Day 5 Juneau

Day 5

17th June

 Juneau 7am-8pm

Alaska’s capital Juneau which is the only state capitol that can only be reached by air or sea as it has no road access to it!  Juneau also has more trails than it does roads and has the largest temperate rain forest in the state.  Juneau was a mining camp originally in 1880 when they first found gold at Gold Creek.  Juneau is supposed to be the most beautiful state capital in the USA.

What is in store for Juneau is we have bought tickets for a bus to take us to Mendenhall Glacier (thanks for the link Alison) and also to go up Mount Roberts Tramway where there are nature trails when you get up there, looking forward to our day today other than it is raining!

 

 

 

Here we are docked already.  I was up on deck at 6.30am to see us approaching the port but we had already docked so I got the coffee and hot water run instead and headed back for my shower.  The red building is the Mount Roberts Tramway and the other colourful buildings are the shops in town

The view out of the back of the ship

 

View round the other side of the ship

 

Just in case we had forgotten what day it was!

 

Here is another cruise ship coming towards us, eeek!!  This is the view out of our room!

 

Oh dear a damp view behind you Amy!

 

Every opportunity the cruise ship take a photo of you and charge $22.99 for a print but I managed to sneak this photo without them seeing me take the photo!

 

Aye Aye captain

 

Here we are off the ship and welcome to Juneau!!

 

Here is the tram we are going to go on later on today!  Our bus to the Glacier is just in this car park by the tramway

 

So we were looking out for a Blue Bus and it came within 5 minutes and they are every 20 minutes so that is great!  The windows are a bit steamy with everyone being so wet and moist!!!

 

This was the bust that took us to the glacier, there was narration but we couldn’t hear it with us being at the back of the bus and right next to the engine!  Never mind we couldn’t see out of the windows anyway

 

So we were expecting to have to walk quite a distance to get to the glacier but oh my gosh it is right in front of us!! 

 

So a few minutes’ walk and here is a fabulous view of the Mendenhall Glacier, WOW!!

 

It is still raining but this is an amazing view so nothing will dampen our spirits right now!

 

All wrapped up and waterproofed to a certain degree!

 

We walked down to the lake to get a better view and there are lots of pieces of the glacier that has fallen off and floating in the sea

 

The colours were so varying shades of vibrant blue it was amazing seeing them sparkle

 

Amy touching her first experience of a piece of ice fallen off the glacier.  Amy stands up and says 'that is cold' just like the ice bar what was she expecting ha ha!!!

 

And now Colin’s turn

 

And now my turn, not surprising it felt like an ice cube, fffffffreezing!!!!

 

 Is that an ice cube in your hand Amy ha ha!!

 

Next we headed to Nuggets Falls the waterfall next to the glacier, now this should be something to see!

 

It is just over a mile walk there and then a mile back so this better be bloomin good as it is still raining!

 

Off we go on our trail

 

All around us there are rangers and loads of signs up saying ‘no food due to bears’ so we are on the lookout as there were some bears sighted yesterday! in this neck of the woods!

 

Wow massive chunks of ice!!

 

 

Nearly there, looks massive and stunning!

 

Now there is a great selfie with the glacier and the Nuggets Waterfall in the background

 

Here we are so close to the waterfall that we are not sure whether it is raining or spray from the waterfall!  But we are getting wet and the splodges on the camera are signs the camera is getting wet too!!

 

I suppose you can’t be that close to a waterfall and not expect the lens of the camera to get splashed!  Getting a bit worried about my NEW camera though!

 

Great photo opportunities here as there are so many willing photographers!

 

Now the camera is getting a bit steamy with being wet, dried and put in my pocket but it could be a misty effect!!

 

A real close up of the glacier formations, looks like marshmallows all stacked up, where’s the hot chocolate???

 

A dirty area from rain and silt but you can see the layers

 

I know this looks like Colin but it isn’t!!  I love this photo as this old man just look sso miserable, here enjoying the scenery in the rain if only he could see out from under his hood!!!

 

Look at this big bit of ice that has broken off, now you can’t call these pieces ice bergs as they have to be 11ft in depth I think if I remember rightly or some sort of massive dimensions!!

 

The water around the glacier is murky from the silt but still looks lovely

 

Look out for the big puddle Amy and watch out for the camera it is getting really wet and steamy now!!!

 

Amy has found a new friend, beary nice to meet you ha ha!!!  We have taken shelter for a little bit in the Information Centre

 

Just beavering around!!!  A beaver but think Amy only chose him as she is jealous of his teeth!!

 

These floating bits of ice are just incredible

 

Our final glimpse of the glacier as we head to the bus to take us back into the city

 

Amy is hungry but she certainly won’t be having a snack until we get back on the bus!!

 

Here is our bus!!

We are all cold and wet so we head back on the ship for lunch and some dry clothes.  The plan was to come back off the ship to go on the Mount Roberts Tramway but Amy doesn’t want to get wet again so she heads to kid’s club and Colin and I go back out to face the rain and maybe go on the Tramway if the weather picks up!!

 

What a welcome at the shop entrance, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

The world famous cowboy Red Dog Saloon (wasn't so world famous as I hadn't heard of it!)

If it is so famous we might have to have a pint on the way back

 

We head up the shopping street and buy a few bits and pieces

 

Now it is time to have a pint!!  It is so busy in the bar that we have to wait to be seated

 

 

We get a seat at the back of the seating area and this is the view over the bar, real authentic cowboy bar!  How’dy partner

 

Shall I tell him or shall you??  Ok I will watch out Col there is a bear with an open mouth

right behind you hee hee!!

 

The menu of drinks, look at the liquor and salon favourites just to make you chuckle!!

