soaring like an eagle....

Hi everyone! Sal and I had a terrific first day in Ketchikan yesterday! The weather was absolutely perfect.....very sunny (that's kind of rare, since it rains a lot here) with a mild temp around 55 degrees F. (Apparently that is considered "summer" by Alaskans.....our B&B host asked us if we'd like a FAN for our room because it's getting warm! We kindly explained that we're from Florida and, well, it's not hot to us.....wink)

But it certainly was perfect weather for our first-ever floatplane ride! It was exhilarating! The tour took us to the nearby Misty Fjords National Monument, a gorgeous and remote area of southeast Alaska. The scenery is pure geology.....3,000+ feet high sheer granite cliffs, loved it! Our pilot, Michelle, was excellent and narrated through our headsets during the flight. She also piped in dreamy music to them, which enhanced the experience so much. (and I got to hold Michelle's puppy, too!)

Not only did we fly over and through the gorgeous fjords, but we landed in the water (so cool!) among them and then got out on shore to walk around and take in the stunning scenery and fresh air. As you descend, you get a sense of the scale of everything around you....the cliffs get bigger as you shrink to what feels like a speck.

The lakes at higher elevations are thawing, some creating dramatic waterfalls:

(Notice our plane's shadow in the lower right corner, above)

For the ride back, Sal sat up front with Michelle as her "co-pilot". And almost as an added bonus, as we were getting ready to take-off from our stopover, we spotted a mother bear and her 2 cubs (wow!) and were able to watch them for a few minutes before they scampered off into the woods. We also saw several bald eagles....their distinctive white heads make them easy to spot. So majestic....what a remarkable introduction to Alaska!

Thanks for continuing on our journey with us. See you back here again soon!