My family and I just got back from the cruise this morning, a seven day voyage to Alaska and a few days trip to Denali National Park.  There were nine of us who boarded the Island Princess ship on the 22nd of July, this was our first time but not for my brother in law & his family, as well as his parents in laws. It was quite a nice cruise not to mention a lot of eating :).

This is Juneau, the capital of Alaska which was the second port that the ship had docked. I'd like to talk about it first because I think I had the coolest experienced here encountering the wild bears while having the most delicious king salmon dinner. Yes, as I will borrow Zachary's phrase, the BEST that I ever had!

We flew for a short floatplane (turbine powered) ride going to the wilderness of Taku Lodge. It flew over the river with majestic views of the glacier, mountains, waterfall & forest.

We had our dinner inside the lodge & on the right side of this building is where someone was cooking the salmon in an open fire. The aroma of the salmon was supposed to attract the bears, they'll come out and eat the left overs.  Here, Mike & Carter took a closer look of the glacier while waiting for our dinner.

Perhaps, Juhree & Mike were trying to get his recipe :).

So she came out, luckily everybody were inside just started enjoying the meal. I had to come out, I was like about 15-20 feet away from Stowie & you can't go any closer. One guy, who works there were watching people who were inching to get closer & then he would tell you to step back.

Zachary was so brave and is loving the sight of the bear.  How awesome!

Many times she attempted to get down but the guy with the big stick, keep her away from coming down using his stick. I wonder how much longer she stayed there for it was time for us to leave.