Alaskan Cruise Day 2: Juneau

On our cruise the entire first day was spent all day at sea. We had to get really far north, so we were going really fast. The water was choppy and I got pretty sea sick. Yuck. I didn't take many pictures because I didn't really think I'd ever want to remember how much I ate that day.

It was scary.

But how can I turn down hot cookie and ice cold milk hour? I'm only human.

Juneau was awesome. We berthed the boat really early and tried to get off as fast as possible. In my opinion, the docks at Juneau aren't that awesome. Really touristy, totally geared toward the cruisers...not really my thing. It's the perfect place to get out and do a great excursion. We decided to go whale watching and tour the Mendenhall Glacier.

First we got aboard this beautiful little catamaran and hit the water. The scenery is pretty amazing.

I've been whale watching before and usually you only get to see their top fins and the fluke as they swim by. Well, we were SOOOOOOO lucky because the day we were out all the humpback whales were surface feeding. They'd come up to the surface of the water on their sides, open their mouths wide and take in all the little floaters at the top of the water. This means we got to see right inside the huge beasts' gullets.

Literally one of the most amazing things I've ever seen! The ear doctor was excited...

Well, really, we both were!

By the time we were driving back my eyes were aching from all the sunlight glaring off the water. The ear doctor lent me his sunglasses, so in return I posed for this picture making his favorite face. We affectionately call it "little mouth."

Because we went so early in the summer, the salmon weren't really running yet. Which means that the bears hadn't really come down out of the mountains to the water yet. Which means this specimen at the Mendenhall glacier visitors center is as close as the ear doctor got to seeing a live bear...

The glacier itself was amazing; so big, so blue, so powerful. It's the kind of thing that pictures simply can't capture.