early seating so we could be on wildlife watch around 7:30 when we were supposed go through whale-filled waters.

Dinner was very good with Leon getting the tenderloin and I had an Indonesian dish that was really delicious. The highlight for me was the Lindt Chocolate Tulip for dessert (basically chocolate ganache in the form of a simple tulip), making this a hall of fame eating day with the king crab legs and tulip dessert.

After dinner we headed to the Lido pool deck, our current favorite place to watch for wildlife. However, we didn't see any whales that this time. The seas were pretty choppy making it difficult to see much. We headed to the Crow's Nest for a game of battleship. Leon won, but then we realized I had only 4 ships to sink and Leon had all 5 - so not a fair battle.

We continued our wildlife watching from there and soon after saw a fantastic sight. A humpback whale very close to ship clearly as happy to see us as we were to see him. He turned on his side and slapped his flippers over and over again, in a clear effort to get our attention and be seen. The officer of the watch even announced his presence.

After this, we continued to see whales, but farther away. We saw what appeared to be a juvenile humpback breaching but only getting half his body out of the water. He did this a few times. 

Leon retired early because he is once again getting sick (and he refuses to acknowledge the strong correlation with his frequent use of the steam room). I stayed up to research Vancouver things to do. We couldn't get to sleep early because the band was playing late right under our room. The seas have been exceptionally calm, so we didn't feel any movement over the last few days. We had a good night's sleep.

June 18 - Our quiet day on board

Wednesday our ship called on Skagway, but since we have visited Skagway a number of times (including 2 weeks ago), we decided to have a day on board while most of the rest of the went ashore.

We have been sleeping in late most days because our room is nice and dark. This morning was no exception, staying in bed until 8:45. We enjoyed a quiet breakfast in the Lido Market, then a cycle in the thermal spa. After that, we got our computers and caught up on the blog, made phone calls (Mom's birthday was on the 17th and Ellie's is the 18th), and I did my NYT puzzles.

We ate lunch in the Lido - I finally got to try shrimp crackers (love them). I worked on the blog more in the afternoon and we eventually got ready for dinner in the dining room. Since we hadn't taken any pictures during the day, we got one of us at dinner, and then another from the back of the boat as we sailed away from Skagway as the sun started to go down.

After dinner, we enjoyed the premier of a new dance show in the main theater; it was based on ballroom or pairs dancing. The dancers brought a lot of energy to it - we sat on the front row and we could see the sweat pouring off the male dancers especially. We strolled around the ship some, then turned in.

June 17 - Glacier Bay + Lots of Whales!

While we had planned to get up about 7:15, I woke up extra early at 6am. We decided to get up to see if we could catch a view of Mount Fairweather as we sailed by prior to our entrance to Glacier Bay. Unfortunately, we were too late since we had passed it a few hours earlier. Nevertheless, we used the extra time to enjoy the exceptionally clear views as we headed toward Glacier Bay. The weather was simply amazing and highly unusual for this area - warmer than usual and quite clear.

We were able to enjoy a quiet early breakfast in the Lido and then started our wildlife and landscape watching in earnest. We spent the entire day doing this from various vantage points on the ship but found ourselves really enjoying the vantage point that Deck 9, the Lido pool deck, provided. The day did not disappoint! 

The landscapes were unlike we have been able to see in the past.

Normally a low cloud deck limits visibility into the hills and lower

mountains directly adjacent to the bay. Today, however, we could see far

into the distance when the valleys and lower mountains would allow it.

Many of the distant views were reminiscent of Lord of the Rings views, with

lower mountains or valleys in the near ground and taller, completely snow-

covered mountains in the distance. We took pictures, but they can’t convey

the impact of the views we had all day.

The true highlights though were the whales. One or both of us were on

 whale watch all day and we saw spouts from no fewer than 25 humpback

 whales and saw bodies of most of these as they surfaced, arched, and

 often showed their tails as they dove down to feed. We had three great

 “sessions” of whale watching and even added to these with a few more

 views at other times of day.

The first session was just 5 miles or so into the bay on the starboard side

 before we got to the first large island on our left. Leon remembered seeing

 them here in the past and sure enough, they were here again. We likely

 saw 6-8 here plus the highlight of the day, a full breach from a humpback

 followed by two prominent fin slaps on the surface. This was an

 unforgettable sight!

