Friday, August 28, 2009

Vacation, part three- Juneau

Sunday we docked in Juneau. The sea was rough, and it took the captain longer than anticipated to dock. Steph went off on a hike with a group, and Manda, Linda and I went on a bus trip to Glacier Gardens and the Mendenhall Glacier. The plants about were part of the gardens.
That's Manda in front of some flowers- southeastern Alaska is actually part of a rain forest!
There's a waterfall in the back of this picture, and a pond.
It was drizzley, so we all had windbreakers over sweatshirts. Temp was in the 50-60's.
They took us up the mountain in trams and golf carts. Devil's claw leaves are covered with tiny stickers and the guide told us they are quite painful. They also said that 2 of every 3 Alaskan blueberries have worms! The Alaskans soak them in salt water to bring out the worms before eating them. We decided we'll pass on Alaskan blueberries!
I never expected to see ferns in Alaska!
The view from the top of the mountain. On a clear day, it's supposed to be spectacular. That day, not so much.
We were way, way up the mountain!
Then the bus took us to see Mendenhall Glacier. There were people kayaking, and they got blown so far out that a motorboat had to go rescue them! Another view that would be spectacular except for the weather.
Another view of the glacier and icebergs. When we got back the ship, we skipped going into Juneau- it was just too rainy and dreary to shop. Dinner that night was strawberry soup, tomato and mozzarrella salad, veggie chili, and tiramasu. Usually we'd each have something different and taste everything.
We went to a show that night in the theatre called Piano Man. It was a tribute to Billy Joel, Elton John, Ray Charles. The singers and dancers were really good.
And we had a little elephant waiting for us! Monday, the seas and winds were so bad that the ship couldn't get into the harbor at Skagway, so it became a sea day, and we were taken to see fjords and a glacier. It was very blue, and gorgeous, even with the awful weather.
The scenery was beautiful. For dinner Monday I had exotic fruit, cranberry-mango soup, turkey, and chocolate cake. After dinner we skipped the country western show and went in the pool and jacuzzi, which felt wonderful on my knee. As it got later, the seas and winds increased. The pool became a wave pool, and you had to hold onto walls to walk. Manda and Steph felt sick from the movement.
Little icebergs that came off the glacier.

I'll be back with part four!

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