We had a really great day. The weather was clear and calm and we went on an all day boat excursion into Kenai Fjords National Park. Our captain had been doing this for quite a while and provided just about non-stop descriptions and stories ans we went along. The turn around point was Aialik Glacier where we stopped for about half an hour and hoped for some large calving event. No big ones, but a bunch of small ones.

All along the trip we had opportunities to see interesting wildlife. We saw a few whales, but nothing so cool as we saw in Southeast Alaska on our cruise there. We did get to see a bear airly close up as he wandered along the shore line. We also got to see some Dall's Porpoises as they raced along with the boat. These guys look like little Orcas. There were all manner of birds, seals, mountain goats and sea lions. The best, by far, was our very close encounter with a sea otter. These guys are cute little devils that were almost hunted to extinction. They have made quite a recovery and can be seen everywhere along the coast. They float on their backs and never come ashore. They gather food from the bottom then float along and enjoy their meal. That is what this one is doing. It looked to us like he was munching out n a crab. The boat got very close to him so I was able to get quite a few decent pictures.

On the way back to Seward we stopped at Fox Island Lodge for a nice meal. There was prime rib abd salmon. That seems to be the typical meal for feeding big groups in Alaska. Kinda like brisket, slaw and beans in Texas. When we got back on the boat for the 30 minute trip back to Seward, the crew handed out fresh chocolate chip cookies. I gave mine to Ginny, of course.

So it was a long day. The cruise was 8 1/2 hours. We were pretty tired when we got back to the hotel. I managed to get all our photos cataloged and keyworded. Ginny hit the sack and was out cold in an instant. Tomorrow it is on to Talkeetna and Denali National Park.