Better Bird Pictures

Can you believe it? I had nothing better to do yesterday, so I went back to Conowingo and captured this picture.

Don't believe it? Good. 'Cause I am pulling your leg. This is a Bald Eagle in captivity, taken when Hubby and I visited the Alaska Raptor Center during our visit to Sitka, Alaska in 2008. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, unless you have a big, expensive camera lens or are very close to a bird, it's hard to get good bird pictures. Here are a couple of their other captive birds.

This is a Peregrine Falcon.

And this is a Golden Eagle.

Don't be sad that these birds are captive. They are only being held here because they couldn't survive in the wild. The Alaska Raptor Center rehabilitates birds.

I didn't explain in yesterday's post why I went to Conowingo. I mean, I've lived in this area for 42 1/2 years and never knew eagles congregate at the dam during the winter. It just so happens that I read about it on a Flickr "friend's" blog. I don't know the guy really. I just like looking at his pictures, because he takes really good ones. His name is Jon, aka Nikographer, and I was introduced to his work by another Flickr "friend" -- Alaska Dave -- in Soldotna, Alaska. I met AKDave when researching our Alaska trip. Dave introduced me to Jon, which is sort of funny since Jon lives in Northern VA. Small world...

So, back to the why. It was through Nikographer Jon that I learned about the eagles at Conowingo. I also learned about a cool place called the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge (BHNWR), in Smyrna, Delaware, through Jon. If you didn't click on the BHNWR link, you missed some amazing Red Fox pictures. He is also the reason I went to Wheaton Regional Park where I captured a nice great blue heron photo.

I've mentioned all of this before, but in case you don't remember, I had to explain again. If you missed my last discussion about these guys, you also missed a very cool Snow Geese video.

If all goes as planned, I may actually get to visit BHNWR on Friday. I'll sort of be in the area since I'm doing a 5k on Saturday in Ocean City, MD. The plan is to detour through Smyrna on the way. Maybe I'll get some good bird pics there. If not, that's okay. Again, I really just want to see the Snow Geese. There's just something magical about seeing the skies and fields full of Snow Geese and Canada Geese, not to mention hearing nothing but a cacophony of honking.

It's a bit early in the year, so I might be disappointed. I'm hoping to get lucky though. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

People Who Hunt

I'm not a hunter. It's not that I am against hunting, it's just that I am a city girl. And I personally don't feel a need to hunt.

Had I grown up in Alaska, where hunting is a necessity for many and a way of life for many more, I'd probably be a hunter, too. And a fisherwoman. And a dogsled owner. And a hiker. I'd probably know how to walk in snowshoes, too.

But back to hunting. The following picture tickled me. This is not the sort of woman I'd picture if someone told me to imagine a woman who hunts. I mean, this chick is one of those naturally pretty women that some other women might secretly hate. She's the type that probably looks good even first thing in the morning, after having slept, unshowered, in a tent. She's got a pretty smile, great hair, and...

...the guts to pose with two recently murdered deer.

Her name is Josy. She looks a bit rougher on day two of hunting. Maybe it's just the bloody deer that makes her look rougher. Or maybe she doesn't look all that great after sleeping in the wild.

I don't know this woman. I saw her in the hunting gallery on the Anchorage Daily News Web site.

Like I said, I'm not a hunter. But if I were, and I shot and had the stomach to butcher and decapitate five deer, this the kind of picture I would take.

Anyway... if you want to see how other folks live and spend their spare time, check out the hunting gallery for yourself.

If nothing else, at least look at the size of the bear this kid killed.

Oh my.

On Visiting National Parks

Surfing the Internet this morning, I came across an article in the Anchorage Daily News about a guy who got attacked by a rabid wolf. I read the short article, which led to this radio segment on the Alaska Public Radio Network. I only visited Alaska once (I will go back), but I've read quite a few books, too. The Kuskokwim River mentioned in the broadcast is very remote. While surfing, I stumbled across a cool, short video taken while some folks were kayaking at Kenai Fjords National Park. To see the video, look at this Blog post, making sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to see the short video clip. It reminded me of our trip last year when the orcas swam right under our tour boat.

