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Since we ended up having no plans yesterday, we did random stuff around town, like booking a kayak trip at Valdez Glacier Lake (today), a bike ride (tomorrow) and a cruise to Columbia Glacier on Thursday with another company (the other company called and said they're definitely shut down this week). We also visited Valdez Glacier Lake, and watched sea lions catch fish at Allison Point

I kept begging to go on a helicopter tour I read about, which landed on Shoup Glacier (I've been wanting to land on a glacier for years!) and flew over Columbia Glacier. It was expensive, but I was like "I just lived through a pandemic, I deserve this" haha. Plus, the weather was really nice! We went down to the airport where the tours are, and the guy said he could get us in today, and since we were Alaska residents, he'd give us a discount, and Jo would be free! (Ryan has to work from "home" a few days this week, so he couldn't go.) Jo wasn't going to go, but none of us could say no to that deal! Jo had never been in a helicopter or on a glacier..lots of new experiences on this trip for him haha. Oh my, it was SUPER EPIC!! It was beautiful flying out of Valdez and over Prince William Sound and into the green mountains. We saw the little you could see of Shoup Glacier when you're on the ground, flew over a mountain ridge, and squeed SO hard when I saw the REST of the glacier..I didn't realize how big the rest of it is! It was SO awesome and beautiful. Jo was amazed too, and I said "just wait till you see Columbia!!" We found a spot to land near a super blue pool..yay I've landed on a glacier now!! The water from the pool tasted so good. We walked around the glacier for awhile (Jo was nervous because a couple years ago he slipped on ice and broke his leg. Walking on glaciers is definitely not easy!) and saw some moulins (a drainage hole) and just enjoyed the nice weather! I definitely grabbed a rock right off the glacier to take home! After that we took off again and flew over a couple "baby" glaciers..the pilot said he was trying to keep Columbia hidden for as long as possible haha. Then we crested a ridge and there it was! Jo was like "WHOAAA" haha. It may be retreating, but it's still huge! It's one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, and you can definitely tell..lots of crevasses and stuff. Flying right down the face of it was AWESOME..there's nothing like the feeling of being in front of a big tidewater glacier. :D We looked for wildlife on the way back, and saw a couple goats and some bald eagles. That was such an awesome flight, absolutely worth every penny! We were all disappointed in seeing "just" the mountains when we landed LOL..I love how much you see from the air! After we got back to the B&B we played Betrayal at House on the Hill and went to bed

Today the weather has been cloudy and drizzly (good thing we did the helicopter tour yesterday!). Mom and I wanted to find some geocaches, but they were either in somewhere with construction or in the (probably) bear-infested woods..darn. We did go kayaking at Valdez Glacier Lake though. In the past couple years, Valdez Glacier has become very active..some people actually died in 2019 when they got too close to the face and it calved on them. Last year, a mile of ice broke off, making the lake much bigger. We decided to rent kayaks and take a guide, so we could stay safe. We had fun paddling amongst the icebergs, some of which were HUGE. When I kayaked there in 2014 you could see a lot of the glacier, but this time the icebergs were so tall that they blocked the view, unless you were in just the right spot. The guide said the lake changes all the time, which must be interesting. I took some pictures, but not too many because I didn't want to drift on to a piece of ice and get stuck haha. After that we had dinner, ice cream, and are now relaxing. I always love seeing the feral bunnies around Valdez, they're so cute haha

( epic pictures here!! )

