interior to life at sea

alaska, the largest state in the united states of america. it's over twice the size of texas, and it is larger than the combined area of the next three largest states: texas, california and montana. 

our adventure in this mostly uninhabitated wilderness began in fairbanks, we ventured furthest north to the arctic circle, and then bused our way down through denali. the town of talkeetna and the mt. mckinley lodge is our next stop, passing cantwell, 'into the wild' was filmed here oh and trapper creek, population 30. the weather was windy and rainy, just perfect...

this is gandolf, a great grey owl. she was at the mt. mckinley lodge, i met her while my sister was horseback riding (in the rain) and rose and bob, our travel companions, went atv-ing. gandolf was the best part of staying at the lodge! well and the salmon chowder i had for lunch and the reindeer lasagna and an alaska gin martini for dinner!

the next day, we arrived at talkeetna

talkeetna was my favorite town in alaska

it's an authentic alaska pioneer town with historic buildings and log cabins

talkeetna is the nearest town to denali (the mountain) and is a base station for climbing expeditions

this town is at the confluence of three rivers, the chulita, the susitna and the talkeetna

with my map in hand i looked for the ranger station first

but kept getting distracted

found it

in the station there were photos and books and climbing paraphernalia of climbers past. here is a record of this years climbing season, can you see? 41 percent reach the summit, it's a difficult mountain

i found the river next but did not stay long, i was alone and i had just read a sign 'welcome to bear country'

the rain continued to fall as the shops began to open

this is nate and leslie of grizzly gold. they offer alaskan art, prospecting, chainsaw carving and forest and river wares

and leather bags made by their friend bill. know as bilbo baggins, they said. bill was a kind of mythical character, living on the other side of the river and keeping to himself mostly. sometimes forcibly when the rivers run full. i love this bag made of butter soft black tailed deer, thank you bill who i've never met

in every town we discovered flower boxes so beautiful they almost looked artificial. this seemed a true appreciation for a very short growing season

everything in talkeetna was beautiful

and friendly, meet gerry

warming up with a cup of hot tea and then...

we boarded the alaska railroad! (while waiting for the train, we stood, by the track, in the forest, surrounded by trees, with a warning not to wander off, bears you know) 

i looked for moose and bear

and the spectacular scenery

the windows are large so you can see everything. we crossed rivers and towns, willow and wasilla, and one short stop in anchorage

and here was my favorite part, the cook inlet and turnagain arm. it was here that i discovered a place to stand between cars, and it was possible to take photos without a window

we sped through the inlet, portage valley to prince william sound and finally whittier where our ship sat waiting for us!

oh my gosh! i never thought i'd ever go on a ship like this, getting on was a bit like airport security, only quicker and simpler

eeps! this was exciting!

we explored

unpacked

ogled

and celebrated a birthday, and this was only our first night. i've already learned that this is called 'embark' day, and starboard is the right side, port the left (easy to remember if you think: port has 4 letters and so does the word left) (( i still got lost))

the next day

yakutat bay

and the hubbard glacier

the hubbard glacier is 76 miles long and 6 1/2 miles across and still growing

mt.st. elias, looming above

we stayed in the bay through dinner. it is amazing (for lack of better words) to be near such wild harsh beauty, such stunning landscape and to be at the same time...

being treated like a princess on the princess cruise, really!

the next morning we entered...

glacier bay from the waters of icy straight

at the entrance to the park a ranger came on board, she did a fantastic job of telling us what we were seeing. the day before i had attended a lecture given by an alaskan naturalist, author, speaker and educator kathy stamp. i learned about all the glaciers we would be seeing today, and from kathy, i learned the best place to view them from...

she told us to go through a door marked 'do not admit', then another, this one also had a high wind warning. we went through and found...

the best viewing area! and i think the coldest

this is the margerie glacier. this glacier is about one mile wide, with an ice face that is about 250 feet high above the waterline, and a base about 100 feet below sea level. behind it are the fairweather mountains

if the statue of liberty were superimposed on the glacier, it would not even measure half way up

the ice isn't really blue. here is the scientific explanation of why it seems to be: when light hits highly compacted ice, long wavelength colors (reds) are absorbed, while short wavelength colors (blues) reflect back through the ice to your eyes

we were told to listen carefully, tidewater glaciers calve several times a day

my sister and i and the margerie glacier, glacier bay national park

we ran down to our room for a up of hot tea. still so amazed at the luxury of a cruise!

oh good, a smaller boat is coming, i was hoping for something in the picture to give a better perspective of the glacier

but then! we heard it! an unearthly cracking sound, like glass breaking

this is what is called calving

the boat was close, even though it's hard to tell in these photos

that's better

now it's easier to see the size of the glacier

another view from the top deck

these are very huge icebergs, but from waaay up here, they look like  ice chips

much of the bay is over 1,000 feet deep

i took one million photos of all the glaciers we saw

and another million of icebergs

being on a cruise ship is an experience i didn't think i'd have (or wish for), but i'm truly glad for it. it is the only way to see some of these incredible sights

life at sea. in alaska. magnificent.

next, our first port skagway! then haines, juneau and ketchikan. we're off tomorrow for nine days, a road trip, so my lap top is coming too! owen our pup is staying behind but will be quite happy since his uncle is coming to keep him company. if you'd like to enter my giveaway, open till october 21st, go here.

 thank you so much for coming along on this alaskan adventure, it's truly a pleasure to share!
xxx lori