Alaska Photo Countdown to 7/13!

[DizzyDallasDi]

You are just too generous. :)

[Linda the Book Lover]

Finally an evening to sit down and enjoy the photos. Wow they are great! I have to say it again LJ you sure are making so many of us waiting to either go for the first time or return once again to Alaska happy. Thank you again for taking the time to post so many wonderful pics!

 

LJ --I forgot to add I don't know which I like more the horse back riding pic( I'm an old horse gal) or black & white treatment of the view into Aialik Bay. I am banking on you and Bev having a great time on this trip for me too!

[Nelie]

Seems like we will be leaving for our trips about the same time. Ive been enjoying your photos. At first i was like wow thank you for posting these pictures for us, it must take you a long time and you are doing it for complete strangers. Then i realied why you are doing it. I started changing my facebook photos daily to picutres from my previous trips. There is so much joy in going through old photos from previous trips. So i can you see you are getting as m,uch enjoyment out of this as we are.

 

People at my work think its weird that i am going to Alaska, they are like why? I then pull up one of your fabulous photos and show them and say this is why.

 

they get it now, so thank you

[WalleyeLJ]

Good evening/afternoon/morning all!

 

We didn't have the best weather the day we took the Alaska Railroad from Seward into Anchorage, but I wanted to post a few of them anyways. Here we go!

 

 

The train...

 

 

 

 

 

 

A glacial fed river as we crossed over on a short bridge - check out the color of the water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avalanche debris. A winter supply train headed to Seward with building supplies was wiped out by a huge avalanche. No one was injured, but they were just getting equipment up there to clean up the mess the end of May!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glass top double deck car - the way to go if you can!

 

 

 

 

 

We'll do the train again someday - hopefully - but this time we'll be driving our land portion ourselves.

 

 

7 days and a wake up!

4 work days to go!!!

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Finally an evening to sit down and enjoy the photos. Wow they are great! I have to say it again LJ you sure are making so many of us waiting to either go for the first time or return once again to Alaska happy. Thank you again for taking the time to post so many wonderful pics!

 

LJ --I forgot to add I don't know which I like more the horse back riding pic( I'm an old horse gal) or black & white treatment of the view into Aialik Bay. I am banking on you and Bev having a great time on this trip for me too!

 

Linda,

 

We've only ridden a couple of times before, but it was a terrific experience. We booked the early tour with an independent, and we ended up being the only ones! No nose to tail trail ride for us - we cantered, trotted and full out galloped uphill at one point. I must have looked like a cartoon character bouncing around in the saddle! But is was AWESOME. I think it was Bev's favorite excursion - as in 100, while all the other were 98-99:D. Kenai Fjords we visited on a water taxi en route to kayak at Aialik Glacier. This time we're doing a 7.5 Major Marine boat tour, so it should be a little less full throttle, and even more wildlife hopefully - and we saw a TON on the water taxi!

 

So are you waiting to go for the first time, or chomping at the bit (get it!!!;)) to go back?!?!?

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Seems like we will be leaving for our trips about the same time. Ive been enjoying your photos. At first i was like wow thank you for posting these pictures for us, it must take you a long time and you are doing it for complete strangers. Then i realied why you are doing it. I started changing my facebook photos daily to picutres from my previous trips. There is so much joy in going through old photos from previous trips. So i can you see you are getting as m,uch enjoyment out of this as we are.

 

People at my work think its weird that i am going to Alaska, they are like why? I then pull up one of your fabulous photos and show them and say this is why.

 

they get it now, so thank you

 

Nelie,

 

You know both your ideas are right. I know that like myself, lots of people like to see photos to revisit their trip, or see what they have to look forward to. So that was part of the reason. I wanted other people to have their anticipation build for their trips. We had such a fantastic time on our first Alaksa trip that I want others to share the same experience. The other was dead on too - it helps me remember some of the details and places I'd forgot about from the first trip, while getting me excited about the new experiences this time around.

 

FYI - while I'm still hoping it'll get into the 60s or low 70s sometime on our trip, the long range forecast through next Sunday is mid to upper 50s at best, so it'll be cooler than I expected for at least the first two days if that holds up! You may have been right on with your plan not to freeze to death coming up from Australia:p! At least there is still a lot of snow pretty low down on some of the mountains based on the web cams I saw today!

 

Safe travels! Australia and New Zealand are on the bucket list!

 

L.J.

[KruisinKath]

Take lots of pics on your trip - I expect you to post one a day for me until I finally start MY cruise! :p Hey, I'm under 365 days now, and we all know you're going to take thousands of pictures anyway; why not put them to good use?

