Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: USA

Kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks

When we arrived at our first port of call, Ketchikan, it was a drizzly day, but since we planned to be on the water most of the day kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks we figured a little rain wouldn’t bother us. We brought our waterproof jackets exactly for this occasion and for the unpredictable weather in Alaska. It turned out to be the only rainy day of the whole trip, but we were glad we packed them!

We met the Southeast Sea Kayaks van at the famous liquid sunshine gauge in town outside of the visitor center, about 10 minutes before our 9am tour start time for the Orcas Cove tour.

The van took us to the office where we were outfitted with spray jackets, rain pants and life jackets. We opted to wear the spray jacket for the ~~fashion~~ extra protection – the wrists sealed better and tighter than our own jackets. Underneath, we were each wearing a light hoodie and a t-shirt. Chris wore hiking pants and I wore jeans, and both of us were comfortable the whole time for a June morning. We were also given a large dry bag for our camera, which worked great. The only other thing I wish I had brought was bug spray. I ended up with some really itchy bites on my hands and one above my eyebrow since my hands and face were the only skin exposed!

My head-to-toe blue outfit reminds me of a certain scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “Violet’s turning violet!” Points if you remember that moment.

From the office, we boarded a boat for a scenic 20-minute ride to a larger boat moored at Orcas Cove. Once on board, we listened to instructions on sea kayaking and paddling. Of course at that point, I began to get nervous. When I peered over the side of the boat, I could see tons of medium-sized jellyfish bobbing about in the water (later I learned they are a non-stinging variety), and I thought for sure I was going to tip our kayak and end up going for a swim with the jellies.

It wasn’t terribly difficult to get into the kayaks (our guides provided assistance), and I was relieved to be safely in the water in a sturdy tandem kayak with Chris. Our guide, Alex, took us around the cove to get used to the mechanics of paddling (for those of us who were new to kayaking), and then eventually he gave us free rein to explore the area. He also offered to take photos of us, which was such a nice gesture, especially for two photographers who don’t get to be in the photos very often.

After a few minutes on the water, I relaxed and became comfortable with the kayak enough to take some photos. I didn’t pack the waterproof housing for this trip, but the wrist strap on my point-and-shoot provided enough security that I felt like I could use the camera without accidentally flinging it into the sea. And actually, I could have even brought the SLR for this trip – the dry bags were certainly large enough, and my camera’s neck strap would have been plenty secure for shooting on the water (unless we tipped over!).

We enjoyed exploring for a couple of hours. I was even brave enough to paddle up to these sea stars for a closer look and a photo. Alex kept plucking random sea creatures out of the water (including one of the non-stinging jellyfish) and asking if I wanted to HOLD one. Um, no? Clearly he just met me.

We didn’t see any Orcas or Humpback Whales, but I was actually a little relieved not to – I imagined being capsized either by my own excitement over seeing them, or because one of them accidentally tipped me over. We did see a Bald Eagle though! It was really far away and of course my little point-and-shoot doesn’t quite do the job for telephoto images, but it was neat to see the eagle in the wild.

After we worked up an appetite kayaking, we were treated to a little snack picnic back on the boat where we sampled smoked salmon on crackers and cheese. It was nice to relax and chat with the guides and crew for a bit before returning to the dock. The whole tour from booking to return trip was awesome and wonderfully organized and I can highly recommend Southeast Sea Kayaks! I hope we get to explore on the water with them again someday.

Oh, and just a quick side-note – if you need a lunch idea for after the tour, try the little Alaskan Surf Fish & Chips stand in Ketchikan. It was one of our most favorite (and least expensive) meals of the whole trip! There is always a long line apparently, but it’s totally worth the wait. Our food was hot, fresh, and so yummy. We tried the fish & chips and the coconut shrimp and shared everything. I wish we could have eaten there more than once! Also, there’s a fantastic candy store just a short walk away called Ketchicandies where we happily stocked up on sweets like chocolate-covered Oreos and pretzels for the rest of the trip.

July 2, 2011
Alaska (Part 2 of 2)

The second half of our trip to Alaska included stops to Juneau, Skagway, a view of Hubbard Glacier from the ship, and then Seward was the last port of call. In Juneau we did some real zip-lining where you don’t just sit in a seat and go down a line like the ZipRider; you wear a harness, gloves and helmet, and connect by climbing gear to a series of zip-lines on a canopy-top course. Here Chris is learning how to break, using his right hand to apply pressure to the line and slow your speed. We practiced one time on a tiny zip line close to the ground.

In between some of the zip-lines hung these long suspension bridges that were delightfully high and swingy. I admit it felt nice to make it across safely onto the platform.

Let’s see that zip-line action in motion (short video clip):

This is what each of the platforms looked like between the zip-lines. Just a few beams of wood high atop a skinny tree, that swayed around while people were standing on it. Kind of freaky, but so cool! At the end, we rappelled down off the last platform. SO FUN.

