Family of Man Statue in downtown Calgary
Panorama of Banff
The Banff Hot Springs
kayakers gathered together and went for a quick hike prior to kayaking. We tromped through the mud and around a pretty little lake, taking in the lovely scenery. We saw swallows flying around the surface of the lake and were told they had just come up from South America. We got to spot overlooking a great little waterfall and that ended up being our turn around spot. Those wellington boots definitely came in handy on this hike as the ground was very muddy and very wet.
only could get so far.
along the shore and we were able to get rather close. Bears apparently have better hearing than eyesight (both are good), so we kept as quiet as possible on the boat while we inched closer to the shore. The bear stopped a few times and even once looked right at us, but eventually he kept moving along the shore and then up into the woods out of our view.
We started early and picked up the Park Ranger at Bartlett Cove and sailed into the park as the day was just starting. The only real way to see this park is by boat and the park is very strict on the number of boats let into the park. Per day, only 2 large cruise ships, 3 tour boats (this is what our boat is classified as) and a handful of small private charters and privately owned boats are allowed into the park. It a large park and the limited numbers make it feel as if you have the park to yourself. Plus, in order for those large boats to enter, they must pick up a Park Ranger who accompanies the boat throughout it's 24 hour time limit in the park.
It didn't start out as a nice day with dark clouds hanging over us, but we ventured into the park with our ranger. First up was a small island where we found numerous Stellar Sea Lions and birds of all sorts. This was our first view of the Tufted Puffin and we saw quite of few of these cute little birds flying near the rocks and just floating in the water. I did manage to get some nice shots of a puffin in the water near our ship's bow and a sequence of a puffin taking off from the water (not the most graceful of actions for the less than aerodynamic puffin). Also on this island was a lone sea otter still on its back on shore. I have only seen this guys in the water, so seeing one on shore lying out like it was suntanning was a treat.
black bear off in the distance. Specks in the camera lens. Then came the mountain goats and we saw plenty of these guys quite close. How they ever manage to cling to those tall cliffs is bewildering, but it is easy to see how they survive the cold Alaska winters with their thick furry white coats.
At the end of that 60 miles, we came to a spot where two Glaciers flow out into the bay; the Grand Pacific and the Margorie Glacier. The Grand Pacific Glacier was the glacier responsible for carving out most of Glacier Bay and was all black and sooty with the silt and sediment it had carved up and pushed forward along its journey. The Margorie glacier was a little cleaner having flowed down from a nearby mountain top. These two glaciers were not a pretty as Dawes Glacier we had seen at the beginning of the trip, but the wide vistas of Glacier Bay created a stunning atmosphere.
line the bay. We saw porpoise, dolphins, whales and sea otters swim or float past us as we continued down the bay.
More photos here.
We got in a two-person kayak and headed out into the little bay. We spotted some birds along the rocks and then headed for the headlands where there were some supposed Indian rock paintings (not sure if the rock painting is old or not). On our way out to the headlands, mom and I we encircled by the videographer in his zodiac. Oh joy... we were gonna be in the DVD of the trip! We came back to shore along the rocky coast, enjoying the water and the scenery.
eating working his paws feverishly. Every once is a while, he would do a complete spin the water, amazingly keeping is head and feet above water. What skill! As the sea otter floated away, we headed out of Saginaw Bay into Frederick Sound towards Chatham Straight. Our goal was to find whales! At the point where Frederick Sound meets Chatham Straight, there is the small Yasha Island. On this tiny island were hundreds of sea lions crowded onto the rocks. We couldn't get too close, but as we approached, many of the sea lions headed for the water while others stayed put and gave us curious glances.
Past Yasha Island, we headed out into Chatham Straight, but there were no whales as yet to be found. We sailed along and discovered a beautiful waterfall along the straight and we went to take a closer look. Eagles and a variety of ducks were near the waterfall. No great photos though since the sun was on the wrong side (the waterfall faced east).
watched in awe as they surfaced and blew water out their spouts and then dove for deeper waters with their signature tale high in the air. It was great to watch and being in a smaller boat, we even we able to turn the boat around and follow the whales as they ventured south down Chatham Straight.
large amount of cold drugs and snuggled in bed trying to kill this cold as quickly as possible.