 

Funny display in the middle of the bar, just my sense of humour!!

 

The waitresses had the old style dresses and they had their tips tucked into the bra part of their dresses,

real authentic!!

 

Here we are in the bar

 

The sawdust on the floor too, so we were sat at a table for three but the people beside us had friends come in so we swopped tables with them so they could sit together but the two of them were sat at a table for 6.  So we were sat enjoying our Alaskan Amber when someone else comes along and asks to swop tables with us so we say we have already swopped.  But then a few minutes later a waiter comes over and says we have 6 people waiting for a table would you mind swopping tables eh no so we downed our drink and headed off.  The bar started off okay but we didn’t like it by the end with the swopping of tables and the waiter didn’t make us feel very welcome at all.

 

A sign in the bar, we certainly needed to lower our standards of service in the bar that is for sure!  Or probably Colin would say I need to lower my standards!!!

 

The clouds are certainly low the rain had eased but it is starting to rain again

 

We were heading back to the ship when we spied the Pandora sign so we treated Amy to a bear charm for her bracelet

 

We also went into the Jade shop and we bought Amy a Jade ‘Circle of Life’ necklace, beautiful and a surprise for Father’s day since we didn’t really celebrate on Sunday as we weren’t near any shops that had any cards, Amy can surprise Daddy later.  Amy’s middle name is Jade so we felt we had to get something made of Jade and especially as Jade is local to Alaska

 

Cool design on the car park wall

 

I bought Del Sol change in the sun nail varnish when we went to Cayman back in 2002 and I read something to say that they give a lifetime guarantee for all products so I managed to swop my nail varnish for new colours, cool what a result at the end of a rainy day!!

 

So here is the start of the surprise as you can gather Colin and I didn’t do the Mount Roberts Tramway either but the cruise ship had said that if you didn’t go on they would refund the money so that was good as most of the day we couldn’t even see the top of the tramway and the nature trails would have been nice to do on a drier day.  So the ploy was to send Colin to get the refund and Amy and I get the present and card ready for Colin for a belated Father’s Day surprise!!  This was Amy’s idea to put the envelope on the door!!!!

 

I managed to find a beautiful card with a painting of the Mendenhall Glacier where we had visited today!

 

And the surprise present was silver and Jade cufflinks, WOW they are beautiful

 

It was present giving time so Amy got her bear charm and that was when we did a rekkie of what she had already in her collection

 

One of the head waiter’s made a boot out of a napkin!

 

Here is Amy Jade’s Jade necklace, she loves it and wore it at dinner.  She is also wearing her new t-shirt we bought her too as the Polar Bear’s glow in the dark, spoilt today in Juneau.  Amy did say when we gave her her presents oh my we must be over budget today but I love all my presents and jumped on us to give us a big hug, sweet!

 

Amy wanted to go to Kid’s club pirate night from 7pm-10pm so the deal was that we would have dinner together, kid’s club and then we would collect her anywhere between 9pm and 10pm, handshake on it!!

 

 

Colin and I went out on deck to watch us leave Juneau port with a small beverage!!

 

 

Clouds are still flying low but there are some blue skies appearing

 

 

So glad we decided not to do the Mount Roberts Tramway if the view was going to be cloud and nought much else!!

 

The shopping main street where we got all our lovely gifts for each other today

 

What a huge waterfall coming down the mountainside

 

Just to prove that there were some blue skies in Juneau

 

So Colin and I now get up to mischief on the boat the two of us, we headed to the arcade and played some shoot em up games!!  Colin more so than me in his element!!

 

So mysterious looking over the mountain

Colin and I headed to the show which was Joey Van an old man trying to still be hip and funny with some impressions and singing.  He wasn’t very funny to us anyway there were 3 people who were laughing throughout and gave him a standing ovation at the end, whether they were his sons I’m not sure but he wasn’t great at all.  When we dropped Amy off at kid’s club our good friend from Glasgow King Kong Kenny (all the kid’s club staff have funny nicknames) told us that the pirates were going to be doing a performance just before the comedy act at 8.40pm but it was 8.40pm and the show had just finished so not sure what was happening.  So we found a member of the Adventure Ocean kind’s club staff and she directed us to the Centrum.  We got there just in time, phew!!

 

Our little Pirate Amy, they coloured in their bandanas during the evening and got their face paint done too!!  They all looked so cool and they had practiced a song and actions!

 

Amy getting her photograph taken by the professional photographers, we bought this photo as it was soooo cute!

 

Here they are on the stairs waiting to get introduced for their performance

 

All the pirates with King Kong Kenny leading the singing and actions.  They sang ‘Everywhere we go people want to know who we are?  But we won’t tell them, but we are Adventure Ocean Pirates’ and then they were shouting a little louder!! 

 

Wow look at the stormy clouds and the low clouds, looks amazing!

 

The view behind us and the cruise ship is following us again, you think they would disguise themselves in something a bit smaller if they were following us ha ha!!

 

The Pirates all had really good fun and when we collected Amy she did say ‘Awh could I not stay any longer’ it was 9.40pm!!!

 

She always comes out of kid’s club hyper so we thought we would take her somewhere to chill out and prepare her for bed as a wind down ha ha!!!  Let’s play air hockey!!!!

 

Amy’s bandana as we walk back to our cabin out on deck but then the rain starts again so we bomb it across the deck indoors!

 

Amy shows us the glass step that looks down from deck 12 right down to the centrum onto deck 4, gulp eh and you guys were walking and crawling on this when you were at kid’s club glad it was with them and not me hee hee!!!

It is bedtime now, we are heading to Skagway tomorrow 7am-4pm so another early-ish start but nothing planned so just going to chill and have a wander through the town