[WalleyeLJ]

Take lots of pics on your trip - I expect you to post one a day for me until I finally start MY cruise! :p Hey, I'm under 365 days now, and we all know you're going to take thousands of pictures anyway; why not put them to good use?

 

 

LOLOLOL - how did you know? Last cruise I took over 8,000 (volume isn't eveything, but I got lucky a few times;)). I'm betting I break that total this trip - and hopefully get lucky a few more times:).

 

This trip I have FOUR more days...and two more cameras, plus two video cameras, plus a Go Pro HD2...:D:D:D

 

 

L.J.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Linda,

 

We've only ridden a couple of times before, but it was a terrific experience. We booked the early tour with an independent, and we ended up being the only ones! No nose to tail trail ride for us - we cantered, trotted and full out galloped uphill at one point. I must have looked like a cartoon character bouncing around in the saddle! But is was AWESOME. I think it was Bev's favorite excursion - as in 100, while all the other were 98-99:D. Kenai Fjords we visited on a water taxi en route to kayak at Aialik Glacier. This time we're doing a 7.5 Major Marine boat tour, so it should be a little less full throttle, and even more wildlife hopefully - and we saw a TON on the water taxi!

 

So are you waiting to go for the first time, or chomping at the bit (get it!!!;)) to go back?!?!?

 

L.J.

This will be our first time to Alaska and we are both looking forward to this trip like all get-out! Ihad a funny kayak experience the one time we trried I went round and round in a circle two feet up maybe then around and around in a circle. The Dh says if we do a two man we will be fine...but your photo of the kayaks on the sand make me rethink that Alaska may be the place. So little time on the cruise to do everything..now I see why everyone goes over and over again. :D

[KruisinKath]

LOLOLOL - how did you know? Last cruise I took over 8,000 (volume isn't eveything, but I got lucky a few times;)). I'm betting I break that total this trip - and hopefully get lucky a few more times:).

 

This trip I have FOUR more days...and two more cameras, plus two video cameras, plus a Go Pro HD2...:D:D:D

 

 

L.J.

 

LOL - cause almost every review I've read in the past two years, they say something like "these are only a few of the 2,000 pictures we took"...I figured with all the great shots you've been posting, you just HAD to take a lot, too!

 

That's great you'll be taking more this time - you can post two or three a day for me instead of just one - what a deal! :D or one pic and one video a day...or....

[WalleyeLJ]

This will be our first time to Alaska and we are both looking forward to this trip like all get-out! Ihad a funny kayak experience the one time we trried I went round and round in a circle two feet up maybe then around and around in a circle. The Dh says if we do a two man we will be fine...but your photo of the kayaks on the sand make me rethink that Alaska may be the place. So little time on the cruise to do everything..now I see why everyone goes over and over again.

 

 

You will LOVE it! YOu should totally go again in Alaska. Bev & I have kayaked 3 times in our lives...

 

The first time was on our honeymoon at the RCI stop in Labadee, Haiti. It was a sit on top, and the wind came up and blew us over shallow water over a very nasty looking reef. Single most stressful 10 minutes of our marriage so far:D!

 

The second we decided to do something simple - like kayak amongst the bergy bits and icebergs in Aialiak Bay, in 33 degrees water with no wetsuits:eek:! Hence the photos I've posted.

 

Our third time was last year in Puerto Rico pre cruise. We went with two friends of mine from college, and we ended up doing a nighttime, no lights kayak trip on a river through a mangrove swamp/backwater that led to a brackish pond that was filled with biolumenescent dinoflagelets that glowed electric blue whenver you disturbed the water!:eek::cool::D.

 

This trip, we're sea kayaking Kachemak Bay on a quest to get up close photos of sea otters and the intertidal pool creatures!

 

I live my life like Clark Kent, and vacation (within limits) like Superman:).

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

LOL - cause almost every review I've read in the past two years, they say something like "these are only a few of the 2,000 pictures we took"...I figured with all the great shots you've been posting, you just HAD to take a lot, too!

 

That's great you'll be taking more this time - you can post two or three a day for me instead of just one - what a deal! :D or one pic and one video a day...or....

 

I will do my best!!!

 

L.J.

[snowbird1]

Good evening/afternoon/morning all!

 

We didn't have the best weather the day we took the Alaska Railroad from Seward into Anchorage, but I wanted to post a few of them anyways. Here we go!

 

 

The train...

 

 

 

 

 

 

A glacial fed river as we crossed over on a short bridge - check out the color of the water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avalanche debris. A winter supply train headed to Seward with building supplies was wiped out by a huge avalanche. No one was injured, but they were just getting equipment up there to clean up the mess the end of May!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glass top double deck car - the way to go if you can!

