Juneau

We arrived in Juneau, Alaska’s capital this morning. Here’s a view of the downtown from the 14th deck after our workout and buffet breakfast:



We disembarked early and took this fun photo of my aunt in front of a souvenir shop and then in front of our ship:





My cousin and I walked along the boardwalk and saw this memorial for the USS Juneau - a cruiser that was torpedoed during World War II and claimed the lives of all 5 brothers of the Sullivan family from Iowa. They are also the inspiration behind the movie, “Saving Private Ryan”:



We then boarded a bus driven by “Juneau Jim” who is actually from Georgia who regaled us with trivia about the area and plenty of “dad jokes”. He consistently made references to music lyrics while pointing out government buildings, eagles, and various houses. He was serious though when he pointed out the house that fell into the river recently due to glacial flooding that made national news - just another example of climate change and the damage it brings.

Upon arrival at Auke Bay which took about 30 minutes, we boarded a boat with the cleanest windows and headed out in search of humpback and orca whales. Here’s my aunt and mom in front of the boat and views of the beautiful Alaskan scenery:









We passed this buoy that had at least 5 sea lions resting which have to be shooed away every time the Coast Guard comes to service it:



Here we are on the top deck in search of whales and blowholes:

We had seen one whale early on, but on our return to harbor, we saw at least 7 whales all at once! The naturalist on board explained they usually see an average of 5 whales on a trip, so we saw quite a bit with about 9 the entire voyage. It was also difficult to take photos or videos as they were spread apart and very active. Here are several blowing out of their blowholes in sync:





It was also special since they do not often breach or jump out of the water in this climate and we saw one particular whale practicing its breaching repeatedly:



My cousin took many videos and you can hear the Korean chatting in the background. We also enjoyed snacks and fresh salmon dip on Ritz crackers made by the crew…A selfie of my cousin and me in front of the boat:



On our bus ride to and from the harbor, my brother and I were the only ones not napping from our crew - I guess listening to the cheesy jokes was tiring for those who’s first language isn’t English!

After a short ride, we arrived at the famous Mendenhall Glacier, formed during the Little Ice Age, which began about 3,000 years ago. Due to the unique climate of the area, the glacier has been able to survive much longer than others in North America. Several photos below of our visit and from various viewing points:























At the Visitor Center, we learned about glaciers - like why is it blue and why does it look dirty? Here we are learning from the videos:



Near the bus stop was a salmon viewing area and it was fun to see them in the shallow waters of the creek - look how red they are!:





We drove back through downtown Juneau and returned to the docks where there were 5 cruise ships - apparently 6 is the maximum capacity. We were very hungry as we didn’t have proper lunch, so we headed to the buffet on the 14th deck. Here’s a picture of some champagne and my plate:



We also treated ourselves to frozen yogurt and some flat white coffees, sitting at our table for awhile. Eventually, my cousin, aunt, and I wandered to get more steps in and stopped into the Charme Duo’s Abba show - I think we have heard “Dancing Queen” at least once each day! But what a fun day enjoying nature in multiple ways and at its finest in Alaska’s capital!

Glacier Walkin'

So we woke up and were on time, but a few struggled with their alarm clocks. It all worked out because our pick up from Sterna Travel came to our hotel at the later range of the pickup. The original pickup was in a shuttle and our driver, was actually our guide for the day, Peter.

The shuttle brought us to Harpa Hall (the corporate office of Sterna), the concert hall which has colorful lights so we could transfer to a much larger bus. Here's a photo of inside the lobby of Harpa Hall:

This tour is a combination with the Beautiful South Coast and a Glacier Walk. Some other folks on the bus planned snowmobile excursions, but we were the only ones doing the glacier walk. Anyone not doing either visited Vík village, Dyrhólaey sea cliffs and Reynisfjara beach known for black sand beaches.

Peter was a diligent tour guide with an Icelandic dead pan and loud microphone and continued to provide lots of facts about heating and Iceland's geothermal resources when all we wanted to do was sleep. However, we appreciated him pointing out various environmental facts about the south shore which was originally under the sea, the various mountains, and birds. 

