Juneau

Peter and I have a goal of visiting all 50 state capitals. I really never thought that we would make it to Juneau but I am happy to say that Juneau is the 25th state capital that we have visited. It was cool and rainy when we disembarked. Knowing we had only four hours in Juneau, it was important for us to see the state capital of the 49th state of the United States, find wifi so we could check mail, and have a little time to shop so we decided to hire a cab to take us up to the capital building. We tired to hire two different cabs and they told us that the state capital was closed for renovations and that we could not get to it due to road closures. Being stubborn as we are, we ignored them and hiked up a hill a little less than a mile in the spitting rain to the capital building. The front entrance was completely covered in scaffolding but we followed the signs that led us to a side entrance. Many of the capital buildings that we have visited have security screening and have armed policeman throughout. In Juneau, we walked right in, found the visitors desk and went on a wonderfully engaging tour of the building with just one other couple. Our tour guide was very knowledgable and answered all of our questions with no problem. She was a college graduate who's father was the states chief bridge engineer. The construction that we saw on the front of the capital building was very extensive and it was for earthquake reinforcement. Juneau is a relatively small place with only 32,000 residents. The price that The United States paid for Alaska was a little over $7,000,000 which equates to about 2 cents an acre. What a bargain and to think that Alaska only became a state in 1959 when Peter and I were rambunctious youngsters. When the tour guide found out that we were from Texas, she waisted no time telling us that if you split Alaska into two sections, they would both be larger than Texas.

Stuart Glacier

When navigating through the inside passage, each cruise ship picks up a maritime pilot to make sure that the ships safely navigates the narrow water ways. We had one pilot while cruising in Canadian waters and a different pilot while cruising American waters. The pilot we had and the conditions of the water on this day made it possible for us to get within two miles of Stuart Glacier. We saw much bigger ice bergs and many more seals than we had seen at Hubbard Glacier. In one of the pictures below you will have to look closely but there are 10 seals of various sizes lounging on the ice. The ice bergs were of various shapes, sizes and colors. The blue color in the ice was a surprise to me. I was mesmerized by both the colors and textures of the ice and could have spent the day there instead of an hour or so. As you can tell, we got fairly close to many of the bergs. The phrase "tip of the ice berg" has a new meaning to me now!

Hubbard Glacier

Hubbard Glacier was breathtaking. Due to the large ice bergs near the glacier, the ship was only able to get within seven miles of the glacier. I can not imagine how massive it would have appeared if we were within a mile or two. Hubbard Glacier was six miles wide and we were told the ice that is at its mouth was 400 years old. As we approached the glacier, the ship entered what is called the ice box. The ice box was full of thousands of ice bergs. It is hard to understand how big these ice bergs are because there is nothing to reference there size. The pictures speak for themselves.

Day Two

After sailing through the night, our first stop was Hoonah, Alaska which is located on Icy Strait. When we disembarked and arrived on shore the tide was out. Apparently this was a super tide and it allowed us to get up close and personal with marine life that we might not have otherwise seen that included live barnacles, muscles, snails, anemone and kelp. Peter and I found it fascinating. While in Hoonah, we took a tram ride through a temperate rainforest which is part of the Tongass National Forest.

Our stateroom

Our stateroom was 200 sq. feet but as you can see by the picture, it seems much bigger than that because of the balcony. We really enjoyed the balcony. There were so many things that we saw just sitting on the balcony or from the sofa. Since we were so far north, it was daylight until almost 11:00 several nights and the sun rose before 5:00 a.m. each morning so we went to sleep with incredible views and woke up to incredible views. The extra price for the balcony stateroom was actually priceless.

Thanks for the hot shower Albert and Mai!

As many of you know, Peter and I scheduled a seven day Alaskan inside passage cruise. The flood put a small kink in our preparation for the cruise because we had no electricity to do laundry or take a hot shower for the 3 days before we left. Thankfully, one of Peter's coworkers invited us to spend the night with his family and even let us catch up on our laundry. We were so thankful that we had clean clothes and a hot shower to begin our vacation.

Temporary Halt Due to Raging River!

I am so glad that I posted pictures of Princes's Island last week because as I write this, the island is totally aubmerged in meters of fast flowing water. Those beautiful flowers and multitudes of geese are no longer there. Peter and I have been without power since Friday at 7:00 a.m. but so far so good. We can not even begin to compain when we have not lost one thing and the upside is that we have talked more in the last few days than we have in months! We still like each other!! We fly out tomorrow for a cruise in Alaska and western British Columbia. I will post when I can but will catch up when I get back in about 10 days! Conintue to pray for those who have lost everything. This flood has affected tens of thousands of people.