Fleet Week... awesome day!!!

So my Aunt and I the other day made last min plans to head to the city for Fleet Week. We thought that taking the ferry would be best to save the headache of traffic and the headache of parking fees. So we took the 12:10pm ferry out of Alameda with perfect blue skies out. There was fog in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Bridge, but that wasn't going to affect us. We got to Pier 41 around 1:15pm and the air show had started. We saw the Coast Guard helicopter and one jet doing their thing while we were still on the ferry. When we got off we decided to walk past Fisherman's Wharf and down toward the Aquatic Park. The place wasn't too bad, because the hoards of people were mainly at the end of all their piers already watching the show. So the streets were full of people, but not as bad as I was expecting. We eye-balled some of the food on the way, but we hate eating and walking, so we wanted to find a place to settle first.

We wound up down the Hyde Street Pier which is where the vessels of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park are docked. We saw how packed the lawns were at the Aquatic Park, and this pier wasn't bad. We saw what I think may have been the Patriot Jet Demonstration Team do their formation flying as we were scoping out the pier. But we were getting hungry and had about 45 mins until the Blue Angels did their thing. So we popped into Capurro's to have some beer battered shrimp and a soda at the bar. Then we headed back to our spot at the end of the Pier right next to Balclutha, which one day I'll actually step foot on. And a little while later the Blue Angels started doing their thing. They are always super impressive, and it's all the more exciting when they are flying right over your heads and crossing right in front of you. I also love the loud roar they make, it just gets your blood flowing. It made me miss when the Alameda Naval Air Station was still active and you would hear jets take off and land every day. I grew up listening to that and I loved it. The show lasted about 45 mins and we let the crowd disperse before thinking about our next plan. We played tourist and had someone take our pic with Alcatraz in the background and watched at several tugs turned the SS Jeremiah O'Brien around and put back onto it's dock after it's final cruise of the weekend.

We walked up to Ghirardelli Square to check it out. But really not a lot of shops to wander these days, it's more about the restaurants. On our way out of there, we started hearing a lot joyous hollering from a group of guys telling everyone that the Giants had won. Clapping was heard from all around the park. Anyway... I was starving at this point, so we decided to have dinner upstairs at Alioto's, which I love. Plus I've been having a craving for clam chowder lately, so that was going to get satisfied today. It was about a 30 min wait, but that seemed to fly by. We got a table by the window overlooking a marina and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. At the time, the shades were pulled low because the sun was shining in. But by the time we finished our clam chowder, the sun was setting and they raised the shades. We couldn't have had a better table. Then I had the shrimp louie, which was delicious.

After dinner we had almost an hour and a half to kill until our ferry. So we popped into the Musee Mechanique to see Laffing Sal (seen in Princess Diaries among other movies), and play a few of the toys. Then we headed down to Pier 39 to say Hi to the sea lions, but too dark at this point to get any pictures. Then we just quickly walked up the pier before getting in line for our 8:20pm ferry back to Alameda. We sat on the very back of the boat, outside, and had beautiful views of SF and the Bay Bridge on the way back. Really nice day, but had to slather my face with lotion when I got home... the one place I didn't put sunblock on. Dumb I know.

Yosemite 2010

About 2 weeks ago, Claire, Bobby and I decided to head to their family cabin in Foresta (Yosemite) for Easter weekend. I headed to their place on Thursday so we could finalize the menu, etc. Which basically means that they plan yummy food to cook, and I agree to eat it ;-) Then we hung out and played Wii for a while. My first time ever touching the thing, now I want one. We played bowling, archery, wakeboarding and frisbee. Fun stuff. Anyway...

So on Friday, we headed out early'ish and were on our way. Once we hit the entrance to the park, there was snow all around on the side of the road and in the trees. We stopped so I could take a picture. But then there was more snow to see from then on. Snow banks on the side of the road, then through the forest to the left and right. It was beautiful. The last time I recall seeing snow was at the far end of Horseshoe Lake, outside Mammoth Lakes, the last time I was there in 2008 I think. Once we hit Crane Flat, it was actually snowing, so I took some video. Then we got to the cabin and unpacked. There was no snow down in Foresta, but the weather was overcast. We decided to head down to the Valley since it was early in the day still. So we stopped at Bridalveil first. The last time I was there, the water was whisping off the top like some water through a fan. This time it was gushing down, which was great to see. We walked up to the viewing spot, in the rain, then continued on. We headed to the store in the valley and bought some last min food and stuff. I kept looking at the souvenirs and was inclined to buy something. I collect magnets, but have about 5 from Yosemite, so that was pointless. Plus, I figure that I am there every one or 2 years, so I can get stuff next time.

