Elusive Alaska

They say parts of Alaska get as much as 60 sunny days a year. If I had thought about that with any clarity, I would have realized that there are 300 days of clouds and rain per year.  This translates to a likelihood of one sunny day in six. If we take this a bit further, on our eleven day cruise it is quite likely we have only one or two sunny days. We had one. Bam! 

When we did see Alaska, it was spectacular. When we couldn’t see Alaska, we ate and drank. That’s not a bad second option.

A Long Day

Near the end of our cruise, we went to dinner at 7:00, finishing up at 9:30. We hurried back to our room to set up for a 10:00 sunset. We’d have to shoot from our veranda which is far from optimal. Maybe tonight we will finally have a sunset worth shooting. We walked out to our veranda to clouds, too may clouds. Yes, another night with no sunset. We went to bed a bit disappointed. At least we had eaten well and drank even better.

Every morning we scheduled coffee for a 6:30am delivery. No need for an alarm, our cabin doorbell would ring waking us up from a deep slumber. We’d open the door to “good morning, I have your pot of coffee.” What a great way to start the day.

One morning, deep in slumberland, the doorbell rings. Kas snapped awake and answered the door. There was no-one there. Maybe a juvenile delinquent rang and ran. It was 4:00am, way too early for our coffee delivery. Kas opened the curtains letting in the light of the morning. Stepping out to the veranda, “The sun is about to rise, come see,” she says. I guess it must be time to wake up. Marriage is great.

I hate to admit it but she was right. Our first sunrise after eight days at sea. Was it worth getting up?

Taken at 4:19am, the sun is just rising.

The evening was even better. After another spectacular dinner and copious amounts of alcohol, we stumbled onto our veranda for this:

Shot just before 10:00pm the sky lit up for us again.

The sun had already set but was still lighting up the clouds. This is a seven-shot panorama, hand held, from a moving boat. Whew!

Looking away from the sunset, there was a volcano with beautiful purple skies.

Sunrise and sunset do exist in Alaska. You just have to be patient (one of my better traits).

Remember, it’s all about the light!