26. Do you like makeup? No, though movie makeup can look cool

27. What celebrity death(s) effected you the most? Heath Ledger, Steve Irwin, Robin Williams, etc..I still miss them

Today was an absolutely GORGEOUS day..we knew it was a good sign when it got sunny when we went to bed yesterday. We called the flightseeing people early since we knew it would fill up quickly, and got a spot soon after that. I was so excited to see glaciers I'd never seen before! We flew over Taku, Hole-in-the-Wall, Norris and East and West Twin Glaciers (and there was one in the distance I didn't know the name of). It was SOOO incredibly awesome..glaciers are one of the coolest things ever!! I kept saying "wow wow WOW" in my head haha. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was. The pilot said the Taku Glacier was recently advancing, but it stopped for the moment..you could see the moraines it had been pushing forward..squee! It's also the deepest and thickest alpine temperate glacier known in the world (4,845 feet thick)!! I was ridiculously sad when we left the glaciers behind LOL. Such incredible scenery. After that we drove to Christine's house..she had a coupon for a free kayak rental, so we got one (she has her own) and went kayaking at Mendenhall Lake! I was hot on shore and didn't bring my jacket, figuring I'd be fine, even though I KNOW it's colder by glaciers lol..needless to say, my hands were freezing. :P Oh welll, it was still awesome. There were some icebergs, and some arctic terns nesting on the shore. I know we went at least a mile in, since we went past Nugget Falls, which is a mile from the visitor center. The people on the shore looked tiny compared to the falls haha. It would have been cool to get closer, but we had to turn in the kayak at 6, so we turned back so we didn't go over that time. After that we went back to the B&B..such a fun day!!

Tomorrow we're leaving and flying to Anchorage, where we'll stay till Sunday. I hope I see more glaciers LOL (I guess I never get tired of them :P)

( lots of glacier pics under here :P )

On Saturday, it rained most of the day..it was alright though, since I wasn't on a glacier cruise. :P Mom and I went into "town" (Gustavus, 9 miles from our hotel) for something to do. We didn't have a lot of time (maybe an hour and a half..the hotels have great van schedules for people to get around). We looked in a couple stores, and then walked to a geocache 1.3 miles away (good thing we found it after all that lol). We had to hurry on the way back so we didn't miss the van..mom called it a "forced march" haha. Mom can walk a lot faster than me so she went ahead to catch the van, so I just started muttering "stick it, you've got it in the neck, stick it" the rest of the way back..not sure how Cherry thought of that, but it works LOL. We just hung out at the hotel the rest of the day..

Yesterday we went whale watching before our flight left (everything's very coordinated with the flights, that's why the glacier tour boat had to come back so early). We went near Point Adolphus (a famous whale watching area, unfortunately not named for Adolphus Greely LOL) and saw lots of whales! All around us were rain showers, but above us was some blue sky and the sun sometimes came out! What!! Mom and I have crazy weather powers, I can't get over it haha. We also saw some sea otters, lots of jumping fish, a sea lion eating a fish and birds practically flying in its mouth to try to steal the fish haha, and a bald eagle. After that it was time to leave. *sniff* Andd the good weather followed us back again..the van drivers said it was the nicest day in they didn't know how long..wow (mom also woke up with a cold this day..I was thinking "I hope I don't ge--NOOOO I DRANK OUT OF MOM'S WATER BOTTLE YESTERDAY [Saturday]." I even said "you don't have germs!" How's that for irony. :P I hope I don't get sick too!!)

We were able to grab the geocache at the airport before we left. I didn't think we were going to stop at Juneau this time since our tickets said Gustavus to Anchorage, but we did..that's the normal thing I think, and the people going to Anchorage just stay on board (if I lived in Juneau, I would go to Glacier Bay at least once a year! It's such an easy and short journey from there). And weirdly enough, it was cloudy in Juneau, but after we landed the sun came out!! I guess if you want sunny weather, travel with me. :P I was on the wrong side for Mendenhall Glacier again, but I did get a pic of it from the runway. The pilot said the Fairweathers were on that side too, which made me briefly disappointed. But THEN..OMG. I saw some glaciers and mountains through the clouds, then all of a sudden I looked down and see the epicness that is Malaspina Glacier!!! It's HUGE, the biggest piedmont glacier in the world. I saw some of it on the ferry a few years ago, and maybe night flights, but I was definitely not prepared for how AWESOME it was! It's one of the most incredible things I've ever seen! Mt. St. Elias and Mt. Logan (the second highest mountain in North America, after Denali) were also out and there were icefields and glaciers everywhere!! OMG I was squeeing so much haha. I was definitely glad my seat was on the right side then! Definitely one of the best flights ever!! I love Alaska so much. <3 I didn't like seeing the citiness of Anchorage after the Perfect Glacier Paradise haha. I didn't see Denali on the flight to Fairbanks, but the sunset was nice. I'll definitely have to go back to Glacier Bay, that place is amazing!!

