Day 7….Juneau

We have a full day ahead in Juneau – exciting!

The state’s capitol with a population of only 32,000 people. Juneau is landlocked. You can only reach this city by boat or plane.  That’s hard to imagine.

Guess who’s up for sunrise at 4am?

From our balcony.

 

Yesterday at breakfast there was no bread pudding, but it was back today.  YEAH!

Coming into port.

There are a couple of ships already here, so it will be a busy day in town.

We noticed just before we left our room that there were about 30 eagles flying around, feeding not too far from our boat.  Cool.

We had to stay and try to get pictures.

We only shot with our nicer camera and big lens.

Al got all of these great shots.

 

We had to leave the ship even though we were fascinated by the eagles and their feeding habits.  We have a schedule today.  It looks like there might be a little glimpse of sunshine.

We started our day on a tour with Juneau Tours to visit the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. It was about a 20 minute bus ride outside of town. On the way out we saw a festival/parade of Native Americans.

The glacier was huge and very scenic.

We took a lot of pictures all along the way.

We got as close as we could.

Be Careful!  Don’t hurt the camera.

Teamwork

What a beautiful waterfall!  WOW!

Mendenhall Glacier is just in front of us and the waterfall is slightly to the right.

I wish we had time to hike to it, but we don’t.  It’s only about a mile, but we are on the glacier and whale tour, which is different from the dam tour, and they have a schedule that we’re expected to respect.

This is the first glacier that any of us has seen in person.

If I had known that you could canoe/kayak right up to the glacier, guess where we would be?

Little icebergs

There are several places to get great views.

Heading to the Visitor Center.

Notice how I took the G-rated family photos and Al took this.

Debbie looks guilty.  She knows they got caught!

The Visitor Center has a great view from several stories above the road.

From inside

Reading about how big it used to be

Amazing!

Maybe my favorite glacier picture and it was taken with my phone so I could text it to Stephanie, our Ohio daughter – we miss you!

 

 

As we were heading back to our meeting place, a guy from our bus, who calls himself Trouble, told us about some black bears hanging out just under the boardwalk.

We ran over to get some pictures – 3 cubs and a mom – how cool.

They were literally just feet from us but it was hard to get good shots because they were in tall grass and rarely looked up to pose for our cameras, but they were cool to see.

The adults only get to about 150 pounds and are generally not too aggressive. When we walked up the naturalist was quietly reminding everyone to whisper in order to not scare the bears.  Shen then began telling us, through her microphone, about this bear family and their habits, and said the cubs would probably leave the mom within the next couple of weeks.

 

Oh, now we have to run to catch our bus.

Next we boarded a bus with about 40 of our closest friends and we were off to our whale watching tour.

We were expecting to see Humpbacks and were hoping to also see Orcas but not too optimistic.

The boat we went on was brand new. Where does that expression even come from – ‘brand’ new?

This was its 3^rd voyage. It was nice, comfy and most importantly warm. It didn’t take too long to find a humpback. You will first notice a water spout and then he or she will surface.

They travel alone, unless a mom still has her calf. This whale was pretty inactive in my opinion. No jumping, no tail flips, except when we were all inside the boat- one flip.

After a while we moved on and found a couple of others but pretty much the same story so no good pictures today.

Law requires that the boats stay 100 yards from the whales and not disturb them but our boat stayed hundreds of yards away which made for really difficult picture taking. There were several smaller boats and they got much closer.

Our guides were friendly and knowledgeable. By the end of the day, we saw 4 whales but nothing exciting.

Auke Bay looks pretty scenic.  I can only imagine if it was a sunny day.  At least it wasn’t raining.

We can see Mendenhall Glacier way off in the distance.

Top middle:  Mendenhall Glacier;      Center slightly left:  Auke Bay

Lower right:  Downtown Juneau and the Port

This is interesting……When we left downtown Juneau, the temperature was around 50 degrees. Not sure what it was on the water, but cold, especially when the boat was moving – even just a little. We stayed inside for faster traveling. We did a whale watching tour in Boston a couple of years ago (wonderful) and when we left Newport RI and headed north the temperature was 95, but once we got on the water on a moving boat, it was freezing – about the same as Alaska! Funny but true.