Although the wildlife was cooperating with us, the weather was not and our afternoon activity also got canceled. Instead, we headed to the small town of Elfin Cove, a adorable little village with no roads where the locals get around on a small network of boardwalks. Apparently only about 20 people live here in the winter, but its close access to the Pacific makes it a prime fishing lodge local in the summer months. We walked around the boardwalks, visited a few of the local stores, watched a man doing a honest to goodness chainsaw carving out of a tree trunk, and talked with some of the local fishermen in town. It was a very enjoyable time and I think Lindblad should add this quaint little town as a permanent stop on this cruise. We were told by some of the crew that they divert to Elfin Cove maybe once a season, so we felt lucky that we got to go there. It sure beat Petersburg.
Monday, May 12th was one of those days that you look outside at the windy, miserable weather and head straight back to bed. We had sailed overnight down Frederick Sound to the mouth of LaConte Bay. Our plan was to get into the maneuverable little Zodiacs and boat around all the icebergs calved off of the nearby LaConte Glacier then head to the small fishing village of Petersburg where some of us would take a flight seeing trip in a float plane over the 
LaConte Glacier. As the weather got worse, however, those plans quickly changed. The water was too rough to do the Zodiac trips through the LaConte Glacier ice burgs (quite the bummer), so instead, our ship headed across the bay to the small Ideal Cove where hiking was offered. Now, I am not much of a hiker so I elected to stay on board the ship while everyone else went out and hiked in that miserable rainy weather.
some snacks for the room and bought a few Alaska trinkets. After the quick walk through town, I grabbed the camera, covered it with a shower cap (makes for a great rain cover) and headed out along the numerous fishing boat docks. There were all sorts of neat things to photograph amoung all the various fishing boats, but to cold and rain starting soaking into my bones so I headed back to the warmth of the ship.
Before dinner we noticed two Stellar Sea Lions right off the ship. I am not sure what they were doing…. Either they were playing, fighting, or they were in the throws of some weird sea lion mating ritual, but they were splashing about all over each other occasionally coming up for air. We had fun watching & photographing them for a long time and eventually the sea lions headed off for other waters. For dinner, we had fresh Alaskan King Crab Legs! And whoa boy, were these things large and fresh. They kept bringing plate and plate piled high with this gigantic crab legs and we enjoyed cracking them open and eating the delicious crab meat inside. That was one of the best and most memorable meals we had that week.
Mom, her friend Joy, and I headed to the Seattle airport on Saturday, May 10th for a quick flight up to Juneau, Alaska. Most of our fellow passengers seemed to also be on our cruise boat as some already were wearing their Lindblad/National Geographic hats and name badges. After arriving at one of Juneau's three airport gates (I love tiny airports) and dropping our bags off with the Lindbald folks, we boarded buses for a tour of Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier.
Museum.
dinning room for dinner. We didn't depart Juneau until late in the evening as most of us were getting ready for bed.
around a bend in the fiord and there nestled under a thick low hanging cloud, was Dawes Glacier. It looked tiny from so far back but soon enough we would get a lot closer and realize how massive this Glacier was.
We got back on board and sailed out of the fiord. Next stop was a small little bay nearby where we were able to anchor. We again donned our parkas and mud boats and the zodiac took us to shore where we could either hike or kayak. I elected to kayak around the bay and headed over to a pretty waterfall cascading into the bay. I then kayaked along the shoreline enjoying the beautiful rock formations and plants. It was nice to get off the boat and find ones own quiet piece of Alaska to enjoy for an hour or so. I could have kayaked out there forever.
One camera problem resolved. I found another FZ20 on ebay and was able to win the auction. Camera is slightly used, but in good shape overall. 
and Shibuya. I had been to both these places my first weekend in Tokyo, but there were still a few things I wanted to do there. So I packed the camera and headed off to the Subway.