( more pics! )

Yesterday we drove to Valdez..it was so nice and clear! Spontaneous trips are the best haha. ;) The drive seemed to take longer than usual though..maybe cause we kept stopping (and the road was pretty bumpy..maybe mom was driving slower than usual). At one point I was poking mom cause I read about a flightseeing tour over the Wrangell Mountains and mom was like "I'm not Facebook!" OMG hahaha..that's hilarious. :P We of course hiked up to Worthington Glacier..it looked like it had receded more than it usually does in a year. I looked at pics from last year and the base of it was at this little lake..it definitely wasn't this year. Aw, poor glacier. :( I heard it's been pretty warm this year, so that's probably why. You could actually walk up on the glacier! Usually it's too steep. After that we continued to Valdez, checked into the hotel, had dinner, and relaxed at the hotel. I brought a fan (well..it's an air purifier thing, but it works haha) for white noise so I wouldn't hear dad snoring (I brought the one at my apartment cause it's pretty loud). It definitely worked..I didn't hear any snoring! Both mom and dad said it was nice too..cool (there are lots of glaciers in the mountains surrounding Valdez..one reason I titled this entry "glaciers everywhere!!" haha)

This morning we woke up to blue sky..woohoo! There were some clouds in the distance, but not those evil ones that rain on you and obscure the mountains. We had breakfast and took a walk before getting on the boat. The captain was happy to hear we'd been on the boat before. We saw sea otters, porpoises, sea lions, puffins, a bald eagle and other birds. No whales though..that's unusual. After checking out the sea lions we went over to Columbia Glacier! We were approaching this big ice wall and then the captain was like "that's not the REAL Columbia Glacier, the active ice is over here!" and he turned a corner and there was the huge face of the glacier..I think the face is 4 or 5 miles wide. Woww. Definitely the biggest tidewater glacier I've seen. We got a quarter of a mile from the face!!! Omg it was amazing. Since it was sunny, it didn't even feel that cold!! Normally I'm freezing and my hands are numb but I was fine, hot even! Wow..that never happens haha. I guess sun and no rain makes a difference. ;) The glacier was quite noisy..it calved so epically too!! Mom was looking through her binoculars when this HUGE piece fell off..I didn't see it since someone was in the way, but it was super loud! I got some great pics of it calving, and mom got a great video! (You can hear me yelling excitedly in it..can't help it, I'm a Crazy Glacier Lady..haha!) I loveee being that close to a calving glacier..one of the best feelings ever! I was definitely shaking after a big piece fell off and my legs actually felt weak..haha woww. It was such a beautiful day to be at the glacier. <3 Eventually we had to leave (booooo) and we went back to port. So amazinggg..my pics are epic. After that we had dinner and went back to the hotel. All of our faces got sunburned haha. Now..bedtime! We drive home tomorrow

( here are a couple phone pics to hold you over till i get the others uploaded ;) )

Today Dana and I went on the wildlife/glacier cruise! The weather was of course rainy and cloudy. :P I guess it was a little better than last time I was on the cruise since you couldn't see into the bay to Columbia Glacier and you could some today (they said even if it was clear you couldn't really see it anyway since it's retreated so much. They said it's split into two glaciers now!). There were some pretty cool icebergs from the glacier though. We saw a bunch of wildlife too..sea otters, humpback whales, porpoises, etc. Porpoises are so fun to watch hehe..they like the pressure from the bow and jump and play in front of the boat. We eventually got up to Meares Glacier..we got SO close to it haha..soo awesome. :D Again I heard it creaking and splitting omg. *swoons* It kept calving little chunks of ice (but it was still so loud!) and the captain was like "usually when it does that the whole part calves!" and like 5 seconds later it did!! MOST EPIC CALVING EVER!!! OMG this huge section of the face just broke off..I think the biggest calving I've ever seen! Omgomg. *SWOONS* Meares Glacier does not disappoint. :D It didn't really calve after that..but still, the one we saw was AWESOME. BEST SOUNDS EVERR. And for once I actually thought we spent a good amount of time at the glacier..still sad leaving it (heart..*breaks*) but I left it feeling very satisfied. Definitely makes up for Aialik and Portage. Being at a glacier face is so addictive haha..and also one of the happiest feelings for me. <3 AND I got a PICTURE of it calving!! That's sooo hard to do haha..it's unpredictable and your hands are FREEZING and it was hard to see what was on the screen. I win haha. Thenn we made our way back to Valdez with a couple more stops. Then we got dinner and now we're relaxing. We go back to Fairbanks tomorrow and Dana leaves that night. *sniff* I bet her trip was epic though ;)