Our next session was the same spot as we left the bay in the afternoon.

 Sure enough, we saw 8-10 whales in this area again, including a partial

 breach likely from a juvenile who couldn’t get enough speed to fully leave

 the water.

Finally, Leon remembered where we had a great whale watching session

 just outside of Glacier Bay back in 2019 or so. Sure enough, many whale

 watching boats were in the area and we got another show. The highlight

 was a big tail slap Leon caught from the initial showing of a whale, quite

 close to the bow when we were in the Crow’s Nest. He showed a few more

 times, plus another 8-10 whales could be seen, mostly in the distance.

We saw lots of sea otters too, but the humpbacks were the true highlight of

 the day.

For lunch we enjoyed the Pinnacle Grill as we approached Marjorie Glacier.

 The entire experience was incredible as we had a thoroughly enjoyable

 meal where we shared three appetizers and then both had the tenderloin

 and key lime pie. The ship slowly spun around so we both had decent

 views.

After lunch Haley had an extended nap and Leon did a spa cycle, even

 catching a whale from the relaxation chair.

Dinner that evening was good as well. Haley had another salmon dish

 while Leon had short rib stroganoff. After dinner we enjoyed a Ray Charles

 tribute singer, followed by a stunning sunset directly in front of us around

 10:15 pm. We mostly watched that from the Crow’s Nest since it was

 directly ahead of us.

All in all, a truly memorable day of our trip.

June 16 - Hubbard Glacier

On the first full day of the cruise, we were set to tour Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in North America, with an exposed face that spans 7 miles. We had visited this glacier a few years ago on a Celebrity cruise and were thrilled with the calving that we got to witness on that cruise. We were excited at the prospect of getting to witness this again. Since we weren't going to approach the glacier until mid-afternoon, we decided to have a leisurely morning. We ate breakfast in the dining room (table service), rather than endure the Lido buffet on a sea day. Afterward, Leon did his usual thermal spa rotation while I read my book. We ate an early lunch in the Lido Market buffet, hoping to avoid worst of the crowds. We had noticed that most of the folks on this cruise were first-time cruisers, which meant that folks seemed generally lost and/or unsure of where they were going. No shame in that- we have been there, too. It just makes for a more challenging environment when you know exactly where you are going.

We were blessed with exceptionally calm seas while we were in the Gulf of Alaska (open ocean), making the lack of non-drowsy motion sickness medicine inconsequential. The skies had a fairly thin cloud deck, so we were hopeful we would get a good view of the high mountains on the way to the glacier.

To get a good view of both the glacier and any sea life in the water, we decided to stake out on Deck 3, which has a walking promenade that goes completely around the ship. There are padded wooden deck loungers on this deck, too, but they are up against the ship, meaning that it would be easy for people to block the view if they walk by or stop at the railing to look out. To solve this problem, Leon had the ingenious idea of pulling the loungers to edge of the railing so we would have an unobstructed view. Between that, the layers were wearing and the wool blankets they provided, we were all ready to be outside for hours while we watched the scenery.

The view from my snuggly perch

Sometimes Leon is a genius

We were sitting in our chairs, wondering if the staff was going to ask us to move the chairs back (they didn't), when we noticed other folks doing the same thing - we are officially trendsetters! 

I enjoyed a hot coffee and Leon had a burger while we took in the sights - we spotted several sea lions, sea otters and seals.

Even with the hazy/foggy conditions, the mountains were beautiful!

To our disappointment, the sea ice was quite heavy, keeping the ship from getting close to glacier. We got a view of part of the glacier from our side of the ship and waited to see the full glacier as the ship did a 360 degree. We were dismayed when the ship got to 180 and then started moving out of the bay! Very disappointing, to say the least.

Hubbard Glacier as seen from the side of the ship. We are quite a long way away from the face.

Our fleeting glimpse of the glacier as the ship sped away far too soon.

