Spring Fever Gray Whale Cruise!

We have had our hands full since March 23rd, our first day of the whale watching season. 

Currently just our Gray Whale Cruise is running. 

www.majormarine.com

Jed is driving the shuttle from Anchorage to Seward and back whenever there are guest that book and need a way down there. Seward is about 3 hours south of Anchorage, so it makes for a long day when Jed has to drive. Leaves at 8 am and gets back at 7 pm.

We both were way excited for the cruises to start that Jed went the first couple of days with the guest that he shuttled down. Then I had a day off and went with Jed to Seward and then on the cruise. Unfortuately, the day I went with Jed was super snowy and rainy that we just stayed bundled up out on the deck. It was too cold to get the camera out and we didn't want to get it wet. We figured we would have other opportunities to go on a cruise and take more pics. 

I did enjoy the cruise. It was nice to get out and have some fresh sea water air. Jed and I came prepared and we were able to stay out on the deck the majority of the cruise time (4 hours) The other guest barely had a jacket so they spent most of the time in the heated cabin. We saw a lot of wildlife and a pod of Dall's Porpoises. The last few days guest have seen orcas and humpback whales. Its so fun! 

I did get a little sea sick towards the end of the trip and couldn't wait to get back on solid ground. Doesn't look like Ill be going on Major Marines 7.5 hour, 6 hour or 5 hour Kenai Fjords National Park Cruises. I'll just stick with the 4 hour Gray Whale cruise till May 12th and then we will take their 4 hour Evening Cruise. Which that is crazy. That cruise is from 6 pm to 10 pm and there is still plenty of day light. In fact the natives here say it doesn't get dark till midnight or 1 am some days during the summer. That will take some getting use to for sure. 

Here are pictures from Jeds first time on the cruise, it was our opening day! Still a little wintery up here. It will be fun to see the changes as it get warmer! 

I have never seen so many Bald Eagles in my life. I practically see one every day! So Cool! 

Jed took some pictures of the boats we use for our Whale Watching Cruises. They aren't like the big Carnival or Princess Cruise ships that we tend to think of when we use the word "cruise" but they are still fairly big. We have about 7 different cruise boats that are used for our cruises.

Jed took this picture to show the avalanche that took place. The day that Jed and I went there was a couple of big avalanches that had just happened so the water was covered with little chunks of snow, which looked like ice until you tried to pick them up. It was quite pretty. You would look ahead to see the water covered with snow and then we would slide though it as if we were ice skating. 

Oh and the water is SOOOOOO pretty. Its a rich deep aqua blue color. 

 Here is the favorite spot for the Steller Sea Lions. There are so many. Sadly the captain didn't get close to this group on this day but when Jed and I went we could reach out and almost touch them. Ok maybe we weren't that close but we could hear them growl? bawl? yawn? moo? 

What ever noise they make we could hear it really well. 

 Lots of Kittiwakes (Alaskan Seagull) 

As you can see we go quite fast on these boats, about 28 mph

At this spot where the captain stopped for viewing of the ice on the cliff, its about 140 ft straight down. Doesn't look like Ill be getting off to swim. I swim like rocks!

Aurora Borealis

On my bucket list I have see the Northern Lights. And for the past two weeks Jed would check the forecast to see what kind of changes we would have and if it would be clear skies or not. Jed really wanted us to see them and mark it off my bucket list. What better chance then while in Alaska.

Finally the day came! 

As you can see, it was cold and dark. hee hee We drove 2 hours north to a town called Talkeetna, AK. It was a pretty drive and we made it just in time for them to start. SO cool!!

Seward? Stuart? Seaward? Swearword? How do you say it?

Kim and I have now experienced and have become familiar with the two ports which our Company cruises out of. We drove down to Seward last week and had a great time together. (That is once we got there and on our way back.) Kim and I drove separate vehicles. I drove our car and she drove a brand new Toyota Sienna. She was jealous of my time spent driving brand new vehicles in Juneau, so I guess she wanted to have her turn.

By the way, if you are wondering about the title of this post, I have an explanation....  So, we get people from all over the world that call our office to book their tour and cruises. Many have no idea how to pronounce the names of towns, rivers, national parks, etc. I can sympathize with them a little. But, it is hilarious to hear them try to pronounce the names of these places. First and foremost, the Kenai Fjords. Oh, this one gets so many people! I wonder if they even know what a fjord is when they have no idea how to say the word. So, here is a little lesson on pronunciation of the following words: Kenai Fjords (Key-nye fee-yords), Seward (Sue-word),  Chugach (chew-gatch). My favorite wrong pronunciation of the word fjord is "jord". I believe people get so intimidated by the sight of the word that they just decide to drop any attempt to pronounce the word using the letter [ f ] at all. I wish I could record some of the pronunciations I have heard.