National Parks are cool. Hubby and I are going to have to make it a point to see more of the National Parks in Maryland. I think we've only been to six. Did you know the BW Parkway is a National Park? Hey, I could visit that one today! But why?

He and I are already planning to add some District of Columbia National Parks to our "visited" list in October.

I've never actually tallied how parks we have visited, but here are some of my favorite National Park pictures.

Glacier Bay National Park - Alaska


Denali National Park - Alaska




Badlands National Park - South Dakota


Devils Tower National Monument - Wyoming


There's more, but finding and posting these images is far more time-consuming than I had anticipated. It's a gorgeous day here in Maryland, so I need to get out and enjoy it!

Honey, Grab the Camera. It's a Bear!

I took the above photo on a recent trip to Alaska. Hubby and I spent two weeks touring various parts of the state. Many people have asked, "Did you enjoy your vacation? Are you happy to be home?" To all, I have answered, "Yes, the vacation was awesome. No, I am not happy to be home."

The truth is, I really did spend the entire first week back pissed off because I absolutely loved Alaska and didn't want to leave. The weather was perfect for us. The scenery is magnificent. We got to see all kinds of critters (like the bear shown above). And made new friends.

Alas, we did have to come home. It wouldn't have been so bad, maybe, if we hadn't returned to Maryland's horrible summer heat and humidity. And work. We do need to make a living, but I really enjoyed those two weeks of leisure!

I'll stop whining. After all, we've been home for over a month. I don't spend all of my spare time dreaming of life in Alaska. I do think about it a lot though. And I am really close to applying for a spot on Discovery's Alaska Experiment...

Anyway, on his way out of the house for work this morning, Hubby told me he'd seen on the news that a Cruise West cruise ship ran aground in one of the inlets in Glacier Bay. I just had to look it up to see if there was any damage, like an oil spill or something, because Glacier Bay is one of the most beautiful places on Earth (that I have experienced, anyway). And it would suck, big time, to have any of it spoiled.


There was no damage, fortunately.

While I was researching, I ended up at the Anchorage Daily News Web site (where else?). One of their regular features is BEAR SIGHTINGS. Me being the critter freak that I am, I just had to look. I thought it was pretty cool. I also thought some of my loyal readers would like to take a peek, too. Which is the entire reason for this post. Lame, maybe, but bears are awesome. Seeing bears in Alaska is the best! What's most amazing is where many of the sightings occur... in backyards! If you haven't already followed the "bear sightings" link above, CLICK HERE. Enjoy!

"Extreme Heat is in Store"

Alaska has been fabulous. As anxious as we both are to get home to our families, I am absolutely dreading the thought of returning to Maryland in the midst of a record-breaking heat spell. "Extreme Heat"?!? Temperatures well into the nineties?!?

It was about 45 degrees this morning when we left for breakfast at 7:00 AM. After breakfast, we shopped for awhile. On the way back to the room, we were both happy to be wearing jackets. The high today was about 65 degrees. And there were people out and about EVERYWHERE taking advantage of the heat wave.

I could very easily get used to year-round cool weather. Mike says no way could he live here. I told him, "I'll miss you."

As an aside, June's daughter Leah said they went swimming recently. She thought it was really cool that they could jump off of an iceberg into the lake. Not an iceberg, literally, just the lake ice that hadn't yet melted. This was probably within the last week or so. Can you imagine how COLD that water is?

Believe it or not, I didn't take any pictures today. There's no link if you click on the moose. Mike was the shutterbug. He took three pictures, and they were all of me with various things. The picture at left pretty much sums up our activity for the day.

Aside from shopping, we each did some reading. One of us napped. The other continued reading/relaxing. Then we went on a "moose hunt" to Kincaid Park in Anchorage for urban moose (we saw two; we'd see more if we went later in the day instead of midday). Finally, we decided we should eat. And we stumbled upon La Cabana, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Anchorage with yummy food and tasty margaritas. A perfect end to our perfect vacation.

Making Connections

We left the Denali National Park area today headed for Anchorage. The vacation is winding down. It has been a wonderful two weeks, but we're both looking forward to getting back home.

