Glacier Bay, Alaska

I was excited to being seeing more glaciers in Glacier Bay. When we started to enter the bay I grabbed my camera and went on deck.



I quickly made my way to the top of the ship. It didn't matter how brisk it was, I was there to see as much as I could.



There were spectacular vistas around every corner.



And then the first glacier appeared.



I kept scanning for a caving event







Our time in Glacier Bay was over with way too soon.



As the ship left Glacier Bay we passed a light house

Juneau, Alaska; Fly me to a glacier!

One of the stops on our Alsskan cruise was Juneau, Alaska. At this stop we took a helicopter excursion to see and walk on a glacier.



We got a good view of our cruise ship.



Our helicopter then started is ascent to fly over the mountains.



A short time later we were flying along the face of a glacier.



I was captivated.



Flying up and over the face the blue ice became more visible.



And the crevices could be seen too.



Then the enormous ice field that feeds the glacier could be seen.

A walk through Butchart Gardens, Victoria, B.C. on a misty spring day

More than a century in the making the gardens are built over an exhausted limestone quarry owned by the Butchart family.

The following picture is from the Butchart Gardens website.


On a misty spring day I took the following pictures during our walk around the gardens.



Butchart Gardens has winding paths through the beautifully landscaped gardens.







There were beautiful flowers and scenes all around us.










Information about the Butchart Gardens is available from their website: http://www.butchartgardens.com/

Vancouver, B.C at night

City skyline from hotel window are night:


View from hotel window:


Zoom in on top of lit building:

Bitcoin price in USD has been cratering most of the day today. May be a buying opportunity.

Yes,the auric solution is dissolved gold. If I remember correctly it is something like a combination of nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen peroxide. The combination makes an extremely corrosive liquid that dissolves gold and suspends it in solution. The gold is precipitated out using a bronide (like that found in StumpOut) compound. The leftover liquid is drained and the gold smelted then poured into a button or ingot.

There are several YouTube videos describing the process better than I did.

Overall the chemicals involved are hazardous and extreme caution needs to be considered when dealing with any acid(s) in high concentration.

Gold does not rust, even submerged in salt water for hundreds of years it still maintains it golden color.

Looking good today! Have a great weekend!

It is called being prepared for the inevitable... remember Rome... profit from history.

Personally I am hoping for negative interest rates or the FED buying corporate bonds to prop up the market.

It is going to get a lot more interesting.... but all good for gold and silver.

Nice call and congratulations on the profit. It is possible August will have even more upside!

Very true that I get paid in fiat, I convert fiat currency to hard goods as soon as I can every two weeks.

US dollar index down 1.0 to below 96.

10 year Treasury rate dropping. Hopefully will be negative soon.

Only the people measuring their worth in fiat currency will be hurt.

For a very long time this board has promoted owning physical and mining shares. Excuse me for being happy it has been the winning position this year.

What a wonderful day... the US dollar is cratering... hopefully much more downside to come.

They could always alter the Pokemon Go game to have characters at the polls. I would not put anything past them.

And if I am remembering this correctly (it was so long ago), it was the democrats who were against the civil rights bills in Congress.

Dang... Now we have to change the code name for that flight :(

There has been a nice run up in gold and silver overnight. Things may look better for $FFMGF in the morning.

Gold and silver are in a nice run up overnight just with Yellen's remarks. One can only imagine the run up after a BREXIT that has the capability to undermine and start the breakup of the EURO.

The could be a short-term rally as the EURO weakens and the USD increases. But I think our FED will come to the aid of the EURO which will also push the dollar lower again. Then gold and silver will rise. Just my opinion...

Gold, silver, and BitCoin making a nice run up overnight. It should be a great day for holders of gold, silver, and $GBTC.

You'll love her even more tomorrow.

Nice run up in silver, gold, and BitCoin tonight. It should be a great open for $NUGT and $GBTC in the morning.

I just noticed the run in Bitcoin, silver, and gold overnight. Yes it should be a great open for $GBTC today.

Nice pop in the price of gold, silver, and BitCoin overnight. It should be a good open for miners and $GBTC this morning.

I do not think the Orlando shooter was on the No-Fly List. So not selling guns to those on the no-fly list would not have stopped the Orlando shooter from purchasing a gun.

When you buy a gun, you fill out a form that goes to the government for approval. We know the FBI had investigated the Orlando shooter, yet they did not do anything to block him from purchasing or owning a gun.

I have not seen anything offered by the government to solve the problem that would have prevented the Orlando shooter.

Criminals don't obey the law. There will always be ways around any law. There is a speeding law. It does not prevent anyone who want to from speeding. Speeding can kill. There is a law against driving drunk. The law does not stop drunk drivers before someone is killed. You have to change people. Laws only catch people after they break the law.

What is needed is a way to stop criminals from becoming criminals. I admit I am not wise enough to think of a law to prevent someone from becoming a criminal.

Simplistically and statistically you know that most criminals are repeat criminals. Extermination of criminals who break the laws would prevent repeat crimes, but is that really what we want.

Vehicles can be used to harm, kill and destroy. Nearly everyone around me where ever I go has at least one vehicle. Yet, I drive safely on the streets, ride my bike along roads, and walk along roads. It is not a demolition derby out there. I trust my neighbors and those in my community with a means to harm or kill me.

If not vehicles, you could also look at knives. That too I can guarantee you that everyone around me owns at least one. And knives can just as easily be concealed or used to do harm as a gun. And yes, you can harm or kill at a distance with a knife. Heck, anyone could use a rock too.