Our first stop on the South Coast tour was the beautiful and photogenic waterfall, Skógafoss. There was a high viewing platform and Liam, Christina, and I trekked up. Here's a photo of Liam and Christina before going up the long staircase behind them and then waterfall photos:

We learned on our trip that in addition to geysir being an Icelandic word, saga is as well. There are famous dramatic stories and these sagas are interesting reads. As we explored the southern landscape and the caves turned homes, there were many famous sagas. 

The big bus dropped us off at an intersection and Laorus, a shy driver for Arcanum tours picked us up in a van and bought us to their equipment shed near the glacier. Arcanum is a partner of Sterna Travel and provides the glacier walking services. 

At the shed, we put on our walking harnesses, sized our crampons, and our helmets with the help of Maya. But our glacier guide was a patient man with a middle name, Raven (his first name was too difficult to pronounce). We walked about 15 minutes to the glacier and put on the crampons which made such a huge difference on the ice and even helped on the black sand parts of the ground. We also learned how to hold and use our ice axe. 

I had always wanted to do a glacier walk when I was in Patagonia, but our itinerary didn't allow for it due to our tight schedule. I was appreciative that the other ladies were willing on this trip!

Yesterday we snowmobiled on a glacier, but today we walked on top! We explored the frozen world of Sólheimajökull glacier where we saw crevasses, glacier sinkholes, and ice ridges. 

They told us to dress extremely well, preferably waterproof and warm clothing, a hat, gloves, good walking shoes, wear thick socks. They said the glacier walk does not require any special skills and can be enjoyed by people with normal fitness and in good health. However, we did find it a bit challenging, but most unpleasant was the fact that it rained all day. The walk from start to finish was about 3 hours and although the rain wasn't that bad, for that length of time, we were drenched. Here are some photos of our glacier walk:

Our last photo was an "ussie", a picture of myself and Shirley. When we returned to the equipment shed and cafė, we ate a quick snack of ham and cheese that we brought from our original groceries and joined the rest of the group on the bus. 

The next stop was another waterfall called Seljalandsfoss, where you can walk behind in mild weather. However, practically the whole bus did not get off because they were so tired of being wet - I guess the rest of the group did not enjoy the rain on the beach as much as we enjoyed it on the glacier. I was the only one from our group to get off the bus and took this one photo from the parking lot - I guess it was time we stopped chasing waterfalls!:

After about a 2 hour drive back to Reykjavik, the bus dropped us all off at the various hotels on the route. Due to a few delays, showers, and drying off our soaked clothes, we decided to push back our reservation at Grillmarkadurinn which means Grill Market. As we were a few minutes late, half of us started to walk to the restaurant, so we didn't lose the reservation and we ran into my friends again from the Blue Lagoon. I asked them how their weekend was going and they started chirping "where's Liam?" Too funny. 

We're so glad we made it to dinner as it was the best meal of the weekend - we had an amazing tasting menu in a semi-private dining room and a wonderful waiter, Svess and the sommelier who clearly had an American accent (he went to middle school in Atlanta). Here's a group photo in the dining room:

Our meal collage below which included king crab with grilled lemon, cod with apple in a shellfish sauce, beef ribeye with carrot purée, lamb with 3 sauces, shark with a ginger soy sauce, duck salad, and dried cod and deep fried squid - wonderfully delicious!:

Then the dessert was every dessert on their dessert menu! Licorice ice cream, gooseberry, clementine sorbet, chocolate cake with hazelnut, fruit, and hard chocolate with melted caramel poured on top:

Our waiter was super accommodating and humored us with our jokes and requests for his American impersonations. After dinner because we were so beat, we headed back to the hotel and sang oldies and listened to Andrea rap while Dresa decided to redecorate and fix the chandelier in our living room - clearly a cross generational group who has been incredibly convivial on this trip! 

Despite our failure to see the Northern Lights all 3 nights, we've enjoyed each other's company and have decided we need to go on another trip, like to Norway, on a hunt for the Northern Lights!