We had an extra-special treat today, though. We got to meet-up with Mike's long lost cousin, June, and her two kids, Leah and Mikey. June and her family (her husband wasn't able to join us) live in Willow, a town about an hour or so north of Anchorage. We met in Talkeetna for lunch then went back to June's place and met her incredibly nice landlords, Jerry and Sue. Mike and I really enjoyed the visit.

Before we left, we posed for a quick group photo. The picture was a little blurry, so I Photoshopped it a bit. June said to make sure I tell everyone this is her "rain hair" (it rained today). Leah didn't say anything about her hair, but she probably didn't realize how crazy it looked after Mike playfully mussed it up.


All in all, we've been pretty lucky with the weather during our visit. Even today, although rainy, it was still gorgeous. The blue sky, storm clouds, snow-capped mountains, and white clouds make for some very dramatic photos. Despite the fact that, when we left our cabin today, I told Mike I wasn't going to take any more mountain pictures, I just could not resist. I posted my favorite cloud image of the day below for your viewing pleasure.

Two Days, One Post (Catching Up)

Tuesday, June 3 - So, we finally made it to Denali National Park, America's crown jewel of national parks. And the weather sucked. It was overcast and gray for most of the day. Then it started raining. All of the planning and anticipation leading up to our Denali visit and we get crappy weather. Of course, up until now, the weather has been pretty darn fantastic for us, so I guess we really can't complain.
















Wednesday, June 4 - This was supposed to be our BIG day. The day we'd been waiting for. The day we were scheduled to ride the shuttle bus into the park (private cars are not allowed to drive past mile 15).

Despite the crappy weather yesterday, today it was gorgeous. We could not have asked for better weather. How good was it? It was so good, we actually got to see Mt. McKinley! North America's highest mountain, at 20,320 feet, is so tall, it creates its own weather. Only about 25% of people who visit the park will ever see the mountain. One of the reasons I scheduled our shuttle trip for the ungodly hour of 7:00 AM is that you are more likely to see the mountain in the morning. You are more likely to see critters, too.


Did we ever see lots of critters! Grizzly bears (10 of them), caribou, moose, Dall sheep, a red fox, a hoary marmot, more snowshoe hares than we could ever possibly count, ditto for ground squirrels (the fast food of the tundra). We also saw some cool birds. You'll just have to look at the pictures to see for yourself, because I am tired of writing for the day.

Tomorrow, we leave Denali and head back to Anchorage. But we'll be stopping in Talkeetna to meet up with Mike's cousin, June, along the way.

Odds and Ends

Sleep Deprivation - I am having one heck of a time sleeping here in Alaska. The further north we get, the longer the days get. Sunrise for today was 4:05 AM. Sunset is 11:57 PM. How weird is that? Well, the first picture below was taken at 10:00 PM last night without a flash.


The next picture was taken at 11:00 PM last night. Again, without a flash.


We were going to do a 12:00 AM photo, but Mike has a cold and went to sleep. I, on the other hand, was up until about 2:00 AM. It didn't look much different outside at midnight. At 2:00, it was slightly darker, but not by much.

Our Travel Cooler - Mike and I have traveled to a variety of places in the Western US over the past 15 years. We almost always have a rental car, so we stop and buy a foam cooler and drinks to stock it with. It is much more convenient than stopping to buy drinks all the time.

Why am I telling you this mundane bit of info and even posting images on my Blog? Well, because we thought you'd find it equally amusing that every time we buy a cooler, no matter what state we are in, we get the same exact cooler. Even weirder, the cooler is manufactured in...


... Baltimore, Maryland. Our hometown. So, whether we're in Arizona, Montana, Washington, South Dakota, Utah, or even Alaska, among other places, our cooler is from Baltimore. Just one odd little bit of travel trivia to entertain you.

Tuesday - It is 10:45 AM here. I have been up for hours. As soon as Mike is finished drinking his coffee and waking up fully, we'll set off to explore. Hopefully I'll have some more-exciting images to post later today.

