Alaska cruise

Saturday, May 19th, day before departure. A beatiful sunny day in Vancouver. View of the cruise terminal from the Vancouver Lookout Tower. Three ships departed Saturday evening, and three more, including ours, would depart on Sunday. Alaska is a popular place!

Sunday, May 20th, sailing day. The weather had turned dreary and rainy. View of the Vancouver skyline from the ship's rear deck.

Departing Vancouver, 5pm.

Vancouver's Stanley Park, with high rise condos in the background.

Passing under the Lion's Gate Bridge

The inside passage between the Canadian mainland and Vancouver Island.

Tuesday, May 22nd, arrive Ketchikan, Alaska at 8am.

Native clan lodge house

Totem pole carver

Three juvinile bald eagles in a tree adjacent to their nest.

By departure time at 2:30pm, skies had cleared and the sun was out.

Lots and lots of floatplanes in Alaska

Wednesday, May 23, arrive at Alaska's capital city of Juneau.

First in Juneau was the Mendenhall glacier.

Whale watching in the waters near Juneau. Thar she blows!

Humpback whale gives a high...one.

This is either two humpback whales, or the Lock Ness Monster.

Thursday, May 24th, arrive Skagway Alaska. A town of 1500, it was invaded by the passengers of four cruise ships, or about 6,000 tourists. The crowded streets of the tiny town were probably reminicient of the gold rush days of the late 1800s.

Mountains of White Pass between Canada and Alaska.

A marmot poses for photos.

The bear didn't feel like posing, so we had to snap him on the run

We had lunch at the Red Onion Saloon

Many risque activities took place here back in the day.

Tipping our tour guide of the upstairs brothel.

After lunch, I took an improptu aerial tour of some of the nearby ice fields.