We decided to take an Alaskan Cruise for our 10th anniversary.  We sailed from Seattle, WA.  When we arrived in Seattle is was dreary and a little bit cold.  We set sail just a little after 4:00 PM from Pier 33.  The first day and half (Day 1 and 2) sailing was at sea heading toward Juneau, AK.  We both had manicures done and yes I actually had one done.  My first one and it was great.  Carrie took pictures of me getting it done.  We saw some Humback whales out of the side of the ship while getting our manicures.  During this time we slept, played in the casino and just enjoyed our time together.

On day three, we made port in Juneau, AK at 12:00 PM.  While sailing into Juneau it was cold.  There were a lot of waterfalls on the local hills and mountains.  We took an excursion called the Photo Safari by Land & Sea.  This excursion is specially designed for photographers.  Our guide was an highly experienced photographer who knew the area very well.  He gave us a lot of great tips and even convinced most of us to use massacre (manual) mode during the trip.

We started out on a motor coach that took us up to the Mendenhall Glacier, part of the Tongass National Forest, by the way of the Moraine Ecology Trail.  This trail leads from a parking lot to the Mendenhall Glacier about 1 mile walk through a forest.  This trail leads you through the time of the Mendenhall Glacier with markers marking the position of the receding glacier.  It was a raining a little bit during the start of the walk but then cleared up a little.  We walked across two bridges on the walk.  At the first bridge, we saw black bear pints in the sand just below the bridge.  These prints look very fresh.  Since we were a little late for the Salmon running, we did not get to see much fish or bears.  At the second bridge, we were presented with a beatiful waterfall.  After walking a short distance, we saw a black bear streak across the trail about 50 to 75 yards ahead of us.  Not many of caught it out of the side of eyes, but it was a sight to see.  One lady yelled out bear and the rest of us tried to calm her down and not to shout.  We did not get a better look at the bear which was a bummer.  But, I did get to see a bear.  About two-thirds through the trail, we were finally presented with a view of the Mendenhall Glacier.  The glacier is a pretty sight to see.  We took many pictures of the glacier, iceburgs and the waterfalls at the glacier.  The end of the trail led us to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.  Total time spent was about 2 hours from the start of the trail to the end.

After getting back on the motor coach, we headed to Auke Bay for the start of our second part of the excursion of whale watching.  We boarded this pontoon boat that took us to see whales.  We saw many humback whales, seals, and more glaciers.  The trip was great.  We spent about an hour and a half on the water.  We came across a lighthouse while on the water.

After getting back to the dock from our whaling trip, we headed back to Juneau.  On our way back, we saw many Bald Eagles in this estuarary.  It was getting dark and we could not get a good shot of them.  There must have been about 20 to 30 Eagles.

Back in Juneau, we decided to do a little shopping in the main district and found many great deals since this was the last cruise ship to make port for the season.  We boraded the ship around 7:00 PM and decided not to venture back out after we boreded.  The ship left port just after 10 PM and we were on our way to Skagway, AK.

To see pictures from the trip:
Leigh’s Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acejr371/sets/72157607641323761/
Carrie’s Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lckslop/200809AlaskanVacation

Mendenhall Glacier

Shameless plug, please vote for my pictures – http://www.capturevc.com/people/acejr371

For more information and field location, please visit: http://www.westernefly.com or http://www.valleyflyers.com/

Here is a link to the Hi-res photos that I have processed (note: I will not process all the pictures): http://www.flickr.com/photos/acejr371/sets/72157604869339238/

I would like to that Frank and Bill for allowing me to take pictures for the club event.  I had a great time and hope to be flying at the next event which is June 14th for the Warbird Fly-in.

To see one of these planes, please visit CI Condors website.

If you would like to come watch all is welcome. The flying will start around 9 AM until dusk.

The CI Condors field location is at CSUCI.

Any questions, let me know. I will be there all weekend taking pictures of the event.

On the first day, we went to the Las Vegas Strip to get some pictures of the Bellagio water show. After the water show was over, we decided to go to the Valley of Fire just Northeast of Las Vegas about an hours drive. Along the way there is this truckers stop were they sell fireworks and just not the small ones. They have a dedicated site adjacent to the place to set off the fireworks.

When driving into the Valley of Fire at the west entrance, you will notice a some rocks that are really red in the hills. But after driving into the valley, you will see why they call it the Valley of Fire. We spent the afternoon at the Valley of Fire until sunset. I took a lot of great pictures, but not many worth posting.

On Sunday, we went to Lake Las Vegas to take a couple of pictures of the waterfalls. After that we went back to the Las Vegas Strip for a few hours before I came home. To see the pictures I took go to http://tinyurl.com/4dwu5.

Thank you Paul for a great time in Las Vegas. For Paul’s pictures go to http://tinyurl.com/3thl9h.

If you go, you will need to take a long lens as you are up about 50 ft and there is no way to get down at their level and they are protected at ground level to about 750 ft.

Directions: The easiest thing to do is take the 101 to the Bailard Avenue exit. Turn towards the ocean and go into the Bluffs parking lot. From here you can follow the footpath that leads to down to the bluff, over the railroad tracks then along the bluff top to the seal rookery overlook. It is about a half a mile walk.