After that, we went indoors for Leon to enjoy the spa and for me to read my book. Later we dined in the dining room. Since it was "dressy" night, the menu was a bit fancier than on other nights. Leon had lamb chops and I had lemon cream salmon pasta - the highlights for me were really the appetizers: escargot and jumbo shrimp cocktail. I am definitely making up for lost time by eating shrimp at every available opportunity!

After dinner, we attended the dance show in the main theater and turned in around 10.

June 15 - Cruise On!

Neither of us slept well last night (or all week) so we were up earlyish and finished our packing to get ready to go. The lack of darkness plus the street noise adversely affected our sleep all week (there isn't any central AC in Alaska, so you have to keep your windows open when it gets warm or sunny). Since I had done all of my packing the previous evening and Leon can pack really quickly, we had a leisurely morning and we left a bit earlier than we had planned.

We had to do a few things on our way out of town - gas up the 

car before returning it and find some non-drowsy motion 

sickness medicine for me. Gas was easy enough to find but 

medicine could not be found, so we prayed for smoother 

sailing on the open ocean than we had on the last cruise.

We returned our Turo car without incident and the Lyft I 

ordered arrived promptly - it was a BMW iX (an EV). We

hadn't ridden in one of these, so this was an unexpected

treat. We were needed to meet our bus that would take us

back to Whittier to get on the cruise ship. There were places

all around town (mostly hotels) that the bus picked up from. 

Leon had selected a hotel that was a stone's throw from a 

buffet restaurant - Golden Corral, or as I have dubbed it 

Golden Trough. This was easily the worst meal of our trip. I 

won't delve into more than to say that I was very ready to get 

out of there as soon as possible.  At least it was an easy walk

from there to our pick-up point to board the bus, which

was important since we were carrying our own bags.

 

We were picked up by a smaller bus that was making the 

the rounds to the various hotels and then took us to the airport 

to board the large bus taking us the 2 hours to Whittier. 

One last shot of Turnagain Arm taken from the bus.

While the bus was comfortable, being brand new, the ride

wasn't so pleasant for Leon. Our driver to Whittier felt

compelled to narrate the entire time, believing himself to be

entertaining and funny. He was neither. I had my earbuds, so I

was able to listen to music to drown out the narration. Leon 

had packed his earbuds in the luggage that was stored below, 

so he had to suffer through the entire ride. The only wildlife we 

saw were a few bald eagles.

 

When we arrived at the port, we decided to board the ship

directly instead of walking around Whittier which we had

considered. We had a bite to eat in the Lido buffet and then

walked around the ship awhile before we settled in the

library. I picked out Jack London's Call of the Wild to read 

since it is set during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897.

We made it back to our room which was as expected (inside

room, no free upgrade this cruise), unpacked, and Leon did a

spa cycle while I did some more reading before dinner. We

debated a few dinner options and decided to eat in the dining

room this evening. Our table for two was a few tables away

from the windows; even so, Leon managed two good whale

sightings during dinner, including one where two whales

showed much of their backs before diving. We looked quite a

bit for more sightings the rest of the evening but there were no

more.

 

We relaxed in the Crow's Nest for a while before retiring to bed

around 10:00. While there was plenty of light outside, the

darkness and quiet of our inside room were most welcome and

we slept in until after 8:00 the next morning.

June 14 - North and East of Anchorage

After sleeping in, we decided to check out hiking opportunities north/east of town. But first, I gave Leon a hair trim because two months is too long between haircuts (for him anyway - I last had my hair trimmed in March and it is getting quite long for me). I resisted the urge to give him a mohawk, sticking to a quick trim on the back and over the ears.

We headed to the Eagle River Nature Center, about 30 minutes from our place, and did a three-mile hike loop hike (Albert Loop Trail). The trail was really well-maintained, wide and mostly flat.  We were in the Chugach State Park and most of the hike was through the woods. The weather was picture perfect - mostly sunny and slightly cool. 

The nature center had beds planted with native wildflowers - they were so pretty and most were labeled, allowing me to learn their names. This is "Snowdrop Anemone".

We had beautiful views throughout the hike.

The Chugach Mountain Range rose up all around us.

I was thrilled to capture this reflection of the mountains in the water.

Arctic lupine

Part of it was very scenic along the river which was glacier fed. Right about the time we reached the river, I had a blood sugar issue and had to take a break.

