The Panama Adventure

Weekly Photo Challenge: Sea

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

The instructions are: Sea. What kind of emotions does the sea or ocean make you feel? Do you remember the first time you went in the water? Had a wave crash on you? Felt the sand burn your feet? Do you feel more peaceful around water? Do you hate the beach? What’s the most interesting thing about the sea for you? Lots of questions, lots of interpretations. Show me the different sides of Sea with your contribution! In a new post specifically for this challenge, share a photo which means SEA to you!

What a photo challenge for me, since I have just returned from a week on the sea! It will be a challenge not to post a hundred photos.

I love the sea. I remember going to the beach as a kid and hating to leave. One of the things that attracted me to Florida was being so close to the water. Even a short visit to the beach feels like a whole vacation. There is something about the sea that just says life, renewal, beauty, and reconnection. Here in Panama we aren’t close to the water but we can get there fairly quickly, and I do have the river behind the house which I love.

I went back through some of my favorite photos for a few of places where I have enjoyed the sea.

Florida – Siesta Key Beach at sunset.

Siesta Key Beach again, as the colors deepen.

We used to take weekend getaways to Key Largo, Florida and we loved the amazing sunsets.

Another sunset at Key Largo, Florida

Alaska on a calm and amazing morning.

A humpback whale breaks the glassy surface in Alaska

Las Lajas Beach in Panama. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen!

Posted in Panama, photography | Tagged beach, Florida, Panama, photography, postaday, Sea, sunset photo | 13 Comments

Wrapping it up – leaving Alaska

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

I have a few more things from our trip to the US, but I’ve been neglecting the computer and doing other things for the last few days. So, since it’s raining and I’m inside, I figured I’d get back with it.

The cruise was great but like all things, it had to come to an end. Our last stop was supposed to be Victoria BC, but when we got to the area we were told that there was too much wind for this large ship to safely enter the harbor. Joel had spent the day resting and fighting his cold. We were not sure we wanted to go ashore anyway, so we were happy to stay on the ship and enjoy the beautiful evening and sunset.

Victoria – our destination

It was a beautiful evening

I loved watching the colors change

Sunset is coming

It was a beautiful sunset!

We spent the evening relaxing, and the crew spent it working. We saw them raising and lowering the lifeboats – drills, tests, and maintenance I’m sure. Others were repairing and caulking the boxes that held fire extinguishers on the decks. And, of course there is always cleaning in progress. We finally left the Victoria area after dark, and since it’s not far from Seattle we weren’t surprised to wake up to find we had arrived at port.

We have breakfast and enjoy the view of Seattle while we wait to be called to get off the ship.

This huge yacht was at the dock, and that’s a fishing boat in the foreground.

The yacht in the photo is “Serene”, one of the biggest privately owned yachts in the word, rumored to be owned by a Russian vodka tycoon. Read about it HERE, and I found this article about its visit to British Columbia. I took the photo because I thought it was a heck of yacht but I didn’t know how unique it was until I came home and did some research. It has a saltwater pool, two helicopter pads, a submarine, and more toys and amenities too numerous to mention!

So, our cruise ended in Seattle eating breakfast and looking at one of the most amazing yachts in the world. From there, we back to my daughter’s apartment where she kindly let us stay for another night before we made our way back to Panama.

Posted in photography, travel | Tagged Alaska, photography, Seattle, sunset photo, Travel and Tourism, Victoria, Victoria British Columbia | 1 Comment

Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus

The instructions are: For this challenge, get out there and take a picture demonstrating the concept of focus. Depending on your skill level or type of camera, tinker with the manual settings, use the auto focus feature, or play around with an app. Some ideas:

Snap a photo of something or someone in focus, against a blurred background.
Share a panorama or landscape in sharp focus, in which you can see details far away.
Use a camera app to force focus (or blur) in an experimental way.
Take multiple photos of the same scene or subject using different aperture settings and publishing the results.

IN A NEW POST CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO DEMONSTRATING THE CONCEPT OF FOCUS.

F stop 4.8 – background out of focus

F stop 10 – background somewhat in focus

F stop 20 – background sharper

I prefer the background fairly blurred because the seed head stands out well. I was fairly close, so I think I would have had to step back to get the background totally sharp and in focus.

