2012 July 6-20 Alaska Land and Cruise Adventure Review with LOTS of photos!

[WalleyeLJ]

L.J. ~ we miss you :D

 

 

I'm back!!! Posting to follow!

 

:D

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Loving your review! :) In many of your photos, there are people in short sleeved t-shirts all the way to winter coats! What was the temperature like? We are from Wisconsin, so we are used to it being cold, but I am not sure how to pack for our trip next summer.

 

EVERYWHERE we went the residents said that this was the coolest July in memory - most days in the upper 40s to uppers 50s. In several places in SE Alaska they said it rained 28 out of 30 days in June. We did have a couple of sunny days where I was in a t-shirts and it was probably in the upper 60s. The lower to mid 50s was the average for our two weeks. Some summers it's in the 70s & 80s in July, so you'll just have to watch forecasts right before you lead to see what it'll be like next summer. The classic answer here - layering - is the perfect answer. Light base layer, warm mid(dle) layer(s), water/wind proof out shell.

 

 

Except for this guy...here he was cleaning halibut in Homer, shirtless, in rubber (COLD) chest waders/overalls...and it was about 45 degrees...

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Wow! This has been an amazing review. My daughter, Mom and I are heading up there next week for a 4 day land and 7 day cruise. You're pictures are amazing. I'm going to use a 7D as well. It looks like you used your zoom for most of the trip. Did you use auto much? The camera is pretty new to me so I don't want to miss anything. Any tips? Aperture Priority? Again, this has been an amazing review. Thanks for the time and effort.

 

Hey shooten,

 

I shoot primarily on Program mode, and use the main dial and exposure compensation heavily. I do use aparture or shutter priority for specific shots (shutter for wildlife, aparture for depth of field variations for landscapes, closeups, etc.). I primarily used a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS and a 17-40mm f/4 for landscapes. Have a great trip!!!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Day 6 - 7/11/12: Pea Soup...

 

 

We woke up to...low 40s, low clouds, foggy & wet weather. And wind - LOTS of wind. When we went down to breakfast, Mike & Marsha told us the couple that was supposed to have gone out fishing that morning had their trip cancelled due to heavy seas that wouldn't let the smaller boats outside Resurrection Bay (where Seward is located). We wondered about our boat trip into Kenai Fjords scheduled for the next day. Mike checked the weather forecast and it was calling for 25-35+ mph winds and 15-20ft + seas through the next day. We called Major Marine and they confirmed that the trips in the KFNP for the day had been cancelled, but that they would not make a determination on our trip until the next morning.

 

In the short term we decided to focus on breakfast. Mike and Marsha put out a spread for us like we had 6 people in our group. Coffee, juice, fresh fruit, biscuits and gravy and made to order omelets! Fantastic foods, and great hosts! Well fueled for our day, we headed over to the Hertz location in Seward. The way things worked out, it was cheaper to rent a round trip rental from Avis in Anchorage, pick up a second car from Hertz in Seward, return the Avis rental car when we picked up my parents, and then return the Hertz rental on the day of embarkation in Seward. The downside was that Bev & I each had to drive separate cars from Seward into Anchorage en route to pick up my parents at the airport. We decided to upgrade from a midsize sedan to a Ford Escape for the extra luggage space. Then, we were off to Anchorage!

 

Along the way we stopped in Moose Pass, a small town between Seward and Tern Lake. We didn't have time to stop the night before, and we wanted to get a shot of the "Moose Pass Welcomes You" sign...plus we hoped we might find a moose wandering around Moose Pass!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple quick photos, a bathrooms break, and some ice cream cones (Mocha Chip is all over Alaksa!) and we were back on the road headed north! Small towns like Moose Pass really show the price issues - a 12 pack of Coke was $7.99!

 

 

L.J.

[floridanative1]

Thank you for such a wonderful review. It is the most interesting one I've read. I'm looking forward to the rest of the review!

Carolyn

[shooten]

Hey shooten,

 

I shoot primarily on Program mode, and use the main dial and exposure compensation heavily. I do use aparture or shutter priority for specific shots (shutter for wildlife, aparture for depth of field variations for landscapes, closeups, etc.). I primarily used a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS and a 17-40mm f/4 for landscapes. Have a great trip!!!

