Voyage of the Glaciers-Juneau (Day 6)

On October 19, 2015March 26, 2017 By ArlynnIn Vacations1 Comment

Hi All,

I remember waking up on the morning that we pulled into Juneau (the State capital that is only reachable by plane or boat) with butterflies in my stomach because I was excited for our planned excursion. We were going to be taking the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest Tour. Again, this was our 4th Voyage of the Glaciers cruise and yes, this would be our 4th time doing this very same excursion…*that’s* how much I love it. So we disembarked the Coral Princess and found our motor coach for this day’s excursion–we had a lady bus driver who thought she was “all that and a bag of chips”…okay, okay, she was slightly entertaining…slightly. 😉 She could sing nicely though and she directed in a sing-along…okay, so you had to be there…haha. 😉

Yes, I love to see glaciers and on this excursion, our first stop was at the very pretty Mendenhall Glacier; there is also a lovely nature trail that you can follow that winds around a stream and shows you some of prettiest foliage in the State. My hubby and I always take a leisurely stroll on that trail first, there are signs along the way to tell you about the wildlife and salmon, etc…For this geeky girl, Heaven! 😉 🙂

I believe this flower is called “Jacobs Ladder”:

And one year (2010), we got to see a Mama bear and her two cubs munching on a salmon…now *that* got my heart pumping. 🙂

I took a video of this encounter too, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmXKBnhY_Kk&t=1s

Mendenhall Glacier is a glacier about 12 miles long located in Mendenhall Valley, about 12 miles from downtown Juneau. It is one of two glaciers that can be seen from Juneau’s road system. Mendenhall flows from the massive Juneau Ice Fields and is a retreating glacier. If you’re interested in knowing more about Mendenhall Glacier and other glaciers in and around Juneau, click here.

Check out Nugget Falls…My hubby took a quick video…It is pretty impressive!

Okie dokie, as always, we enjoyed our time at Mendenhall Glacier, but, it was now time to go to my favorite part of the excursion, whale watching! So back onto our motor coach we climbed and off we went taking the scenic route (because we were early and the whale watching catamaran wasn’t quite ready for us) with Ms “All that and a bag of chips” chattering the entire way. 😉 Again, she wasn’t *that* bad, but I think these motor coach drivers think that need to entertain you every second that you are on their buses when in reality, all you need to do is look out the window and you can be completely entertained by the breathtaking scenery in Alaska. Regardless, we finally arrived at the dock and climbed aboard our boat and off we went…it didn’t take us long to find our first humpback whale–you are guaranteed to see whales on this excursion or you get $100 cash returned to you.

OH wait, we also saw some steller sea lions, one in particular came right up to our catamaran, curious little dude:

This is a coastguard buoy and the steller sea lions are lounging on top if it sunning themselves. They are too cute and they are quite entertaining to watch. There is definitely some jockeying for position happening, but all in all they share the space well. 🙂

But, the stars of the show were the humpbacks, they are amazing!

One year we even got to witness Bubble Net Feeding <~~Great link from National Geographic…

This is a sign that they had hanging in the catamaran, it shows all of the humpback whales that routinely come back to this same body of water every year to feed and to raise their calfs. The humpbacks split their time between Hawaii and Alaska, calfs are born in the warmer waters of Hawaii and then mama, who hasn’t eaten since she left Alaska, and baby make the harrowing journey (about 2800 miles) back here to Alaska so that they can feed…amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryzqUUzKRwA

Once again, we were not disappointed with this excursion, seeing those humpbacks had made my day, I was once again contented and reminded about just how small we are and how big our world is and how wondrous it can be.

We were almost finished with our cruise, day 6 (of the cruise, day 7 of our adventure) would find us in Ketchikan and on the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour–A fantastic experience!

***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 Ketchikan… 🙂

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 Alaska Cruise Wardrobe entry. And here is a link to my What’s In My Carry On, My Must Haves, & Packing Tips and Tricks entry.

Voyage of the Glaciers-Skagway (Day 5)

On October 14, 2015March 26, 2017 By ArlynnIn Vacations5 Comments

Hi Everyone!

Skagway, Alaska was our first port of call on our Voyage of the Glaciers cruise with Princess. As I’ve mentioned before, this was our 4th time taking this exact same cruise; in years past, we had done a couple of wonderful excursions out of Skagway. Two of our favorites were, one, the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad trip; talk about some amazing scenery! Wow, that was a great experience! And two, the “Discovery and Animal Planet Recommended” Musher’s Camp and Sled Dog Experience through Princess (sometimes we’ll book our excursions through Princess and sometimes we book them on our own). As y’all know, I am a dog lover, so this excursion was right up my alley, I had such a wonderful time meeting all of the dogs, hearing the stories about the Iditarod, riding in a cart and being pulled by these awesomely trained dogs, and best of all, meeting all of the new puppies.