Today we went on a wildlife/glacier tour. I bring good weather with me when I travel..except if I go on a glacier cruise haha. Then it's cloudy and rainy like today. :P It just wouldn't be the same without rain haha (good thing I have a waterproof camera :P). We saw LOTS of wildlife..porpoises, whales, birds, sea otters, seals, sea lions..it was awesome haha. The geology was pretty interesting too. We passed a few glaciers on the way to Aialik Glacier (they either stop at Aialik or Holgate). Holgate and Aialik are pretty close to each other..so when you see the difference between them you're just like O__O. Aialik is HUUUGE (the biggest tidewater glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park). It just TOWERS over you. I think the face is around a mile wide! Holgate just looks so tiny next to it haha (though if you got up close it would probably look big too). It calved some too! I always become Crazy Glacier Lady and yell and jump around when they do that haha. The calving makes such an awesome sound..it's so loud! We didn't seem to spend much time at all at the glacier (of course when I visit them time speeds up to like hyperspeed haha..30 minutes feels like 5 to me). I wish those tour boats would spend longerrr at glaciers haha. I think leaving a glacier is one of the saddest things in life. :P My heart..it can't take it..*wails in agony* Then we passed along some islands and saw lots of birds! They were loud haha. We had dinner on Fox Island..pretty cool they do that for you. Then we went back to Seward. I'm sooo tired..wow. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow..

( Day 31: A picture of your favorite song album )

I'm back from Valdez! Guess who got a cold there? Me. Joyy. We drove there on Wednesday..I felt sniffy and kept getting worse as the day went on. The weather was rainy at one point but got better around the Black Rapids area. Then it was pretty nice and sunny the rest of the way. The weather was reaaallly nice in Valdez..it actually felt HOT cause it was so sunny there haha. It may even have been more sunny than when we went last year. We drove to the bed and breakfast we were staying at..a bunch of mom's coworkers were there so we said hi and then brought our stuff into the house. The owners had a cute dog that was the same breed as the family in Wisconsin..AND her name was Maggie! SO WEIRDD haha. I picked her up and she licked me like crazy hehe. We got dinner after that..my throat started feeling weird then. I went to bed feeling bleh

We had to get up at 5 something the next morning..my throat was hurting then. Breakfast was at 6..I took some Motrin and then went to eat. Del (the lady who owns the business) made an AMAZING breakfast all by herself..there was eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, a fruit platter, etc. I felt sorry for her doing all that work haha. Then we went to the boats to start fishing for silver salmon! The weather was still pretty nice but got cloudier as the day went on. We didn't have to go very far to fish..we spent a lot of the day out there trying to find them and catch them. I caught two! Yay! Hehe. Mom was the only one to catch the limit (six). The charter lady had to beat the fish with a club so it wouldn't flop everywhere..I couldn't watch that..ugh. We eventually went back to the harbor and the charter lady filleted them for us and we also went to get them frozen so they'd keep till we got home. After that we had dinner with our little group from the boat (we were split into two groups). I got some Theraflu at the store and sipped that while waiting for dinner to come. I guess it helped a little. After dinner we went back to the B&B and I took a couple hour nap. I also tried to get online but my computer couldn't find their connection. Mom went back to the store and got some Nyquil for me so I took that and went to bed

( the rest )

Pics (and maybe my videos) tomorrow!