After zip-lining, we took a helicopter ride to land on Mendenhall Glacier and went dog-sledding! The helicopter ride was amazing, with views of the glacier from above. Pardon my hair – it’s very windy standing next to a helicopter. Those yellow things are life vests from the helicopter ride.

The dogs were all so sweet, and they LOVED pulling the sled. They got super excited when they were harnessed up and while they were pulling us, and seemed disappointed when we stopped the sled.

After sledding, we spent some time with the puppies at the camp. They were in the middle of a nap, and this one was so warm and snuggly.

At our next stop in Skagway, we were pretty adventured-out, so we just walked around and explored the town. We also took a short but beautiful hike to Yakutania Point.

Our last two days on the ship were at sea, and we spent most of that time relaxing on our balcony just watching the beautiful scenery and taking photos. Chris took this cool lighthouse photo, which was totally in the middle of nowhere (not close to any towns):

And on the last day we sailed right up close to Hubbard Glacier (brrr!). My favorite part was seeing all the ice chunks in the water on the way there. We got up pretty close to the glacier. The colors and textures were amazing! Those brown lines in the ice are markers of volcanic events. Cool, right?!

Off the ship in Seward, we took a really scenic drive to Anchorage. We stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center so that we could see some moose and bears.

This one was either sleepy or doing bear yoga. (We were just about three feet from the bears so our 400mm was almost too long!)

There were other animals, but we were mainly there for the moose and bears since those were the ones we hadn’t seen in the wild on our trip. Oh and it was a good opportunity to get a better picture of an eagle:

So that’s our trip! (We took more images of course, but that would make for a very very long blog post.) We’re already itching to plan the next adventure, and we have some ideas in mind! I’ll post more details on that when we firm up some things. But for now it’s back to work! I have engagement and portrait sessions throughout July and August, so stay tuned for more photos. 🙂

July 1, 2011
Alaska (Part 1 of 2)

Four words for you: trip of a lifetime! Chris and I just got back from an amazing adventurous vacation in Alaska, and I miss it already. This place is absolutely breathtaking and magical. I know a lot of people retire to someplace warm like Florida, but I think we could happily settle down anywhere in Alaska. (You know, in 35+ years when we actually can retire.) Chris and I went nuts taking photos of course, although mostly just with our new little point-and-shoot (Canon PowerShot G12) camera.

We decided that a cruise would be the best/easiest way to get to a lot of the places we wanted to see, with the benefit of being sort of all-inclusive, so we booked a one-way itinerary on the Celebrity Millennium.

We set sail from Vancouver, Canada, and we flew in a day early just to get settled and make sure we definitely got on the ship in time! Plus it gave us some time to walk around Vancouver a bit, and we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Cardero’s.

The best benefit to our cruise was our cabin with this amazing balcony (or veranda, if you will). Our cabin was located on the aft (the back of the ship, land lovers!) and we had a 180-degree view of the scenery. It was awesome for taking photos, or for just sitting and watching the mesmerizing patterns of the wake.

We had fantastic weather nearly every single day. Spoiled!

Our first port of call was a small town in Southern Alaska called Ketchikan. Chris and I went kayaking in Orcas Cove – our first time kayaking ever! We shared a two-person kayak, and contrary to the photo below, Chris did help paddle. (Thanks to our awesome guide, Alex, for the photo!) I also took a few photos of my own once I got over my fear of tipping over and losing my camera in the water.

The next port of call, Icy Strait Point, included a trail ride on ATVs. Our fabulous guide, Amber, carried bear mace just in case. Although Chris and I really wanted to see bears.

The view from the top of Chichagof Island was beautiful. We even saw a bald eagle! Again, I just had my point-and-shoot along so it’s kind of like Where’s Waldo, but in the whale photos below and also in the next post I’ll show some photos we took with our other gear including a telephoto lens that we rented especially for this trip.

And as long as we were at the top of the island, might as well take the quickest way back down right? We rode the ZipRider, which is currently the world’s longest zip-line at nearly 5500 feet long (with a drop of 1320 feet – taller than the observation deck of the Empire State Building)! Chris and I are the two people with our arms straight out, clearly the only two people crazy enough not to hold on.

Among other firsts in Alaska, this was my first time trying some new foods, including crab. My verdict: not bad! Kind of creepy, because I like my food to be a little more abstract instead of having legs, but it was pretty good.

And then for the highlight of the first half of our trip, we went on a whale-watching cruise, where we took a smaller boat out to find whales and other sea mammals. We had our telephoto (long) lens and were able to get some pretty cool photos. Here are a few favorites:

Stay tuned for the second blog post of highlights from our Alaska trip where we did REAL zip-lining (there’s video proof!), and took a helicopter ride where we landed on a glacier and went dog sledding! Mush! (They don’t actually really say “mush” though.)

June 29, 2011
Jump! Skydiving 2001

As requested, I’m posting a little clip of my skydiving video from my tandem jump at Skydive Orange!

