A Whale of an Excursion

Monday morning was overcast and rainy. We were on our way to Juneau and here are some of the scenes we saw along the way: the view from our balcony, 

 a glacier,

many waterfalls, 

 and lots of water and beautiful green mountains.

We soon spied Juneau--the capital of Alaska.

My brother Andy had served his mission in Alaska and was anxious to show the family around Juneau. From my viewpoint on the ship, I saw them waiting and waiting and waiting across the street for their two rental cars to arrive. I knew they would not appreciate the long delay since they had places to go and things to see and do.

 

Since we had already been to Alaska and had been to some of the ports already, Glen was sure he didn't want to do any excursions. He had been telling the family the night before that he had signed up for the ship's egg drop contest and wanted to go find a Home Depot in Juneau to get some supplies for the egg drop competition.

Come on--REALLY??!!?? We were going to be in Juneau, Alaska, and the highlight of our time there was going to be going to a hardware store. GET REAL!!!!**!!!!**!!!!**!!!!!

How relieved I was that day to learn my husband had changed his tune. We got off the ship at our leisure and entered the town, planning to just walk around for a while to stretch our legs.

At the transportation area, there were not only lots of buses waiting to transport people to their shore excursion destinations, but also smaller vehicles to take people anywhere they might wish to go.

Imagine our delighted amusement when we spotted a sign on one of the vans advertising where this driver was willing to take any anxious and eager passengers: to Costco, Walmart or Fred Meyer.

Seriously??!!?? Who really would get off a ship and want to go to any of those stores when there was the quaint town of Juneau to explore?

I did give Glen one last chance at actually following through with his threat to go to a store to buy some egg drop supplies. I was sure we could find anything he might want or need for that at Walmart. He declined and I was ecstatic at his excellent choice!

First thing that caught our eye on the walkway leading into the city was the fishing company where some fishermen were bringing in their catches and were getting the fish all iced up and ready for shipping.

Just like every other port we've seen on our various cruises, there is always a strip of little sales booths not far from the ship with people manning the booths selling their shore excursion packages. We have typically found we can purchase on land for a much better price than purchasing an excursion on the ship.

But, today we were not interested in any excursions. Remember, we had been there before and had gone on a city tour and we weren't really wanting to go on any excursions.

That is until the guy in the yellow hat with the big yellow signs started bugging us to go over and talk to him. He got Glen's attention when he commented on Glen's BYU shirt. The guy had attended school in Utah. He started talking Glen into going on a whale watching excursion for a "really good price" and guaranteed we would see a whale.

Glen had been dead set on not going on an excursion and I was actually quite surprised he put out the bucks for us to go.

On our way to the boat, our driver had pointed out a building and in front of the building was a statue of a whale. He told us all to look at the whale and then told us we had been guaranteed to see a whale and now we could say we had seen one, so no money back for us. That was pretty funny and everyone got a kick out of the joke.

It was a very wet and rainy day as we stood on the dock waiting for our whale watching boat to arrive.

We got in and away we went out to the waters where the whales would supposedly be putting on a show for us.

And what a show we saw! We had been instructed by our guide about how the humpback whales do bubble feeding. A group of whales work together as they go down into the water. They circle around and blow bubbles from their blow holes which makes a bubble netting all around that the fish are afraid to cross. Then the whales zoom up together with their mouths wide open and they eat as many of the fish as they can which are inside the bubble net.

There is a lull for a few minutes while the whales get in position to do the bubble feeding again and then the show starts all over again.

The birds hanging around nearby are almost as entertaining as the whales. They watch for the moment when the whales surface and then they swoop in to catch the fish that the whales aren't able to get. It's quite the synchronized show between the whales, the fish and the birds.

We probably should have taken a video of the whole thing, but maybe if you scroll down through the pictures fast enough it will almost be like watching a video.

The blow holes spouting help you see where the whales are swimming. They also are an indication of how many whales are in the area.

As we headed away from the whales, our guide got all excited when he soon spotted a couple of baby whales frolicking together in the water. The boat stopped for a few minutes so we could watch their antics.

Glen was very proud of himself for getting some awesome photos of the babies making their jumps and splashes.

We saw a lot of whale activity. It had stopped raining as soon as we got out on the water to make the whale watching that much more enjoyable.

On our way back to the dock we saw a rainbow. This photo was taken through a window, so it's not that great. But, if you look close you can see a rainbow going in front of the land in the middle of the photo. It was so beautiful with the blue sky shining through.

 As we got close to shore, we saw a bald eagle in the middle of a group of birds.

Back in Juneau it was pouring down rain once again. Dad and Mom had taken a tour of the city and then took the tram ride up to the top of the mountain.

At dinner that night it was interesting to hear about everyone's adventures. We had a whale of a story to tell.
Dad and Mom enjoyed their day, but were jealous we were the only ones who experienced a break in the rain. (Sorry, Mom, about this picture. It's all so good--except the part where your eyes are closed...)

Andy, Amanda, Mike and Sam stayed in Juneau for a long time so they could go fishing. Michelle, Mark, Nani and Kathy ended up rushing into the dining room just in the nick of time to be able to enjoy eating dinner with us. Lorene came back with this group but opted out of the dining room dinner.

We were so eager to hear all about their day. It started out with their long wait for the rental cars. Then they spent a long time in none other than Fred Meyer getting their fishing licenses and supplies to go fishing. Glen and I had a good laugh about that. We had wondered who would get off the ship and go to any of those store. Now we know--MY SIBLINGS WOULD!!!

Of course once they were on their way and going to see things and having Andy show them around Juneau, they really enjoyed that part of their time on shore. We later heard the fishing story of Amanda catching a big one (you know all fishermen--and now this fisherwoman--like to tell about the BIG ONE they caught).

This was a beautifully executed dessert offered that evening.

Since it was chocolate, I opted for CHEESECAKE instead!! It was probably my third one of the day--two round ones and then this one to finish out the day.

Nani joined Dad, Mom and us for a trivia game before going to our evening show.

When we walked in the Princess Theater, everyone was given balloons to blow up and then everyone got in touch with their inner child and gleefully started throwing them all around the theater.

There was an older gentleman sitting a couple of rows behind me and he was doing his best to missile throw every single balloon he got right straight toward my face. At first I thought it was by accident, but then I saw the look of intent in his eye and he kept right on smashing as many as he could right at me. I guess it gave him some sense of joy and achievement with every successful hit...???

 Another day of our cruise had come to an end.