On this last trip, we decided to go with another one of the Animal Planet recommended excursions. Once docked in Skagway, we disembarked the Coral Princess and went to meet the Haines Skagway Fast Ferry that would take us to that day’s excursion at the Kroschel Wildlife Center (voted the best tour in Southeast Alaska). The ferry ride was lovely and a naturalist was aboard and narrating the entire trip. We spied an eagle perched high atop a tree:

It took us about 45 minutes to get to Haines on the Ferry and once we arrived, we met up with our next mode of transportation…an old charter bus and its very eccentric driver, “Bob”. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of that charter bus or Bob, but, I can tell you that he had some interesting stories to tell while traversing up mountains on our way to Kroschel’s. He was a hoot and quite entertaining; he told us one story of how he dressed up in a bear costume and went to Skagway to try and scare the people! And I don’t doubt for one second that he did do just that, but, I think he is pretty well known in those parts, so my thoughts were that he provided entertainment and wasn’t all that scary. 😉

ANYway, we finally arrived at our destination and were greeted by our guide for the day, Mario, and he was holding a Hawk; this was just a small glimpse of the wonder that was yet to come. The Kroschel Wildlife Center shelters rescued, abandoned and injured animals. Steve Kroschel is one very special individual and has devoted his life to educating people and bringing awareness to the dwindling wildlife population through his documentaries and his wildlife center (unfortunately, Steve wasn’t there on this day, but Mario was wonderful).

And then we met the red-tailed Hawk…

From the moment we climbed off of that school bus I was mesmerized by Mario’s stories as he led us around this very special place.

After we met the Hawks, we met a gorgeous wolf named Isis–We were howling with her in this picture…haha:

And then it was time to meet a fox:

Then Lennox the Lynx and her cub:

Then this little weasel…talk about fast, that little thing zooms around like crazy! (He was tiny too, I don’t know why I thought weasels were much bigger, but this fella was the size of a large mouse)

I believe this was a mink, it wasn’t the friendliest little creature, but it sure was pretty. 🙂

And then there was the Porcupine…Pretty, very gentle, little lady. 🙂

Below is Sue the Moose and I couldn’t believe that I got to kiss her sweet muzzle! (That older gentleman in the picture is Rocky, he is a staple at the Center, he was an integral part of the tour, he didn’t say much, but you could tell that all of the animals just adored him).

Next, we got to feed the reindeer…those antlers are as soft as can be and they were h-u-n-g-r-y, but oh so gentle when they took the dry oatmeal from my hand!

And finally, we got to meet Kitty the Grizzly bear! Unfortunately, Kitty’s is a sad story, her Mama was killed by a hunter who didn’t realize that she had a cub, so Kitty who needed shelter and care was delivered to the Center in a 5-gallon bucket and has obviously thrived since then. They were not able to release her in the wild because her Mama was killed before she could teach Kitty survival skills. So she will live out her life at the Center being lovingly cared for and sufficiently spoon fed with quite the sweet concoction of honey and oatmeal (among other things).

ALL of these animals are so very well treated and loved so much; this is an amazing place with which to get an up close and personal view of some of Alaska’s wildlife. They also give you ample opportunities to get some great pictures and they take their time and tell wonderful stories as you travel around the Center. What an awesome experience! I would totally go back again if we ever find ourselves in Haines, Alaska. 🙂

Sadly, it was time to debark and head back to the Ferry

And we were headed back to our awaiting cruise ship…

Here is a video that I took of our Kroschel’s Excursion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtF79YZPVAM

As always, Skagway didn’t disappoint and as we were pulling away from this port I again got a little misty-eyed because I might not ever get to see those majestic mountains that hold some very fascinating, very special folks.

Next stop, Juneau! 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 Cruise Wardrobe entry. And my What’s In My Carry On, My Must Haves, and Packing Tips & Tricks entry.

Hubbard Glacier & Glacier Bay (Voyage of the Glaciers-Days 3&4)

On October 12, 2015March 26, 2017 By ArlynnIn Vacations1 Comment

Hey Everyone,

Onward we go with our Alaskan adventure! I will be highlighting days 3 and 4 in this post, the days that we did our “Scenic Cruising”, first into Disenchantment Bay to see Hubbard Glacier and then the next day we traveled into Glacier Bay. We saw many glaciers in our travels, but we stopped, looked, and listened to two wondrous glaciers on each day, Hubbard on the first day and Margerie on the second.

The ship takes its time getting back to where Hubbard Glacier is located, but you know you’re getting close when you start seeing the little (which are actually rather large) ice bergs in the water surrounding the ship and the temperature starts dropping.