F stop 4.8

F stop 10

F stop 20

I kind of like the middle one the best. The background is more interesting but still blurred enough that the lily stands out clearly.

This has been an interesting challenge. I enjoy taking this sort of picture with a sharp subject against a blurred background. It’s good for me to study this more so I”m clear on how to get the effect I want. I remember it by – bigger number on the F stop = more stuff in focus.

I’m also glad to be back in Panama. I went for a walk in our woods planning to photograph the heliconias, and found these other things I liked even better. Apologies for the banner photo to anyone who isn’t into spiders. When I disturbed the web of this one it landed on a leaf, and it was too interesting and beautiful to pass up!

Posted in Panama, photography | Tagged Chiriqui, David, Depth of field, Panama, Photograph, photography, postaday | 8 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Carefree

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: Carefree

The instructions are: Whether a good memory was made in years past, yesterday, or only moments ago, I love letting the nostalgia wrap me up — like a borrowed sweater on a cold summer night. Even more, I love making new memories: a carefree summer at the lake, a stroll through the park, dancing in the rain… then all I need to do is remember, and the same carefree feeling washes over me.

In a new post specifically for this challenge, share a photo that means CAREFREE to you!

I am behind on this photo challenge but I have a good excuse. I was being… CAREFREE! I was on a cruise.

Rain and all, it still is a beautiful sight!

We went on a cruise to Alaska. They take you to beautiful places. They make all your meals for you. They take care of your room every morning, and turn down the bed and leave you a cute surprise every evening.

Our room steward delighted us every night with a new towel animal!

They work hard to come up with many forms of entertainment every day. They have a huge staff who does whatever they can to take care of you and keep you happy. That’s pretty carefree, in my opinion, and we had a wonderful time!

If you want to see more of my Alaska cruise, check my recent posts. We saw whales, mountains, eagles, glaciers, salmon, bears, beavers, rode an old train, went out on boat trips, and had an amazing time. If you ever get a chance to go to Alaska, I would highly recommend it!

Posted in photography, travel | Tagged Alaska, Carefree, photography, postaday, Recreation, Specialty Travel, travel, Travel and Tourism | 2 Comments

Alaska – Day #6

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

August 18, 2013
Ketchikan – boat trip to see eagles, totems, lighthouse

We got up early this morning to find the usual – gray, rainy weather. Joel thankfully was feeling a little better and figured he’d brave going out for our excursion, even though it was an early one. Would our luck with weather hold up for yet another day? This was our last excursion so we only needed one more clear morning.

I booked the excursions so long ago that I had forgotten what was going to happen today – something about totems and eagles, just a short trip because we only had a few hours on this stop. We did well and arrived at the meeting place at 7:30 only to found out that no one was there because the actual time was 8AM. No matter though. It all came together eventually and we hopped on the bus headed for the boat. Another boat trip, eh?

Our driver told us a bit about Ketchikan on the way, unfortunately without a lot of enthusiasm or flare. We did learn that the town mainly runs on tourism and fishing, and there are three fish canneries that have been in operation for a long time. There are also named streets that are nothing more than wooden stairs and pathways up to houses on the side of the hills and mountains.

Luck was with us again. By the time we arrived at the marina the weather had cleared and the sun was peaking through the clouds. We boarded a nice boat with an attentive crew and went out in search of eagles. It was only a few minutes before we spotted the first one. Many more sightings followed and a number of nests were pointed out. We also saw the totems, some harbor seals, the promised lighthouse, and learned quite a bit about the history of the area and some of the homes that we passed. We had seen many eagles when we lived in Kansas and Florida but I’m still always thrilled to see them, and the scenery was beautiful so we were glad we hadn’t skipped this excursion.

Our weather luck didn’t hold all morning though, and a light rain started up again. There were inside spaces in the boat but I managed to get somewhat wet going outside for photos. It could have been much worse though because it was raining hard by the time we were back on the ship. We looked out on the dock a bit later and there was a long line of people outside waiting to get back on board. We were wet and cold enough, and happy to be back indoors instead of out in that line.

After warming up and getting some lunch, we went to a very interesting lecture by Michelle, the ship naturalist that had been making all the informative announcements about the area and the whales. She told us a lot about the whales, orcas, porpoises and other life that lives in these waters. She really put the whales in perspective when she stretched a rope across the stage equivalent to the length of a humpback, and unfolded a piece of material that was a life size cutout of a tail. It took up most of the stage! You don’t always realize how huge they are when you look at them at a distance from a large boat.

