Sitka, AK

***Mom posted new pictures so check the picture link in the post from yesterday.****

So yesterday afternoon I went snorkeling in Ketchikan. It was a neat experience. I've been snorkeling before in Hawaii and in Grand Turk, but this was a little different. We were dressed in a full body wetsuit because it gets very cold in the water. We had a hood, mask, gloves, booties, and fins. The guides were great and we saw a good amount of marine life. We saw tons of jellyfish. I was afraid of getting stung but they don't sting you through your wetsuit. We saw a lot of starfish and even saw a sun starfish (or whatever its called). While we were snorkeling, one lady wanted to get out early. She started calling her daughters name to tell her there were whales out there. We looked over and there were about 5 or 6 whales that were about 50 feet from us. It was so neat. I tried to get pictures but I'm not sure if I got any or not. You can't tell what you have with an underwater camera. After we finished snorkeling we went back and got changed again. Then headed back for the ship. I was exhausted after the snorkeling adventure. I actually strained my neck at some point and it still is pretty painful today. I'm hoping that tomorrow or the next day it will start feeling better. While I snorkeled, Mom used her magic internet powers and managed to find free internet. She spent her time uploading pictures to her MobileMe account so that you all could see what we were doing and feel like you are on vacation with us. When I got back to the ship at snorkeling, it was close to dinner time. I got changed and we got ready. Dinner was just as tasty as always and this time I ordered 2 desserts. Yes you read that right….2 desserts. I couldn't decide and wanted to taste both, so I ordered both. They were both good, not great, but good. Dinner seems to get longer and longer each night because our waiter takes forever. We like to get in, eat, and get out so that we can be on our way to do other things. They don't pay much attention to us either. Hopefully things will go smoother tonight. After dinner we went to the spa and spent some time in the jacuzzi and on the heated beds. Other than that, we just kinda relaxed the rest of the evening.

This morning we got up early again. The morning scenery is just beautiful! Actually the scenery all day long is absolutely breathtaking! We order our usual room service and lounged a little before getting ready and heading out for our excursion in Sitka. Today was a tender port. That means you don't dock right up at the dock. They don't have a dock big enough for our ship so we have to tender in. We get on small lifeboats and ride those to the dock. We saw sea otters, seals, bald eagles, and we saw a whale today. It wasn't as great of an experience seeing that whale because he didn't cooperate too much, but it was still neat. Then we went back and got on a bus to go see some bears. We went to a bear place where they have 2 bears in captivity. They are treated really well and living in great conditions. That was very interesting. Then we rode back into town and when we got off the bus, we were hungry. We walked into town for a reindeer dog. It was delicious! AND they had diet dr. pepper so Mom got one. We did a little shopping in town and then came back to the ship and that brings us here. I'm not sure what we are about to do, probably wander around. Dinner looks tasty tonight. We get the daily menus each morning, so we get to prepare our taste buds for our evening meal :) They have baked alaska on the desert menu. They've actually had that on the menu each night. It's been a different kind though each night but it sure is good! So this is all, from Sitka…..we are leaving here in about 30 minutes.