Colorado Cruiser: Day 5

Day 5 - Juneau Alaska and Mendenhall Glacier

After the morning's grueling search for sustenance, we decided to meet in the deck 2 card room to play a few hands of cards. There was another group of ladies quietly playing a Hawaiian card game that I'd never heard of.

We dealt out skip bo cards and within minutes we were laughing and joking and probably destroying they ladies hopes of a quiet morning. They didn't seem to mind too much and even joined in a few times. We played two hands and I won both. I had to mention my winning because I never win games.

After our card game, Shauna, Eric, John and I went to deck 4 and walked all the way forward to the open deck to watch the ship pull into Juneau. It was a little chilly but not really cold. Low 60s or high 50s. It was beautiful watching the mountains and many waterfalls roll past us in the narrow channel. It began to rain and the deck very quickly cleared of most people, but a bunch of us stayed out. The rain didn't last long, but it was a sign of what we'd face later in the day.

Once the ship slowed to an absolute crawl to enter the city we left to get lunch and prepare for our shore excursion.

Our ship has a nice feature where they can close a rolling roof over the pool area to keep it warm. The roof has been broken since we set sail, so few people could eat out on the pool deck because it was so cold and windy. Last night they must have finally fixed the motors because the roof was closed and the area was warm. We quickly grabbed a large table and had a great meal with views of the city and a couple of other ships in port.

They announced that the ship was docked and ready to disembark at 1:00 but we waited a bit longer to avoid the crush of people. When we did leave 30 minutes later we were able to stroll off without a big line. But, according to John, we still didn't wait long enough because the guy in the Eagle suit was still on the dock insisting that we take pictures with him. John just walked on past so the eagle started quaking and making a fuss. I said "Look out John or he'll give you the bird!" - - yes, it's gotten to that level of sub humor with us.

We wandered through the touristy shops surrounding the docs and discovered a few things.

1) Yesterday the ship had a "blowout sale" where they sold hats and shirts for $10 that everyone thought was a great price. Today we found those exact same shirts and hats in a shop at 3 for $9.99. Even what seemed a great deal on the ship really wasn't.

2) Our ship provided tours were over double the price of the same tours available on the pier. John said the real difference is that if our tour gets stuck somewhere, they will hold the boat for us because it's a tour they provided. If if we get stuck on our own tour, the ship sets sail and you have to figure out for yourself how to get back to the ship.

After we'd wandered around and bought some caramel corn, we boarded our bus up to Mendenhall Glacier. Our bus driver was a life long native of Juneau. He said there are only 3 ways to arrive in Juneau. Boat, Airplane, or Birth Canal. Everything in Juneau has to be shipped in, including the huge number of buses bringing tourist up to see the glacier.

Our driver gave us a running commentary on the buildings, mountains, flora, fauna, and people of Alaska. At one point we crossed a bridge and he told us to look to the right up the little stream. There were 20 or 30 Bald Eagles sunning themselves all along the banks of the stream. He said the eagles fish there allot and stop to dry their feathers off after eating their catch.

So far, other than the 5 minute shower in the morning, the weather had been very nice. Temps around 60 degrees, but no wind and no harsh sun. But just as we pulled into the parking lot for the glacier the rain began to fall. It came down hard and thick. We had 90 minutes to see the glacier before he'd return to pick us up.

I had a good warm and water proof coat, but I'd forgotten my hat. Nan's coat was warm and had a hood, but it wasn't water proof. Only Shauna had remembered her umbrella. So we sloughed our way out the trail to the first scenic vista. I had my waterproof camera so we used it to take pictures of everyone.

About that time Eric remembered that he had a spare beanie that he lent me to keep my head warm. It helped as we walked to the next spot. On the way there, we passed a trail that lead off to a big waterfall that we could see over beside the glacier. It said it took 45 minutes round trip to get out there so we all decided to skip a 45 minute rain drenching.

We took more pictures of both the glacier and the water fall, then headed to the visitor center. We opted to wait in a short line and ride the elevator up rather than climbing more stairs in the rain. Someone said it was the first visitor center ever constructed. I'm not sure if its true, but is a nice one.

We listened as a native american park ranger told the story of her people and how the russians tried to dominate the area. We watched a movie about the glaciers in the area and how much has changed. Like most recent movies, it ended with a global warming theme.

The rain had slowed a bit by the time we left the visitor center to find our bus. We rode back into town and saw more eagles by that same stream. Then the bus driver took us over the bridge to the island across the fjord and back. He said that was a special treat for us because we were such a good audience.

Back on the docks it was now 5:00. We had tickets to take a tram to the top of the mountain, but they were good all day so we opted to go back on the ship for dinner rather than paying for it here in Juneau. We all went to our rooms to get dry things on, dump goodies, and take a short break. I took a 10 minute nap and felt much better afterward.

Our original dining table had been against a bulkhead with no view at all. John had gone to the steward to ask for a change, and the other night we'd received notice that we were now at table 12. It turns out that table 12 is on the port side with a beautiful big window beside us. Even though we'd all eaten beef nearly every meal since we began this vacation, most of us had the prime rib for dinner.

For desert, I had the cheese and fruit tray again. There were some great cheeses, and the fruit to go with it was good too, especially the apricot jam. The others just look at me like I'm nuts.

We left the ship again after dinner and walked over to the tram. Shauna and Angela were a bit worried about the ride, but was very smooth. There are no poles holding the cables, so the car didn't do the rumble thump like ski lifts and other trans do. It was just a slow and smooth take off and a gentle lift the whole way up. It was a great view from the top as well.

We wandered around the gift shop for a bit, then Shauna, Eric, and I went to watch the movie. It was a more dramatized and stylistic retelling of the Tlingit people and how Alaska came to be in the hands, first of the russians, then the americans.

By the time we rode the tram back down, it was nearing time for the ship to leave. I found Nan in our room, already in her robe, enjoying her coloring book and watching something on TV. I wasn't quite ready to call it a night (which is why this blog didn't come out yesterday), so I left again. I listened to the blues band, then watched about 10 minutes of the magician. When the magician's first trick was pouring milk out of an empty pitcher, I knew it wasn't a show for me. He did have some good dexterity control, but most of the tricks were pretty basic.

I wandered up to the Crow's Nest. There were some empty seats by the front window so I took one and another couple took the ones beside me. After about 10 minutes a group came over and told us we'd taken their seats. They'd left nothing and no one to reserve the seats, so I looked at the other couple and we all kind of agreed that no, we weren't giving up our seats just because they felt entitled to them. They walked away in a huff.

I read a book on my phone and watched as the ship very carefully maneuvered away from the dock, spun 180 degrees and left the same way we'd come in. The sun finally set and I started to yawn, so it was time to head to sleep. I still stood on our veranda for 30 minutes watching the houses slide past before slipped into bed and quickly fell asleep.

Sailing up the Fjord toward Juneau