Aug 26, 2012 - juneau

Quick note - I've mentioned how we've had great weather - on boat ride to Juneau we were told that they have only see the sun 3 day this summer, and this was one of those 3, Wait till you see these pictures!!!! boat ride to juneau on the fjord express, running about half speed to save fuel, but still going app 30mph. Want to buy your own lighthouse? It's for sale, complete with helo pad. Called the marine highway, the only way to get around here. nearest city to skagway - Haines, is about 1hr by the slow ferry, but you can drive there,...

Aug 22, 2012 - Juneau - the city

Wednesday -- A steady rain fell all night and all day today. This is more like the Juneau weather we expected. We wanted to hike the Mount Roberts trail to its 3819ft summit, eat lunch and take the tram back down but the clouds were hanging so low the hike or the tram ride would not have been worth the time. Instead we toured the city. After all, it is the capital of Alaska. Juneau is not accessible by road from anywhere in Alaska. It has about 41 miles of highway and about 262 miles of hiking trails. We read that there may be more miles of...

Aug 21, 2012 - Gustavus to Juneau

Tuesday -- Our ferry ride back to Juneau was scheduled to leave the dock at 10:45. Our new friends in the next cabin were leaving on the same ferry. We were up early enough that we were able to help them taxi their bags to the ferry dock and still have time to chat with the next cabin renters and their taxi driver, a former Coast Guard. Our friends were sure the young German renter was an Indigo child (an old soul in a young body). I was interested in hearing the local's views on life here, guns, politics and Coast Guard stories. Too bad we...

Aug 17, 2012 - Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier

Friday -- With only a few spitting rain sprinkles today it was a lovely day to be outside in Juneau. By 10:00 there were already many tour buses at the Mendenhall Glacier and Visitor Center, with more buses arriving regularly. The Visitor Center is a gorgeous building with large decks and windows overlooking Mendenhall Lake. It offered good displays and Ranger talks. This glacier is receding back to the base of the mountains, leaving a depression lake in front of its terminus edge. Periodically, the most recent being 4-Aug, chunks of ice...

Aug 16, 2012 - Haines to Juneau

Thursday -- The skies were overcast when we lined up in our assigned ferry parking lane at 9:00, two hours before sailing time. We could have had a ticket without the reservation but we felt better about locking in this date. For two hours we watched in fascination as ferry workers walked the lanes, manually checking the length of each vehicle and assigning them to a ferry position using a sticky note on the windshield. The largest vehicles were loaded first, then others in order of decreasing size. On the ferry some vehicles were parked...

Aug 4, 2012 - Juneau, Alaska

A cool clear morning with temperatures in the low 50’s. The clouds have finally left and I was able to see the mountains around Haines. I left the RV at 08:00AM and drove down to the dock for today’s Fjord Express to Juneau. I got there at 08:05AM. They told us to be there no later than 08:30AM.The schedule calls for them to leave Haines at 08:45AM, arrive at Yankee Cove at 11:00AM, then bus into Juneau arriving around 12 noon. We were a little late leaving Haines but arrived in Juneau on time. On the trip to Juneau we saw a couple of...

Aug 1, 2012 - Bears and other stuff

July 30 It’s been raining all day. In fact, a few times the sun peeked out and it was pouring - crazy weather. We went to the Alaska State Museum after lunch. There were several new exhibits, one that displayed artifacts from WWII when Japan invaded the outermost islands on the Aleutian chain. My favorite exhibit at the museum is the eagle nest tree, which is the centerpiece of the stairway leading to the second floor. It’s a full-size tree, complete with eagles in a nest at the top. It’s a great museum and the exhibits are all well...

Jul 29, 2012 - Juneau

July 26 We walked around downtown Sitka this morning. Another cruise ship arrived, jamming the streets with tourists. We stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. They also served pizza and fish and chips so we weren’t expecting much, but the food was delicious. We were happy to get a southwest taste of home for the first time in a couple of months. This afternoon we toured the Russian Bishop’s House. This was the residence of Bishop Innocent, built in 1842. The lower level of the house became a center for education in Russian America. The...

Jul 23, 2012 - On Ice

Sunday, July 22 Today was a day at sea so we had all day to spend doing activities on board. I started the day by posting to my online class discussion at a ridiculous rate of $0.75 per minute. The top floor of the ship has my favorite place on board. There is a library to borrow books from, there are also chess game boards around (which I beat Dad at), and even puzzles to do. Surprisingly I didn't get sucked into the puzzle! I did spend a lot of time reading in their really comfy chairs overlooking the ocean :) After posting my thrilling...

Jul 21, 2012 - Day 88, Juneau

Day 88, Saturday, July 21, 2012 We woke up to the crows tap dancing on the roof this morning. We had to be up early to get to the boat dock by 8:30 anyway. We got on a little catamaran and headed south to Juneau. It was a little cloudy but still pleasant. The scenery was great and the water in some places was emerald green. Apparently we are at the peak of some type of algae bloom which gives the water this color. I think the captain said the water is generally about 2,000 feet deep. We went over one spot that was only 240 feet deep. A...

Jun 28, 2012 - Juneau, AK

This morning we docked in Juneau - the capital of Alaska. Again, it is a coastal town accessible only by air or sea. It's cool, but for the most part not raining. We took a whale watching tour and saw humpback whales, orcas and sea lions. Our guide told us that only about 30% of the tours see orcas. The pod we saw was estimated to be about 20 strong. Later we went to Mendenhall Glacier. It's pretty spectacular. After reboarding the ship and having another wonderful dinner, we attended a show put on by a comedian named Sarge. He was...

Jun 27, 2012 - Juneau, Alaska

We were already docked in Juneau when we got up this morning, having sailed south through Lynn Canal, around Douglas Island, and then north via Gastineau Channel. Juneau, of course, is Alaska’s capital city, but there are no roads leading to it. One can reach Juneau only by sea or air. One of the primary sights to see here is Mendenhall Glacier about a half-hour’s bus ride north of Juneau. While this isn’t the most spectacular of glaciers, it is certainly one of the most accessible. Stretching 12 miles from the Juneau Icefield to Mendenhall...