 

On our ride back into town, our driver gave us some history facts, but my family all napped.

 

Next we took the Roberts Tram up the mountain 3300 feet for a scenic overlook.

I never even noticed, until I looked at this picture that Al took, how the upper tram station just kind of hangs there.

Our ship, taken from the tram.

Made it to the top.

We had lunch at the top. It reminded me of a 1970s style western diner. Our overly made up waitress wasn’t friendly and the food was nothing to get excited about. I think we waited for quite a while to get it also.

 

Today was dry but cool. We needed jackets and a couple of layers. The rain started just as we were getting back on the boat in the later afternoon.

 

As we were boarding the ship we noticed this young eagle in the marina.

Then we found these 2 also, maybe a father and son???  Looks like the dad is teaching a lesson.

 

Meanwhile back on the ship.

 

Good Night Alaska!

 

 

 

For more images from Vancouver and Alaska, visit my facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/GanleyPhotography/photos/?tab=albums

 

 

 

 

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Day 2….Grouse Mountain Vancouver

Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Wind Turbine……

But, before we leave for the mountains, we are visiting Vancouver Lookout.  It’s a circular tower in downtown that gives visitors a 360 degree view of the city.

It’s maybe a 10 block walk from our hotel.  It’s a cool, crisp morning, but perfect for walking.

And, there it is!

Tickets are good for all day, so our plan is to see it in the morning before it gets crowded and then come back at night when some of the city might be lit up.  We read that Canada Place is lit up from dusk until dawn.

The elevator is glass on the outside of the building overlooking the city.

Look for the stadium.

Vancouver has 3 skylines.

The big container port near the cruise ship port.  Lots of train tracks.

The cruise ship port at Canada Place.  That is not our ship, but ours will be here in a few days.  Until, we have a lot to see and do.

Grouse and Whistler Mountains are in the background.

The park below is where we took pictures yesterday evening.  I’m glad this ship was not in port at that time because I wanted to get unobstructed pictures of the sails.  We also took pictures of this tower.

We are 553 feet above Vancouver.  What a great view.

This is the area where all the seaplanes take off and land – out near the big boat.

I love it up here.  We stayed for about an hour.

Lions Gate Bridge.  Leaves Vancouver city from Stanley Park (on the left).

We were not successful at selfies, so Dad helped us out.

And that’s the 360 degree view.

 

Now it’s time to catch the bus for our mountain tour.

We traveled with LandSea Tours and our guide, Steve, who prefers to be called Mr. Handsome, was fun, friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.  He helped make our day even more enjoyable.

Our first stop was at a Salmon Hatchery where they raise salmon every year to be released into the wild.

It’s a beautiful setting and the water is crystal clear.

So many fish.

This is one of the holding tanks.

There is a video somewhere……

This barrier is about 6 1/2 feet tall, just above the height that the salmon can jump.  This forces them into the tanks.

Going for a hike.

A lady has joined up with Al and Abby.  I guess I should catch up.

Peek A Boo

We will see this dam from the other side on the gondola we will be taking up the mountain later.

I would not care for this job.

Oh, my

You can barely see this little door on the giant slab of rock.

 

Next we traveled to ‘winter’ – a place we used to live but broke free in December 2016.  It is called Ohio and it definitely doesn’t look like this.

It was 40 degrees at the top of Grouse Mountain – a bit chilly for us Floridians.

We first traveled up by gondola.

Then even higher by chairlift.

Such a quiet peaceful ride.

Way down at the bottom is Vancouver.

The snow banks were pretty tall and very dirty.

We made it to the top!

Not!  We can still go higher!  Good thing we wore 4 layers on top.  It was 40 degrees.

I’ve never been inside a wind turbine before – let’s go.