After the talk, we decided to go to the upper deck and watch the world go by for awhile. We were heading to open water which was rougher and the boat was rolling and pitching some, and it seems to bother less when you can see out over the water. Since the rest of the day and most of tomorrow was on the ship as we made our way to Victoria, it was time to relax, read, sort photos, and enjoy the down time.

Good morning, Alaska! (There is a camera on board that you can watch on your TV)

Good morning, Ketchikan

We watch the guys fasten the ropes to secure the ship to the dock as the line of buses waits to take people on excursions.

We were instructed to meet by the rain gauge. Yes, the record is 202 inches! No wonder they usually measure the rain in feet.

It’s a beautiful calm morning at the marina.

I enjoyed the interesting boats and beautiful reflections while we waited to board.

Here’s our boat.

It looks like we’re in for another morning of gorgeous scenery!

There used to be logging in the past (but no more to preserve the forests). The loggers built platforms like this, and there were whole towns built on the platforms with houses, schools, stores, etc. When the loggers got moved to another location they would just tow the town to the new location so they never had to be separated from their families.

This is another bit of “Loggerville” that still survives.

A beautiful eagle in flight!

Oh yes they are magnificent birds

Ut oh, the rain is coming back

An eagle nest with a chick (center of the photo, looks like a pile of sticks with a brown bird sitting on it). Young eagles are all brown and don’t get their white heads and tails until they are 4-5 years old.

Fog, rain…

The Indian totems. They built them to tell stories. When the Christians came they made the Indians stop making totems thinking they were using them to worship other gods, but later they understood they were just stories so the Indians were allowed to resume the practice. Colors are iron ore, copper ore, charcoal, and ground seashells mixed with chewed salmon eggs for white paint. They have trouble getting the women to chew the salmon eggs now though, so they often just go to the hardware store and get exterior grade latex paint.

The Indian lodge with the totems out front. This is only accessible by boat.

If you look very closely, you can see two harbor seals on the right at the end of the little island.

The rain lets up as we return to the dock, giving me another opportunity to enjoy the boats and reflections.

The airport, as seen from the bus in the rain. It’s on the next island because it’s one of the few flat places where they could build a runway.

You have to take this ferry to get to the airport.

Posted in photography, travel | Tagged Alaska, Alaska Ketchikan, Eagle, Ketchikan, photography, Travel and Tourism | 1 Comment

Alaska – Day #5

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

August 17, 2013
Juneau – whale watching, the Mendenhall Glacier

At this point I started having trouble keeping up with writing and photos because every day we were too busy doing things and taking more photos!

We woke up in Juneau, which looked like a busy city compared to Skagway. Again, we woke up to rain and fog. Would our luck hold for another day? Would it clear up or were we going to spend the morning on a boat in the rain?

Again, we had no trouble finding our tour and soon we were on the bus heading for the boat. It was a nice drive and we were able to see a lot of Juneau on the way. We could stay indoors on the boat if it was raining, but again it seemed that luck was turning in our direction and the weather was clearing up. By the time we got to the dock the rain had stopped and bits of blue were starting to show in the sky.

We were seated behind the boat captain (Ally and Derrick on the Raven – so I can remember and write a note on Trip Advisor) and we could hear him talking on the radio to other boat captains who were reporting the locations of whales. Clearing skies, whales in the area, things were looking good!

We stopped near some other boats, and there were whales everywhere! First we spotted a mother and calf. Then we spotted some other adults. I think altogether there must have been close to a dozen whales! It was amazing. We would be watching for one to resurface, and we’d hear another blow on the other side. Or, we’d see a group of two or three coming up together, while a few more were blowing farther out. Sometimes it was hard to figure out what direction to look because they were all around us! At one point, a whale surfaced right behind another tour boat. Those folks must have been so excited.

Watching the whales was such an amazing experience that I hated to leave, but we had the glacier waiting for us. This is the same glacier we had seen on Thursday, but today we were going to see if from land.

