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travelogue: excursions (ketchikan)

as you may know if you've ever been on a cruise, a whole lot of the fun actually takes place off the ship, in the ports, on excursions. and this trip to alaska was jam-packed with adventures, for sure.

day 3: ketchikan, alaska
our first stop along the way was ketchikan. and ketchikan offered something that caught my eye the instant i saw it advertised: snorkeling. in alaska. did you catch that? who the heck snorkels in alaska? THIS girl! (along with my husband, other-one-n, cousin d, and cousin s - my fellow bad-a travelers and underwater partners in crime.)

to answer your question, yes, the water was freezing cold. but the good news is, we didn't feel that at all through these sexy mammajammas:
7mm of neoprene goes a long way to keep a body warm.

the whole crew all decked out. don't we look like
superheros or x-men or SOMETHING cool?
in all seriousness, the wetsuits kept us remarkably comfortable, and we saw some very cool stuff under the 47 degree water. everything from sea cucumbers to sea urchins to TONS of starfish (in TONS of sizes) to amazing kelp forests to a bright orange rockfish about 1.5 feet long. the morning before the snorkel company had seen orca travelling through the channel we were in, but we didn't have that level of luck on our day ... but it was still unbelievable. and when they served tasty hot chocolate at the end, you almost didn't even need the warm up. i know, i was skeptical too, but it's true!

meanwhile, back on the ship, gigi and great grandpa had a great time with john. this was when he discovered the bad fish in "one fish two fish." he reminded me this morning that the fish was bad, so that really did make an impression.
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