We had a great trip to Alaska and now have returned to Logan.

The shop needed a few days of work to organize and sort through the tools.  After a lot of work we have separated the items into keep, sell, and discard/recycle.  The garage sale should be very interesting.

​We had our last breakfast on ship. We will be off the ship when they call our group.

It is true that people get the end of cruise blues.

We did visit the Sci-Fi museum located below the Space Needle.

The museum was fantastic!  I cannot think of a Movie or tv show that was not represented.  From the “Wizard of OZ” to “Mork and Mindy” and “Star Trek” to “Galaxy Quest” to “MIB”.  While waiting to buy tickets, the car from Blade Runner was hanging over us. Cool!

​​The original hat, jacket and gold staff medallion from Indiana Jones.

Star Wars

Star Trek

Total Recall

Blade Runner

Black Panther

Spiderman

Thor

Iron Man

Avengers/Captain America

Guardians of the Galaxy

 Conan the barbarian

Wizard of Oz

The Princess Bride

Lord of the Rings/Hobbit

Terminator

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Fifth Element

Dr Who

Galaxy Quest

Dune

Stargate

Welcome to BC.

The drive through the city was very interesting.

​The Burchard (pronounced Butch Ard) Gardens were great.

​After we got back to the ship we saw a pod of 8 or more Orca. Several were babies.  One huge male was along with the group.  They were very close before diving to avoid an incoming ship.

That evening we had Veal Cordon Blu as a last dinner on ship. Baked Alaska for dessert. All our meals have been fantastic.

Our final towel animal.

Goodnight! Off to Seattle.

Goodbye Zaandam.

​We got up so late that by the time were ready to go to breakfast, we only had 30 minutes till they stopped to prepare for lunch.

​Later Mom went to her next to last Test Kitchen.  I just wondered around getting a few more pictures of the ship.  I was not sure what I had and had not photographed.

Tea time...Our last on this cruise. We had a nice time with 4 others at the table. It was a classic tea with 16 types of teas and three teared trays with sandwiches, deserts, and scones.

Off to happy hour in the 'crow’s nest'. It is a bar and dance floor on the 9th (very top floor) of the ship. They have seats all along the front windows to watch the sea over the bow of the ship. We saw several whales.  It is always so exciting to see them.  They almost always bring an appetizer plate during happy hour. 

Back to the room to change for the Gala dinner.  Last one for this cruise.   Then wine and cocktails with several nice people. 

​The dinner was great.  All this fancy food is catching up with us.  We have had a wonderful time with the 4 dinner partners at the table.

Off to the last stage performance.  It was called Road House with country and western stage, costumes, and music.  The dancing and singing was fantastic. Certainly, as good a would be found on almost any stage anywhere.  Wow!

​Our towel creature was more amazing than any we had so far seen.

We took a shuttle to town then walked the shoreline trail to the National park. 

​Totems were everywhere around and in the visitor’s center.

The trails added together was two miles and passed through a forest of huge spruce trees.

​Along the path there were many totem poles.

They were carved by the local tribesmen from spruce and very interesting.

The park commemorates the battle between the Kiks.ads tribe and the Russians who wanted to take their land.

The trail came to a beach and Indian river.  We found a pair of eagles along the bank. The tide was out and children were helping their parents find mussels.

After that we walked around town, shopping.  Sitka has a strong Russian influence.  Several stores specialize in items made in Russia or Alaska.  It was a good day with very nice weather.

We dined alone tonight.  Once again the selections were very nice if sometimes confusing.  We are just not fancy food people.

We watched whales spout while we ate our meal.

​Went to the later stage show and then on to bed.

​We are passing back into Pacific time zone and will lose an hour of sleep. 

​Headed back out to sea. 

Tonight’s towel animal.

We slept in... Yea!

We woke to find we were in a fog bank and the ships horn blowing long blasts. Even today with all the tech we have that is required. As we moved out of the bank and it was neat to see the hard line on the ocean as we moved out to clear skies. I was so fascinated I forgot to take pictures of the transition.

Off to breakfast, then signing up for a cruise next September. Yes, we already have our next cruise planned.

After breakfast, we went to a talk given by the naturalist about the glaciers.

Hubbard glacier moves at 80 feet per day.  WOW!  It is called a galloping glacier.  It is 76 miles long and 7 miles wide.  At one point it is 1400 feet thick. Ice caves have been dated to 400 years old.  The glacier rises 250 feet above and even more extends below the surface.