The glacier was also amazing. It was made of compacted snow that had fallen hundreds and thousands of years ago! What a thing to be so near such an enormous force of nature. This whole area is full of glaciers but most of them are high in the mountains. We were told that in centuries past there were many more glaciers that carved the earth into the huge mountains and valleys that it is today, and some volcanoes also forced lava up through the ice to make some mountain peaks.

We returned to the ship about 1:30 PM which was good so we could catch our breath a bit in the afternoon. We went to the deck to watch the boat leave port which I always find interesting, and then I settled at a table on an upper deck to watch the scenery and do some work on the computer.

The day wasn’t over yet though! We were going through the same water where we first saw the whales on Thursday. The naturalist announced she was going to keep an eye out and let us know if we passed any whales. Sure enough, first there were a small group of them on the starboard side, and a short time later there were more on the port side. Then, she announced there was a whale being very active on the surface, and as we came closer we could see it leaping out of the water and breaching over and over! Wow, that was totally exciting and I was really glad that I saw it and also caught a couple shots with my camera.

This was all the excitement we could handle for one day. We got some dinner and watched the views roll by the windows until it was too dark to see, and then we went back to our room and turned in for the night. We were tired and had an early morning coming, and Joel was coming down with a cold and feeling under the weather. Hopefully he’ll get a good night’s sleep and he’ll feel better in the morning.

By the time we arrived at the dock it was turning out to be a really beautiful day.

WHALES!!

An eagle in a nearby tree.

A mom and baby whale!

Mom and baby again

A glacier in the nearby mountains.

There was a group feeding together. Here I see two backs, a tail, and maybe a fin?

The group again

The people in that boat must have been excited

A gorgeous day, and we didn’t know this was only part of our whale watching for today.

We headed back to the marina where this big yacht was parked. The guys were cleaning it barefoot because the owner didn’t want footprints on his boat (according to our boat crew).

Next we head to the Mendenhall Glacier. Mama bear had been fishing in the salmon stream, and one of her babies was still asleep in the tree over the parking lot. (that black clump is a baby bear in a tree)

We were told that this type of salmon is called “Christmas salmon” because when it’s spawning time they take on these red and green colors. There were many of them swimming upstream here, and the water was perfectly clear so it was easy to see them.

Again, do not feed the bears, not even by accident.

An Alaskan bee!

The glacier kept the whole valley cooler – natural air conditioning (quite unnecessary in our opinion. It was quite cool enough even in the sun)

Kayakers paddle to the glacier for a closer look.

The view from the visitors center. Note the lake area part way out to the waterfall.

We saw something in the water and thought it might be the ducks we had seen enter the water a minute earlier.

When the picture is enlarged, that is not a bunch of ducks! It had better not be a bear because it’s headed towards the path that goes to the waterfall. It’s probably a beaver, but who knows for sure?

Joel checking out the 200 year old piece of ice. It was as clear and pure looking as glass.

Some people hiked to the base of the waterfall.

Time to head back to the ship. It was lightly raining again and everything was wet, but still pretty with buckets of flowers everywhere. the cables ahead are for cable cars that take you to the top of the mountain.

The ship pulls away from the dock – sideways!

Another beautiful hazy gray afternoon in the rain.

The sun came out just enough to make this huge rainbow for a few minutes. The photo definitely does not do it justice. It was a full arch across the sky and the colors were intense.

The naturalist announced that a whale was on the port side doing a lot of “surface activity”

The whale was breaching and splashing repeatedly and putting on quite a show!

It was something to watch with a bunch of other very excited people on deck!

I was so excited when I checked my photos and saw that I can captured a bit of the action!

Shortly after another whale was spotted on the starboard side rolling around and slapping the water with its fins!

This one was farther away and it was hard to see exactly what was going on, but there was a lot of rolling around and activity on the surface.

Eventually quiet returned to the seas as dusk fell and this fishing boat made its way in the distance.

Posted in photography, travel | Tagged Glacier, Juneau Alaska, Mendenhall Glacier, photography, Travel and Tourism, Whale, Whale watching | 14 Comments

Alaska – Day #4

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

August 16, 2013
Skagway – Our first excursion

The alarms we set for 6:30 AM, which isn’t as bad as it sounds since Alaska is an hour ahead of the west coast and 3 hours ahead of Panama. We weren’t the only people with plans. There were many others at breakfast early.

