Aug 6

Skagway is rural. The houses seem like the houses you might see around here – but not as nice. We like the town, but with the cruise ships coming in each day it obviously is touristy. Each cruise ships unloads 1,200 people. Today four or five ships were docked in the harbor. The little town of 600 gets swamped, but they know how to funnel the tourists down the flower-lined streets to their shops. The cruise ships help but spacing their arrivals.Can you imagine our towns being bombarded with more than 4,000 tourists each day. The funny thing is these tourists are in town for just a couple hours and then they head out for their next port of call. They just leave their money and sail off. It’s a strange concept.

As Steve probably mentioned, this morning at 8:00, we left Skagway on a 65 ft.catamaran for a trip to Juneau. We cruised down the Lynn Canal gliding through the 7,000 - 8,0000 ft. mountains that towered on both sides of the fjord. Great trip! We saw sea lions lazing on the rocks, the Eldred Rock Lighthouse, humpback whales, waterfalls, harbor seals and even a rogue sea otter that was floating on his back light a little fat man in a swimming pool. His legs stuck right up out of water! The highlight? The Davidson Glacier and the Rainbow Glacier.

When we arrived at the shore, a bus driver met us to take us in to the city. Turns out he’s from Boston. I guessed that by his accent!

The governor’s mansion is not as nice at our governor’s, but, of course, the Alaska’s governor’s view is better. The capitol building isn’t as nice as Augusta’s or Providence’s either! Juneau isn’t nearly as large as I had guessed it would be, but boy do they have flowers!

We had lunch at a cool restaurant, the Red Dog Saloon, a bar that has been operating since the God Rush Days. The decorations are a riot. Although my pulled pork sandwich was good, I think Bray’s in Naples serves a better pulled pork sandwich!

While we were in Juneau, we spent an interesting visit at the Alaska State Museum which offers a wide collection of Alaska’s indigenous people – especially the Athabascans and the Tlingits as well as a great diorama of animals such as the eagle, brown bears, wolves, black-tailed deer and wolves.
Of course, the museum offers lots. One section of the museum is dedicated to the early explorers of
Alaska the Russians. One section is dedicated to Alaska’s maritime history The museum is fabulous.
After we left the museum, we visited the Mendenhall Glacier, one of the 38 large glaciers that flow from the 5,000 mile expanse of the Juneau Icefield. We learned that gravity pullsthe ice down its 13 and a half mile trip down to Mendenhall Lake. In 1879, John Muir named it Auke Glacier after the Tlinget Indians, but the name was changed to honor the man who surveyed the boundary between Canada and Alaska. Personally, I think the name Auke Glacier should have remained.
Met a couple of friendly ladies who remember when the glacier went all the way to the parking lot! Since they were kids in the 1950s, the glacier has shrunk more than a mile! They took our picture in front of the glacier.
On the way home, we sat with a great young couple who live in the Yukon. They were so friendly they even invited us to park our camper at their house on our way back home! Meeting all these nice people really makes the trip even nicer than it already is.
Talking about nice... on the way back to Skagway from Haines, we were served salmon chowder by a sweetheart of a young woman who works on the Fjord Express, the catamaran we took. For those who know Liz Rolerson – that is who this woman resembles in every way. She really made the trip even more special! Good day.....