Alaskan Cruise Part 3 - Endicott Arm Fjords

If you have been following along,

for the past week I have been

sharing about the Alaskan cruise

our family went on in celebration of

my parents' 40th wedding anniversary.

I shared about our day in Juneau here.

And if you missed the cute puppies and

our dog sledding adventure in Skagway,

you can get caught up here.

Today you aren't going to get

any pictures of cute puppies, my family,

or any adventures.

Today you get to enjoy some beautiful

pictures of the wilderness in Alaska!

When we woke up...at 5:30 or so...

yes...that early...we were greeted with this

amazing sight from our balcony!

Certainly makes getting up at 5:30,

while you're on vacation,

a bit more bearable when you see this.

We were supposed to travel to the

Tracy Arm Fjords and Sawyer Glacier.

Apparently it was too icy, so we went to

Endicott Fjord and saw Dawes Glacier.

Our ship went as far into the fjord,

and as close to the glacier,

as possible and then proceeded

to do a 580 degree spin

so that everyone on the ship got a view of the glacier.

If the scenery doesn't blow your mind,

a huge cruise ship spinning in a circle should! ;)

At first Lexie wasn't so sure about it.

Are they cute or what?

I know...I'm biased.

Oh...and I guess I lied...

but these are the only pictures of my family today. :)

As you can see,

there were huge chunks of ice

everywhere in the water.

As the ship spun we were able

to enjoy a nearby waterfall.

My sister bought a super fancy camera

before our trip and she got some awesome pictures.

Here are her pics...

they put my Samsung Galaxy pics to shame. :)

We were even able to spot a group

of harbor seal laying on the ice.

It was so incredibly quiet,

and the water was smooth and still as can be.

So serene.

As we made our way out of

the fjord the captain told

us to keep our eye out for bear and moose

along the shoreline.

Sadly we didn't see any...

but the view still didn't disappoint.

As we exited, we went passed

another glacier...I have no idea which one.

We spent the rest of the day watching whales.

Tons of whales!

We saw at LEAST 15 whales

during the day.

Unfortunately they were REALLY

hard to get a picture of.

About the time you saw one,

it would come up for air,

and be back under the surface.

I was able to catch this one tail.

I have a TON of pictures

that look like this...

but I thought I'd spare you and just share this one. :)

I know I have said it in my previous posts...

and I really mean it...

these pictures do NO justice to

the beauty that is Alaska.

I am not what I would consider a 

"nature lover"

but I was completely mesmerized

by the peace and beauty that surrounded

us during this trip.

Our mountains and forests in California

are pretty spectacular...

but there is something majestic

about Alaska.