We planned well and found our excursion with time to spare. After three days on the ship, it felt good to be on to some solid ground. I had booked our excursions so long ago I barely remembered the details – something about a bus ride, and a ride on a historic train, a mountain pass, history from the gold rush days… (I have since found it was this company)

What a day it was! It started out with a bus ride by a great tour guide who was full of stories and interesting facts about Skagway. She obviously loved the area and loved telling others about it. The rain soon stopped so we had no trouble seeing the beautiful area and getting some nice photos.

We ended at Carcross where we were to board the train. It was an old train route from back in the gold rush days of 1896-98, and took us at a slow rate through the mountains and along lakes until we stopped for lunch at Lake Bennet. It was a gold rush era lunch served at long tables with large pots of beef stew, bread and cold slaw for sides, and apple pie for dessert. People served themselves from the large pots and there were two selections – take it or leave it. The food was really good though and I didn’t see anyone passing it up.

After lunch we proceeded along, now going higher and higher in the mountains until we were so high that the fog became thick, and there were only lichens and small scrubby plants and pine trees clinging to the rocks. We were told that these little pines were 100+ years old. They remain so small because living here is very harsh with fierce cold and high winds. The only plants that survive spend the winter covered by snow because without the snow cover they would be blown away.

As the train descended the views became more and more spectacular. I spent most of the time on the outside platform so I could get photos without shooting through the glass. That was so fun being outside and feeling so close to the scenery that I stayed out for the rest of the ride. It was very chilly at higher elevations and a bit wet at times, but well worth it.

When we got back to town we decided to walk around. I had seen some people looking at something and taking pictures, and there were more people at the same spot so we decided to go see what was going on. It was a small stream full of salmon! We had seen people fishing in a pond and now we realized they were catching salmon, and there were many more salmon as we followed the stream down. Some guys told us that these salmon were behind schedule, exhausted, and dying, and not any good to eat. They were so spent that people (tourists) were fishing them out with their bare hands. We’ve all heard about the salmon going upstream to spawn but we don’t think about what a difficult journey it is, or how many don’t make it.

We walked around town a little more. It’s mostly tourist shops which was no surprise since our bus driver told us that the whole town runs on tourism. The salmon were definitely worth the walk into town though! What an interesting thing to see.

By now we were tired and headed back to the ship. I went to the computer library so I could plug in and watch the scenery roll by. The rain was returning as we pulled away from the dock, and the mountains were taking on that beautiful foggy, ethereal look that I love to photograph. What a wonderful day and wonderful experience in Alaska!

Good morning Skagway! (yes it is raining… again)

There is a crazy bear down there waiting to ambush you and take pictures (so you can buy them later)

We leave the ship and head out to find our tour.

Rain and all, it still is a beautiful sight!

We’re on the bus part of the tour now. This is fire weed, named because it is the first thing to come up again after a fire. The whole plant is edible, and it’s really beautiful.

This is an entrance to an old mine.

One of the many beautiful views along the way.

A fellow passenger took our photo in front of Bove Island.

It is strange to find a sandy desert in the middle of the forests. It looked like beach sand.

Emerald Lake – named for the emerald green color. It is fed by glacier water which has the green dust which gives it this color.

There was no end to the beautiful scenery!

This house belongs to the daughter of a gold rush prospector. Every Sunday she serves coffee on the porch to anyone who wants to visit, and our bus driver said she is a wealth of stories and history about the area and the gold rush.

This is an actual cabin of one of the gold miners.

This is another cabin from the gold rush days. They stuffed rags in the cracks to keep out the cold air, and those are original rags that you see today.

Joel thought maybe he needed some new head gear.

Maybe this one is better?

Back to beautiful scenery – now from the train.

We are officially in the Yukon territory of Canada.

We were told the mountains are unusually green because of both the rain, and more sun than usual this year.

The town of Bennett, where we walked around a bit after lunch.

Lunch in Bennett – grab a seat and dig in.

We thought he was crazy, but he thought he was appropriately dressed for summer.

This boat had 1897 carved inside the hull.

There were many old artifacts left by the miners scattered around the town.

the outhouse

Bear proof storage lockers for your food.

You can put waste water here, but no food (nothing that would interest a bear). If a bear learns that humans are a source of food, it is dangerous for humans and deadly for a bear because it will be shot and killed to prevent any future problems with humans. It is VERY important that bears get no food from humans!