OMG. Yesterday we drove to Whittier (not very far from Anchorage..maybe an hour or so away). We were gonna stop at Portage Glacier along the way but we missed the turn and couldn't really turn around. I sill saw Portage Lake and I was like "OMG!" when I saw the icebergs floating in the water..wasn't expecting that haha. I saw the glacier around the mountain though (and other hanging glaciers driving there too). The only way to drive to Whittier is to go through a tunnel built into the mountain..and it's only one lane so every 30 minutes for 15 minutes they let cars go out (and trains have to use it too). Whittier was on the other side..it's tiiiiiny..and there's almost NOTHING to do in town. Less than or around 300 people live there and most live in this one apartment building. And it's cloudy and rainy all the time. The glacier cruise was in the afternoon..while we were waiting it started POURING rain. They said cloudy days are good days to view glaciers cause you can see the blue well. As we left the harbor the forest ranger guide pointed out a glacier and we were lucky to see it cause the clouds weren't obscuring it (I THINK it might have been Billings Glacier). We then headed to College Fjord! We didn't go all the way in the fjord for some reason..but I still saw Harvard Glacier!! I've soo been wanting to see that one!! There's also Yale Glacier and a bunch of other ones. Harvard is advancing and Yale is retreating. Then we went to see Surprise Glacier (and passed Barry Arm on the way. Mom said she saw Barry Glacier calve!). OMG we got up SO close to Surprise Glacier!!! I was shaking and it was NOT from the cold haha. And then..WE SAW IT CALVE!!! AND I got it on video!! OMG I was thrilled haha. That was addictive..being up close to the glacier face like that haha. Then we headed to Barry Arm (had to think of Margerie guy since he went there :P). Three glaciers are there..Cascade, Barry and, Coxe. We couldn't get in all the way to Barry Glacier cause of all the ice. We did get rather close to Cascade though. Then we stopped at a kittiwake rookery (they look like seagulls) and then went back to the dock. Fastest 4 hours or so of my life. :P Then we just went back to the hotel

Today we woke up to the storm someone said would come..it was crazy windy, raining, the water was choppy and there was some thunder. We were hoping the weather would be better on the other side of the tunnel where Portage Glacier was..buuut nope. They were still doing boat rides though so we decided to go. It was less windy by the glacier. We got up close to Portage also!! It was FREEZING haha. We saw Portage calve too!!! I was like "WHOOO YEAH!! *jumps up and down*" I think I heard it creaking or cracking. There was this one big piece of ice that had a crack in it and I was just waiting for it to calve off (I was begging.."PLEASE CALVE PLEASE CALVE!!" haha) but it didn't before we left. When I went back inside the boat I was SOAKED. :P Getting up close to tidewater glaciers = WIN. Then we drove to Seward. It was raining there too. :P Though it's bigger and nicer than Whittier. We brought our stuff to the hotel (it's called Exit Glacier Lodge!) and then drove to Exit Glacier. We put on plastic rain poncho things and hiked up to the glacier. We took the trail to the river valley that takes you to the very bottom of the glacier where you can touch it but I just couldn't get over a river channel (unless I wanted to get my shoes wet). We got to the top and we were the closet I've ever been to a glacier. Wowwww. We got back to the bottom and I was just ITCHING to touch the glacier. I tried to cross the river channels again. I was trying to use rocks and this big stick to get across. I was DESPERATE. Finally I was like "whateverrr" and just got my feet and pants soaked and finally got across ("WHOO YEAH I MADE IT!!"). Though I still had to cross another channel before I could get to the glacier but I finally, finally made it. I touched Exit Glacier. :D I was at the side of the glacier and I heard these people talking about it being unsafe cause of rockslides and I look behind me and see this big rock on the cliff RIGHT above me and I was like "yeaaah I'm leaving now." :P When I was going back I realized I was walking on the terminal moraine! I was HUNGRY after doing that haha. WE ate dinner and went back to the hotel where I am now

We go back to Fairbanks tomorrow..I work Tuesday..so I'll try to get my pics up when I have time. Wooo exciting glacierness! :D

( pic of the day )

Skipping the definition of the day :P

I've been waiting for a clear day to fly and see Ruth Glacier. On Saturday it was but I found out too late and mom still wasn't feeling well. The weather was supposed to say good on Sunday and mom said we could go if she was feeling better. Well..she was! So we went haha. This time the flightseeing place was at Talkeetna. So we flew up near McKinley and saw RUTH GLACIER OMG!! We flew down it like three times haha. :D I was taking pictures like crazy! And I took videos too! (Ruth is one of my all-time favorite glaciers :D) Of course driving back home it was dark but it was rather neat and pretty seeing the mountains with moonlight on them and stuff

( beware: way too many pictures :D )

Today's stupidest quote: Don't get me wrong, everything the media writes is not wrong. But I'd say 99 percent of it is wrong, in my opinion, but I don't read the newspaper, so I don't know. I hear things, though (Bears defensive back RW McQuarters). Yesterday's: Please hold a dog in your arms while walking in the lobby (sign in Tokyo apartment building lobby)

Current Mood: crazy
Current Music: "My Land"-Sonata Arctica