We were told we will have to stop at a 1/2 mile off the glacier because above water caving can make mini tidal waves. Below water caving can shoot icebergs up unexpectedly. They have been documented to travel underwater before surfacing far from the front of the glacier.  As the captain said, “It is best that we not run into large pieces of ice.”.  Better safe than sorry.

​We pulled into Hubbard pass and weaved between icebergs. 

​All bundled up with our heavy coats, gloves and scarves for the cold as we approach the glacier.

The temperature is usually near freezing in the pass.  With that much ice, I guess it is not surprising.

We are getting closer.

The ship was maneuvered closer to the glacier than usual. Many people commented on this, and we found out later that there were two reasons
 1 There wasn't any large ice near the face that would be in the way.
 2 The Captain's parents were on board.
 
We were so close that the sound from the calving directly in front of us had only a one second delay between seeing the fall and hearing the sound.  That put us much closer than the half mile that we were told.

​We saw so many cavings and heard dozens that we could not see because of the width of the glacier.  The sound was incredible.  Like the report from a large gun then loud cracking sounds and then start to see the falling ice. After that the sound of enormous pieces of ice falling into the water. It was amazing.

Burrrrr…  Moving back out to the ocean.

​Looks like it is time to go.

​On the way out, we passed another ship coming in to see the glacier.

​There were so many mini-glaciers we passed. 

​Our final view of the glacier. 

​We did see a few animals but only a few.

A seal or two on ice flows.

​
​A bear on the shore.

​
​And our towel animal. LOL!

​Tonight was a whale.  These guys have some real skills with sculpting towels.

Up early to go on our excursion to the fort.

Right across from our ship on the dock are several huge stacks of crab pots.  It was emotional to see the pots. Kevin was frequently porting from here when he fished. He would talk of how big and heavy the crab pots were.

​The port was filled with fishing boats.  Here are just a few.

Off for another strenuous hike, we are gluttons for punishment.

This was a great hike and passed through a forest of tall spruce with moss on limbs and sides of the trunks and lots of birds.

Flowering plants all around the WWII bunkers of Fort Abercrombie. 

​Part of the fort was restored.

Some of the original communication equipment was maintained and still operational.
It would have been high tech in 1941.

Back to the ship for afternoon tea and then a nap.

Time to leave port.  Bye Kodiak.

​At dinner we were rocking and rolling.  Sometimes we wonder why the walls in halls are moving....  even if we have had nothing to drink that day.

This is a picture of the dining room.
Our table is on the right side and at the very back along the windows.

​After dinner we went to a Beatles tribute show.  It was very good. 

Then the Indonesian crew members had their show.

We have had several late nights, but we can't tell unless we look at clock because the sun did not set until 11:40 pm.  We plan to sleep in tomorrow.

The towel animal for tonight.

​One of the reasons we choose this Cruise with Holland America is because it went to Homer and Kodiak in Alaska. Kevin, Shawna's brother, worked in Alaska for many years as a commercial fisherman. We had a big breakfast and then we were off to our hike.  The hike was to a Grewingk glacier lake across Kachemak bay.

​Our view of the ship as we headed over the to the other side of the bay.

​The front of our boat looking to the shore where we will start our hike.

No whales but we slowed several times to watch otters floating on the bay.  Some were having lunch. This one had a crab he was eating and tossed as we approached.

​All ashore…  We were able to use the drop gate to get ashore without getting our feet wet.

​
Black sand beach because this area had active volcanoes in the distance past.

​We were shown many native plants by our guide.  The thorny one is called devils club and is completely covered in thorns. Shawna asked about snakes as we walked through the tall grass further up the shore. No snakes live in Alaska. Yea, what a relief.

​Right on the trail there was fresh evidence that a bear had just been by. Okay, a different concern.

​Back on the trail.

​Our first sighting of the glacier 

​Let me zoom in to see it better.

The glacier and in front of it is a lake full of blue icebergs.

​It was a strenuous 6-mile hike. The hike and the lake were fantastic.

Time to head back to the ship.

 The Lady Alaska was in port, but we could not see anyone on board.  It was one of the ships Kevin was on.  We did see a lot of fishing boats.

​When we got back we had just enough time to stop at the Salty Dawg Saloon.  Kevin had talked about it many times and we had to go by as a tribute to his memory.

