We arrived in Juneau late at night on Thursday, July 11. Caitlyn and her friend Amanda Andrews picked us up in a shuttle bus, and took us to our hotel in downtown Juneau. She showed us the docks, and gave us instructions as to where to catch the shuttle bus in the morning, and where we would be seeing her. She lives in the Mendenhall Valley, which is about 10 miles from where we were staying.
Friday morning we woke up to this view from our hotel window. We were staying in the Baranof Hotel.
Amanda and Caitlyn recommended this little bagel place, Silverbow Bagels, for our breakfast Friday morning.
Our bodies were so messed up as to what time it was, and the fact that the sun comes up between 3:30 and 4 a.m. didn't help the situation. We were too early to meet up with Caitlyn, so we took a stroll around downtown Juneau to check out the place.
Is it just me, or do Dean and this bear have the same look on their faces?
And here she comes! We got to see Caitlyn in action! She really does drive a huge tour bus. She is awesome at her job. I learned so much about Juneau.
We got to go on Caitlyn's tours for the day. First stop was the salmon hatchery. That place was so cool. Thousands of Salmon returning to the place where they were hatched, only 7 years later.
While we were at the hatchery, Caitlyn's boyfriend Ryan showed up, (yes, in another huge bus). I wanted to get a picture of him, but wasn't quite sure how to tactfully do that. No worries, he took care of that for me, without me even asking him! Thanks Ryan, great picture!
Next on our tour was the Glacier Gardens. They were amazing! Juneau is a rain forest, so there were so many cool plants there. My favorite, were the upside down trees. Yes, these are trees that were put in the ground upside down, and then they planted them with beautiful flowers and foliage.
Now on to the Mendenhall Glacier. So cool! We took a hike to Nugget Falls, and went through the visitors center. Loved this place!
On our way back to the docks, I saw a bear in someone's front yard!
That evening, Caitlyn arranged for us to go on a whale watching dinner cruise.
Humpback whale
Sea Lions
Looking back at the Mendenhall Glacier from Auke Bay.
Off the ship, and onto our waiting bus, with our awesome bus driver!
Awesome first day in Alaska!!!
4 comments:
Such an adventure! Not the picture I was hoping for of the boyfriend! And yes, Dean and the bear have the same look!
Wow, what a vacation. Thanks for letting us enjoy it through your pictures. How long is Caitlyn going to be there? We've been talking about going to Alaska for awhile now. Maybe we should just do it sooner rather than later.
Oops, sorry that wasn't Min. It was me!
Come on up Punj! I'm in Juneau til the end of September. I may do it again another summer, but it's wonderful now!
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