Back at the cabin, we settled in and they made a nice fire in the wood burning stove. Played some Scattergories, Skip-Bo, etc. And they prepped the most amazing looking Enchiladas Verde, with homemade pinto beans and Mexican rice. All made from scratch, starting with the salsa verde for the enchiladas. And me even shucking some fresh peas from their pods for the rice dish. Although my main contribution was continually reading the recipes during the process :-) Unfortunately, I started to not feel well, so headed to bed without eating dinner. It was warm up in the loft with the wood stove shooting all the heat up there. But I adjusted to it.

Saturday (late) morning we headed out to the Ahwanee to check it out (not the first time of course), just because it's beautiful. Then headed to the Valley and had a chicken/mushroom/cheese pizza down there that was pretty good. Then wandered the Native American museum and village. After we went down to check out the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, which were gushing. So we walked the path to the Lower Falls. There was a ton of snow of the ground around the path which was beautiful. Then took a few customary pictures and headed on our way. We drove around the Valley just because. And in doing so, we saw a coyote in a field, so we pulled over and watched it for a while. Then saw a few deer laying down in the distance. Claire and Bobby decided to rent bikes for an hour (which we all did several years ago together) but I opted out this time. So they did that, and in the meantime I wandered a few shops at the Yosemite Lodge, got a snack and sat and watched the ever changing Upper Yosemite Falls, Beautiful!! We headed back to the cabin after that.

Instead of another elaborate dinner, we had a recap of dinner the night before. Luckily, because I missed out. So the enchiladas, beans and rice were amazing. We had the fire stocked again, and very warm, to counter balance the supposed 25-30 degree weather outside. We enjoyed many bottles of wine and sparkling wine this trip, which was a nice change from beer and liquor. Nothing wrong with either. It was just a change :-) After keeping the loft window open for a while to cool me down as I tried to sleep, I closed it and went to bed.

Then it was the ritual of getting up to clean what you had dirtied before leaving the place. So we tidied up for an hour or 2 and headed on our way. Hours later we were back at their place watching the Sharks lose in OT, and eating an awesome spaghetti with homemade meatball and salad dinner :-) A very nice weekend!

