Alaska Trip - Juneau #1

And another day dawns bright and clear! But first let me take you back to last night – Glenn fell asleep right away but I always type a little on the laptop and then read before shutting off the light! The ship was doing its usual “rock ‘n roll” but we were both were getting used to it so it wasn’t a problem – but the vibration, that was something else!

We’re not sure if we were going through some “washboard” waves or what but there was this hideous vibration that not only was loud, but kind of shook your entire body like you were actually going over a washboard gravel road! It would come about once a minute, last for about 30 seconds and then taper off until the next one came! BUT, I did fall asleep and slept great – and in the morning, it was gone!

Both of us must have gotten our “sea legs” overnight because we felt much better this morning and had no trouble with the wave sensations during the day!

Because we were up early enough because of the time change again, the main dining room wasn’t even open so we opted to head up to the Lido Floor to eat! Note to self: walk around the ENTIRE buffet and see what they have to offer BEFORE you stand in line and dish up! I was so hungry that I saw the scrambled eggs and bacon and fresh fruit and got a plateful and sat down! And then it happened – the lady next to us brings over this luscious looking strawberry crepe!! Oh my – my favorite breakfast meal – so I race over to the buffet and sure enough, down at the end is a crepe maker! Of course I made room for a delicious strawberry crepe!

After breakfast we grabbed our coffee and sat on the Lido deck, watching out the window! Overnight we had cruised from the ocean back into the bay and there was land on both sides of us –not just land, but some of the most beautiful, snow-capped mountains I have ever seen –kind of a cross between Colorado/Montana/Switzerland! WOW – no sooner had we started looking than we saw 3 orca whales playing around! It was heavenly, just sitting there with our coffee and watching the landscape!
It wasn’t near as windy as the day before so we donned our vests, coats and gloves and started our mile walk around the deck – but by the time you stop and look at the scenery, visit with people and take pictures, you lose track of where you even started!! The views were just amazing!! I could just sit hour after hour watching the shoreline!

Today was going to be our first port stop – Juneau – so we ate an early lunch so we would be ready to get off the ship, once it docked! The line was LONG getting off the boat but it moved pretty fast and soon we were back on land – and that felt great!!

Juneau is a unique town, built on the side of a mountain! The only way to get there is by boat or plane – imagine that!! Juneau is the capitol of Alaska so all government buildings are here! But in reality, it’s not a very big town at all! I love the Alaskan flag – it depicts the big dipper along with the north star and the blue background represents the brilliant Alaskan sky! The state flower is the forget-me-nots and I’m sure they’re plentiful in summer – we were just a little too early!

The day was glorious, weather wise!! We brought our jackets as we knew it would be cold around the glacier we were going to see, but in the town, it was plenty warm! There were a total of 3 cruise ships docked in town so Juneau had a lot of tourists milling around! To be continued……………..