Day Nine

Augh, I think I'm wearin' out. Last night we swam with Jed and Rachel at our hotel pool. 

Today we are going to meet Rachel downtown and have breakfast and shop. We've been using a lot of public transit. 

We had a great breakfast at the Sandpiper and walked around twin and saw the shops. I bought s soapstone salmon and socks for a souvenir. 

Rachel has to walk a jiilion stairs to work each day. Goodbye sweet Rachel. We love you!

Thanks for the great time in Juneau. 

Day Eight

What a cute tour guide. Rachel gave a very wonderful commentary as we traveled along to see the State Museum, the Mendenhall Glacier, and the Salmon Hatchery. 

As a seamstress, I am impressed with clothing that is constructed for a specific purpose. Waterproof clothing was made of seal gut with tiny stitches and a unique  seam technique. 

We saw a beautiful video at the visitors center with amazing footage of the wildlife. The falls at the glacier was pretty, but there were skads of people. 

Rachel did a nice smooth tour and chatted, using warm friendly humor and fun stories (which may or may not have been true).

The salmon hatchery was informative and it was amazing to see the salmon go up the ladders. There were tanks inside that had the baby fish that they will allow to grow and then release into the ocean   

Whale watching was a lot of fun and we saw a gam of whales that fish together. The group consisted of about 15 whales. It was fascinating to watch. 

We also saw sea lions. 

For dinner we ate at Tracy's Crab Shack. - great crab. 

Day Seven

The first thing in the morning we met Rachel on the bus going out to Mendenhall glacier. We met her friend Jonathan and his fiancée Emily who joined us on a hike. We got out at Montana road and hiked all the way up to the Mendenhall glacier and under one side into some magnificent ice caves. 

Words and pictures cannot describe it - magnificent, magical, a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Day Six

We started out with a great breakfast at our bed and breakfast.  We then walked downtown and found the trail that went up over Mitka Island past the ball fields and past the airport.

We arrived at Sandy Beach Park and went down to the beach to see some icebergs. It was pretty amazing for two people who had never touched icebergs before. 

Our visit with LeRoy and Samantha at the Waterfront Inn was delightful. LeRoy was quite the character and told us about his heart attack and diabetes. Samantha was a little Irish lady probably about 4'5" tall. Both were very friendly and LeRoy even shared some of his smoked salmon and saltines with us. 

We boarded the Fairweather Alaska ferry to get to Juneau. We GET TO SEE RACHEL!!!

On the ferry ride we saw beautiful scenery and probably about 20 whales. We saw them come up out of the water flip their tails, use their blowholes, and submerge. I even saw one rolling and slapping his flippers on the water. He was quite the show off.

Rachel and Jedediah picked us up at the ferry terminal and took us to a salmon fish hatchery, which was fascinating. We went on the Flume Trail and through downtown Juneau. We ate at the Hanger Restaurant.  It was really good and then they brought us back to our hotel out in the valley near Mendenhall glacier.