 

L.J.

 

Thank you very much L.J.. Those are the same lenses I have except for my telephoto is f/4. I hope we see some bears.

 

Scott

[blonde375]

Hey shooten,

 

I shoot primarily on Program mode, and use the main dial and exposure compensation heavily. I do use aparture or shutter priority for specific shots (shutter for wildlife, aparture for depth of field variations for landscapes, closeups, etc.). I primarily used a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS and a 17-40mm f/4 for landscapes. Have a great trip!!!

 

L.J.

 

 

Thank you L.J. for posting this and for such a wonderful review! Your photos have been helping my husband get geared up for our trip!! I appreciate you sharing the photo info above as I'm rather new to using my Canon 40D to it's fullest and look forward to using more than "auto".

[WalleyeLJ]

My parents flight, against all odds, came in early, just like ours! So we were still a couple miles from the airport when they landed. Bev was still returning the first car and I was roaming around the parking garages looking for a space when they called from baggage claim. I finally found a spot, went inside and collected Mom, Dad and theirs bags. Considering they had flown from Burlington, VT, to Chicago and into Anchorage, they were in good spirits. Parents in hand, we headed off for another round of pizza at the highly rated Moose's Tooth in downtown Anchorage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The place was packed, but after a quick 15 minute wait we were seated. There are about a thousand choices of pizzas, in addition to make your own. Right after we ordered, I get a call from Bank of America. I go outside to take the call and the 2012 version of the Salem Witch trail begins via cell phone. After 30 minutes of probing questions about my security questions, what purchases I had made where, and being placed on hold only to have my call dropped and to have to begin again, I FINALLY found out that my bank card had been cancelled. I had already explained that I was on vacation and that I had no time or means to get a new card delivered to me. I ask to speak to a supervisor. 10 more minutes on hold. Then, another long 5-10 minutes pressing the supervisor for answers and solutions. At this point I find out that the reason my card was cancelled was not because I suddenly started using it in Alaska, but because a retail chain was hacked and my card, along with thousands of others was stolen. A VERY long story short, I finally brokered a deal to get my card reactivated (which I had been told previously was impossible) until the Monday after we were due home. 50 or so minutes later, I finally was able to go back into the Moose's Tooth and eat my salad and stone cold pizza.

 

Obviously at this point my dining experience was ruined, not by the Moose's Tooth, but by Hacker's Anonymous. That said, even cold it was tasty, so I'm sure that it would have been terrific hot. The salad was HUGE, and large sodas to boot. The interior decor was warm and dark and very comfortable. As we were settling up, I took a few shots of the interior.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill paid, we hit the road for another stop at Wal-Mart for some more water and a few other supplies, and then we were headed down the Seward Highway! No critters on the way up to Anchorage - would there be any on the way back to Seward???

 

 

L.J.

[olemissreb]

Oh my word! I'm loving this review! I'm getting so excited for our trip and I still have 10 months to wait! UGH!

 

How was it picking up your parents at the airport? Sounds like it was difficult to find a parking space. I think we'll probably be returning our car when we pick up my mother and then take a cab or shuttle to our hotel since we'll be leaving on the train for Seward the next morning.

 

Any other restaurants you can recommend in Anchorage? We'll have to try the Moose's Tooth when were there - my kids will love the pizza!

[WalleyeLJ]