The drive to Seward was beautiful! Our least favorite part of the drive is the pot holes. Holy smokes! I seriously felt that the car's axle had snapped in two as I hit one of the Mammoth pot holes! Starting next weekend, I will be driving our cruise passengers down to Seward. I am thinking if I get an annoying group of people or anybody that starts nodding off while I am narrating the tour, I will just hit a few pot holes during our travels. :)  

Another benefit of working in the tourism industry, is that you get to do a lot of things for free. For instance, we walked into the Sea Life Center and told the gentleman that we work for Major Marine and he let us in free. Saved us $40 dollars, admission was $20 bucks per person.
Here are some photos we took @ the Sea Life Center

Here is Kim lifting up some buoys that were on display at the Sea Life Center.
Look at those muscles!

Alaskan King Crab getting ready to pounce on Kim.
Little known fact, these things are super aggressive and unpredictable!

Giant Sea Spider otherwise known as "King Crab"

Starfish

Mohawk Fish

Shrimp

Mohawk Fish with his fin slicked back 

Nuff Said!

A lot of weird sea birds, this one has two antennas on its back

Puffins, we were a little amazed at how small they were. I guess we were expecting them to be as big as penguins.
These guys dive down into the water and swim around like maniacs. Fun to watch!

Horned Puffin
Some thick eyebrows, huh?
They remind me of Lovelace from Happy Feet, except less Penguin like.

Stellar Sea Lion
These guys like attention. They came waddling out when we showed up and they kept swimming by and looking back at us to see if we were watching. They get pretty big too, one named "Woody" weighed 1700 lbs.

Another weird sea plant

Sea cactus or something like that...

Don't try this at home!

All aboard!

Captain Kim! 

Who's got the fiercest face?

Hormonal changes cause the snout to curl inward, facial hair to grow (or skin becomes darker), teeth become longer and sharper, such changes cause rapid mood swings. Effects can be seen in both creatures.

This fish gives me nightmares! 

Trip to Whittier with my best friend

Kim and I decided to take a little road trip to Whittier to find out what the little coastal town has to offer our customers. Whittier is one of the places our Wildlife and Glacier viewing cruises travel out of. We had been telling people about how to get to Whittier and warning them of "The Tunnel" and Tunnel Times", but had little idea of what we were actually telling the customers about as they would call the Anchorage office and book their cruise. Finally, we decided to go see it for ourselves.

As we approached the first tunnel we encountered on our drive to Whittier we stopped and took a picture of the snow covered mountains surrounding us. The mountain directly behind Kim's head is the one the tunnel goes through. This is the longest tunnel on the North American Continent and is approximately 2 miles long. It is one lane and allows access only one direction at a time. Go figure, right? Vehicles are allowed into Whittier every hour on the hour, and access out of Whittier is on the half hour. Throughout the tunnel there are about 8 different "Safe Houses" I am assuming these are put in place so if the tunnel were ever to cave in at any point along the 2 mile stretch, the people stuck inside would have a nice place to go and share a cup of hot cocoa while they wait to be rescued. That's if they happen to be so lucky. I am sure the tunnel is completely rock solid, though. :)

The small A-frame structure is the entrance to the tunnel heading into Whittier. Looks kind of puny compared to the big mountain, eh? 

Entrance headed out of Whittier.

Kim posing for a great advertising shot of the Whittier office.   Seats are filling fast!

This is to prove I was there too :)

The light at the end of the tunnel

First glance of Whittier...    Ok, can we go back home now.

The snow was a little deep off the beaten path.
Is this some kind of sick joke targeting those who are handi-capped?

Its okay though, it seems to keep the riff raff out.

Kim and I were looking at some of the ocean front property 

We found that Whittier offered small quiet neighborhoods with custom built homes under 400 sq. ft.
We decided that with all the extra space we would have and no one willing to come visit, we would have to pass up the opportunity to settle down in Whittier.

It was actually good weather and turned out to be a beautiful day

View out into the Prince William Sound
Can you see the killer whales?
Huh?
Neither could we

There's not much for sandy beaches here in Alaska, but if you like sharp jagged rocks and steep cliffs, its the place for you!

Magnificent sight!
It was such a clear and beautiful day you could see the snow blowing off the tops of the peaks and ridges. 

Sun beginning to set over the mountain peaks