6/23/12 VALDEZ, AK

 Today we went on a 9 hour cruise on the Stan Stephens Valdez Spirit Catamaran to see wildlife and glaciers.  We first cruised by the Columbia glacier but could not get very close due to the huge ice chunks.  Then we cruised over to Mears glacier which is very active.  We floated within ¼ mile of the glacier, it seemed like we were closer.  What a view of this beautiful wall of ice.  It was calving and we saw 2 or 3 big hunks of ice fall and several smaller ones.  It was a sight to see and the sound they make is even more amazing.  Sounds like thunder!  Maneuvering in amongst the chunks of ice was just as amazing.  I could never get tired of looking at this.  We saw a large hump back whale sleeping in among the ice.  The captain said you never see this; he was amazed the whale was sleeping in the ice since it has sharp edges.  On the return trip we entered into a big open area where there was a LOT of whales.  We witnessed one breach several times.  We were close to him.  I know I say “amazing” a lot, but that’s the only word that comes to mind when I see something like this.  It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!  I feel so fortunate that we were able to see this.  We’ve been on whale watching cruises before and seen whales, but never breaching.  WOW!  DOUBLE WOW WITH SUGAR ON TOP!  We also saw sea otters, so cute just floating around on their back, relaxing.  We also saw sea lions sunning on a beach and several eagles, some floating on the ice chunks and porpoise swimming and jumping alongside the boat and a goat with baby perched on a mountain side.  I’m so glad we decided to go on this cruise.  I feel like we’ve seen it all now and could just go home.  Almost.   It’s supposed to be 105 degrees one day this week in Georgetown, Tx, so guess we’ll stick around here awhile. 

Although wifi here is fairly fast during the day, pictures take awhile to load.  That's why I don't post many.