Juneau

Today we got up and ready to leave the boat by 11am. My Mom, Aunt and I went down to the Mt Robert’s Tram first since the mountain was clear as a bell and not a cloud hovering over it. So we bought our tickets and headed up. We went and saw the Eagle they have in captivity up there. It’s the same one I saw last time up there. It was shot by someone with a BB gun 3 years ago, and is now blind in one eye. It can never live on it’s own again, so it is being taken care of. We were taking pictures of the view down to the cruise ship docks and town, when one young woman in her 20’s asked if we would like a pic of all 3 of us, which we did. We ended up chatting with her and her friend (pic below) a while who were both crew on one of the Princess Cruise ships below. Both work in the kid care/activity programs. And one wants to be a nurse, so that gave my Mom and her something to chat about for a few. That same woman just spent a year in Amsterdam, now the season on a ship, then Italy for a year starting in Sept, then a year in Africa for a year after that to help medical personal over there. Talk about ambition. Anyway, we saw what there was to see, did the gift shop thing, and headed back down. It was probably 2:30pm at this point and we hadn’t had lunch, so we were hungry. We ended up at the ‘Twisted Fish Company’ near the cruise ship docks. My Mom got the halibut pizza, my Aunt the smoked salmon and baby shrimp pizza, and I got the coconut salmon strips and the salmon croquettes. Everything was AMAZING! After eating we bought our round trip shuttle tickets to Mendenhall Glacier. So hopped on one a few minutes later and away we went. The sky was amazingly blue today and really warm, which is a far cry from the weather the last time I was enjoying these sites. So the glacier was as beautiful as I remember, only a lot more crowded with people. We only stayed half an hour, then headed back to town for some last min shopping. I got some salmon jerky for my Dad as a thanks for dog sitting Nala, a small gift for each of my friend’s kids (a snow globe and a wooden sea plane puzzle kit), something small for my Great Aunt (a notepad) and a few little things for me like an xmas ornament of Santa sitting on top of a sea plane. We also had to stop and take pictures with the statue of patsy Ann. She was a dog that back in the 30’s and 40’s welcomed all the cruise ships and passengers to the docks. We ended back up at ‘The Hangar on the Wharf’ for our dinner reservations. I had a cup of clam chowder and the halibut fish and chips. YUM!! We then made our way back to the boat for the last time. We packed all of our stuff up once we got back. And now I am up at 11:30pm, alone, burning the rest of all of our pics and videos to CDs to take home with us. I think I have 2 more to go, at about 45 mins, and then I can crash. So I am sitting here looking out into the darkness of the marina surrounded by mostly fishing boats. And don’t think I haven’t mentioned it yet, but man are there some hot fisherman up here. Everywhere I turn… yummy. Maybe I should move. Anyway… ;-) So I am looking out a these boats named things like ‘Teal’, ‘Heather Rayne’, ‘Sea Breeze’, ‘Tyler Too’, ‘Schy One’, ‘Troika’ and ‘Stellar’. And then this HUGE yacht that just docked today named ‘Sea Czar’, which I thought was a clever play on words. I decided I should be up by 9am so I can look for anything I forgot to pack, call for the cab, have our goodbye waffle breakfast my Step-Dad is going to make for us, then head to the airport. We fly out to Sea-Tac just before 1pm, will have a nice layover there to grab dinner, and get all the way home around 9pm. It’ll be good to get home and see my dog and stuff, but give me a week and I will wish I was on vacation again.

Tracy Arm Cove to Juneau

I woke up at 9am, of course right after my Aunt just saw and took pics of some Dall porpoises in the bow wake. Oh well. However, I did get to see a couple more whales blowing and swimming by in the distance. Just more sitting on the bow in the cold watching the water, jumping salmon, waves, cruise ships, and the many fishing boats that speckle the coast. We are still 2 hours out from Juneau, passing Taku Glacier (FAR into the distance) and listening to Phantom of the Opera. There are spots of blue sky here and there, so hopefully the weather is mild when we get into town late this afternoon/evening. My Aunt and I are going to treat my parents to dinner tonight and tomorrow night as a thank you for hosting us this week. So we arrived back to Juneau simple enough, around 2pm. We just kind of freshened up and went into town. We headed straight for the cruise ship doc to check out city/glacier tour info. But think we are jut going to take the shuttle back and forth to Mendenhall in the morning. So we just went shopping instead. When in this one large superstore of a souvenir shop (was kind of like the Hilo Hattie’s of Juneau, for those familiar with Hilo Hattie’s). They had several TVs on in the store playing various things. But one as on a news station playing Palin footage with the headlines “The Countdown” and “The Goodbye Girl”. I was fully aware that she was officially leaving office as of yesterday, but being out at sea for the last 6 days, it slipped my mind. So I thought it interesting that firstly, I was in Juneau at the time she left office (even if she was technically in Fairbanks). From talking to some people up here from cabbies to store employees to seeing some funny mockery of her on a store display (I have pics), I get the jist that she wasn’t well supported up here. Our can driver this morning even said that every house surrounding the Governor’s Mansion had Obama signed displayed. And secondly, I wasn’t aware until I got up here that this is the 50th Anniversary of Alaska’s statehood. Kind of some interesting memories for the trip. But anyway, we picked out a hole in the wall Mexican place called ‘El Sombrero’ for dinner, since the touristy saloon we wanted to eat at was a mad house. It was decent. Then stopped off at the restaurant we want to eat at tomorrow night (seafood place, on the water, overlooking the sea-plane dock) to make 7pm reservations. Then next door I bought a neat watercolor of Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm we just saw the other day. This artist does the watercolors of a place, overlaying a map of that location. I’ll have to take a picture of it to post. Outside that store was a newspaper stand, with the Juneau Empire (I think it’s called) with a pic of Palin and the headline “It’s Official”. I collect newspapers from when momentous things happen, so thought it would be cool to have the Juneau paper on the subject. And I accidentally pulled 3 newspapers out of the machine and not just one. They are thin, I didn’t notice. Ooops. We then walked back to the boat, after a quick detour to the local grocery store for some ice cream to bring back for dessert. But it’s now 11:30pm and I must crash so we can have one last full day tomorrow before I have to go home on Wed.

