There’s a good reason why posts have been few, never mind far between, and that’s been a wonderful break in the form of holidays. We had a very long weekend in the always magical Fire Island, a barrier island off the New York — and yes, more about that to come in the future. But most recently, i.e. yesterday, we returned from a 10-day trip cruising Alaska’s Inside Passage and getting to know (and love) Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.
The trip had so many highlights that it will take many days and a few posts to unpack, not to mention the pleasure of editing two Scandisk cards of photos. (Almost 700, even when I judiciously edited everyday.) It’s a residual pleasure, the reviewing, the reliving and the retelling. But for now, I can reveal that what I loved most was the vistas of uninhabited land, millions of hectares of it, floating past the verandah of our cabin. The glaciated valleys and especially the glaciers of Glacier Bay, were extraordinary and breathtaking.
A half-dozen humpback whales in a herring feeding frenzy.
This scenerary barely gave cause for the smallest of inhalations from our smallest of cruisers, Calvin. His highlights were the whales — to whom he sang and fortunately who paid no attention to the enthusiastic tones of “Zippity Doo Dah” and carried on with an impressive display of bubble net feeding. We watched six humpback whales work cooperatively to gorge themselves on herring, apparently part of a group of 127 globally who are known to have learned and practice this. His equal top highlight was a long journey on a train up an incredibly steep and scenic valley — so that was the excursion that kept us all most satisfied: wheels for the boy and scenic spleandour for the adults!
Calvin looking like a coverboy for an outdoor equipment catalogue. In the back, the Mendenell Glacier in Juneau. We had just eaten some pieces of floating galcial ice and despite the presence of bear and other scat, we didn't suffer any ill results... that we're aware of yet.
No responses yet