May 14- Seward, Alaska

On Monday morning, the ship arrived in Seward, Alaska (which is very close to Anchorage).  Jessie and I had already booked a tour for the day so we woke up early and made our way to our tour’s meeting point. 

As we disembarked the ship, I realized how cold it really was but all of that disappeared when I saw the mountains displayed in every direction around me.  The colours were so beautiful and the water was pristine and calm, it didn’t look real. 

We boarded a bus and within about 2 minutes, we were brought to our tour boat for the day.  Jessie and I were booked to do a wildlife cruise of the Kenai Fjords National Park.  The park itself is over 690,000 acres and is home to much of Alaska’s wildlife. 

This tour was rated #1 on the ship and therefore was very popular with the passengers.  Luckily Jessie and I arrived early so we were able to find ourselves seats inside of the boat (where it was much warmer).  Others who weren’t so fortunate had to be seated on the outside of the ship.  This wouldn’t have been such a problem for us if we would have brought winter jackets with us, but we didn’t so inside was the best choice. 

Jessie and I spent a lot of time out on the deck watching for various wildlife.  We saw quite a lot including two bald eagles perched on the side of a mountain.  We also saw 7 or 8 whales; some humpbacks and some orcas.  They were absolutely beautiful and so graceful in the water.  We were able to get quite a few nice photos of them too because we happened to be at the front of the boat when we saw them. 

As the boat was cruising, a group of porpoises had fun jumping through the wake.  They were so playful and were a pleasure to watch.  We also saw large colonies of seals and sea lions and also an area where thousands of seabirds come to nest.  Of course, the day wasn’t complete without seeing Alaska’s famous puffins, which were actually quite small, but extremely cute. 

We were also able to see the beautiful tidewater glacier which had stunning views of bright blue colors and reflected on the water.  The air smelled so fresh and clean and the glacier was magnificent; it was a sight I’ll remember forever.

The whole day was fantastic.  We were told that Seward was having terrible weather for over a week straight until the day we came.  For us, it was sunny and beautiful.  The only negative thing was due to the bad weather, the water was quite rough. 

 At one point Jessie felt quite seasick so we went to the back of the boat to get some fresh air (apparently it’s the best location).  As I was rubbing her back (being a good ‘mother’) a crew member came back and gave her a barf bag and some napkins.  People passed by and gave her words of encouragement.  About 2 minutes later, I demanded the bag and made use of it myself.  How ironic was it that Jessie felt sick and yet I was the one who vomited.  Jessie felt better after that… I didn’t.  Thankfully this was nearing the end of the tour, but it did cause me to feel quite nasty for the rest of it. 

As we made our way back to the ship I came to realize why people always speak highly of Alaska, it’s such a beautiful and majestic place.  My typical thinking that the hotter the climate, the nicer the place was proven wrong in this destination.  It was amazing.