Outside Ford’s Terror, Dawes Glacier, Tracy Arm Cove

So, we had intended on leaving around 7am, but didn’t until almost 9am. I woke up a bit after that so wasn’t aware that the fog delayed us. But we headed off on our 3 hour ride to Dawes Glacier, in the sun. Again, just like 2 years ago. Funny we are having the same weather pattern. I joked that since we leave on Wed, and my Step-Bro and his girlfriend arrive on Saturday, that they may have the opposite weather pattern. Good weather at the beginning of the trip, and bad at the end. And they will likely have the same itinerary. We shall see. My Aunt and I thought it may be fun to meet up with them for dinner after they get back from their trip to compare notes on the 2 different vacations. But anyway… we made our way up within ½ a mile of the Glacier which is further than last time. There was a dense ice field up ahead which made our stopping point very specific. But we turned the boat off and just sat there for a while to take in the view and take the obligatory million photos. It was great the weather was so nice. And we played ball with Merlin on the bow, as a distraction to him wanted to play laser light with him. And for some reason I was his new best friend for doing that. On the way back I spotted 2 dolphins as we sat on the roof of the boat, but then they disappeared. And the only animal life we had seen up to this point was a handful of seals, a couple of eagles, a million other birds, some salmon and those dolphins. We were bummed about no whales. Well once we got back in the channel next to Sumdum (Some Dumb ;-) ) Glacier, I remembered that it was in that spot that a whale played around our boat on the last trip. And what do you know, my Step-Dad spotted a whale’s back and tail going into the water right in that area. The rest of us didn’t see it, so we put the boat in idle and went on the lookout. We ended up seeing its back and spout a few more times before we continued on our way back to the cove for the night. It was almost 5pm at that point and this is our last night anchoring out before heading back to Juneau. So my Aunt and I wanted to take the kayaks out one last time. So we put them in the water, and of course I tipped mine enough while getting in, to allow some water in. Well I got to sit in that the whole time. Lovely. But we spent an hour paddling around the bay, and my Aunt managed to get more water dumped on me in the kayak. Conspiracy I tell ya ;-) When we got back to the boat after 6pm it was time for some pork loin w/ chutney and some yams for dinner. No boxed dinners on this trip I tell you. We watched ‘The Reader’ after dinner which I thought was good. However, the timeline threw me off and after I got it straight once the movie was over, I wanted to see it again so it made more sense. One of these days. Well, I decided to type this up before crashing… and it’s now 11:35pm. So I am heading to bed, so I can be up and ready to enjoy our last 6-7 hours of cruising tomorrow.