We took a 10–15-minute break on the shores of the swollen river. The milky green blue of the water shows that it is glacier fed. There were other waterways nearby that were crystal clear, indicating that they were fed by snow melt.

 After a rest we continued on and finished our hike. For lunch we headed into town to a sandwich and salad shop where Leon had an OK chicken sandwich and I had an amazing salad.  

We chose a waterfall hike for our second trip and headed farther north to Thunderbird Falls. This mile out and back rewarded us with a nice waterfall view. 

We also took the bonus walk to near the bottom of the falls, where Leon ripped a small hole in his pants sitting on a tree with a spur; I've already looked up on YouTube how to mend it - we'll see if my sewing skills are up to the task.

From there we earned ice cream and coffee so we each went separate ways for our treats - Leon to Cold Stone Creamery and me to a local coffeehouse named Jitters. He enjoyed his Oreo Overload and I enjoyed my white chocolate frappe - did I mention that it had finally gotten warm? Since tomorrow is a travel/transition day, we headed back to our place early to do laundry and pack. Leftovers did us right. Leon was early to bed again (still on the tail end of this really bad cold he had) and I stayed up to get neatly packed. 

June 13 - South Anchorage & Turnagain Arm

We slept in Friday morning like we have most days this week. Leon was feeling nearly 100% so we decided to make this a more active day. After reviewing our hiking options, we headed south to explore the area around Turnagain Arm. 

First, we found the Potter Marsh Wildlife Viewing Area. There are some extensive boardwalks over a watershed where you can see wildlife, most often birds. As we entered, we heard of a moose in the area so we headed that way and could see the moose laying down partially obscured by the brush. We watched her for a while, but she wasn't moving so moved on.

That brown thing in the middle of the picture is a moose's head. She was laying down and disinclined to move (it was a pretty warm day for AK, so she was probably enjoying the shade.)

The wooden boardwalk gave us some great view of wetlands surrounded by mountains.

The boardwalk was quite extensive and provided views into environments that would otherwise be inaccessible. 

These tree swallows were the most common bird we saw in the boardwalk area - their iridescent feathers were eye catching. They seemed unphased by all of the humans, so I was able to get several close-up shots.

We spotted a pair of Canada geese, with their brood of 4 goslings. They were pretty camouflaged, protecting them from the eyes of the many bald eagles we saw.

We explored the boardwalk area about an hour then went back into South Anchorage for lunch. We found a diner where I had clam chowder (delicious) and a sandwich. Leon had corned beef hash breakfast plate was big enough for two people, so he saved half for a future meal.

From there we headed south again to review our hiking options. We first found the southern end of the Turnagain Arm trail. However, this hike was so steep that we turned back after about 15 minutes and ended up with just a 30-minute hike here. Still the views were epic, providing the opportunity to see the arm and surrounding mountains from a different angle. We also got to see several varieties of Alaskan wildflowers.

This panoramic shot is one of my favorites. 

Wild geranium

Chiming bells - we started seeing these everywhere we hiked. So pretty!

We stopped at 3-4 more scenic points in the area, seeing small waterfalls and a narrow point in the arm. 

Heading back toward Anchorage, we stopped again at a different part of the birdwatching area and found many more interesting birds to view. There were some arctic terns that were active, plus a pair of trumpeter swans with four signets. One of the adults with one signet got close enough for us to get some good pictures. They were harassed by the terns when they got near their nest. 

This piece of driftwood was a prized perching point - here you can see 2 terns vying for the spot.

This otherwise beautifully white swan had a dirty head and neck from his search for food in the mud. His mate didn't have this discoloration.

We stayed here a good 30 minutes before ending our day and heading back into town. I was craving veggies, so we decided on Chinese for dinner and found Charlie's Bakery and Chinese Restaurant. These unusual combinations in restaurants seemed pretty common in Alaska. Leon had Thai curry chicken and I had a seafood/veggie dish over crunchy noodles (I hadn't had anything like this before). I really like mine and Leon like his ok. Since it was also a bakery, we got dessert for later (and eclair and a piece of opera cake). We ended the evening early and relaxed the rest of the night.