So, this one time . . .

I was on a cruise to Alaska. I'd had a super great day checking out glaciers in Glacier Bay, and warmed up with a cup of Irish Hot Chocolate. Then, I tried a new cask strength scotch that I hadn't had before (don't ask what it was because I don't remember; you might find out why in a bit). Shortly after my scotch, I found out that martinis were half price. My bartender made one for me that was so dirty he said it was like the glass had never been washed. It was delicious. Then A got a martini, and decided it wasn't his thing because it was too dirty (even though I stole the olives for him). So I drank his. When I walked (Yes walked, not stumbled- I have very good balance. This applies even after drinking while on a cruise ship - you can ask Jeff) into my stateroom I squealed with delight when I saw a thug bunny on our bed!

(this is the thug bunny)

Imagine my (inebriated) horror when I went to move the bunny for more appropriate picture taking and this happened:

(oh yes, THIS happened!)


(here's a close-up in case you haven't yet truly grasped the horror. Even his EYE fell off! It wasn't bad enough I knocked his HEAD off, I also knocked off his EYE.

I knew I was in biiiig trouble, because rabbits are lucky. Thankfully, in my quick thinking state of mind, I fixed the problem of killing the lucky rabbit to my satisfaction (after peeing):

(oh yes, I totally saved the day by giving myself lucky bunny ears)

Fortunately, the rest of our towel animals did not suffer such a terrible fate.

(the puppy made me cry because it made me think of Nandi)


(doesn't this remind you of one of those turtle things in the movie The 5th Element?)


(awwwww, swans!)


(I'm pretty sure the entire cruise ship heard me squeal when I saw the monkey hanging from our ceiling)


(it's a mouse!)


(just for you, Mom! : ))

The End.

Ketchikan, Alaska

In Ketchikan, we took a boat tour of the Misty Fjords. Safety always comes first, and is even better when it rhymes!


We had to be up ridiculously early for the excursion, so we got to enjoy the sunrise on our way to the Fjords.





On our way, we saw two Orcas. They were so much fun to watch, and I wish we'd been able to watch them longer and get more pictures.



Jeff and I braved the outside for most of the morning so we wouldn't miss anything, and another passenger thought we were cute so he took our picture. : )


Here's where the Misty Fjords began. It was named appropriately, yes?



So, living in Oregon I feel like I take waterfalls for granted. They're not as exciting as they used to be two years ago.


But, it had rained for two straight days before our ship docked in Ketchikan which meant that the Fjords had tons of waterfalls that normally don't have enough water to be flowing. And there were SO many!







I loved this tree, sticking out on the edge of the cliffs while hanging on for dear life.




We "kissed" this waterfall. Meaning our captain drove the boat until it was literally inches away from the wall, and the waterfall was falling into the boat. Look at the texture of the water as it cascaded.




I think the orangey color on the rocks near the waterfall is kelp.




Here's a picture we decided we needed to take. A, J, Jeff and I were all wearing Marmot shells to keep dry. I think we need to send this into Marmot to tell them thanks for making awesome jackets.



We saw a ton of eagles while visiting the Fjords.





And some harbor seals.


And more eagles.



Then we headed back to shore. The sun came out for awhile and was gorgeous!

Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay was our next stop in Alaska. It was gorgeous, but not particularly exciting. : )



We stopped and picked up some park rangers who educated us about the bay. They did an excellent job of spotting all sorts of wildlife for us. We saw mountain goats. And a few minutes later, we went by a humpback whale carcass that had washed up on shore a few months ago. That meant bears! A pack of wolves was also spotted hanging out near the carcass, but we never saw them. The whole eating a several month old whale carcass thing made me realize just how different animals bodies and digestive systems are. Can you imagine how terrible you'd feel if you ate that? But the bears and wolves apparently do it just fine. It just solidified my belief that feeding Nan and the monstas raw is the way to go.





Glacier Bay is protected, and only two cruise ships a day are allowed to enter the bay. The number of smaller ships is also limited to something like 25 a day, so seeing another boat was cool and made the whole scale of things interesting to see. Alaska is amazingly beautiful, don't you think?












We made our way up Glacier Bay to Margerie Glacier. It was touted as the most exciting glacier of the day.


















The sun came out shortly before we reached Margerie Glacier and warmed it up enough that it calved a few times when we were there.









Here's the Grand Pacific Glacier. It's definitely not as pretty as Margerie, but it was massive.



Once the ship turned to leave Glacier Bay, Jeff and I realized we could watch Margerie from our balcony. So, we headed back to our room and took a few more pictures.




Then we headed to the John Hopkins Glacier. They call the point where the glacier becomes visible Jaw Point, because most people's jaws drop when they see the view. It was incredible! The glacier is especially protected because harbor seals hang out on the ice that has calved from the glacier, so we weren't allowed to get close.



Then we headed back out of Glacier Bay, and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery from our balcony.








Next stop, Ketchikan!