A view of Juneau
Today, Thursday, June 18, was the best day we have had so far! We woke up to find the ship anchored at the docks in Juneau. What a wonderful sight! Quaint, picturesque houses set to the backdrop of gorgeous mountains and trees were so wonderful to see.
Our excursion for the day was a Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest that included a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. Learning about glaciers and actually being in such close proximity to one was a wonderful experience.
However, the icing on the cake was a boat trip from Juneau and the Auke Bay into the Lynn Canal. The focus of the entire trip was to find Alaskan Wildlife in its natural habitat. It was so exhilarating to see the sea lions, bald eagles, Dall’s porpoise, and best of all MY whale (several really) made appearances to show off and play a bit. Actually they were busy making feeding dives for food.
I was thrilled to have finally seen “real” ocean living humpback whales including a mother and her calf. It was so
much fun! There was at least as much excitement as one would expect at the OU/UT football game!!! The quest ended with a trip to the Orca Point Lodge for a dinner of smoked halibut.(photo at left)
We enjoyed Juneau and the bit of shopping we had time for. As I mentioned above the town is beautifully quaint and because it is the almost totally un-accessible capitol of Alaska it was the most updated/modern city after Anchorage and Fairbanks. There was even a Wal-Mart there! Our bus driver told us that there are only 3 ways to get to Juneau—airplane, boat, or birth. No, Gov. Palin does not live there at all despite its being the capitol.
We will be making more memories tomorrow (Friday). I look forward to sharing.
Nicki
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