Our train – the cars behind the engines bring food for the restaurant one day a week, and take their trash out on another day once a week.

Some cold looking back packers hanging around.

Later we realized the back packers were waiting for this plane to come pick them up. The only ways to his spot are train, hiking, or plane.

As we got higher, we saw more and more lichens growing on the rocks.

Beaver dams – one is visible to the right of the center of the photo. One time they got so industrious they flooded the area including the train tracks, and the train guys had to go dismantle the problem dam.

This looks like a meadow, but it’s really a swamp and you can sink to your death in it.

We’re getting higher, and there is less and less vegetation.

The border patrol is actually about 9 miles from the border because at the border the weather is too fierce.

Our train car. The blond lady with the red bandanna was one of our guides. She’s from Austin TX, but has lived in Skagway about 10 years and really loves it.

We’re really getting up there now, and the fog is getting more dense. Little vegetation grows because the climate is so harsh. These little pine trees are 100+ years old, but they can barely grow in this environment.

Old 1898 bridge (It’s no longer in use)

Another train is making its way along below us. We will be down there in a while.

We come out of a tunnel to see this!

A stream with mist rising off of it.

Back in town again – there are lots of tourists, and lots of back packers!

Walking around town

Is Joel eyeing the Red Onion Saloon?

Me, looking like a tourist 😀

This is an 100+ year old advertisement, the first to be painted on the rock face. (They touch it up every few years)

The train ran all year long, so they needed a good snow plow to clear the tracks.

We came across a lot of people fishing in this little lake.

We stopped to see what people were looking at nearby, and learned that salmon were spawning and making their way up these streams.

The water was murky but you could still see the fish.

There were a bunch of fish below this mossy rock.

Many of the fish were exhausted and easy to catch with bare hands, or a stick as Joel demonstrates.

Time to make our way back to the ship past the marina and another cruise ship docked in the distance.

As evening falls, the ship pulls away from Skagway.

It’s so beautiful in the fading light.

The other ship that was docked nearby left before us, and you can see its lights in the distance.

Posted in photography, travel | Tagged Alaska, Carcross, Carcross Yukon, photography, Salmon, Skagway, Skagway Alaska, Travel and Tourism | 4 Comments

Alaska – Day #3

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

August 15, 2013

I woke up a number of times during the night knowing an amazing day was coming and I didn’t want to miss any of it. When the 7AM announcements started there was no way I was going back to sleep. It was the naturalist telling us about where we were, what was coming, and she also said there were two humpback whales alongside the ship.

We tossed on our clothes and made our way on deck in time to see the whales in the distance. They had fallen behind because of the forward motion of the ship but we could still see the white water where they were blowing air and coming up above the surface.

The morning was incredible. The water was as smooth as glass, and the sun was peaking through spotty clouds which were reflected on the water. There was an occasional fishing boat in the distance, and the fog and mist made the distant islands and mountains look ethereal and magical.

It wasn’t long before the naturalist announced that more whales had been spotted and they quickly came into view. I couldn’t believe it! Humpback whales, right by the ship, close enough to see easily. I had to review my pictures a few times to believe it myself.

We eventually pulled ourselves away to get some breakfast. People had pulled chairs to the windows on either side of the dining room so they could watch the water, and it wasn’t long before we were all rewarded with more whales, this time three humpbacks, again close to the ship.

This was only the beginning of a fantastic day. Today we went through the pass, through the fjords. The fog and rain cleared, the sun came out, and the mountains became taller and closer to the ship. It was incredible! Eventually we were maneuvering through passages of towering rock walls that looked too small for this huge ship.

We ended up as close as the ship could get to the Mendenhall Glacier (which we would visit again in a couple days). The pictures do not even come close to doing justice to this experience! The water was smooth emerald green, we were told from the dust in the glacier runoff. The mountains were almost on top of us on either side. The views were amazing! By the time we made it to the end of the passage we were about frozen solid from being out in the cold wind but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to miss a bit of this trip!

This was as far as the ship could go though, so when it turned around we decided to come in for lunch and to warm up. Everyone was still sitting by the windows and watching the incredible view from the restaurant. We were tired though and eventually retreated to our room to rest a bit.

