Vacation Recap Day #5 – Glacier Bay

Day before the cruise – Seattle, WA
Day #1 onboard the Norwegian Pearl
Day #2 “At Sea” day
Day #3 – Juneau, Alaska
Day #4 – Skagyway, Alaska
Day #5 – Glacier Bay
Day #6 – Ketchikan, Alaska
Day #7 – Victoria, BCDay #8 - Back in Seattle

-------------------------------------------------------------

Another “At Sea” day…well, sort of!  I woke up and attempted a run.

OH

MY

GOSH

When I say it was COLD….I mean, it was FREEEEEEEEEZING!!! I ran about a mile then went inside and changed.  I only brought along one long sleeve running shirt (my Mickey Marathon shirt) and a pair of shorts. All of my other running shirts were short sleeve and that just would not do! 
At some point along my run, I happened to glance into the water and I discovered this…..ICE!



No wonder I was so cold! The water was close to freezing temps! I ran into my dad on the running deck (literally), so I went inside, changed into warmer clothing, and joined him to see what the buzz was all about!

This day of our cruise was the day we sailed “Glacier Bay”. By far one of the most beautiful days of the cruise but DEFINITELY HANDS DOWN the coldest day. I thought I was going to turn into a frozen block of ice!

The scenery was amazing, despite the cold!  We stood out on the deck – oohing and aaahing for hours!  I went inside the boat a few times to thaw out a little! :0)



Here’s a map of Glacier Bay National Park. Taken from the National Parks website.

The basic gist of it all – 3 naturalists came on board our ship as we sailed through glacier bay. They spoke over the loudspeaker about the history of the park, the things we would see, etc.  As we cruised through the bay, we saw glaciers on each side of the ship that empty into the water.  The red dots on the map above are where the glaciers are located.  Our ultimate destination in Glacier Bay was the massive glacier at the end. (You’ll see pictures of it coming up!)  When we reached the massive glacier (I can’t remember it’s name – the ones on the map don’t ring a bell!), our boat stopped completely and slowly turned for one hour. After an hour, the boat picked back up and we excited glacier bay.

 

This was one of the many very large glaciers that we came across that day!  You could follow the glacier all the way up into the mountain!!




My mom was just a tad bit cold!  Hehe!



We snagged in a little breakfast without missing too much! :0)

After we finished breakfast, we went back outside because we were almost at the glacier.

 

When I say that this glacier was massive, I’m not kidding.  IT WAS HUGE!  This is my mom with the reflection of the glacier behind her.



Jason, me, and my dad as we approached the glacier.



I took about a million pictures of this thing.  The colors and beauty were absolutely incredible!



Zoomed all the way out….

 

Amazing.



You tired of glacier pictures yet?  Just a few more, I promise! :0)

 

These sea gulls(?) were flying around and then just SITTING in the water!  We laughed because the water was so coooooold and those birds were just sitting like it was no big deal!  Crazy!

 

Off we go!!!



I am telling you, it got COLD out on deck. COLD!!!!!   After Glacier Bay was said and done, it took me a couple of hours to feel like my body temperature had returned to normal!



Beautiful waterfalls.



This glacier had a cave at the bottom!!



The guy in the boat came out of the cave!  It was neat to watch!



More glaciers….

   

Lots of ice….

      

Lots of birds….



Apparently people think they can feed the animals. Maybe THAT’S why those bird were sitting in the water!  They were waiting on a bite! Hah!



Lunch!!!



Yes, all THREE of those desserts belonged to ME! :0)



After we ate lunch, we went back outside for  a little whale watching!  The weather was much warmer out here!  Still cold, just not near as cold as Glacier Bay!



The pool deck was deserted!



I know you can’t see it well, but these are two Sea Lions swimming by the boat!



Out on the deck waiting for someone to holler “WHALE!”



There’s the spout!!!!



…and a hump…..



….and another hump….



….and the tail!  Pretty neat!



My mom watching for whales.



After seeing a few whales, I was ready to warm up. I got my Kindle and sat in the library for a little while to read!  It was really nice and quite and peaceful!  The library had a wall of windows so I was still able to look up and see outside.  So serene.



In the Spinaker Lounge before dinner. Jason thinks he’s funny!



All the chefs of the Norwegian Pearl!



Dinner time!  Not sure what this is….



…but it was good!! :0)



Can’t have dinner without dessert! :0)



Look who was waiting on us in our rooms!  Too funny!




Hi there little friend!  Time to go to sleep! :0)

That’s the end of Day #5 – Glacier Bay!

Stay tuned for more!