Juneau excursion

Juneau is an interesting town.  It is a government town.
A lot of businesses are based there, and government offices.
There are no roads going from one town to another, you have to sail or fly in
I was taking this picture more for the clouds that hang low..

They have a very short growing season.
The flowers are all very pretty and actually grow pretty good, because of all the
moisture they receive.  Bright spots of color on dreary days.

The town supports two quilt shops.  Did pick up the row by row
for this shop.  The row on top is this years.  That is their rendition of
Mendenhall Glacier.

That is Mendenhall in the distance.
We boarded a decent size boat for a cruise around the area.
They even had dinner for us, and of course Alaskan Beer, my favorite
Amber Ale!
We were going on a Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest.

The excursions are not in expensive.  They do say if you don't see
a whale, you will get $100.00 back of your fee.  Well, I don't think
they give back too many dollars!  We were treated to an island that had
Steller Sea Lions.  There were hundreds.  A lot were resting, but several
were having fun in the water.

This dude was holding court.
Our boat was able to get close enough that you could hear and smell them!

Another area had quite a population of seagulls.
I am always checking for new birds to add to my ebird list.

Can you see the three water spouts?
There was our start of seeing Humpback Whales.

We came upon a rather large pod. There must have been
at least 20 or more.  We did not see any breech, but did see them
as they came near the surface, then dive.

There were several females with this years calf.

We were able to see several as they dove down, and tail was up.

One time we had the whale right beside the ship.  Amazing.

We did get the opportunity to see them feed.

a group of them will circle fish in the ocean, and get them

to move to the top.  Then the whales open their mouths and

capture the fish.

My pictures weren't the best, but you get the idea.

I happened to be on the top deck and got a chance to talk to our captain
for a few minutes. He had just gotten word that there was a small
pod of Orca's back toward where we would be docking.

Again, not the best of pictures, but for me, I will take it.
I had never seen Orca's in the wild.

And we were able to see a small bit of a sunset.
Our seeing the sun got to be a challenge. It showed up few and far between.

One last shot of Mendenhall, through the bus window on our way back to the ship.
We had a wonderful bus driver that evening.  She thought we were all so nice, that
she made the side trip back to Mendenhall.  We could only shoot pictures through
the bus windows. It was still an amazing sight.
The last time I was here in Juneau, we took this same excursion.  I have to see this time
was wonderful. It is always so nice when the people who take you on them, put the
extra effort to make it wonderful.
What a wonderful day

Mary

Seattle, start of cruise

Don't you just love looking at the buildings in a big city.
The ideas that come up with the architecture, and sometimes the colors used.
I found these two buildings intriguing. The colors used.

It's time!  It was a hazy morning.  If you look hard, that is Mt. Rainier in the
background.

Up closer you can see the city.  Another clear blue sky day.

The cruise ships are docked at pier 91  and right near is a harbor full of yachts.

I think this was some sort of jellyfish. In doing a bit of research, it could be a
Egg Yolk Jellyfish.  I actually saw a couple of them. Strange.

Laura Wasilowski, from Elgin, IL was one of our teachers.

Amy Ross, from Quilt Seminars at Sea.
At the beginning of our cruise we have a gathering to meet the teachers, and start
getting acquainted with each other.

This is what we were met with our first day at sea.

Another of Holland America ships.  I think this was the Koningsdam.
We would see her in port in Juneau.

You knew we were getting father North.
Small icebergs started showing up.

As we were arriving in Juneau on Monday afternoon.
This fog and haze, along with rain and cool weather was to be with us
for the rest of the week.

This is the quilt I would like to make.
When I was here two years ago, I saw this quilt, and got some of the
fabrics for it.  I figured I would use Alaskan batiks to make it.
When I checked my stash, I found I needed a couple more.
Did not have any background fabric.  I was on a quest!

We had the opportunity to go into town and shop before we were going on an
excursion later in the afternoon.
One interesting thing I found out, when you see a long set of stairs like this one,
it becomes a street. It was the entrance to a house farther up the hill.

Next up, excursion in Juneau.
Mary