I’ll tell you a little about Hubbard Glacier, I’m thinking there are some out there that are as geeky as I am when it comes to nature and this sort of thing…haha…;) Nooooooo, I am not a tree hugger, I just honestly possess a deep rooted appreciation for pristine beauty such as this. Okay, anyway, Hubbard is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska extending 76 miles from its source on Mt. Logan in the Yukon. The cliff face is at least six miles wide and it towers 3 to 400 feet from the water level and plunges 300 feet at the front of the glacier from the water level to the bottom. As Hubbard is advancing, it creaks, cracks, and moans as it travels and is a very actively calving glacier. This makes for memorable moments when the huge chunks of ice crash into the bay creating a wonderful sound coined “white thunder” by the Tlingit people. BTW, I don’t just inherently know that information, there was actually a Naturalist on board with us and his commentary was broadcast around the ship and into staterooms via the tv and yes, I was *that* woman that took copious notes. 😉 The Captain of our ship the Coral Princess was fantastic, we pulled up really close (close is relative–we got to about 1/2 mile away) to the glacier and then the captain turned the ship so that the folks on one side of the ship could gaze at the glacier, he stayed there for 30 minutes and then spun the ship around so that the other side of the ship could watch it for another 30 minutes.

Here is a little video I took one year of Hubbard Glacier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ph_782Xbck&t=13s

Okay, so that was an awesome day! Hubbard Glacier was amazing and the scenery to and from the glacier was breathtaking.

But, now let me tell you about day 4, and what we saw in Glacier Bay; it took my breath away and it alone is what brought us back to Alaska for our 4th time. I cannot express to you the beauty that is held within this pristine, magnificent place, I would venture to guess that it is one of the most gorgeous places on this planet.

Glacier Bay is a National Park so Park Rangers came on the ship and set up a “Ranger’s Station” where one could go and ask questions about Glacier Bay and purchase books and souvenirs. In addition, a Park Ranger’s commentary was broadcast around the ship and into all of the staterooms giving us a plethora of information about all of the glaciers and wildlife that we were seeing as we made our way in and out of the bay. The sky was rather overcast on this morning, but the later it got and the further we got into Glacier Bay the prettier the day got, the sun came out and blue sky could be seen. My hubby and I actually got a bit of a sunburn on this day.

There were many beautiful sights to see on our way into the Bay but the most impressive sight was Margerie Glacier.

Here are some more of those geeky facts for you: Margerie Glacier is a 21-mile-long tidewater glacier, it soars 250 feet above the sea level, and 150 feet below and it is an activity calving glacier. This one was much louder than Hubbard and it was calving almost twice as much.

See that piece of ice in the middle of that picture above? It looks kind of like a triangle, only it is the size 12 story building!

Watch this!

Oh my goodness gracious! We couldn’t believe our luck, we definitely felt as if we were in the right place at the right time. You should have seen the wave that that huge chunk of ice generated, it was quite impressive. 🙂 Wow!

Here are a couple of close up shots of the glacier itself, the crevasses were ridiculous!

Here is a video that I took of Margerie Glacier one year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWB5p5gnt9o

It was so hard to say good-bye to Margerie Glacier and I was quite sad to turn away from it because I truly don’t know if we will ever return to that exact spot again. It is a very, very special place, one that just brings calm to one’s very soul. Incredible!

Of course we had more beautiful scenery to behold on our way back out of the bay, check out this quartet… 😉

This is John Hopkin’s Glacier; we couldn’t go back to get a closer look at it because that is where seals go to have their pups and we had to keep our distance. 🙂

Here is a video that I took while in Glacier Bay one year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGzCt9x1XNQ&t=10s

Of course, we were fed very well while in Glacier Bay, that is, once we pulled ourselves off of our balcony and away from the gorgeous scenery–trust me, that wasn’t an easy task. But, we did partake in the Taste of Alaska Buffet:

***Update*** I’ve taken a moment to scan the Princess Patter for Glacier Bay day:

Days 3 & 4 flew by way too quickly, but now we were headed to our next destination Skagway, Alaska, oh what an adventure we went on while visiting Skagway; I can’t wait to share it with you…

A 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.

Alaska – Voyage of the Glaciers – Days 1 & 2

On October 9, 2015March 26, 2017 By ArlynnIn Vacations13 Comments

Hi There,

My hubby and I love to cruise…especially to Alaska…and considering that that’s the only place that we’ve ever cruised, we’re experts…haha. NOT really, I’m just messin’ with y’all. But, we have cruised there 4 times and we’ve done the same exact cruise “The Voyage of the Glaciers (Southbound)” every single time. I’m excited to share this journey with you all; if any of you ever get the chance to go and experience Alaska, please don’t hesitate to do so, the grandeur and sheer beauty will be ensconced in your mind for the rest of your life. (Update: We’ve now cruised to Hawaii and I’ve written an entire Blog Series about that awesome cruise on the Star Princess, here is a link if you are interested).

