Alaska | Juneau.

Sunday, August 20, was "Juneau Sunday". We docked mid-morning

and - wearing all the knits - I was ready to go!

We disembarked and quickly found a stranger to take our photo.

I was surprised - given how chilly and un-sunny it was - to see so many summer flowers. Apparently they thrive in long, wet days.

Lydia and I met up with our excursion - the photo safari, aka "Whales and Mendenhall Glacier". Our tour guide was a professional photographer and Juneau native. There were only about a dozen of us on the tour which was wonderful; we all got personal attention.

harbor where the whale watching began

I took a lot of photos on that tour ... here are best ones. I've already shared this first one - I think that's the fluke of Flame.

We saw at least six whales in the hour-plus we were in the bay. I managed to capture two more flukes with my camera.

It's easy to get so engrossed watching the water that you miss the land. The scenery is spectacular.

We left the bay and took another quick ride to the walking trail near the glacier. We hiked about a mile through a very lush tropical forest.

Our guide helped me with this next photo - close-in with a v-e-r-y slow shutter speed. Cool, huh?

All of a sudden, the trail opened up and there's the glacier, with Mendenhall Lake in the foreground.

Here we are at the visitor center.

I was surprised we could walk right up to the lake. #fromwhereIstand

The bus met us near the visitor center and returned us to the ship. It started to pour just as we got back. We abandoned plans to explore a little more of Juneau and got back on board to warm up. I know we played trivia that afternoon (we didn't miss a single day) and then - obviously - we cleaned up before dinner.

This last photo is the only one I have from the entire cruise of the food. It was all delicious ... and all as beautiful as this.

Next stop - Skagway.

Happy Friday everyone ... have a wonderful weekend.