Away From the Coast, Its Another World

Yesterday, we left Seward for Anchorage traveling on the Alaska Railroad.
We saw quite a few moose along the way and some amazing scenery. Take a look at the pictures and you'll be surprised to see how much snow was still on the ground. The train only reached an elevation of about 1,000 feet, but the mountains on the Kenai Peninsula accumulate and hold lots of snow.

We reached Anchorage at about 10:30. It was 11:00 by the time we checked in to our room and found a restaurant. So we were eating dinner at about 11:30 and it was still sort of light outside. Their "dark" is not like our dark at all. In the summer, anyway. No flashlights required, that's for sure.

We were a little late getting started this morning, which was cool because we didn't have to be anywhere at any certain time. So we took our time on the 220+ mile drive up the Parks Highway to Denali National Park. The Parks Highway really is not all that picturesque; the Seward Highway puts it to shame. Until you start getting closer to the Alaska Range.


The picture above is proof. Mt. McKinley--20,320 feet--is in there somewhere, but the top is obscured by clouds, as it often is. Still, it is a cool picture.

I'm not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow, but I am sure we'll find something to do. I can always find things to take pictures of...

Leaving the Coast Behind

Sadly, today is the day we leave Seward and the Alaskan coast behind. It is tough, I have to admit, because I just love it here. We couldn't afford to stay very long, though. Things are ridiculously expensive. A typical lunch in a restaurant is about $30. The regular price for a twelve-pack of canned Pepsi at Safeway is $7.49. A mid-size bag of Fritos that would cost about $2.49 - $2.99 at home is $5.25. Dinners are costly, too. And regular unleaded gas is going for $4.61 per gallon.

But it sure is pretty! All of the pictures from today are just shots I took as Mike and I walked around, killing time before our 6:00 PM train ride back to Anchorage.

I had Mike take a picture of me with several critters located at various spots in the area. And I took a bunch of pictures of the view. The Seward boat harbor is quite picturesque. And they sell really good fish, too.

Seward is by far my favorite Alaskan city so far. Sitka was cute, but tiny. Juneau was just gross. The downtown area, anyway. So far, we've only seen the Anchorage airport and a small slice of the city; we stopped for breakfast at McDonald's, which was very disappointing because they don't serve bagels out here anymore.

We hear Anchorage is just a city. It isn't a destination anyway, just a place we have to get to to go to and from the various vacation spots. We'll spend the night there tonight then will rent a car tomorrow and head north to Denali, where we'll be staying until at least Thursday.

I'll sign off with my favorite (I think) picture of the Seward boat harbor. Internet access will be very iffy after today. If you don't see any updates, that is why.

Cold But Fantastic

I think it was 45 degrees when we left our room this morning. We had to be at the dock at 7:00 AM to check in for our Kenai Fjords boat tour. It was cloudy and overcast, too. This is normal weather for Seward. I know my Mom would FREEZE, but I love it.

Would I miss sunshine? Maybe. It does get sunny here occasionally. Like the deckhand on our boat said, when it does get sunny it makes it all worthwhile.

It is just so gorgeous. I was worried that today's boat tour would be a lot like the Glacier Bay tour because they are both tours with a goal of seeing glaciers and wildlife. But it was different. We weren't in a protected bay the whole time like at Glacier Bay. We started out in Resurrection Bay, but to get to the other bays where the fjords are, we actually went out into the Pacific Ocean. Not far, but far enough to experience 4-foot seas in water that is 1,500 feet deep!

The deckhand said they were "only"4-foot swells. They felt a lot bigger. We were on a smallish tour boat -- about 48 or 52 feet -- but it rode well in the water. It was lots of fun. Although I kept thinking of my Aunt Bertha who would really have enjoyed the wildlife, but would have totally hated the waves.


Anyway, the Kenai Fjords Tour was AWESOME. The glaciers were cool -- Holgate Glacier is 600 feet tall at the face and 3/4 mile across -- but seeing at least a dozen orcas (killer whales, like Shamu) rocked. There's just something about seeing them in the wild that is hard to describe. At one point after the whales submerged, the captain was ready to leave the area. Then we realized the whales were on a direct path for the boat. And I was right in the middle, facing the whales, as they swam toward and then dove under the boat. It was so cool I almost cried.

