Another Great Day!

I'm sitting in the Gaither's Special Country concert, and thinking what a fantastic day it has been, and how fast the week seems to be flying by. The fiddler just played "The Orange Blossom Special" and burned it up. Joyce Martin sang "Nine to Five", and could easily give Dolly a run for her money. Levi Bowman, son of Becky Isaacs Bowman had the crowd as singing along on "Back Home, Again". Adam Crabb could make you cry when he croons Hank Williams "Whippoorwill".

This is the icing on the cake on a day that has already been filled with sea kayaking, fudge that was made here in Alaska, another afternoon, concert, and another excellent dinner in the main dining room. Like I said, "such a great day."

Cruising the Tracy Arm Fjord

Here is a small taste of some of the grandeur we have witnessed on this trip. This is Sawyer Glacier. On Tuesday we cruised into Tracy Arm, and this is a part of what we saw. The landscape here in Alaska is quite rugged, and stunning scenery abounds. Yesterday we got off the ship in Juneau and took the Glacier Express bus up to Mendenhall Glacier. The first thing we saw was a mama black bear with her cub, fishing for salmon. Then we walked up to Nugget Falls and spent a couple of hours soaking in the beauty and taking pictures. After that we hiked back down to the Visitors Center where Norm was happy to be able to purchase His senior Federal Park pass. We saw a short movie that described details about the Mendenhall Glacier, and viewed a few dioramas with the same theme. By then we were getting tired and hungry, so we went back to the drop point and caught the next Glacier Express bus back to the dock.

Lunch was found at Tracy's Crab Shack, and was a fun experience, if pricey. We shared a "number 1" which included a king crab leg, an order of crab cakes, and crab bisque. We were both pretty hungry, so we took the option of adding a second leg to the order. The crab was succulent, and nearly melted in our mouths. After we were done, Norm agreed that it was worth the cost.

Last night was not a music night, but Andy Andrews was the featured guest speaker, and he had some good things to say. Stay tuned...more to come, later.

Gaither Cruise - It's more awesome than we could have imagined!

We are into the second full day of cruising, and it has been amazing! We have already had four concerts, and each one is better than the one before. We've seen the Gaither Vocal Band, The Martins, The Isaacs, Charlotte Ritchie, Wesley Pritchard, Gene MacDonald, Buddy Green, Reggie and Ladylove Smith, Russ Taff, Angela Primm and motivational speaker Andy Andrews. All of the artists are so personable. I've had personal conversations with Ladylove Smith, Angela Primm, and Jonathan Martin and enjoyed having an opportunity to talk to them a little bit. I also shook hands with Adam Crabb (GVB), and said "hi" to Becky Isaac Bowman - who I saw on the Lido deck the very first day of the cruise.


Our staterooms seem spacious, and the food is wonderful. Last night was our first Gala night, and it was fun to see all of the ladies and gentlemen dressed up in their finest. We have another concert early this afternoon noon, and then this afternoon around 3:00 pm we should enter the Tracy Arm. We're hoping for more photo op's. Lunch will be a salmon bake by the Lido pool, today.


Tomorrow, Wednesday, will be our first port day, when we pull into Juneau. Norm and I are planning to hop on a shuttle and go up to Mendenhall Glacier and take pictures (you're all so surprised, right?).


This had definitely been the trip of a lifetime, so far. Will try and report in, again, later in the week.


Blessings to all!