Adventure 970: Alaska Anniversary Trip/C

We started this wonderful day sleeping in by our standards after which we enjoyed a very nice vegetable frittata, a blueberry scone, some rich decaf, and our morning game of crib at the Rowdy Radish, a very down to earth coffee/breakfast spot. We returned to the Hotel to arrange shuttle service on our return trip to Anchorage tomorrow evening and began our meander down to the docks. We toured the Seward museum, saw lots of fotos from the devastating 9.2 earthquake of 1964 and read about the intrepid lives of the founding Lowell family. The rugged American spirit that made America great in terms of developing opportunity for our European ancestors was (and is) on full display. There's little doubt we've much to celebrate in our history. Our day's activity was a five hour boat excursion around Resurrection Bay. The weather was magnificent: sunny, warm, flat calm seas, and we saw every bit of wildlife shown in the travel guide. We shared our lunch table with a couple of young ladies who serve in the air force. They were enjoying a cruise and had a day to spend in Seward. We also talked with Bobbi, a five year veteran working for the cruise line. She's from Northern California and simply loves it in Alaska. Other than that, we shared the boat with about sixty of our newest friends. Our very competent captain, Steve, kept us safe, entertained, and educated during our trip around the bay. Because the weather was so nice, we also ventured a ways out into the gulf of Alaska. In less than a month twenty to thirty foot seas will make such a venture unwise. All in all, we couldn't have picked a better day, which makes us once again grateful that life is good, especially today.

At the Seward museum we saw this tree section of Spruce- 354 years old when it was cut. Imagine Alaska in its pristine prime!  

I managed to just catch this bald eagle as it leapt into flight.

The morning clouds lifted as we headed out onto Resurrection Bay.

Overnight these two cruise ships docked, which accounted for many of our fellow cruise buddies.

Selfie of the day: Waiting for permission to come aboard.

One of nine cruise boats operated by the Kenai Cruise Line.

We followed this hump back for a while as he/she entered the bay for feeding. Etiquette mandates staying 100 yards away from the whales.  

We stopped to take a gander at these Stellar Sea Lions. They lounge for most of the day and spend the night feeding.

We saw this goat, which is unusual this time of year.

Captain Steve, narrating, manning the boat's remote controls, and otherwise providing us a great experience.

These concrete structures were built in less than nine months before WWII as look outs guarding the entrance to the bay.

One of several glaciers we viewed today. This one is know as Ellsworth.

A look into the bay. Behind me, the open ocean of the Gulf of Alaska.

Besides wildlife, Captain Steve pointed out interesting land formations including these spires in a place known as Spires Cove.

Here I am getting in "spired".

A bonus sighting of another eagle as we entered the marina after the cruise. This bird seems unconcerned by our presence.