The best part of that is, I had my camera set for continuous shooting mode, so I got the entire sequence in pictures. You can see for yourself on my Picasa page.

It is hard to believe we have only been here a week, we've seen so much. And we still haven't gone to Denali National Park, which I thought was going to be the highlight of the trip. I really don't think it could possibly get better.

One final note... Mike and I may now be addicted to Halibut. I am not sure if it because it is so fresh, or if it is just the way they cook it, but the Halibut has been delicious. We already know we're having Halibut and Chips for lunch tomorrow before we leave!

Holy Cow!

Today we made our way from Juneau to Seward via Anchorage. I'm sure y'all have heard of both Juneau and Anchorage, but you probably have not heard of Seward. And although you have heard of Juneau and Anchorage, you probably have no idea where they are. To make it a bit easier on everyone, I have included a couple of maps. The first one is a bigger map of Alaska showing the places we've been so far. The second is a close up of south central Alaska.


To give you an idea of scale, it takes almost as long to fly from Juneau to Anchorage as it does to fly from Baltimore to Orlando, Florida. Once we arrived in Anchorage, we rented a car and drove south to Seward, which is located on the Kenai Peninsula (pronounced "keen-eye"). Looking at the map below, the body of land below and to the left of Anchorage is the Kenai Peninsula. Seward, indicated by the green arrow, is a town on the Kenai Peninsula. Just below and to the left of Seward is Kenai Fjords National Park, the real reason we came here in the first place.


One more map reference for you before I describe our day... the body of water directly below Anchorage that separates the city from the Kenai Peninsula is Turnagain Arm.

Now that my geography lesson is complete, I can continue...

We flew into Anchorage, rented a car, and headed south to Seward on the Seward Highway, which follows the shoreline of Turnagain Arm for quite a few miles. There are mountains all over the place. On a cliff beside the road we saw our first Dall sheep.

On the way to Seward, we stopped at Exit Glacier. There you can actually walk to the face of a glacier. The guidebooks forgot to mention that the half-mile trail would likely still be covered by snow.

Last but not least I have to mention the highlight of the day ... we saw a Mama moose (cow) and two babies (twins!). Mike and I estimate they were about a week old.


NOTE: I am a day behind in my posts because our connection is really slow. Hopefully I'll get today's (Saturday) highlights posted, too.

A Day of Transition

There isn't much to talk about today because we basically spent the day getting from one place to the other. The journey wasn't long, it was just the only goal for the day. Well, that and relax, too. This is vacation after all.

We left Glacier Bay National Park--sadly--and flew back to Juneau. Tomorrow, we catch a 7:22 AM flight to Anchorage. Once there, we rent a car and head south to Seward, the jumping off point for a visit to Kenai Fjords National Park. The entire Kenai Peninsula is supposed to be gorgeous, so I expect there will be more pictures to see tomorrow.

There was one really cool thing that happened today, but I didn't get a picture of it. While Mike and I were waiting for lunch to be served, enjoying the view from the deck of the Glacier Bay Lodge (see photo below)...


... Mike noticed some Bald Eagles flying toward us. There were three of them. The one on the left was about 6 feet away from the two on the right, who appeared to be chasing each other, playing. Well, they kept flying straight for us. When they were about 15 feet away, they banked sharply to the right. They were so close, we heard their feathers ruffle; it sounded sort of like a kite or a flag sounds when being whipped about on a windy day. That is the kind of stuff that is common at Glacier Bay. It was sad to leave. Knowing we still have lots to look forward to made it easier.

I expect Kenai Fjords will be just as incredible, but topping Glacier Bay will be hard.

Snap, Crackle, Pop / 281

So, yesterday I said it doesn't get better. I was wrong. Today was amazing. Actually "amazing" doesn't do it justice. The scenery here is absolutely breathtaking. To top it off, it has been sunny. It is usually cloudy, foggy and/or rainy. All the rangers keep saying we are really lucky because we actually get to see the tops of the mountains. So even though it is still quite cold, it has been absolutely gorgeous.