Just before we pulled away from the dock the captain came on to an announce that one of the ships from TV show Deadliest catch was pulling out of port. This is interesting to us because Kevin spent more that 10 years working on crab boats just like this. He had a very dangerous job back in his early years.

After dinner on the ship, we went to another show on the main stage.  It was great.  "Rock Legends."  Songs by Queen, Kiss, David Bowie, Abba, Elton John...  Singing. Dancing. Music. Lights. Wild outfits.  It was lots of fun.

We arrived at the suite and noticed that the sun was not yet down.  It finally set after 11:10 pm and will not be dark until midnight.  The sun will be back up about 4:30 am.  It is crazy.

Tonights towel creature was great!

We got up a little bit later than normal but we're on the dock before 10am. We are officially at the most northern point we will be on this cruise and the furthest north we have ever been. (61’ 14 N and 149’ 53 W) We could not take pictures at the port in Anchorage because it is a working port and not allow to take pictures for security reasons. 

​The shuttle dropped us off near the visitor’s center.  It is unique. Yes, that is grass growing on the roof. The people inside gave us so much information and let us send postcards from there for free.

​A walk of couple of blocks over and down to the Anchorage museum. They have a Smithsonian exhibit of native Alaskan artifacts.

​Very nice with a wide selection of historical artifacts and some unusual artwork.  Here are a couple of the less weird examples.  The really strange art work had signs that requested no photos be taken.

​
Off to lunch.  It is the first time since we started the cruise that we have eaten off ship.  We found a great pizza place and had reindeer sausage pizza.  

Later at dinner, we watched a dozen beluga whales feeding. No photos because I don’t usually bring my camera to dinner. One more animal to add to our list.

Tonight's entertainment, Frank King comedian was pretty good. A short stop at the piano bar to listen to a few songs before bed.

As we left Anchorage, we passed this unusual oil rig.

​The sunset was very pretty tonight. It was after 11 pm.

Two minutes to midnight and we still have a lot of light.

We have a swan, I think, for our towel animal.

​After the late night, we slept in till 7:30. We are out in the Gulf of Alaska in 12000 feet of water.

​Oh, it's Sunday.

On our walk from the bow to stern the hallway walls kept moving side to side.  Even though we had relatively smooth seas we did have some sway to the ship as you can see from the pool on the enclosed Lido deck.

​Even with the rocky seas. to say we are hooked on cruising is an understatement.

We hear music playing for us.  In the atrium is a huge two story sculpture that is also an organ.

​Mom went to the test kitchen while I was at the “Ask the Captain” meeting.  I had a lot of fun. 

The Captain was very funny and knows his ship. Some of the questions asked were hard to believe. Here are a few of the questions asked:

You are here so who is driving the ship? “Microsoft, but there are officers on the bridge if needed. We use the computer to steer when at sea.”

Why are the toilets so low? “The Italians build the ships, so you would have to ask them.” (Yes, someone asked this)

Do you play tricks on new recruits? “We have played tricks on cadets like ‘Go find the compass key’”

Is it ok for the ship to bump into things at sea? “We do try to avoid trees and other things floating in the water. We try very hard to avoid large pieces of ice because a captain tried it in the past and it was not good.”

How deep is the ship down into the water?  “We are currently drafting 8 meters so about 26 feet”

What is the max speed? “The maximum for this ship is 28 knots but we never exceed 22 knots.”

How much did the ship cost? “Just under 400 million dollars.”

How is the ship powered? “We have electric motors that turn the props with power from 5 diesel generators, 2 backup generators and 2 days of emergency batteries.  We can travel 2500 miles for 14 days on full tanks of fuel.”

Is there really a brig? ....  Is there a morgue? ....Answer to both is YES. Currently the morgue holds the fresh flowers.

I thanked him for stopping so we could watch the bears at Endicott glacier.
​  “You're welcome. I had paid 3 of the bears to stay for us.”

After that I stopped off to look at the artwork set up for an art auction.

​Mom has also enjoyed the wine tastings. 

​There is a small fee, but the cruise really wants us to buy a bottle not just enjoy the selection.

Another gala dinner tonight so we are dressing up. We will have a great view as we go through the pass near Homer from the Gulf of Alaska.

​As we moved into the bay that will take us to Anchorage a line of huge dormant volcanoes was in view. 

​Very impressive.

Our towel animal greeted us after dinner.