It's been said. . .

"Living on Earth may be expensive, but it includes an annual free trip around the sun."

Photos

Along the pier in Ketchikan were stained glass pictures of various unique objects up on poles. This is a close up of one of them.
This is Creek St. in Ketchikan. A famous prostitute from gold rush days named Dolly resided in one of the buildings and tours are given of the place. We didn't go in. This is also the creek which was full of salmon heading upstream to spawn.

More glaciers

These are photos of Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay from a distance and up close. Blogger is having trouble uploading videos so I finally gave up. I have some good ones though and will try again another time.

Misc. Alaska

These totem poles were in Juneau.

Orchids were in vases on all the tables in one dining room.

The scene as we pulled away from Juneau.

These windows were in a semi-circle in front of the ship where we spent a lot of time looking out. It was called the Crow's Nest. A well-supplied library, Internet options, etc. is behind me.

Salmon spawning

This video shows just a portion of the stream where these fish went to spawn. When we saw what they went through (or up) to get there, we were amazed so many actually arrived. The salmon were packed together like sardines in a can.

Another video

This is Mendenhall Glacier, the biggest we saw. We're on land instead of watching from the ship.

Victoria on Vancouver Island, B.C.

Victoria is a beautiful city with the downtown right on the harbor. It was almost dusk when we arrived in port so I'm amazed that these pictures turned out bright enough. Above is a quaint bed and breakfast house. I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole thing because there were cars in the street and the fence went right up to the sidewalk.
This is the Empress Hotel, a famous landmark in the city. It is huge!
These horse-drawn carriages were everywhere taking tourists for a ride.
These are houseboats where people live year around we were told.


There were flowers everywhere. Notice the water in the yard on the left. It ran all around the condos and there was a fountain.

The is the Parliament building. After dark it was lit up with white lights outlining the domes.

Margerie Glacier calving

More on Alaska

This was taken as we left Glacier Bay.
All our rain photos were taken in Sitka where we wore ponchos all day.

The weather in Ketchikan was cool and windy but the sun was shining!

OTHER CREATURES

Carved bears in a shop.

This gull was out at sea taking advantage of a free ride.

This is my all time favorite cute photo! A man came out on the sidewalk in Ketchikan with 2 dogs wearing these sunglasses. I said to him "I'd love a picture of them." He said, "Everyone does," and headed to his truck parked in front. They hopped into the back bed and I pulled out my camera. The second dog is behind this one.

These are dark salmon barely seen above the water. They were thick going up stream to spawn. I took videos too but have been unable to load them on this blog.

These are red salmon. They were also on the move.

This is my second cutest photo. I took it of a sign advertising attorneys in the Seattle airport.

These starfish were in a tank at a hatchery in Sitka.

Our cabin steward created this monkey and hung it on a picture frame in our room.

BEAR

This is bear scat.

This is the bear up close and personal. He was first coming toward us down a stream and we were above him on a little bridge. When he saw us he went the other way into the woods. The next thing we knew he was up on our path. I think it's a fuzzy photo because I was in such a hurry to get the picture that I moved--or was I scared? He had a collar on and I talked to one of the rangers about him. Apparently this bear had been near houses so they relocated him to Glacier Bay where there's only a visitor's center.

AWESOME ALASKA

Two eagles in Sitka next to the harbor.

Alaska's Inside Passage is a place like nowhere else we've ever been. Because of the coastline, it's not like the Rockies even though mountains are always in view. The climate is mild year around with lots of rain and clouds. We left from Seattle on Holland America's Westerdam and our stops were Glacier Bay, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and Victoria (Canada) located on Vancouver Island. Below are eagles we saw in different places.

Juneau

Sitting on an iceberg in Glacier Bay

Raptor Center in Sitka

More photos to come. Stay tuned.