On Sunday in Juneau, Aunt Liz, Pat, Gloria, Denny and I signed up for a bus tour and a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. Our driver was a native and had some real cute stories and facts. We stopped by a fast moving river and saw some very large Salmon. After a very interesting tour of the city we ended up at the Glacier. Pat and Gloria went on a trail and Pat got a picture of a Bear catching a Salmon in the river.
Denny, Aunt Liz and I went to the observation deck to see the Glacier. My friend, Carol had been to this same place about 10 years before and the glacier has really melted. You really start to believe in global warming when you see what is happening in Alaska.
The stores are really geared towards all the cruise ships that dock in the summer. Our guide told us that the town almost shuts down in the winter.
Monday found us in Skagway. This town reminded me of the show "Northern Exposure" and this past year "Men in Trees". They both were to have been of living in Alaska.
Donna, Heidi and I took a short bus ride into the town. We walked and shopped. We stopped at a local bakery for a wonderful cinnamon roll. We found a bench to sit on and a little girl stopped by with a beautiful dog that was half wolf. At 12:30 we took a bus out to the edge of town to a Glass Blowing tour. We started off with a wonderful lunch in a very intimate setting.
We had Cauliflower cheese soup, a garden salad that was grown right there and a Zueckeenie Quiche that was wonderful. For desert we had cake with Rhubarb sauce. After lunch we went into a building a joined a tour group. We were each able to help make our own glass blown ornament or paper weight. It really was one of the highlights of the entire cruise for me. they shipped what each of us had made to our home. Mine is a cobalt blue with Gold leaves. I just love it. Then we were able to go out and tour the grounds. It is a huge acreage of very manicured plants and flowers. These gardens were just breathtaking.
Linda, Aunt Liz and I almost always ate breakfast in the Windjammer Buffet. There we would run into more of the ones from our group. Sometimes we would just find extra chairs and join them. So many choices of things to eat. Lots of fruit, lots of choices of eggs, meat, bakery items, potatoes and much more.
The shower for Heidi and Chad (& Marshall) was fun and so was the birthday party for Relia. The ship had one channel on the TV that showed "Ozzie and Harriet" reruns all day long. That show was on when I was a teenager. Long, long time ago.
The shows in the theatre were very good. They had the Royal Carribean singer and dancers. Very entertaining. Linda, Pat, Gloria, Darcy, Denny and I went to the Karoke to see Peder when he was chossen to be in the finals. I was so prould of him. He is a beautiful singer. I had to be reminded a few times though that this was just for fun. Some of the ones up there were very hard to listen to.
Peder and Sarah both made it to the top of the climbing wall. Linda and I let Relia walk us around while this was taking place.
One afternoon, Linda, Aunt Liz, Denny, Jerry, Donna and I all decided to go to the hot tub. The one we all got into wasn't working so we went to the other one. Needless to say the two guys who were in that one soon left. I wonder why?????
I bought a beautiful pair of Forget-me-not earrings. That is the state flower. (The dainty blue blossoms of the forget-me-not blanket the high mountain meadows and the Arctic tundra. Its hardiness and beauty capture the spirit of Alaska.)
The beauty of the water and the mountains with the cloud formations were so breathtaking. Sometimes the water was clear and smooth and sometimes it was like gail force.
I am so glad to have gotten a chance to spend some time with Linda. And Aunt Liz is always a fun room mate. She really does make the most of what she likes to do on the cruise.
It was also fun to see Brian again. We always like to go to the Pike's Market. And I also bought some blue glass at the Japanese dollar and a half store.
It was a very, very fun time.
2 years ago
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