Alaska - part 1

We had a wonderful time with my parents in Alaska. Words fail to describe the beauty and majesty of God's creation. We saw ranges of snow-covered mountains that stretched far into the horizon, dense forests of hemlock and spruce, glaciers, ice cold fjords, whales, bald eagles, and much more.

Here are a few pics:

Our ship could hold 2960 passengers and at least 1000 crew members. It's only 160 ft shorter than the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier. Maybe it's the introvert in me, but I was happy to avoid all the cruise social amenities and use it as a place to sleep and eat. The main attraction was Alaska itself IMO.

The Seattle skyline from the deck.

The reason we were seasick the first day. Hope the video doesn't make you queasy. 

Early morning in the Chatham Strait on the way to Juneau

Chatham Strait around 6:30 AM. If you look at the pic full size (right click and open in new window), you'll see the top of a humpback whale's head and the spout. We're guessing it's a humpback as there was no prominent dorsal fin. We did see several orcas one day, but they were too far away for the camera.

In the Tongass National Forest, the largest temperate rain forest in the world.

Mendenhall Glacier, which is part of the Rhode Island-sized Juneau Icefield. Juneau is landlocked because of the ice field, so the only access to the capital is by sea or air.

I'll post more pics tomorrow...