We Take Ourselves With Us

Millions of years ago when we first came to Hawaii ( okay, it was 2013 ), we elected to stay only on the Big Island since we had just shy of a week and had never been here.  One of the highlights of our trip was a morning and afternoon spent in Kealakekua Bay, snorkling and swimming to our heart's content while the crew of the Fair Wind grilled burgers that smelled so delicious they drew a whole pod of dolphins into the bay. So, when we returned to Kona, we knew we wanted to repeat this fantastic experience ... and we did!  Because only on the island of Hawaii can one go from snow covered peaks to warm clear tropical waters in less than a day. Not to be a shill for Fair Wind , but it really has this thing buttoned up.  You eat a super yummy breakfast while sailing over to Kealakekua Bay And then you end up here. There's no filter on these photos, folks.  This is the real color of the bay.  Seriously.  Ridiculously.  Amazing...

After our port visits for the past few days, we were on to Glacier Bay.  According to our Freestyle Daily, we'd be arriving at the bay around 7:15 am, so I was up and out on deck early in anticipation.  There weren't many of us, and there wasn't much to see.  The skies were grey and the clouds were low--making for some dramatically moody photos but no glaciers were in sight. While the ship is in Glacier Bay, US Park Rangers are on board to answer questions, share information, and offer commentary about the glacier and the environment that produced it.  They tendered onto the ship early in the morning and set up shop in one of the lounges.  The map below shows the route we took into and out of the bay. As the morning moved along, the decks began to fill with eager glacier hunters, and I ran back to the rooms to wake everyone up.  (One thing we realized on this trip was that we really need to bring walkie talkies on our next cruise. ...