Good morning again from Seward, Alaska. Although this picture was taken yesterday, it's like "groundhog day" here....rain coats are in order. This is a temperate rain forest. Like a guy said last night during our steak fry at the American Legion: "If you wait for the rain to stop so you can do something, then you'll never get to do anything here." And he's right.
This pic was taken on the whale watching tour....and, of course, is out of place.
This kind of tells how much snow was here. This guy parked his snow machine and just left it. The snow melted and it was left on top of a mound of something.
Here we are boarding our whale watching boat. Our outfit is remeniscent of the picture 2 years ago as we boarded the ferry out of Homer to Hallibut Cove....tee hee.
Leaving the harbor; that's Seward in the Distance. We are in Resurrection Bay, which opens into the Gulf of Alaska. Long ago there was a ship captain with a disabled boat; he was able to duck into this beautiful bay with shelter to fix his boat. Hence he named it Resurrection Bay....because he would have been a "gonner" without it.
Is this picture awesome, or what????? Chris took this one. When we got out to the end of the Bay, the captain told us that this was where one sighted whales. Within just a minute or two, we saw one....THEN THEY WERE ALL AROUND US!!! A WHOLE POD OF ORCAS!!! This was by far our best picture. Most of the pics were just of the fin surfacing. We all figured that there was close to 30 whales. Unbelieveable!!! Even the captain and crew was awed. They didn't see that many at one time that often. I was also reluctant to take the camera out in the rain, and when I tried to get a close-up my camera would focus ont he rain on the windows. But Chris got right out there in the rain and was rewarded for it. By law, the boat can only hang around the killer whales, or orcas, for 20 minutes....but we probably were there 1/2 hour. There were some other tour boats chillin around, too. What an experience.
Isn't this a cute little sea otter. He was just floating and grooming his face. They have about a million hairs per square inch (or some other big number like that) and it is extremely warm and soft. That's why they were hunted to almost extinction in the 19th century. They are so cute.
These are the "iron doors" in the side of the rocks at the end of the Resurrection Bay. There were a couple others of these. During WW II somebody was posted out here, and at night....which is a looooong night, they would pull out these huge search lights and scan the waters for enemy submarines; Resurrection Bay is the furthest north ice free port. First line of defense. The U.S. spent a lot of creativity on defending Alaska, because you already know that the Japanese invated Atu and one other island in the Aleutian chain.
Enjoying himself....
The captain told us that one cannot see two eagles sitting together often. However they mate for life, and use the same next for life if possible
Here's a mountain goat that we saw on our boat ride. There was a kid there, too, but I didn't see it. This was so exciting. Also saw stellar sea lions, dolphins or porpoise (can't remember which).
Here I stand. The gravel is some kind of volcanic gravel. It's everywhere here. They use it on the ice on the roads in the winter. They are busily street sweeping right now to get ready for "Alaska to open up" for tourists. Would ya believe that they recycle this stuff and use it next year. You see it below in the parking lot of the Legion. Since they ploud the snow, the black gravel is left in piles; will be graded later....but there is still snow under it.
These little bunnies are everywhere. Apparently somebody turned a couple loose a few years ago....and they multiply like....well.....like rabbits. Strangely, though, they do not smell like wild rabbits for Tommy. Some would be standing right next to her and she would even pay attention to them.
Thought this picture would be unique for my blog. I sit here in an espresso shop in Seward....where I am posting this blog. This is the rest room here. Yup....this rates a spot on my blog.
Here stands Chris in front of this memorial. That lump inside his rain coat is my camera...
This pic was taken on the whale watching tour....and, of course, is out of place.
This kind of tells how much snow was here. This guy parked his snow machine and just left it. The snow melted and it was left on top of a mound of something.
Here we are boarding our whale watching boat. Our outfit is remeniscent of the picture 2 years ago as we boarded the ferry out of Homer to Hallibut Cove....tee hee.
Leaving the harbor; that's Seward in the Distance. We are in Resurrection Bay, which opens into the Gulf of Alaska. Long ago there was a ship captain with a disabled boat; he was able to duck into this beautiful bay with shelter to fix his boat. Hence he named it Resurrection Bay....because he would have been a "gonner" without it.
Is this picture awesome, or what????? Chris took this one. When we got out to the end of the Bay, the captain told us that this was where one sighted whales. Within just a minute or two, we saw one....THEN THEY WERE ALL AROUND US!!! A WHOLE POD OF ORCAS!!! This was by far our best picture. Most of the pics were just of the fin surfacing. We all figured that there was close to 30 whales. Unbelieveable!!! Even the captain and crew was awed. They didn't see that many at one time that often. I was also reluctant to take the camera out in the rain, and when I tried to get a close-up my camera would focus ont he rain on the windows. But Chris got right out there in the rain and was rewarded for it. By law, the boat can only hang around the killer whales, or orcas, for 20 minutes....but we probably were there 1/2 hour. There were some other tour boats chillin around, too. What an experience.
Isn't this a cute little sea otter. He was just floating and grooming his face. They have about a million hairs per square inch (or some other big number like that) and it is extremely warm and soft. That's why they were hunted to almost extinction in the 19th century. They are so cute.
These are the "iron doors" in the side of the rocks at the end of the Resurrection Bay. There were a couple others of these. During WW II somebody was posted out here, and at night....which is a looooong night, they would pull out these huge search lights and scan the waters for enemy submarines; Resurrection Bay is the furthest north ice free port. First line of defense. The U.S. spent a lot of creativity on defending Alaska, because you already know that the Japanese invated Atu and one other island in the Aleutian chain.
Enjoying himself....
The captain told us that one cannot see two eagles sitting together often. However they mate for life, and use the same next for life if possible
Here's a mountain goat that we saw on our boat ride. There was a kid there, too, but I didn't see it. This was so exciting. Also saw stellar sea lions, dolphins or porpoise (can't remember which).
Here I stand. The gravel is some kind of volcanic gravel. It's everywhere here. They use it on the ice on the roads in the winter. They are busily street sweeping right now to get ready for "Alaska to open up" for tourists. Would ya believe that they recycle this stuff and use it next year. You see it below in the parking lot of the Legion. Since they ploud the snow, the black gravel is left in piles; will be graded later....but there is still snow under it.
These little bunnies are everywhere. Apparently somebody turned a couple loose a few years ago....and they multiply like....well.....like rabbits. Strangely, though, they do not smell like wild rabbits for Tommy. Some would be standing right next to her and she would even pay attention to them. 
Thought this picture would be unique for my blog. I sit here in an espresso shop in Seward....where I am posting this blog. This is the rest room here. Yup....this rates a spot on my blog.
Here stands Chris in front of this memorial. That lump inside his rain coat is my camera...When the earthquake of Good Friday, 1964 hit Anchorage, it was followed by a 30 foot sunami. The oil lines that were ruptured in Seward from the quake, caught on fire during the sunami and burned the harbor down. They are now not allowed to rebuild along that area along the harbor. So, there is a very long city campground along the harbor; very nice. But, I had the evil thought: since that is their first line of defense against a future sunami....they must think that RV's and campers are expendible! Chuckle, chuckle
I think we are headed now to Whitier....
Until we "connect" again....
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