Off the ship today

Well the phone went off again at 04.00 and so we rushed upstairs to see the amazing light show whilst the crew provided tea, coffee and biccies.

I had intended to use my camera tripod to get better photos but unfortunately one of the legs had broken and day earlier when testing it with the new time lapse app on my camera and so it was back to leaning against the ships rail and trying to keep the camera steady whilst it took a night shot, but the photos seem to have come out when looked at them on the small camera screen but I will know more when I come to put them on the computer.
So back to bed until it was time to vacate the cabin, by 08.00 please, and head off for breakfast and a chat with some other guests. We departed the ship around 09.00 and of course no immigration to worry about and found the shuttle to the Hotel and went there and after a short wait we could check in to our room which was really great. Boy what a lovely view from the room overlooking the Harbour with the distant mountains covered in snow. We picked up the car from Hertz, boy is it expensive here to rent a car, and due to shortage of cars we were upgraded to a Toyota Camry against the little Kia we had booked which was really great. It is 2.5 hours from Seward to Anchorage and our target there was to go to Best Buy, a bit like PC World, only much better, and purchase a new tripod.

I had read that the drive from Seward to Anchorage was amazing but that did not prepare us for the glorious views we encountered en-route with snow covered mountains, loads of trees changing colour as winter is drawing on and huge lakes. What an amazing journey this was. We were beginning to get a little hungry and found a Burger Chain called Red Robin where they catered for Noels dietary restrictions which was good. Then  on to Best Buy where we found just what we were looking for and then left to head back to Seward where we arrived at about 18.15 after stopping at a supermarket for some water and milk. The journey back was just as interesting with the sun being at a different location and creating some lovely shades on the trees and mountains. We did not have time to stop and photograph properly and so Jennifer was taking lots of photos from the car.
A cup of tea and then for dinner we walked along the road to a Trip Adviser recommended  fish restaurant which was very good, but not cheap, but to much food on the plate and so by 21.00 we were back in the Hotel relaxing before sleep and checking on our exploration cruise in the National park which leaves at 11.30 for 6 hours and hoping the weather will be fine.
And so to bed after catching up with some emails.