Nearby the Harajuku area is Yiyogi Park where I found several troupes of 50s and Elvis-clad locals dancing to rockabilly music. I'm not sure why, but it was rather humorous to see Japanese men dressing in tight black leather with their hair all greased back, 50's style, dancing to old-time 50s rock music on boom boxes. It was definitely an interesting "cultural" experience. One even had a 50's style pink Cadillac. Heh! Also in the park were numerous garage bands lined up along a pathway vying for the attention of all the park go-ers. The amusing part was that they were all relatively close together and as you walked along, one band's music competed with the neighboring band's music becoming a horrid sympony of bad rock band sounds.
After shopping through a local Tokyo department store, it had started to rain. All the folks in the crossing had umbrellas which made the scene interesting and different than I had previously seen. I was only able to find one location to take a bird's eye view of the intersection, but the windows had this wire mess across it, so not to good for photography. The Starbuck's, which had the best view, was way to crowded to find a seat near the window.
The following Saturday was my final day in Tokyo and I roamed around the Imperial Palace while waiting for my afternoon flight home. You couldn't get into the inner Imperial Palace grounds of course, but it was a nice morning walk and I got some interesting photos around the moat and outer grounds. This also happened to be when my new Tamron lens for my new Canon 40D decided to break. The zoom ring apparently came off the tracks and the lens no longer zoomed out when turning the ring. I could still take photos, but I had to manually position the zoom lens where I wanted it cause the zoom ring no longer functioned. At least it was on the last day I was there and not the first.
we found our way into the sprawling market and wound are way to the back where the auctions are held, we discovered we had missed the actual auctions themselves. However, the auctions had apparently just ended and there was an incredible flurry of activity and piles of tuna still lying around. Folks weren't kidding when they said that watch were you were going and be prepared to get dirty. There were all these carts that they used to transport items and they were very maneuverable and could turn on a dime. You had to be very careful or you would get run over by an endless line of these little carts. And when you are dealing with lots of frozen and fresh fish, the place is bound to be a little dank and dirty. I smelled like fish the whole day.
Tuna was way larger than I imagined and there were hundreds of tuna in this one room with tags on them after being auctioned. We were allowed to walk around pretty much anywhere so we explored many of the nook and crannies of the entire fish market. In front of the tuna auction local, there were lots of individual dealers and vendors slicing/carving up their tuna or selling other seafood items and to one side of the fish market was this cavernous room with all sorts of fruits and vegetables being sold. It was quite a place and makes the Seattle Pike Place Fish Market look little and quaint in comparison.
After we had our fill of fish, we headed up to Ueno Park, a popular location for cherry blossoms. It was still early as we walked along the lakes through a wonderful pathway canopied with cherry blossoms. It was beautiful! We were headed towards the Ueno train station to meet up with another co-worker and as we sat there next to the rail station waiting for our friend, out poured the masses of folks. I am mean masses. Hundreds and thousands of people poured from the station in the 45 minutes we sat and waited. And they were all headed the same place we were.
area was another cherry blossom encased walkway, but this time, it was wall to wall people. And all along the grounds underneath the cherry blossom trees folks were picnicking on big blue tarps. The ground was completely covered in blue tarps and it looks as if some had come days in advance to stake out there little spot underneath the cherry blossoms. For me, the beauty of these fabulous cherry blossom walkways were ruined by the endless blue tarps strung along the ground and the shear mass of people you had to dodge.
Again, it was beautiful! This festival was along one of the moats surrounding the Imperial Palace and the trees on both sides of the moat were nicely illuminated creating this wonderful night-time walkway. Of course, the crowds were horrendous and for the first time, actually kinda rude at times with pushing and shoving. At the end of the long pathway, I was so sick of Japan and cherry blossoms, I wouldn't have cared if I never saw either ever again. I am glad I saw the cherry blossoms, but I don't think I would go out of my way to see them again.