To set the scene a bit, it was October 2001, just a month after 9/11. We had all been affected by that terrible tragedy in our own ways, and I was in the camp of people who suddenly realized how temporary life truly is. I made a silent vow not to miss out on anything my heart desires in this one short life we’re gifted. And at that time, not unlike today, the dream in my heart was that of adventure! I had been curious about skydiving for a while, and decided there was no time like the present. I signed up with a local company, Skydive Orange, paid my deposit and counted down the days excitedly without a drop of anxiety.

On the day of my jump, I arrived at Skydive Orange early to sign ~~my life away~~ waivers and to watch a safety video. Inside the hangar, our names were written on a whiteboard indicating the assigned tandem partner with whom we’d jump. For the life of me I can’t remember my partner’s name, but what I do remember is that we were supposed to have a short on-the-ground lesson before we even boarded the plane. I watched the other tandem jumpers practicing proper jump positioning with their partners, but my guy was no where to be found and my jump time was quickly approaching. I wasn’t even harnessed up yet!

About two minutes before my scheduled flight time, my tandem partner came running into the hangar yelling my name. I answered, “here!” and before I knew what was happening he quickly whisked me away to the field where the tiny airplane was waiting. He had just landed from the previous batch of jumps, so he had to hurry to make this next flight with me. He literally harnessed me up as we were walking to the plane, and that is the moment when I started to get just a little nervous. What if in his rush to make the flight time, he didn’t harness me correctly? He finished making adjustments while we were on the plane, tightening a strap here, checking a carabiner there, and gave me a quick overview of how to read the altimeter which he had just fastened to my wrist.

The ascent in the tiny plane seemed both short and long if that’s possible, but all too soon the huge side cargo door was opened and pairs of divers began to scoot towards the opening. Once I was at the door, the terror hit. What in the world was I doing?! And why didn’t I have the proper fear mechanisms in place to warn me in advance that this was a very bad idea?! It was too late though – my partner gave me the 3-2-1 count (or maybe it was 1-2-3?) and before I knew it, there was nothing but air between the ground and me. And I loved it. What a rush! The incredibly windy freefall lasted 60 seconds, but again, that minute felt altogether too short and also way too long. I don’t want to completely spoil the surprise, but that stomach-in-your-throat feeling you get from a deliciously big drop on a rollercoaster? Not the case here – you are so high up that the sensation is entirely different.

After the chute opened (thank you, dear God!) by way of my partner grabbing my hand to pull the ripcord together, we spent about 6-7 minutes in flight, gently sailing towards the bullseye target. I steered for part of the time, but mostly I just took in my surroundings – I can’t recommend Virginia in the fall enough as the absolute perfect backdrop for a skydiving experience.

Here I am getting ready to board the Cessna Otter with my tandem partner, and the image on the right is post-jump, all smiles! (And hey, check out my super light-wash jeans.)

The quality isn’t that great since the original is on a VHS tape (there was no digital video option way back in October 2001), and I’ve transferred that to a digital file and then compressed it for web, but you’ll still get the idea. There’s one jumper before me at the very beginning, and then I’m right after that. I can’t tell you what I was saying right as I’m standing in the doorframe because I don’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure I’m glad you can’t actually hear the words. 🙂 I wasn’t really scared up until that exact moment, and then for about 10 seconds I was terrified. Once I jumped, I was fine, and once the parachute opened, I was even better!

Susan’s tandem jump at Skydive Orange – October 2001 from Susan Marks on Vimeo.

July 2, 2009
Weekend Getaway

Chris and I were able to get away for a few days this past weekend to visit his dad and step-mom in Florida. We stayed in a condo in West Palm Beach and while it was a little chilly for this time of year, it was still sunny and gorgeous, and we were able to enjoy this view from the balcony:

We even saw a manatee swim by the condo! Sorry to disappoint you, but we were up on the 19th floor and I didn’t have the right lens with me to get a good shot. I traveled light this time – one camera body + 50mm lens. Okay, and the point-and-shoot. 🙂 I actually didn’t end up taking many photos at all, but we did take our obligatory p&s self-portrait for posterity.

Chris and I grabbed a quick picture of each other one afternoon before we went out for lunch (what else do you expect photographers do when they’re killing time?).

Since it was a little too cool for the beach, we mostly just hung out with the parents, ate out a lot, and strolled around. This quirky little store in downtown Stewart had a lot of fun stuff.

One of the highlights of the trip for Chris was finding this soda:

When Chris and I were kids, we both lived in Texas (at different times) where they had this sugary bubble-gum tasting soda called Big Red. Well, they don’t have it in the DC area, and it seems to be quite difficult to find in general, so it’s a very rare treat for us to come across it. We were getting groceries at the local Publix, where lo and behold, I spotted it on the shelf in a 12-pack. So we were able to enjoy the nostalgic drink while we were there (Chris moreso than me – I can’t stand drinks with sugar in them anymore. If you ever see Diet Big Red, let me know!). At least now we know one other place to find it!

February 24, 2009