We are once again blessed with a stunning day today. Our morning started with Steve enjoying a massage while I dined with the boys at the buffet. We then did a little looking around the on board shops and enjoying the scenery, which was mostly ocean. We did see a pod of whales swimming close to the ship and watched them for several minutes.
The boys wanted to go swimming so we indulged them, despite the chilly weather. The sun was shining but the winds made it still pretty chilly. Luckily the water is heated to a nice temperature and the whirlpools are always hot. After about 30 minutes in the main pool, we headed upstairs to the waterside area. This is by far a more entertaining pool, but not as heated. The boys each went down the slide about 12 times, but they were sort of turning blue when I finally told them it was time to head inside. After showers and lunch, we were able to catch a few races of the "horse races," which is basically a die game. But we saw Mary win big ($16) and had to try our hand. We broke even overall but didn't really win.
At 1:15 the VerHoeven clan took the winning title in Tri-bond, a game where you have to guess what 3 things have in common. Oh yeah, we rocked it. Th best part was Grady, who for whatever reason, felt like he needed to wear his fedora hat and dress shoes and do a tap dance for the waiters. Hilarious and adorable.
Around 2 pm we entered the Hubbard glacier area, which is truly a sight to behold. There are not words or photos that can properly capsulized what we experienced today. First of all, the captain of this ship took us incredibly close to the glacier. Every time we thought we were as far as we were going to go, we crept in further. The ship turned and pivoted, allowing a spectacular view to all on board.
And the view was breathtaking.
Glacier ice bluer and deeper than any color I have ever seen in nature towered 300 feet above the water level. Knowing there is 1200 feet more below puts the enormity of the glacier in perspective. Then we would hear a loud boom similar to thunder and see a piece crack off and into the water below. Often a large wave was created from the calving, but it they rarely reached us because of the ice field that floated between us and the glacier. The waves would simply push pieces of ice together, causing a popping sound I equated to Pop Rocks. We all enjoyed the spectacle from the Perry's room, which provided an incredible up close view from the balcony. The captain announced that for the first time this year he is able to go through the fjord and around Hanky island, a pretty fascinating task that leaves very little margin for error.
But after a while the kids got cold so we came back inside to warm up a little and rest. Next up is bingo and then formal dinner tonight.
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