Inside Ford’s Terror to Outside Ford’s Terror

So I woke up this morning to sunshine… amazing. And too funny because 2 years ago when I was here and my Step-Bro came with me, the same thing happened. We entered Ford’s Terror to a downpour and woke up the next day to sunshine. And I felt a little queasy when I woke up this morning, but 90% better than last night. We watched eagles fly around as we had cream of wheat for breakfast, and some chamomile tea for myself. Easy on the stomach. By mid-day the sun started to go away, but still warmer here at 63 degrees than it has been. We decided to take the dinghy down and go over to this gorgeous waterfall we saw on the way in. I just have to go get my warm clothes on. We also had to plan our itinerary for the next few days. Tonight will be our second to last night anchoring, and then 2 nights back in Juneau. Booo!!! We are on the downswing of the trip. Today we will play around in here, then pass Ford’s Terror passage between 4-5pm at high tide, then weather depending, go kayaking on the other side by the waterfalls. Then tomorrow start our day around 7am and head to Dawes Glacier. See that and then head back to Tracy Arm Cove for our last night anchoring out tomorrow. There was this sailboat in the bay when we exited Ford’s Terror and it looked like they were debating entering Ford’s Terror because of the way they were going around the bay. My Aunt and I hopped in the kayaks and were heading to this waterfall in the cove, which was past their boat. So we yelled Hello and asked if they were entering, but they said they couldn’t find the entrance and it was too late now because of the tide. So we continued along our way and headed toward the waterfall, but the tides were iffy so we turned around. Then there were some icebergs in the bay, so we paddled over to a few of them to get up close and personal and take pictures. We also saw a seal or 2 that kept popping up all over. After about an hour and 15 mins we headed back to the boat. When we got there, the couple from the sailboat had come on board and they were all visiting. They are from Switzerland and originally sailed from Europe, across the Atlantic and made their way to Hawaii, Canada and Alaska. Now they leave their boat here, and fly home every winter to work. They were telling the story about entering Alaska one time, and the humorous hassle with customs. And they said “Well I guess Canada is pretty lenient about people growing pot, and apparently they smuggle it on Swiss sailboats.” They were joking and it was pretty funny. The also told of their 19 day trip last year from New Zealand to the South Pacific. Interesting stuff. Then tonight was leftover night, and let’s just say that I won’t be eating last night’s leftovers in fear of getting sick again. After dinner we watched ‘Bedtime Stories’ which was cute. And we are anchored right next to a waterfall so I am listening to that as I type. I just went outside a few minutes ago and actually saw stars for the first time this trip, cool! Now tomorrow we leave at 7am, although I doubt I’ll be up that early.

Tracy Arm Cove to Ford’s Terror, Endicott Arm

We left a bit later today because be had to hit Ford’s Terror at high tide, which was around 4:15pm. You can not get through the passage at low tide because of the rocks. So we listened to ‘Twilight’ (in the cove with us again last night) hailing a boat in the channel about the weather. Apparently they are waiting on a sea plane to land in the channel (either picking up passengers or dropping off), well La Di Da ;-) So we made it by the swirling tides to get out of the cove, then on the way we went. 53 degrees out today, which is warm for out here. My Aunt and I sat on the bow for quite a while in a white out. So that meant we were on iceberg duty. It was hard to spot them up ahead as our visibility distance wasn’t so hot. It was pretty much just the misting fog for the most part. But then it started raining so we went inside for some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies my Mom made… as my Aunt snuck a spoonful of cookie dough and then licked the bowl. We had an hour to kill outside the Ford’s Terror narrows before high tide, so we took that time to anchor by the waterfalls and have egg salad sandwiches for lunch. And yes, I realize I mention food a lot in this blog, since we seemed to have yummy things to eat every time we turn around. So around 4:15pm at high tide we could finally get through Ford’s Terror. So we slowly made our way through. It was beautiful and pretty foggy, but we were just getting misted on and not rained on. The fjords around here are awesome, even in the rain. The tops are pretty obstructed by the fog but you still know how tall they are. I just had my Mom check on a map and as we came into Endicott Arm, the rock walls on one side were 5,200’ and on the other 5,700’. Amazing. And as we came into our cove past another dozen waterfalls, we ended up in a punchbowl of fog. There is a waterfall at one end of the cove, near where we anchor, that is pretty loud. Reminds me of the sound you enjoy in Hawaii of the waves crashing as you go to sleep. So we sit here and watch the fog roll in and out. Sometimes you can see the shore, and sometimes we’re in complete whiteness. Dinner tonight is crab linguini. About a pound of fresh crab they just got last week with some onion, butter and spices over linguini. Spells pretty good from where I sit…. OK, well it was delicious, but… I seemed to be the only one of the 4 of us that seemed to get a bout of food poisoning. OK, technically it couldn’t have been, unless they were immune, but that’s what it felt like and I was SO sick the rest of the night. Not fun, and could not fall asleep until super late because of it.

