I went down to the lounge at 6:47 and picked up a coffee and a very tasty
vanilla bean scone with powdered sugar. I accompanied this with some huge
blackberries.
While sipping coffee and organizing some notes on my tablet the sun came out.
It was a beautiful blue sky with mountains rising surrounded by rings of fog or
low hanging clouds. The boat continued moving into the icy straits and alas
during breakfast we moved under a deck of clouds. Breakfast was a tasty
Italian sausage and egg scramble with spinach and onions. This was served with
toast and potatoes as well as a side of bacon. We had breakfast with Dottie and
Don from Waco, TX and Anne Cain. Paul was outside taking pictures.
It was a lazy morning. The program was cruising for critters as we made our way
through Icy Strait. We saw many many sea otters while the sun kept playing hide
and seek. It was nice to see the sun and blue sky. We passed a cabin at the
water's edge that looked like it had an outhouse. It's pretty remote. I spent
some time sitting at a table in the lounge while writing on my computer. We
also did some people watching, seeing a group of 4 young girls in their early
twenties playing a game that involved 4 plastic pistols and some cardboard
cutout characters. They later switched to a card game that Libbie said was
Rummy.
Just before lunch I grabbed an Alaskan Ale at the bar and went down to lunch
with Anne and Paul. Rick and Linda from Asheville joined us. I need to look
up their vacation rental company which is called "couch surfing". Dinner was a
tomato basil soup and ham and cheese Focaccia sandwich with Alaskan Chips.
Spice pear cake with caramel sauce was the dessert. The sandwich was too big and
the dessert was more food than I should have had. We checked out the skiff tour
assignments and once again my name was not on the list. Annie checked her
spreadsheet and found that my name was a reference instead of a named cell which
was why it wasn't printing. The water where we are stopped during lunch is an
emerald green and very pretty. Libbie got the best shot of the vacation at this
spot.
After lunch we went out in a skiff tour. We were in the tiny rubber raft with
no seats, just the rubber raft to sit on with some ropes to hold onto. It
started out calm and sunny but soon the rains began. This was topped off by us
heading out into the open sea with large swells which caused our raft to bounce
and joust across the water, it wasn't very comfortable. I didn't enjoy too
much of the trip although it was nice to see the hidden cove we sailed into and
then visit the island with all the seals laying about and once in a while
fighting each other. It was so nice to get back. We went down to the lounge
where Libbie ordered a buttered rum and I had an Alaskan coffee. Samantha our
ponytailed blonde bartender is incredibly pretty and personable. After the
Alaskan coffee I had a few glasses of Sauvignon Blanc before switching to a
Sonoma Zinfandel. All were very nice. Dinner was a carrot ginger soup followed
by an Alaskan Ling crab served over sweet potato, bok choy and brussel sprouts.
Desert was a chocolate mousse with a chocolate sauce and a vanilla cookie. Wow.
We watched a presentation about bears which I slept through part way. I need to
find a way to stop sleeping through the evening programs.