When I came out, it had started to rain again. I went to the computer library to sort through my photos but couldn’t resist popping outside now and then when I saw something that cought my eye. I continued to watch the view through dinner and the evening until it got too dark to see any more.

I have a lot of photos! It was hard to choose, but hopefully these will give you some idea of what we saw on this wonderful day.

I knew today was going to be good, but I didn’t expect to wake up to such a spectacular morning!

Snow capped mountains in the distance, as we glimpse the splashes left by whales.

A fishing boat makes it’s way through the morning haze.

The sun started to peek through the clouds, and the water was smooth as glass. What an incredible sight!

Watching the sun come out from the 3rd level deck.

Another fishing boat in the distance.

As the clouds moved the sky kept changing, and each moment was more beautiful than the last.

WHALE!!

Our first real humpback whale sighting!

What an amazing morning!

More whales! We saw these from the dining room on the 9th level.

Fog rolls over the water and the hills peek through it.

Joel outside on an incredible morning.

Joel caught me with the camera.

Oops, me again. Notice the ring says Carnival Miracle, and then Panama, RP. This ship is registered in Panama!

We pass a glacier in the mountains.

People are starting to gather on the decks to enjoy the views.

Joel checking out something with the binoculars.

We are heading to the fjords as the day clears and the sky turns blue and sunny.

A tour boat picked up some passengers from the ship.

We thought it was cold! some people are bundled up, others are in the hot tub, and some polar bears like this guy are in bathing suits soaking up the sun.

Things get more incredible by the minute!

There is an eagle nest with a chick on the left side of this photo, and an adult eagle is in the tree on the right. (look for the white head)

Beautiful mountains, and green water.

The passage gets so narrow you wonder how the ship makes it through. The rock mountains tower over the ship on both sides.

As we go farther, we start to see icebergs in the water.

What an interesting iceberg!

I think there was a glacier in this valley. You can also see one of the occasional black icebergs in the water below.

The Mendenhall Glacier, source of the icebergs.

Kayaks going to visit the glacier. (that water is COLD! They’d better not fall out)

The only way out was to come back the way we came. On the way it started to rain which made for another kind of beauty.

Beautiful mountains and snow through the rain.

Another interesting iceberg.

The rain cleared after a while

Posted in photography, travel | Tagged Alaska, Humpback whale, photography, travel, Travel and Tourism, Whale | 14 Comments

Alaska – Day #2

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

August 14, 2013
Day two on the boat.

I woke up occasionally during the night to feel the boat rocking, but I generally slept pretty well. Joel, however, woke up about 3AM because the rocking had increased and it was making him feel queasy. Thank goodness they had left us some Bonine in our basket of goodies, and one of those quickly made him feel better. I thought it felt very strange to feel the whole room swaying and rocking with no regularity or predictable pattern, but thankfully it didn’t make me feel sick.

It felt so good to sleep. We finally got up about 9AM, showered, and headed out for some breakfast. Today there was no land to be seen. The weather was gray, misty, drizzling, and quite chilly. I was happy to learn that there wasn’t anything to see. We had slept late, and I hate to think I’ve missed anything.

Breakfast was very good with all the usual breakfast foods. If other people were seasick you wouldn’t know it from the crowd! Afterward, since it wasn’t very inviting outside, we decided to explore the lower levels of the ship. There are tons of sitting areas everywhere, and I think I counted four grand pianos in various bars and lounges. Most places we visited were busy since everyone was looking for things to do and places to relax.

It’s a good mix of people on the ship – everyone from families with young children to senior citizens, and no one predominant age group. There are many nationalities and languages also, especially Indian and Asian people. The staff is also a mix of nationalities and I have heard many different languages spoken among them.

I wonder about being a staff member. I see them constantly serving food, cleaning up after everyone, cleaning the ship, taking care of rooms, and making themselves available for whatever the guests need. It’s a lot of hard work and I know they are away from friends and family. And, what does cleaning up involve? How many dishes do they wash? How many linen napkins do they wash every day? How much water does it take to do all that? It seems like the work is never ending, and the flow of things going to be cleaned is constant.