As we entered Turnigan Arm, the wind really picked up - like Toto and the cows from Twister could have coming bouncing along and I wouldn't have been surprised strong. The legend of the epic winds that can tear through the Arm during a bad storm. The rains kept up their on again, off again antics, but they didn't keep super sniper Bevy from spotting Dall Sheep again on the cliffs above! Buffeted by the winds, I had to crouch behind the cover of the car and try and hold the camera steady despite the heavy cross winds. These were the two best of the bunch. Luckily, unlike his relatives high up on the top of the ridgeline, this guy was on a short cliff only 100 feet up or so!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I little further along, I pulled over and took these shots as I wanted at least a couple of photos to remember how crummy the weather was...and in two trips this week so far, I hardly had any shots of the Arm. One of these trips to Alaska, I'm going to get to the sunny side of the Arm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With tired parents and poor weather, we headed straight back to Seward and got my parents settled in. On the way home, Major Marine called us and let us know that they had decided to go ahead and cancel our Kenai Fjords trip due to the forecast for the next day. Crushed wasn't the right term, but I was highly disappointed. I had REALLY been looking forward to getting back into the Park. They offered us the options to rebook another day (which we didn't have), take a shorter Resurrection Bay only tour (not interested), and get a full refund. After dropping my parents off, we headed in and got our refund. They also offered us 50% off coupons for the Sealife Center, which was our plan using our Northern Lights BOGO coupon. In any case, they were great to work with and wouldn't hesitate to rebook with them the next time we get to Seward.

 

For dinner we decided to take up Michael on his next dinner suggestion, Christo's. We had some French Onion soup, Mozzarella sticks, and I had a salad. After dinner we headed down the street to the waterfront next to the Sealife Center to see if we could see any wildlife. We had been told that there had been whales spotted 50 yards off shore all week. While we didn't see any whales (or otters), we did see several adorable little Harbor Porpoises silently arcing through the waters of the bay. Content with that, we headed back to the B&B to try and get a good night's sleep!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Thank you for such a wonderful review. It is the most interesting one I've read. I'm looking forward to the rest of the review!

Carolyn

 

Carolyn,

 

I'm glad you're enjoying the review! If you have any questions along the way, please don't hesitate to ask - I'll do my best to answer them!

 

L.J.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Hate the Hackers--hate the fraud criminals--sorry they got you while you enjoyed your vacation. The good news is you continued on with your good time by going to everyone's staple Wal-Mart. The DH still laughs when we went to Mexico and I said I have to hop over to Wal-Mart and pick up a few things :D

[WalleyeLJ]

Thank you very much L.J.. Those are the same lenses I have except for my telephoto is f/4. I hope we see some bears.

 

Scott

 

 

Scott,

 

Good luck - near (this trip) or far (1000 yards away in Denali in 2009) , every bear experience we've had in Alaska has been totally memorable!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Thank you L.J. for posting this and for such a wonderful review! Your photos have been helping my husband get geared up for our trip!! I appreciate you sharing the photo info above as I'm rather new to using my Canon 40D to it's fullest and look forward to using more than "auto".

 

Thanks Dana! One other suggestion - I always try to shoot the lowest ISO possible, but boost it up if you need to. Better a grainy photo that's sharp than a blurry photo. I've missed some nice shots because I was trying to shoot at 200, 400 or even 800 ISO, and it wasn't enough. Good lcuk, and let us know how your trip (and phots) went when you get back!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Oh my word! I'm loving this review! I'm getting so excited for our trip and I still have 10 months to wait! UGH!

 

How was it picking up your parents at the airport? Sounds like it was difficult to find a parking space. I think we'll probably be returning our car when we pick up my mother and then take a cab or shuttle to our hotel since we'll be leaving on the train for Seward the next morning.

 

Any other restaurants you can recommend in Anchorage? We'll have to try the Moose's Tooth when were there - my kids will love the pizza!

 

olemissreb,

 

As for the airport pick up - it was totally easy. I was just in a rush, never having gone into the parking deck there, with my Dad ringing my phone constantly looking for me. It really only took a couple of minutes to find a space,a nd that was mostly making sure I didn't go into the wrong garage (the rental garage, employee parking:D). You'll really love the train ride to Seward - no matter the weather.

 

Unfortunately, as far as food in Anchorage goes, I can just tell you that the food at the breakfast food at Embassy Suites was great, and that when we took the train from Seward to Anchorage in 2009, we really liked the dinner. Other than that, all our meals were outside of Anchorage. Have a great trip - I enjoy planning almost as much as the trip itself!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Hate the Hackers--hate the fraud criminals--sorry they got you while you enjoyed your vacation. The good news is you continued on with your good time by going to everyone's staple Wal-Mart. The DH still laughs when we went to Mexico and I said I have to hop over to Wal-Mart and pick up a few things :D

 

 

LOL - we didn't want to, but we didn't have time to find something more local - maybe next time!