The 360 degree views were amazing!  Each blade weighs over 12,000 pounds and they can rotate at up to 185mph!  I don’t think I would want to be up there for that.

Notice the sections of glass flooring.

The bubble rotates also.  What a fun experience.  Once at the top, you are almost 4200 feet above the city of Vancouver.  I loved it up there and didn’t want to come down.

Back down at the base of the wind turbine…..it’s was still windy and cold, but at least the sun was shining bright.

 

At the top of the gondola level, we watched a birds in the wild demonstration. They showed an eagle, a vulture, an owl, a falcon…..maybe one or two others.

Two rescued bears live here also.

Oh My…..What BIG prints you have!

 

Next stop…..Capilano Suspension Bridge – 450 feet long, 250 feet high – how cool.  A number of people could barely make it over and some not at all.

It’s very bouncy.

Once you cross, you must come back.  It was originally built in 1889.  Capilano means people of the river.

It’s just WOW!

On the other side are walking trails through the giant cedar, hemlock, and douglas fir trees.  Some are 800 to 1000 years old and they are huge!

And, a system of connected suspension bridges high above the trails for a little different view.

I mean really HUGE!  Not quite like the California Red Woods, but pretty huge.

Then on to the Cliff Walk – a series of walkways jetting out over the canyon.  Fascinating.

The Cliff Walk is attached with cables to a huge slab of granite.

It’s not bouncy at all.

This section has glass sides for great viewing below……Way below!

What a terrific tour.  I would definitely recommend this trip and with Landsea Tours.  They are very professional, ontime, friendly……

 

Our driver offered to drop everyone off just where they want, not necessarily at your hotel or where you were picked up.  We got dropped off in Granville where we walked around for a short time and then ate dinner.

Granville is an island.  This view is looking back at downtown Vancouver.  Our hotel is not far from here.  We met up with our Ohio friends who just flew in and had a nice dinner.  Most of the shops were closed by the time we finished eating.

The water taxis are so cute.  I must take one somewhere.

So we went to Yaletown.

The water taxis zig and zag all up and down the river and there are lots of stops with lots to see and do.  We only had this evening so our time was limited.  The view from the water is spectacular.

Welcome to Yaletown.

It was getting late, so we headed back to the Vancouver Tower for one last look before sunset.  We read that Canada Place would be lit up at dusk.  It was a long walk, but we made it.

The Stadium

Canada Place.  It’s nice but not as bright as we imagined.

Vancouver Lookout

I think we walked about 22,000 steps and I don’t know how many floors.  My watch is still set to FL time so I forget to check just before midnight when it resets for a new day.

What an Amazing day!

 

GOOD NIGHT VANCOUVER!

 

 

For more images from Vancouver and Victoria, visit my facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/GanleyPhotography/photos/?tab=albums

 

 

 

 

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This Is Us

We are Cyndi & Al and Debbie & Dave.  We’ve been friends for a long time. We have fun and laugh together and because of that, last summer we decided to embark on an adventurous, exciting journey to the Great Northwest in June of 2018, and it’s almost here.  We booked our trip during the first week of September 2017 – during Hurricane Irma.  Although we had our hurricane shutters on and a supply of food, water, flashlights, and candles, we had electricity and internet, so the planning began.

Our venture starts in Vancouver and then takes us to Victoria, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Whittier, Denali, Mt McKinley, and Anchorage.

Our countdown begins……we are under 1 week!

Here we are practicing for iceberg weather.  We’re having ice cream in single digit temps with below 0 wind chill – not in FL of course.  I think we’re ready!

We all met in Ohio, but Al and I now live in warm and sunny Sarasota.  I think Alaska weather will be a shock to me – even in the summer.

This sweet girl, our daughter Abby, is going with us.  I hope she can keep up with the old folks.

To learn more about me, your tour guide on this Northern Adventure, visit the About Me page.

 

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Let The Journey Begin!

 

For more images from Vancouver and Alaska, visit my facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/GanleyPhotography/photos/?tab=albums

 

 

 

 

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