Marj Shannon's surprise
Christmas gift to her husband It was to be Denny's second trip to Alaska. During his first visit, his view of this beautiful place was somewhat confined in that most of it was out of the periscope of a nuclear submarine. Denny served 20 years with the US Navy and figures he spent nearly five years of his life underwater. This time his view was considerably better and the place they chose to visit is one of the best in the world--Glacier Bay! Marj also invited her brother Michael Wilson from Anchorage to join the cruise as well as her good friend Marion Gaskin who came over from London. Captain and "crew" spent ten very eventful days that will provide everyone with plenty of stories for a long time to come. Here are some of the photos: |
| The "crew" about to chow down on their first crab dinner. From left to right: Denny, Marj, Marion and Michael. |
|
|
|
Marj and Marion on the bow being greeted by some early morning porpoises. |
| Photographing one of the many whales we saw along the way. |
 |
 |
A bit of sailing along the way. Here's Denny at the helm with Marion on the bow. |
| You don't often get to pass up a barge. This one was stopped in Icy Strait near Hoonah. |
 |
 |
Everyone is pretty relaxed as we begin the long ride up into Glacier Bay! |
| Distorted reflections make some interesting patterns on the smooth water. |
 |
 |
The sea lions at South Marble Island. |
| Everyone is getting anxious. Where are the glaciers? |
 |
 |
Finally! And almost completely free of floating ice! |
| Of course we had to get a group photo. |
 |
 |
Denny heading off in the skiff to get some ice for the ice cream maker (or to get himself killed by the glacier). |
|
 |
 |
We all got to take turns on the crank. Dinner was grilled cedar planked salmon with all the trimmings and about as much ice cream as a person could consume at any one time. Tough, huh? |
| Time to turn the corner and start the long trip home. Here we are on the way to the park headquarters at Bartlett Cove and eventually our exit out of Glacier Bay. Since we were trying to take advantage of the ebbing tide, we knew our stop at the lodge would be all too brief. |
 |
 |
Brother and sister pause for a photo while Denny is already up on the porch of the lodge where we all make a quick walk through the displays, etc.. |
| A walk on the nature trail near the lodge and we were on our way once again. |
 |
 |
One last look back before we call the park ranger to let them know we are leaving. Time to go catch a fish for dinner. |
| Denny obliges with a nice eating size halibut. Michael and Marj both had fish take their lures but failed to hook them. We were then off to quaint little village of Elfin Cove. |
 |
 |
At least part of the crew is "properly" dressed. |
| We spend the night tied up to the government dock and take in the sights around town. |
 |
 |
The view from Elfin Cove's dock |
| Another little community on the way home was Pelican. We elected to check our shrimp pots and head to White Sulfur Hot Springs on the outside coast instead of visiting. |
 |
 |
Mike and Marion outside the Forest Service cabin at White Sulfur Hot Springs. |
| Everyone got to enjoy a nice hot soak. Well Denny,
was it worth the wait from Christmas to May? Lots of other photos from this point on but I'm NOT talking! Maybe if you call Marion in London, she would fill you in. British accent and all! (I'm grinning.)
|
 |
 |
And finally it was time to say goodbye. Memories for a lifetime. |
|
Adventures | Photo Gallery | Reservations | Scrapbook home
Ted Mattson
|
