Juneau Rocks!!! Orcas and Humpbacks and Sea Lions

  Juneau, Alaska
Monday, May 25, 2009

WOW!!! I'm not sure what else to say! We went whale watching this morning on a small boat, only two others plus the captain. We weren't out just a few minutes before he was radioed that there were Orca's, which is highly unusual to see.

We must have seen at least 20 different ones and they were simply amazing and I can't explain the experience beyond that. LJ and I both got some great photos, and we were excited to have rented the lens that allowed for an even closer view. We left the Orca's and went in search of humpbacks and quickly found a mother and baby (not such a small baby).

A sea lion was playing, pestering, aggravating them and they had something to say about that!    I'm crossing my fingers that my bad videography skills will at least be able to show part of it. Then we found a different younger humpback again and it was breeching over and over and playing in the water. Completely unbelievable! 

We left there and were dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier where we walked around, took more photos and then caught the shuttle back to town. Yes, Mendenhall was phenomenal, but for me, just couldn't compare to seeing the whales.

We then went to the famous Red Dog Saloon and had lunch. We met up with Ellie from Cruise Critic and she joined us for lunch. We all had different variations of burgers and they were delicious, and of course, we visited the gift shop afterwards. A few more shops and we were ready to come back to the ship. It's a long port day today, back on board by 8:30 PM for a 9:00 PM departure.

We came back at 5, took a nap until 6 and then went back out for some final shopping, and also to acquire some snacks for our day tomorrow because we'll be horseback riding in the Yukon. So I left LJ out shopping til he drops and I came back to get these four posts up before getting ready for dinner. We'll be back in the dining room tonight and will be able to catch up with Tammy, Brad, Michele and Kirk on their own adventures. More to follow... hopefully soon!