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The first day of our cruise was at sea. It was then that we realized we didn’t have any cell phone reception. We left both of our laptops (otherwise known as the ball and chain) at home. Matthew’s job can be extremely demanding, and I had numerous sessions to edit, so it was best for both of us to completely remove the temptation of working. However, this meant that we had no contact with the outside world (DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN “AHHHHHH”). No, it was great.
Our first day at sea we relaxed, slept in for the first time in 10 months, ate WAY too much food, spent some time in the hot tub, watched a few shows, took a nap, and enjoyed every second of it! I was concerned that I would miss our daughter so much and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy our time together. Nope. I prayed about it for weeks, and I tried to prepare myself for this time away from her. Amazingly, it was great! Matt and I slid right into vaca mode without any kinks.
Juneau was the first port in Alaska and we were planning this amazing helicopter ride. Unfortunately when we arrived it was raining pretty badly. It kept raining….and raining….and raining. They canceled our helicopter ride. So then we booked a wale watching tour. Juneau is known for its guaranteed whale watching experience and since they haven’t given anyone their money back in years we thought we were set! Nope. The rain became even more intense and they wouldn’t take the risk of having us out on the tour in that kind of weather. Even in the midst of disappointment we were determined to have a positive attitude. It was difficult because when we planned this trip we both had different Alaskan priorities. Matt’s number 1 was a helicopter ride.
Skagway was the next port and we were determined to make this helicopter ride happen. As soon as we were given the go ahead we went around Skagway and sought out everyone who provided helicopter tours. SUCCESS!

I was the lucky one who got the window seat…thankfully! They do the seating by weight and since I was the one who was going to take pictures, I was really hoping they would put me by the window.

My excited husband. He and I were both thrilled that part of our Alaskan dream was coming true right at this very moment. 🙂

AHHHHmazing! The view was incredible…but there were a few things working against me at this moment. First of all, the blades of the helicopter kept getting in my shots. So, I was continuously taking numerous shots to ensure that I got one without a pesky blade. The other conflict was depending on where the sun was shining, I was getting a horrible bright orange glare in the glass from my bright orange safety vest. Both of those things in my shots were very unappealing. It is never fun shooting through glass and this scenario was no exception, but it made shots that turned out like this one so rewarding!

So, in this part of Alaska the water has a lot of soot in it. Bears do not commonly live in areas with water like this because salmon does not swim in this sooty water. You might see a bear or two passing but it would doing just that, passing. There are numerous little (sometimes not no so little) streams like this one all over this area of Skagway.

This is Meade Glacier!! It is kind of a funny name because we have friends back home in Georgia with the last name Meade. Meade Glacier sits 5,000 feet above Skagway in the ice fields and it is one of the safest glaciers to land on which is why the helicopter company conducts tours there. A few things surprised us when we were on the glacier. It was much colder than we expected. In town it was a sunny day of about 68 degrees. The sun was so bright that it felt like it was in the 70’s! So, we didn’t dress for cold weather. On Meade Glacier it was easily 10 degrees cooler than in town. The glacier also was very rocky and rough. We imagined it would be smooth and pretty rock free. Nope. There was soot/dirt all over the glacier as well and that surprised us.

This is a deep look into part of the glacier. Notice the different colors ranging from white to deep blue. The deeper the blue, the more compacted the ice, the older the layer. As far as editing these photos, I did not have to increase the saturation for most of these images. These layers were that blue, the sky was that blue, the mountains were that blue! That a whole lot of blue!!!!

My Alaskan glacier touring husband. You really don’t need these poles to tour the glacier but they make your pictures look like your a serious adventurer. At least that is what the tour guide said. Sounded good to me! Oh, and notice that Matt is holding our 70-200 zoom lens. The helicopter company wouldn’t allow us to have any bags…security precaution. So, we had to carry everything. I couldn’t even bring the case for this lens because they considered that a bag. Oh well!

Look at all of these rocks! Who would have thought that a glacier would look like this?

What a beautiful day to go on a helicopter ride! It’s moments like this where I look at God’s creation and I am amazed at its beauty. Wow.

Look at those styling boots…not. But they helped us walk around safely. At one point I ended up stepping in some water and without these boots I would have lost all feeling in my feet!

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
Genesis 1:31

Getting ready to leave Meade Glacier 🙁 It was amazing!

FAVORITE SHOT ALERT! Oh. My. Goodness.This shot rocks my socks off! One of the things that makes this shot so great is the leading lines. Notice the lines in the ground of the glacier leading up to the mountain. One of the “rules of composition” is to use leading lines. It naturally leads the viewers eye to the focus of the shot. This shot was taken as we were in flight and I had the same obstacles working against me (helicopter blade and orange safety vest glare).

Snapped this shot as we were getting close to the end of our helicopter ride. Thanks to the rain we had the day before, the mountain peaks were covered with a blanket of snow.  Seriously we picked one of the best days of the season to take a ride. Just thinking back on the day before and I remember how Matt and I were so frustrated and disappointed that our original helicopter ride was rained out. Then, 24 hours later, here we are leaving Skagway completely satisfied with our excursion. Ahhh, life is good.