ALASKA … Pop the Champagne!!!

Thursday, May 27 …

Today we had another taste of the bountiful wildlife we’ll be enjoying on our Alaskan odyssey this summer. Leaving Prince Rupert this morning we passed a congregation of at least 20 bald eagles sunning themselves on two floating logs … like a flock of seagulls on Lake Erie. And later in the day, after anchoring in Foggy Bay, Roland spotted our first black bear!

This morning, we left the docks around 10:30 after phoning Ketchikan to get permission to anchor in Foggy Bay, our first stop in Alaska, prior to going on to Ketchikan Friday to clear customs.

We enjoyed our time in Prince Rupert. It’s a quaint little town that has fun with the fact it is located in Cow Bay. All of the garbage bins are painted like black and white heifers. And for breakfast this morning, Roland went to “Cowpuccinos” and bought us blueberry muffins.

We all cheered as we crossed into Alaskan waters around 3:15 p.m., and after finding a beautiful spot to anchor in Outer Cove at Foggy Bay around 4:30 p.m., we popped a bottle of champagne to toast our arrival to Alaska! The water was like glass, and despite turning our clocks back an hour (now a four-hour time difference with back east), it stayed light until at last 9:30.

After a hearty dinner of Cincinnati Chili, we all enjoyed the tranquility of our first anchorage in Alaska. We saw a brown bear meandering along the shore opposite of us, hunting for food along the beach. Bald eagles and nests surround us … and as Jim remarked after we saw the fourth cruise ship go by in the far distance … this is a view those passengers will never enjoy.