Tracy Arm Cove to Tracy Arm and back

Today I got up at 8:30am as usual, but was tired so went back to sleep until 10am when they started the motors. We were heading into Tracy Arm today to see if we could make it as far as the N and S Sawyer Glaciers. Two years ago when I was here, I think we made it half way, or maybe ¾ of the way there but ran into an ice field and decided to turn around before getting there. Today the icebergs were broken up pretty good and we made it all the way. I sat on the bow in my Coleman rain suit (wish I had that 2 years ago) and was bundled up pretty good. We passed probably 50 waterfalls from the tiny to the amazing. We ended up seeing the N Sawyer Glacier in the distance to the left first. But it was barricaded by an ice field and huge icebergs that our boat could not penetrate. So we headed off to the right to see S Sawyer Glacier. And as it became visible around the corner, it was awe inspiring. It was several hundred feet tall and the brightest blue. We’ll see if my pictures do it justice. It is the prettiest glacier I have seen so far in Alaska (yet only my 3rd or 4th). It was awesome. We turned off the boat just to look at it and take some pictures. Then we headed back the other direction (another 3-4 hours back) stopping to get up close to a few waterfalls along the way. We also saw the boat ‘Captain Cook’ in the arm with us, who 2 years ago pissed us off to no end. The boat was in the harbor in Juneau with us, when the captain or mechanic, decided at 1:30am to start trying to get his prop off with a metal mallet or sledgehammer. Oh, we were irritated. So when I saw him today, I was like, “Look, there is that asshole from 2 years ago!”. ‘Twilight’ also passed us in there as well. I decided to take a shower while underway, so that once we got back to our cove and anchored, we could have dinner. Got to love looking at waterfalls and beautiful scenery through the porthole in the shower. My Mom made some homemade chili and cornbread that I have smelled cooking all day. YUM!!! By the time 6:30pm rolled around, we were ready for bed. Although logic said we couldn’t crash that early. So my Step-Dad went to bed to read and crash and my Mom, Aunt and I watched ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ and ended up crashing around 10:30pm. No reading tonight, I was out light a light.

Taku Harbor to Tracy Arm Cove

Up at 8:30am again to the sound of Merlin’s collar while playing and Kingston Trio on the iPod speakers. I did my ‘3 point turn’ to toss and turn a few times, then just got my butt up. It was definitely low tide as the pilings were raised far out of the water showing their barnacles. Then we headed out around 9am to a small craft advisory (we’re larger than a small craft), so it was a bit wavy. My Aunt and I sat on the bow for quite a while in the very rainy and freezing 39 degree weather. Luckily as we approached the cove, the rain stopped. Sundum glacier was off to the left and as cool as I remembered. As we got closer, the fog gobbled it up. There were also many icebergs at the entrance to Tracy Arm that we had to go check out. 2 of them are the largest I have ever seen… one the size of a two story house. We then anchored inside the cove around 1:30pm. We took the dinghy out to get up close and personal with about 3 icebergs, which we quite awesome. After a nice little ride we came back for some cheese, salami and crackers with a fresh fruit salad. Then some quiet time for everyone as we just look out at the beautiful large snow capped mountains, and watched the fog roll in. We also watched 2 large yachts (both probably 55’-65’) come into the harbor later in the evening. The larger of the 2 was named ‘Twilight’. We had kielbasa, rice and spinach salad for dinner. Then watched a Dean Martin Variety Show hour on DVD. Nice flashback to the 70’s while watching Dom DeLuise, Crystal Gayle, Dionne Warwick, Jonathan Winters, Shirley Jones and a few others sing and stuff. Then after chatting about our possible itinerary for the rest of the trip, we crashed. I bought Tori Spelling’s new book ‘Mommywood’ before leaving so I have been reading that before bed each night. Almost halfway done already.

