Serendipity!

Bonnie here:

    It's funny how things turn out. Our original plan for the day was to take the Fjord Express on the Lynn Canal to Juneau to revisit the Alaska Museum and Mendenhall Glacier. Well, Steve and I hadn't made our reservations ahead of time, and the catamaran was full. We had to change our plans. Good thing we did because our day has been amazing.
    After a delicious breakfast at the Chilkat Restaurant and Bakery, we drove out to Chilkoot Lake  Road along the Chilkoot River where we saw lots of people fishing and catching lots of fish. You can see the fish jumping right out of the water. Really.
     The people weren't the only ones catching the fish. We also came across a momma grizzly and her two cubs who were frolicking, swimming, climbing on the rocks and fishing. I've never been so close to bears in my life. They were busy looking for salmon so we were safe, but we were just about 30 ft away. Amazing.
    We found a museum, too. The Seldon Museum here in Haines was a delightful find. They offer a lot about Native culture as well as about pioneer culture. So not only did we enjoy a bear encounter, we found an interesting museum as well.
    And there is more. We discovered Fort Seward which was considered a "foreign duty" post in the 1920s. In WW1 it was used for a training base for Alaska recruits. In WW11 it was used as a rest area for the military who served in the North Pacific. Well, after WW11, the military no longer need to use it so five military vets and their families bought the 400 acres and the 85 buildings and moved to start a new life in Haines. I love that story. These folks moved here and became a part of the town.
     I think Haines might be my favorite Alaskan town. Picture Camden, Maine with eagles, bears, so many salmon you couldn't catch them all and surround it with snow-capped mountains that are home to ice fields. It's beautiful here, but our family and friends are NOT here so tomorrow we head across that big country called Canada!