Friday, July 17^th

Magoun Islands, AK

• If New York City had the same population density as Alaska, only 16 people would be living in Manhattan. Which would make getting Broadway tickets so much easier.
• Based on total square miles of land, Alaska is the size of 73 New Jersey’s, or 8 Minnesota’s. Ya’ sure, doncha know, dat der is ginormous.

As we pull into a small cove among the Magoun Islands on this last full day of our cruise, the surrounding peaks are once again wearing scarves of cloud and fog. A 3-hour kayak trip in pouring rain produced a menagerie of wildlife, most of it of the aquatic variety - Sea stars, anemones, fingerling fish, starfish, jellyfish, moonfish, harbor seals, bald eagles and soaking wet paddlers. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, packing and hanging around the lounge drinking and waiting for dinner.

2015 Alaska-1302 Scenes like this were common throughout the cruise: The mountains wearing wispy scarves of clouds

Saturday, July 18^th

Sitka, AK

• In 1964, Alaska had the 3^rd most powerful earthquake in recorded history with a magnitude of 9.2. As a young kid growing up on the beach in La Jolla, I remember the threat of a tsunami, which never appeared.

After breakfast today, we said our good-byes to the crew and friends we made on the ship this past week. Between getting off the boat and our flight out at 6:15pm, we toured the small fishing village of Sitka. From the air the entire town appears to be about 2-miles long and 3 houses deep, with far more boats in the harbor than cars on the road, which pretty much sums up Sitka.

2015 Alaska-2357 Sitka Harbor

The Wilderness Discoverer, our home for the past week, is 176’ long and holds up to 76 guests in 38 staterooms spread out on 3 decks, plus a crew of 27. It has 2 hot tubs, 15 or so kayaks, several inflatable skiffs for tours or running guests ashore, standup paddleboards, wetsuits & snorkeling gear, plus an incredible crew of 27. (As a comparison to the Crown Princess, one of the typical cruise ships always docked in the Juneau port - it's 951' long, holds 3100 guests plus 1200 crew, and has 6 pools and 7 hot tubs).

Regardless of whether they were the stewards serving our food or cleaning our rooms; guides paddling with us in the rain and fog; crew members or deck hands passing you in the hall, they all smiled and greeted you, typically by first name. Working 12-hour days, 7-days a week for 6 weeks straight, it has to be tough to constantly be friendly and upbeat, but they all managed it with ease. The trip couldn’t have been better!

2015 AlaskaM-2237 The Wilderness Discoverer, with kayaks tied to its stern

This afternoon we fly back to Juneau for a few days, and tomorrow we’ll go out on another whale watching trip.

For the next 2 days, we’re staying at Alaska’s Capital Inn, a B&B and local landmark built in 1906 high up on a hill, with views of Mt. Juneau, Mt Robert’s and the waterway channel below. All rooms feature original Alaskan artwork from the early 1900’s, and Stickley furniture throughout.

To see more photos of our trip go to http://maryandandysphotos.zenfolio.com/p872037596 or Pull down My Photographs to Recent Photos.