 

 

 

 

 

We'll do the train again someday - hopefully - but this time we'll be driving our land portion ourselves.

 

 

7 days and a wake up!

4 work days to go!!!

 

 

L.J.

How did you manage to get that lady in Yellow to not move much when you took the slow shutter speed photo inside the train? Perhaps since the train was moving (maybe pretty fast) you didn't have to slow it down as much as it appears. Just figured she may be a little blurry if you slowed things down too much and she was moving. Nice photo, I took one similar but didn't think to try and take one slowing the shutter speed down to get that fast motion look outside.

[WalleyeLJ]

How did you manage to get that lady in Yellow to not move much when you took the slow shutter speed photo inside the train? Perhaps since the train was moving (maybe pretty fast) you didn't have to slow it down as much as it appears. Just figured she may be a little blurry if you slowed things down too much and she was moving. Nice photo, I took one similar but didn't think to try and take one slowing the shutter speed down to get that fast motion look outside.

 

 

Snowbird,

 

I shot it at ISO 800, at 1/1oth of a second and f/3.5 with an image stabilized lens. Partly to get the motion blur, partly because the lgiht was pretty dim and I didn't want to push the ISO any higher. It helped that she wasn't getting in or out of her seat. I thin she was just standing there talking to other folks across the aisle. Like I said, sometimes you get lucky:).

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

A neat little assortment for today...

 

 

Sunrise approaching Ketchikan...

 

 

 

 

 

White Birch Forest - Trail to Thunderbird Falls

 

 

 

 

 

Turnigan Arm Rainbow - 10:45pm as the storm clears and the sun sets...

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

6 days and a wake up!

3 more work days!!!

 

 

L.J.

[Linda the Book Lover]

I live my life like Clark Kent, and vacation (within limits) like Superman:).L.J.

 

Love it!

[T-Rox!]

 

I live my life like Clark Kent, and vacation (within limits) like Superman:).

 

L.J.

Great philosophy Superman ... And I bet it keeps Lois Lane happy, too!:D

[WalleyeLJ]

Great philosophy Superman ... And I bet it keeps Lois Lane happy, too!:D

 

LOL - some days I'm lucky she puts up with me!:D

 

L.J.

[Pamster]

Thanks so much for the pics - makes me anxious for our next Alaska cruise next summer. Also has me wanting a better camera... So I'm shopping around for one of those 15x optical zoom with image stabilization. Found a Kodak Easyshare that looked interesting - my current point and shoot is an Easyshare and I love that - however, with Kodak getting out of the digital camera business, that might not be my best choice. So, still shopping.

[WalleyeLJ]

Good evening all,

 

Sorry for the late post for the folks on the east coast:).

 

 

Talkeetna Visitors Center:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What to do in Talkeetna...

 

 

 

 

 

 

A moose in Denali...

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 days and a wake up!!!

Still three days of work:(

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Today's posts - back to beautiful Kenai Fjords!

 

 

 

Bear Glacier, Sky and Sea...

 

 

 

 

 

Our Kayaking team...

 

 

 

 

 

Kenai Mountians entering Aialik Bay, right side coming from Seward

 

 

 

 

 

FOUR days and a wake up!!!

 

Whaoo!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

L.J.

[Nelie]

2 and a half days and a wake up until i leave for my trip. Will do 2 weeks of touring the west coast before heading on my cruise ahhhhhhhhh.

 

Just wanted to say one last time thank you for posting these great pictures. Its been great seeing all the things i am going to see and some i wont. It can be stressful planing a holiday so its been great to see some nautre i find it relaxing.

 

Good luck on your trip and i hope to see your new pics when i get back.

[WalleyeLJ]

2 and a half days and a wake up until i leave for my trip. Will do 2 weeks of touring the west coast before heading on my cruise ahhhhhhhhh.

 

Just wanted to say one last time thank you for posting these great pictures. Its been great seeing all the things i am going to see and some i wont. It can be stressful planing a holiday so its been great to see some nautre i find it relaxing.

 

Good luck on your trip and i hope to see your new pics when i get back.

 

Thanks Nelie - I wish you and your mom safe travels and I hope you have a wonderful trip exploring the west coast and Alaska. I'll certainly post once we return - just watch for it here on the Alaska board. Hopefully we'll get to see your photos too once you return from your epic adventure!

 

L.J.

[BeachBum1007]

LOVE all of your pictures. I hope you have an amazing and safe trip!! :)

[WalleyeLJ]

LOVE all of your pictures. I hope you have an amazing and safe trip!! :)

 

Thanks Amber! Great job on your review - it looks like you all had a fantastic time, and you took some beautiful photos. We have a go go

itinerary too - hopefully we'll have as good a time and weather as you all did!

L.J.