Matt hasn't been back to Texas since we left, so he hasn't seen some of his friends in almost 3 years! I figured that's way too long to not see some of your close friends and decided to invite one of our good friends up for a visit. I don't think I've ever invited Justin for a visit that he hasn't accepted and moving to Alaska hasn't changed that! He booked a flight up the same day I suggested it and even managed to get a direct flight both ways - lucky guy...!
He was here for several days and almost all of them were so rainy. (Boo!) He kept assuring me he was more than happy to just hang out with us at the house, but I was still bummed. I want everyone who visits this state to love it like I do. So I was still hoping for some sunshine and optimistically booked a glacier cruise out of Whittier the one day it *might* not rain quite as much....
I always worry about missing the tunnel into Whittier because it runs on a strict schedule. So we usually err on the side of arriving way too early and find some way to entertain ourselves in Whittier. After we hit the Frito Pie and Donut hut (the best!), we headed out to do some exploring. I had discovered this rushing stream on our first trip to Whittier (and first Glacier cruise) and thought the boys would like it!
Except the little guys thought it was a little too loud. I had envisioned them throwing rocks in it, but it was a bit too scary for them at the first location we stopped. (Ok, scary for me too if I am being honest. Rushing water and toddlers make me nervous!)
We walked downstream a little ways where it felt a little bit safer to throw rocks. Except they still weren't interested. In their defense, the water was moving pretty darn fast. The waterfalls further up hill were throwing all kinds of water spray up in the air - at least the waterfalls were benefitting from all the rain!
Then a weather switch somewhere got flipped and the clouds started to break up. Soon the sun was shining and it was a whole different day! It went from blah to gorgeous in no time! With all the green and bright blue, you could almost imagine you were in a tropical paradise (with glaciers!).
We drove to the end of the road (it doesn't take long!) to soak in the scenery and the sunshine. It's a little hard to make out the town in this photo, but you can clearly see the giant cruise ship back at the docks. It is so massive compared to almost everything else in Whittier. I can't even imagine the bottleneck it causes when all those people disembark!
Finally off and cruising! This time I opted for the shorter cruise that went from Whittier to Shotgun Cove then on to all the glaciers in Blackstone Bay. Even though it was much shorter than the 26 glacier cruise I took with my mom and sister, I'm not convinced we didn't see more glaciers today since the last cruise was during awful weather.
You honestly couldn't have asked for a better weather day. The captain on the ship kept commenting on how lucky we all were for how nice it was. Matt and Justin pretty much spent the whole cruise out on the deck - it was a little windy, but otherwise perfect. And the two of them got to see chunks falling off of the glacier more than once. Matt was a little skeptical he would enjoy the cruise, but even he was a little amazed at the glaciers once we were up close and personal (in his defense, he didn't realize the glaciers would be right up to the water!).
The boys were more interested in hanging out inside than venturing out on the decks - a little bit of wind really does them in. But they still seemed to be having a great time! Thomas was dutifully marking any wildlife he saw in the cruise guide and tracking our ship's position on the monitors.
Henry happily played with his magnets and Alaskan animals before realizing it was way past his naptime. Once he started throwing his animals under the table, I decided it was time to try and lull him to sleep. A few minutes snuggled up in my lap and he was out - success!
Overall, it turned out to be a great day and from what I can tell, the best part of Justin's visit to Alaska. We also managed to fit in a moose and bear sighting, so we accomplished everything on his list except seeing the Northern Lights. You'll just have to come back in the winter for that one! (As a bonus, it's still fun to play outside when it's snowing - rain, not so much!)