 

:D

 

L.J.

[jrh61]

Ollemissreb - we were in Anchorage the day after LJ, and had lunch at Glacier Brewhouse. Very good!

 

LJ - Could you please get to the cruise portion already? LOL. I can't wait to read about your experiences and how they compare to ours.

[WalleyeLJ]

Ollemissreb - we were in Anchorage the day after LJ, and had lunch at Glacier Brewhouse. Very good!

 

LJ - Could you please get to the cruise portion already? LOL. I can't wait to read about your experiences and how they compare to ours.

 

LOL - I'm trying!

 

Sealife Center & Seward tomorrow...

Fishing the Kenai the next day and.. finally getting on board the Radiance!

 

L.J.

[NoobCruise]

Ollemissreb - we were in Anchorage the day after LJ, and had lunch at Glacier Brewhouse. Very good!

 

LJ - Could you please get to the cruise portion already? LOL. I can't wait to read about your experiences and how they compare to ours.

 

Don't skip ahead! I'm loving the details! Although I leave next Friday, so if you're not done yet, I'll have to wait til I get back lol Although I can't think of a better way to miss it lol

[WalleyeLJ]

leaving home where it was 102F or so when we left, it's hard to describe how nice it was to sleep with the windows wide open and night time temps in the 40s! I finally slept pretty well, but still woke up pretty early. I left my Dad and Bev talking to Mike and Marsha in the kitchen, and headed out to walk part of the waterfront bike trail that runs from the waterfront campground next to the Sealife Center to the Small Boat Harbor. Since it was still cool, overcast, wet and occasionally rainy I just took our waterproof camera on the walk.

 

 

 

One of the many waterfront campground spots along the trail...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Misty morning mountains...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beach collage - if Rick were here, he could make soup!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, none of the famous Seward Sea Otters, but it was a nice morning in spite of that. Back the B&B, breakfast was waiting - and it was another feast! This morning was Sourdough pancakes, potato casserole, omelets, fresh fruits, fresh fruit smoothies and coffee & OJ. Well fed for our adventure, we headed over the three blocks to the SeaLife Center to see if we could book one of the Mammal Encounters!!! Before we went in, we took my parents to see the bay and look for whales and porpoises. No whales again, but we did see a few of the little porpoises rolling on the top of the water.

 

 

 

My Dad & I

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rain and fog lifting - a little bit

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wind in Resurrection Bay had really died down, do I called to see if by any chance the tours into Kenai Fjords were back on, but alas the end of the bay and the open ocean was still roaring, so no last minute magic to get us back onto the water...

 

 

L.J.

[poolwife]

LJ: Numerous pages back you asked for a link to my review. Here it is:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1665827

 

It does not even compare to yours. We just had point and shoot cameras and are not as good a photographer as yourself.

 

Your pictures are are so special. Besides your bear pictures, I loved all of your detailed pictures of Homer, Kachemak Bay and Fat Olives. We also ate there and liked it. As you will read in my review, we didn't like the other place we ate at for dinner in Homer.

 

Our trip was much more laid back. Although, we did get into Kenai Fjords National Park. I am so sorry that you didn't. It was a highlight of our trip. The whales really put on a show for us. We also went with Major Marine. Good thing I didn't plan on doing a review and took a picture of the very nice salmon/prime rib buffet they put on, it would have made your mouth water. Was very nice for a boat trip like that. There was also a naturalist on board that was very educational and answered any question that you had.

 

I have not finished my review. I have been out of town a lot and going again tomorrow until Sunday. Perhaps I can work on and finish it in the next couple of weeks.

 

Thanks for asking for the link. Love your review and all of your pictures. Attaching pictures to the posts here on cruise critic was new to me so I had a difficult time of it but through reading other posts on how to do it and the test forum I finally figured it out.

