Valdez – Lu Lu Belle Boat Tour – August 9

August 14, 2026 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Alaskan Adventure: Day 70. Our group set sail at 11:00am on the “Limousine of Valdez” piloted by Captain Fred. The day began overcast but gradually cleared and became sunny but not much warmer. We got back to dock around 8:00pm. It was really cold standing out on deck taking pictures but there was so much beauty to see!

Waiting to board the Lu-Lu Belle

Day 70 Valdez Lu-Lu Belle BoatUntitled_Panorama-1

The graceful Lu-Lu Belle

Was it the Sea Gulls laughing or Bernadette and Joe?

Tug boats in Port Valdez.

Inquisitive Sea Otters

More Sea Otters

Beautiful Scenery

Bald Eagle and lots of waterfalls

I think this is a Pigeon Guillemot (same family as Puffins)

Bunches of Puffins

Captain Fred maneuvered the front of the boat into a shallow cave for us to get very close to this Puffin

Lots of Sea Lions with Pups

More Sea Lions

Humpback Whales

Humpback Whale Blowhole

Lots of Whale Tails

We started seeing little icebergs floating around as we neared the mouth of Columbia Bay

The chunks of colorful ice got bigger and bigger

Some of the largest icebergs are resting on the bottom instead of floating.

Day 70 Valdez Lu-Lu Belle BoatUntitled_Panorama-2

Day 70 Valdez Lu-Lu Belle BoatUntitled_Panorama-3

Day 70 Valdez Lu-Lu Belle BoatUntitled_Panorama-4

The face of Colombia Glacier is 8 miles away. The field of icebergs was too dense to get any closer.

Day 70 Valdez Lu-Lu Belle BoatUntitled_Panorama-5

The face of Columbia Glacier. Doesn’t seem terribly impressive but the ice face varies between 200′ to 300′ high. (a 20-30 story building).

Day 70 Valdez Lu-Lu Belle BoatUntitled_Panorama-6

Because we couldn’t get close to Columbia Glacier we visited some other more accessible Glaciers

We saw whale spouts off in the distance as we were returning from the glaciers

Day 70 Valdez Lu-Lu Belle BoatUntitled_Panorama-8

Day 70 Valdez Lu-Lu Belle BoatUntitled_Panorama-7

Beautiful ice sculptures

The Lady in the rock (face profile).

This post is not finished but I wanted to get some of the pics posted. I’ll continue to add to it as time allows.

Favorite Bible verse for today: Romans 11: 33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, that it would be paid back to him? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

St. Anthony, Newfoundland

August 12, 2022April 15, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

We stayed in St. Anthony several nights. This was the place “farthest from home” of the trip. It is 2,271 miles from Indianapolis.

Gros Morne to St Anthony_Labrador_20220812LABRADOR_PANORAMA-1 — That’s Newfoundland coast in the foreground, and Labrador over on the other side.
We traveled from Gros Morne National Park, up the western coast of Newfoundland to St. Anthony which is out near the northern tip of the island.
The picture above was taken where Newfoundland and Labrador are closest together across the Strait of Belle Isle in the Gulf of St Lawrence – a distance of about 10 miles at it’s narrowest.

St Anthony Whale Tour_20220813_DAD3783 — We took a boat tour to find a whale. It was a windy day and not a very big boat… it reminded me of the infamous “Minnow” as we headed out for a 3hr tour… hoping we would not be lost.

St Anthony Whale Tour_20220813_DAD4121 — Thanks to our persistently searching Captain, and our fearless crew, we did see whales! The boat was bobbing wildly on the waves and this was a lucky shot.

St Anthony Whale Tour_20220813_DAD3924 — Rugged Coast

St Anthony Whale Tour_20220813UNTITLED_PANORAMA-1_1

St Anthony Whale Tour_20220813_DAD4159 — Fox Point Lighthouse as we were returning back to dock at Northland Discovery Iceberg & Whale Tours.

St Anthony Whale Tour_20220813UNTITLED_PANORAMA-4 — Above: Fox Point Lighthouse and “Haul Up Cove”. There is a wonderful little restaurant near the lighthouse called “Lightkeepers Seafood”. We hung out there several times. We enjoyed the food and the Wi-Fi (which is hard to find in Newfoundland). There is also a nearby thing called the “Great Viking Feast”. We recommend avoiding that.

Above: Partridgeberry Cheesecake: Lightkeepers Seafood Restaurant.
Trivia: Partridgeberry picking season was in full swing. Partridgeberries are the same as what other countries call “Lingonberries”. They are a relative of the cranberry but more mild. In Newfoundland, they grow in a low evergreen shrub in the dry acidic soils of Newfoundland and Labrador’s coastal barrens and headlands. Newfoundland and Labrador are the largest harvester of Partridge/Lingonberries in North America.

Cod Tongues — Fried Cod Tongue. I thought it was delicious. Didn’t get much help from the rest of the group. It is considered a Newfoundland delicacy. Also at Lightkeepers Seafood Restaurant. We really enjoyed this restaurant. We really did not enjoy the Great Viking Feast.

Below: Scenes from around the boat dock.

St Anthony Whale Tour_20220813_DAD3768 — Above: Green coastal rocks

Below: Really far out from shore the whales were jumping way out of the water-looked like they were having a great time. These were taken from the little front porch of the Lightkeepers Seafood Restaurant where lots of visitors stood watching the whales play.

St Anthony Whale Tour_20220813UNTITLED_PANORAMA-2 — Panorama from Fox Point area looking back at town of St Anthony and Marguerite Bay

Screenshot of Google Maps location.
2,282 driving/ferry miles from home to L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site at the very northern tip of the peninsula was the next days visit.

Puffins – Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

August 3, 2022May 20, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

We took a boat tour from “Gatherall’s Puffin and Whale Watch” of Witless Bay which turned out to be just awesome. The boat took us out to several islands comprising the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. This is the largest Atlantic puffin colony in North America.