Hi All,

When I woke up and we were docked in Ketchikan I was full of mixed emotions.  On one hand, I was excited because I knew that the excursion that we had planned for the day was going to be amazing, we’d done it one other time a few years earlier so I knew what to expect.  Also, the weather was amazing! Ketchikan is located in the Tongass Rainforest, so it rains *a lot* throughout the year, but on this day, the sun was shining brightly and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky…how fortunate were we?! 🙂  But, on the other hand, I was kinda sad.  I knew that this might very well be the last time that we were going to see Ketchikan and its quirky beauty; it is a very colorful little city…

My hubby and I spent the morning walking around the Coral Princess, eating breakfast, and just relaxing on our balcony…

I enjoyed watching the floatplanes take off and land, there are tons of flight excursions that one can choose to take;  Misty Fjords is one of the major attractions out of Ketchikan and many choose to fly over it as opposed to taking a boat excursion.

Here are a few pictures that we took on our Misty Fjord’s boat excursion a few years ago:

After breakfast and lounging the morning away, it was time for us to head out for our excursion, we didn’t have to go too far, we literally stepped off of our cruise ship the Coral Princess and walked about 30 paces and climbed aboard the awaiting Aleutian Ballad for our Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour…

As I mentioned above, we had done this tour one other time and enjoyed it so much that we had to do it again. I was glad we did because there were new crew members aboard and they told new and different stories of their adventures on the Bering Sea where they were doing one of the deadliest jobs on the planet…catching crab. The Aleutian Ballad was one of the crab boats featured on the 1st season of the Discovery channel’s Deadliest Catch.  It got hit by a rogue wave and was damaged quite badly; this is when they chose to start doing a tour out of Ketchikan, so when they had the boat refurbished, they had it refitted to accommodate covered tiered seating to make folks comfortable while sitting and listening to the crew’s amazing tales.

After they told a few stories we pulled into a little cove that was full of bald eagles, we caught some of the best pictures we’ve ever taken of those eagles–of course I knew this was coming so when they pulled into the cove, I practically dove for a front spot right at the railing…no, I wasn’t rude, just determined…haha. 😉  I think these pictures will speak for themselves…

 

What a majestic bird!! I was amazed at their maneuvering ability and their accuracy when diving for the snacks that the crew was tossing into the water.

Here is a little video I took of our time on the Aleutian Ballad:

We then traveled around to some different crab and shrimp pots that the crew had dropped earlier and they explained the process of pulling/baiting/dropping said pot. We got to hold snow (or opilio) crabs, king crabs, shrimp, and other creatures from the sea. 🙂 I loved that part!

I was mesmerized by all of their stories and completely thrilled yet again with this amazing excursion. If y’all ever get to Ketchikan, I would highly recommend this tour (you can book it on your own, or through any of the cruise lines).

So, this was our last port of call, as we pulled out of Ketchikan I again got weepy, I so love Alaska, its sheer size, its grandeur, and its magnificent sites.  I do hope that we will be able to return one, or two, or three more times in the future, but I’m not sure that we will do so as we’ve chosen to set our sights on other parts of the world.

The next day would be a ‘sea’ day, and then we’d be pulling into Vancouver, B.C. We’d disembark our cruise ship, but our vacation wasn’t quite over…

Next up…Orca whale watching tour on our way to Vancouver Island and meeting up with a dear Facebook friend Liz (that I’d met through my Newfoundland dogs), her hubby Mike, and their awesome Newfoundland pup Jack…I couldn’t wait for this next part of our adventure!

***Update***  I’ve now completed all of my installments in the Voyage of the Glaciers Series and have included links to the next post in line (so to speak) at the end of each posting.  So, here is a link to the next post and it covers our time in Vancouver & Orca Whale Watching tour to Victoria… 🙂

Sneak Peek:

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

~Arlynn

I’ve also written two other blog posts that go hand in hand with these blog entries.  Here is a link to my Alaskan Wardrobe Choices entry. And here is a link to my What’s In My Carry On, My Must Haves, and Packing Tips & Tricks entry.