Hey there – we have finally moved up to day two of our little anniversary jaunt. Are we having fun yet? Well, I know WE were, but how about you?

We beat the alarm up – it’s a bad habit I have, I know. 😉

After showers and coffee and cleaning up after ourselves it was time to try to find someplace (other than mcds) to have breakfast. We were facing 4.5 hours on a boat before lunch and hubby moose is diabetic – he NEEDS to eat. (Moosie, on the other hand, could stand to miss a few meals – heh).

Nothing was open at the crack of dawn – so we resigned ourselves to making the turn to go to mcdland, when I caught an open sign out of the corner of my eye – we turned in a driveway and headed back to a little cafe near the bowling alley. We were only the second customers of the morning – poor Sally (restaurant owner, cook and waitress) had been up for quite a long time but, even though she was exhausted, she was a great source of fun. And, the breakfast was good, too.

Headed on down the Spit to the berth of our ride – the Rainbow Connection was not quite ready for boarding, so we spent some time walking along the docks and taking pictures of the boats.

Here’s a favorite from that group of pics:

 

The air was crispy cool – very Alaska-ish. Perfect for we Alaskans, although some of the tourists were complaining a wee bit. Awwwww. We were invited to board and set out on calm, glassy seas. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

We made our way up Kachemak Bay – peeking into coves and bays, looking for birds (shorebird festival and all that) Along the way we were treated to a variety of other wildlife, some of which hubby and I had not been privy to before.

I got some great shots – although not of the wildlife, due to the restrictions on my little camera. I saw some really nice camera equipment hung around the necks of those birders, though. Pardon my drool, please. One of these days – maybe before our Hawaii trip, Lessa – I hope to upgrade equipment AND take a course or two in how to get even better pictures. We will see.

For now I will give you the rundown of our critter count. Remember, this is where we stood after day one:

Day 1 Critter Count:

Moose = 1

Caribou = 3

Eagles = many, many, many eagles

Tourists = 2 (to talk to, probably many more among us)

Campy Satirists = 1

Campy Satirist’s Sidekick = 1

People we knew = 6

Day 2 Critter Count:

Eagles and more eagles

Arctic Terns and other gulls (glaucous winged gulls and the like), Kittiwakes, loons, birds, birds, birds – but only one puffin was spotted!

Harbor seals

Harbor porpoises (very shy, but so fun to see)

Sea otters,

and, as a special surprise . . . a small humpback whale! You can see pictures here.

Around Gull Island we saw thousands of gulls! No lie, THOUSANDS!

We were beyond stoked at that. There were crazy little cabins way up the Bay – the only way to them was by boat – I’m thinking they are rentals and accessed by water taxis.

So, our critter count is mounting. More later, perhaps