We awoke early again, this time to thick fog. So thick, it was as if I could reach my arm out over the balcony rail and grab a handful. Our ship's horn was sounding about every 60 seconds, and I'd hear a return blast each time which led me to believe there was another cruise ship in the area with us. Surprisingly, I could barely hear the horns from inside our stateroom, which I imagine was a good thing considering how early it was and many people were likely still snoozing away.
We took it easy for awhile, keeping our fingers crossed that the fog would lift, and after a couple hours it did. It ended up being another nice day. A little overcast at times, but I wasn't about to complain considering this week's been dry and the sun has appeared more than it should!
As the last of the fog was lifting, the captain maneuvered the ship into a little cove. I was outside on the balcony and Alex was in the shower, so at first I wasn't aware that we were approaching a unique sight. I heard a lot of people rushing out onto the balconies around us, so I went inside and turned on the TV to the ship's channel to find out what was going on. A wolf, 4 brown bears, and a whale carcass to the starboard side!
I rushed back out onto the balcony with camera in hand and waited for the ship to turn so things would enter my view. I missed the wolf and one of the bears, but did see the whale carcass (a bit gross) and 3 brown bears! Alex came out in time to get a little video from a distance as the ship moved on to it's regular route.
Glacier bay is truly spectacular. Alex and I visited in 2002 and like our visit to Mendenhall Glacier a couple days ago, I was surprised how different everything looked 8 years later. We saw many glaciers today, some of which included Reid, Lamplugh, Hoonah, Gilman, Hopkins, Grand Pacific, and of course the show-stopper... Margerie. The captain spent about an hour in front of Margerie, turning the ship so that both sides would experience the view.
We spent most of the day out on our balcony, taking in the world around us. My younger sister & her family joined us for a couple hours, enjoying the view while the kids ate lunch. Tom was with us most of the morning, stopping once to "press ham" at a passing sailboat (you don't want to know), and having fun working for the camera. Mom joined us for a bit too, and Eileen's family came down after lunch for a while. Dave pointed out a pair of tiny islands covered with seals, that we otherwise would have missed. Many great photos & video were taken today! Alex and I don't regret splurging for this suite with a gigantic corner balcony... it has been worth every penny it cost us!
Tonight was the second of two formal nights, and once again the family managed to clean up nicely. The ship was leaving Glacier bay as we were getting ready, and quite a few humpback whales were breaching off in the distance. I kept running out to the balcony to try and get photos (managed a few), and thought I'd end up running late but pulled it off.
After dinner we went to show in the main theater. It was a magician/comedian who has his dog, Indie, on board with him. It was a lot of fun and he (and the dog) were really good.
Moe
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