 

I look forward to you finishing your review.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Ok LJ and Bev, I will be retired and so will the DH I guess we will need a few jobs so we can go with the group trip you will get together for us! That or win the lotto!;)

[WalleyeLJ]

Well, the Kenai Fjords weather curse followed us to the SeaLife Center, as when Bev & I went in we found out that there were only 2 or 3 three slots available in the Marine Mammal tours for the day, and we of course had 4. So, we fell back yet again and decided to sign up for the Behind the Scenes tour at 3pm. That gave a us a few hours to check out the shops in Old Town Seward where the SeaLife Center is located, as well as the shops along the Small Boat Harbor, which is where we decided we would head first. We figured we could come back to Old Town Seward for lunch and shopping and then head in for the tour.

 

Then I got the bright idea to take the gravel road leading south out of town to Lowell Point, where we went to go kayaking in 2009, since we saw a lot of boats working near the shoreline, either fishing of looking at the famous whales that had eluded us so far. Well, the road was no joke, and being in a rental and with my parents in the car, I had to go slowly. I'm sure the locals that went blazing by, thundering over the potholes and natural rumble strips must have been laughing as they passed the pokey Weslowski mobile...

 

We found the launch area where we had met the water taxi three years ago, and that where all the boats were fishing, keying in on schools of Silver salmon. Unfortunately, before I got any photos, a truck honked at us as they wanted to launch their boat and go get some fish! So we checked out the campground and homes on the Point, and then headed up a little road to the parking area for the trailhead. We were hoping for views of the bay, but it was thick with forest up there, which was very cool in its own right as the trees where covered in various kinds of green and white mosses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed to the Small Boat Harbor and headed to The Fish House, which is sort of the local general store/hardware store/sundries & sporting goods store - and it was deceptively huge! Our primary mission was to get fishing licenses for Bev, Dad & I for the rest of the trip, as well as to try and find some thermals and rain gear for my Dad - both of which he "forgot" back in NY. This is where I found my favorite item of the trip - a screaming fluorescent yellow waterproof/breathable raincoat - which will be pictured in a later post! A couple more shops, including one which had a massive Kodiak Brown bear on display, and we headed across town for lunch and more shopping before heading off to see the sea critters!

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

LJ: Numerous pages back you asked for a link to my review. Here it is:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1665827

 

It does not even compare to yours. We just had point and shoot cameras and are not as good a photographer as yourself.

 

Your pictures are are so special. Besides your bear pictures, I loved all of your detailed pictures of Homer, Kachemak Bay and Fat Olives. We also ate there and liked it. As you will read in my review, we didn't like the other place we ate at for dinner in Homer.

 

Our trip was much more laid back. Although, we did get into Kenai Fjords National Park. I am so sorry that you didn't. It was a highlight of our trip. The whales really put on a show for us. We also went with Major Marine. Good thing I didn't plan on doing a review and took a picture of the very nice salmon/prime rib buffet they put on, it would have made your mouth water. Was very nice for a boat trip like that. There was also a naturalist on board that was very educational and answered any question that you had.

 

I have not finished my review. I have been out of town a lot and going again tomorrow until Sunday. Perhaps I can work on and finish it in the next couple of weeks.

 

Thanks for asking for the link. Love your review and all of your pictures. Attaching pictures to the posts here on cruise critic was new to me so I had a difficult time of it but through reading other posts on how to do it and the test forum I finally figured it out.

 

I look forward to you finishing your review.

 

Hey Sherry,

 

 

You need to give yourself more credit - there are a lot of really cool photoos on there! I'll take some time this weekend and read through it when I can give it the proper time!

 

 

I HATE that we couldn't do the Kenai Fjords tour, but it gives us a reason to go back:D! It sounds like you had a great time. We were going to try that buffet too, so that just helps ensure we will next time we're there. How was the deck space when you were outside? Was there decent room, or was it really crowded? Did you prefer being on the main deck, or up higher?

 

 

I know what you mean about getting the review done - I'm planning (famous last words!) on put a big dent in the rest of the trip this weekend!

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Ok LJ and Bev, I will be retired and so will the DH I guess we will need a few jobs so we can go with the group trip you will get together for us! That or win the lotto!;)

 

Well, the way things are going, we'll need to work another 35-45 years, so I guess it'll be the lottery for us! :D:D:D

 

L.J.