Still in Juneau

Today we took MinnieMee over to Bob and Val's because we planned to boondock there for the night. We wanted to explore the town, and we could hop a bus a block or so down from their house.

As it was, Val offered to take us downtown and drop us off, which was great. Before she dropped us off, though, she took us around the downtown area showing us everything of interest. Juneau is

built between the water and the mountain and houses are built going up the mountain in the rock. The streets are very narrow and are usually two-way! LOL It was a bit hair-raising! Some of the streets were extremely steep and combine that with the narrow width, it was quite an adventure. Fantastic views of town graced every turn in the road. She took us by the Governor's Mansion, which was really beautiful, the Wickersham National Historic Site, the Russian Orthodox Church and into several residential areas which are restored homes previously owned by mine executives when the gold mine here was active. Regular tourists never see this part of Juneau and it was a real treat to have someone show it to us.

She took us up to the area where the gold mine was. I think they may still do tours of the area, but a lot of the hiking trails have been closed because of the dangers of falling into holes resulting from the deterioration of the mine tunnels. Several shafts are visible, but sealed up and we went to one of those.

Val dropped us off at the Red Dog Saloon which is downtown. I had wanted to go there because the "logo" is a Scottie dog. I shopped till I dropped in there! Hah. We walked around the area for a while and then came back and ate a lite lunch at the Red Dog. Food was not spectacular, but it was good.

We hopped a bus back to Bob and Val's and visited with them for a bit. Val fixed us hamburgers on the grill and salads, so we ate our fill and played with Maggie, their Keeshond. Afterwards we again got into Val's car for more sightseeing. She took us to the "other" side of the Mendenhall Glacier and got some good pix from a different angle.

Eventually we made it back home and into bed in MinnieMee. We have an early start in the morning by checking into the ferry terminal at 6:30 a.m. so we wanted to get some sleep.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Juneau, Alaska

We arrived in Juneau Sunday night and went straight to bed. The next morning we got up and broke camp. We drove over to Bob and Val's house. Bob and Terry were in cancer treatment together in Houston 2 1/2 years ago and we wanted to visit with him since we were here.

So we met up with them at their house which was literally across the street from the campground and they told us what not to miss on our day out in the city. We didn't plan to do the downtown the first day, but wanted to see some other sites first. . . like the Mendenhall Glacier. We went there first. It was only about 1 1/2 miles from their house and we had ample parking for MinnieMee. The glacier is very large with a waterfall to the side. The lake, known as Mendenhall Lake, has icebergs in it and is extremely cold. Brrrrrr. We hiked out to a photo point for closer pictures, but we didn't hike to the falls. A bit too far.

On the way back to the motorhome, we found a face staring at us from the ditch. A huge porcupine. Terry had been wanted to see one, but I didn't think we would get the chance. He was very pretty and I got one picture of his face before he hid in the culvert. After that, all I could see were his back and tail. LOL

We drove on toward town and stopped at the fish hatchery. We crossed Salmon Creek and could see the salmon running, so found the RV lot and parked. Walking up to the building, we passed by the fish wier, or ladder. Similar to Valdez, they collect thousands of fish into the fish ladder where they are routed up into holding tanks. Once the fish have produced eggs, they herd them into a tank and zap them with electricity to stun them. They they harvest the eggs and fertilize them by squeezing the sperm from the male fish. Then the fish are sent overseas where it is determined if they are fit for "human use." But they primarily are used in the production of pet food. I didn't quite get this at all. I inquired where they got the salmon they sold in their gift store and they told me. . . "from out there" and motioned to the harbor. LOL I'm thinking. . . hmmmm. At Valdez, the fish are processed and sold in their retail outlet. I'm a little bit mystified by the procreating of "pet food fish." Why don't they fertilize and produce salmon fit to eat? Something tells me they do. Sounds like a coverup. LOL

We drove downtown Juneau in MinnieMee and decided (as we were told) there was no place to park, but we got a feel for the place just the same. We checked out the creek on the way back and watched salmon going up the creek. These were ones which managed to avoid the fish ladder.

Later, Val and Bob came by and took us out sightseeing. Since it is light way late, it offers a good bit of time in the evening to see stuff. We went and visited the Chapel by the Lake and the Shrine of St. Therese. Both very impressive. We took pictures from several coves and Eagle Beach which has. . . EAGLES! There were both adults and juveniles. We continued to drive out till the road ends. Near the end we found a guy taking pictures. We stopped and he showed us an eagle nest. One of the adults was there and there were two babies in the nest. They were pretty good size and appeared to be plucking out their downy fluff as their feathers were coming in.

It was a great evening with great friends. We got back to the rig close to 11 p.m. but we had seen a lot!






Till next time. . .

Dale

Around Homer. . .

We planned to go by ferry to Seldovia today, but when we got to the dock, we found out the ferry does not run on Monday and Tuesday. So we decided to spend the time exploring Homer today and go to Seldovia tomorrow.

It didn't take long to do Homer. :-) It, like most Alaska towns, is not large and it doesn't take long to see all there is to see. . . or at least a lot of it. This is not a criticism. Alaska is really only sparsely populated and if you come up here and expect very large cities at every turn in the road, you will be disappointed. We, on the other hand, find the communities to be quaint , charming and interesting. A lot of people working in the shops here are not Alaskans by birth, but came up here for some other reason and have stayed.

We got a shot of one of the glaciers that is visible from the spit. I actually got a better picture of it from town. And the eagles were on their nests again, so I got some shots of them. We do have some large military planes that fly around here. There obviously is an airbase close by.

Hopefully if the weather holds out, we will be able to go to Seldovia tomorrow.

Till next time. . .

Dale