I agree to disagree with you but still like to hear and appreciate your opinion on issues.

I think that when the people have the right and capability to protect their rights, property, and that of their neighbors, while not a perfect world, it is the safest world for all. I know my neighbors and my community, and I trust my neighbors and community. Why? Because I know they are the first responders who will come to my aid should I need help. And I will come to their assistance should they need help.

That same logic could be applied to plane travel. Do you really want to ban plane travel too in order to protect passengers?

Let's apply that logic to anything that kills or injures life. Soon there would be nothing left.

Now try to look at it from another common sense perspective. What if every person in the club was armed and capable of defending themselves however they were armed. How many would have died then?

A good comeback would be do you want people who are drunk or high to be armed? I don't want those people driving, running trains, flying planes, or just stumbling down the street either, all of which could harm themselves and others. Unfortunately, even with various laws in place it happens.

So let's eliminate any risk from life. A life without risk is a life without living. I'm pretty sure someone said that. If you can't eliminate risk then you mitigate it. One way is to empower the individual with capability to fully take care of themselves. Another way is to have someone watch over the individual and take care of them. One is liberty and the other is control. Which would you chose?

Now you could say that you do not trust anyone being armed including yourself. Then I would say, good luck when a criminal (who willingly disobeys and gets around laws) wants to take your life and all you can do is try to dial 911.

Just trying to look at it from different perspectives, it is what used to be called a conversation.

An interesting statistic would be the number of people committing murder divided by the population each year. Let's say it is 1% of the population committing murders each year.

Obama and Hillary want to decrease your right to defend your life and those of loved ones while enhancing the ability of criminals (who always find a way around any law) to commit murder. It would seem that Obama and Hillary are only helping the one-percent'ers again.

Let's go deeper. The government wants to take away (or limit) your right to protect your life and property. Let's look at what the government is doing. You have seen many articles recently where various agencies have been stocking up on bullets and surrounding federal buildings with armed guards and other protective measures. Does this not wreak of paranoia? Is the government clinically psychotic? Under Obama's own directives limiting the rights of the mentally challenged, who's rights should really be limited?

The truth is that we have little to fear when each person is capable of protecting their life and property along with the liberties of all (neighbors, friends, and family).

Let's say there is 1% of the population who are criminally intent on committing murder. One-on-one don't you stand a better chance if you are capable of defending yourself? And if a murderer decides to act in public surrounded by 99% who are capable of defending themselves, their property, and the liberties of others, who has the upper hand? Surely not the criminal.

Doesn't it make sense to go after those who let criminals into the country as well as those who trample your rights including your right to defend yourself. It's election season, work to make sure they don't get elected.

For precious metal miners to bank (in their safe storage) their product makes sense. You put it in the bank you earn next to nothing. Holding precious metals has a very good chance of appreciating.

I wish someone would make me that offer!

BitCoin could be a possible alternative to fiat currencies. In addition to food, water, gold and silver a few BitCoins may be worth it too. For those not willing to purchase BitCoins outright there is an BitCoin Trust ($GBTC) that trades in the stock market. There was a big move in $GBTC today, quite possibly there is something to the BitCoin phenomenon. And $GBTC may be one of the ways to invest in this phenomenon.

For those holding or trading $GBTC you did well today. There may possibly be more good days ahead for $GBTC.

Yes, nice move in $GBTC today... I think there is possibly more good days ahead for $GBTC.

Is BitCoin an alternative to fiat currencies? More and more people everyday on this planet think BitCoin is an alternative.
Investors can trade a BitCoin trust in their portfolio through $GBTC.

The BREXIT should have an impact on gold, silver, and BitCoin (and I would add for $GBTC too).

As strong countries leave the Euro, the Central Bank will print even more.

As weak countries leave the Euro, you can bet those countries will print like mad.

Bad times ahead for fiat currencies. On the bright side I think this will be good for gold, silver, BitCoin, and $GBTC.

People will always seek the easiest and most convenient way to perform commerce without losing value. The value of gold and silver may go beyond the feasibility to make small transactions. I believe this is where BitCoin comes in. Not only does it retain value (and most like appreciates) it can be sub-divided easily to perform small transactions. On the large side of transactions, transferring the gold and silver may not be feasible. A BitCoin transaction can be transacted in about 10 minutes or less. This leads me to believe that the use of BitCoin will be only increase in the near future.

Likewise I believe this will be good for $GBTC.

GLTA and enjoy the ride!

Exciting times for BitCoin ahead.

This should translate into a nice ride for $GBTC.

Hang on to $GBTC because $GBTC is going for a wild ride.

BitCoin went a touch over $700 last night before settling down. Overall it is still a gain of over $100/BitCoin for the weekend.

It should be a nice open for $GBTC today and possible a new all time high for $GBTC (expecting at least it will be a new 52 week high for $GBTC today). Time will tell.

BitCoin went a touch over $700 last night before settling down. Overall it is still a gain of over $100/BitCoin for the weekend.

It should be a nice open for $GBTC today and possible a new all time high for $GBTC (expecting at least it will be a new 52 week high for $GBTC today). Time will tell.

If the Chinese are dumping USD then this may be influencing people to buy other alternatives like gold, silver, and BitCoin.

BitCoin is still rising... up more than $100 since Friday's close. This is boding very well for a strong open for $GBTC trading on Monday.

GLTA and hopefully you are also seeking alternatives to the USD.

It is very possible that $GBTC will set a new 52-week high on Monday.

12 June 2016: Gold, Silver, and BitCoin...