So, we spent Wednesday watching the activity on the ship, walking around, and spending time with our books and computers in various sitting areas. When my computer battery ran out, we ended up in the internet café on deck 3 where they have both power outlets and windows, and a very interesting employee. He told us he’s from Romania and there are employees from 52 countries on board. He says he enjoys the job because he gets to travel a lot. This ship started out in New York, where it sailed to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, then to Mexico and the west coast before it started doing the summer route from Seattle to Alaska (and probably other destinations I’ve forgotten). He’s also a photographer and had some great Alaska photos. He said the weather is supposed to clear up tomorrow so we should be in for some really beautiful views.

It started to clear up in the afternoon so I went out to take a look. I thought I saw something in the water, but it could have been just a white cap on a wave. But, then I saw it again, a spout of water, and another next to it! As I watched it became clear that there were whales or some sort of animals in the water. I couldn’t see them, only the water spouts but it was still very exciting!

Deck three also looked like a good walking area, so we decided to get some exercise. We figured if you go out one door you can walk all the way around the ship to the door on the other side. Then, come in and go out the door where you started, and you can walk the route again. When we got around to the other side we also saw that there were some beautiful hills and mountains visible in the distance. Joel had convinced me that we could go walking without cameras, but I had to go back for one after our walk.

The dining room was busy this morning.

In the center of the ship you can look from the 9th level all the way down to the 2nd!

There were people enjoying the hot tub in the covered pool area.

Looking up from the open pool area though, the skies didn’t look so inviting.

The chilly, gloomy weather didn’t keep people out of the hot tub in the open area though.

Chess anyone?

It’s cold and wet, so we’ll leave the outside decks for another day.

Pretty ceilings in the theater

The stage area of the theater. They were just finishing some activity when we arrived.

Joel checks out their equipment.

A pretty sitting area along an outside hallway on the 3rd level.

The 2nd level that we were looking at from above earlier.

The Baccus restaurant. We didn’t eat there, but it was pretty to see when we passed by.

One of the many piano bars. Check out that cool wood floor!

We found the casino.

The staff is constantly cleaning everything.

Our first whale sighting!

OK, so it wasn’t exactly a whale sighting, but there was something out there and it was very likely that it was whales.

Some blue mountains in the background.

More afternoon blue light

I never got tired of photographing the mountains through the haze.

Posted in photography, travel | Tagged Alaska, cruise, photography, Travel and Tourism | 4 Comments

Catching up – Alaska Day #1

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

I didn’t use the (expensive, slow) internet on the cruise, but I used downtime to sit by a window and sort pictures and write a bit, so I have posts standing by. I’ll be spending the next few days getting them up and sorting through emails.

August 13, 2013 First day of the cruise, boarding the Carnival Miracle.

We never thought we’d have an opportunity to go to Alaska! But, Elizabeth moved to Seattle and there are cruise ships there. It’s August, probably as warm as it’s going to get in Alaska, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity.

Our taxi to the pier was a yellow Prius driven by an Indian guy complete with the bushy beard and red head turban. He told his us Prius has 430K miles! He must take good care of it because it looked much less used than that.

There were smiling people at every step to direct us through check in. Our bags were tagged at the curb, and then we took them through security. Our passports and reservations were checked, and then we went passed our security checkpoint. Finally we were greeted by a very nice lady who gave us our cards (good for everything – getting on the boat, room key, charge card for shopping, etc), the deck plan map and some other useful papers. Then, it was off to board the boat!

The boat had only come into port that morning so they were scrambling to get everyone’s rooms ready. We had lunch while we waited, and the first thing we found was a hamburger and hot dog place. We didn’t realize until later that we were right next to the main eating area that had a variety of foods – pizza, salads, main dishes, Italian, Chinese, desserts, etc.

After lunch we went to our room. We chose economy so it was a small interior room. We had to unpack the suitcases since there wasn’t room to put them out anywhere, but there was a good amount of storage space so we were fine. Elizabeth (who had taken an Alaska cruise before) said an interior room is actually the best because it’s dark, and if you want to sleep you aren’t awakened by the early sunrise.

Soon after we unpacked we were summoned to the deck for the safety briefing. Then, it was time to head out. I could feel the deck vibrating as the engines were started, and then the pier started to pull away from our view. From here it was one beautiful view after another!

We spent the rest of the day taking photos, going outside where it got progressively colder and windier, coming back in to warm up, getting a snack, walking around, going back outside… etc. We kept this up until it was too dark to see anything. By then we were tired and glad to turn in for the night.