Reasons To Get Up Early

For my fifty-second birthday, Lindsay took me to a fish hatchery. I've already forgiven him. After all, on his fifty-second birthday, I took him to a ballet. We're even now.

My birthday fell on Ketchikan day. I may look cold, wet and miserable below, but I was really only cold and wet. It was a great day. We rented a car and Lindsay navigated with his GPS. There is only one main road, but Lindsay likes his GPS. It wanted us to make a right turn down a boat dock and into the ocean, so I'm a little leary of the things.

But I shouldn't complain. I spent at least as much time playing with my camera as Lindsay spent playing with his GPS. We each have our favorite toys.

In town, I got hugged by a polar bear. They are sweet, gentle creatures. I don't know how they got their reputation.

This bald headed eagle lives at the fish hatchery because she has an injured wing. I don't think she likes me. Look at that glare.

The eagles are larger than they look. Lindsay is posed in front of a chart that shows an eagle's wing span. We saw bald headed eagles flying around everywhere, but I wasn't fast enough to get a photo of the ones in flight.

One of the problems with cruises is that they are on a schedule. If it had been up to me, I would have spent a couple of days in Ketchikan, but the ship waits for no one. In order to see as much as possible, we had to get up early and leave as soon as they opened the door. It was better to lose some sleep than to miss seeing something that we may never experience again.

This is why we got up so early on our vacation.