We woke up to fog in Valdez. Mountains not visible; wisps of fog covering ponds and creeks. The debate ensued to cruise or not to cruise that was the question. Called the cruise ship company; yes they assured us we are going out. Finally we made the decision; penned up the dogs, packed the day pack; picked up our cameras, and met the bus. What a wonderful day! We cruised out of the harbor with Captain Chris and crew headed for Columbia Glacier. Columbia Glacier is one of the last glaciers to stop advancing and start calving. Which means ice/snow breaks off and forms icebergs. There are various sizes of bergs all with whimsical names. On the way to the glacier we saw a Mama humpback whale and her calf, they showed off for us, breaching and blowing, even coming over to the ship for an extra good look; Dall's porpoises that stopped their eating long enough to run with the ship, with amazing speed and dexterity; two kinds of Puffins, tufted and horned; Pigeon Guillemot (bird); Stellar sea lions; harbor seals and sea otters. We also met some very nice people! Lunch on board was clam chowder for most and Minestrone for some, along with a bagel/ cream cheese, and cookies. Then we hit the main attraction----the glacier and it's icebergs. What a wonderful turquoise blue the ice is that has not started to melt. How eerie it was with the fog wisps; ice bergs and the silence except for the ice popping as it melts. We had a grand time.
Because we got back late and had not taken out dinner we walked the dogs and went out to Mike's Palace for dinner. Going out to dinner even at a burger place is expensive here. We opted for Mikes because locals told us it had great seafood. Right again. The food was great Bosco had blackened Halibut and I had Halibut fingers.
As I hadn't seen the bears the night before we journeyed out to the point again to see the bears and this night she had come early and was already out fishing when we arrived. With the binoculars and the spotting scope (thanks to Dave Nudo who went to our house retrieved the scope and mailed it to us as Bosco had forgotten it) we saw every detail. The bears played and ate. Mom got annoyed at the sea gulls that followed her every move hoping for a scrap of fish. This night there were several tourists from Israel out to see the bears. I'm sure they don't have grizzly bears in Israel and they really had no idea how fierce she could be so they got way too close for safety sake. Several had been on our tour with us earlier in the day so we explained to them the danger and gave them a look through the spotting scope.
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