Today's activity was the Glacier Bay tour, a boat cruise up Glacier Bay and into some of the inlets to look for wildlife and glaciers. We saw both. As you can see for yourself in the pictures, we saw plenty of glaciers. We saw a good bit of wildlife, too: sea lions, sea otters, seals, humpback whales, two black bears, a brown bear (grizzly bear) and a wolf! The ranger who was on the boat with us said wolf sightings are very rare. In fact, she has worked here for quite a few seasons and said she can count on one hand how many times she has seen a wolf. We saw lots of birds, too, including Arctic Terns. Those are birds that winter in Antarctica and fly 11,000 miles each way to get to their summer home in Alaska.

Wondering about today's weird blog title yet? Mike and I were trying to come up with a good one. "Snap, Crackle, Pop" represents the crisped rice cereal we felt like when floating in the boat earlier today surrounded by icebergs that were snapping, crackling and popping around us. The 281, believe it or not, is the number of pictures I shot today. Uploading them all to my Picasa page would take forever and a day. I only post a few so those of you vacationing "with" us can see the highlights. I'll post the rest of them once we are back in Maryland with access to our dedicated high-speed Internet connection.

Tomorrow we leave Glacier Bay and head back to Juneau in that tiny little airplane. We'll just be there for the night, then we fly to Anchorage where we can rent a car for a two-hour drive to Seward, a town at the tip of the Kenai Peninsula. Seward is the "gateway" to Kenai Fjords National Park. There's lots of cool stuff to see between Seward and Anchorage, too, so expect to see lots more pictures!

I Don't Think It Can Get Any Better

Sitka was nice. The ferry ride to Juneau was awesome. Our Juneau experience was not so great. But today we flew to Glacier Bay National Park. It is amazingly beautiful. I seriously don't think it can get any better than this. There are snow-capped mountains everywhere. And lots of water.

There's wireless Internet access in the main lodge, but not in our individual room. In-room access would be better, but I am actually surprised there is access from here at all. There is no cell phone service from the park, that's for sure. It is quite remote.


We left Juneau around 10:00 AM on a six-seater plane (that count includes the pilot). Mike and I were the only passengers. It was sunny and clear in Juneau, but a huge fog bank was hanging between some of the mountains. In the pictures, what looks like a flat white snowfield is actually clouds.

It was actually a pretty clear day in the park, but it is cold here. We were both happy to have brought our winter coats. Tomorrow we go on the actual Glacier Bay cruise, so the pictures should be more exciting. We hope to see some whales. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

It is late, so I'll sign off for now. I hope you enjoy today's photo installment!

The Alaska Marine Highway

Alaska - Day 3

Before I forget...it is 10:30 PM as I write this and it is still not fully dark...


Mike and I have finished Day 3 of our journey. The goal for today was to get from Sitka to Juneau via the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry system). Flying would have been much faster, but I chose the ferry ride so we could experience a bit of the Inside Passage by boat at least. It was amazing. I just can't believe how pretty it is here.

Some of you may be bored by these pictures, because they are mostly scenery shots taken through the window of the ferry. They are not super high quality due to the window reflections and salt spray on the glass, but they should give you a good idea of the beauty we got to enjoy during the trip.

Wanna hear something funny? We flew from Washington, DC to Los Angeles in just over 5 hours. The trip from Sitka to Juneau on the HIGH SPEED ferry took 5 hours. It really was high speed, too. "Knots" doesn't mean much to me, but Mike had his GPS unit turned on and there were times when we hit 48 miles per hour!!! (Average speed for the trip was 35 mph.) And you should have seen some of the small channels we were going through.

The journey was one hundred percent worth it. We saw at least one whale (just its back and the spray from spouting) and some other things that were either dolphins or smaller whales. And the scenery way breathtaking.

Juneau itself is quite underwhelming, but we're only here briefly on our way to Glacier Bay National Park. Speaking of Glacier Bay... it is a national park, and it is remote. Chances are good there won't be Internet access. If there are no updates for a few days, that is why.

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The following image appears on the front of the newspaper machine at the ferry terminal and I just could not resist sharing it with all of you...