Alaska

The view has drastically changed this week! I'm no longer driving the busy streets of my town, or navigating the interstate highways of western PA. Instead, Larry and I are weaving our way down Alaska Highway 1 through the mountains and along the shore of Turnagain Arm, between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.

This is my 2nd trip to the largest state in the union. Did you know that Alaska holds the unique claim to being the northern most, western most AND EASTERN most state in the U. S? Amazing isn't it? How can that be? Well, I'm sure you can figure out the Northern and Western most points, but the Aleutian Islands stretch south and west until they cross the dateline and enter the "Far East" part of the hemisphere. Therefore, Alaska is officially the eastern most state, too. I learned that little bit of trivia last year.

Yesterday Larry and I celebrated our upcoming 39th anniversary by taking the 26 Glacier Cruise in Prince William Sound, a 5 1/2 hour cruise on a catamaran. We were blessed with unbelievably great weather. Even the crew kept remarking on it. Although most of us were outside in our sweatshirts and hats, one girl on the crew stood in the sun in her short sleeves remarking how warm it was. The air was probably in the 60's on land, and the sun was wonderful, but the air off the glaciers and the breeze from the boat kept us in jackets. According to our guide, the Sound has rain 8 out of 10 days. They may get 20 feet of snow in winter, but the mountains may get 100 feet of snow. I'll keep Pittsburgh, and learn not to whine so much about the shoveling.

This picture is of College Fiord and shows several glaciers coming down to the water. Each of these glaciers was named for a girls college. On the other side of the fiord the glaciers were named for boys colleges. The two glaciers at the end of College Fiord were named Harvard and Yale. Harvard seems to be advancing, while Yale is retreating. I wonder if that's a commentary??

On our cruise we saw sea otters and harbor seals, but no whales, although there are several pods in the area. We saw lots of sea otters, but it was hard getting a good closeup of them. Sea Otters never go on land. They spend their time in water. And they roll over frequently to put air in their coat. Their fur is so thick the water never touches their skin!

We aren't actually here on vacation. Larry covers Alaska as part of his territory, so when he comes here, I tag along if we have enough frequent flyer miles. I'll be sharing this trip on this blog, so check back daily! This is going to be a great week, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you.