Hello again, this time from a more cloudy and cold Alaska than earlier in the week, but still a gorgeous place -- and it's nice finally to be wearing some of the cold weather gear we had packed. Despite the weather and ice on the bay, we were able to get in close to see Hubbard glacier this morning, which was a treat. Again, we were lucky. Dr. Charles Iliff, the very informative lecturer on board, said that at 8 a.m. it wasn't clear whether we would be able to go on into the bay, but Captain Philippe managed the trip. The captain clearly loves Alaska and has made some great maneuvers during this cruise. We are told he is called "Captain 360," and I can see why. He is a master at rotating the ship.

Anyway, Hubbard Bay was a completely different look from our Endicott Arm trip to Dawes glacier a few days ago near Juneau. Instead of bright sun and long distance views like the Endicott trip, today we saw mountaintops shrouded in clouds and mist, a gray and white vista spotted with blue glacial ice. This no doubt is a more typical view, and I'm glad to have seen things both ways.

I have another excursion to recommend, the Sea Otter and Wildlife excursion from Sitka. Yesterday morning on that excursion we saw whales again -- this time gray whales -- and I actually got a breach picture! The gray whales move more slowly but apparently rarely breach, so again we were lucky to see a couple of breaches. We'll see what my photo is like when I get home and can magnify and edit it, but I hope it turns out. We also saw sea lions and eagles. Like with the Endicott Arm (Tracy Arm in the excursion title) excursion, the commentary was fantastic. Both of those excursions are operated by a Sitka-based company named Allen Marine, and for anyone coming later this year I would recommended those two excursions and probably anything else operated by that company. They obviously place a big emphasis on imparting information and on personable staff. My impressions in this regard were confirmed by Dr. Iliff and Professor Blanche Iliff (both of them an absolute delight to talk with), who spoke very highly of Allen Marine. FYI, we boarded the catamaran for the excursion directly from the ship and were delivered at the end to the pier in Sitka, which worked out great because then we were able to explore that very interesting town. (As many of you know, but perhaps someone coming later doesn't realize, Sitka is the one port where the ship anchors and tenders passengers into town.)

Eugene, you asked about the source of our excursions. All of them have been Regent excursions, several free and a couple -- the four-glacier helicopter ride and the evening whale-watching tour out of Juneau -- at a very reasonable reduced cost from previous years. I believe, although I'm not positive without looking back at our information, that our other excursions were free.

Thanks, all, for your comments. If I've missed answering any questions, which is entirely possible, please let me know. JoAnn, if I see Lorraine again I will pass along your hello. We had a really lovely dinner with her the other night. Oh, speaking of food, we were in Prime 7 last night. What a fantastic dinner! I had the Alaskan king crab legs -- a half order and honestly I can't imagine how anyone could eat a full order! -- and John had the surf and turf, which he said was perfect. I'm not much of a steakhouse person and was ambivalent when Regent announced the change to Prime 7, but I am a convert! It was an absolutely perfect dinner.

Well, the suitcases were placed on the bed this morning by our really super steward, Marte. It's always a sobering sight to see, knowing that the cruise is almost at an end. Tomorrow morning we disembark for the Grandview scenic train ride to Anchorage, then back to Dallas by Thursday morning. Sigh. Who will tidy up for us after we leave Marte behind?