Juneau to Taku Harbor

I woke up around 8:30am and we started up the engines around 9:30am to head out. It was a gloomy day but not very rainy. We puttered past Juneau and the 5 cruise ships in dock this morning (A Princess, Celebrity, NCL, Holland America and one liner we didn’t recognize). We had some cereal, fresh fruit and a homemade blueberry scone (with some homemade kiwi jam my Aunt made) for breakfast en route. My Aunt and I sat on I the bow for most of the trip in the 36 degree weather. We bundled up and looked quite silly. Once we got here, we saw spots of sun but still very overcast for the most part. As we sat here chatting we saw an iceberg float into the bay we were in. That is pretty unusual since we are a bit North of the glaciers, and we weren’t expecting to see any icebergs until tomorrow. So we put the dinghy down and went over to it to take pics and touch it. It was my Aunt’s first iceberg. Then after sandwiches for lunch, I took a late afternoon nap. I’m so tired up here for some reason. Fresh air and a rocking boat will you do that to you. We chilled a bit more and then BBQ’d fresh salmon they were given by a local fisherman the other day. After dinner we all watched ‘Knowing’ which was entertaining, yet thoroughly predictable. It’s almost dark out at 9:45pm and there are about 8 boats on this dock and about another 15 or more (mostly fishing boats) anchored out in this bay. And just after I typed that, one of the fishing boats shot off a couple of fireworks at the end of the bay. Tomorrow we are heading one bay (about 5 hours away) closer to the glaciers. Hopefully we catch some whales and icebergs along the way.

1st Morning in Juneau

Yesterday's flights were uneventful for the most part. Had lunch at this Alaska Tavern place at Sea-Tac for a cheeseburger and an Alaskan Ale. Then our second flight to Juneau. Rainy when we arrived, but still got to see a little of the pretty descent into Juneau's airport. We got out bags, then I called for a cab. We got down to the marina, dropped our bags, then took a walk up to the store for some last min food items. Back to the boat to have my Mom's chicken broccoli casserole and spinach salad. YUM!! We also saw a harbor seal in the marina swimming around. Then we chatted until 10pm, but not sure how I lasted that long, I was a zombie! I tossed and turned a little bit as the mattresses aren't the quality of ones you have at home, but slept well for the most part. Then woke up at 8am (9am California time) after I had been laying there for a while. We just turned on the boat engines for the first time about 5 mins ago. So I am off to make myself a cup of tea, and watch the city of Juneau and the cruise ships as we pass by. Hoping to see my first iceberg today. I'll write more when I have WiFi again in a week. See ya.

I'm so sunburnt!!! OUCH!!!

This isn't even close to the worst of the burn...

So my Aunt and I headed to the coast today just to get out of the house and the heat. One of our destinations in mind was the Taco Bell in Pacifica. Sounds silly, I know. But it's apparently the only Taco Bell to actually sit on a beach. And has a deck on the back where people from the beach can just walk up to all wet and order at a window. So, we figured me may as well check it out, just for the hell of it. It was on some Travel Channel Top 10 list at some point.


We then thought we'd beach hop and take some pictures. I don't know all the names, but they are between Half Moon Bay and Pacifica (Montara and Moss Beach are two). Mostly just pulling over at random lookouts or driving down coastal access roads when we saw them.





But one coastal access road took us unexpectedly to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. So we pulled over and thought we'd check it out. They had a little Parks and Rec visitor booth so we walked over to get a pamphlet on the place. The Ranger in the booth let us know that the beach to the left was coned off because a harbor seal beached itself. So they were waiting for someone from the Marine Mammal Center to come check it out. So we wandered down to the reserve which is a nice beach with tons of rocks and tide pools. We took plenty of pics, and tried to look for the seal, but couldn't spot it. So, we just decided to sit on the bench and enjoy the view, and wishful thinking that we'd get to see the Marine Mammal Center person show up. And sure enough, maybe 15 mins later, the Ranger and a guy show up and walk out onto the coned off part of the beach. With a blanket the Marine Mammal guy picked up the seal from where it was laying between the rocks and laid it on the beach. He then got a better hold of him with the blanket and started carrying him back. As he got closer, he was telling us that the seal still had part of the umbilical cord attached, so they left him out there a day to see if the mother would come back. And since she didn't, they came out to rescue him. So he is probably just a few days old. And we got to see the little guy very close up (if you click on the pics, you'll get better photos). How cool was our timing to get to see that? So awesome!! And someone who was there while we were was wearing a Saku Koivu shirt. How random is that?








And at the end of the day...

Anyway, I think that was a pretty cool way to spend Earth Day.