Sitka, Alaska

September 3, 2015
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We arrived in Sitka, Alaska on Thursday, September 3rd. Again it was a beautiful sunny day!

 The City and Borough of Sitka , formerly New Archangel under Russian rule, is a unified city-borough located on Baranof Island and the southern half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean (part of the Alaska Panhandle). As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,881. In terms of land area, it is the largest city-borough in the U.S., with a land area of 2,870.3 mi. and a total area (including water area) of 4,811.4 mi.  Urban Sitka, the part that is usually thought of as the "city" of Sitka, is situated on the west side of Baranof Island.

Sitka, Alaska

The excursion we had booked for the day was a Zodiac boat to a volcanic cave. 

Zodiac Boat

We found the tour people and went to their office with them.  They suited us up with an exposure suit which is almost a dry suit. Also they give you gloves and a balaclava which is a fancy name for a ski mask. It was such a nice day we did not need the balaclava's!

Exposure Suit

We walked about a block to the harbor and got into the boat.

Our Zodiac Boat

They said the rougher ride was in the front, kind of like a roller coaster. Even though Patty and I were the old people of the boat we bee-lined to the front. THRILL RIDE!!! Yahoo!!

Speed Up!!!

It turned out that it was not that rough out, but it was still a lot of fun. The captain was really good on spotting wildlife. Here he saw a whale spouting. He finished spouting by the time we got this pic and gave us a splash.

Whale

We went to the cave but the tide was low and we couldn't enter it. There was a Bald Eagle in the tree above it.

Bald Eagle

We headed out to the volcanic island. On the way out we saw a line of spouting whales in the distance.

Spouting Wales

We got out to where the whales were and found a pod of about 15-20 whales! Totally awesome! We shut the engine off and floated in the middle of the pod. The little fishing boat came up also. This picture shows a mother and calf!

Pod of Whales

Everywhere you turned there where whales. It was quite an experience!

Breached Whale

I was taking pictures with my phone. I just pointed and took pictures. Because there was so many, every picture I took had whales in them.

Whale Tail

You can see the spout on this whale. We were so close you could hear the throatiness sound every time they would spout. They are huge animals, and we were surrounded by them, but we never felt threatened by them.

Spout

Both our captain and the captain of the fishing boat said they had never seen so many whales together in one pod. Being from SoCal we have gone on whale watching in the Channel Island. Maybe we see 1-3 whales so this was really special!

Patty got to see her lighthouse so she was happy! LOL.

Lighthouse

After the boat excursion we walked to the Totem Pole Park.

Sitka Park

It is a nice hike through the forest with totem poles mixed in.

Totem Pole Park

Back out of the forest.

Totem Park

That's all for Sitka. It's time to go back to the ship and have lunch. The ship you see in this photo is our cruise ship, the MS Amsterdan.

Back to the Ship

We went back on and ate in the buffet called the "Lido". Holland America does something that I really like that none of the other cruise lines do in their buffet's. You do not serve yourselves in the buffet, instead they have servers give you all and as much food as you want. You still get in line, but they give you the plate with the food items on it you want. 

I'm sure it is because of the Norovirus' that have been reported on different cruise ships. 

Honestly, people seem to think I want their hands on my food. I see them move tongs to pick up food with their fingers! GROSS!!

I soooooooo much appreciate Holland America's policy and would cruise with them exclusively just for that policy alone!

Am I a germaphobe? Yes! I plead guilty, but I see how many guys never wash their hands when they leave the men's room, and not even just when they use the urinal! Patty tells me it's not much better in the woman's room.

Anyway enough on my soapbox!

Lido Buffet Dining Room

Well that's it for today.

Hope I haven't lost too many of you with my last rant! LOL.

Next stop is Ketchikan, Alaska..

Please continue to pray for Avery Huffman...

God Bless you,

Brian and Patty