I will admit that even though we were heading on a grand adventure, I was going to completely miss my pups. We’re so lucky that one of our daughters lives close enough to us and she doesn’t mind coming to dog/house sit while we’re away…I’m eternally grateful to her for that. Here I am saying goodbye to Samson:

So, here we go, instead of jamming the entire cruise into one blog post, I will be splitting it up and adding one post per day of the cruise (with the exception of this one and my next one which will cover our two days of scenic cruising). 🙂

Here was our Itinerary:

We always travel a day early because we learned the hard way that if your plane breaks down on the tarmac there is likely not another flight that will get you to Alaska in time to catch your cruise ship. <~~~ That is exactly what happened to us the very first time we booked this cruise, thankfully, Princess Cruises was awesome, and we were able to rebook that cruise for later that summer, but talk about disappointed…yep, that about covers how we felt on that fateful day .

So, the first day of our vacation was spent traveling to Anchorage, Alaska.

If you are planning a trip to Alaska and if you happen to travel on a clear day, once you get into Alaska and are about an hour from landing be sure to look out your jet’s window and take a look at the breathtaking beauty that appears…just a sampling of what Alaska has to offer.

Here is a little video I took from our jet’s window of these most awesome scenery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rYH7FrgJIE&index=1&list=PL7IYwAf6RPtxDaiULJS4gnc0zUQ7QDcT1

I’m always amazed at the wildlife that resides *in* the Anchorage airport. 😉

Let me first say that we always let Princess handle all of our transfers to and from the airport and we let them handle booking any hotel accommodations that are needed before and/or after the cruise. They also handle all baggage, once you retrieve it from the baggage claim at the airport and drop it with your awaiting Princess Representative, you don’t need to touch it again (other than to retrieve what you need out of it at the hotel because they deliver it to your room and then come and collect it the morning of the cruise and the next time you see it it is sitting outside your Stateroom on the ship). They, of course, transferred us too, from the airport to the hotel and then from the hotel to the cruise ship. It is a bit pricey but worth it for the peace of mind. So upon landing in Anchorage, we found our Princess Rep and she directed us to the motor coach that would take us to our hotel for one night, the Hotel Captain Cook which is located in downtown Anchorage. It is a beautifully appointed hotel and we enjoyed our stay there.

We had a wonderful night’s sleep in the hotel and the next morning we went out into Anchorage to do a little shopping. To say that the streets were not bustling is an understatement, lol. 😉 It is a lovely city though, nice and clean, and the people are all so very pleasant. 🙂

We then caught our motor coach and began the trip to our cruise ship; this cruise starts in Whittier, Alaska which is a deep water port that can only accommodate one cruise ship at a time; the Alaska railroad also runs to Whittier (it was built during World War II and it became the way the Army entered Alaska). On our way to Whittier, we traveled along the Seward Highway right beside the Turnagain Arm. It is a beautiful drive, absolutely beautiful!

Here is a little video snippet of our motor coach ride:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKEGkqqk3cM&index=2&list=PL7IYwAf6RPtxDaiULJS4gnc0zUQ7QDcT1

We stopped along the way to take a look at the Portage Glacier.

There is only one road leading into Whittier and that is where the road ends. In order to reach Whittier you need to go through the one lane Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel; they change the direction of traffic every 15 minutes. The tunnel accommodates cars, buses, trucks, and trains. When you exit the tunnel, you can then lay your eyes on your mode of transportation for the next 7 days–your cruise ship, in our case, The Coral Princess.

The embarkation process is always quite painless with Princess and this day was no exception. From stepping off of the motor coach to stepping aboard the Coral Princess, no more than 45 minutes passed. The first thing that we did was go and find our stateroom, a mini-suite with a balcony; I would highly recommend a balcony stateroom while cruising in Alaska, there is *always* something gorgeous awaiting your gaze and it hardly ever gets dark (kinda messes with your mind…haha). We then went out to explore our ship and the pretty scenery that was already abounding around us.

Every person that resides in Whittier lives in that large apartment building

Once the ship set sail, we headed back to our stateroom to unpack. We were so excited for our first stop the next day and the day after that. We’d be doing “scenic cruising” to Hubbard Glacier and through Glacier Bay. The beauty that we witnessed will be the subject of my next entry in this Alaska – Voyage of the Glaciers series.

A sneak peek into Glacier Bay:

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 Alaska Wardrobe Choices entry. And here is a link to my What’s In My Carry On, My Must Haves, and Packing Tips and Tricks entry. 🙂

⚜️ Arlynn's Country Craft Corner ⚜️

Tag: Alaska

Voyage of the Glaciers-Juneau (Day 6)

Voyage of the Glaciers-Skagway (Day 5)

Hubbard Glacier & Glacier Bay (Voyage of the Glaciers-Days 3&4)

Alaska – Voyage of the Glaciers – Days 1 & 2

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: