As I mentioned in some of my previous Instagram posts, I was visiting Alaska in August. Now, a misconception of Alaska in general is that it is always cold and snowing, or at least raining most days. I am here to tell you guys that this was not the case! I hardly brought anything along that I didn't break a sweat in on our daily walks to the grocery store, and hiking was almost out of the question in most of my clothes!
So, our solution to this heat wave was to go into the middle of a freezing cold ocean to see some pretty awesome glaciers! IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! It really was a win-win for everyone. I got to rock my cold weather clothes, and also marvel at a natural miracle taking place.
The cruise started much like any other tour would; we were taken into the area that we purchased our tickets and then were quickly whisked away to a gift shop/ cafe until our boat arrived. Once we boarded the boat servers came around to each table and asked if we would be eating the beef, chicken, or vegetarian meal. This is where the cruise won my affection; a complimentary meal??? I will be back in the future.
After eating, my family and I made our way onto the outer deck which is where things started to get really frosty. I even got to wear my favorite beanie it was so cold! And just as I was all bundled up, I looked down to see two sea otters playing with a rock below. I thought my heart was going to melt in my chest. I don't know if you've ever seen sea otters in the wild, but oh my goodness are they adorable. I once read somewhere that sea otters choose a pebble at a young age, and they keep it in a pouch to play with forever. If they lose it they could genuinely die of a broken heart! Sea otters were winning as my new favorite species after seeing this.
Our next encounter was with a very friendly humpback whale. The entire cruise my Dad was bugging me to put my phone away and just breathe in where we were and the things that we were seeing. So, I took his advice. At almost the exact second that I turned off my phone we saw the tail of a whale come up out of the water, and our tour guide came over the loud speaker telling everyone to look because it was about to breech! I had no idea what this meant at the time, but I soon found out. Breeching is when whales bring their blowhole above the waters surface and blow out all of the extra water they're carrying around. It was incredible.
At the end of our tour we finally reached the destination of our trip: Surprise Glacier. This name was fitting because it was shocking to me that simply staring at a glacier could be so mesmerizing. As we bobbed in the water for some time bits and pieces of the glacier fell off into the water, and it sounded like a huge thunder storm coming for us! Passengers began to question their safety, but the captain assured us that the echo is a major factor in what makes these movements sound so gigantic. The color of Surprise Glacier was a very light blue color, and the glacier ice was so pure that they actually used it in all of our beverages for the day!
This glacier cruise was one of the most amazing things that I have been a part of on any of my trips. I love to be immersed in the wildlife and to see natural settings in their true form. If I could have changed one things about the day it would have been to be able to take a more eco-friendly transportation method to the glaciers! This just wasn't practical, though.