First day on land

After we got to Whittier we had a transfer to the Anchorage airport where we had a rental car reserved.  They screwed up and took us to the train station (???).  Luckily it is next to the airport and when none of the cruise ship people could take control and decide what to do we just grabbed our small bags and headed to the airport to pick up our main luggage which the cruise people were suppose to deliver to the airport.  We finally found the right place, picked up our luggage, rented a car, and headed out.  It was late in the afternoon before we got our car and got started.  The pictures below are a sample of the pictures we got the first day.

Whittier

This is the end of the cruise....Whittier.  You have to go through a tunnel to get to Whittier and that tunnel is used by a train (see one of the pictures below) so it you may have to wait 1/2 hour before you can go through.  Every  time I've been in the vicinity of Whittier it has been damp and foggy.  I don't think I would want to live there.  You can see a lot more photos here and if you'll notice it's foggy in them also.

Glacier bay

All of these pictures are from Glacier Bay National Park. The weather was not the greatest that day so you might see better pictures if you go to the park's website.

More ocean cruising

Thought I had better post this while I can. The weather is suppose to be horrible the next couple days. They're predicting a lot of ice here (over an inch) so I wouldn't be surprised if we lose electricity.

 Picture of a whale as it's blowing.

 Just thought this was a beautiful scene.

 The three pictures above are from the same area.  It seemed like we were in the middle on nowhere and all of s sudden there are a lot of boats.  I would have loved to know what they were fishing for.  I  liked the scene but it seemed so lonely to me.  Sitting out there in the ocean and didn't see any more civilization around. If you look in the background you can see a glacier coming down to the ocean.

 Just thought this was pretty.

 This too.

 Glacier coming down the mountain.

Look at the chucks of ice in the ocean.

Ocean cruising

 I had to adjust the contrast on this picture so you could see the mountains sitting out there in the ocean.

 I think the mountains are magnificent.  They are just beautiful.

 A little island sitting out there.

 Look at those beautiful clouds.

 It's difficult to distinguish the clouds from the mountains in this picture.

 See the glacier in the middle of this picture?

 Not a particularly good picture but I thought it was interesting with the building/tank sitting out there all by itself with nothing else around.

If you look closely you can see a few buildings on shore.

Leaving Sitka

 National cemetery in Sitka.

 Just to show you another house sitting on an island.

 As the cruise ship goes into different areas of the cruise they bring on different captains who know the waters and navigation channels in that area well.  The captain of the ship does not actually guide the ship.  We changed several time.  The boat above is the one that brings the new navigational person on board.


 Leaving Sitka.

 Not a good picture but it shows the mountain range in the distance.

 Another shot of mountain range.

One more shot...

Now a video with a powerful song...

Around Sitka

 Marina at Sitka.

 Little island out in the bay.

 Can see the cruise ship out in the harbor.

 How would you like to live in this house? :)

 Little church in Sitka.

 This and the following pictures are from the inside of the church.  They aren't great pictures by any means (too dark) but you can see how beautiful it was.